The Sweet Series Box Set: Books 1-4

by Bailey Ardisone

  Döron countered, “Never! You do not belong here. You are not connected to this land, nor have respect for it. Just look at what you have done in your short time of dwelling. Look! Ruined! Broken and beaten! The presence of men will curse us all, and I will not stand for it. You had your chance. You were given Earth. It is the fault of none but men that much sorrow and grief run rampant there now.”

  I couldn’t help doing exactly as he asked and found myself yet again ingesting the hard, massive reality that sat in my stomach like a lump of stone by looking around at their destruction here. Breathtaking, immaculate, unspoiled Luïnil had been touched by the dirty hands of men. Already, in only two weeks’ worth of time, they had left an ugly stain that would need to be washed away. The weeping willow that currently served as the portal to the Earthly realm looked downtrodden and fragile. Darkened were the leaves that drooped with sadness. They had it surrounded with bags of concrete, stack after stack of guns, ammunition, and crates of food, clothes, and other supplies. Piles of axes, saws, and other tools were set nearby, all waiting to be used in the setting up of a new home for these humans. They truly believed they were going to make it.

  “But we’re not like that! Some of us—”

  “We said no!” Ender shouted, interrupting Mr. Ryan’s further attempt to convince everyone that they could stay. He had started off cocky, sneering, and a major jerk. Now? He had the voice of a saint.

  “They’re right, you all need to go,” I said to the Ryans, concerned for their lifespan. I didn’t trust Mr. Ryan, and if I didn’t, that meant no one else would. If I had any chance of upholding my promise to Zaylie, I needed to get them out of here quick. Then I said louder to the rest of the people watching us, “Did you hear all that? You have to go!”

  Ender took my arm, “And what of it then? Do you intend to destroy the passageway? We do not have the means necessary to close the portal or to enchant it from human usage. The High Eldar of old have not been seen in these lands for many cycles. What is to stop them from re-entering our domain once our backs are turned?” He took several steps closer to the destruction they caused, specifically the grotesque affect the immortality flowers had on the land spanning out around the crops. “Have you no understanding of what defilement this is? They have brought great shame here. They should pay for their crimes at once to set an example for others who should try following in their footsteps. We should not let them go freely, and the tree must be destroyed.”

  “No way! We are not destroying the tree. That’s an order!” I yelled out to all the elves in my presence. I didn’t know why, but it scared me half to death thinking about losing my way back to the Earthly realm. “Ender, if what you say is true and we can’t enchant the tree, then the only thing to do is to let them go.”

  He looked at me like I had completely lost my mind. “Just listen, okay? I say that because then they can warn the others who are planning on coming here as we speak. It’s better in the long run to allow them to live. Right?” I nodded my head around the group, looking for validation in my statements. I made a face at Rydan. Hello? Back me up here!

  “Uh, yeah.” He cleared his throat. “She’s right, you know. It sounds legit. If there’s anyone who wants to go back, uh, instead of being killed, they should.” He swiveled around in a slow circle, talking to the crowd of humans that had started to gather cautiously. “But make sure you don’t let others come back in your place, got it?”

  The Tavas soldiers disagreed adamantly. They made objections and excuses in one big cloud of murmurings. I couldn’t even understand what they were saying anymore—it turned into a giant ball of gibberish attacking my ears. Except one thing was crystal clear. They wanted the humans dead and the tree destroyed.

  “Hold on.” I held up my hands. “The tree is not getting harmed. That’s final. We should go find those High Eldar people so they can turn the portal into an Ëlemmiire. But first, let’s just see if we can get people to agree to leave and never come back. Okay?”

  Ender shot me down, “We do not have a moment to waste on this, Nariella! We must hunt down Ohtar and end his tirade before he can take back Aselaira as his. You are only once again causing a delay in the most important task of our time—saving our kingdom!”

  That hurt. But he was right. I was too human—I let compassion distract me from what needed to be done. I would make a horrible queen. Even still, I had to defend the innocent humans that did not need to die today!

