“By the time any authority from the Empire gets here, it will be too late,” Lorelei said. “The necromancer is trying to break through the protection Elys put up and awaken the general who actually turns out to be an ancient vampire.”
Ilia paled, her eyes widening, and she leaned her back against one of the pillars, resting her hand on her collarbone as she stared at the floor. She had become paler with each of Lorelei’s words.
“So, the Black Herons are trying to bring the vampire about to cause grief in the empire,” she said.
“Most likely,” Lorelei said, not taking her gaze off Arryn. “If we leave, they will have made an escape by the time anyone gets here.”
“You don’t know that,” Arryn said. “Dae brought us here through a portal and she’s just an initiate.”
“Hey.” Dae glared at him with her hands on her hips. “A First Circle Initiate, thank you.”
Arryn ignored her. “You don’t think the Quorum has a magus at the very least who isn’t knowledgeable in dimension magic?”
“Even if they do, they still would be too late.” Lorelei turned to Elys. “How much time do we have?”
Elys stared off. “He has passed through my maze and defeated my guardians. He needs only to locate the guitar and destroy it. That will take a powerful ritual — we have mere hours.”
“We’d be stuck during that time just being questioned,” Lorelei said to Arryn. “I won’t risk letting this free just to have someone of authority come here to handle it. Not when I can do something.”
“How can you do something? You’re wounded.” Arryn waved his hand at her shoulder. “We’re all wounded.”
“That’s the point of moving the rocks.” Lorelei turned from him and stared down to the end of the now cleared hall.
The rubble had hidden a small room, perhaps only fifteen feet by fifteen feet. in the center of the back wall stood a fountain with the relief of a dragon. At one time, the mouth would have shot out water. However, it had long since dried up with only a few dregs of a dark liquid in the bottom of the fountain’s pool. A cracked marble cup lay a few feet away.
Lorelei turned to Elys. “What is this? I thought you had a way to heal us. This is just dirty water.”
Arryn smirked. “This whole ghost is probably just another trap from the necromancer.”
“No.” That couldn’t be possible. He’d enabled her to sing for more than a few seconds and not have it backfire.
“It is not a trap.” Elys floated to the side of the fountain. “At one time, this fountain used to flow with Aether. It was once connected to a wellspring whose source was believed to be a dragon, fallen long ago. Itham used it to empower his army. When I caused the citadel to fall, the fountain was separated from the wellspring. All that remains are the last few sips.”
Arryn snorted and shook his head. “You expect us to drink dragon blood?”
“Not blood,” Elys said. “Aether. It will heal your bodies and refresh your minds.”
“Drinking pure Aether is dangerous,” Ilia said.
“So is fighting a necromancer and possibly an ancient vampire…” Lorelei stepped towards the fountain. “It needs to be done and we need every advantage we can get.”
Arryn shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”
Lorelei picked up the stone cup and wiped the dust and dirt from the inside with the hem of her shirt. “Someone has to try it to see if it works. I’m the one proposing this plan, so it should be me.”
“How do you know you can trust him?” Arryn said.
Her gaze traveled from Arryn to Elys, who looked on with a sad expression. If he’d wanted to hurt her, he could have already. She had let him into her mind. Instead of helping, he could have turned her own mind against her. He could have regressed her control back to what it had been years ago. He hadn’t.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Lorelei said. “But I do trust him. And I will free him.”
With that, she scooped the cup into the fountain, filling it half full. She brought the cup to her lips and drank.
8
For being in such a cold, empty place, the liquid held a warmth, and it fizzled on Lorelei’s tongue, making her giggle. The bubbles traveled down her throat as she swallowed and seemed to spread through her body.
