Junkyard Dogma (The Elven Prophecy Book 4)

by Theophilus Monroe

  “Immerse the Earth in blood?” I whispered to Layla. “What does that mean?”

  Layla shook her head, “I don’t know.”

  The whole crowd remained silent for a moment. Then, Gronk released a shout. His voice echoed back at us from a distance. Then, Brag’mok raised his fist into the air and shouted, too. Then all the giants did the same.

  When their shouts subsided, Targigoth put his hand on my shoulder. “The giants are in your service, Naayak.”

  “Naayak?” I asked. “Only the drow have called me that.”

  “It is the name, known to all, for he who would lead us. For the chosen one.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Drawing on the magic Trixie left within me when she merged with me, I cast a portal leading to the one that Tisiphone had made. The one that would take us back to Earth.

  I stepped through first, holding Layla’s hand with Trixie on my shoulder. Brag’mok wasn’t far behind. Gronk, Targigoth, and the rest of the giants followed. It was only a couple steps from the first portal that took us to Tisiphone’s gateway and the gateway itself.

  It’s a bit jarring going from one portal directly into a trans-planetary gateway. It’s like your body is pulled apart on a molecular level, then put back together again just in time to be blown apart into a billion pieces all over again.

  And I thought Humpty Dumpty had it rough.

  I wobbled a bit on my feet as I reappeared in the stone circle. I moved out of the way, almost falling into Tisiphone’s arms, who was waiting for my return.

  It was a good thing I moved as fast as I did. Otherwise, I would have ended up on the bottom of a pile of giants who fell over one another as they set foot on Earth like a bunch of linemen trying to recover a fumble.

  I looked around. On either side of Tisiphone stood the other two Furies, Alecto and Megara. Outside the perimeter of the stones, Aerin was standing there with Jag on one side and her father, Elrand, on the other. A whole crowd of drow, maybe half of all of them, were gathered behind them.

  “What is going on?” I asked, running my fingers through my hair.

  “You’ve brought the giants,” Tisiphone said, not answering my question.

  I nodded. “I did.”

  “And a fairy from the otherworld?” Alecto and Megara asked in unison.

  I nodded. “Yes. This is Trixie.”

  “It’s such an honor to meet you!” Trixie exclaimed.

  “This is good,” Tisiphone said. “Especially in light of all that has happened.”

  “But I’ve brought the giants. That means no Fury. No earthquake, right?”

  “We will not unleash our wrath on your account,” the three Furies said in unison.

  “That’s a relief.” I nodded.

  “But others have scorned our rule, and our fury cannot be appeased.”

  “Well, who the hell pissed you guys off now?” I asked.

  The three Furies exchanged glances with one another. “Your other wife told us that your name has been cleared.”

  “What?” I asked, scratching my head, both relieved on that account but frustrated that they were still avoiding my questions.

  “You were pardoned,” Tisiphone said. “But Brighborn has evaded justice.”

  I snorted. “Of course. The President probably pardoned me to avoid dragging Brightborn’s name through the mud.”

  “The Princess Nightshade may enter the circle,” the three Furies said.

  Aerin stepped inside and, wrapping her arms around me, had tears in her eyes. “I wish you had been here.”

  “Why?” I asked. “What happened?”

  “After you left,” Aerin said. “Human agents, the FBI, came and raided the ranch. My sisters rose up against them. It was a bloodbath.”

  I shook my head. “You attacked the FBI?”

  “They fired the first shots,” Aerin said. “It was in self-defense, but we lost nearly half of our number.”

  “What about the agents?” I asked.

  “Dead. All of them.” Aerin said. “We expected another assault. But instead, Collin called and informed us that a pardon was issued the moment your indictment was processed by the grand jury.”

  “If you just took out a whole team of agents, why would he pardon me?” I asked.

  Aerin shook her head. “I cannot say. That is why we came here. It took several trips in the truck, but we made it. I came to seek the counsel of the Furies and see if they could bring you back, but they refused. They said your quest was of greater importance.”