  Mycah snapped the neck of the man he held up like he was nothing. I stared wide-eyed in shock. I didn’t even know the guy’s name. The rainclouds above dried up then, their showers ceasing to fall. Mycah faced everyone with a look of determination in his eyes. His midnight hair was soaked in that sexy way that I felt drawn to even now through all of this, and each drop of water that fell from the long strands hit the ground below in time with the beating of my heart. It seemed like we were moving in slow motion.

  “This is what’s going to happen, so listen closely,” he said. A blast of thunder exploded in the sky, as if to back up the notion that there would be no messing with him or his decision on what to do next.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Mycah continued, “Every person I deem worthy of leaving may go. But if I read in your mind and detect one ounce of treachery brewing in your hearts, I will kill you on sight.”

  The crowd of people protested. Complaints, excuses, and even pleading on hands and knees broke out into a song of resistance. All elves that were present took great care to capture any person that tried to run away or who caused a ruckus.

  Mycah tossed the bodyguard’s corpse out into the open. “Let this man serve as your example. He was a murderer. A sick, vile animal who hurt others only to gain for himself. It is the same with that man Nikolai who lies slain over there. You may join them, if you wish, or you may go and live out the rest of your lives in the Earthly realm where you belong. But you will not stay here. And you will not think of this place ever again. It is but a distant dream to you—one that will never come true for as long as you live. And that will not be forever.”

  Mr. Ryan shouted, “What are you going to do about the other facilities around the world? You’ll never stop them from coming here. They’ll keep trying to. That bloke over there—Nikolai? He was nobody. He was leader of the artillery—this group of hundreds of men—but he was still a nobody when it comes to the chain of command in this organization. And the same goes for me. So really, what are you going to do to stop us?”

  Mycah stalked the small space between his body and Mr. Ryan’s and pinned him with a look that could’ve killed. He lowered his face before his and with a calm but steely voice said, “I do not know. But trust me—I’ll find a way. Now. Get. Out.”

  After snatching the immortality flowers from Mr. Ryan’s clutches, Mycah let the leafy ropes drop from around his legs. Zaylie and I hugged the crap out of each other for her father being spared—just barely. I wasn’t quite certain he deserved it, but I knew it would’ve gutted my best friend and her family to watch him be killed right in front of their eyes. Regardless of his past mistakes, nothing would’ve helped them recover from seeing that.

  Then he unexpectedly darted toward Mycah and reclaimed the immortality flowers. I was surprised, since Mycah normally would’ve deflected, never being caught off guard. But he allowed this. I just didn’t understand why yet.

  “Not until I get what I want,” Mr. Ryan shouted at Mycah. He sprinted over to a cluster of items that had fallen on the ground and grabbed something I couldn't see from where I stood.

  “Michael, don’t!” Mrs. Ryan begged her husband, grabbing hold of his arm.

  “I have to do this, honey.” There was raw sweetness in his voice. As he continued, I could hear the evident pain he carried with him because of his disease, “I can’t let this all go to waste. I refuse to let it slip through my fingers, just as I reached the cusp of success.”

  I looked to Mycah and the other elves, expecting them to
stop him. But they didn’t. I realized then that Mycah had his hand held up to the surrounding creatures of Luïnil, keeping them at bay. What was going on?

  Mr. Ryan squeezed the juice from the berries that were contained in the middle of the flowers in a small bowl. Using a syringe, he drew in the liquid and then injected it into his veins.

  “Mycah, are you sure?” I questioned, my astonishment only growing by leaps and bounds. How could they allow him to do this? They were okay with a human turning immortal?

  “It’s alright, love. It won’t work. And apparently he’ll only move on if he realizes this for himself.” Mycah kept his eyes on Mr. Ryan, despite talking to me.

  “It won’t? How do you know?” I turned back to watch Mr. Ryan myself.

  “Men have been trying to conjure a way to stop aging and death for centuries. This is no different. But they will never succeed in creating immortality. It can’t be attained through injection, pills, or any other kind of gimmick. You are either born immortal, or you aren’t.” Mycah crossed his arms and waited for the results.

  “It will work!” Mr. Ryan argued. “It has to. This is the farthest we’ve come to gaining immortality. We’ve had major breakthroughs! It has to work.”

