by S. J. West
“Queen Nuala gave it to me,” I answered, startled by Dracen’s reaction. “I went to her seeking aid in discovering the source of the plagues.”
“What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked Dracen, alarmed by his friend’s sudden change in demeanor. “Do you know who cast the spell?”
Dracen looked at Gabriel, pain and horror etched across his face.
“It’s me,” Dracen said in disbelief. “I’m the source.”
“Then you’re admitting you cast the spell?” I asked, certain the man standing in front of me couldn’t have knowingly killed so many people.
“No, but…” Dracen shook his head as if he were trying to figure something out which made no sense, “the source of the magic in that bottle is mine. I know of no one else who calls upon the trillian.”
“Trillian?” Gabriel asked, confused by his friend’s words. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s something I’ve never told you about. I’ve never told anyone about it,” Dracen said almost as an apology to Gabriel. “Trillian is a crystal which can only be found in this mountain. It’s the main reason I chose this place to make my home. The crystal helps me amplify my powers a thousand fold.”
“Why haven’t you ever told me this before?” Gabriel questioned.
Dracen looked at Gabriel sadly. “I didn’t want anyone to know it was here. I’ve never told anyone about it or what it can do until now. I was being a selfish, egotistical bastard, Gabriel. But I also knew if the wrong person were to harness the crystal’s power it could mean the end of the world.”
“Well it seems as though the wrong person is controlling it,” Aleksander took a threatening step towards Dracen.
“I don’t know how it happened,” Dracen said, completely ignoring Aleksander. “Nothing I’ve done here should have caused such a side effect. It doesn’t make any sense.” Dracen walked in front of the wingback chair he was standing behind and sat down heavily. The weight of the situation seemed to be more than he could bear.
“How could I have killed so many and not known it?” He said more to him self than to anyone in the room. Then his head lifted sharply as he looked at me once more. “That’s why they all came here. Damn it, I should have known then!”
“Who are you talking about?” I asked.
“The souls of those who have died in the plagues,” he said as if I should have known where his rambling was leading. “They all came here because of the crystal. They were drawn here by its power because it not only killed them but trapped their souls as well.”
“Isn’t there anything you can do to help them?” I asked, realizing my father could very well be one of the souls trapped inside the mountain.
“I tried to figure out something,” Dracen said. “But there was no way to make them move on to the next realm of existence. So, I did the only thing I knew how and gave them new lives here.”
“What do you mean ‘gave them new lives’?” Fallon asked warily.
Dracen looked at Fallon and answered, “I made them new bodies.”
The implication of Dracen’s words was immediately clear to me.
“They’re the automatons,” I said, finally understanding why the automatons seemed more human than they should have been.
“I trapped the most stable souls inside small portions of the crystal and placed it in the heart of the automatons to power them,” Dracen explained. “It was the only way to give them a second life. You can’t imagine what it was like to have them all here. Their sorrow was overwhelming at times. After I received the Queen’s note for help, Karis and I worked night and day building the automatons. I couldn’t think of a better way to help them.”
Dracen leaned forward, elbows on thighs and head in his hands. His shoulders began to shake as he sobbed quietly. I couldn’t imagine the guilt he must have felt in that moment as he fully realized the impact of what he had done.
“Stop.”
The command was faint. I almost didn’t hear it.
Dracen’s quiet sobs ceased instantly and he looked frozen into place as he sat in the chair, like a statue.
I looked up at Karis and saw undeniable compassion on his face as he looked down at his mentor.
“What did you do to him?” I asked.
Karis looked at me with his startling blue-green eyes. “I made him stop crying. He has nothing to feel sorry about. He shouldn’t feel guilt over killing you people.”
“What did you do to him?” I asked again more stridently, not satisfied with the answer I had just received.
“I have the ability to make people do what I want,” Karis finally answered. “People are just puppets for me to control. It’s one of my powers as a mage. I’ve been able to do it since I was a small child. I can even make them forget what they’ve done for me so they have no memory of me controlling them.”
“You made Dracen cast the spell for the plagues,” Gabriel accused.
Karis shrugged. “I did what I had to do for my people.”
“But your people were affected by it too,” I argued.
“Not as many as yours,” he taunted. “I was able to adjust the spell over the years so the fae eventually became unaffected.”
“But why do it at all?” Fallon asked. “What could you possibly gain from killing people at random?”
“Power for my Queen,” Karis answered proudly. “Now she can do what she wants.”
