Deceptions fall, p.5
Deception's Fall, page 5
part #6 of Call of the Elements Series
My gaze bounced back and forth between the two sides of the seating arrangement, grateful I wasn’t part of the ‘political politeness.’ Grant and Coral knew how to deal with that shit, not me. I would’ve started the next war just because I couldn’t tolerate their politics.
“I assumed as much, which is why we came prepared,” Lodron said. “We need to insist on having adjoining rooms.”
“The queen already made those arrangements.” Coral grimaced and shook her head. “They have prepared a two-bedroom suite for our comfort.”
“There are five of us,” I whispered, not that I needed to point out the obvious. There could be five beds in the two bedrooms, but I doubted it.
“Indeed,” Grant said. “The queen expected you and Ronquil escorted by one guard. Not all of us.”
My elf fan club just got disbanded. The queen could easily make other arrangements. It’s not like the castle was lacking space. The little bit I’d seen flaunted their wealth.
“I guess we’ll be getting a tour of the city after all,” Lodron said, shifting uncomfortably on the hard cushions.
I knew he had to be in pain from the night before. I could only imagine how bruised he was. If he had to walk for hours on a tour of the city, he’d be worthless when we were done.
He caught me watching him and frowned. The three of us—me, Lodron, and Luria—hadn’t told anyone else about the incident that nearly killed him. When we woke up the next morning, we’d cleaned up the mess, pretending like nothing happened. Lodron wouldn’t want me pointing out his discomfort now.
“So…who are the Arcanists?” I asked, a little surprised Coral hadn’t included that in my lessons. They sounded important.
“They are the elves’ most powerful magic users,” she replied. “They claim to be more powerful than any other spellcaster.” Her skeptical look gave away her own doubts about their claim.
“Oh.” I clamped my lips closed before I said something I couldn’t take back. The elves agreed to help by giving us foot soldiers but nothing more, which was probably better than nothing. At least they weren’t ignoring the threat.
No one responded to my brilliant reply, and a brief silence filled our little space. We probably could’ve had that entire conversation telepathically, but we had asked for a private place to talk. It might’ve seemed weird if we just sat in silence the whole time, making faces at each other.
The brief silence turned into fifteen minutes or more. Though I suspected there were several private conversations happening, just not with me. I didn’t mind. It gave me time to admire the beautiful artwork on the bright white walls. The contrasting colors of the furniture and drapes were surprisingly pleasant. I never would’ve put deep red with dark purple, but it worked in here.
Maybe I could move the dining table and china cabinet out of my space and into Lodron’s now that his was empty. I’d love to add some colorful fabric to the windows and a canopy to the bed. Or a canopy around that beautiful copper tub.
All my plans were suddenly interrupted by a blinding light. Way brighter than just Dusha’s. It probably shined like a beacon through the open windows, alerting every elf in the city to its presence. I squeezed my eyes shut with a deep foreboding and didn’t open them until the light finally faded. The sound of too many boots stomping against stone proved my theory about the invitation, though.
“Dionadair,” a soothing voice echoed through the room. “You are summoned.”
My gut wrenched. I opened my eyes to find three spirit elementals hovering in the air behind Coral and Grant. Two men and a woman. Magic swirled through their enormous wings, beating softly.
“What is the meaning of this?” Maldrius bellowed from the doorway. A look of astonishment mixed with wariness on his face.
I couldn’t even count the number of armored soldiers behind him. It didn’t really matter. I was summoned. I could feel the pull in my chest, a draw toward the mission. I didn’t hate the feeling, but it didn’t mean I wouldn’t bitch about it.
I stood and looked up at the most powerful beings on this side of the fae realms. “Welp, you’re shit out of luck,” I said. “You only get one today, unless you managed to find others when I wasn’t looking.”
“We have found two others from the Woodland Fae,” the female elemental replied, much to my surprise. Was it the same one who reconnected the Oceanic Fae? I had no way of knowing. They all looked so similar. “But they are newly initiated, so they don’t have your training.”
