Faeries do not live longer than the average human.
Faeries are weakened by all metal, copper and bronze, as well as iron. Salt weakens only winter fae, whilst summer fae are affected by loud clapping.
The only magic faeries possess are Earth and Illusion sorcery.
He hastily glanced at his clock, the enchanted one shaped like a dragon that Elijah had gotten him for the Asuvian festival. Every hour on the hour, the wooden dragon would spout out a small flame, the dial on its back however read that Jed only had ten minutes to get to the chamber. He’d never finish the report in time. Ushk. Oh well, I’ll just have Joelle summarize it for me.
Yesterday had been crazy. First, he learns he’s landed his biggest mission yet, then Evan and Brooke get their dreams invaded by the scariest dude Jed has ever seen. He still got nightmares remembering Kalkavan at the asylum. So really, no one could blame him for not reading the entirety of his assignment.
He hurried out of his room and though the castles, making a beeline for the portal chamber.
He saw Joelle first, she strode down the corridor opposite him, accompanied by a waddling Sir Imps-a-lot. Jed bent down to high-five the little creature.
“But I’m not putting him anywhere he might come to harm,” said Joelle. “Impy will be heading back to Veneseron as soon as he’s helped us find the summer court.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Jed replied, grinning down at the imp.
They entered the portal chamber, finding Master Elorian, Bane and Sabine already within. Elorian had just handed Sabine their bag full of mission supplies, whilst Bane leaned against one of the countless portal archways, looking bored. His lips curled as he saw them enter.
“Oh, so you’re bringing that thing, after all,” Bane drawled, shooting the imp a contemptuous glance.
“I’ve told you before Madagant,” Joelle growled. “Don’t call Impy a thing.”
“Yeah, what did the little guy ever do to you anyway?” Jed asked.
“Exist.” Bane shrugged.
Joelle sucked in a deep breath, and he saw her fists clench.
“Keep calm.” He moved to her side. “He probably wants you to hit him or something so you’re taken off the mission.”
She nodded, turning her back on Bane.
“You’re right, sorry. You might have to be my anger management councillor for the next few days. Hopefully this mission is over quick.”
“Not too quick I hope. I think I could get used to you and I spending quality time together,” he grinned.
“Keep dreaming,” Joelle nudged his shoulder.
“Now, before you enter Mag-Mel,” Elorian turned to them all. “Remember, the three rules when dealing with the fae folk. Don’t eat or drink any food they give you, don’t dance with them, and don’t enter into any type of deal or bargain they offer you. Got it?”
“What happens if we do?” Jed asked, ignoring Sabine’s look of derision.
“Oh, a few of things,” Elorian replied casually, “ranging from a most unpleasant faerie curse, to getting yourself imprisoned inside their home forever.”
“What! That sounds serious,” he looked to Joelle, who just shrugged.
“I thought you knew about the three rules, it’s pretty common knowledge.”
“It was also in the mission brief, which you obviously didn’t read,” Sabine added.
“Yeah I did.” Jed looked hastily back at Elorian. “Read it twice over I did.”
“Excellent. Then you’ll all be perfectly fine. We’ve put together a few things to help you on your way.” Elorian indicated the supply bag. “You’ll find a Holophone in there too of course. Don’t hesitate to contact us in case of emergencies. Obviously, we’ll be contacting you daily, just to check everything’s running smoothly.”
Bane grunted in reply, looking like he’d rather be heading into a realm overrun with a million demons than the world of the fae.
“Now, the only thing left is for me to wish you all good luck.” Elorian beamed. “Once you’ve tracked down the summer court, they’ll be able to help you further, and let you know where the winter court are hiding too. I’m sure once you’ve made both courts form an alliance, the valorcs will be dealt with in no time.”
“You make it sound so easy.” Bane rolled his eyes, before stepping through the archway Elorian had activated, leading to Mag-Mell.
“Let’s hope we make it back to Veneseron without contracting faerie curses.” Jed chuckled weakly before jumping inside the portal too.