  “It was,” Tisiphone said. “After you left, we summoned Develin and the fairies. I anticipated your success and demanded they await a decision upon the testimony of the giants.”

  “The other fairies are here?” I asked.

  Tisiphone shook her head. “They refused our summons.”

  I cocked my head. “They can do that?”

  “They rejected our rule,” Tisiphone said. “An unseelie abomination!”

  “Unseelie! Unseelie! Unseelie!” the three Furies echoed in concert.

  Trixie left my shoulder and buzzed around me before approaching the Furies. “Why would a fairy reject our mothers?”

  “They’ve bound themselves to the elf king,” Tisiphone said. “It is they who have unleashed our fury.”

  “Bound themselves?” I asked.

  Trixie turned back to me. “It means they melded their minds together, the way I entered you before. Only to such a degree that now they are inseparable.”

  I shook my head. “There has to be a way to appease you. I’ve brought the giants. The three races, the protectors of the Earth, are now here, together.”

  “This is pleasing to us,” the three Furies said before Tisiphone began speaking alone. “But it is they who scorned us. You cannot atone for their unseelie error.”

  “But that’s exactly what Brightborn wants!” I protested. “He’s trying to unleash a terror on this world, to force the world’s governments to bend their collective knee to his rule!”

  Tisiphone shook her head. “I am sorry for this, Naayak. But our wrath has already been set in motion. In three days’ time, the earth will quake.”

  I grunted. “There has to be a way to undo it. I can’t allow this.”

  “It is not only Brightborn whose murderous ways demand our justice,” Tisiphone said. “But now your government has assaulted the drow. The humans, too, must be punished.”

  “So, what is it?” I asked. “Are you unleashing this earthquake to punish the unseelie fairies or the human government?”

  “Both!” the three Furies said at once.

  “We’ve come to defend the Earth!” Targigoth interjected, stepping in front of me. “We came to testify to the elves’ treacheries.”

  “We are pleased that you have rejoined us,” Tisiphone said. “But we no longer require your testimony. Brightborn has already shown us his true nature.”

  “How is this justice?” I asked. “The people who will suffer from this earthquake are innocent.”

  “I am the Fury of the unceasing,” Alecto said. “My wrath is not uncalculated. Those who suffer are those who have merited it, I can guarantee.”

  “But this earthquake will destroy a whole city, and more!” I shouted. “Most of those people don’t even know who Brightborn is, nor do they have any say in what the President has done!”

  “Our ways are not your ways, human,” Alecto said. “Once this is done, I trust you will return to us that you will uphold your agreement to unify the elementals with the giants and us. For this is one battle in a larger war for the Earth. Do not give us reason to question your loyalty.”

  I dropped my head, dejected. “I don’t know what to say.”

  Layla and Aerin each put a hand on each of my shoulders. “Let's go,” Layla said. “We’ve heard enough.”

  “There’s nothing more we can do here,” Aerin said.

  I took a deep breath and exhaled. “All right. Well, thanks for whatever.”

/>   “The fairy must stay with us,” Tisiphone said.

  “Trixie? But she came with me.”

  “I will remain with the Furies,” Trixie said, flying over to me and putting one hand on my cheek. “But my power remains within you. Do what you can, and I will do what I must.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  With a fairy portal, I brought us all back to the junkyard ranch except for Jag, who drove the truck back.

  The city of St. Louis had seen several disasters in its history. Of course, it had been a while since the last. There was the great earthquake, the one that sent the Mississippi running in reverse. But after that, in the mid-1800s, there was a massive fire that destroyed much of the city. Cities tend to build or rebuild to prevent a repeat of the latest disaster. In the wake of the fire, most of the city was rebuilt with brick, hence the nickname of St. Louis being “Brick City.” Of course, a lot of the city that had been built since was constructed differently. But the older parts of the city, much of it still in use, was made of brick. Wise if you’re worried about another fire. Not so great to weather an earthquake.

