“We can’t just go barging through the gates, that’ll lead to suicide, however, if we can get to the courtyard we can enter the throne room,” Genu answers.
I feel a little violated that both of them are in my head, nevertheless, I join in. “How do you plan to get all three of us that high up without being noticed?”
Genu smiles, “who said that I was going to get you up there?”
Instantly, he disappears and is gone before we can do anything about it. He and I exchange a mutually annoyed look and silently make our way behind the treeline along the path towards our certain doom.
“You know he is testing us,” I say.
“Yes, but he has terrible timing,” Zarvick sighs.
We share a mental laugh and then sit back in silence as the realization hits us: how in the absolute hell are we supposed to get up there?
“I can float us up there on a wind funnel,” Zarvick suggest.
“It’s risky but it’s also the best option we have,” I nod. Well, not our best option. We could climb, however, I don’t feel up for that.
Zarvick whirls his hands through the air and the wind begins to pick up as it vacuums into a vortex around us. Slowly, but steadily, we are lifted off of the ground. I notice that he’s beginning to strain as we rise above the smaller treetops. Easily, I concentrate on the winds’ currents and add a little of my own strength behind them; slivers of burgundy glitter along the winds, acting as both a foundation and a guide for the vortex.
With our combined strength, we levitate along the side of the palace and drift onto the edge of the courtyard.
“Impressive,” Genu telepathically applauses.
He grunts and I take a deep breath as our feet land on the pleasant marble. Both of us are winded from the immense amount of concentration that it took to maintain that tornado. Neither he or I am is at full strength, I don’t mean that because of the limitations placed upon our powers; I mean that by how we haven’t had much time to recover, we are pushing ourselves. In a way, it’s good for us to test ourselves. Just…not in an unsafe environment.
“We are doing too much,” Zarvick mutters under his breathing.
I straighten my back, relaxing the tension in my muscles; he attempts to do the same but is still agitated.
Genu appears between us as his body gradually becomes visible. His eyes shift through the courtyard before he heads towards the doors leading into the throne room. I spot a few guards posted on high walls and pillars.
“Genu, there are guards all around us. They’ll see us if we walk out in the open.”
“They don’t know we are here. I have accessed the sensory part of their minds and cut us out of it.”
“Meaning?” Zarvick asks.
“Meaning, that they’ll never know we are here unless I want them to know. They can’t see, hear, smell, feel, or even taste us,” Genu boasts.
“Why didn’t you do that before?!” Anger fills my voice.
“Like you said, I am testing you,” he smirks.
I shake my head and look around the courtyard; it’s similar to Genu’s old courtyard, just bigger and with a statute. Now that we are up here I can clearly see lifelike statues of elves; they appear as though they have been frozen in a golden shell. I ignore them for now and we keep moving.
The three of us take different paths that lead to the door just in case anything unexpected happens. Once we reach them, Genu flicks his hand and they swing open into a lovely colossus stone room.
Upon entering the room I can already tell that something isn’t right, so does my father; he shudders as he passes through the doorway. Zarvick, however, doesn’t seem to notice a single thing.
“Something isn’t right,” Genu annoyances.
“What?” Zarvick is confused by our demeanor.
“It’s her.”
We follow Genu’s gaze to see a woman sitting on a rather large throne. Her long dark brown hair is carefully placed behind her pointy ears as it falls down her shoulders and across her chest; bright brown eyes glimmer as the sun shines against her olive skin; defined cheekbones, a small slightly pointed nose and a jawline that you could sharpen a sword on. Instantly, I realize that this is the same woman as the statue in the courtyard: Queen Levouay.
She models a charming grass green silk dress; a silk ribbon belt is looped through a circular jewel-encrusted golden buckle above her pelvis and draped the rest of the way down the dress. Pressed against her large bosom is metal plating woven into the dress and outlined in gold. The final piece of her gown is a matching collar that is clasped together with a white rose shaped clip as a silk shawl flows across her shoulder blades and wraps around her forearms—revealing her bony shoulders—draping down her backside like a cape. Her beauty is truly unmatched.
