She giggled again. “It is me, Corinne, silly,” she said. “You were not trying to leave, were you? It would be so sad for you leave us.”
“Better I leave and live. You have to know what happened with the Dazerarthro. I failed, I hurt all over, and even with the power of the essence within me, I didn’t have enough. It’s too strong.” I slumped onto the bed and pulled the pillow onto my lap, hugging it to my chest.
“Silly Desmoree, you need more than essence, you need—”
Silence. “Corinne, what do I need?” I called. “Please Corinne tell me how can I win, how can I be sure I won’t die next time!”
“You can’t,” came Francis’s somber reply. “But you will fight, we will be free, the war is not over.”
“Tell me how,” I pleaded, but there was no reply. The seers were gone from my mind.
I waited until the Stalisies had left my doorway to sneak out, taking refuge in the crack in the wall between Sayeesies and the Outer Reaches. It was the only place I knew that no one would dare venture. I spent the next three days there in the wall, reading, searching the visions, when they would come, and trying to find a way to defeat it. Trying to find a way to be stronger.
Jax found me after only a few hours-he wasn’t exactly happy with where I had chosen to escape to, but he stayed with me -Sayeesies wasn’t somewhere he wanted to be right now either.
I replayed the battle again and again in my mind, and after remembering the barrier the Dazerarthro seemed to fly off of in those last moments. I tried to recreate it. Jax tossed stones in my direction and I attempted to deflect them. More often than not, I failed and ended up with a pile of pebbles at my feet where they hit me and fell flat.
It took a lot for Jax to come to the crack in the wall, even he hated the way the light disappeared. Each afternoon when the light from Shulun faded slightly and the Fey all went inside, Jax went back to Baldea for a bit to see his family and I went to speak with Traflier. He wanted to develop my powers, but even he was struggling to help.
“You should be getting this,” he said after showing me for the fiftieth time how to create a ball of energy in my hands. “A child can do this.”
“Well that just proves it then, I’m not the chosen anything.”
“Don’t pout, Desmoree. Look, you will get it this time, I am sure. You were so close before. Focus, draw on your energy, concentrate on it pooling just beneath the surface of your hands then imagine it seeping out to form a ball.”
I took a breath. I could feel my energy, swimming inside and moving to my hands. I took another breath and closed my eyes. I felt it grow and then my hands burned and I opened my eyes to see a brilliant ball of white energy sizzling in my hands.
“What do I do with it now?” I called to Traflier, who stood by the mantle clapping at my achievement.
“Take it back in,” he said as if it were nothing. It had taken me a billion times to get it to come out—I didn’t know what made him think I would be any better at getting it to go back in.
“I don’t think I can. It’s starting to get really hot.”
“Calm down, take another breath, and will it back inside you. It is your energy, it doesn’t want to leave, it should happily return.”
“Okay,” I said, closing my eyes again. But this time I saw the battle again in my mind. I saw the beasts ripping through flesh; I saw the deformed, stolen body of Moyeth sneering at me. I couldn’t focus.
“Desmoree, you have to control it,” Traflier called from somewhere in the room.
“I can’t!” I screamed back, and just then the energy went flying from my hands. I opened my eyes and saw Traflier jump to the side just as the ball of light exploded into the fireplace right where he had just been standing.
“Are you okay?” I asked, rushing towards him “I couldn’t stop it.”
“I am fine.” He pulled himself up and walked over to inspect the mark left by my energy ball. It glowed red hot in the fireplace. “Impressive.”
“Let’s just hope your barrier holds until I can control it.”
“Yes, let’s.” He ran his hand along the mantle. “Let’s talk some more before you head home,” he said, taking a seat beside the glowing fireplace.
I didn’t particularly like our talks. The last time, he had shown me the family tree—his side, not Max’s. One relative had slaughtered an entire herd of Datherin, cattle-like creatures whose blood increased libido.