  “Where are all the bodies?” Aerin asked as we arrived.

  “I imagine someone from the government came to gather them,” I said. “Probably while you were gone.”

  “We have traditions for honoring our dead!” Aerin shouted, clenching her fist. “It would be one thing if they just gathered their own dead, but they can’t take ours!”

  I put my hand on Aerin’s shoulder. She shrugged it off. “Not the sensation I want to feel right now.”

  I took a step back. I’d nearly forgotten that when she and I touched, she was consumed with desire. A consequence of the rings that bound us. “I’m sorry, Aerin.”

  “I can’t believe the elf king has such an influence over your government. It’s offensive.”

  “I agree,” I said. “Perhaps we can honor them as if their bodies were still here?”

  Aerin nodded. “We can conduct the death rite. But their spirits will not rest. Not with their bodies defiled.”

  I nodded. I didn’t know the ins and outs of what the drow believed with respect to the afterlife, but I wasn’t going to try and minimize her pain by offering a Christian explanation as an alternative. As far as I was concerned, it was not so important what happened to the bodies of the dead.

  Some Christians abhor the notion of cremation on the grounds that the Bible says that Christ will raise the dead on the last day. But the way I saw it, if God formed humanity from the dust of the ground in the beginning, he could certainly re-form our bodies again from ashes. Considering the fact that these bodies would go unclaimed, I imagined that’s what would happen. They’d be cremated and disposed of.

  “Do whatever you need to do to honor them,” I said. “I’m sorry this happened. If I’d been here, maybe things would have gone differently.”

  Aerin shook her head. “You might have saved their lives. But you could not have known.”

  “I should have,” I said. “When I was broken out of custody, it was unthinkable that they wouldn’t come after me.”

  “Still,” Aerin said. “How could you have known they’d open fire on us?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Still, I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

  Aerin nodded. “Do what you need to do. I will honor our fallen, along with the surviving drow. But you have bigger issues to face.”

  I walked inside the farmhouse, Layla at my side. Agnus was curled up in a shivering ball in the corner of our bedroom.

  I knelt and picked him up.

  “You all right, buddy?” I asked.

  “Humans suck,” Agnus piped back.

  I nodded. “I agree. A lot of them do. Did you see what happened?”

  “I saw everything, Casp.”

  “You saw the government gather the bodies?” I asked.

  Agnus snorted. “No. It was elves.”

  I looked at Layla, and her eyes met mine. “Elves, you say?”

  “I hid here the whole time. Those elves suck, too, by the way.”

  “Again,” I said, chuckling, “I can’t disagree with you.”

  “That’s interesting,” Layla said. “Why would my father want the bodies?”

  I shook my head. “Probably just to spite the drow. He’s spent time with them before.”

  Layla sighed. “Makes sense. He’s often done the same to the giants. Collected their dead before the giants could do it themselves.”

  “Why did he do that?” I asked.

  “It’s a head game,” Layla said. “The giants, like the drow, believe that their death rites have importance. They’re necessary to give their spirits rest.”

  I nodded. “I remember. That’s what Brag’mok was originally here for. To collect B’iff’s body.”

  “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it wasn’t the FBI who attacked. It might have been the legion, dressed to look like agents.”

  “An interesting theory,” I said. “Makes sense. It just doesn’t seem like the FBI I know to shoot first. Not if the drow weren’t fighting.”

  “I suppose we can’t know for sure,” Layla said. “But my father’s people collected the bodies. Not just the agents, or the legionnaires as the case may be, but the drow, too. It’s definitely a part of my father’s MO.”

  “Doesn’t defiling the dead run the risk of pissing off your enemy?” I asked.

  Layla nodded. “An angry enemy is often impulsive. Less calculating. He’s trying to bait us to attack before we’re ready. When he has the upper hand.”

