Empyrean: Return of the Fire Faery

by Twyla Turner

  “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  ~~~

  Once everyone was up and ready to go, I had Daegan, Valen, Sabir, and the other faeries drink from the chalice. Daegan, Valen, and Sabir felt nothing when they drank from it. Only Wakeley, Saffi, and Rae felt the added strength and tested it out on the boulder like Rafe had.

  “I have no idea what that means,” I said as Saffi placed the boulder back down, the last to try out her newfound strength. “Why it only works for faeries and me.”

  “Maybe it means we’ll be the only ones that’ll need the added power going into the next two gauntlets.” Saffi rationalized.

  “Possibly,” I responded, but still had some doubts.

  We gathered our things and exited the Unicris village. The elfin army had already gotten into formation and headed towards Mermaid Cove. Kaya, Emperor Tag, and Empress Pamina followed us outside of the walls of their village to bid us farewell and good luck.

  “Thanks again for saving us. We really are sorry for misjudging you.” Pamina said sincerely to me.

  “It’s okay. I can understand how it looked when I showed up unannounced as some sickness was spreading across the land.” I responded, trying to put her guilt at ease.

  The Empress nodded her head gratefully.

  Kaya walked up to Daegan and nuzzled him with her head against his. “Be safe, Daegan.”

  “I will, Kaya. Now I having something to fight for,” he said looking at her sincerely.

  I grinned as I watched them together. Everything was falling into place as it should. If only we could win these next two gauntlets, happily ever after could be possible for everyone.

  After the goodbyes had been said, Daegan began to kneel down for me. But with the added strength still coursing through me, I jumped up easily onto his back, in the saddle. Even with my armor on it was super easy.

  Nice! Daegan thought.

  I know, right?! I wish I were this strong all the time. I grinned and patted his neck.

  “Good luck, son. Good luck to you all.” Emperor Tag said proudly.

  “Thank you, father.” Daegan bowed his head respectfully.

  I held on tight to his mane as he began to flap his wings. He shot up into the air with ease and the faeries followed. We turned west and headed towards Mermaid Cove, which was only a couple miles away. I looked to either side of me. Rafe and Saffi were on our left, and Wakeley and Rae were on our right. I was bent forward over Daegan’s neck to keep the wind resistance down. It felt incredible to be flying next to the faeries. So I could only imagine how Daegan felt.

  I’m not gonna lie. As you would put it, I kinda feel like a boss.

  I started to laugh against his neck. Rafe looked over at me curiously, and I smiled at him. Moments later, my chuckles died down as I took in what was ahead. When I had first arrived in Empyrean weeks ago at Mermaid Cove, the landscape was beautiful from what I can remember. The grass was a vibrant green, as well as the leaves on the surrounding trees. Colorful flowers had dotted the green pastures. And the water had been a gorgeous mesmerizing blue, for as far as the eye could see.

  Now everything was black or gray. The grass was dead. The flowers, wilted and dull. The trees, leafless. The water looked as if it had been replaced with ink. I couldn’t even imagine where the mermaids were. Whether they were alive or captured. I had no idea. And no idea what we were dealing with.

  “Do you think you could get a little closer to the water as we pass over it, Daegan?” I asked him as we flew towards the water.

  “Sure.”

  He dipped down, and the faeries followed. We flew low as we passed over the dark water. I couldn’t see anything. I looked over to Rafe and Saffi.

  “Even I don’t see anything,” Rafe answered my unspoken question. If the water faery couldn’t see what was within the water’s depths, then we were definitely going in completely blind.

  We started to circle back to the shore of the cove, where the army would be meeting us when they caught up. We were all still searching for any sign of life in the water when something shot out in front of us. What looked like a giant serpent’s tail rose out of the dark depths and lashed out. The tail whipped Daegan and sent him spinning. I tried my best to hold onto his mane, but the force sent me flying off of my saddle. I only had a split second to take a deep breath before my body plunged into the inky black water. I swam frantically, but in the pitch black that enveloped me, I had no idea which way was up. Panic nearly choked me as I began to run out of oxygen.