I frowned at her words and regretted mine. A summons meant something bad happened.
“What happened?” I asked.
A knowing glimmer flickered in her glowing eyes. “The dark fae have attacked the vampires’ lair.”
“Shit!” My thoughts immediately dove towards Braden. Had they finished the estate? Could his people defend their new home? I spun around and looked at Lodron, then Luria. “I gotta go.”
“The shield should’ve prevented them from entering,” Coral argued.
“It did not,” one of the male elementals said. “Neònach’s magic disintegrated the barrier.”
Coral’s hand cupped over her mouth, and her fear-filled eyes met Grant’s. “We need to go home, now.”
He nodded. Our entire group was now moving towards the door. I stopped mid-stride and almost slapped my forehead.
“Why aren’t we jumping through the realms?” I asked. It would take another half hour in that damn carriage to get back to the portal. It’d be too late to help. Too late to prevent my vampire’s death.
“Their magic prevents it,” Coral said, pointing at the soldiers now in her way.
Why hadn’t they told me that before now?
“The Dionadair will come with us,” the female elemental said, drifting into my path. “The dark warriors are on the vampires’ doorstep, not yours.”
A pair of magical wings swept around me and the Elvin kingdom disappeared. The elementals pulled me through the realms before I had a chance to argue with Coral. I didn’t stop cussing until my feet landed on the loamy soil of a sparse forest. The sounds of battle greeted me immediately. I spun around looking for the three, winged shits who dropped me off. I was alone.
“Thanks for nothing,” I grumbled. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”
I couldn’t plan a battle or come up with strategic bullshit that mattered.
“No, but you can go save a bunch of bloodsucking vampires,” Adeen purred, twirling to life next to me.
Her fiery magic warmed my skin, and Danae’s earthen armor raced over it. Göksu’s soothing touch re-energized me, and Niyol picked me up in a whirling tornado that felt more like an embrace. Even though I’d had him back for three weeks, it was still a bit nostalgic to feel his magic hugging me. I wasn’t complete without him.
“I missed you, bestie!” I called out to Niyol over the roar of fire and wind.
“Let’s kick some ass!” he bellowed. Niyol’s ominous cackle rang through the trees, and mine joined his.
We climbed higher until we cleared the trees. My weak enthusiasm faltered at the sight before me. An army the same size as the one we faced in the desert swarmed over a half-constructed estate.
It wasn’t hard to differentiate between the vampires and the fae. Sabina’s warriors once again wore their dark armor. And they picked the perfect time to attack their foe. At day break. The sun might be slowing the vampires down, but not by much. They tore through the warriors’ armor with their claws and ripped heads from their bodies, just like any other foe.
But when the dark fae hit back, the vampires went down. It didn’t look like the fae were taking survivors to Neobitch. They were just killing.
My nightmare from the previous night tried to surface again, but I pushed it away. I didn’t have time for that shit. One bloodbath was enough to deal with, and this one was real.
“Higher, Niyol!” I cried. “I want to reintroduce them to my dinosaur.”
He did as I asked, and my body shifted into my favorite t-rex. No one below seemed to notice, which was fine by me. The element of surprise would only help.
I didn’t need to tell Niyol to hover over the back of the warriors’ formation, where a large group of fae weaved their dark magic at the vampires. He just did. Then he swooped down, letting me go about ten feet above their heads.
By the time they noticed, it was too late. My size five-hundred feet slammed into the earth, burying several of the enemy beneath me. I leaned forward and roared, then swept my tail in a wide arc, taking out a dozen more.
Dark, inky magic raced across my skin. I spun around looking for the source, but I wasn’t fast enough. A smoking arrow pierced my shoulder as I turned. I screamed in agony as it burned through my armor and went out the other side.
My t-rex vanished, and I fell to my hands and knees. But I didn’t stay there. Göksu’s essence flowed into me, just like he had during our last battle with the dark fae.
