Tales of the Feisty Druid Omnibus (Books 1-7): (The Arcadian Druid, The Undying Illusionist, The Frozen Wasteland, The Deceiver, The Lost, The Damned, Into The Maelstrom)

by Candy Crum

  Amelia took a deep breath, brushing her hair back. It was obvious to Cathillian that she was fighting back tears. He couldn't exactly say that he blamed her given all she'd been through, all she was currently going through, and all that would still happen.

  "I arrested her to safeguard my title and keep Talia out of the Chancellor's chair. I promised an investigation, and I immediately initiated it. Unfortunately, during the fight, Arryn stabbed both people in the chest. The knife she used was the very one that had been in my office; one that had gone missing, and I hadn't even realized it. I didn't know until I got back to my office after Arryn was taken to the jail. It was the same knife we think all the other people had been killed with, which only added to the evidence against her. But that's not the worst of it."

  Cathillian sighed, his eyes closing as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It gets worse than that? Seriously?"

  Amelia continued. "There were several people who told me they saw Arryn throw the fireballs that caused the explosion. Obviously, this was Scarlett’s work, but other people heard it. I had no choice but to take it under advisement. Not only that, but along with the blood that was found in her childhood home, the people who saw her walking to her old house that night, and Dallas' friend who identified a cloaked woman with long dark hair, Arryn isn't just one of the choices. She's the choice."

  Samuel sat back on the couch, popping his knuckles as he made a fist over and over. "What do we do? How do we get our girl outta there?"

  Amelia smiled. "That's the best part. Or, I guess I should say the only good part. I don't think we have to worry about that. You see, I put Arryn in the cell next to Elon, who was best friends with Arryn's father, Christopher. He harbors great guilt about what happened, so I have a feeling that Arryn won't be in there for long."

  Samuel laughed. "Is that so? Is that why Elon is still in there after all this time? Seems like he's not gonna be much help at all."

  "Elon was the Chief Engineer. I doubt there's anyone in the city smarter than he is. Believe me, that man could've gotten out of that jail a long time ago if he wanted to. The only thing that holds him there is guilt. He won't allow Arryn to suffer. He made a few mistakes that he can't take ever back, not only with his son, but years ago with Arryn and her family. He can't make things right with his son, Gregory. I have faith that he's going to do everything he can to help Arryn. Keep an eye peeled—she’ll more than likely be here before the night's out, but I can't know anything about it."

  Celine nodded. "That's smart. If the mystic finds her way into your head, she'll know Arryn is gone."

  Cathillian's expression had slowly turned from worry and rage to amusement. "Fantastic. Now, all we have to do is wait for Arryn to lose her temper and break out of jail. Thinking back, I have no idea why I was worried. That shouldn't take more than ten minutes or so."

  Arryn had done her best to heal herself with the limited energy she had available. She wasn't the best healer anyway, but exhausted by magic use and fighting, she was even less effective.

  Her face had been injured the worst, the knife having sliced her from her temple down the side of her face and across her cheek and chin.

  She was lucky the knife had missed her eye. Healing abilities or not, that shit would've hurt.

  "Arryn?" a masculine voice called from the cell beside her.

  She was just waking up, but she found the energy to respond. "Yeah? Who the hell wants to know?"

  There was a pause before he spoke again. "I don't know if you remember me, but you were great friends with my son, Gregory. My name is Elon. You look so different, I never would've recognized you had they not said your name when they carried you in."

  Arryn sighed. "Ah... You're the one who set our downfall in motion. I wonder, had you not opened your big mouth, would my parents have succeeded? Would you and I be sitting at a large banquet table, Gregory at my side like my parents always teased me about? Or would I have found myself an orphan in the Dark Forest anyway?"

  "I suppose that I deserved that. I deserve a lot of things. Least of all, forgiveness from you or my son. I don't give a damn about anything else."

