We were standing on a ledge at the mouth of the other side of a cave. The winding pathway worked its way up the slope and ended on our left. Delron headed that way, "Stay on the path," he said unnecessarily.
It took almost half-an-hour to get close enough to the castle to see the moat of muck, bones, and fire. A rancid, burning, oily smell wafted from it, as well as plumes of black smoke. Just as I was going to ask how we were going to get across, a wet looking black drawbridge cranked open and began to lower.
That's handy. I wonder if zoning laws would allow drawbridges in Cedar Falls. The only problem was my mother could fly.
The drawbridge fully opened with a loud thud, echoing in the valley. The largest difference I noted was the lack of city around the castle. It was there and that was it. Lone spires on barren hills. Barren except for the flaming stalagmites. "Where are all the people?"
Delron gave me a questioning look.
"Dark elf families. There's no city by the castle?"
"There is no city in the realm. We live, work, and die in the castle."
"What about your families?"
"We are only allowed to breed when there is a decline in population."
"Okay. Wow. Never mind and forget I asked." The more I learned, the more I wanted to raze the castle to the ground. Seriously. The unseleighe side of Underhill was nothing like the seleighe side.
I held out my hand and pulled some magic into my palm, letting it coalesce into a glowing orb. The magic, at least, felt the same, both in texture and abundance. If things went south, at least I wouldn't run out of power. Letting the orb go, I smiled as it dissipated.
The wood of the drawbridge was so thick, our feet made no sound as we strode across it. I even tried stomping a few times to no avail. Taking a look over the side at the moat, I was grateful for the sturdy timbers. I'd fallen in enough shitty places in Faerie. Smoking slime moat would just be the icing on the Jell-O mold.
I fucking hate Jell-O.
When we reached the spider-shaped, silver portcullis, I lost it. I was literally standing on the bridge, laughing my ass off. Everyone looked at me, including the four dark elven guards on the other side of the grate.
"Sorry," I mumbled and wiped my eyes.
You okay? Even Yuki sounded confused.
Seriously? You don' find the fact that the most cliché thing in the universe is actually their gate? At least there's no pumpkins.
No? It's actually quite pretty. In a creepy Halloween kinda way.
I stopped laughing. Yuki's face was distorting. In fact, everything was, even the bridge below us. It started twisting and warping, but nobody else seemed to notice. "What's going on?"
"Seriously, Boss. Are you okay?"
"Suddenly not feeling so well." I tried to take a step forward, but my feet elongated, at least they looked like they did, and I tripped on the bridge, falling forward.
Dar stood and transformed, catching me in his arms. "What is wrong?"
"My vision. It's all distorted."
He looked up at Delron. "We need to get her in the castle."
"Of course. Bring her." He turned and walked to the guards, mumbling something I couldn't quite catch.
"Should I attempt to walk her back to the portal?" Shea's distorted features came into view. He was still quite lovely, in a Picasso sort of way.
"Let us get her into the castle and see if that alleviates the issue," Dar said adamantly. Shea could only nod.
Even with my distorted vision, I saw the portcullis lift as Delron approached the guards. Peculiarly, they didn't say one word to him as the giant silver doors swung inward and creaked to a stop.
"Hang on. Maybe it is the gas from the moat," Dar said hopefully.
I nodded, burying my face in his chest. Not that I was capable of speech. I closed my eyes and tried to let the feeling that I was floating go. My head felt like I drank two bottles of wine and then dropped acid. At least from the descriptions I had heard of the drug. I'd never actually tried it. I was a good little witch.
The air inside the castle was cooler but reeked of blood and rancid meat. "Oh, my goddess. Put me down."
He did and I dropped to my knees, retching on the floor of the hall, unable to stop myself. Luckily, I had skipped breakfast and what I brought up was mostly coffee and bile.
Dar, ever the gentle dog, held the few strands of loose hair back from my face and rubbed my back gently. "Are you finished? Should I try and find you a waste bin?"
"Yes. I'm done."
I groaned and stood, giving Delron an apologetic look. "Fear not, the scullions shall make it right," he told me with a grim look.
"Puking in the hallway probably won't leave a great impression on your queen, though."
"No. It will not," a rasping, mildly feminine voice called from the stairs.
Looking up, I gasped at the ancientness of her. Elves were like witches, not aging until the very last stages of life. It always signified the end for us. My grandmother was just beginning to gray at her temples and she was over a thousand years old. The dark elf in front of me looked like a dust bunny fucked a mummy. I'd had a houseplant in my room that I forgot to water for ten years. Her skin reminded me of the leaves, but instead of curled, it hung from the fine bones of her face like paper-thin scrotal flesh that had been left in the sun for far too long. She didn't belong in a creepy castle in Faerie, she belonged in a condo in Miami. She'd have fit right in.
No wonder she wants to retire. She hit her golden years about the same time Moses did. Her best friend was probably eaten by a velociraptor.
I bowed since everybody else was. I hadn't noticed because I was staring at the piece of parchment in a black velvet dress.
"Rise, witch."
I did and wobbled on my feet. Dar put a steadying hand on my lower back, without looking up from his prone position. It was enough to keep me from falling on my face and since nobody had cleaned up my yak… I was grateful.
"Refresh yourselves, I will send for you from my private chambers when you are rested and well," she said without emotion, before she turned and crept from the stairs without a sound.
"Holy shit, she's old."
"And has exceptional hearing," Delron whispered in caution. "Would you care for refreshment?"
