“Don’t worry about it. There are more important things for you to do.”
“But you’re hurt,” I said, pointing at his arm.
He shrugged. “It’s just a scratch.”
It really wasn’t. It looked very similar to when that leprechaun stabbed me with her claws. I also remembered how much it hurt. I looked down at the floor—even more evidence that I wasn’t strong.
“You said you know where Kadon is?” Victoria said.
Greg stepped around me. “Yes, Kadon has taken all the senior council members captive. He is holding them in the courtyard of the Tree of Time.”
“Of course, someone like him would make an overdramatic statement like that,” said Victoria.
Greg put his hand on my check, forcing me to look up from the floor. “Mellissa, you can do this.”
I gave him a small smile and nodded. I wasn’t as sure as he was about being able to pull this off. There was a lot at stake. I couldn’t give up before I’d even tried.
“Okay, let’s go guys.” I walked back over to my guardians and held my hand out. Victoria and Harkura both took hold. I wasn’t going to let my fear get the best of me. This was something I had to do. I looked at both my guardians. Victoria and I had spent most of the time we’d known each other at odds, but she was now one of my closest friends, and I had only just met Harkura, but I knew he would back me up no matter what. I teleported us to the Tree of Time.
For once, we landed exactly as I wanted—in the tree’s branches. I thought it would help us remain hidden, but I’ve never been that lucky.
“How nice of you to join us, little elf-ling, and your guardians too,” Kadon said without turning to look at us. “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it in time for the main event. You will have a great view in that tree to watch as I kill the council members. They all sat idly by and let my people fall into ruins. You will all fear us again soon.”
Kadon had the council members bound by his shadows. The courtyard was already littered with bodies. By the looks of it, he had taken out a bunch of soldiers who’d tried to save them. They were all trained to fight. What hope did I have? Kadon was so cold. He spoke of the council ruining his people, but really, he just enjoyed causing chaos. He killed like it was his favourite sport. Kadon was a monster that needed to be stopped, and it was my job to do it. Leprechaun henchmen came and surrounded the tree, waiting for us to come down.
“Which one should I dispose of first?” Kadon asked, walking up to his captives. “I think we will start with you.” He pointed at Lady Gabrielle and levitated her toward him. He chuckled. “Are you trying to use your magic on me, warlock? I can’t believe they let such weak creatures be senior members on this pathetic council. It sort of takes the fun out of this.”
I had to do something quick. Otherwise, he was going to kill her. I looked at both Victoria and Harkura, and they both nodded at me, knowing that I was going to act. They both jumped from the tree. Victoria froze three of Kadon’s soldiers, and Harkura blasted the other two across the courtyard. I teleported to Kadon and blasted him with a beam of light energy. He went flying back and hit the tree. The smile fell from his face.
“It appears your powers have grown, elf-ling. That actually hurt, but you are still no match for me,” he growled, flying at me with super speed.
I teleported out of the way, but he was right there when I rematerialised, as if he knew where I was going to appear. He grabbed me and threw me across the courtyard. He blasted me with his water powers, making my impact with the ground worse. Victoria and Harkura ran to my assistance. He blasted them away with little effort, but it was enough time for me to get my act together. I blasted him with energy balls while teleporting around the courtyard, hitting him from all directions.
“Enough!” he shouted, sending out a wave of blasts, knocking me to the ground again. He bound my hands with shadows and levitated me to him. I struggled to break free. I couldn’t let him defeat me so easily, not when so many lives were on the line. “You are really quite annoying. I won’t let you get in the way of my revenge. I have waited so long for this. Maybe I should kill you first, and then I can finally add the Heart Crystal to my collection. I will be truly unstoppable.”
He reached for the crystal around my neck, but it rejected him, emitting a massive blast of light. It sent us both flying backward. I landed with a thud while he gracefully levitated to regain his balance. The Heart Crystal glowed brightly.
I pushed myself to my feet. “Don’t you know Freya bound the Heart to her bloodline? All this time, you’ve been trying to capture me, but the crystal will never work for you.”
The crystal’s glow got stronger. Seeing its light reminded me of something I had read. I shouted to Victoria and Harkura to get the council members out of there. They started to break through the shadows binding them. The vein on Kadon’s forehead began to pulse as his eyes narrowed.
“I will not let you take my prize,” he shouted.
He threw a shadow ball at them. I put up a light barrier, deflecting his attack. He yelled as his body became shrouded in a darkness. He blasted me away. He covered his water blasts with shadows, making them more powerful. I put up an energy shield, but he kept throwing one attack after another, and my shield cracked under pressure. I fell back. The crystal was still glowing bright. I needed just a little more time for it to build up more power. I tried to teleport again, but Kadon grabbed my leg with his shadows and dragged me toward him. I tried to dig my hands into the earth to stop him, but I ended up pulling up clumps of grass. I threw the grass at him, making it grow at the same time, but he sliced straight through it with a shadow.
“I have had enough of you, elf-ling,” he shouted, wrapping another shadow round my arm. “You were amusing at first, but now, you are just a pain. I am going to do to you what I should have done to Freya.”
