Harvest of the Gods

by Sumida, Amy

  “Agreed,” Fenrir nodded, “and one more thing, Rouva,” he slid a box across the table to me. “I'll tell you when I want this back.”

  I opened the box and inside was the Rouva torque, the symbol of my status with the wolves. I smiled, swallowed hard, closed it, and sent it flying back across the table to him. His mouth dropped open, his eyebrows raising.

  “Keep it,” I shot a glance at Emma, “I have a feeling you're going to need it sooner than you think.” Fenrir blushed and I laughed.

  Emma, sitting beside him, gave him a thoughtful look.

  “You still staying with the Froekn?” I asked her.

  “Yes, for now,” she shrugged. “Fenrir's been kind enough to put me up until I get my life back together.”

  “You can stay as long as you want,” he looked panicked all of a sudden.

  “Maybe even forever,” I gave her a secret smile and she started to blush, matching Fenrir's red face perfectly.

  Chapter Thirty

  “Where are we?” I looked around the place where the last bunch of Froekn had died.

  I remembered it with great clarity, but the pall the Darkness had brought was gone and it seemed to be a new place entirely, much brighter even though it was currently night, and filled with life. I could hear animals in the underbrush and smell the scent of earth, wood, and musk. There was life, green things growing and sleeping flowers.

  “The site of the last murders,” Fenrir frowned at me. “Where you wanted to be brought.”

  “No, I know that,” I huffed. “I meant where are we in the world? What is our exact location? And I don't want latitude and longitude either.”

  “Oh,” Fenrir gave a little huff of a laugh. “Yosemite.”

  “Wait,” my hand stopped in the process of reaching for the handkerchief with the scent on it. “The Froekn killed by Demeter... they were killed in Yosemite too.”

  “Da,” Kirill looked around thoughtfully.

  “So?” Fenrir was back to frowning.

  “So why would two killings by two different people be done in the same park?” Emma, at least, was following along with me and Kirill.

  “It's a big park,” Fenrir looked like he didn't want the killings to be connected and I could understand that. If Demeter was in cahoots with this other god, their combined power would be astronomical.

  “It's an even bigger world,” Trevor ran a hand through his thick hair. “It's a little too much of a coincidence, Dad.”

  “Look, let's worry about the ramifications later,” I pulled out the cloth and opened it. There was a smear of dirt in the center and the fey odor sprang up from it like it had been waiting for me. “Here's what we're tracking, everybody get a good whiff.”

  The handkerchief was passed along, everyone but Emma getting a chance at it. Before the last Froekn held the cloth though, I'd already caught the trail. It was old but even two days couldn't mask it from my dragon senses. I ran forward and the Froekn followed.

  As opposed to the times I rode with The Wild Hunt, this hunting expedition was silent. No one wanted to warn our prey that we were coming. We couldn't afford to lose any advantage. So we slunk through the dark forest, Fenrir finally picking Emma up when it became apparent that she didn't have the skills needed to navigate the forest silently. Although I don't think he minded carrying her at all.

  The trail took us deep into the wilderness of Yosemite but then, after what seemed like hours, it opened up, running alongside a road. We all stopped, looking up and down the line of asphalt highlighted by moonlight. There weren't any cars to be seen at that hour of night, but the road looked well maintained. I smiled as I thought about what the fey's reaction to motor vehicles must have been.

  “This is Mariposa Grove,” Trevor announced, “look at the sequoias.”

  Sure enough, the smaller trees from the dense wilderness had petered off and been replaced by giant sequoias. The giant trees reminded me a little of the ones in the Forgetful Forest of Faerie but they were thinner than the massive fey trees, the bark rougher and more red in color. Oh, and they didn't breathe. But I could see how a faerie would be attracted to them, a little reminder of home in the Human Realm.

  So I wasn't surprised when the trail led us around several trees and then finally through the grove and into the wilderness again. The trail didn't venture too far from the grove, just a little bit past it. The traitorous fey must have liked the sequoias so much, he wanted to stay nearby. So we were led to the base of a large tree, where a hole tunneled down under its roots. Hanging in the hole, attached to roots by pieces of dirty string, were bits of bone. They shifted gently in the breeze, clicking together like a warning, and I wondered if it was supposed to be some kind of alarm system or just a way of keeping animals away.