A vision of Arryn and her running through a garden with the moon hanging over their heads filled her mind. She remembered that night. They’d snuck out to search for spirits in the main fountain of Hy-Breasail. They’d waited most of the night, sharing two bottles of wine. Finally, Lorelei had grown bored and decided to take a swim in the fountain. The city guard had almost caught them and they’d had to run. Hiding in close quarters in a dark shed, she’d felt his hands on her hips sink lower to play with the hem of her dress. Her heart had raced as she let his hands slip under the skirt and caress her thighs. Their lips had crashed into each other and need had taken over. It had been the first time they’d slept together, her first time and one of her favorites. She’d been fourteen and he fifteen. Shortly after, she’d left for the Aimsir
Lorelei smiled at the memory, her heart lifted, and with it, the Aether within her swelled. An itching began in her shoulder and hip. She scratched, tugging at the bandages. She pulled the one on her hip aside and gasped. The cut had disappeared, leaving pink flesh behind.
Ilia strode to Lorelei and inspected her hip and then removed the bandages from her neck and shoulder. Her fingers tickled as they ran across the places where the sword slashes should have been.
“Like they never were,” she murmured.
Lorelei held the cup to her. “Would you like to try?”
“One of them should go first.” Ilia nodded to Arryn and Dae.
Dae zipped forward to hover between them. “I will! You looked like it was the best thing in the world. Is it sweet?”
“Maybe.” Lorelei’s mind drifted back to drinking it. “Like a fine wine, I think.”
Dae wrinkled her nose. “I’m not a big wine fan, but why not?”
She took the cup with both hands and scooped a tiny bit of the Aether into it. She perched on the rim of the fountain and brought the cup which was as big as her head, to her mouth. Her whole body tilted back and her chest heaved as she drank the potion down in a series of gulps. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Seconds later, her eyes glazed over and she spoke in a soft, wispy voice. “Oh…wow.”
A bout of giggles burst from her lips and the cup fell from her hands. She slid off the rim to the ground. She lay on her side and clutched her stomach as she continued to laugh.
Lorelei took a step forward. “Is she all right?”
Ilia knelt down beside Dae. “I don’t know. Maybe it had an ill effect on her.”
Dae waved her away and managed to speak between chortles. “I’m…fine…great…even…Totally try it….like ice candy…”
“Is it different for everyone?” Lorelei glanced at Elys with raised eyebrows.
He smiled. “Aether is a very personal power as is replenishing it.”
Lorelei picked up the cup and held it out to Arryn. He stared at it with his jaw tightening. His cheeks had taken on a pink color.
“I’m doing this no matter what you choose,” Lorelei said. “But I would like to have you by my side. Either way, at least you can use this to recover from your wounds.”
With a loud sigh, he took the cup from her, filled it with some of the Aether, and drank it in one swallow. His eyes unfocused and a small smile played on his lips, his arm dropping to his side. He inhaled sharply, his eyes going wide. He set the cup down and pulled the bandages from his right shoulder. The skin was smooth and unblemished.
Lorelei stepped close to him and rested a hand on his chest. “See?”
He laid his hand over her and gazed down at her with a smile. “You were right, this time. It wasn’t a trap.”
“Still want to leave?”
“Yes, but you are staying and so will
I.” His hand gave hers a gentle squeeze.
Her heart fluttered, and she pressed against him, resting her head on his chest. “Thank you.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You can repay me on my first shore leave.”
“Deal.” She stepped back, taking the cup from him, and turned to Ilia. “Your turn.”
Ilia clasped the cup and stepped up to fountain. She stared down with her brow furrowing. “There’s not much left.”
Lorelei moved next to her. The fountain held a few tiny puddles of the liquid in the bottom. Not enough for even half a cup.
“It’s all right,” Ilia said. “I’m not as wounded. I don’t need much.”
She leaned down and scooped the remaining dregs into the cup. She lifted the cup up as if she was toasting, then she drank the contents in one gulp. She stared off, a languid expression covering her face. “That’s nice.” Ilia set the cup on the floor. “Now, about this necromancer and vampire. Are we all in on this?”
“You know my choice,” Lorelei said.
Dae sat up, her giggles finally dying down, and raised her hand. “I’m in to kick ass…or make an escape route if things go bad.”
