Return of the High Fae

by Tom Keller

  Funny, I didn't sense anyone besides the eight of us. Then I saw something that caused me to do a double take. I could see Charlie next to Bernd and next to him was what had to be a panther. Was that Lucy? Damn, maybe I should start calling her Lucinda again.

  The floor was littered with stones as if the place was slowly falling apart. In the center looked like what may have once been a raised pool, now empty. Just off that to one side stood what must have been a dais. I looked around to see more, the sides were raised and the open ceiling was supported by columns. There were seats carved into the stone between them. I counted twelve, with one more ornate than the rest.

  The ceiling was open to the sky and I could see it was cloudy. Although to be truthful, I'd never seen clouds like that before. They swirled around like a maelstrom. I turned back toward the larger seat. Was that a throne? No, it couldn't be. Wait, was this Olympus?

  It must be, or at least had been. There was something else, the magic, it was different here. More powerful, yes, but almost as if it was distant, muted. I could barely sense our group. I knew they were here but it was if there was a veil between us. Strange, it reminded me of some kind of privacy curtain out of a sci-fi story.

  "Are you alright?" Siegfried asked.

  I straightened up, and then did another double take; Siegfried had changed as well. "Yeah, fine, caught me off guard for a moment," I replied. It was the same Siegfried, of course. He just looked a little younger, and stronger for that matter.

  He tapped my shoulder and then pointed at Motgnir, who with Bernd had moved next to the dais. "They appear to have forgotten us for the moment."

  I looked over at where he was pointing; the two Dwarves deep in discussion.

  Diantha and Delia were still next to me, looking confused. I turned to them. "You ok?" I asked.

  "I have never been to any of the Fae lands before but this is not what I expected," Delia replied. "This is...disconcerting. I am not sure what to think. Where are we?"

  Shaking her head, Diantha answered for me. "Olympus, this was Olympus," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

  Out of the corner of my eye I spotted movement and noticed that Elithia, back in her Faerie form, was flitting about near the top of the temple. I watched as she went out through an opening, and since we appeared to have been forgotten for the moment, decided to follow her.

  "Let's take a look around," I said, cutting between two of the stone chairs to follow her. When I reached the top I saw that the opening led outdoors.

  As I started to step through, Diantha grabbed my arm. "Be careful, my Lord, there is something strange about this place," she whispered.

  "We'll be ok," I replied and stepped out into the open.

  I would have thought the temple would have been the tallest thing here, but it wasn't. We appeared to be on a mountain and the temple itself rested on the side of a peak. Although it was now only a trickle, a waterfall fell to a pool below me, a meadow with grass and trees surrounding it. Nothing was in bloom and the temperature was brisk. It was if winter had clothed itself upon the mountaintop and just settled in.

  Elithia had stopped at the far edge of the meadow. I couldn't tell if there was anything past her as it seemed like the peak we were on was in the clouds. Which, I guess, if this was indeed Olympus, made sense.

  It must have been beautiful once, I thought to myself as I walked down toward the pool and meadow, stopping on an overhang just above them. Maybe it could be so once again if these weird clouds would get burned away by the sun.

  "What has happened here?" Delia asked as she and Siegfried walked up behind me.

  "Age, disorder, it doesn't seem like anyone has been here for years," I answered. "The place seems stuck in winter."

  "Chaos," I heard Bernd say from behind us. "Not winter, we are surrounded by Chaos, the great void beckons and the magic has fled this place."

  I hadn't even heard him approach. "I thought the universe was supposed to have been sprung from Chaos, not return," I commented, wondering if I remembered my Greek mythology correctly

  "From whence they came all things return," he answered in typical Bernd form.

  "So what are we doing now?" I asked.

  "I must apologize," he said. "It has been millennia since this place was last inhabited and much of its power has been lost, or at best, hidden. It will take us time to get things in order."

  "What are you trying to get in order?" I asked.