  “Fuck,” I peered down into the cramped dark. “How are we gonna get him out?”

  “How about a little fire, dragon lady?” Trevor gave me a wink.

  “Oh, right,” I laughed and knelt down next to the hole.

  I blew a thin line of flame right into the hole, even though the fire was small, it illuminated both the hole and a little of the surrounding forest. The hole went about four feet down into a little burrow, where a small fey screamed and drew back.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I called down to him.

  “Wherever you are?” I heard Fenrir whisper behind me. “We know where it is, it's down that hole.”

  “It's a human thing,” Emma, who Fenrir had yet to put on her feet, whispered back to him.

  “Don't hurt me,” a tiny voice cried pathetically from the dark.

  “Come out here then,” I moved away from the opening. “If you don't, I'll have to turn up the heat a bit.”

  “Cease, Fire Queen,” I heard a scrambling, the clicking of those bones, and then he came crawling out.

  Emma gave a yip as Trevor caught the fey, holding him aloft and away from himself as dirt went flying off the creature.

  “Oh god!” Emma cringed against Fenrir, who was happy to comfort her. “It's a giant rat. Drop it before it bites you.”

  “All you see is a rat?” I looked over at her with wide eyes and then back at the fey, who was struggling against Trevor's hold. “Stop your wriggling,” I pointed at him and he gave up the fight, hanging there dejectedly.

  “It's not a rat?” Emma peered closer. “I'm sorry, all I see is a gigantic rodent.”

  “He does kind of look like a rat, I guess,” I looked over his tattered clothing, the bristling dark hair that covered his skin, his long red snout, and thin, hairless tail. Did all the fey appear to be something normal when they were in the Human Realm? Maybe it was a type of automatic glamor.

  “Drop the glamor,” I ordered and he glared at me before he glowed briefly and Emma gasped.

  “What the hell is that?” She gaped at him.

  “That's a faerie,” I gave her a sardonic look. “Not exactly Tinkerbell, huh?”

  Suddenly, one of the faerie's little clawed hands reached out and swiped at Trevor. Trevor cried out and dropped the fey.

  “Oh hell no,” I jumped on him, grabbing both of his little arms and pulling them behind his back. The fey was only about two feet tall but he was feisty. “Anyone got some rope?”

  “Here, let me try this,” Trevor growled, shaking blood off his hand. He pulled the belt from his waist and knelt beside me. Holding one end, he wrapped the other around the fey's arms over and over until the buckle reached the first end, and then buckled it securely. “There,” he huffed with satisfaction.

  “Excellent,” I looked over the trussed up faerie and then around the forest. “I don't think there's anything else for us here. Shall we take him back to Pride Palace or would you rather interrogate him in your Hall, Dad?”

  “Bring him to my Hall,” Fenrir smiled and the fey started to shake. I didn't blame him, the way Fenrir was smiling even gave me the chills.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The little ratty fey was strapped to a cha
ir much too large for him. It looked ridiculous, he was bound with enough rope to hold a Froekn, the width of the rope layers was almost as wide as he was. His little feet were sticking straight out, barely visible beneath the rope overkill, and his chin just cleared the edge of the top.

  The fey alternated between hissing and trying to bite anyone who came near, and pleading for his life pathetically. His snout twitched constantly, scenting the air like it might hold the secrets to his escape, while his beady eyes roamed the room just as furiously. It was unsettling and I was thankful Fenrir had taken over the interrogation.

  “Alright you little waste of magic,” Fenrir growled. “You've got one more chance to tell me who the Darkness belongs to before I start ripping off appendages.”

  The fey whimpered, cringed, and stared at Fenrir with eyes gone round, but he didn't speak.

  “Fine,” Fenrir started the long process of freeing one of the fey's arms.

  “Cease,” the fey cried, “hold off, Wolf King! I will tell you.”

  “Go on then,” Fenrir squatted down to face him better.

