“And it’s only gotten harder,” I said. “Now that we’re here, together. Since our rings are still creating that desire in you, to, you know…”
“That’s the thing,” Aerin said. “When Layla touches me, even if she brushes my hand, the allure isn’t as strong. That’s why I think it’s more than that. I think it’s because my heart was already opening up to the possibility of us. You and me, I mean.”
I bit my lip. “I can’t imagine how hard that must be. It’s not that I’m not attracted to you. It has nothing to do with you at all. If I hadn’t already met Layla, and if she and I didn't already have a connection that goes deeper than these rings…”
“I know, Caspar,” Aerin said. “I realize that under most circumstances, I’d be way out of your league.”
I laughed. “I’m not even going to dispute that. You’re gorgeous, Aerin. I’m just sorry you can’t have the kind of love you deserve. Everyone deserves to not just fall in love, but to have someone love them equally in return.”
Aerin nodded. “This marriage, if that compulsion ever subsides, will be a formality. At least for me. In our culture, it is permissible and even expected that women might take multiple husbands. Perhaps, once this is over, I’ll find love. I’ll be able to take a second husband.”
I cocked my head. “But since we’re bound already, does that mean I’d end up married to a dude, too?”
Aerin smiled. “Only as a formality.”
“I suppose I can accept that,” I said. “Once this is over, there won’t be any reason to keep this up. You’ll be able to leave if you like.”
Aerin tucked her hair behind her ears. “Thank you. For listening, I mean. It’s good to get this off my chest.”
“Anytime, Aerin,” I said. “So long as I’m still around and I don’t get arrested or anything. You can tell me anything. You don’t have to pretend to be Xena Warrior Princess with me. It’s okay to be vulnerable.”
“Xena?” Aerin raised her eyebrows. “You’re dating yourself with that reference. Besides, Xena wasn’t nearly as badass as I can be.”
“I believe it,” I said.
“One more thing,” Aerin said.
“Yes?”
“It goes both ways. If there’s anything you want to talk about. I know you have Layla, but if there’s something you don’t feel like you can tell her, or something’s weighing on you and you just need another person to talk to, I’m here for you.”
“I really appreciate that, Aerin,” I said. “More than you realize. This isn’t easy on me, either. Not just this marriage, but the whole situation with the government.”
Aerin nodded. “One seal of the elven prophecy has yet to be revealed. Perhaps, once it is, we’ll have more answers.”
“Where is it, anyway?” I asked.
“In the care of one of my subjects,” Aerin said. “It will be brought with the rest of the drow when they arrive this evening.”
I cocked my head. “This evening? We still have a lot of tents to set up.”
Aerin laughed. “That’s why I wanted to help. I suppose after my experience earlier, I’d best leave that task to you and Layla.”
Chapter Four
I wasn’t expecting an eighteen-wheeler. The massive rig pulled onto the overgrown gravel road that led from the edge of the property to the farmhouse.
Three large men were squeezed into the cab. The one who was driving, a good-sized man, looked like a dwarf next to Jag, who sat beside him. Jag, who was an aspiring professional bodybuilder, looked like a shrimp next to Brag’mok, the lone surviving elven giant from New Albion who’d assisted me in more ways than I could count.
The driver stepped out first.
“Dwight?” I asked. I’d only met him a couple times. When Brag’mok first came to Earth, he’d kidnapped the man to take his rig. However, in the process, Dwight had seen so much he couldn’t explain that he took a reluctant interest in the cult formerly known as the Order of the Elven Gate.
“Howdy, Caspar,” Dwight said, scratching at what looked like a half week's beard sprouting on his neck.
“Glad to have you with us,” I said. “After what happened, I wouldn’t blame you if you steered clear of all this.”
Dwight nodded. “Took some time. But I saw you on the internet, taking out those elementals. Then, Jag told me about the elves and even the government turning against you. Well, they might consider me a traitor for it, but I’ve been at war before. What they’re doing… That’s not the kind of freedom I thought I was fighting for.”
“Iraq?” I asked.
Dwight nodded. “Two tours there. One in Afghanistan with the corps.”
I reached out and shook Dwight’s hand. “Thank you for your service.”
Dwight pressed his lips together and nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
“Just Caspar,” I said.
Dwight smiled. “They’re all in the back.”
“The drow?” I asked.
“Sure enough,” Jag said as he hopped out of the rig behind Brag’mok. “Couldn't have done it without Dwight, here, and his truck. Hard to arrange rides for a hundred drow.”
“A hundred?” I asked, scratching my head. “We only set up ten tents.”
“Looks like you’ll have to get a few more,” Jag said.
Dwight unlocked the back of the truck and rolled open the door. Layla stepped up behind me and put her hand on my back, and Aerin walked over to the back of the rig.
“Brag’mok,” Aerin said. “Mind giving us some assistance?”
The elven giant grunted and stepped up beside Aerin. He extended his hand and helped the drow out one by one.
I’d seen them before, some of them at St. Ensley’s, but I wasn’t expecting so many.
“Aerin,” I said. “Why didn’t you tell us this many would be joining us? We don’t have enough tents.”