  "You will see shortly," Bernd replied and then turned and went back towards the temple.

  "Dwarves," I muttered. What the hell had I gotten myself into, I asked myself for the thousandth time?

  "Do not worry," Siegfried said as he said as he clasped my shoulder.

  Oh well, I was committed anyway.

  "Come on," I said to the rest, "let's go see what Elithia is doing." I stepped down and walked around the front of the pool fed by the waterfall. Well, at least this still looked nice, if not cold from the feel of the mist off of the falls.

  Crossing the meadow, I approached the diminutive Faerie, who by now had landed on a berm and was looking down at something. As I stepped up to get a better look she heard me and flipped around. Seeing it was me she popped back up to human size and ran towards me. I barely had time to be surprised when I felt her quivering arms around me. Then I felt her tears. She was crying.

  Any other time, I suppose having a gorgeous naked woman throw herself at you, Faerie or not, would have to a good thing, but this wasn't one of those times. To say she was upset didn't come close. I tried to comfort her as best I could while still inching forward to see why she was so distraught. She let go of me and slowly turned as what was in front of us came into view.

  I heard a gasp from either Diantha or Delia and it took me a moment to understand what I was seeing. At first the field of rocks and unknown artifacts I was looking down at seemed like something out of a twisted artist's idea of a field that needed some serious plowing. Then what I was seeing came into focus and I understood her distress. I'd heard of the wars between the Fae but never thought I'd witness them.

  Displayed before us were fields of the dead. Fae and other creatures still laying where they fallen so long ago. There were no victor's here, just withered skin and old bones, calcified and weathered, many still in armor and holding their weapons where they fell. They should have turned to dust by now. Why this place had frozen them in time for us to find I cannot even begin to understand, yet here they were.

  I'm not an archeologist, but I was a cop, so there's no surprise in how they died. They died fighting to the man, or Faerie, or Beast. What I couldn't explain was the condition they were in. This had to have happened thousands of years ago and yet they had been preserved in some bizarre way. Must be the magic, I thought to myself as I bent down to examine one such mound.

  "Incredible," Siegfried commented as we stared down at the remains. "They should be dust by now."

  "That they should," I replied, looking closer.

  "What happened here?" Delia asked.

  "This was where Loki's armies battled Zeus for control of Olympus," answered Elithia. "It is said that here was the final battle before the Gods faded."

  "Faded?" Delia enquired.

  "It was The Fall," Siegfried added. "The Gods battled one another for dominion and in the end faded from the Earth. Some say that it was Gaea's punishment for squandering their power."

  Delia shook her head and looked at me, "Fae," she said with a tone of disgust.

  "This was a long time ago, don't judge me by what happened here," I said, trying to look closer. "Besides, Lil history is savage as well.

  "Perhaps," she said, "but at least we didn't battle one another to such a large scale." Her point made, she turned and walked away from the field.

  I went back to my examination. I could tell this one had been some kind of Fae warrior. Although his skin was shrunken and clung to the bone, it had obviously been a human-shaped individual. There was a helmet th
e color of dull gold on his head and he wore armor of the same metal. His sword was still in what was left of his hand, and I could tell that the blade had seen much use even in its worn and weather-beaten condition.

  Next to him was a fossilized horse-shaped creature, and upon closer examination, I saw the remains of a horn type protuberance on its head. This must have been a unicorn. I couldn't believe it—they were real.

  Something drew me back to the warrior. As I wondered who he had been, it almost felt like I could feel the rush of battle. The air seemed to get thicker as I stared at him and wondered who or what had killed him. I don't know what came over me, but I reached out towards him and placed my hand on what was left of his face.

  There was a sound of thunder. For a moment, I thought I was losing it as images and scenes of battle rushed through my head. It lasted only for an instant but then it felt like someone had pulled all the energy out of me.

