by Cree Storm
“I think the evil little fucker is in love with Fallon and that’s why he does it,” Kerrick added.
Dain stood and thrust his hands through his hair as he sighed heavily, then turned and said, “This is all so fucked up. So, what did you overhear?”
“That’s what we would like to know,” Illan stated as he, Justice, Ezra, and Nick entered.
“Illan, what are you all doing here?” Destrain said and stood to face the other council members.
“You said you would inform us when Kerrick awakened so that we could question him and Rune,” Illan replied in a cold voice.
“Yes, and I was going to. Things started happening a little fast and I didn’t want to interrupt,” Destrain said defensively.
“Well, he looks good to me,” Ezra said as his eyes stayed on Kerrick. “I think maybe it’s time we have this conversation in the council building and make it official.”
“I agree,” Nick added.
“Pauly,” Illan called out and Pauly walked into the room.
“Yes, Illan?”
“The council would like you to transport Kerrick and Rune to the council building so that we can question them.”
“Yes, sir,” Pauly said and moved closer.
“You know we can just pop out of here if we wanted to?” Rune said.
Illan raised a brow as his jaw tightened. “And do you want to, or do you finally want to clear all of this up, as you said you did?”
Rune looked to Kerrick and then to Dain, and he could see the worry in his mate’s eyes. Dain walked around the bed and stopped beside Rune. “This council is made up of fair men. They’ll listen to what you have to say, and as long as you tell the truth, there should be no problem.”
“They’ll have no choice but to tell the truth,” Illan announced and held his hand up, flicking his wrist. Suddenly, strange looking white cuffs surrounded Rune and Kerrick’s wrists.
“What the hell are those?” Dain asked, annoyed.
Justice ignored his question and looked to Pauly nodding. “You can take them now, Pauly.”
CHAPTER 6
Everyone settled in the new council building in the main courtroom, with the council on the dais, Illan in the center seat, Justice to his left, Destrain to his right, Ezra sat on Destrain’s other side, and Nick on Justice’s other side.
Kerrick and Rune sat at one of the tables, while Dain took a seat in the gallery of chairs. It was an informal meeting, not a trail, so they could have sat anywhere. Pauly and two new council guards sat along the wall to the right of the dais where the council sat.
Kerrick and Rune retold everything they had explained to him and Destrain already, bringing the council up to speed. Once they reached the point where the council had come in and interrupted, Justice questioned Rune.
“You had mentioned before that you overheard Fallon talking with Uriel, what did he say that had you not follow his order to put the potion in the wine?” Justice asked.
Rune stood and moved around the table, then leaned against it. “Fallon told Uriel that Vartan was coming and he needed the elf leader to see that the pixie were being treated like kings, but he still needed the pixies to perform their slave duties for the party. Fallon said he knew it was risky to bring the three royals together, but he had to do it to show Vartan all was well. Then Uriel questioned him on how safe that really was because he was not just risking the royals gaining their powers, but with all the pixie close together it made their powers stronger as well. The more pixie in one room, the more power they would have. Fallon explained that is what the potion was for. If he could use it on Vartan and some of his top advisors, then he could get them to see how dangerous the pixies were. He said they would be able to feel the pixies energy growing. Then when he had Vartan and his men under his command with the bewilderment potion, Fallon would cast another spell on them while their defenses were down, ensuring the elves would help in his plans. Uriel then questioned what would happen if the spell didn’t work. Fallon told him that then he would have all the elves that showed up for the party killed and make it look like the pixies had attacked when they felt their powers growing because they were in one room, ensuring the remaining elves would join the fairies.”
“But according to Destrain and Dain, that didn’t happen. The pixies escaped that night, and you claim to have helped them in that,” Illan said.
“It’s not a claim, Illan, Rune did help us,” Destrain replied.
“What happened after you overheard their conversation?” Ezra asked.
“I always knew that I needed to get the pixies out of there, but with this new knowledge that the pixie would regain their powers the more of them were together, it was exactly what I was looking for. And with the elves coming, I thought I had a better chance of freeing them. Without the potion, Vartan wouldn’t fall for Fallon’s ploy and I could speak with him, telling him what was really happening. But when Vartan arrived, he only showed with one guard. There was no way they would be able to help me get the pixies out of there. I did think it was a very foolish move on Vartan’s part, but also very smart. Showing up without an army could get him killed and fucked up my plans, but showing up with only himself and one other, told me that Vartan didn’t trust Fallon and kept his people away to keep them safe.”
“So, what happened next?’ Nick asked.
“Once Fallon saw that Vartan hadn’t brought his army, he became angry. But when he realized Vartan wasn’t affected by the wine he became enraged. Vartan saw the condition of the pixies and he started arguing with Fallon, threatening to call upon the gods. Fallon was able to calm Vartan and get him to go out to the patio so they could speak alone. I knew that was my chance. I had to act fast. I had hoped I would have had the elves to help, but I knew I still needed to act without them. I went to Soral and told him what I wanted to do. For the first time in a long time the pixie king had a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Then I went to Destrain and asked him if he felt his powers coming back.”