More than leaving with new foul facts about the bloodline I’d descended from, I feared I would come out of the meeting the way I had each time before: with no answers about the battle. Tired, and yet unable to rest my eyes for more than a minute. After every visit, I somehow seemed to leave without questioning Traflier’s strategy in the war, and it was this question that niggled at the back of my mind but seemed unimportant each time I arrived at his office.
After one such meeting, I returned home to Jax, who, since the battle, had not left my side except when I visited Traflier, and occasionally when I visited the wall. I sat on my bed and broke down. I cried and cried, my tears soaking his shirt as he held me close. I was so much more than I had been before, but I could not access it all. Phasing between fairy form and normal me became as easy as flicking a switch in my mind. I could still fly, and I could see energy whenever I wanted, but the other abilities were few and far between in announcing their arrival.
“What’s this?” Jax asked, pulling the spell book from beneath my pillow. Foolishly, I had left it open. I went to grab for it, but he leapt from the bed and began flicking through the pages.
“Is this your diary? Did you write about me?”
“Jax it’s not a diary. Give it here.”
“Wait. Is this what I think it is? Where did you get a spell book? No one is allowed to do unapproved magics, Traflier can’t have approved this, surely?”
I grabbed it from him. “Traflier doesn’t know I have it. I found it in his study.”
“In his study!”
“Yes, calm down, it was covered in dust. Clearly he had not picked it up in a while and it wouldn’t matter anyway, he can’t open it.”
“What do you mean? It’s open now.”
“I know it is, but that is because, being the idiot I am, I forgot to close it last night when I was done reading. Look, watch.” I closed the book and motioned for Jax to join me as I sat on the edge of the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Just shut up and watch.” I showed him how the book would not open now, how the cover appeared fused to the pages within. Then I whispered my name and the cover opened with ease.
“Give me a go.” Jax took the book and closed its cover, then proceeded to try to pry it open again. Finally he repeated my name just as I had, but the book remained closed.
“See, it would not have opened for him—it’s mine.” I said my name again and Jax opened the book, flicking all the way to the end.
“The last page is still stuck,” he said.
“What?”
“The last page. It’s stuck to the back cover. Is there another word you have to say to release it? Is that where you hide all your nudie pictures?”
“Don’t be stupid. Show me.”
He was right. It wasn’t easy to see; I don’t even know how Jax picked it up. It appeared that the back page had been sealed to the back cover itself.
“Pass me the Noxuer,” I said to Jax, waving to the dresser where it lay beside a stack of books I had yet to read.
“I’m not touching that thing again; I nearly killed you the last time.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, just give it here.”
“Fine, but if I die I am totally blaming you.”
“It holds no curse now remember.”
Jax grabbed the Noxuer and I used its blade to release the edges of the final page. Beneath the secret layer was a final spell, one for hiding.
Jax and I sat together and read silently to ourselves.
Those who seek all your truths can take what
they desire. But if you hide your power you will be free to see the signs, free to the magic within. Pierce your flesh with the blade of the Noxuer and let the blood fall to the Parabellum Eye. As long as you are in possession of the Eye, your truths, your power, will be safe. BEWARE: once removed from contact with your body, you will lose Parabellums protection.
I didn’t care who or what had written the spell, or even how they had known about Parabellum. Frey had not told anyone but my mother, but having faith in the magic that flowed through me, I grabbed the Noxuer from between us and jabbed my finger. Nothing happened; it didn’t even leave a blue mark as it had before.
“How am I supposed to do this when it won’t even break the skin?”
Jax took the book from me and thumbed through the pages. “Look, this might work,” he said, pointing to a spell titled Thy will be done. I had read it before—it allowed your desires to come true, but for a moment, and only if what you desired would only directly affect you. If anyone else would be affected, it wouldn’t work. “Do you have any Carness seed?” Jax asked, jumping off the bed.
“In the drawer on the left,” I said, reading over the spell again. “It will only work for a moment; I will have to be quick with the blade.”