  Chapter 38

  Rafe

  Like a bad case of déjà vu, I screamed her name as I watched Immy fall. But this time, instead of being caught, she hit the surface of the black water and then disappeared. Daegan righted himself from the tailspin he’d been forced into. He looked around in a panic, searching for her.

  Immy didn’t have time to waste, so I tucked my wings against my body and dove down into the water in the exact spot she had fallen. My hands reached out in front of me as I kicked down further into the darkness. I felt something flailing frantically and realized it was a hand. I gripped it tightly in mine. I pulled towards me, and my other hand came into contact with a hardened outer shell, and I knew it was Immy’s armor. My fears eased a bit as I kicked towards precious air. We both broke the surface a moment later, and she gasped for breath.

  “What in the hell was that?!” She panted.

  I didn’t even get a chance to respond before her question was answered a second later. An ear-piercing shriek blasted our ears a few feet away from us. We turned to look as the head of a monster rose high above us. It looked like a cross between a dragon and a snake. Its scaly skin was a dark blue with silver spikes running down its back and red glowing eyes. Those red eyes stared down at us now. Then it hissed and dove for us.

  “Hold on!” I shouted at Immy.

  She quickly climbed on my back, wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. I raised my right arm and slammed my fist down into the water as the creature came toward us. A loud boom sounded as a tidal wave shot up in a wall of water, pushing the sea serpent back several feet. I grabbed Immy’s arm and pulled her to my front. I unfurled my wings and flapped them hard to propel us out of the water and up towards our friends, who had been hovering several feet above watching the scene unfold in shock.

  I carried Immy up to Daegan and placed her back on the saddle. We both panted hard, trying to catch our breath. Our bodies drenched with black water.

  “Are you alright?” I asked her.

  “Yeah.” She gave me a look that said ‘close call.'

  We all looked down. The sea serpent swam just beneath the surface of the black water. Its body slithered and glided like a snake’s, its spikes peeking above the water.

  “Do you think that’s the only one?” Daegan asked.

  “I don’t know. But I doubt it.” I answered.

  “Let’s go back to shore and wait for Valen and the rest of the army to get here,” Immy suggested. “Then we can try to come up with a plan because right now there is no way we can defeat them completely blind. And we need to figure out what happened to the mermaids.”

  I looked to the west, on the other side of the channel, into the darkness that was Myrkur. Shadowy mountains loomed in the distance. Red liquid spewed from active volcanoes. Not even stars dared to twinkle overhead.

  A few weeks ago, I would’ve said, “Let the mermaids figure it out for themselves,” and then would’ve flown straight for Myrkur and Hafgrim to finish off this battle for light. But with everything I had learned from Immy. From her patience and selflessness. I knew that staying to help them was the right thing to do. So I followed her along with the others, back to shore without complaint. Ready to do what I could.

  As we descended to shore, we met Valen and the army as they rode up to the cove. Valen slowed his horse and hopped down from his saddle. He strode over to us, and Sabir followed closely behind.

  “Any luck?” Valen asked.

&
nbsp; “No. It’s not looking good. There are sea serpents. Well, at least one, but I’m sure there are more. And the water is pure black, so we can’t see anything above or in the water.” I explained our situation. “I’m not sure your army can help with this battle, Valen. This may be the point where we part ways.” I admitted.

  “Are you sure there’s nothing we can do to help?” Valen asked.

  “Even if you could help with this battle, there’s still Myrkur. And the only way you could make it there is by boat. And there aren’t-” My sentence was cut short by a cry of distress.

  We turned just in time to see a serpent grab one of the soldiers right off his horse. My eyes widened as I looked up. There were three heads attached to one body. The middle head had the elf within its mouth. I could hear the screams of the elf as the serpent whipped him from side to side.