At once, his insides churned as he spun around in the vortex of violent colours. After several seconds, the sensation of flying whilst standing completely still vanished as he reached the other side. Jed landed in the middle of a gigantic field with perfectly cut grass, decorated in sporadic patches by clusters of colourful flowers.
Joelle arrived just after him, with Sabine bringing up the rear.
Beyond their field was a patchwork of meadows and fields complete with clusters of trees, neat rows of hedges and a swarm of rolling hills in the distance. Nestled amongst the fields were thick patches of flowers in a riot of colours. The landscape reminded Jed of the British countryside where he’d once stayed when dad took him on holiday. As he looked closer however, he started to notice the more alien details. Amongst the roses, tulips, dandelions and daisies, were flowers that couldn’t have hailed from Earth. At least Jed had never seen the plant in the next field, which resembled seaweed, only seven-foot tall and bright blue.
The lush and vibrant land was made more beautiful by the pink sun setting above them. Other than a few strange details, they could almost be back on Earth.
“It’s…beautiful,” Sabine muttered.
Sir Imps-a-lot also croaked in wonderment as he waddled around Joelle in a circle, squinting as he gazed at the sun of his home realm.
Bane just grunted. “Shame what happened though.”
Jed was about to ask what Bane could possibly mean when he sensed it himself.
Although the setting was pretty and peaceful, it was as if someone had pressed the mute button on the world. If this had been real countryside, there would’ve been birds chirping, water trickling, or insects buzzing, but there was nothing at all.
Nor did the scattering of cherry blossom trees at the end of their field sway in the wind, as there appeared to be no wind at all. Jed looked around again, yet no animals moved amongst the many fields and there was no sign of any form of weather to come. Like the world was frozen in time.
“What’s happened?” he asked.
“The summer fae have left the land,” Bane replied. “They haven’t been gone long, as the place still looks good. Give it a month or so, and there’d be nothing but ruin.”
“And the winter court have left too,” said Sabine, “otherwise all this countryside would be covered in snow, right?”
Joelle nodded. “The only thing that would cause this stillness is the disappearance of both courts.”
“It’s…creepy.” Jed decided. “How in Rueda do we even start tracking down the fae?”
“That’s where Impy comes in.” Joelle grinned as she watched her pet waddling away, already a couple metres ahead of them.
They followed him, traipsing out of the field and into another. Jed noticed the very tips of the grass on this field were a dark blue.
“Can’t you sense the summer court too?” He asked Bane. “Aren’t you, like, related or something?”
Bane’s gold-green eyes shone with malice as he glared at him. “No. I guess it’s stupid of me to pretend I don’t carry nymph-ish traits. But that blood is very diluted with my Madagant family bloodline. The Madagants are of the most ancient Realmer families and are highly powerful to this day. My brothers are legends and my father practically leads the council now. Just because an ancestor of mine lay with a nymph, it does not make me fae. I’m more a Realmer than anyone in Veneseron.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Joelle murmured, but so only Jed could he
ar.
“Okay, dude, I believe you, no need for the life story,” he told Bane, who still looked murderous.
“Don’t all the legends say that faeries hide under the hills when they’re in danger?” Sabine asked.
“Yeah.” Bane gestured to the small army of hills in the distance. “Feel free to dig under each one, in order. Should only take a few months.”
“Everyone remember to keep an eye on the skies,” said Joelle, watching the clouds herself. “We don’t know where the Valorcs are either, and we’re sitting ducks on these open fields.”
“What do we if we see them?” Sabine was unable to keep the fear from her tone.
“Stop, drop and roll?” he offered.
“This isn’t a game Jed,” said Joelle, pulling several arrows out of the quiver on her back. “I’ve packed every enchanted arrow I own, from exploding, elemental and illusion arrows. I plan to use them all by the end of this mission.”
“That’s swell.” Bane rolled his eyes. “But if a flock of those beasts appear on the horizon I doubt you can shoot all of them out of the sky before they reach us. If such an event occurred, I’d shroud us in an invisibility spell. One I’m guessing only I am strong enough to wield.”