Arryn cleared his throat. “I will stay.”
“That makes all of us.” Ilia turned to Elys. “Master Elys, would you direct us on where to go?”
“Through the throne room there is a door opposite of this hall. It shall lead to a series of room. I had created stone guardians, but the necromancer has broken through them. You should have no trouble.”
Lorelei drew a deep breath. “Shall we go then?”
“We need to get our equipment,” Arryn said. “On the chance we need something.”
Lorelei turned and bowed to Elys. “Thank you for your help.”
“No,” he said. “Thank you.”
He flickered and vanished, his light going out with a small pop.
Lorelei blinked, then relit her lantern. She nodded to the others and marched down the hall to retrieve their bags. Half an hour later, they found themselves in the throne room, reequipped and ready to face what was beyond.
To the far right of the throne room stood a thick wooden door. The ornate carvings had been worn away to where they were unidentifiable. They lacked the winged, serpentine figures of dragons.
Lorelei shuddered to think what could have been on there.
She inhaled deeply and took a step forward.
Arryn grabbed her arm. “We’ve been through this. I shall go first.”
He strode to the door and swung it open. A long narrow hallway stretched out before them. He stepped inside, drawing his sword while glancing around, and then continued on. Lorelei pulled her own sword out and followed him with Ilia and Dae behind her.
After several minutes of walking, they followed the hall right and then left a few feet after. It ended in another wooden door. Arryn slowly opened the door and peered inside with a furrowed brow. He swung the door open.
Inside the darkened room lay more rubble and debris. In the center of the hall stood a fountain holding brackish water. The stone had been chipped and the dragon statue that served as the spout had been broken off. Chunks of other statues lay strewn around the room as if someone had smashed them.
Arryn stepped inside and lifted his lantern, casting it around. Even with the light, the shadows persisted in the corners, heavier and deeper than the rest of the citadel.
Lorelei walked to the statues and glanced at Ilia who had followed her. “Elys said he’d created guardians. You think these were them?”
She nodded. “I’ve heard of stone guardians, able to move and act under the commands of their master.”
Lorelei sucked in a breath. “Elys is powerful, even as a ghost.”
“Yes,” Ilia said with a wistful voice. “Perhaps one day, I can be like him.”
Something crunched in the corner to Lorelei’s right and the air shifted. Without thinking, she tucked into a roll over the remains of the statues. Something passed near her back and a sickening metallic smell filled her nostrils. Her stomach churned and goose pimples broke out over her body. Only one metal could cause a sick feeling with its mere presence—the bane of all faerie existence.
“Iron,” she shouted to the others, righting herself.
As she turned, the room was covered in darkness. She gasped and brushed her hand against the glass of her lantern. Heat radiated from the flame, but no light.
“It some sort of magical darkness,” she called. “Dae, can you create a light to negate it?”
“I’ll try.” Dae began chanting somewhere in the air close to the ceiling.
Lorelei’s grip tightened on her sword, and she peered in the darkness. The air shifted around her and the sick feeling increased. The stench radiated from behind her. She ducked to the side and swung her sword. It connected with only air.
“Damn,” she muttered.
“I’m behind you,” Arryn said.
His hand gripped her arm and she was pulled behind him. Her back brushed against the wall.
“Stay there,” he said.
“Only if you stay beside me,” she said.
His clothing shuffled and he moved to stand next to her.
“At least this is one side of us he or she can’t get to,” Lorelei said. “Whoever or whatever this is. Now if only we can find them.”
Her eyes weren’t helping her, so she closed them and focused on the surrounding sounds. Beside her, Arryn shifted, his armor creaking and his breathing coming in quick succession. Ilia was still in the center of the room, shifting through her bag. Her lantern creaked as she opened it. Lorelei blocked their sounds out as well as Dae’s soft cadence from above.