Levouay appears to be in a heated discussion with what I believe to be a pixie. It is tiny, smaller than my head, with similar wings to the guards and features that match the queen’s but not as beautiful. She wears a fluffy pink dress that compliments the bright glow about her silhouette.
Focusing my hearing, I catch part of their conversation, “...the Fey Kingdom should embrace the rest of Elvendora and officially become the seventh kingdom, like long ago!” The fairy demands. Levouay waves her hand at the notion, “there are more important things than the fey embracing Elvendora. We have to completely establish this kingdom as an independent nation before the elves accept the fey as one of its own.” Her voice is calming but fierce.
I catch Genu’s eye as he nods towards the staircase just left of the throne. He advances forward but stays close behind the pillars. He’s afraid of something or perhaps a certain someone.
Genu grips his cane tightly in his hand as he walks. Zarvick follows closely behind him, I stay by his side looking around worriedly.
The high ceiling has a beautifully painted map of Elvendora; glowing dots reveal the location of each of the six elven kingdoms, along with this one. I see guards float along two paths held up by the pillars on both sides of the throne room. This means if anything goes wrong—which it will—we won’t be escaping without a fight.
As the pixie heatedly counters some of her queen’s propositions, Levouay’s eyes flick in our direction. She quickly throws her hand in front of the pixie interrupting her little rant.
An eerie grin stretches across her face, “long time no see, Genu.”
Inhaling, the queen begins to rise from her throne, firmly clutching its arms. Her shoulders drop as she releases a deep ear-piercing cry. My father pushes us behind him as Levouay’s sonic scream ripples towards us; his pupils narrow and the golden color of his eyes glow. A telekinetic force projects forth from Genu’s body; they defend against the banshee’s wail and, as they collide, a shock wave emits from the tides. This causes the entire palace to tremble. The windows explode outwards and the stone cracks.
She begins to lift her head trying to break through his defense but he follows her lead. The sonic/telekinetic powers are thrown up into the ceiling, fracturing the map, and forcing their attacks to disperse.
Before anyone can move, the pixie’s glow illuminates through the throne room; sparkling lights emit all around, then guards teleport into view. More of them float down from the pathways above us.
“Kill the intruders!”
Once the guards point their spears Levouay puts up her hands, saying, “no need to kill them. They are more valuable to us alive than dead.”
They move us to the center of the throne room. Zarvick puts himself in the middle of Genu and me, keeping his hand close to his glaive.
“Why are we letting them push us around? We can take them,” I furiously think.
“I’m not looking for a fight right now, Crystalline,” Zarvick frowns.
“Levouay likes to play games, so let’s play along. For now…” Genu glances over at us, “also, neither of you is any position to get into a big fight.”
Queen Levouay stands before us with a confused expression on her face. She
stares intensely at Zarvick and me before turning her attention to Genu.
“I have to admit, I’m impressed that you were able to counter my siren song.”
He smiles, “it wasn’t easy to master but I managed.”
I feel disgusted by Genu’s act. How can he be playing along with this?! I shift my eyes around the room and count the guards around us: twenty-three. With Levouay and the pixie that makes twenty-five. The odds aren’t necessarily against us but I can tell Zarvick doesn’t have much strength in him from our encounter with the Reaper; he used up more of his energy than I did and I doubt he rested while sitting by my side. Now, it’s taking a toll on his body. For some mighty zouvxes, we sure aren’t that much better than mortals.
“I have a plan,” Genu pauses for a moment, “I will distract Levouay and the guards. Then you two make your way up the tower and find the ruvtag.”