Jed tried to think of a comeback, but truth was he was nowhere near strong enough to make himself invisible, let alone others. If he tried hard, he could conjure an illusion to make himself camouflaged to the grass around him, but under the pressure of valorcs ripping him to pieces, he’d likely just camouflage half his body instead. Hell, maybe the valorcs would get freaked out enough by a floating head and torso that they’d fly away in fear?
“You’re right,” said Joelle. “Hiding would be wiser than fighting if we’re caught unprepared and without cover. But as good as you are with illusion magic, you aren’t powerful enough to keep us all invisible for long. If valorcs spend more than a few minutes near us, your sorcery will dry up.”
“Fair point.” Bane smirked. “I guess I’ll just make myself invisible and get away whilst the valorcs kill you all. I’m confident I could do this mission all by myself anyway.”
Sabine looked scandalized, but he was pretty sure Bane wasn’t serious. Was he?
“You could do that,” Joelle countered. “Since you care so little for anyone else except yourself. But I’m guessing you’d hate to have three Realmer deaths on your mission record. After your last failure leaving Evan behind, you might even get a mission-ban and get demoted a rank. Worse if the Masters learn you ran and left your companions in peril.”
Bane sighed. “Jokes aren’t your strong point are they, Mace?”
They walked across a dozen fields and a dozen meadows, following the little imp as he toddled determinedly on.
At last, the never-ending fields led into rows upon rows of towering hills. At the top of one hill, Impy croaked suddenly in distress and swayed back and forth. Joelle ran forward to pick him up, just as Jed made the top of the hill himself. A deserted valley spread out beneath them, the vast bowl starting on the other side of the hill. He realised Impy must’ve got confused by the steep drop and thought he was going to fall down the hill and into the valley.
Stranger than the place being empty was that the tremendous bowl in the earth was filled with a maze made out of colossal tree trunks. Each trunk was like a ten-foot-high and twenty-foot-long snake, and all of them criss-crossed or intersected one another. It was only because their hill was so high that Jed could take in the labyrinth, it seemed to go on for miles.
“Whoa, what is that?”
“The Lost Labyrinth,” said Sabine. “Now stop pretending you read the mission brief.”
“Don’t tell me we have to go through it?”
“No. We go around.” Bane answered, pointing to the mountain in the distance, where a narrow ledge ran adjacent to the tremendous crater housing the maze. “Just don’t fall.”
It was easier said than done. There was only room for them to walk single file, with Joelle carrying Imps-a-lot since he was scared of heights. The other side of the ledge away from the valley was rock from the mountain, which made it easy to lean that way instead of down the sharp incline of the valley.
It took them around three hours to reach the end of the valley. At last, there were no more fields beyond but a forest instead.
The trees weren’t particularly big, but their leaves were the size of cows, and many of them brightly coloured and even glowing. Many glowing flowers also bloomed on the tree trunks, and these flowers were all ten times bigger than any Jed had seen before.
His stomach had started to rumble as they walked past the labyrinth and his feet ached.
“C’mon, surely we’re almost there by now? How do you know Impy isn’t leading us on a wild goose chase?”
“What’s a goose?” Joelle frowned.
“Like the phoenixes that fly above Veneseron city sometimes,” Sabine said, “kind of.”
Jed didn’t really understand how Sabine had come to that conclusion, but he was too irritable to describe barnyard animals to lifelong Venators right now.
“My point is,” he began, “that we’ve been following him for ages now, and we’ve still seen no signs of this glarqing summer court.”
“I agree,” said Bane. “The little ushk being slower than a drunk gnome doesn’t help things either.”
“Don’t call Impy names,” Joelle growled.
“You should buy yourself better pets then,” Bane replied. “My brothers and I have our very own unicorns, but I suppose your family would have to sell the house to afford one.”
“Shut up,” Joelle snapped.
Bane walked closer to her instead, muttering softly. “I guess I shouldn’t blame you. It’s not your fault your mother’s no more than a glorified secretary at Del-O-Reth.”
Jed hurried forward as Joelle rounded on Bane, her face white with rage. “That’s because your worm of a father blocked her from getting a seat on the council.”
