The Two Worlds: The Three Moon Series

by Winter, Eden

  But that wasn’t going to happen—at least she wished that it wouldn’t. When she left the castle, she was not considering those consequences. That was why she needed to find Veri and stop her from committing such an atrocity. Upír had been the one to convince Veri to leave the kingdom to search for the human who had taken her love from her. Upír told Veri to kill him in order to gain peace in her heart and relief from the terrible migraines she had been suffering. But with a war on the horizon in their own kingdom, making an enemy of the elf king was the last thing they needed.

  Upír had to find her sister and King Kainen, and she had to find them both fast.

  *****

  Dende and Siluman had a long day ahead of them. They had rested at Kulmahamma Mountain and were close enough to Dende’s kingdom that she could almost feel it. Adrenaline and purpose now fueled her. Things were close to being back to normal. There would be some semblance of authority, and she could get back to serving her king and trying to maintain order.

  But what about Siluman? As he mounted his large legless horse, Dende couldn’t help but stop to look at him. He swung a powerful leg over the side of the horse and adjusted himself on the saddle. He was such a powerful being, even in his human form. He had just begun to grow stubble around his mouth and chin. In just a few short days, he looked like he had aged several years. His glassy green eyes scoped the land around him, always waiting for a predator or threat. He took a deep breath, his broad shoulders rising and falling with his inhale and exhale. His hair was so short, which was strange to see since when they had originally met he was completely covered in fur.

  Dende climbed her horse soon after and took off after Siluman.

  “We will be there soon, Lady Dende,” Siluman called out to her. He instinctively knew that she needed some reassuring. She smiled at him but wasn’t sure if he was able to see. He was riding in front of her now.

  There was a small part of her that wanted to slow down just so she could have more time with Siluman. She didn’t know what would happen after, and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know. If this was the last time they had together alone, she wanted to cherish it.

  ‘Silly girl. That is selfish thinking. If it is meant to be, then it will be once we save Kainen,’ she thought to herself.

  There were so many thoughts now dancing in her mind. There were joyous thoughts of a bright future where her king was safe and she was living a happy life. A life with Siluman, perhaps. But there were also thoughts of dread and sadness. What would happen if they were too late to save Kainen? What if there was a chance of war? What if…?

  “What’s that?” Siluman called out. His voice startled her. She had been too busy daydreaming to notice a figure riding at full speed in their direction. The figure was on a brown horse that had white legs and mane covering the hooves. It was a royal horse and certainly not an elven horse due to the fact that this horse had hooves.

  Dende could see the bright, almost white hair in the distance. The hair was not as long and straight as Dende remembered. It was not too long ago, and the robes seemed familiar to her.

  “Siluman!” Dende shouted from her horse. “Siluman, be careful! That is a vampire!”

  Chapter Six

  Let’s Play Chess

  Kainen was awakened up by the sound of running. At first it could be heard in his dreams. It sounded like galloping hooves of horses that had stormed the castle. There were frantic shouts all around, but they were not shouts of fear. They were orders to move or else be moved, to allow them a private meeting with the king. It was a matter of life and death.

  Kainen’s eyes flew open. He was too weak to bolt upright, but he tried anyway. He fell back onto his bed and tried to catch his breath. His back and long black hair were almost soaked with his perspiration. It took him a moment to gauge his surroundings and realize that the sound of running and the voices were not just in his dream but in his waking life as well.

  They were not horses at all but the sounds of someone racing up the stairs to his tower. His bedchamber was in one of the highest towers in the castle. It was heavily guarded, especially now. If there was any cause for alarm, the entrance would have been blocked.

  The wolfman who had been guarding it had turned to look on Kainen.

  “They’re back, Kainen. Dende and Siluman have returned!”

  Kainen smiled weakly. He was grateful that they had come back, but that did not mean that they had the antidote for his missing soul. He was getting weaker by the day. If they had come back empty handed then he would need to make plans with his general, Yleinen, the shaman, Guiden, and his most loyal friend, Dende. He needed to see Adam and explain all that was about to happen. He wasn’t going to let Adam live the life of a common human. Just because he was going to die didn’t mean that Adam could not live the life that he had dreamt of living with Kainen.

  But Adam was nowhere to be found. The last few times Kainen was strong enough to wake from his sleep, he didn’t see Adam beside him. It hadn’t been that long, he was sure of it, but Adam had not left the king’s side for so long before. What was even more strange was the fact that Adam left no message for Kainen to let him know of his whereabouts.

  “Kainen!” Just then, Dende burst into the door. Right behind her was Siluman in his human form and after him was Dende’s father, Guiden. Dende was disheveled and looked tired, but there was still a smile on her face. Siluman did not look like how Kainen expected him to. He welcomed the friendly face of the wolfman who had saved his life on multiple occasions in such a short amount of time.

  Dende staggered to the king’s bed and fell on top of him. She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed openly.

  “We have it. We have everything you need. We can save you now,” Dende said as she sobbed. Kainen didn’t have much strength, but he used the remainder of it to return his friend’s embrace.