  Mycah gestured with one hand for Mr. Ryan to go inside the wooden cabin that sat across the way. “Shall we have a look?”

  “It, it, it might need more time,” Mr. Ryan stammered. “It took twelve hours to grow the first plants, but only five to grow the ones injected with the Healer’s blood. We should give it time to work its magic in my veins as well.”

  “You really think it’s going to miraculously make you immortal in what—five hours? That’s ridiculous,” Rydan objected. Like him, I began to also believe Mycah that it wouldn't work. It did seem like a bunch of bologna.

  “How can you not have faith in your own magic?” he countered.

  “That’s just it. It’s our magic. Not yours. It’s not going to work on you,” Rydan replied. I was surprised to hear him claim the magic, but liked it. I looped my arm with his and smiled up at him. He ignored me. Typical.

  “Fine. I’ll prove it to you! There should be some sort of reaction already, even if just a small bit.” He started walking away.

  “It’s not going to work, mate!” Mycah huffed. “Would you like me to tell you how I know for certain? Because you’re depending on it to work due to the fact Nariella is a Healer, correct? I hate to break it to you, but she’s no longer a Healer. The magic isn’t in her blood.”

  “You’re lying!” Mr. Ryan stormed toward the building, which I started to assume must be a lab of some sort.

  “Stay here,” Mycah stated to everyone, then followed him.

  We all waited anxiously for the results, though what Mycah said made me seriously wonder. Would my lost healing ability really affect the outcome? All I could think about if it didn’t work was what if they had taken my blood before I lost my ability…would he be turning into an immortal right now, if that had been the case? Would it have worked then? I blinked, the gravity of the situation hitting me hard. In this moment, I was suddenly glad I lost my gift.

  I remained cuddled in Rydan’s side and held Zaylie’s hand, who was holding onto her mom’s. Desmond stood behind Zaylie with his hands on her shoulders, and Lachlan waited off to the side with his arms crossed. He kept shifting, giving me the impression he was nervous. I felt bad suddenly, realizing he was suffering the same fate as his uncle. Poor guy. He needed this just as much as Mr. Ryan did.

  Not long later, Mycah emerged from the tiny house with a stoic expression. He exclaimed plainly, “It didn’t work.”

  Oh, thank goodness. There was a mixture of happy noises and sad noises throughout the crowd, depending on where it was coming from. The disappointment in the Ryans and rest of the humans who gathered around could be felt equally as strong as the relief felt by the elves. It was like a wave that emanated from each being present. I was one of the elves relieved, but there was a part of me that ached for Zaylie. I comforted the Ryans as best as I could. I truly felt for their family. Mrs. Ryan left to take care of her husband, and Desmond eventually followed her.

  “I’m so sorry, Zales,” I whispered to her.

  She shrugged. “I’ll be right back.”

  I nodded and watched her join her family, along with Lachlan.

  Mycah turned to Ender, “We’ll station soldiers at the portal. Both in the Earthly realm and here until the High Eldar can be located. But before we begin a second search party, we go take care of Ohtar. I’m sure he is anxiously waiting for me.”

  “Yes, My Lord.” Ender grimaced. Although he was probably sore from not getting his way about what to do with the humans, he still bowed ceremoniously before jumping straight to work. He sprinted over to Cílon and a few others. I joined them, feeling left out since I was their queen, after all.

  “Um, what are you doing?” I asked, popping my head into the circle of elves.

  “Nariella, this does not concern you,” Ender replied.

  “Yeah, it kind of does. You wanted me to be queen. Well, here I am. Queen. So how about you let me be one?” I crossed my arms defiantly.

  He smiled at me. “Alright, if you insist. Relay your orders on how the exodus should be set up, as well as cleaned up, and then defended afterward. I shall wait here.” He pointed to a spot on the ground and stepped onto it. He mimicked my stance by crossing his arms, too. I glared at him. He was so much like me. Or, I was like him. It wasn't funny. And I didn’t think I liked it either in this particular moment.

  Zaylie tugged on my arm. “Nari, what does this mean for us? Are they going to let my dad and cousin live?”