What’s the damage, Göksu? I asked my elemental as the pain in my shoulder subsided.
Nothing that I can’t handle, he replied. You worry about fighting and let me worry about the injuries.
Was that really an arrow? I pressed. And how did it go straight through my armor?
It was a magical projectile, not a physical weapon, he explained. Get ready for more.
Really? A magical projectile? His weak explanation wasn’t helpful, but I didn’t have time to think about it.
I jumped to my feet and summoned my favorite weapon as the dark fae circled me, trying to avoid the firenado—Adeen and Niyol—rushing through them. Just like the stone warriors in my training room. Only this time, it wouldn’t be training.
The shadowy fog I recognized as Neobitch’s magic pooled around their feet and clung to their fingers.
“You will not stop us this time,” one of the dark fae hissed. The fog grew thicker around us, and I started to get a little worried.
“Pretty sure I will,” I retorted, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt. Danae attached herself to my magical core, right next to Göksu. Adeen was there a second later, giving me another boost of magic. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you the good guys always win?”
Niyol’s magic scraped through my veins last. I couldn’t even complain about the discomfort because the alternative was not acceptable. So I grinned and whipped my glaive around, blasting my foes with superheated air. The smell of burning skin and hair filled my nostrils, making my eyes water.
A large shield slammed down in front of me just in time to block one of those dark balls of magic I’d promised Lodron I wouldn’t swallow. I fell on my ass and backed into two more fae, both wearing the Oceanic Fae armor. Relief washed over me. These must have been the Woodland Fae the spirit elemental told me about. The two newest Dionadair.
“Get up!” one of them—a male voice—yelled at me.
I didn’t hesitate to jump to my feet, grateful to have backup. Another round of spells prevented me from getting a good look at my allies.
“I’ll provide the shields if you provide the fire,” the woman next to me shouted.
“On it!”
We pressed our backs together, and I pooled the magic in my core, visualizing the damage I’d done to my training room. When it reached the point of painful—which only took a couple seconds—I pointed the tip of my flaming glaive at the dark warriors trying to regain their footing.
I didn’t wait for them to gather their own magic before I released mine. My glaive swung in a wide arc, a pulse of magic erupting from its tip and slicing six warriors through their stomachs. Their torsos separated from their legs with spurts of blood. My stomach curled and bile rose in my throat. I forced it back, determined not to be sick. I didn’t have the luxury of puking my guts up. People’s lives were at stake.
Another shield slammed in front of me, catching another ball of dark magic. I looked around the battlefield, listening to the cries of agony. Too many bodies lay on the bloodied ground. Just as many vampires as the dark fae.
“Princess! We need your help!”
The man at my back jabbed me with his elbow. I turned just in time to see another shadowy fog gathering. Not a small one like they’d thrown at us before. A growing mass of shifting magic like the one that took out our trucks in the desert a few weeks ago.
I drew in a deep breath and whispered a plea to Dusha. He’d helped me create my Captain America shield last time, and I had a feeling we’d need it again. I hadn’t felt him join my other elementals, but I might have been too busy to notice.
“Suggestions are welcome.” The woman’s voice wavered along with a transparent shield forming in front of us.
“We need to kill him,” the man next to me said.
“Ya think?” I snapped. My mind scrambled for a solution as the shadowy ball continued to grow. I remembered what Dusha said about Trom Laighe being the chaos to Earth’s order, and I smiled. “Let’s drown his darkness with some light.”
I added my own magic into the shield in front of us, reaching for my link with spirit—the brightest light I’d ever seen. The shield flared, and I had to squint to keep from looking away.
We ignored the shadowy ball continuing to grow a few dozen yards from us and focused on the sheet of blinding light the size of a California-king bed. Hopefully, it would repel the dark magic intended for us, then fall over the enemy like a big net. That was the plan, anyway.
