Moonlight War- Act I (The Realmers Book 2)

by William Collins

  “Your sister’s gone Adam, stolen from us by the enemy.”

  “But--but that’s not fair. She was ours, they can’t do that, we have to get her back.”

  Galk flinched at Adam’s tone. No one dared to talk to Kalkavan like Adam did. He wondered why his Lord didn’t kill the boy.

  “Stop whining,” Kalkavan snapped. “You were supposed to keep an eye on her. If you hadn’t let yourself get taken away by this world’s authorities you could’ve warned me before they took her. Fool.”

  “That wasn’t my fault,” Adam cried. “I only killed one person. It’s so unfair.”

  “Quiet. What matters is getting her back.”

  “Yes,” Adam nodded eagerly.

  Galk spoke up. “Remember the report I received last night, your grace. Our spy in in Kurrlan’s army, Arok, told me the one Kurrlan stole from Veneseron was a boy. Someone so important it was worth Kurrlan invading Veneseron.”

  “What else does Arok know?”

  Galk shrugged. “That was the last message he sent. He likely died invading Veneseron.”

  “You think the boy Kurrlan took from Veneseron is also a spawn? So Vanderain has two hidden away in his Fortress now?” Kalkavan growled, tracing the large scar running across his chest. The scar Vanderain had given him. “I’ll enjoy the day I give Vanderain what he’s owed. Do you know how Kurrlan found a way into Veneseron? How could such a worm invade the realm when I cannot?”

  “He had people on the inside, lord.”

  “If it was that easy Veneseron would’ve fallen long ago. Akirandon could’ve invaded many times.”

  “Kurrlan struck at the right moment however,” said Galk. “When Vanderain had been gone from Veneseron for a long time, his defence of the world had weakened the longer he was away and Kurrlan used this to have his servants open a portal from inside Veneseron itself.”

  “But Vanderain has the boy back now, and my Brooke. I must have her back, and I’ll take the boy too. If it wasn’t for me, neither of my fellow Disciples would’ve been able to create them, the spawn are mine by right.”

  “But how? Veneseron will be on high alert for traitors inside their ranks, and there can be no way into its realm now Vanderain is back.”

  “There’s always a way,” Kalkavan said. “Adam, you’re to enter Veneseron. You will pose as a normal boy here on Earth, one who’s just discovered his magic. The Veneseron fools will come for you and offer training. You will play dumb, pretend to be weak in sorcery. And you will behave Adam, or you will ruin everything, and I will pluck the tongue from your mouth and force you to eat it, understand?”

  Adam nodded meekly.

  “Don’t interact with Brooke.” Kalkavan ordered. “You’re not skilled enough to incapacitate her and the other spawn boy and bring them to me.”

  “I am too,” Adam looked hurt.

  “No, you’re a maggot. Learn the identity of the male spawn and then escape from Veneseron. I shall wait for Brooke and the other spawn to leave Veneseron on their little missions and snatch them there.”

  “But how will you find them?” Galk asked. “Vanderain may block Brooke’s imprint from you. And you’ve never met the male spawn, so won’t be able to track him.”

  Kalkavan roared in fury. He’d imprinted Brooke when he left her in the care of her fake family, so he’d always be able to find her anywhere in the realms. He’d planned on taking her back the moment she next left Veneseron for a mission.

  “I was going to have you take a drop of the boy’s blood so I could imprint him, but you’ll have to do it with Brooke too.” Kalkavan rounded on Adam.

  “Yes Master, but… won’t Brooke recognise me?”

  “No, come here.” He placed a hand on Adam’s head. Slowly Adam’s light brown hair turned a dark auburn, his eyes changed from brown to blue. His skin lightened from bronze to pale, his lips bloomed red and with a pop his nose grew twice as wide.”

  “What have you done?” Adam cried. “I have to wear illusion magic the whole time.”

  “Not illusion,” said Kalkavan, “it’s permanent.”

  “What, but I-”

  “Silence. Now I’ll give you several months to do this. And I’ll place a block on your mind before you go. The Veneseron instructors read the minds of those they suspect to be traitors, I’ll make sure they can’t do this to you. You’ll need time to settle in, to play the Novice. Do not befriend Brooke. Don’t even speak to her, just get a drop of her blood. You must take some from the male spawn too, and don’t do it on the same day, idiot boy.