  We stood in shock for several moments. The three-headed serpent was all black with red spikes down each spine that met as one where they connected in the middle. As we stood immobile, in shock, the other two heads struck like a cobra. I leapt out of the way at the last second, and the serpent grabbed ahold of Sabir and yanked him up into the air, as the other grabbed another elf.

  The shock finally vanished as we watched the serpent attack the captain of the elfin army. I unsheathed my sword, as did the others and we ran full speed towards the water. Arrows from the archers flew and struck the three-headed serpent like the quills of a porcupine. The heads screeched and dropped their victims. Several elves and Rae ran to pull their injured comrades to safety so that she could do her best to heal them.

  I ran for the left head, and it tried to strike at me. I jumped out of the way, the shallow water splashing around me. I swung my sword but narrowly missed. It hissed and struck again. This time, I held steady and with both hands, I sliced through the air right before its mouth reached me. My blade cut through its neck, in one powerful swipe. As the headless limb squirmed frantically, the other two heads screamed in agony.

  I watched as Wakeley went for the right head and Immy attacked the middle. Her shield on her right arm protected her body as she held her sword in her left hand. Immy’s red hair cascaded like a fountain from the top of her golden helmet. Her face matched her fiery and wild curls. The sea monster hissed at her, and she bared her teeth and yelled back. I was mesmerized.

  The creature lashed at her, and she smashed the shield into the side of its face. It tried again, but this time, it head butted her instead, and she flew back a few feet. I was ready to run to her, but she gave me a look.

  “I got it!” Immy shouted out as she got up.

  She ran back towards the monster. Absolutely fearless. When the serpent tried to strike again, Immy used all of the extra power she had gotten from the chalice and jumped up several feet in the air, the serpent’s sharp teeth just missing her. As she came back down, she smashed the shield down against its head. She raised her sword and speared it through the top of the serpent’s skull as she let out magnificent battle cry.

  Wakeley stabbed the other head up through the jaw. The tip of his blade protruded through the top of the creature’s mouth. Its head fell to the shallow water. Immy pulled her sword from the unmoving middle head and sliced it through the still squirming right head, severing it from its neck.

  It was quiet for a few seconds as we all blinked at Immy in astonishment. Her chest rose and fell harshly as she tried to catch her breath. Once she realized it had gotten strangely silent, she looked around at everyone.

  “What?!” She snapped self-consciously when she realized everyone was staring at her.

  “Nothing.” Everyone said in unison and looked away.

  I walked towards her in the shallow, murky water. Immy looked up at me with proud amber eyes and my heart lurched and pounded in my chest.

  “You were…were…magnificent!” I said in awe.

  “Really?” She asked skeptically.

  “I mean, I don’t plan on ever getting on your bad side, but yeah.” I stared down at her, and she looked away bashfully. It amazed me how she could be so shy, as the three-headed beast she’d practically slain by herself, laid at her feet. She was full of beautiful contradictions.

  “Rafe, look!” I heard Saffi call out. “Look at the water around you!”

  Both Immy and I looked down, and the water was crystal clear around us. I took a few steps back in surprise and the black water cleared with me as I moved. I looked up at Immy, and she was staring at me.

  “Do you think you could use your powers to clear the water?” She asked curiously.

  “It’s worth a shot,” I answered.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated on the water surrounding me, feeling it. I felt the darkness surrounding me too, and I pushed it back. As I pushed back the darkness in my mind, I opened my eyes and saw the black water dissipating. As the dark water receded, I could see the slithering bodies of the serpents. The one that tried to attack Immy and me earlier raised its head out of the murky water and hissed at us from a distance. I smiled.

  “They can’t come into the clear water. Maybe they can only survive in the dark water!” I shouted back to everyone, and a cheer went up through the army.

  I walked over to Immy and she high-fived me. I leaned down to plant a kiss against her temple. We walked towards dry land and the army, ready to discuss our next move. I stepped out of the water, and Valen shouted as he pointed at the water.

  “Rafe, no!” He yelled.