He lifted his hand, forming a shadow sword. I tried to break free by releasing an energy blast, but it didn’t work. He brought the sword down to strike me. I braced myself, but nothing happened. I looked up. In front of me was Lord Steffen, with a barrier in place. Kadon growled. The vein on his forehead looked like it was about to burst.
“I am sick of all this interference.” Kadon smashed through the barrier. “I guess you are first.”
He grabbed hold of Steffen’s head and snapped his neck. I screamed and scurried backward, clutching my chest as his body flopped to the floor. Kadon turned to the other escaping council members and fired what looked like shards of glass at them. Victoria and Harkura both put up barriers, but Kadon’s magic shot straight through them. At least three council members were hit. I wiped away my tears and clenched my fists. The ground began to shake. The grass around Kadon shot up and wrapped around him. He broke free within seconds, but I was ready. I blasted him away with as much light energy as I could summon. I had to act now. I just hoped the crystal had gathered enough energy. I ripped the Heart Crystal from around my neck and threw it in the air, then recited a spell from one of Greg’s books I’d read.
“When one is no longer safe and darkness tries to take light’s place, protect the caster and reject all evil from within their space.”
My heart pounded in my chest. I had acted sooner than planned, but I didn’t want Kadon to hurt anyone else. The crystal sent rays of light shooting all over the place, expelling leprechauns from the area. The ground continued to shake. I planted my feet and stiffened my body.
“Do you really think that weak little spell will work on me?” yelled Kadon, tearing through the light energy to reach me.
I channelled even more power into the spell. I knew it was going to take a lot of power for it to work on someone like Kadon. He pushed through the light and caught me with his claws. I yelled, taking a step back. My legs wanted to give way, but I had to stand my ground. I focused the energy from the crystal on Kadon. Pulses of light started to grab him and pull him away. He resisted, cutting the light with his shadows, but the lights just kept coming
. As he fought the spell, I blasted him with an energy ball, knocking him over. This gave the spell enough time to gather around him and eject him along with all his leprechaun warriors.
The crystal fell to the ground in front of me as I collapsed to my knees. The ground stopped shaking. I was light-headed. Everything around me seemed to be moving in slow motion. I had stopped Kadon temporarily, but I knew he would be back. I felt weak after using so much power. I took slow breaths as I tried to stop myself from crying. I felt sick at the sight of the dead bodies around me. I had been powerless to save them.
Harkura came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Your Majesty, you did it.”
“But Lord Steffen and the others, I didn’t save them.” Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face.
“You did your best. That is all anyone can ask. Kadon is pure evil. More lives would have been lost if you hadn’t been here.”
He might’ve been right, but it wasn’t enough. Lord Steffen had died saving me. I was a hazard to those around me. I could never make things right again. A few people came out into the courtyard to see what happened. They gasped when they saw the bodies. My heart sank as I saw Greg walk out into the courtyard. He came straight over to me.
“Mellissa, what did you do?” he asked. “All the leprechauns are gone. This warm light appeared and expelled them all.”
“Greg, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop him. I wasn’t strong enough,” I replied.
“What are you—” He froze when he saw his father lying there on the ground, his neck broken. Greg’s face dropped. “Dad, no!” he shouted, running over to his father’s body. He knelt beside him and tried to use his healing magic.
“You can’t heal the dead,” Victoria said.
“He can’t be dead. He just can’t.”
I could see the tears forming in his eyes as he tried to heal him again and again. My heart was breaking. I ran over and threw my arms around him.
“I’m so sorry. Your dad saved my life. It was because of him that I was able to expel Kadon and all the leprechauns.”
I thought knowing that his dad had died fighting would help. He didn’t say anything. His head fell on my shoulder, and he hugged me tighter. I could feel him taking slow breaths, his face hidden from the rest of us. I wished I could make his pain go away, but there was no magic that could fix this.
Gregory
Over the next few hours, Greg went around with the healers, aiding the injured. A temporary infirmary was set up to care for those who couldn’t be healed quickly. The dead were taken to a makeshift morgue. The death count was currently at eighty-six and rising. Three of them were senior council members. One of which was Steffen. Greg had become a healer to save lives, but he had been unable to help his own father. Things had improved between them massively in the last week, and now he was gone. Just like that. It felt like he had an elastic band around his chest that someone kept pulling at, slowly tightening it. Greg pushed his feelings down and focused on his work. Kadon had caused a lot of damage and hurt a lot of people. He couldn’t allow himself to fall apart. There were still things to be done.
The remaining council members had already sent word for more soldiers to gather at headquarters to prepare for another attack. Mellissa was hovering around. Knowing her, she would think this was her fault. People kept praising her for getting rid of all the leprechauns. He could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t think she deserved the praise. Why couldn’t she see what everyone else did? Without her, things would have been a lot worse. She had used their time apart well. Her abilities had grown so much in just a week. She was even stronger than the last time he’d seen her.
One of the council messengers approached him. He bowed and informed Greg that the council were waiting in the meeting room for him. Greg sighed. What did they want him for now? There was only one way to find out. He finished wrapping a bandage on his patient’s arm and headed to the main hall. It appeared they also wanted to see Mellissa, as the messenger was leading her in the same direction. They both entered the hall.