“Got it,” Jax said as he made his way back to the bed. I grabbed the seeds and took three out, closing them within my left hand. The blade sat in front of me, ready to grab as soon as the spell was cast.
“So I say the words, filling in the blank line with what I desire and swallow the seeds, then I should be able to cut myself with that thing. Okay, here goes nothing.” Jax held the book up on the bed so I could read it clearly.
“Thine will be true, thine will be made, umm let me bleed from the Noxuer blade, so be it for a moment in time, thine will be true, thine will be mine.” I tossed the seeds into my mouth and as I swallowed, I picked up the Noxuer and stabbed my finger. It pierced the flesh enough so that a single drop of blood pooled on the tip.
It glistened in the light, its bubble of red shimmering with iridescent white flecks moving slowly within it. I held out the Eye I wore around my neck and allowed the drop of blood to fall onto it. Instantly, the blood vanished, sucked within the stone, and I felt calm, free, as if something that had been pressing on my mind had been lifted.
I leaned into Jax’s arms and easily fell asleep. I didn’t dream; I didn’t stir. I slept until the sparkle had peaked and fell, and peaked again.
Since my defeat at the hands of the Dazerarthro, Traflier had never once denied me an audience, so I went again to see him. I wanted to ask the many questions I had for him and I had written them down to be sure I asked them. Unsure of how the meeting would go, I brought Jax along for support. When we entered his office, unlike the many times before, no apprehension or unease clouded my mind. I took this to be a good sign, and so instantly began my questioning for fear I suddenly would be unable to. I started small.
I took a seat on the lounge, making sure not to cross my arms and appear aggressive or inaccessible. I wanted this meeting to go well. I wanted answers.
“How did Baldea lose its beauty?” I asked him. “The books don’t say.”
He looked at me with disinterest, pacing behind the chairs that sat opposite me. “Anywhere that is occupied by those exiled would of course feel their disgrace.” He said it so calmly, as if it was the simplest of things. I had to hold Jax’s hand tighter against me when he heard this. Traflier had always treated Jax with respect.
What the fuck? I thought as I searched Frey’s visions that swam in my mind. But sure enough, there were none that could show me what had happened to Baldea. I had tried to look many times before, but even when accessing her memories—a perk of having had her and the other Oley surge through me on the cliff—even she had no memory at all of when the land first become rotten, before the Tanzieth moved to the lands and before the darkness my father’s despair caused. There were only memories of the few first exiled, and the beginnings of its beauty returning.
Holding my composure, I loosened my grip on Jax’s hand and nudged him, hoping he would get the idea that it was not the time for this conflict.
“How did you know Jax is Special?” I asked.
Traflier smiled an odd smile I had not seen him wear before. It didn’t look right on him, almost painted on.
“Those such as I, who have seen all, and lived all, are fortunate enough to be in tune to the gifts of others.”
“Everyone knows my mother was special, but does anyone know why she left? Do you know why she left?”
He seemed surprised by the change in subject, but held his composure well. Unbeknownst to him, I was not asking this question to delve into my mother’s past. I had seen most of my mother’s life through Frey’s eyes already; she had been a key feature since my conception. No, I’d asked this question so I could try to fill in a blank spot in Frey’s memory.
Traflier seemed bored with our conversation. He strolled over to the bookcases that lined the far wall and ran his fingers across the spines.
I rolled my eyes, frustrated with his stalling. “Well? What was it she was running from? Who was she protecting me from?” Trying to hold my composure was difficult. At that moment, it was as if I was finally spitting out the words I had been screaming in my mind, but that were unable to escape my lips. Scared I would lose my voice, I quickly continued. “Why did the Stalisies all stand back in the battle? They should have fought with the Tanzieth. They should have helped them. What was the purpose of keeping them from helping?”
