by G. S Tucker
Lervirion and his dark legions entered Clear Water Valley. The ghouls were under orders to only infect the minds of the witches; there was to be no partaking of the flesh here. Hissing their displeasure, they turned to mist and targeted high-ranking witches throughout the Valley. The plan was to possess the leaders and the rest would follow them, just like sheep. Ghouls would never be suspected, as they were believed by all to have been eradicated in the last magical war.
Ghouls were known for their mind control, so it was imperative that not one of the foul creatures were discovered. It was hard to kill a ghoul but not impossible. Gliding like ghosts through the houses, the ghouls hunted for the most influential of the witches. They were able to do this using their ability to ‘taste’ someone’s will, the stronger the ‘taste’, the more influence the creature had over its peers. For the ghouls, this was child’s play. Within an hour, they had possessed every witch of influence in the realm.
Phase one was complete; now the dark murmurs were on standby to help stir up the population and guide their thoughts towards the darkness. Chaos was about to have rein throughout Clear Water Valley.
Sapphire was becoming concerned; she had not yet found a portal into Gloria. As she swooped down to catch a tree cat for her supper, she pondered once again over the intense pain she had felt not long ago; this had been followed by…nothing. This disturbed the great owl. A mental numbness was never a good sign when one mind was connected to another; it usually meant the connection had been permanently severed. Making the kill swift and clean, Sapphire delicately ate her meal. Evangeline cannot be dead; the prophecy is tied to her life force. If she has indeed passed to the realm of the dead, then all of Orea shall perish in the void.
After cleaning her beak and talons in a nearby brook, Sapphire once again took to the skies, the Olia landscape was indeed beautiful, though she hardly saw the russet treetops or the golden grass fields. I must find another gate into Gloria if only to have my darkest suspicions confirmed.
Silence filled the room; Eve looked around at the three shocked faces before her and sighed. Maybe I should have kept that to myself, she thought. Picking at the hem of her robe, Eve wondered who was going to break the deafening silence, it was torture sitting here, waiting for her companions to reanimate and react to her words. Finally, Caleb spluttered
“Wait…what?”
Rolling his black eyes Jericho sighed and turned to Caleb.
“Has your mind become muddled she said…”
“I heard what Eve said thank you, Jericho. I still am as sharp of mind as I was an hour ago, I should have been more articulate in my reaction that is true, it is such a blessing to have Eve back with us that I did not think before speaking.” Caleb rushed as he smiled at Eve and continued. “What I meant to say is how is it even possible that you have been resurrected, the Goddess must favour you and for that, I for one shall be forever grateful.”
Eve blushed and looked at her hands. Now that she knew how Caleb truly felt about her she was unsure how to react. Even though she felt the same way, it was surreal to know that he was indeed sincere in his feelings. Glancing at Caleb, Eve clearly saw his aura glowing a bright yellow, although she was not sure what all these new colours meant, she was sure that a yellow aura like a green one was a good sign. Making a mental note to find out how to interpret these colours. Eve smiled and took a breath, she needed to know where the Aurora Stone was; time was running out. They needed to get moving while Nimayaorin was unaware of her return to the life.
“We need to leave Gloria at the soonest opportunity, I know where we must go to find the Stone,” Caleb announced to the group. It was of the utmost importance that they reach the stone before the legions of darkness, who no doubt, were being dispatched all over Orea at that very moment.
“Where is it we must travel to, Caleb?” asked Eli, his cool blue gaze assessing the witch. Jericho was not at all happy with how familiar Eli was with them all; he had just met them. Glancing at Eve, he saw how happy she looked now, though her eyes continued to change colour, which if he was honest, was quite unnerving. Everyone turned to Caleb to discover the next leg of the quest.
“The Aurora Stone is with a princess,” he began trying to leave the actual location out for as long as possible, Caleb knew for a fact that Jericho was not going to like where they must travel to next.
However, the Miscurt was not falling for Caleb’s delaying tactics, flexing his impressive biceps, Jericho stood right in front of Caleb and very quietly asked.