  Arryn gave a sarcastic, unamused laugh. She wasn't exactly sure what to say, or if she wanted to say anything. She'd had a thousand questions for that man, but just at that moment, lying on that crappy bed and staring at the ceiling seemed like a better way to spend her time.

  "What landed you in here?" Elon asked.

  Arryn almost laughed again. Where the hell should she start? Her story was long, and one she didn't exactly feel like telling at that moment.

  "I'm rather enjoying my quiet time, so I'm gonna keep this short and sweet. Your favorite person in the world had a daughter. Did you know that? Because I didn’t. Not until recently. Turns out, that's what my father discovered about Adrien that led him to be killed."

  "I did know that. He told me himself, but I spent many years pretending I didn't know. It was very important that no one—including me—was aware of her. And why do you think your father's dead? I told Amelia he was taken. Far as I know, he’s still alive out there. If anyone in this world could survive, it would be Christopher. It's hard to kill a heart that pure."

  Arryn laughed, but it was angry. "That's a funny story ya got there Elon. Almost as funny as how they gutted my mom. She had a pure heart, and they ripped it out pretty easily, wouldn’t you say? So, don't dare lecture me on my parents or pure hearts.”

  She sighed, settling into the hard bed as best as she could. “As for the rest of it, I don't know what to believe, though I have hope. Hope that I'm not going to share with anyone—outside of this conversation, of course. I only say it to you because you actually knew my father, and I want you to know exactly what I go through every day because of you. I go back and forth between thinking he’s alive and thinking he's dead, whatever drives me most that moment."

  There was another pause. "But in your heart, you know you'll find him, don't you? You'll never stop until you do."

  Arryn shook her head, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "No, I will never stop. Only getting answers or my own death will stop me."

  "Yet, you let yourself be taken. Why?" Elon asked.

  "Not that it's any of your business, and you wouldn’t understand loyalty anyway, but I did it to protect Amelia. I did it to keep the city safe from Talia. If I’d fought, it's hard to say what would've happened. I wasn't about to put my own life above theirs."

  Arryn heard the clang of bars. She couldn't see him, but she could sense his energy by his cell door. She imagined him standing there, gripping the steel bars.

  "And Talia? You plan to stop her?" he asked.

  Arryn sighed, rolling her eyes. "What is this, an interview? A game? Are you writing a book, or taking notes? Damn, man. Trying to be arrested in peace over here. Yes. Talia must be stopped. She's far worse than her father, if you can imagine that. I didn't think it was possible. Clearly, the rotten piece of shit didn’t fall too far from the monkey in the tree."

  "You can't stop her from in here, you know."

  Arryn's arms fell to her sides with a thud as she gave a heavy sigh. "You know, I hadn't thought about that. Amelia wasn't joking. You really are the smartest man in the world! Thank you for that earthshattering advice. I'll never forget it. I really hope you did take some notes over there. I can’t wait to read the book. Educational stuff there."

  Arryn heard a familiar creak and she jackknifed to a sitting position with a start. Elon stood in the open door to her cell. As soon as she saw his face, she was flooded with memories of her childhood.

  She did remember him.

  He had seemed so happy when she was a child, so fatherly. She didn't understand then, but once he started disappearing more and more for work, he began to change. He no longer seemed proud of Gregory, just annoyed by him.

  Arryn wasn't around him much after that, but she remembered him from before, and the look in his eyes told her that the earlier man stood before her no
w.

  He took slow, careful steps across the room before sitting on the end of her bed. "I know you don't trust me. You’re smart not to, but though I’m only the shell of the man I used to be, I would never hurt you. Still, you’re wise not to believe it. However, I have great regret. The decisions I made about your family set me on the path that made me capable of trying to kill my own son for a man who was more than happy to let me do it."

  Arryn looked at the door and at Elon. "If you had the ability to escape this entire time, why didn’t you? Why have you stayed?”