“I was shocked to hear Rune ask me that, but once he did, I realized he was right, I could feel my powers again, and they were getting very strong the longer I was in that room. Rune told me to wait for his signal, then to get all the pixies out through the kitchen door, then he left. Right after that, Dain approached me and told me he could feel his powers growing stronger and sense that all the pixies were regaining their powers as well.”
“Then father came to us and told us to get our people out of there. He said he would stay and cause a distraction. We didn’t want to leave him behind, but we had no other choice at that point,” Dain added sorrowfully.
“Soral came to me and told me he was going to start a fight, and once he did, he needed me to pull all the fairies’ attention to him. I knew it was a suicide mission, but I could see in his eyes that there was nothing I could do to dissuade him. He was determined to save his people and I respected the hell out of him for it. And as much as I didn’t want my mate to leave, I knew I had to let him go to keep him and the others safe. That's why I asked Destrain to keep the secret from Dain. I knew that if he found out I was his mate, he would try to come back. I couldn’t have that. I had to know my mate was free and safe from Fallon's cruelties. So once Soral started the fight, and the fairies turned their attention on what was going on, I gave Destrain the signal and he and Dain gathered up all the pixies and disappeared into the kitchen. Then I cast a spell over the room ensuring no one would look away from the fight and notice the pixies were missing.”
“And that’s when the fairies killed Soral wasn’t it?” Nick asked.
“Yes.”
“So where was Fallon and Vartan at this point? And where was Uriel?” Ezra asked.
“After about ten minutes and the volume in the room was at a deafening level, I saw Fallon and Uriel run back in through the side door. Fallon got everyone back under control, but Soral was already dead. The next day when I asked Fallon if the elven leader had seen what happened he said no and it was a good
thing Vartan had left before it happened. To try to throw off Fallon to my involvement in the pixie’s escape, I asked him if he thought the elf had helped them and that’s why he left so early. Fallon got this strange look on his face and remained quiet for a few minutes, then he told me that he didn’t think it was possible.”
“So, what happened to my mate’s brother? From what my Jewel says, no one saw Vartan or his guard after that night,” Ezra asked.
“A week after the pixie escaped, one of the fairies, Johan, discovered Vartan’s body in the woods. He had been stabbed multiple times. His guard was never found. That afternoon Fallon’s house was full of activity as he had his new fairy servants rushing around creating a feast. He informed them that the elves were coming for a meeting and to claim their leader’s body. The strange part about that statement was that it was an hour after that that Johan found Vartan,” Rune said.
“So, he was planning a feast for them to come for Vartan’s dead body but no one knew he was dead yet?” Ezra asked in shock.
“Exactly.”
“And what about you, Kerrick?” Illan addressed him through clenched teeth.
Kerrick looked up and met Illan’s hard, cold gaze. “When Var didn’t return I had some of my guards spying around the fairy lands. They overheard many of the fairies talking about the pixie’s great escape and how the elf leader disappeared at the same time. The fairy were questioning if it were the elves who had taken their slaves and put them all in danger and if they should now attack the elves. I sent a message to Fallon that we would be coming and I wanted answers to the whereabouts of my brother and leader. We were in the middle of our meeting when a fairy raced into the room screaming as they announced finding a body in the forest. We all went running to see what he was talking about. That’s when I thought we found Vartan for the first time. Fallon played it off well that he was just as effected and angry as I was.”
“What made you believe that it was the pixie who killed your brother?” Justice asked.
“Fallon had explained that Vartan was upset over the pixie regaining their powers and he said he had shown Vartan some gruesome experiments that they had discovered in one of the pixie homes. He then showed those same creatures to me when I asked to see them. While there, I saw a piece of cloth lying across a chair that looked like it had been torn. The missing piece had been found under Vartan’s body when we found him. There was also a pixie power signature surrounding Vartan. I could feel it. When I saw the condition my brother was in, and how brutally he had been killed, all I saw was red. I wanted the pixie responsible. After my brother had taken the pixie’s side and was willing to go to the gods for them, this is what they did to him? Then Fallon told me that right after Vartan had left the party, they dismissed the pixie back to their homes. The next morning none of them showed up for their jobs, that’s when Fallon and his people realized the pixies had escaped. I never knew, until recently, that the pixie actually had no homes on fairy lands. While they were in the captivity of the fairies, they were kept in the fairy homes as slaves. Anyway, about a month after Vartan’s death, Fallon came to me and told me that he found out how the pixie escaped. He said the dragon and phoenix had found them with the fairies and had secretly worked with the pixie. He told me that the claw marks that were found on Vartan’s body would match that of a dragon. So, he believed the dragons and phoenix had helped the pixies to kill Vartan and they must have done something with Vartan’s guard. Fallon informed me that he had scouts out in the dragon and phoenix lands to see if they could find any proof.”
“So, you joined Fallon in his quest to destroy them all,” Nick said as a statement.