“Where exactly are we going, Caleb? Time is wasting, spit it out.”
“Mieron. We must to go to Mieron and speak with the princess of the Blood m
Moon Coven.” Caleb blurted out, all the while eyeing Jericho’s bulging muscles. Eli, who was well schooled in the realms of Orea, was not happy about Eve venturing into the Coven. Everyone knew vampires were blood drinkers. Paling slightly, he turned away to hide his worry from his twin. A memory of Reena looking over the map came to Eve; she knew what creatures lived within that realm, but she also knew that they had nothing to fear from the vampires. Sitting there was not going to get them to the border, they needed to act. Standing, Eve explained to the men that she was going to retrieve her clothes, and they were to be ready to leave within the hour.
Striding along the corridor that led to the Queen’s drawing room, Eve was aware of the humming in the atmosphere. Walking to the window, she noticed the flora pulsing with colour, not aura’s exactly, but their very life force, bright green channels pulsed from below the rich earth and up to the tips of the leaves. For a moment, she was utterly captivated by the power of nature. Looking away from the light display, Eve glanced up at the clear sky, only it wasn’t the empty expanse of blue she had come to expect. instead, the sky was filled with coloured threads, more pulsing beams of light. Every colour of the spectrum was up there; it brought to mind the highway to the moon story Caleb had told her. This was more like a celestial road map. Since waking, Eve saw more of the world than she ever dreamed existed. Shaking herself, Eve hurried to Queen Sophia’s drawing room.
Back in Eli’s chambers, the men eyeballed each other, for once Caleb was not the focus of Jericho’s intense black stare. Eli seemed to either not notice or not care. He busied himself gathering a leather bag and several changes of clothes from his wardrobe. He was well aware of their scrutiny, but like most things in life, they washed over Eli like cool water. Being brought up by the Fae, he was extremely laid back almost to the point of indifference. People mistook his carefree attitude to life as a sign of weakness; some even thought he was an imbecile. Eli was far from those things; he was both strong of body and mind. His gift had activated the same day that Eves had, though at the time he was unaware of her existence, Eli’s gift was not as rare as his twin’s, but it too had merits. For now, he would keep it to himself; he wanted to get to know each of them first before they became aware of his ability, as that was certain to change their attitude towards him.
Once everyone was ready, they all headed for the stables. The King and Queen had offered them each a horse as walking would take time and that was something they didn’t have. Thanking them for their kindness and hospitality, Eve and her companions, which now included Eli, mounted up. Eve rode Bobby as he was the fastest should trouble befall them again, the rest rode Palomino’s, the most beautiful horses in all of Gloria. Pointing them in the right direction for the nearest portal, the King and Queen wished them well and sent up a silent prayer to the Goddess that the dark legions had not yet begun infecting the realms.
“Evangeline is our only hope, let them ride like the wind and may the Goddess keep her safe, for all of Orea depends on her. How strange to think that the fate of the world as we know it, is dependent on the courage of a teenage elf, who only discovered her destiny a few months ago,” murmured King Efrin, as he watched them gallop across the bridge and out of the palace gates.
Chapter Sixteen
The covan was restless;
it had been weeks since the scouts had been sent to fetch fresh blood. Fights were beginning to break out over nothing; the atmosphere was heavy with tension. Winter was becoming bored. She wanted to go to the feeding grounds and have a dalliance with a handsome man and then sup his rich blood. Just thinking about it made heat pool low in her belly, and made her gums itch. Though she only appeared to be a young woman of no more than twenty-one summers, Winter was in fact, hundreds of years old. Rising from her four-poster bed, she moved languidly to her vanity. Her father would return shortly from his meeting with a small fraction of rebellious subjects, and on his return would no doubt expect an audience with her.
More suitors to parade in front of, I shouldn’t wonder. She thought while picking a lipstick from her new makeup box, such treasures she had gathered since her people discovered the other world. Settling on a shimmery pink, Winter carefully applied it to her full lips. The colour worked perfectly with her chestnut waves and ice blue eyes; Ariana was going to be so envious of her new look. Getting up, Winter picked up the gift she had for her best friend and headed out of her room.