  “Here, take these Mechgots.” Kalkavan pressed two Mechgots into Adam’s hand.

  Galk had used Mechgots before. They were like mechanical maggots, their metal tongues like pins, which they use to suck out blood.

  “Use the Mechgots as you pass the spawn and are in a crowded place,” said Kalkavan. “It will take a small amount of their blood and they’ll only feel a pinprick. Once you have their blood, escape from Veneseron and return to me.”

  “How do I escape, won’t this Vanderain know if I open a portal from the inside?”

  “From many sources we’ve learned that Veneseron has a great city. They will have public portals, use one. And Adam, whatever you do, do not attack or be cruel in any way to your soon-to-be fellow trainees. If the instructors suspect you’re anything but a lowly Novice they will look into your mind. The block I place in your head won’t stand up to Vanderain himself, so give them no cause to test you. Finally, you need a new name.”

  “Can I be called Tarensen?” Adam asked.

  Kalkavan scowled.

  “What, I heard the name before? I think it’s cool. What about Hitler then? He’s pretty cool too.”

  Kalkavan back handed Adam across the jaw.

  “Ow, okay. I’ll be Gary. It was the name of that boy I killed outside my house.”

  Kalkavan nodded. “Good. Now I’ll leave you in the next city along. Do a small spell, but do it repeatedly. Soon enough the Venators will track and recruit you.”

  “Yes my lord,” Adam bowed low. “I won’t let you down again.”

  “If you do, I’ll kill you,” Kalkavan said simply. “Remember to blend in with the Venators, don’t give into your nature. No attacking and torturing people, Adam. Once you return with the spawns’ blood, I’ll give you as many victims to torment as you like.”

  Adam giggled. “I can’t wait to see Brooke again.”

  *

  As Brooke walked across Veneseron’s fields on her way to the forest, she came across the person she hated most in the Fortress.

  Lyella and her group of followers sat around a water fountain, the others laughing hysterically at some joke Lyella had made; probably at someone else’s expense.

  I don't have time for this, Brooke gritted her teeth and walked on, hoping Lyella didn't look round and see her.

  "Ah Brookey, has Arantay gone missing?"

  Ushk!

  Lyella stood up, her three friends flanking her as she made a beeline for Brooke. Brooke had learned the names of Lyella's cohorts from Emillia. Cleo was the brunette with big pouty lips and skin drenched in fake tan. Then Dionne, who had dreadlocks and was the tallest girl Brooke had ever seen. Lastly was Scarletta, who resembled a sweet china doll with silky red hair and a face full of freckles. However, Emi had told Brooke that beneath Scarletta’s sweetness was a personality as cruel as Lyella's.

  “I bet Tay left to get away from you,” Lyella continued. “He needed to skip realms to escape his clingy stalker.”

  Brooke remained silent and kept on walking. Maybe they'd leave her alone. No such luck.

  “I reckon Tay's just too nice to tell you to leave him alone,” Lyella smirked.

  “I bet he finds you disgusting,” Scarletta added.

  “Repulsive,” said Cleo.

  “Are your lives so empty that you have to get your kicks making fun of others?” Brooke replied despite herself.

  “Watch your mouth little girl.” Dionne ste
pped forward.

  “Before we slap it off,” Cleo warned.

  Brooke knew she couldn't get into another fight, especially not when she was so outnumbered.

  She walked faster toward the forest.

  “Ha, that showed her," Scarletta screeched, “she's Ushk-scared of us now.”

  “That forest is a dangerous place,” Lyella shouted after her. “It'd be terrible if you tripped and fell down a hole. You better hope you don't get injured in there.”

  Lyella and her gang giggled, their laughter carrying in the air as Brooke ducked under the line of trees.

  Fortunately Lyella gave up the pursuit, for now.

  Brooke took several deep breaths, trying to get her anger under control. She needed to stop letting Lyella get under her skin.

  She let the forest creatures distract her as she walked.