“Lady Mellissa and Sir Gregory, we are so glad you could join us,” Chancellor Den said.
Why had he referred to him as sir? Greg didn’t have any sort of formal title.
“What do you require of us?” Greg asked.
“With the death of three senior council members and the remaining half in the infirmary, you and Lady Mellissa are the only senior members left of the council,” Den explained. “We need you here so we can make a final decision on how to proceed.”
“Since when are we members of the council, let alone seniors?” Mellissa asked.
Greg knew the answer to that question. It just hadn’t dawned on him till that moment. He was his father’s heir. He now inherited all his father’s responsibilities.
Hogan of the Caves gave Mellissa a smile. “You are Queen of the Elves. That gives you the highest authority on the council.” Hogan nodded in Greg’s direction. “And since the tragic death of Lord Steffen, his son now takes his place. All the other heirs are not on-site. It is just the two of you.”
Greg wasn’t sure he was ready for this, but it had to be done. “Very well, what are the proposed plans?” he asked.
Den gestured for them to sit. The remaining council members couldn’t agree whether to stay there and wait for Kadon to make his next move or to take the fight to him before he could attack again. The vote was tied, and they needed Greg and Mellissa to make the final decision.
Greg didn’t know what to say, and it seemed Mellissa didn’t either. How could they expect the two of them to make such an important decision like this? They weren’t even officially council members. He may inherit his father’s position, but there was usually a ceremony to induct new members. Neither of them had any experience with this sort of thing. However, Greg did understand the current situation was not good. A time like this called for proper protocol to be ignored. Greg requested that each side explain the pros of their plan. If he was going to make a decision, he was going to need more information. They spent hours listening to each side explain why their plan was best. Once they were done speaking, Greg already knew what strategy he was going to go with. There was a massive hole in one of the proposed plans.
“I’m sorry, but I was just wondering, do you guys actually know where Kadon is?” Mellissa asked. She had picked up on the same problem he had.
“Well, not exactly,” Den said, “but my fastest flying fairies are currently out trying to locate his base of operations.”
Mellissa shrugged. “Well, I’ve made my mind up. I think we stay put for now.”
“I second that decision,” Greg said. “We can review the plan once the fairies return with more information. Is there anything else?”
“No, sir,” Den replied.
They both got up to leave. As they did, the rest of the council stood and bowed to the two of them. This would take some getting used to. Greg was usually the one doing the bowing.
Greg walked with Mellissa down the corridor. He was heading back to the infirmary, but she shouldn’t. She had used up a lot of power expelling the leprechauns and needed to rest to recover her magic. She was going to have to face Kadon again at some point. However, he wasn’t sure how she would respond if he suggested this. She seemed to be all right with him, but he still wasn’t sure where he stood with her.
“Well, that was weird,” Mellissa said.
“You will get used to it,” he said, trying to reassure himself as well as her. This was all just as new to him. He’d known he would eventually have to take over for his father, but he had never expected it to happen so soon.
“Hey, are you okay?” Mellissa asked, looking up at him with big eyes. His father had told him not to hold anything back when she returned. He wanted to say that the last week without her had been the longest in his life. Mostly he just wanted to say he had missed her, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. Now wasn’t the time for that.
He pushed his fringe back. “Yeah, I’m fine. Look, I am going back to the infirmary. I think you should go check in with your guardians.”
“Yeah, Victoria will want to know what’s going on. I’m also pretty tired.” She put her hand on her head. “Will I ever not be tired after using high levels of magic?”
“With time, your body will adjust to it.”
“I’ll see you later, then.” She went to walk in the opposite direction but paused. She turned back to look at him. “You should really take some time. You know, to process everything.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine,” he said.
She didn’t look like she believed him, but she left him to it. Greg went back to the infirmary. It was where he needed to be. He could be useful there. He was fine as long as he had something to do.
After a few hours, the same messenger returned, telling him he was needed again. It must be important. The poor warlock was out of breath from running to him. Greg made his way back to the main hall. He arrived just before Mellissa did. She didn’t seem happy that Victoria had to wait outside, but it was council procedure.
“Now that everyone’s here, we can start,” Den said. “The squad of fairies I sent out have just returned, and they do not bring good news. They have found Kadon, and he is leading his leprechaun army to the veil. He plans on destroying the veil and enslaving the humans.”
There was a chorus of gasps. Everyone started talking amongst themselves. They shouldn’t have been so shocked. Kadon had simply gone back to his original plan from thousands of years ago. Greg knew this would happen. Although, this was one of those times he would’ve liked to have been wrong.
“Do the fairies know what part of the veil he is marching to?” asked Hogan.
“They believe he is going to destroy it at its source. The place where the veil was first created,” Den said.
“How quickly can we get our armies to Freya’s old castle?” Greg asked.
“By foot, it will take at least a day, and we don’t have that much time. The train service is still suspended due to the snow. The fairies said he was only an hour away from his destination when they left to fly back here,” Den replied.
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