Traflier shot me a glare. Then he turned from me and looked into a glass ball that sat on the shelf. I hadn’t noticed it until then, and I had the feeling I should have remembered seeing such an oddity amongst the hundreds of books. Traflier touched it with his fingers, and as he did so, Jax became instantly frozen, his entire body locked in a moment in time. I could still feel the faint drum of his pulse through his hand. Running purely on instinct, I followed suit and remained still as if I, too, were stuck in time.
Traflier still regarded the glass ball, his fingers twitching across its surface. “Sit quiet my children, let your ears and eyes be still, and may no sounds other than my voice be heard, no sights other than my eyes be seen. Come. Come, my children you are safe here, unlock your mind to me, and reveal your heart. And after you do, no memory of the twenty past will remain. No desire for conflict and no questions you will see unasked. Reveal your heart, let me in.”
He turned to fix on Jax and I. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Jax was still in his trance, his energy freezing with him. It was like taking a photo of a windstorm, everything looked as if it should be moving, but it was like a mere picture of what it once was. I held my form, still not wanting to give away my lucidness. It helped I did not need to breathe anymore, thanks to my new existence-it still took control not to make the movements though. Traflier left the ball on the shelf and stepped towards us.
The familiar warmth we had once shared was gone. It was if a cloak had lifted from his being, and I could see him for what he was.
He knelt down in front of me, a cackle in his voice. “When will you learn, my dear? You are here because I want you here. They fawn over you because I will them to. The beasts fought because I made them obey, and soon I will have drained all of your energy for my own and will have more power than any that have ever existed. My silly child, I am everyone, we are all. You were right to worry about Jax, He is special, more than you will ever know, but the longer he stays here, the closer I get to unlocking his power and sucking him dry.”
As Traflier rose up, resting a hand on my shoulder the way a proud father does to his child, I became sickened. I could no longer contain myself. It had been Traflier all along. As I watched him turn to the mantle, I removed the necklace from beneath my shirt and placed it atop my breast so he could see it. When he turned to me, he was the one found frozen when I stood without hesitation, fear, or nerves.
“You have no idea what power I t
ruly have,” I seethed. “And you never will!”
His eyes turned a blazing red. “How?” he questioned, but I didn’t answer.
I took a step forward, and in a flash of blue fire, he was gone.
Jax broke from his daze. “What the hell happened? Where is Traflier?”
“We can’t stay here, we have to go now!” I grabbed Jax’s arm and headed to the lift. “It was all him! Jax, it was all Traflier.”
“But his own people died,” said Jax, looking confused. “Sayeesies was attacked, not Baldea.”
I swung open the door and pulled him from the tree. “Look Jax, it was all him. He had us under some kind of magic,” I said dragging him through the square. “But the stone,” I said, touching it at my chest as we dashed through the streets towards my place. “It blocked his cast. He is not the Fey everyone thinks he is—he is the evil everyone should fear. He brought the Dazerarthro, he sent the beasts.”
“Des, do you know what this means?”
I froze in the middle of the cobblestone corridor realization of exactly what it meant settling in.
“I am going to have to fight my great-great grandfather, a highly intelligent, extraordinarily powered mad man with an ancient evil under his control, and an army of flying Stalisies to back him up. Jax, I can’t, no one could!” I fell to my knees, my head falling to my hands.
And then he was there with me, his hands on mine, moving them away to reveal the tears. His strength lifting me to stand again. “Des, you are extraordinary. Do the wing thing.”
“Jax, no.”
“Des, do it, trust me.”
I tilted my head and brought out my wings. They unfurled from my back like butterflies being reborn. I looked at their edges as they swept the stone floor. Jax had cleaned the blood from them, but I swore I could still see the stains.
They will always be drenched in blood. Their blood. And my own grandfather is the one who put it there.
“Des, do you still see it, the blood?”
“I will always see it.”
“Then you know you can do this. Look at what you have done already.”
Enchanting the Fey- The Complete Series Page 16