“Careful, Mace. You shouldn’t insult my father. Not with one like your own.”
Joelle shook her head. “Nice try, at least my dad actually cares about me.”
Bane’s eyes flashed with fury as he raised his hand high, electricity blooming between his fingers.
“Stop it guys,” he said weakly, blocking the space between them.
“I…” Bane cut off, staring up at the sky suddenly, his anger turning to fear. A moment later, a strange sound shattered the silence. Jed had no idea what it was, but Joelle acted at once.
“Ushk, it’s them, the valorcs.” She looked around frantically for somewhere to hide.
Jed realised the sound was the flapping of giant wings, coming straight this way.
“Here,” Sabine yelled, sprinting to a nearby tree.
Bane was right behind her, his hand limned in a green glow as he slapped it down on the trunk.
“What?” Jed gasped as he ran. “Are we going to climb into the branches and hope they don’t see us…oh.” He cut off as the area of bark around Bane’s hand vanished.
“Inside. Now.” Madagant ordered.
They hastily filed inside the oak tree with Bane the last in. He turned and used another earth spell, and the tree trunk returned, sealing them inside the tree.
They were plunged into darkness, before a shaft of sunlight re-appeared and he realised Bane had poked a small hole through.
“What are you doing?” Joelle hissed. “We can’t let them find us.”
“No, but I want to observe them,” Bane snapped back.
“Oooh, can I have a look?” Jed nudged his way to look through the eye-sized hole in the bark.
He’d expected to see the valorcs, but instead a faerie woman ran into view. Since she appeared human, save for the lilac shade of skin, stream of blue hair and butterfly wings, she had to be a seelie. A second after she appeared, she cried out in fear, and before any of them could move, a great shadow collided with the fae girl.
The monster’s taloned feet smas
hed into the seelie’s spine, driving her into the ground. The faerie shrieked as the valorc seized her wings and ripped them clean off her body.
The valorc let loose snorting laughter as he held the gossamer wings aloft and the girl continued to wail in agony. A second valorc appeared above them then and the fae cut off instantly as he threw a spear down at her head, impaling it to the ground.
Sabine gasped in horror and his own insides roiled in disgust, but they had to remain silent.
“Don’t toy with them, Ram” the second valorc said as he landed. “Other fae might hear her noise and escape us.”
“Ah, but they taste so sweet,” Ram replied in a voice like grating stone. He snorted happily as he rammed one of the wings into his mouth, crunching down.
The valorcs were as fearsome as the orcs he’d seen in Veneseron, but with a few, jarring differences. They were as tall and heavily muscled as regular orcs, and their facial features were much the same. However, neither of them had tusks and both had long dark hair trailing down their backs. Their skin wasn’t the grey or green of orcs, but a dark black. They were also practically naked, apart from a loincloth. Their leathery wings resembled bats, but on a giant scale.
Jed knew not all orcs were as monstrous as they appeared, especially since he’d gotten to know Urkzul, but he couldn’t imagine how a valorc could be anything but monstrous. Up close, he saw they had talons for fingernails.
He felt a surge of pity for the fae girl and a rush of hatred toward the two beasts. He clutched his axe handle tight, almost wanting the valorcs to find them, so he could use it.
“You should have some, Gutga.” Ram held out the other faerie wing. “Tastes like sugar.”
Gutga opened his mouth to reply, before noticing the very tree they hid within and stopping in his tracks.
Jed’s flesh erupted into goosebumps and his legs went weak as Gutga stalked toward them, his yellow eyes bulging with hunger.
“Look what we have here?” the valorc grinned.
Chapter 16- Greeting the Gods
He and Brooke had stepped through a door in Vanderain’s quarters, but they found a giant archway on the other side as the portal spat them out. Breathless from the jump between realms, it took Evan a second to take in the grandeur of the room around them. The walls and high ceiling were carved out of solid gold, whilst the floor and giant pillars of the chamber were white marble, veined with blue ripples.
Angels and Elves- Act I Page 24