“Yes. As far as I was concerned, I had the proof that the pixie killed our leader, my best friend, my brother. And from what he said about the claw marks on Vartan, that I myself had witnessed, I believed him about the phoenix and dragons. When we brought Vartan’s body home, Jewel was heartbroken and inconsolable. At first, I tried to comfort him, but then Fallon brought me more evidence that the pixies were to blame and that they were planning to attack my people now that we were weakened in our mourning for our leader. A few days later, we were attacked. A group of pixie came onto our lands and used their powers to start killing my people. By the time they were done, a hundred lay dead, but no pixie. My people who lived to speak after the attack confirmed that it was the pixies.”
Dain watched as Rune turned to look at Kerrick and gave him a sad smile, then he turned back to face the council. “It was the pixie who attacked the elves that night and a few times after, but it wasn’t Destrain and his people. I came to find out many years later that Fallon had a band of pixies working for him. He used them as spies, collecting information on the royal family and keeping an eye on everything the pixie did, then they reported back to Fallon.”
“So, when did you find out about Kerrick being your mate?” Ezra asked.
“About a hundred years ago, but I was afraid to tell him. As far as I knew, he was working with Fallon and I couldn’t take the chance of him finding out what I had done and telling Fallon. If he knew I was the one behind the pixies escape, as well as not putting the requested potion in the wine, and everything I have done since, like with the creation and escape of the vampire, he would have killed me instantly. Then he would have set out to find the vampires and either destroy them or control them and use as a weapon against his enemies. Even though Fallon had Kerrick and the elves as allies, he hated them. He would always make remarks about how easy it had been to fool them. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I had some theories. Until I had proof, I needed to keep these thoughts to myself.”
“After all this time, why tell Kerrick now?” Illan asked suspiciously. “Up until recently, this man has made threats against all of us. Why should I allow him to live?”
Kerrick looked at Illan in confusion. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, dragon. I have never made a threat against you. Against any of you. Well, not publicly. Admittedly, there have been times I wanted to kill you because you stood between me and the pixie, and I thought your kind helped in murdering my brother, but I have never come to you to threaten you.”
Illan jumped to his feet and slammed his hand down on the table. His face twisted in rage as he spat, “Then how do you explain that only a little less than a year ago, right after we found the pixie again, that you came to us using the phoenix seer as your vessel to deliver your warning and almost killed him?”
Kerrick jumped to his feet and quickly moved around the table, heading for the dais as he argued, “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I have never possessed anyone’s body and I certainly didn’t send you a warning!”
Rune ran to Kerrick’s side and grabbed his arms, holding him back. “Please, Kerrick, we need these men to help us. We can’t start a war with them. Especially one we cannot win,” Rune pleaded.
Kerrick turned his angry eyes to Rune. “I have not done what this big blowhard is accusing me of doing. I may have wanted my revenge on the pixie, the dragon, and the phoenix, but I cannot possess another being. It is not in my powers to do so.”
“I know, mate, but Illan doesn’t. Please, let’s find a way to figure this out.”
“Well, if it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Justice asked calmly.
Kerrick turned to face Justice. “I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past Fallon either doing it himself, or getting one of his loyal followers to do it.”
“I didn’t think the fairies had that kind of power, either. To possess another creature,” Destrain said.
“We don’t that I know of, but Fallon has others working for him, creating spells and potions. I have been running from him for a very long time, so it may be possible that one of them were able to create something for him. Although it would take immense power to do it,” Rune replied.
“What kind of power?” Ezra asked.
“Dragon’s, phoenix, and pixie all have immense power, especially those as old as
Illan and Justice,” Rune answered.
“But we know none of them would ever give Fallon their powers to use,” Nick said.
Kerrick’s body tensed and he looked down at his feet. Dain stood and walked across the room, stopping a foot before Kerrick. “You know something, I can see it in your body language.”
Kerrick looked up and met his gaze. “I’m not sure what it is or what it means.”
“What are you not sure of?” Illan asked as he sat back down.
“Once in a while, Fallon and I would meet in his private chambers. Not very often, but when we did, he was always closing one of those screens as I walked in, as if he were trying to hide something. I thought maybe it was a lover. But there was this one time, about twenty or so years ago, when I walked in, Fallon was just coming out of his bathroom. When he saw that I had already arrived, his eyes went wide and he quickly moved across the room and closed the screen.”
“Were you able to see what it was he was hiding?” Destrain asked.
“Yes. There was this strange looking little creature that he had locked in a cage. I thought it was odd because the cage was too big for the little thing, but figured it was a pet and he was giving it plenty of room to move around.”
“Do you know what kind of creature he had?” Rune asked.
“No. It wasn’t anything I had ever seen before. I thought it might be from one of the fairies’ creations. I know Fallon had his scientist, which I found out a few years after the great war was Rune, that he had been working on experiments for Fallon so that we could have shifters like the dragons and phoenix to fight with us.”
“If you ever saw these creatures again would you know it was the same kind?” Dain asked.
Kerrick looked at him oddly. “Of course, I would. I had never seen anything like it before and haven’t seen anything like it since, but I would remember one if I see it.”