  I looked back and could see that the water was turning black again. The sea serpents quickly heading back to us. I swiftly ran back out into the water and pushed the darkness and serpents back. They shrieked in protest.

  “I can’t leave the water.”

  “Wait!” Rae held up her hand, raising her voice louder than I’d ever heard it. “I can feel someone is injured. Now that the water is clear, I can feel it. It’s coming from under there.” She pointed to where the rocks of the cove jutted out into the ocean. “It has to be the mermaids. I need to get down there, but I can’t hold my breath for that long.”

  “I can,” I told her. “I’ll find them and bring them out. It would be best since I can’t leave the water anyway.” I looked over at Immy, and she gave me a worried look. “I’ll be alright.”

  She nodded her head. I turned towards the cove and dove into the water. I kicked hard, going deeper down into the water’s depths. Sea life was starting to reemerge after being trapped in darkness. Fish swam out curiously to watch me. Frightened coral slowly reappeared. Even a school of dolphins arrived and swam alongside me. I assumed to guide me to where the mermaids were hidden.

  The cliff of the cove went down several hundred feet under the water. I swam down and found a giant boulder sitting in front of what looked like an opening. The dolphins hovered there, so I knew it had to be where the mermaids were. With the added strength from the chalice, I was able to move the boulder with no help.

  Once the entrance was open, I swam inside. My eyes widened in surprise. Within the rock, there was an underwater city that spanned miles. Dwellings made of rock and hundreds of mermaids and mermen everywhere.

  A mermaid with skin the color of coffee swam towards me. Her long black hair covered her bare torso. Her scales were a beautiful and vibrant coral color that made her skin practically glow. She took my hand and gestured for me to follow her with her other hand. We swam deeper into the city.

  She led me to one of the stone buildings. Inside was a mermaid that was tucked in the fetal position. Her chestnut brown hair floated around her so I couldn’t see what was wrong. The other mermaid that had brought me here brushed the other’s hair away and pointed to her blue scales. I could see holes that looked suspiciously like bite marks in the scales. And her skin looked like a pasty gray color.

  I looked at the dark-skinned mermaid and nodded my head. I pointed to the injured mermaid and then up, telling her that help was up above. She nodded back in understanding. I took the wounded mermaid in my arms and
began the swim up to the surface. The other mermaid and a few more followed me through the entrance and then above.

  When we broke the surface, everyone that had been waiting for my return, breathed a sigh of relief. Immy smiled at me gratefully. I swam to shallow water, and Rae immediately walked into the water. The other mermaids surrounded us and watched as Rae’s healing ripples, waved over the injured girl. Thick black liquid oozed from the bite marks. The grayness of her skin drained away, bringing back her tan skin tone. Finally, the bite marks disappeared, and she uncurled her body, and I let her down into the water.

  “Their bite must be venomous. The same black liquid came out of Sabir and the other two elves as well. Though they hadn’t been bitten as long as her.” Rae informed us.

  “It was awful.” The mermaid spoke up, her voice sounded like music. Which was one of the things that attracted lost sailors to them. “Their poison makes every inch of your body feel the most excruciating pain you could ever imagine. Thank you so much for bringing me up.” She said to me and then looked at Rae. “And thank you for healing me.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said, glad that I could help.

  “Of course.” Rae nodded.

  “So now what do you we do?” Wakeley asked as he walked over. “Rafe can’t leave the water or the sea serpents will come back, trapping the mermaids again. But we have to make our way to Myrkur to stop Hafgrim’s plans of destruction. And we can’t leave Rafe behind. We need all the fighters we have.” He listed off our dilemmas.

  “Then use your powers, Wakeley,” Immy spoke up.

  “How?” He looked at her perplexed.

  “There’s earth under the water, right?” She asked, and we all nodded. “Well then, raise a rock wall from below, splitting the channel in half. Then the serpents can’t get to the other side.” Immy finished with a shrug.

  “That’s brilliant!” Wakeley exclaimed, always happy to contribute.

  “Is that okay with you?” Immy asked the mermaids.