  He smiled sadly. "I belong here. The moment I was arrested and paraded through a room full of rebels…" He shook his head as he trailed off. "That room full of children, teenagers, adults, and our elders that had fled something I made… Something I crafted because I wanted to save the city in Adrien's honor… I thought what I was doing was right, but when I walked into that room and saw my son sitting among them alive and well because of them, I realized I was the monster. I wasn't given the opportunity to speak to him, and I didn't deserve it at the time."

  "And you think you do now?" Arryn asked.

  He shook his head. "No, probably not. But like you, I haven't given up hope. Amelia tells me that he's on some grand adventure to save the city with Hannah, the girl from the Boulevard. I have no way of knowing if that's true or not, but I kind of hope it is. I kept him under my thumb the way that Adrien kept me. He deserves adventure. He deserves a life. He deserves to be happy. I will wait here and serve my time until my son comes home. If I die before that happens, that's fine, too."

  Arryn swallowed, forcing back her mixed emotions. She fully believed Elon deserved to be locked away for life for what he done, but the man who sat before her now was the man she remembered from when she was child. Humble. Kind.

  At the very least, she was happy he could serve his time, however long it would be, as the old him.

  "How do you plan to do it?" Elon asked.

  Arryn looked down at her bed, pulling a loose string on her sheets before meeting his gaze again. She shook her head. "I have no idea. Things are dangerous with Scarlett involved. She's a mystic. She controls the minds of others, convincing them I’m a monster and Amelia isn’t much better. I don't exactly know what I plan to do, but it has to be me."

  He smiled, seeming to be moderately amused. "You're going to need to do better than that. I know, more sage wisdom. But you do, and I think I can help."

  "How?"

  "There’s a basement under the Academy. I'm not sure how many people remembered that it existed, but Adrien had it sealed off. Well, that's what he told everyone. In reality, he had the entrance rerouted to his office. I'm betting that if you go into Adrien's old office in the Academy tower, you'll find whatever evidence you need. That being said, no one can know that you're missing. You cannot be seen."

  Arryn sighed heavily, closing her eyes. "That must be where she's been killing them. The Hunters have been tearing the city apart, and they have found nothing. The victims have been killed somewhere else and taken to wherever they were found dumped. The only exception was a student who was killed in my childhood home. That was when the framing began."

  Elon nodded. "Then that's where I would start. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that's where you'll find what you need. Also, there was once a lockbox that Adrien commissioned me to make years ago. It was rather feminine for something he would want, so I imagined it to be a gift, though for the life of me, I couldn't figure out who he would give it to, though now I’m betting it was Talia. Find that lockbox. I would imagine the lockbox’s contents and that basement will give you absolutely everything you need."

  "I would assume there's a magitech lock on the box, correct?"

  "That was the best part. I was actually quite proud of myself. He said that the key needed to be hidden but accessible, so I crafted a pendant, a necklace. It had eyelets on either side to keep it from turning over, and carefully tucked away in the hollow back is a key attached by a tiny hinge. The pendant is silver and has a blue gem in it. It's really quite beautiful."

  Once again Arryn rolled her eyes. "You mean like the one Talia wears? Fuck me! All of this was right in front of my face the entire time. I don't believe it."

  "You don't have to believe it, you just have to prove it's true. You can’t get the key since she’s probably wearing it, but if you get the box, you can bring it to me and I’ll get it open for you. It should be dark now, and if I were you, I wouldn't waste any more time. You should get going while the city sleeps, but be careful. Adrien obviously wasn't a stupid man, and no offspring of his will be either."

  Arryn nodded, taking a deep breath as she stood facing the open cell door.

  I'm coming for you, Talia, Arryn thought.

  23

  Arryn hid out for two days, avoiding her home at all costs. To keep Cathillian from worrying, she'd used chipmunks and other creatures to send messages to him, but in true Arryn fashion, she’d been doing it in the most annoying way possible.

  A raven brought Cathillian the first letter, and it was kind enough to shit on his head as it flew over and dropped the note from its talons. When he opened it to read after cleaning himself up, Arryn told him that she hoped he had enjoyed her gift since that was the only way she could personalize it for him.