“What does she want to do?” I asked, holding my breath awaiting his answer.
“She wants what was rightfully ours before you vankarans came and stole it from our ancestors.” Karis smiled.
“And our ancestors fought for what is ours,” I said, feeling my temper begin to get the better of me. “The treaty drew a line between our two peoples.”
“Treaties are easily broken. My Queen has promised us that a new day is dawning. All we had to do was bide our time and the time for us to reclaim our birthright has come.” Karis smiled, this time the emotion shown brightly in his eyes. “As we speak she is heading towards Iron City to take control.”
“Well you won’t be joining her,” Aleksander said as he charged towards Karis.
Karis held out his hand and Aleksander was frozen in mid-stride.
Fallon drew his sword but the sound of it sliding from its sheath was enough to warn Karis of his intentions. Karis held out both his hands as he froze Fallon and Inara in place, leaving me the only one unharmed.
“Why didn’t you freeze me too?” I asked.
“Because my Queen wants me to deliver a message to you,” Karis said.
“How do you know that?”
“I believe you met my sister Lorenna?” He asked.
“Yes, she’s the one who gave me the vial of melted snow.”
“We’re twins,” he informed me. “Among the fae we’re considered quite rare since we’re also mages. Fae mage twins are able to connect telepathically. I can see and hear what she sees and hears when I connect with her.” Karis closed his eyes and I knew he was reaching out to his sister in that moment. “She is with the Queen. They are on one of the dragon platforms which are carrying our soldiers towards Iron City right now. I see the Queen,” he said reverently. “She wishes me to tell you something word for word.” Karis was silent as he listened to his Queen speak to him. “She says, “If you dare to return home, you will be killed on sight. I have made a pact with someone in your parliament who will help me reclaim the lands which belonged to my ancestors. Hopefully, there will not be much bloodshed in the transition. I promise to not kill anyone who doesn’t oppose me but I will protect what rightfully belongs to my people. You and all vankarans must leave the island or there will be blood shed.”
“You can give your Queen this message from me,” I said, feeling my temper begin to get the better of me. “I will not stand idly by as she threatens my people. She has started a war I intend to finish itand win.”
Karis opened his eyes. “You will regret your words, Queen Emma.”
“Is that you speaki
ng or her?” I asked.
“They are my words. And they are true.”
“Then we are at war, sir.”
“So be it.”
That was the last thing I remembered before hearing Inara scream my name.
I’m not sure how much time passed between my last words with Karis and finding myself being shaken to death my Inara.
“Emma,” Inara breathed a sigh of relief as I blinked at her in confusion. She hugged me tightly before releasing me.
“What happened?” I asked as I looked around the room and saw Gabriel, Fallon and Aleksander arguing about something.
“The little bastard froze us all and escaped,” Inara informed me. “The men are arguing on whether or not we should go after him.”
“Gentlemen,” I said loud enough to gain their attention. Once all three were looking at me, I said, “We go back to Iron City. Karis was just a pawn used by Nuala. We can not allow ourselves to be distracted from the bigger picture. She is on her way to Iron City as I speak. We must go back home.”
“I’m ready to go with you.”
We all turned and saw Dracen standing in the entrance to the room with a traveling bag in his hands.
“You’re coming with us?” Gabriel asked in disbelief.
“I helped cause this mess,” Dracen said with a painful sigh of regret. “If you’ll let me, I would like to try and help you. Perhaps I can find some small redemption for my acts.”
I shortened the distance between Dracen and myself, keeping my eyes locked with his. “You are most welcomed to accompany us back to Iron City. We would appreciate anything you can do to help us.”
Even as the words left my mouth, I knew we would not arrive in time to stop Queen Nuala’s invasion.
Epilogue
Our first glimpse of Iron City was distorted by smoke and flames. From the air, we could see dozens of fires burning all over the city in what looked to be a random pattern. The acrid stench emanating from the chaos below quickly permeated the cabin of the airship trapping us in a maelstrom of death and destruction.
Dragons of varying colors and sizes sat perched on the highest buildings of the city, scanning the streets below them as though they were ready to pounce on anyone who might want to start trouble. As the airship drifted nearer the palace, tears of despair trickled down my cheeks. In the twilight of day, we saw that the palace, home of generations of Vankar, had been transmuted from iron to gold.
A single word escaped my mouth as I felt my heart collapsed in on itself, “Dena.”