Zarvick and I stare at him expecting more detail as to what we are supposed to do with the ruvtag once we find it, however, he moves on with this petty game.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Aw, of course. You managed to hide you and your little pets from my guards with your psychic abilities. Nonetheless, I possess power beyond that of even the great sorcerer himself. You may have masked the minds of those within my kingdom, including myself, to shroud the three of you, however, I am able to sense the darkness coursing through your veins. That undead part of your life force is something that you can’t hide from me; your favored vampiric bloodline will never be hidden from me, Genu!”
After answering, Levouay turns her attention to Zarvick. She smiles, slowly caressing his arm as her hand works its way to his face.
“You’re a pretty one, that could be of some use to me,” her tone changes.
Her voice has become beautifully persuasive…and dangerous. I know exactly what she is doing—banshee’s siren song has two forms: death and seduction—she thinks she can charm Zarvick to do her bidding. Yet, her seduction only affects men and feeble women. I am neither.
Levouay’s fingernails slightly dig into his cheek causing green-black cracks to break across his skin.
“You’re mine,” she songfully whispers into his ear.
I can feel his mind clouding and I am not going to stand around waiting for him to become her thrall. A mixture of emotions bubble within me and I act out on them; my hand grips her wrist and I pull it away from Zarvick’s face. As my skin touches her, I feel her dark spirit mix with my own.
“Keep your hands off of him, you bitch!”
This dark power makes my own powers surface, bringing out more of my emotions; a lavender coating forms over the back of my other hand. When I strike Levouay, my soul lashes through her very essence. Throwing her all the way back into the throne.
“Kill them!” The pixie shouts.
Great!
The guards’ spears begin to shine, a brilliance of golden flares thrash towards us. Genu appears in the center of Zarvick and me; his pupils narrow, psychokinetic energy surges between his fingertips. Then, with a quick outward thrust of his hands, brute force fans out from his body, repelling all of the blasts back at the guards. The entire room quakes as they are thrown all over the place; the fey guards are either knocked out cold or dead.
“You won’t win!” The pixie’s glow dims as her appearance darkens and twist, an explosion of polluted fervor heaves towards me; Zarvick lunges in front of me whipping out the dragon glaive. Immediately, the weapon reacts to his touch, freeing itself from its encasement.
Emotional zeal rams the glaive as he holds it before him. Although, it is clearly not capable of blocking massive attacks like a shield; the weapon manages to maintain the impact by conjuring an invisible force field. Zarvick, eventually, pushes himself against the magic and turns the glaive to a vertical position. Thus, forcing the pixie’s blast to reflect back at her little raged filled body and disintegrates her.
Levouay gathers herself, “Hex…you killed her!”
“Go, I’ll deal with Levouay,” Genu says.
“No,” this is my fight now, “the hag is mine. Take Zarvick.”
Genu sighs, “fine…Zarvick, help me out here.”
Rapidly, all of the guards’ bodies spontaneously lift and are tossed out of the throne room; Genu repairs all of the windows, close the doors and breaks chunks of rocks from the floor. All while Zarvick twirls his glaive above his head; fire rings circle around him as it spins faster and faster. Once they reach a certain intensity, they blaze off through the room.
Flaming wheels slam into the windows, melting the stone around them, keeping them from being broken through. Genu telekinetically grabs some of the flame—pushing the rocks against the throne room doors—and unleashes a powerful stream of fire. After a few seconds, the rocks melt against the door.
Zarvick turns towards the staircase, lifting his foot, then forcefully dropping it on the ground; vibrations travel through the earth and collapse the bottom half of the stairs. It’s not as if the fairies can’t fly or anything. Idiot.
“That took a lot more out of me than expected,” he breathes heavily.
Levouay rises from her throne. Her eyes are filled with hatred. This should be fun.
In a blur, Genu grabs Zarvick and flies up the staircase. The mighty queen doesn’t even waste her time with them. I take off my bow and quiver, throwing it to the side. I stand a few feet in front of her straightening my back and cracking my knuckles.
“You’re either really naive or really faithful,” she says.
The heels of her shoes click against the ground as she draws closer. I study her movements ready for a sign to attack.