  Guiden nodded his head. He was standing by the doorway with a large jar in his hand. Kainen knew that it must be the potion.

  “But how?” Kainen asked.

  “The witches. They came to our rescue. We have become their allies. If anything were to happen, we could go to them, and they can come to us. We have a way to communicate with them,” Dende said when she pulled away from Kainen. She wiped her brown cheeks with the backs of her hands. Kainen knew that her tears were not just because he would soon recover from his ailments. She had been traveling so far and for so long that he knew that she was exhausted, overwhelmed, and now relieved.

  “Dende,” Kainen said. He took hold of her wrist just as she rose from his bed. Their bright blue eyes met, and for the first time in a long time, Kainen did not know what to say to his friend. She smiled and nodded. By not saying anything, she knew everything that he wanted to say.

  “You would have done the same for me,” she said. She was right. Kainen would have ridden to the ends of the earth and back just to protect his friends.

  “Thank you too, Silu. Thank you for being there for Dende,” Kainen said. Siluman offered a nod and a smile. Dende walked over to him, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. Kainen tried to hide a smile, but he couldn’t.

  “It is time,” Guiden said. He moved forward like a phantom. He readied the potions and herbs around the bed. “It will be a while before everything is restored to you, but you will gain some strength right away. I have only ever known this to happen to one other elf.”

  Guiden paused to look around the room.

  “Dende, stay. I will need you. You know the incantation in the witches’ language.”

  Dende did as she was instructed. Kainen could do nothing but watch. He felt his strength fading faster.

  He could barely keep his eyes open to see what was happening around him. He eventually gave in and allowed his eyes to droop and then close. He felt hands all over his body and Guiden muttering incantations as more and more things were rubbed on his skin. He felt a sharp prick on his hand where he knew someone had just cut him, then there was a burning sensatio
n. It was a nuisance at first, but soon it became almost unbearable. Kainen’s eyes shot open and then his mouth so that he could scream. Before he could make a sound, there was molten liquid being poured in his mouth to stifle his screams.

  Guiden was still muttering to himself as he poured the witches’ brew, and Dende had taken a step away from the bed and was now covering her mouth. Even with the liquid in his mouth, Kainen was still able to make a terrible sound. To him, it felt like the remainder of his soul was on fire. Siluman stepped forward and held down one of his arms. The other one was still in the most insane agony from what was only a tiny wound. Dende had regained her senses and was holding down his legs.

  “Dende, now!” Guiden shouted. Dende started speaking an incantation as loudly and slowly as she could. It wasn’t in a language that Kainen had ever heard before.

  He thought that he was in the most agonizing pain of his life simply because of the potion coursing through his veins and his insides, but nothing prepared him for the pain he felt now that Dende was speaking. He wasn’t going to be able to survive this. The pain was too much, and he felt it on every inch of his body. He felt it in every organ and every pore. He was in more pain than when he had been down by the beach and the wraiths had lassoed him to claim his soul.

  Kainen’s eyes rolled back. He felt as if all life had left him now. When he closed his eyes, he could see a face. It was the face of someone he knew, soft and pale with white silky hair and dark brown eyes. She smiled at him. He wanted to call out her name, to have her near him, but he couldn’t stay conscious. The last thing he remembered was Dende’s voice and the sounds of his garbled screams.

  *****

  The sky was much darker when Kainen came to. There were candles all around his bed. The only person in the room with him now was Dende. He wasn’t even sure if the guard was outside. He wouldn’t need him if Dende was there. She was probably the most competent warrior he had ever known.

  He already felt stronger. It wasn’t agonizing for him to lift himself up and out of his bed. Dende stood when she saw that he was awake.

  “My king, how are you feeling?”

  “Better… after so much pain from that potion.”

  Dende nodded and clasped her hands behind her. She looked at him cautiously. Kainen didn’t like that. He was not an invalid. He would be back to his complete self in no time.

  “What is it?” he growled at Dende.

  “There is a vampire among us,” Dende said. She wasn’t one for keeping secrets from the king. This was a matter of urgency. It was Siluman who suggested that she speak. Her superior officer, Yleinen, had said not to disturb the king while he was recovering, but Dende was beginning to realize what was at stake. There were too many lives on the line.

  Kainen almost leapt out of bed at the mention of the word ‘vampire.’ Could it be…?

  “It is the queen’s sister,” said Dende, as if to read his mind.

  “Upír?” Kainen asked.

  “You know her?” Dende asked.

  “I…” he started. He stopped just in case he gave himself away. He had never told Dende how it was that he knew Queen Veri, but the look on her face when he started to speak worried him. She was possibly piecing it all together.

  “Can I see her?” he asked.

  Dende pursed her lips and clenched her jaw. Kainen could see that she was becoming angry. She was too intuitive and stubborn for her own good. It was funny how he realized that Dende was actually quite a lot like Upír. That made him smile when he thought of it, but when he saw the look on Dende’s face, he went back to being serious.

  “She has been asking to see you, but we don’t trust her.”