“Where are you going, Your Highness?” Enquired a silky voice that set Winter’s teeth on edge.
“Nowhere that concerns you, Archie.” She spat back hoping it would deter him from following her; sadly, it seemed to amuse him.
“Come now, Your Highness, I am only concerned for your wellbeing, as any man who cares for you, should,” Archie crooned. Resisting the urge to bare her fangs, she had learned this seemed to excite him, which was the very last thing she wanted, Winter scowled at him. Archie Van Grüber was becoming a problem, one she hoped her father would deal with on his return. Picking up her pace, Winter rushed along the corridor with a love sick Archie hot on her heels.
“How did you manage to get into my wing of the castle Archie? You know full well, no would-be suitor’s or in your case, stalkers, are allowed down here.”
Looking very pleased with himself, Archie explained how he had convinced the guards they were now an item. Well, that was the last straw, stopping abruptly, Winter spun to face the smirking vampire. Everything about him screamed narcissist, all vampires were beautiful, it’s how they lured in their prey. However, Archie was overkill, slicked back black hair that shone with oil, A dinner suit, spats and a very thin, perfectly oiled goatee.
Who dresses like that! Winter thought to herself as she took in his appearance. Looking directly into his eyes, she suddenly had an idea. Stepping closer to him, Winter gave her thick eyelashes a-flutter.
“Well, seeing as you are so resourceful, maybe I should give you another chance, hmm?” Winter almost gagged on the words as she stared in, what she hoped was an adoring fashion into his eyes. Clearly, he was as gullible as he was irritating. Archie went into full on smoulder. The over-confident fool reached out and stroked her face; it took all of her willpower not to break his arm clean off.
“I knew you were attracted to me; you play hard to get, but I knew you burned for me,” he boasted, still stroking her jaw. Taking his hand gently in hers, which neatly stopped the creep from touching her face, Winter arranged to meet him later that night in the courtyard for a romantic stroll. Archie readily agreed, lifting her hand to his lips he kissed it.
“Until later, Princess,” he smouldered.
“Yes, until later. I must get on now, Archie; I am meeting Ariana, and I am already late,” Winter smiled reclaiming her hand and discreetly wiped the wetness from his kiss onto her leather pants. Taking this break in physical contact as her chance to leave, Winter turned and headed along the corridor. She didn’t look back. When I find out which of the guards believed that oily creep, they will regret the day they were turned! She thought.
Ariana’s face was a picture, she was practically drooling over the lip gloss and compact mirror Winter had gifted her. Winter hoped it made up for her not being able to cross into the other world. It was hard for Winter knowing what had really happened that night in the human world, what she did know was that Ariana was innocent. They had only spoken of it once, just after it had happened and that was when Ariana begged her best friend to never disclose what truly happened, it would bring shame to the whole covan rather than just the House of Dai. Reluctantly, Winter had agreed.
Ariana Dai had been taken before the high council and the King, found guilty and branded across her back. To this day, Winter could still smell the burning flesh and hear her best friend’s screams, while she stood with the rest of the coven and watched the punishment. Thanks to Vampire healing abilities, Ariana had healed well, though with the brand being bewitched, she still, bore the scar of the bewitched branding. The image of the rising sun covered the top half of her back for all eternity.
“So why were you so late? Surely it didn’t take that long to put on your makeup,” Ariana teased poking her friend in the ribs. Winter explained with much eye rolling about Archie and his antics. “Seriously, the guy has some serious guts to pull a stunt like that.
“No, Ariana, he is seriously stupid to pull a stunt like that; my father will not be pleased,” Winter fumed while her oldest friend merely laughed. “And did you just refer to a vampire as a guy?” Winter teased her friend. She was amazed how easily the covan had picked up the casual way in which the human creatures spoke, it was so much more fluid than the way they had all be taught.