  Two dryads cavorted carelessly through the emerald labyrinth of trees, giggling as they chased one another, whilst a trio of pixies fished in the luminous stream that snaked through part of the woods.

  Brooke couldn’t get Arantay out of her head. Ever since he’d disappeared, she’d thought about him more than when they’d trained together daily. She hadn’t thought that was possible.

  What had happened to him? Was he back yet? Would he ever be back? The thoughts crashed through her mind, over and over again. As did the horrible feeling she’d had since she learned of his family’s death.

  She pushed low hanging branches aside as she walked, passing by a pond inside a small glade, where the tree leaves were lilac and smudged with fluorescent fairy footprints. A tubby brownie perched atop a giant toadstool, whilst a gnome with a mane of brilliant blue hair sat by the pond, his feet soaking in its depths.

  Brooke smiled at the gnome and he waved cheerfully back. Then the surface of the pond broke and a Naiad arose from its depths. The water nymph giggled, her sapphire skin shining as streaks of sunlight graced her figure. She flicked water at the pipe-smoking brownie who cackled as Brooke moved on, winding her way to sections of the forest she knew Arantay frequented.

  The suns were beginning to sink, dappling the leaves with their final rays. The fairies around her were drifting back to their trees, soon the night creatures would awake.

  Falawn! Did Arantay kill him, his own Brother?

  So many questions burned inside her, and she prayed Arantay would be here to answer them. But most of all she hoped he was okay. Brooke knew he was strong, but he appeared so delicate at times, like a beautiful sculpture that could smash to pieces.

  “Brooke!”

  The sound of his voice cascaded into her thoughts like an avalanche. He’s alive.

  She whirled about in the direction of his voice, longing to fall into his arms, to feel his perfect body against hers once again.

  She froze in horror when she saw him.

  He stood between two large oaks, a struggling pixie in one hand and blood smeared across his lips. When Arantay first told her of his vampiric side, she hadn’t imagined him feeding, glutting himself on another’s life force. But there he was, standing grimly, not finishing the creature quickly, but prolonging the kill.

  “You shouldn’t have come here.” Arantay’s words were so similar to what Falawn had said when she first met him that she shuddered.

  Arantay was drastically altered to how Brooke remembered him. He appeared devoid of life. He surveyed her without truly seeing her, as if he was looking past her and lost in his own thoughts. A bloodstained, brooding god whose beauty belied his hideous melancholy.

  His arms blurred and the pixie was gone, as was the blood around Tay’s finely wrought lips. His features were marred by black veins, emphasising the stark whiteness of his skin. The veins were the mark of sunlight on his body. Because of his elven side he didn’t burn in sunlight, but the suns showed him for what he truly was.

  “I…I wanted to see you. What happened to you Arantay?”

  He inhaled deeply and sighed, as if controlling anger.

  “I would prefer it if you left me alone now,” he said coldly, his words slicing through the air and ripping into her.

  “I don’t understand, what have I done?”

  “This is not about you Brooke,” his mouth twitched, very nearly like a snarl.

  Instead of backing away, she moved closer, pleading with her eyes for him to stop acting like this, for the hard mask of his face to soften, for his eyes to stop gleaming with such anger.

  “I’m so sorry for what happened to your family.”

  “Why do you humans always say this?” He cut across her. “That you’re sorry. You don’t know what it’s like, not in the slightest. I always felt I was alone, estranged from every other elf since the moment I turned into this abomination. But now, now I’m truly alone.”

  “You’re not alone Arantay, you have us up at the Fortress, you have me.”

  “You?” he said coldly. “What are you to me?”

  “I don’t know. What am I?” she snapped, trying to shrug off the sting of his words.

  Arantay remained silent and still.

  “I…I think I’m in love with you Arantay,” she rasped. “I’m not sure what love is, but I think that’s what I feel for you. I think about you constantly. When I’m near you, close to you, the feeling is indescribable. I feel…so happy and safe, as if nothing in the world could affect me.”

  She broke off, no longer able to express her emotions. For an interminable time Arantay was silent. Eventually he said, “When we first met it wasn’t real. I lured you out of that nightclub because I had to. I used a vampiric trick of seduction; used to ease our prey into thinking they’re safe before we feed. It was a recruitment mission, nothing more.”