  “It works. I was inclined to do exactly that after Aerin finished her funeral rituals.”

  “I don’t think his goal is to simply win another battle against us,” Layla said. “He knows this would also distract you from the issue with the Furies.”

  I shook my head. “But why? You’d think that dealing with the Furies would be a distraction. Force me to have to deal with that, to try and save as many lives as possible when the earthquake happens.”

  “Then again,” Layla said, pinching her chin. “My father knows that I know his strategies. If he somehow managed to convince the fairies to bind themselves to him, to stoke the Furies’ wrath, he may be trying to drive a wedge between you and the Furies.”

  “Clearly,” I said. “But in that case, why do something like this? Why assault the drow and steal their bodies?”

  “To divide your attention, and to divide us. He knows that Aerin will want to fight first. The earthquake, this city, is of secondary concern to her. But it’s your primary worry.”

  I continued petting Agnus as I thought about what Layla said. “If Aerin knows that Brightborn has the bodies, she’ll want to recover them. Maybe he isn’t trying to urge us to fight in vengeance so much as to send the drow on a wild goose chase to find the bodies. But he stoked the Furies’ wrath because he knows if I’m occupied dealing with that, I won’t be able to help the drow.”

  “Caspar put me down,” Agnus piped up.

  I set him down on the ground. “Everything okay, Agnus?”

  “Have you been fraternizing with nasty fairies again?” Agnus asked.

  “I have,” I said. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because you smell like butt!”

  I pressed my lips together. “You know what, Agnus? You’re brilliant!”

  Agnus cocked his head. “Because I know the smell of fairies and butts?”

  I chuckled. “No, because Brightborn doesn’t know that I have fairy powers again.”

  “What are you thinking, Caspar?” Layla asked.

  “Maybe we can do both,” I said. “Your father doesn’t know that I can portal myself, and even the bodies if we find them. We only have three days. But if I can do that, maybe I can find the bodies, bring them back to Aerin, and still have time to try and do something about the earthquake.”

  Layla shook her head. “We don’t even know what we’re going to do about the quake. You heard what the Furies said. It’s alrea
dy in motion. It can’t be stopped.”

  “That’s not necessarily true,” I said. “I have power over the element of earth. I just don’t know if I should use it.”

  “Wait,” Layla said. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about that before.”

  “Agnus did,” I said. “He suggested it back before I even turned myself in to the authorities.”

  “It’s brilliant!” Layla exclaimed.

  I nodded. “Except your father had that same idea. When he abducted me, he said, and I quote, ‘it’s a shame we don’t know someone who has the power over earth.’”

  Layla scratched her head. “He wouldn’t say that if he wasn’t trying to plant the idea in your head.”

  I bit my lip. “I was wrong. When I was talking to the Furies. Unleashing the earthquake isn’t what Brightborn wants. Not directly. He couldn’t care less about the destruction it will cause, and it has nothing to do with his intention to force the government into submission. He wants me to try and stop it. His whole goal is to drive a wedge between the Furies and me. To divide the Furies from the elementals, and therefore the giants as well.”

  “Then what do we do?” Layla asked. “We can’t stop the earthquake. But we can’t let it happen, either.”

  A wave of anger came over me. I wanted to punch the wall, but I was worried if I did, I might take down the whole farmhouse. Not because I had such a forceful strike, sans infusing my punch with magic, but because the house was barely standing as it was.

  Hungry. Angry. Lonely. Tired. An acronym, in AA HALT. Any of those conditions could put our sobriety in jeopardy. I wasn’t going to drink. But I needed clarity.

  “I need to go to a meeting,” I said.

  “What?” Layla asked. “You’re seriously worried about drinking right now with so much at stake?”

  “I’m always worried about drinking again,” I said. “But that’s not the point. I need to think. It won’t take that long. I can portal myself there and back again. There’s a meeting in about fifteen minutes I can catch.”