  I saw a flash and the next thing I knew both Siegfried and I were thrown onto our backs. I looked to where the warrior had been and was almost blinded by lightning flashing down on the spot. The clouds above swirled faster as the ground blazed with the strikes. Suddenly there was a flash of pure flame and with a loud crack the clouds cleared and the maelstrom dissipated.

  "What the..." was all I could say. I glanced over at the others.

  "Unbelievable," Siegfried commented as he brushed dust off his shirt.

  "Well that should convince them," Diantha said with a laugh as she got up from the ground a few feet from me. "Look at what your magic has done."

  I started to say something when everything began to change. There was a rumble and the earth moved. I watched as what was once the dead Fae warrior began to crumble and sink into the ground. Then the process continued outward, touching each mound as it progressed. It was like what had happened to Diantha. Whatever had frozen this place in time was receding. Olympus was being reborn.

  We watched in wonder as the effect spread outward and the mounds disappeared and grass returned. Trees and shrubs appeared as if seen through a time lapse video and I felt the sun on my skin. Within moments the mounds were gone as far as the eye could see. Surprisingly, a few weapons remained, including the sword of the Fae I had touched.

  "What just happened?" Delia asked as she stood up.

  "I believe he just did," answered Siegfried, pointing at me.

  "Do you see now, my Lord?" Diantha pronounced as she swept her arms around. "Who but a God could do such a thing?"

  "Let's not jump to conclusions," I answered, thinking she was going to be the death of me. I was going to reply when it hit me. The air was no longer as heavy and my senses less muted, but what I felt most was evil. It was the same feeling I'd had before the battle at Danu's.

  "Find a weapon!" I yelled, turning to see where the danger would come from. There was nothing in sight.

  "What is it?" Siegfried asked, pulling his seax.

  "Something's wrong." I walked over and grabbed the sword the fallen Fae had carried. It was no longer worn and dull, its luster had been restored and it looked as if it had just been forged. "Diantha, can you use a weapon?" I didn't bother asking Delia, I'd seen her swordplay. She was already running toward something lying in the field and I saw her reach down and pick up what looked like a bow.

  "I am no warrior," Diantha answered.

  "Then look for arrows."

  She didn't hesitate this time but started searching through the grass.

  By now Siegfried had found a sword as well. He walked over to me. "Where is the danger?"

  "Back toward the temple," I answered.

  "Can you tell what we are up against?"

  "No, it's like something, or maybe someone, is blocking it, same as last time. I only know it's here."

  Delia had come back with the bow and a sword as well. "Danger seems to follow you, Fae," she said.

  "So it appears."

  Diantha chose that moment to come back. She was carrying a dozen or so undamaged arrows. "Will these do?" she asked.

  Delia took them from her and examined them. "They will suffice," she said as she placed them in a leather holster she had also found.

  I turned back to Diantha. "You ever fire a gun?"

  "A few times, my Lord."

  I knelt down and took my Walther from its holster. "Here," I said as I handed her the gun. I pointed to the safety and toggled it. "Just make sure this is switched up before you use it."

  I watched as she took it. I was a little worried. She didn't look that confident. "Listen," I added, "stay behind us and find a place to hide when we get closer. And be careful with that thing, you only have seven shots."

  Well, we were as ready as we would ever be. Wait, where was Elithia? "Anybody seen the Faerie?" I asked.

  The others shook their heads. I knew I hadn't seen her after I touched the ancient Fae but I had no clue to where she'd gone. I also knew we weren't safe where we were.

  "We'll just have to keep an eye out for her then." I said as I started back towards the temple.

  Siegfried took the lead and headed up the rise to where Elithia had first stopped. As he approached the berm he fell to his knees and signaled that something was in front of him. Damn, why didn't my magic come into focus?

  I told Delia and Diantha to stay put and crawled up to his position. He signaled me that there were three somebodies ahead of us. I took a quick peek. Shit, Mages again. They weren't coming our way, but they were at the now rushing waterfall, blocking our way back to the temple. Damn, where were the Dwarves, where were the animals? I couldn't believe they'd just give up. No, I was missing something, again. I motioned to Siegfried and we slid back down to the others.