  He turned away from her, preparing to melt back into the encroaching darkness.

  “What about the other times we were together?” she yelled. “That was all you, no vampire tricks.”

  “It’s not love you feel for me, Brooke. You’re just drawn to the way I look. Forget about me, I won’t be returning to the Fortress for a long time.”

  “You think I only feel for you because of what’s on the outside?” she cried. “Fine, go and hide away, let grief consume you. I thought you were stronger than that, Arantay.” The agony his words caused her was distorting to fury.

  She jumped as Arantay growled at her. His eyes were hard, like dull stones in place of the precious rubies they’d once been. And then the eyes changed, the ice appeared to melt for a second, becoming pools of ruby liquid gazing into her own.

  “I do feel some emotion for you Brooke, but I not love. I think I once cared for you a great deal. But after we kissed I realised I couldn’t let these emotions continue. We’re not the same; I’m not human, in any way.”

  “I don’t care about that.” She edged closer, her anger evaporating as quickly as it had come.

  “But I do. Even if we’d met before I’d been turned, I would still outlive you. What kind of a relationship is that?”

  Brooke didn’t have an answer, but she so desperately wished she had.

  “You can find someone else. Grow old with them, live happily.” Arantay’s face returned to that eerie porcelain mask, his eyes lifeless. “Besides, I have things more important to think about.”

  “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to be so insensitive about your family, about Falawn.”

  “Do not mention that name,” he hissed vehemently.

  Brooke stared at him hopelessly, wishing to wrap herself in his arms, to comfort him, try to ease his terrible pain.

  “Can’t we forget what you are, and just be together?”

  “No, there is only hatred in my heart for Falawn now. I regret being so harsh but I, more than anyone, know that life is harsh. At least yours is still intact. Return to the Fortress, don’t come here again.”

  His words echoed and swirled inside her head. It felt like a vicious, twisted joke.

  “Goodbye Brooke,” his voice broke as he said her name, and then he was gone. />
  The leaves of the trees no longer whispered gently with the wind, they leered over her in watchful silence instead.

  Fear enveloped her, her breathing became ragged as she realised how dark and desolate the forest had become. No fairies and imps played delightfully here, now was the time for the forest’s darker dwellers to arise.

  Anger mingled with the fear, building up inside of her like a crescendo. She wanted to scream and cry at the same time. She wanted to use her sorcery to obliterate the trees around her, but also wished she could crawl into one and remain there forever. She felt useless, pathetic, but furious she felt these things.

  Maybe Arantay is right and I don’t love him.

  Had he led her on all those times they’d trained together? But perhaps it was her fault. Conflicting emotions raged inside her, whilst a creeping sense of dread clung at her heart.

  She had to get out of here. Or maybe I should go after him? No! She was stronger than this; she couldn’t let these emotions take hold and drag her down. Stop it! He doesn’t deserve your love or your fury, just forget about him.

  She fled the clearing. C’mon, she tried to break through the crushing feeling of despair; we weren’t even in a relationship. No other boy had ever made her feel this way, so why did he?

  She heard a rattling whisper far above. She broke into a run, with horror hounding her path, whilst anger and despair battled inside of her. Branches whipped across her face as she crashed through them. She bit her bottom lip until she tasted metal, her mind a swirling tempest of emotion.

  Was that a squawk of laughter? A sibilant sound of mocking mirth? She was sure something stalked her. The hairs prickled at the back of her neck and goose-bumps sprung up on her arms. She wished Arantay would return to make them go away. Part of Brooke wished to never see him again too. Her head and her heart felt like they could explode.

  The low hanging branches cleared to be replaced by a navy blue sky. Relief washed over her as she staggered away. Her body heaved as she sucked in lungfuls of air. She peered back at the forest, it breathed gently with the soft wind, urging her to step back into its lair. But she would not.

  The crushing sensations in her mind ceased to leave, Arantay kept pouring back in. His face swam into view incessantly, not the cruel masked face, but the gentle, beautiful one.