“And you’re just an ignorant witch.”
I lunge forward, throwing a right hook; Levouay evades my attack so I throw a left hook but she catches my fist. Damn. She punches me in the face then backhands me. I take a couple steps back before regaining myself. Closing the distance, she leads with a swift right kick to my hip. I quickly block the strike with my knee, then jab her in the face. She smoothly rebounds and speedily throws a sweeping punch; ducking, I uppercut her in the jaw, then punch her below the ribs.
Queen Levouay’s body buckles and, when it does, I kick my foot off of her knee; cupping my fists together, I ram them against her face. As her head is thrown backward I raise my fist above my head and bring them down on her face. She slams into the stone floor. The loud thud she makes brings a smile to my face.
An eerie laugh breaks the silence of the room as the banshee stands. After pushing her hair back she charges right into me; as we connect, she wraps her arms around my waist and lifts me off the ground. Next, she bends her body like an arch and suplexes me hard against the floor. Her majesty flips her herself on top of me.
Her nails dig into my chest as she grips tightly to my armor; this time, the queen picks me off of the floor, above herself, and slams me continuously back into the ground.
This isn’t going to do, I tell myself.
Finally, I manage to fold my legs around her arm and twist my body out of her death grip; I throw my weight to the side bringing her down and locking her in an armbar. Levouay does the unthinkable, using her other hand, she sticks her nails deep into the ground. Twisting her just enough under my grip, the queen grabs onto the front of my armor. Utilizing her amazing amount of strength, she lifts me up and throws me into a pillar.
“Damn,” I rub my head. Obviously, that wasn’t a good enough armbar. I’m going to murder her.
As she stands, I decide to take a different approach. Her royal bitchiness wants to fight like a barbarian, then so be it. I rush forth, plowing headfirst into Levouay, propelling us through a pillar and into the wall. She wraps her legs around my ribs and wrestles me to the floor. We practically roll towards the middle of the room before pushing ourselves away from one another.
Quickly, we get to our feet whilst steadily moving in a half circle and waiting for the other to make a move.
“You’re st
ronger than you look, little one,” Levouay smirks.
I give a sarcastic grunt then move in for the kill; I throw a right hook, she catches it and crushes my hand by bending it back. She then throws her right hook, I block it and grab ahold of her wrist whilst twisting her arm like she is mine. Her grip on my other hand loosens just enough for me to break through and grab a hold of her other wrist; twisting both of her arms now I jump up, using them as leverage, and (with all of the force that I can muster as a little one) I press both of my feet against her chest and kick off with full strength ending it in a beautiful backflip.
Levouay is flung back into her throne with a loud bang. She groans, then mutters something under her breath and gets to her feet. It’s about to get interesting.
* * * * *
Genu and I make our way up the winding staircase. Neither of us knows exactly where we are going, especially since this staircase leads to so many doors. We just press forward hoping that something will pop out at us.
“I wish Asvarp’s orb didn’t wander off,” I sigh.
He stops a few steps ahead of me, “...what?”
I forgot that he wasn’t there when we received Asvarp’s little tracking thingy.
“He gave us an orb that would lead us to the ruvtag.”
“Could’ve told me that sooner.”
“W—”
Suddenly, he grabs my waist and hops along the edge of the staircase until we reach a window. Before I can object, we dive through it; his ivory wings expand and we soar to the top of the palace. As we ascend, I spot an orb glimmering along the top of the palace’s turret.
“I thought it was a fairy the first time I saw it,” Genu chuckles.
We reach the top of the tower to find a few red and black runes engraved along a rather large platinum door.
“Got any ideas?” I ask him as he roughly sets me down.
His wings morph back, “no, but I’m sure Asvarp did.”
Sure enough, the orb dissolves into the magical seal causing it to dissipate. Genu opens the door and jumps in; I, however, am far more hesitant. Yet, I suck it up and drop down.
Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy Page 10