  “Did she say why it was that she needed me?” In his mind, Kainen was asking why it was Upír and not Veri who had come. There was no doubt that Veri must have still been livid with him, but he remembered when he managed to look out his window and could not see a change in the sky or clouds over Veri’s kingdom. That meant that she was not in her kingdom. At the time, it had Kainen curious, but now it had him worried. What could Upír possibly want?

  “I haven’t seen Adam at all,” Dende said. Kainen had not noticed that he had drifted off into space until he heard Dende’s voice.

  “I haven’t, either,” he said. He was confused. Adam should have been back by now. Where could he have gone? It wasn’t like him to leave without saying anything. Adam had always been there for him. And Kainen knew Adam would have returned if he knew that they had found a cure.

  “Did you see him? Has he said anything?” Kainen asked. Dende shook her head. She hadn’t seen Adam since she and Siluman had gone off on their quest to save Kainen.

  What was happening?

  “I need to speak to Upír. Now.”

  Chapter Seven

  The Queen and The Pawn

  Veri felt ridiculous in the new clothes she wore. The bright pink robe she was wearing was far too short. It came well above her knees. Jesse was right though, she definitely needed to wear a belt for this dress. The shoes she wore were knee high boots but the back rose up from the ground on tiny stilts. They were higher than any shoes she had ever worn. Jesse gave her a coat that was like wrapping herself up in werewolf fur. It really was cold in this place. They had winter where she came from, but it was a cold that she could endure.

  Veri let her hair fall down past her shoulders, and it helped a bit with the cold once they had stepped outside of Jesse’s apartment. She ignored the fact that every step she took was an agonizing one.

  Veri had never been more grateful to see a taxi-horse, even though it was not something she ever thought she would see in her life anyway. She was able to rest her feet and relax. Jesse was more talkative. They had spent almost two full days together. He was open and revealed so much about himself, and he didn’t mind that Veri was mostly quiet and secretive. She couldn’t say anything to him. There was a small part of her that was worried that he was in fact a part of Adam’s grand scheme to do away with her, but there was a larger part that knew he would not understand. Even one of her answers would lead to many more of his questions. There was no time for her to explain herself and give her entire realm away to a creature from an entirely different plane of existence.

  “Oh, there’s Mark,” Jesse said when they arrived at their destination. He stuck his head out of the window and called out to a man on the sidewalk. The man recognized Jesse and smiled before beckoning to him with his hand.

  Jesse and Veri stepped out of the taxi-horse and walked in the direction of Jesse’s friend. Mark was a tall guy. He was wearing faded blue pants and boots without any long rods sticking out from the bottom of them. Veri grumbled that she wished she could have flatter shoes too. Mark had on glasses just like Jesse, only his glasses were like thick black squares. His hair was the color of a brown mouse, and it wasn’t long, though it had a way of framing the top half of his face.

  “Hey, man, didn’t know you were coming to the show tonight,” Mark said when Jesse was close enough. Veri trailed behind, covering her face with most of her blanket. She hated that it was so cold that everyone could see their own breath. Mark and Jesse quickly hugged before Jesse turned around to introduce Mark to Veri.

  “This is my friend, Veri. She’s from out of town,” Jesse gestured to Veri with a hand. Veri removed the fluffy coat from her face. It wasn’t good manners to present a face that was completely covered. She may not have been queen anywhere on this land, but she was still certainly a queen.

  Mark had been extending his hand toward Veri but stopped himself once he got a glimpse of her face. Veri waited while Mark stared at her mystified. This was an effect she could get only if she had regained her powers. She checked to see if any of her senses were now heightened, but they were still just as they were. She was as weak as a human.

  So, why was Mark looking at her in that way?

  “I’m sorry,” Mark said as he suddenly came back to life. He took her hand and gave it a shake. “You’re
just… very beautiful. Wow.”

  Veri rarely gave into flattery. She barely smiled and only nodded as a response.

  “Where do we go?” she turned and asked Jesse. He pointed in the direction of a door that was below a bright red light that was bent in the shape of letters. Veri was mystified. Everything she had seen on this island during the day was grey and lifeless except for the people walking about. But now that it was night, there was so much life and color on the very buildings she had thought were giant mausoleums. It was truly a strange and interesting place, this Staten Island.

  Veri followed Jesse through the doorway. The entrance was covered by a black cloth that revealed nothing until it was pulled away. There was even more light inside the place than Veri had anticipated. The curtain was deceiving, and Veri hadn’t expected there to be so many lights in the space. It was as if she had stepped into daylight. The lights overhead had escaped the ceiling and were pointing at different sections of the wall. Each white wall was lined with a row of photographs, just like in Jesse’s home. There were a few of them that were in black and white and others that were in color.

  Veri became curious and walked around the gallery. Jesse followed. She looked behind her and saw out of the corner of her eye that man, Mark, looking at her.

  “There is something I don’t trust about your friend,” she whispered.

  “Who, Mark? Nah, he’s harmless.”

  It was nice to know that despite losing her powers, Veri still had her intuition. It was the way Mark had looked at her. It felt less like admiration and more like… recognition, and Veri didn’t like that. The only one that she knew in this world was Adam. And if Adam had said anything to Mark about who she was or where she was from, that would explain everything.