. The girls chatted for hours, comfortable in the plush recliners, glasses of red wine in hand.
The atmosphere changed rapidly when one of the royal scouts appeared on the threshold.
“The King has returned! All of you make haste to your posts! Has anyone seen the Princess?” He shouted into the crowd, though there was no need everyone was silent. Suddenly the room was a hubbub of activity, as vampires scrambled to return to duties. Winter sighed, it was now her duty to go and greet her father at the gate and offer him a goblet of blood. The custom was so outdated; she had asked on many occasion why they must continue it. Her father had looked aghast and explained that to her it may be outdated; however, to a two-thousand-year-old vampire, it was practically modern!
King Fredrick was tired, it had been a very tiring few weeks, the civil war that had broken out over Coven supremacy of all things; it was a bloody mess. Many lives had been permanently ended. He stroked his trimmed beard, a relic from his human life. If he chose to shave it, it would, in a matter of hours grow back to the exact length and style it had been when he was turned. Fredrick often counted his lucky stars that he had trimmed it the day he had become a vampire. His horse snorted with impatience, the beast was no doubt as road weary as he was.
“Soon Ulysses. We must uphold tradition, much to my daughter’s disgust,” he chuckled while patting his grey stallion’s neck. After another few minutes, Winter appeared from the grand front door and met him and his warriors, though just to rile her, he often referred to them as knights. She looked just a beautiful as she had the day he left, though this should come as no great surprise to a vampire. Fredrick was always amazed by his daughter’s beauty. It was her smart mouth that hindered her marriage prospects. The thought pained him, he wanted her to be settled and ready herself to undertake Royal duties.
“Father, how glad I am to see you home and well. Here is the blood, the elixir which sustains us,” Winter said; she had been saying the same line for a hundred and forty-two years since her mother died. Winter quickly shook the image of her mother’s beautiful face from her mind.
Smiling down at his daughter, Fredrick took the goblet and drank deeply. The rich, velvety blood was welcome after so many hours with only wine to sustain him. Many of the myths surrounding Vampires in the other world were simply fabrications, though drinking blood and not being able to consume food were two that held true. Reaching for his kerchief, he dabbed at his lips and returned the cup to his daughter.
“How wonderful it is to be home and to see you well, my daughter,” he replied in a formal greeting. Fredrick dismounted Ulysses in one fluid movement and casually han
ded the reins to a stable hand. Instructing that he was to have an apple and a bucket of oats after his rub down. Turning back to his daughter, Fredrick offered his arm, smiling up at her father’s kind face, Winter slipped her arm through his, and they made their way back into the castle.
“How was your trip, Father? I hope all is well, and the fighting will now stop.”
Looking at Winter, his heart swelled with pride. So she is interested in the governing of the realm. He thought as they walked towards his chambers. Maybe she shall surprise me and pick a husband. Feeling foolish for getting ahead of himself and zoning out of the conversation Fredrick returned his wandering mind to his daughter.
“I am sorry, Sweetheart; I missed what you were saying. Too many conflicting thoughts are taking up room in this old head of mine,” he said smiling down at her. Winter smiled, she knew her father had much on his mind and so she would not be unreasonable about his lapse in concentration.
“Its fine, Father, it wasn’t anything that can’t wait. Once you have had supper or even tomorrow, once you have rested, I can tell you then.” Kissing his dusty cheek, Winter let go of his arm and headed toward the corridor that lead to her wing. When she reached the door, she called to her father, “I will see you at dinner, Ariana needs my help with a project, and I know how much you need a rest.”
Nodding to her, Fredrick waited for her to go before he continued at a slower pace towards his chambers. Though he was well enough, he felt tired after such a long ride and felt the need for a long bath and maybe a nap before supper. On reaching his chambers, Fredrick walked to his desk and as was his ritual, he picked up the ornate gold frame and gazed at the image of his beloved late wife, Helen. How beautiful she had been. He missed her so much. Just as he had when Helen had graced these chambers, he repeated the words he had said to her a hundred times.