  Oh, crap. Now I wanted to go spend the last minutes I had with my best friend. But I should do some queen-type duties, shouldn’t I? I wanted to gain their respect and trust. This was the way to do it. Only, Zaylie…I had no idea when I’d see her again.

  I shot an apologetic look to Ender and bit my lip. Oops. I shrugged my shoulders and looked back between Zaylie and the soldiers. “Umm, raincheck?”

  “Go on, my dear. Take pleasure in the moments you have. For they will be few,” Ender warned. He patted me on the shoulder, and I nodded my head.

  “Yes! You’re all going to live. See? There’s a bright side to all this. And! Promise. Kept. Let’s go celebrate while they clean up the mess.” I snatched up Zaylie’s hands and dragged her out of the commotion. My goal was to cheer her up and use the best of our little time together that we had been so blessed with. I noticed Desmond and called out to him, “Hey! Desmond the Menace! Come on.”

  Once he reached us, I gave him a huge hug. Pushing all the heavy, sad crap away, I couldn’t believe they were here—in Luïnil! That was crazy. I never thought this would happen. Rydan sidled up to us with Naminé and Cathar at his side.

  “Bloody hell, why is there a tiger behind you?” Desmond shrieked.

  Zaylie beamed, “Oh, right! She’s wild, isn’t she? Believe me, I was freaked by her too, but don’t worry, Des. She won’t hurt you.”

  Her obvious elation over her family being spared oozed out of her. Then when Lissë joined our group, she screamed excitedly and fangirled over seeing and touching a real live unicorn for over five minutes. Desmond was confused and had no idea what she was talking about, because to him, she looked like a regular horse. It made Zaylie incredibly frustrated at her twin brother, and I couldn’t help laughing at the two of them fighting over what my Fëa was.

  Rydan explained simply, “Dude, just believe.”

  “Just believe? What is she, Tinkerbell? Are you bloody joking? I’m not Peter Effing Pan. You dags are only playing a trick on me. Now come off it already,” Desmond argued.

  Rydan grabbed his shoulder and gave him a stern stare. “I’m serious. Just believe.”

  “Yeah, Des! Believe,” Zaylie squealed. She clasped her hands together in front of her like she usually did, and I giggled at the familiarity of it. I loved being with these two.
r />   We all started a slow, rhythmic clap as we chanted, “Believe. Believe. Believe.”

  The frustration that gradually melted into understanding on Desmond’s face was priceless. The change between not seeing a unicorn and seeing one was so clear and visible, I immediately broke out into a laugh. Desmond’s eyes were bigger and wider than I had ever seen them, and he stumbled back a step in shock.

  “I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten used to this place. Good bloody riddance,” he murmured. But then he smiled, and Lissë touched her smooth nose to his cheek, which made him blush as he wiped it away.

  “Let’s go, we need some girl time,” I whispered to Zaylie. She agreed, and we took off running to a more secluded spot. Her mother yelled for her not to go far, and we waved at her to show we had heard.

  We collapsed onto the ground; our backs flush to the cushioned, huggable grass. Lissë lay next to me, her warmth seeping into my side. I held Zaylie’s hand like it would be my last time I would ever get to see her. I was saddened, but I was grateful for this moment most of all.

  “I knew all along those immortality seeds wouldn’t have worked,” she stated matter-of-fact as she stared up into the rolling clouds.

  “Really? Not me. I thought for sure evil, rotten men were going to get their hands on immortality, and we have enough wickedness in this realm as it is,” I replied.

  “I mean I hoped it would. But there was always that doubt in my heart that knew it wouldn’t, as much as I tried to ignore it, for my father’s sake. But we humans don’t know how to control magic. So I couldn’t fully get myself to believe they’d work. Not the way the Black Eagles wanted them to. They might have really hoped that they did as well, but I bet when it came down to it, even they knew in the back of their minds they’d fail again. You don’t mess with magic. You know?”

  “Yeah, I know. You’re probably right. I feel bad, though. I get why they wanted to come here. They spent their whole lives believing in this place and hoping that one day they’d make it. And without immortality, what would be the point? They’d lose it after growing in old age and dying. It would’ve been all that work to get here for nothing. It makes sense to try and invent a way to enjoy this place forever.”