There was the subtle shift of cloth sounding from her right, followed by the sickening feeling. This time it was closer to Arryn. Lorelei shoved him away and used the momentum to push herself the opposite direction. Metal clanked against stone. She stumbled back, tripping over a piece of rock, and landed hard on her butt. Pain shot through her as her elbow slammed against the wall. She dropped her rapier.
Lorelei’s breath caught in her throat. She was vulnerable off her feet. She patted the ground. Where was her sword? It couldn’t have bounced far.
Arryn’s pain-filled scream cut through the room, followed by the sound of him hitting the floor. Fear gripped Lorelei’s heart in an icy cage.
“Arryn?” she called. “Damn it, answer me!”
“I’m still here,” he called. “Great Empress…it burns.”
Screw the sword. Lorelei hopped to her feet and took a few steps in Arryn’s direction. She had to get to him. Maybe she could sing the pain away. Ilia had done it multiple times. Lorelei had to try something for him.
Ilia cried out from the middle of the room. The rocks and debris bounced against each other with tiny clicks as they shifted under the weight of her body. Lorelei turned that direction. They were dropping quickly. She had to do something. Even Dae’s light wouldn’t be enough at this point.
Lorelei sang, focusing on commanding the air to guide her. By sensing the patterns of airflow, she would know if anyone moved in her direction. Her song played a steady slow melody as she waited for her trap to spring.
It only took seconds.
Their attacker stepped into her radius. The wind caressed her. Lorelei could tell it was a female now thanks to the air around her body. Female and breathing.
Good.
A smirk touched Lorelei’s lips and she shifted her song. With one high note into low, she yanked the air from the female’s lungs.
The female gave a gurgling choke and dropped the blade it had raised to swing at Lorelei. She took several steps back, her hand going to her throat. Lorelei moved with her, staying the air from around the female. This one could die in agony for all Lorelei cared.
The room was flooded with a pink glow from above as Dae finished her spell. Lorelei blinked several times as her eyes adjusted to the light. She then focused for a first look at her attacke
r.
The female could have been sidhe. She had the pointed ears, slender build, and high cheekbones. Her pale blonde hair was pulled back from her face. However, the most striking feature was her gray skin. It wasn’t the deathly pale of the vampires, or Elys’s ghostly blue. It was gray, like charcoal on white paper. What faerie had gray skin?
The attacker still held her hands to her throat, making gasping noises as she stared off into the distance with milk white eyes. She didn’t focus on anything.
Blind.
Dae hovered near the ceiling in the center of the room, looking down. She gasped as she stared down at Ilia who lay in a crumpled heap on the broken statues. Arryn had propped himself against the wall with his face contorted in a grimace.
Lorelei’s voice strained with the effort of keeping the air still around the female.
She needed to end this.
Lorelei hadn’t moved much, hadn’t gotten far when their attacker had struck down Ilia. However, her sword had bounced, landing near the fountain. The air was fighting against her at this point. With a shift of the key, Lorelei dropped her control of the wind and focused on the water in the fountain.
It rose out and flew through the air at the attacker’s open mouth. Just as she sucked in a breath, the water invaded and she was choking again.
Lorelei darted to her sword and scooped it up. She lunged forward and thrust it at their attacker. Dae raced downward, aimed at the attacker’s back. The attacker’s eyes widened and she tried to back away from Lorelei. Dae slammed into the attacker’s chest. The attacker stumbled forward and into Lorelei’s blade. It pierced through her chest. She gave a gargling sound and went limp, sliding off of the sword and onto the ground. Red blood seeped from the wound onto the stone.
A chill ran up Lorelei’s spine. Fomorians were the only type of creatures she knew had red blood.
To think Fomorians were working with a group set on overthrowing the Quorum.
“Ilia!” Dae shouted and rushed to her.
Lorelei turned from the body of the attacker and strode to Arryn. His chest heaved and sweat poured down his face, which had taken on a grayish tint. Lorelei’s head turned in the direction of the body. Could it…Was it changing him as well?
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