  “It is no god,” the fey started looking even more rat-like, his face creasing into amused lines, “but a goddess. A beautiful dark goddess. She is the Darkness and the Darkness is her. She consumes souls to fill the need. The Darkness has a great need.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Fenrir looked like he was going to do some ripping anyway.

  “Wait,” I put a hand on his shoulder. “Let me try.” Fenrir got up and moved over for me. “What is the need of the Darkness? What doesn't it have?”

  “Everything,” the rat thing giggled. “It is nothing. Loneliness, anger, helplessness. Every empty feeling is what it is but nothing that fills. Nothing that warms or satisfies. No breath, no blood, no brine, no stone.”

  “Breath, blood, brine, and stone,” I mulled it over. “Those are all integral parts of the blessings of the fey houses. It has no elements,” I focused on the fey intently and he stopped his giggling.

  “Fire Queen,” he spoke gravely, “you know the Darkness.”

  “I've touched it,” I confirmed, “but I don't know the name of the dark goddess. Name the dark, do it now or I won't bother returning you to Faerie, I'll let the wolves have you.”

  “No,” at first the fey looked around at the looming Froekn and cringed, but then he seemed to reconsider and his face smoothed into acceptance. “So be it, they are better than the Hunt.”

  “Shit,” I shook my head. I hadn't thought of that. Faerie justice would indeed be harsher than the Froekn's. “Alright then, I reverse it. If you don't tell us who she is, I'll take you back to the Fire King directly and the Host will have some sport.”

  “No, Queen Vervain,” he whimpered, realizing his mistake. “I... please don't kill me, I couldn't help but serve her, she's so beautiful, so wicked, like the most capricious faerie. Oh, she is magnificent, my beautiful Andrasta.”

  “Andrasta!” Fenrir shouted and the room went silent. The only sound was that of the fey moaning and then of UnnúlfR's harsh breathing.

  “No,” UnnúlfR finally spoke. “No, I killed her. She's dead, that fucking traitor is dead!”

  “The Darkness is hard to kill,” the fey whispered, all laughter gone. “No weapon made by man or god can unmake the dark.”

  “No weapon made,” I whispered, something about the words was tugging at me.

  I thought back to the battle in Asgard, the one where I'd attacked Anubis. Andrasta, UnnúlfR's ex-lover, had shown up and he'd attacked her. I remembered the way he'd lifted her up and crushed her throat, how her head had fallen limply to the side. She had fallen back and ribbons of darkness had caught her and consumed her. UnnúlfR had been so certain that she was dead, that he hadn't just broke her neck but torn her head nearly off.

  There was no reason to question him, we all had thought she was dead, but if Andrasta had taken what the Darkness had offered Nepthys, maybe she was harder to kill than the rest of the gods. Maybe cutting off her head wouldn't be enough. But if that was the case, what would be enough. How do you kill the dark?

  “It would explain why the Froekn is being attacked,” Trevor looked over to his brother with grim eyes. “But this isn't your fault, brother.”

  “Yes, it is,” UnnúlfR growled. “I brought her into our lives.”

  “You fell in love,” I went over to him and put a hand on his arm, feeling the butterflies rise for him. So I sent a pulse of magic into him, releasing the butterflies, to try and heal the wound in his heart. “Love can make us do stupid things.”

  I felt the magic dive down into him and I let it go, so it could do its work without binding us. He shuddered and sighed, then the magic rushed back into me with a delighted little shimmer.

  “Sister,” UnnúlfR put his hand over mine, staring at me with shining eyes. I smiled, realizing that it was the first time he'd named me kin. “I should have known, should have been more careful.”

  “There was no way you could have known,” I remembered what Nephthys had told me and together with what the fey had just said, I came to a conclusion. “Nephthys recognized the dark taint of Andrasta's magic, she told me that when the Atlanteans had first come to human shores, there had been a darkness there that approached them and offered them power in exchange for hosting it. Andrasta must have accepted the magic and it must have changed her. I doubt she's even capable of love with that thing inside her. It's a void, an emptiness, there is no love inside it. You fell in love with a woman twisted by the dark.”

  “Vervain's right,” Trevor nodded. “There's no blame here except on Andrasta for being stupid enough to take on a dark magic. Let your guilt go and let's focus on finding her.”

