by James Somers
The return trip to the Amazon Jungle was a much shorter affair than it had been for the sprites coming to find us after the attack on their village. Brody was the last of them to pass out of the portal he had conjured as their means of transport. As the gateway winked out behind them, they found themselves amid tall palms and other trees from which the elves had constructed an entire town high in the jungle canopy.
A scene of horror opened up before them. Bodies lay bloating in the sun. The humidity hit them, suddenly oppressive, making it difficult to breathe. Even the sprites seemed taken by it.
“The magical wards have diminished already,” one of them said. “It wasn’t this bad when we left two days ago.”
Insects, vultures and rats had already descended on the dead. Brody closed his eyes. It was an awful sight. The sprites had been massacred.
When Brody opened his eyes again, he said, “These wards were conjured by Luxana?”
“No,” the second sprite answered. “By spell casters, but attached to the life of the queen, I think.”
He nodded and then pushed outward with his hand and his power. The rats screeched and skittered away. The vultures rose into the air. Even the flies and other insects left the grizzly carnage as though pursued.
The humidity diminished quickly, and the sun seemed to lessen its intensity upon them. Unfortunately, the terrible odor of death remained. This was grim business indeed. However, they had to know what had happened here and why.
They spent the next half hour surveying the remains of Luxana’s village. All of the carnage had taken place in this centralized area upon the ground. No fighting really among the trees. This surprised them. The sprites were not bound to the earth and would have taken any fighting up high, or so they had supposed.
“Here is the body of the assassin,” one of the sprites said. They still hadn’t gotten their names. Brody had not asked, and Cole had simply assumed their must be some reason why they hadn’t given them.
“That isn’t Adolf,” Cole said when they led them to the body.
“No,” Brody agreed. “In fact this isn’t even a Descendant. And you say this one man killed all of your dead?”
They both nodded.
“How is it that the queen did not ensnare this individual when he came upon your village?” Brody asked.
“The eyes,” the second sprite said, pointing to the man’s face.
The assassin was lying on his stomach in the dead leaves of the forest floor. His head was turned slightly to the side, but Cole could make nothing of the eyes. They were only partially open.
“He was blind,” the first sprite said. “None of our warriors could control his mind.”
Brody and Cole looked up at the two sprites, unsure whether or not they could believe what they had just said.
“A blind man did all of this?” Cole asked.
“I know what you’re thinking,” the second sprite said. “Believe me when I say that we were just as skeptical. But it is true.”
“He fought like no human we have ever seen,” added the first sprite.
“But you mentioned Adolf,” Cole said. “What about him? He did none of this killing himself?”
“Only the queen,” the first said.
“The assassin has a bullet wound to his head,” Brody said. “One of you used a gun on him?”
“Adolf also killed his own assassin, after the queen was dead,” the second clarified.
“Adolf’s mother was a sprite,” Cole said. “His father was Grayson Stone.”
“He was the queen’s nephew,” the second said. “His mother Anai was Luxana’s sister. They lived apart from our community when we were still in Galidel.”
“Why would that be?” Brody asked.
The sprites looked at one another then back to them.
“Because of the shame of her son being a half breed,” the first said. “Luxana and her sister did not get along well following his birth and the matter of who the father was.”
“That could have been enough to spur Adolf to revenge,” Cole said.
Brody nodded. “But I still wonder about the method. A blind human soldier for his assassin? Seems to me, he would have just done the job himself. After all, he is quite powerful. With Grayson’s abilities, he could have easily done this and more. Why send a human?”
“To shame them first?” Cole ventured.
“But why was he blind?” Brody asked. “Surely the man, as a soldier, wasn’t inducted into his army being blind. What good would that be?”
“Which means he was made blind,” Cole said. “Perhaps to keep the sprites from bewitching his mind?”
Brody gave him an incredulous look.
“But how could he have done all of this being blind?” Cole reasoned. “I see your point. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“We’ll take the body with us,” Brody declared suddenly. “I would like Sadie to use her healer’s gifts. Maybe she can shed some light on what was at work in this man’s body before he died.”
“What about our people?” the first sprite said.
“Obviously, you and the other survivors should relocate,” Brody said. “I’m not sure about the matter of revenge. It may be that Adolf’s malice toward your people has been sated with Luxana’s death. Honestly, I’m still not certain that retribution is the sole cause for why he did this or the manner in which he accomplished it. Still, for your safety…”
“Very well,” the second said. “But there are not many of us and our few spell casters were killed in the attack. We would ask your help in establishing new wards to keep prying eyes from a new location.”
Brody nodded to them. “I can take care of that for you,” he said. “As a favor to your queen, I will make the necessary arrangements for you.” Turning back he said, “Cole, I want you to return this body to the infirmary at home. Spell the body to preserve it. We’ll have to wait for Sadie to return before we can get any answers from it. I will go with these two and make the necessary provisions for them.”
“Thank you, Lord West,” the sprites said. “We have set up a temporary camp nearly twenty miles from here. It may even be a good enough location to serve as a permanent settlement.”
Brody nodded back to Cole. He went about spelling the body of the assassin for the journey home. Brody went with the sprites, utilizing another portal that would convey them to the place where the sprites directed. Cole looked around at the dead sprites. In days, the jungle would consume what was left.
It was a terrible tragedy. However, this strange blind assassin, from the ranks of Adolf’s Nazi army, would be accompanying him back to America. Hopefully, this dead man still had tales to tell.