  I turned to Delia who was fingering the bow.

  "You any good with that thing?" I asked. I figured she must know a little as she had already nocked an arrow.

  "I can hold my own, Fae," she answered.

  "Good, I hope you feel like some payback because there's three Mages over the hill and I'm guessing we've met their type before."

  "If these arrows will hurt them then I can take one or two out."

  "These are High Fae weapons or they wouldn't have survived. They will defeat most magic as well as kill," he answered. "If you can take two I can put down the third, if I can get close enough. If we are skillful, the others may not know what is happening," Siegfried said, leaning in

  "Whoa, what about me, I'm supposed to be the High Fae here, remember?" That was assuming, of course, that my magic started working better than my senses had been doing.

  "It is you they will be after, besides, there will be more...no, better to keep them in the dark for as long as possible. Once we eliminate these three we can make for the temple."

  "Fine, we'll go with your plan. Once these three are down we'll rally just this side of the waterfall, out of view from the temple. I don't know about the Dwarves, but Charlie and Lucinda wouldn't just sit back while these guys ambush us, so watch for them as well. Diantha, you stay behind me and keep an eye out for Elithia." I wasn't happy, but it made sense. I just hoped my magic would kick in gear when I needed it.

  She nodded her assent as Siegfried and Delia started moving up the hill. Then she moved closer. "Remember, my Lord, if need be, I cannot die," she whispered.

  I considered what she said. "I hope you're right, but there's a lot of strange magic here and I'd rather not test that again just yet," I whispered, remembering her bout with the Were-creature.

  "I knew you cared," she whispered in my ear, adding a kiss as we followed Siegfried and Delia up the hill.

  I stopped a few feet down from the two of them. I watched as Delia placed two extra arrows at her side and then, with bow ready, waited for Siegfried.

  He looked down at me and I nodded. Looking over at Delia he nodded again and with a quick look she loosed two arrows as Siegfried jumped up and went over the berm, seax and sword in hand. Damn they were quick.

  Delia hadn't been boasting about her pro
wess with a bow, either. Two Mages were down with arrows in their chests and Siegfried was already pulling the Seax from the third when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. A fourth Mage had come from around the waterfall, but before he could raise his wand or call out, a black shape pounced on him. It was Lucinda. We didn't need to worry about him revealing us to anyone. She had ripped his throat out.

  Siegfried and Delia started moving bodies out of view and I watched as Lucinda dragged hers to their position. I caught up with them behind the waterfall with Diantha not far behind me.

  Lucinda turned to me, tail twitching from side to side. "Five more," I heard her say in a slightly deeper whisper than I was used to. "Charlie watches," she added a moment later.

  "What about the Dwarves?"

  "They cannot interfere," she replied.

  "Dwarves, did I not warn you?" Diantha muttered behind me.

  This time I agreed with her.

  "Can't interfere, why not?" I asked, incredulously. What the hell was going on? I mean besides me discussing strategy in the middle of a battle with a panther? Her large head looked directly at me, her eyes wide and glinting in the new found sunlight.

  "It is forbidden. I believe the other one is like you. We must do this alone," she growled lowly so the others couldn't hear and then moved to the pool to take a drink.

  Like me? Shit! I wasn't sure if I was ready for this confrontation, not that I had a choice. If the other one like me was another High Fae I could only hope that his powers were as muted as mine in this place. We needed a plan, fast. With the dead Mages safely tucked out of view for the moment we huddled behind the rock wall next to the waterfall to discuss our next move.

  Chapter 27

  "Ok, things just got complicated," I said. "Lucinda, do they know you're here?"

  "I do not believe so. Charlie was with the Dwarves when they appeared but I was behind the thrones and came to warn you." she answered, her tail swishing back and forth.

  I turned back to the others.