  “But back then,” I thought again of the battle, “in Asgard, you weren't affected by the Darkness as Torrent and I were. I wonder why.”

  “No,” UnnúlfR agreed, “I didn't feel anything like what you've described. Her magic must have grown since then if she can kill Froekn without a fight.”

  “Grown how?” Trevor looked over at me with a raised brow.

  “Good question but what I'd really like to know,” I looked back over at the squirming fey, “is how to destroy her.”

  “I don't know the weakness of the Dark Goddess,” the fey gave me a solemn face but his eyes twitched. “I told you no weapon made can destroy her.”

  “You know something though,” I put my face down near his and felt the dragon rise inside of me, to stare out of my eyes. “What did she do with the faeries and Froekn she took?”

  “She fed them to the dark.”

  “Fed them?” I felt the claws spring from my hands and everyone around me took a step back. All the fey could do was whimper. “The Froekn looked terrified but there were no marks on them, nothing to indicate a feeding.”

  “The wolves were just scared by the dark, she tried to feed but couldn't consume them.” The fey was crying and I wanted to sympathize with him but I couldn't. I felt nothing for him but anger. “The faeries were eaten.”

  “She ate them? That's why there were no bodies?” I was horrified.

  “Not like that,” he was shaking, “I don't know exactly. Darkness has an empty belly, no breath-”

  “Yes, yes,” I sliced a hand through the air and nearly decapitated him. “No elements. You've already said-” I stopped mid-sentence, frowning as something again tugged at my memory. “I need some time to think this through. Something doesn't add up. Or maybe it does and I just can't see it.” I could feel my teeth clenching and my claws clicked as I flexed my fingers. “Demeter,” the fey flinched at the name. Oh yeah, he knew her. “Is she working with Andrasta?”

  “That one I don't like,” the faerie whispered. “She has fought beside my goddess, so my lady trusts her but I don't trust her.”

  “That's right,” I exhaled harshly. “Persephone buried Demeter before the battle could really begin but they were both in Asgard that night.”

  “Demeter told my goddess abo
ut the wolves,” the fey shot quick glances at Fenrir. “Andrasta wanted faeries not Froekn.”

  I heard UnnúlfR expel a relieved breath and I looked over to give him a sad smile. “See, the Froekn were attacked because of something I did, not you.”

  “This is not your fault either, Rouva,” it was more than I expected from UnnúlfR and it went a long way toward easing my own guilt. “We'll get them both.”

  “Yes, we will,” I narrowed my eyes on the fey. “First things first, where is Demeter?”

  “Demeter lives in the God Realm,” the fey squirmed against the ropes.

  “We know where she lives,” I smacked his chest to stop his squirming. “She's not there. Where else would she go?”

  “How do you know she's not there?”

  “We went in and looked.” I narrowed my eyes on him.

  “You couldn't have,” they fey wiggled against the ropes. “I laid the spell myself. No one could get past that.”

  “You,” my mouth fell open. “That's why it felt so familiar. It was fey magic.”

  “How did you get past my ward?”

  “I have a friend who's good at wards,” I waved a hand through the air, dismissing his questions. “Never mind that, Demeter's not there.”

  “Look harder,” he glared at me. “She's there. She's a very tricky goddess and she knows how to hide. Believe me, she's there.”

  My stomach clenched and my eyes shot to Fenrir. “You need to send more wolves to warn the Froekn you left at Demeter's.”

  “I agree,” Fenrir looked over to Ty, his third son. “Take a group over and check on them.” Ty nodded and headed out immediately.

  “Why does Andrasta want faeries?” My mind was finally piecing things together. “Why couldn't she consume the wolves? The Froekn have magic too.”

  “Magic, yes,” the fey shrugged as much as he could being tied so tightly. “Elements, no.”

  “Elements,” it kept coming back to the elements. Fey magic was based around them but what did fey magic have to do with a dark magic that had roamed the Human Realm before even the gods had appeared? “The Darkness has no elements. It's nothing, the absence of elements. Un-magic,” I remembered what Torrent had called it.