Aerin shrugged. “I didn’t realize they’d all made it here so soon. I figured most would be joining us over the course of the next few weeks.”
“We were fortunate,” one of the drow said as she took Brag’mok’s hand and hopped to the ground. “Airline tickets were at a good price.”
I stood there, with my jaw dropped, as one drow warrior after the next leaped to the ground. All female; there wasn’t a dude in the bunch. Each was more attractive than the last. Every one had a long sword either at her waist or in her hand. Like Aerin, they wore long, extravagantly colored dresses.
“What about the men?” I asked.
Aerin smiled. “Our men aren’t trained for battle. They had to stay behind to care for our young.”
“Dwight,” I said. “Mind taking the rig for supplies? We weren’t counting on so many.”
“I’ll go with him,” Aerin said. “I’ll buy what we need.”
“Not a problem,” Dwight said. “I’ve got a pickup tomorrow, though, so I’ll need to get back on the road as soon as possible.”
“It won’t take long,” Aerin said.
“There’s a Home Depot and a few other stores forty-five minutes or so down the highway,” I told her.
Something squeezed my shoulder, and with it, half my chest and back.
I turned around. “Brag’mok! How’s it going, rooming with Jag?”
The giant grunted. “Got a place we can go to talk?”
I nodded. “Sure. What’s up?”
“I don’t want to cause alarm. I’ll tell you when I’m sure no one else can hear.”
I didn’t want to take Brag’mok into the farmhouse. Our floorboards could barely hold my weight, much less his. He was, at a minimum, three times my size and weight. Instead, I led him around to the back of a pile of scrap metal, next to what looked like an old burned-up and charred Dodge Ram.
“Brightborn has been sending assassins after me,” Brag’mok said.
I shook my head. “We expected he might. But you said you could handle your own, right?”
“It’s not just that,” Brag’mok continued. “We’re also bei
ng watched. By humans in suits. Government, I think.”
I bit my lip. “Again, I suppose that shouldn’t be a surprise.”
“It’s just a matter of time that they’ll come for me, given your government’s foolhardy alliance with the elves. One way or another.”
“You could stay here,” I said. “We’d probably need a bigger tent, unless you’d like to use some of these rusted and burned-out vehicles as shelter.”
Brag’mok shook his head. “I’ve come not because I am trying to hide. I’ve come because I want to help you do what must be done while I still can. Before something happens to me.”
I sighed. “I don’t have a clue what to do, Brag’mok. Layla and Aerin thought I should go on some big public relations campaign, perform some healings and get the people on my side. Make it difficult politically for the President to act against me in any way.”
Brag’mok scratched his head. “That only addresses one of the problems, Caspar. The problem with your government. But it won’t provide you any advantage in defeating Brightborn.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Not being in prison is a pretty decent advantage, don’t you think?”
Brag’mok huffed. “Like there’s a prison on Earth that could hold you with your power.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s what Layla and Aerin said, too. Use my power to break out if they arrest me. But that doesn’t seem the right way to go about it.”
Brag’mok shrugged. “Why not?”
I bit my lip. I wasn’t going to give my giant of a friend a lecture on Biblical principles regarding obedience to secular authorities. But I did have other reasons, ones more pertinent to the elven prophecy. “I’m supposed to be a unifying figure, right? So long as the government is the authority in this land, I don’t think it’s wise to set myself up against it like a rogue. It wouldn’t exactly set me up in the best position, legally speaking or otherwise, to bring all the races together, like the prophecy says.”
Brag’mok nodded. “This is wise, I think. I may have a plan. A way to substantially weaken the elves while also protecting yourself here, making it less likely they might find you.”
“What are you suggesting we do?”
“We have to drive a wedge between the elves and the fairies,” Brag’mok said.
I sighed. “I don’t think we’ll be able to win them over to our cause. You saw what they did to Ensley, who was their own king before he helped me until I used magic in a way they didn’t approve of.”
“We don’t have to win them over,” Brag’mok said. “We need only convince them that the elves are a greater threat to the Earth’s magic than you or humanity in general.”
I nodded. “You wouldn’t think it would be hard to do. Given the magic that was meant to sustain New Albion was squandered on war.”
Brag’mok shook his head. “Under Ensley’s command, they turned against Brightborn once before. Back when we went to New Albion and restored magic to the planet’s ley lines.”
I nodded. “I remember. I thought once Ensley came back to help us that it was clear the fairies were on our side. Seems I was wrong about that.”
“They were,” Brag’mok said. “Sort of, anyway. Ensley was on your side. The rest, well, they followed his lead. Until they didn’t.”
“In the forest, back at Pruitt-Igoe, just before they killed Ensley. The new fairy king, Develin, said something about how the Furies had deposed of Ensley and made Develin king instead.”
Brag’mok nodded. “This is likely true.”
“What are these Furies, anyway?” I asked.
“There are three. Alecto, also known as the unceasing. Megara, the jealous. And Tisiphone, the avenger. According to the legends, they were born from the same event that created my kind.”
“And all this really happened?” I asked.
The giant nodded. “I do not expect it is a part of your worldview, Caspar. Nonetheless, as the tale goes, when the Titan, Kronos castrated his father, the blood from his scrotum fell to the Earth and created three races: the giants, the Furies, and the nymph.”