Screams erupted from the vampires and fae alike as the light grew. The dark fae weaving his spell faltered when he was forced to close his eyes. Me and my new friends marched forward, dropping the blanket of light on the remaining fae in our line of fire.
The shadows vanished, and so did our enemy. It would really suck if they ran home to momma, but a nagging feeling in my gut told me that’s exactly what happened.
Small gasps were all I could manage to pull into my lungs as I slid to the ground. My magical core was almost empty, like a howling crater. We’d used a shit ton of magic.
I drew in several shallow breaths, hoping the vampires were still in the fight.
“Take the rest of the vampires! Now!” a deep bellow echoed over the moans and cries of the battle still raging near the center building.
“No. No, no, no!” I shouted, pushing myself to my feet. The dark fae were snatching the vampires and disappearing.
They could not take the vampires back to Trom Laighe. I couldn’t let that happen no matter what.
“Stop!” I screamed, forcing the remainder of my magic into the command.
Everyone on the battlefield froze, except for one. Because you really can’t command an elder vampire. He moved away from the outstretched hands of the fae who had nearly reached him. His piercing blue eyes met mine.
“It will only last a moment,” I said to Braden, feeling the magic fade around me. “Grab as many of your people as you can in the next few seconds, then get as far away as possible. I’m going to do this again on a larger scale so you have time to move the others.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Shut up and get moving,” I hissed.
He hesitated for only a second more. I was unable to keep up with him as he zipped back and forth moving his vampires into the largest building. So I ignored him and made my plea to Dusha one more time.
“I know we can freeze their movement, Dusha,” I said in a low whisper. He’d done it to me personally several times. As much as it had pissed me off then, it would help us now. I only wished I’d thought of it sooner. “I only need to give them fifteen or twenty seconds.”
My elemental appeared in front of me, kneeling so his eyes would be level with mine. “Ten seconds is about all we get, princess,” he said. “You don’t have enough strength left to do more.”
I nodded. Dusha was right. I was barely standing. His long fingers threaded into my hair, then his thumbs pressed against my temples.
“Now,” he whispered.
“Braden! Get out!”
A flurry of dirt was all I saw and hoped he was running for the house. The fae were already stirring. Anger replaced the confusion on their faces when they realized the force of my command was wearing off.
“Now, Dusha.”
I spread my hands towards the remaining fae and willed their bodies motionless. A part of Dusha’s magic I hadn’t felt before surged into my brain, then through the fingertips pressed against my skull. It hurt like hell, but I didn’t fight it. The vampires would die if I gave in to this pain.
Just as I suspected, both the vampires and the dark fae froze. I wasn’t that good, especially on my first try, which is why I told Braden to get a handful of his people out the first time. Now for the rest.
“Braden!” I tried to yell, but it came out as a strangled croak.
It was enough. Ten or more vampires raced across the field, grabbing their frozen brothers and sisters.
Ten seconds went too fast, even for the vampires. When my spell collapsed, the dark fae reacted immediately, stealing the vampires unlucky enough to be left behind. Tears fell down my cheeks as I watched in horror, unable to do anything else. They disappeared in the blink of an eye.
An eerie silence fell over the hundreds of bodies covering the ground around me. Death was ugly, no matter whose it was.
Dusha kissed my forehead and disappeared.
Without my elemental’s support, my body sagged, and I fell to my knees. How many of the vampires perished? How many had been taken to Neobitch? Probably more than I wanted to know. At least I’d spared Braden that terrible fate. Just barely.
My elementals picked that moment to start pulling their essences from me. Their swirls of color floated in the air around my tired body. I slid to my side and laid my head in the cold, wet dirt, watching their kaleidoscope of color.
The sound of scraping rock pulled my attention to the two fae who had joined me in the middle of the battle. The man rolled over to face me, and the woman tried really hard to sit up. It didn’t work. I totally understood, which was why I hadn’t tried to move. I could only hope Lodron was on his way.
“I really appreciate you two showing up when you did,” I mumbled.