  The next day he woke when several mice who scurried under his bedsheets and tugged his thin blonde leg hair hard enough to be painful. One of them had a note strapped to its back, and it started with “Hahaha,” so once again he knew she was fine.

  Today he was greeted by a chipmunk with its cheeks full of peanuts. It made its way into the house, scurried up his leg, and used its tiny hands to push the contents of its cheeks into his lap. When he pulled the small note from the creature's back, he was once again greeted with Arryn's not-so-subtle sense of humor.

  "Dearest Cathillian,

  I know you must be losing your mind. You must be scared. I'm the braver of the two of us, and I am stuck in hiding. But I sent Chippy here to keep you safe. As you can see, his nuts are also bigger than yours."

  Samuel seemed to like that one the best. "They're gettin' better," he told the druid. "I'm kinda hopin' she don't come back for a while. I get excited every time I see a new varmint come in."

  Later that night, Cathillian, Samuel, and Celine were alerted by the sound of the back door opening. As they piled into the kitchen, they saw Arryn holding her little chipmunk friend.

  "He felt bad." Arryn held her hands out, the chipmunk resting comfortably in them. "He said you got a little jealous when the two of you started discussing endowments. I told him it was okay, that you were used to it."

  Cathillian laughed and crossed the room to pull her into a hug. "I knew you had a natural connection to animals that was better than the rest of ours, but I didn't realize that it was quite that thorough. It certainly made for an interesting few days."

  "I had kind of missed hanging out with the forest creatures. We’ve just been having a jolly old time fixing each other's hair and talking about boys—it's been great. So, what have you asshats been up to?"

  Cathillian smiled. "Is that a joke? We've been waiting for you. Amelia said you'd probably break out, but we had no idea when. Given that you've been sending me notes since the night you were arrested, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you broke out then."

  "You got that right," Arryn declared. "Well, it’s more that I walked out than broke out. Shockingly, Elon helped me. I just came by to show you guys I'm alive and okay, but tonight's the night."

  Cathillian and Celine looked at each other for a moment before both focused on her. "What do you mean, ‘tonight's the night’?" Celine asked.

  Arryn walked over to the sink and set her furry friend on the counter while she got a glass of water, chugging it before refilling it. "I've been stalking the Academy for a couple days. The Guard is surrounding it, and I'm pretty sure there are teachers inside, but I didn't sense Talia's energy so I'm gonna break into h
er office."

  Cathillian's eyes widened. "Hell, no! You've been gone for three days because you were arrested, and there is no way we are just gonna stay here while you break into the Academy. At the very least, you’re not going alone."

  Arryn checked on Chippy before stepping forward and poking a finger into Cathillian's chest. "Here's the thing, big boy. I don't need your permission. I appreciate everything you do and have done for me, and I appreciate your counsel. I know you care, but I don't have a choice. Scarlett can't keep this compulsion up forever, and we need to be there with proof when she fails.

  “I don't know how strong Talia is, but she has a group of people willing to fight and die at her side. We don't know how many there are or how dangerous they are. We’ve turned people against her, so she no longer has an army. She's weaker. So, sorry, but I'm not asking permission. This is going to happen my way."

  Cathillian's brows rose as he looked at her with concern. He could tell by the expression on her face and the strength in her voice that she really wouldn't allow anyone to stop her.

  Sighing, Cathillian said, "Then we'll help you. What do you need from us?"

  Arryn stood at the corner of the building, doing her best to stay out of the guards’ sight while remaining close enough to watch them. When Cathillian offered to help, she had the perfect job for him.

  She sent him a couple blocks down to approach from the south, putting him in a great position to cause some noise. It was Samuel she heard first, screaming at Cathillian before stumbling onto the street in the bright moonlight.

  "Yer mum must be some piece of work ta have created a piece of ssshit like ye!" Samuel slurred.