“The nymph?” I asked.
“Also known as elemental spirits. You’ve encountered one of each kind already. In the trials.”
I cocked my head. “So you, and these Furies, were created from some god’s nut sack?”
“This is the legend,” Brag’mok said. “You have your story of Adam and Eve. Did it happen exactly as your tale tells? Who knows. But it is a story to explain your beginnings, and insofar as it does so, it is true, is it not?”
I snorted. “So if I start calling you testicular spawn…”
“I do not see what is so strange about this. Are not all babies born of testicular spawn?”
“Well, yeah. But not like that. They’re born from an intimate act. Ideally, one performed in love. What you described, Kronos castrating Uranus, sounds incredibly violent.”
“Perhaps that explains why my people have only ever known war, why the Furies are associated with vengeance against those who violate the natural order, and why the elementals are so notoriously difficult to subdue.”
“But they were once considered goddesses by the ancients,” I said. “Their concern was to protect the natural order, and in turn, to punish those who violate it.”
“Legend serves a purpose in explaining history,” Brag’mok said.
“What do these Furies have to do with the fairies?” I asked.
“It is the Furies who created the fairies to do their bidding,” Brag’mok said. “At least, such is the story as it was told to me as a child. None on New Albion had ever seen or encountered a Fury. They were not a part of our world. I suspect they’ve been rather inconspicuous here, too.”
“Why would these Furies side with elves, then?” I asked.
Brag’mok scratched his head. “Perhaps the Furies believe the elves might be a means to avenge the Earth and punish humanity. Like an ax used by the Furies to cut down mankind only to be tossed into the fire later.”
I nodded. “In the Bible, the Old Testament, there’s something like that. When the Babylonians conquered God’s people, a lot of people wondered why in the world would God use a people so godless to punish his own people.”
“Did God answer that question in your Bible?” Brag’mok asked.
I nodded. “His answer was similar to what you suggested. He used them as his instrument to punish. Not for punishment’s sake, but so that Israel would see the error in her ways. Then, when Israel repented and was restored, God commenced his judgment on Babylon at the proper time.”
“I imagine that something like that is how the Furies must justify deposing of Ensley and replacing him with one more loyal to their plans.”
I nodded. “So your plan is what, exactly? It isn’t like we can just walk right up to these Furies and ask them to change their minds.”
“I agree,” Brag’mok said. “If we hope to turn the Furies against Brightborn, to reconsider their plan, we would first need to find them.”
I shook my head. “If we found them, what would we tell them?”
“I am the last of the giants,” Brag’mok said. “The protection of the Earth was always our sacred duty. It is why we fought to prevent the elves from assaulting this world.”
“And as one of three races, along with the Furies and the elementals, born from Uranus’ balls…”
“It sounds dirty when you say it like that,” Brag’mok said. “But yes, as one of the three races charged to protect the natural order, I may be able to persuade them that the elves represent a more imminent threat than humanity.”
“If the Furies, and most of their fairies, were on Earth all this time, you might have a hard time convincing them that humanity is somehow innocent.”
“I do not intend to make that case,” Brag’mok said. “But I’ve spent my whole life fighting against the elves of New Albion, convinced that they are the gravest threat to the Earth. I should think they would hear me out.”
&nbs
p; “From what you’ve told me, it makes sense. The Furies were never, based on that myth, the sole guardians of the Earth. Your people were, too.”
“And you’ve already subdued the elements,” Brag’mok said. “You’ve partnered with giants, first B’iff, my brother, and now me. What if the prophecy to unite the peoples is meant to begin by uniting the three races originally charged to protect, defend, and avenge nature?”
“That’s an intriguing thought,” I said. “I think we should talk to Aerin. The drow have managed to avoid the fairies, and by extension, the Furies for centuries.”
“They did it by using enchantments rather than magic directly,” Brag’mok said.
“Yes, but even enchanting involved some use of magic. I suspect, since they were keen to avoid the fairies all that time, they probably know something about where the Furies might be. You can’t easily avoid something if you don’t know where it is.”
“This is good thinking, Caspar,” Brag’mok said, slapping me on the back, almost knocking me over. “They also are the ones who harnessed the nymph, the elementals, and brought them to you in the trials. This leads me to believe that you are correct. The drow princess might know more than I imagined.”
“I’m not sure how this is going to keep me out of prison, but I like the idea.”
“You are now the one who represents the elements. With you and I standing in unity, the Furies would have to at least listen. If they turn against the elves, perhaps Brightborn will be forced to show his true colors. It may convince your President to rethink this alliance.”
Chapter Five
Aerin had already left with Dwight to get supplies. That didn’t mean we couldn't share Brag’mok’s idea with Layla.
By the look on her face as Brag’mok explained to her what he’d already told me, she didn’t know much more about the Furies than I did.
“So, you’re telling me that the giants come from some god’s nuts?” Layla asked, raising her eyebrows.
“It’s just the myth we were taught,” Brag’mok said. “What story do the elves have to explain the origins of the fae?”
Junkyard Dogma (The Elven Prophecy Book 4) Page 3
