Stone and Crow (Veiled Kingdoms: The Lost Fae Book 1)

by Stella Snow

  “Who are you?” she whispered.

  The woman tilted her head to the side, dark eyes watching intently. “I am the Morrigan. I am Babd and I am Macha.”

  “Am I dead?” Melodie asked. This feeling of nothingness…it seemed like this could be what death was like.

  The woman laughed, a deep noise that came from everywhere at once. “Not yet. Do you want to live?”

  “Yes,” she said, gaining some confidence. “I want to live, and I want my grand—I want Salathia to live too.”

  “I can help you,” the Morrigan said. Melodie didn’t move, but she found herself barely a step away from the old woman who towered over her. “Will you make me a promise?”

  She swallowed. This had to be a trap, but she was already caught. What else did she have to lose? “What do you want?”

  “In return for my help, you must swear to take the Stone to Arsadia. You will take it to the Queen, and you will use it for her.”

  Melodie looked up, meeting the Morrigan’s gaze. Those black eyes swallowed up everything she could see. A chill ran through her, leaving her feeling exposed.

  She twisted her fingers into the hem of her shirt. “That’s it? No catch?”

  “It will not be easy. Does that count as a catch, Melodie?”

  Melodie shook her head, her throat dry. “Is the Stone cursed? I read that it might be.”

  “There is no curse on it,” the Morrigan replied. “Take the chance I have offered you before you run out of time.”

  The Morrigan held out her hand. Melodie reached out, her own hand shaking with the effort it took to touch the woman willingly. The Morrigan grasped her hand tightly, and searing pain shot through the center of her palm. If she could have screamed, she would have.

  Chapter 29

  The crow’s piercing cry faded away as Melodie gasped for a breath. Tears pricked at her eyes as she blinked, trying to focus on what she saw.

  The gray place was gone and every ache and pain were a reminder that wherever she had gone, she was definitely back. Searing pain throbbed in her hand, and she lifted it without thinking. Nothing stopped the movement. The shackles were gone.

  Her guard looked back, his eyes landing on her freed hands. He lifted his hand to hit her but froze as a strange keening filled the air. Fog rolled out from the godstone, carried over the lake by a great gust of wind. It flowed over the group, blotting out the sky, and blinding them. 'No catch' sounded like a lie already.

  In one breath, everything stilled. Her guard was the only person close enough to see. His eyes glazed over. She took a step back as he was lifted off the ground. He hovered in the air, not looking at her or anything else. He was limp, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

  Leaves drifted around her ankles as everything hovered in silence around them, waiting. Melodie stood very still as she waited to be affected as well, but she stayed on the ground.

  The wind rushed through again, taking the guard with it. Throughout the fog there were screams of terror and pain. She walked forward, not sure where she was going, but knowing that she had to try to run all the same. Her heart pounded in her chest. She had no idea where Salathia was, but she had to find her. The fog was so thick she couldn’t see more than a foot in any direction. Every noise echoed around her.

  There was a scream directly behind her that spurred her to move, holding her hands out in front of her awkwardly as she tried to ward off anything that might jump out at her. That was the only thing that kept her from walking face first into the tree that her palms hit a moment later. She turned around and pressed her back against it, her eyes searching futilely through the fog.

  There was a rustle and a chirp above her head. The crow was there, its beady eyes watching her. It tilted its head the other way and chirped at her again before hopping down from the low branch onto her shoulder. She recoiled but didn’t dare try to shove it off her shoulder.

  It nudged the side of her head and she flinched. It nudged her head again, more firmly this time, and she took a cautious step to the left. It chirped and she continued to take cautious steps in that direction. She still couldn’t see, so she made slow progress with her hands stretched out in front of her.

  She wanted to so badly to scream for Salathia, but she didn’t dare. Any sound could attract unwanted attention and she had learned that she was no match for these men.

  Something grunted in front of her and she froze. The crow pecked at her ear. She swatted at it, trying to control her breathing, but the noise of movement just ahead of her had stopped. Whoever it was must have heard her. She took another cautious step forward when someone lunged at her, appearing out of the fog in a blur. She braced for the expected impact, but it never came. Stumbling backward, she turned in every direction, but there was no one near her. It had to be Kilgar again with his stupid illusions.

  The hit came out of nowhere and knocked her flat on her back. Calloused hands wrapped around her throat. She fought against the hold even more frantically as Kilgar’s yellow eyes stared down at her with loathing, his teeth bared in a bloody snarl. Her knee connected with some tender part of his side. Something warm gushed down her leg. It had to be blood. Kilgar yelled in pain and jerked back. She scrambled away, trying to get completely out from under him.

  “You can’t run from me!” he shouted as his hand closed around her foot.

  She kicked back with her free leg, but his grip didn’t break this time. Desperation made her breaths short as she tried to claw her way forward, but he was stronger. His hands pulled at her legs and she couldn’t break away. He was dragging her backward.

  Something rough scraped her palms. A rock half-buried in the dirt. She ripped it out of the ground and twisted around, bringing the rock down on his head as hard as she could. His grip loosened and warm splatters of blood hit her face and hands.

  She yanked her legs out from underneath him, flipped around, and swung the rock down on his head and felt it crack. Panic and fear took over as she smashed it down again and again as the panic and fear took over.

  Never hesitate.

  Melodie screamed in a blinding rage as she slammed the rock into his already broken skull. She couldn’t stop or he’d always be able to find her. He’d kill her. He’d hurt her grandmother. Magic surged through her and she kept smashing down, letting the magic pour down and burn his lifeless body. She felt like she was on fire too.

  The rage petered out with her magic. She dropped the rock and stared in horror at what she had done. There was so much blood that her eyes couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing. She turned her head away, panting heavily. The crow had landed on the ground just beside his head and was watching her. She tried to swallow, but her mouth and throat were dry.

  Even though Kilgar was obviously dead, she was terrified that he would wake up or move. She nudged him, but he stayed still, blood pooling around the mess that was once his head. He had long gashes down his side. She hoped they were from Salathia.

  She sat there for a few moments longer, her face and hands streaked in blood, and her hair wild around her face. A noise to her left reminded her of the danger she was still in and she shook herself. He had the Stone on him somewhere.

  Crawling around to his side, she pushed him over onto his back. Bile rose up the back of her throat as she searched, and the scent of blood became stronger and stronger. She patted at his chest and down his sides before her hand landed on a hard lump. Pulling frantically at his clothes, she was finally able to get the pocket open. The Stone tumbled out.

  She grabbed it and scooted away, frantic to be as far from his corpse as possible. The Stone was warm and heavy, sending static shooting up her arm so strongly that it was going numb. Holding onto it tightly, she stood on shaky legs, hoping that Salathia would appear out of the fog, but she was nowhere to be seen. Melodie was terrified, but she swallowed down her hesitation and shouted for Salathia. The fog remained silent. She shouted again, and again, but there was nothing.

  Clutch
ing the blood-streaked Stone to her chest, she took a hesitant step forward. She’d just killed a man and now she was alone in the Sidhe. Gavriel could be dead. Salathia could be dead. None of this was right and she had no idea what to do.

  The crow flew from the ground to its perch on her shoulder and nudged her head again. She didn’t hesitate to go where it directed her this time.

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  Stone and Crow

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  This is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and coincidental. All inquiries can be sent to info@steelfoxmedia.com.

  First edition, 2019

  Version 1.0, 2019

  Copyright © 2019 Stella Snow

  Cover © Steel Fox Media LLC

  Veiled Kingdoms: The Lost Fae (along with the plot / characters / situations / worlds) are Copyright (c) 2019-20 Stella Snow