"Water?"
He nodded and snapped his fingers. Two female goblins crawled from the walls. "Clean this up and have a maid bring water and wine to the garden."
"Ich, vitol," one of them mumbled and grunted, bowing low and scurrying off. It was kind of cute in a hideously ugly sort of way. Kind of like one of those hairless chihuahuas.
I must have been staring after it. Delron smirked and asked, "Have you never seen a goblin?"
I shook my head. "No. But I kind of want to give it a sock."
"I do not understand."
"Long story." I sighed. "You mentioned a garden?"
"Yes. This way, please," he said and offered me his arm. Dar growled and I shrugged in apology, preferring the arm of my naked blue demon, anyway. Shea slipped under my other arm, putting his hand on my hip.
"Take it slowly," he whispered, offering me a handkerchief from one of the pockets in his cloak. I wiped my face and motioned for him to show us the way.
He ushered us through one of many black lacquered, glass inlayed French doors at the back of the hall. When he mentioned a garden, I was expecting an Addams Family kind of garden, with snipped off rose heads and poisonous, man-eating plants. I was very wrong. Blossoms bloomed everywhere we looked, but their colors were muted under the orange, sunless sky.
"Woah," I said, impressed.
"This garden is the queen's only passion. She still visits it every day and tends to the flowers."
"I am officially impressed. It is quite lovely."
"This way," he said and followed the pathway to the center of the garden, and to the fountain which had stone benches for us to sit on. Dar immediately ushered me to the closest, and I gratefully dropped down, exhausted. He im
mediately began rummaging through my pack, searching for the set of clothes we had brought in case he changed forms. I was almost disappointed. He was more engaging to watch than the flowers.
Do you think you were poisoned? He interrupted my view by putting on his pants.
I shook my head at him. No. It feels like I'm drunk and tripping.
His eyes narrowed.
What?
Maybe you are drunk…
I haven't had a single glass of wine since last night.
From power. Magic. It happened after you called the magic of this land to your palm, did it not?
"Oh, shit. Wait! That couldn't be it. I've been to Faerie before and didn't feel like this."
"You know what is causing your discomfort?" Delron stepped a little closer after my outburst.
"Dar seems to think it might be the over-abundance of magic."
"That is quite possible? You are used to the human realm, where natural occurring magic is a rarity."
"But I've been Underhill before and didn't feel like this."
"That is because you were on the seleighe side."
"Isn't this the same plane though?"
"Top to bottom, yes. But not left to right."
Huh? "You just hurt my brain."
"How do I put this? Think of your own realm. It is mostly neutral, and everything is ordered and explainable, yes?"
"Yes."
"Now, picture your world as being mostly positive, instead of having no polarity. You have mirrors in your world. Now, assume there was another world on the other side of that mirror. Everything would be reversed, yes?"
"Yes."
"Now picture our side of Underhill as the world on the other side of the mirror. Magic flows differently and is negatively powered. Your body probably feels the difference in the flows and is probably reacting adversely. Does that make sense?"
"Kinda sorta."
"It is the best explanation I can give. You will just have to trust me that I speak the truth."
"Oh, I do. Just not really understanding."
"Call the magic to your hand again."
I held out my hand and did as he suggested. It coalesced into a glowing red sphere, hovering about an inch above my palm. "Now what?"
"Study it. Learn from it."
I sighed, not caring much for the Zen master attitude he was giving me, but I tried to do as he said. I looked at the spinning globe of energy in my hand like it was a crystal ball. I could see my reflection on its surface, but it was distorted from the speed. Focusing on that, I tried slowing it until I was reflected more normally. Gasping, I almost dropped it, using my other hand to steady it with another push of power.
I wasn't normal Dot. My ears were much more tapered with a downward sloping straight brow, almost completely elven in appearance. Even my pupils were slit instead of round. The more I watched them, the wider they became until the black completely filled in the iris and then the whites. Opening my mouth, I gasped at the canines glinting back at me, hanging quite below my upper lip. Just as I was about to release the sphere in fear, horns sprouted from my forehead and a pair of wings, completely made from the stuff of shadows rose above my shoulders and stretched dimly against the orange sky behind me.
I shrieked and threw the magic from me, directly at the fountain in front of us. Dar covered me, expecting an explosion. Even Delron dropped to the ground and covered his head with his hands. The elves, suspiciously quiet and unobtrusive until that moment, huddled around their princess. Shea threw a sphere of shadow over the three of us and I stared in horror around Dar's shoulder as the sphere flew and just before it hit the fountain, spun to a stop and hovered.
When everyone realized there wouldn't be a massive fireworks display, they straightened themselves. Shea pulled back the shadows and Dar let go of me a fraction of a second before the sphere flew back at me, hitting me squarely in the chest and blasting me from the stone bench and into the bed of roses behind me.
"And now the power is yours," Delron's voice echoed in my head as the garden around us faded into nothing.
Chapter 17
Gasping, I sat up in the luxurious round, canopied bed and groaned. My head felt like a heard of wildebeests ran through it with a pride of lions gnawing on their asses.
"Welcome back, Boss."
I looked over at Yuki, sitting on a chair beside the bed and then glanced around the room. We were alone.
"What happened? Where is everybody?"
"Beats the hell out of me. After you got blasted with the magic, I passed out with you. I just woke up a few minutes ago and was in here with you."
"Did you contact Dar?"
"I tried. He's apparently still out, too."
Dar? It was worth a try.
His mental groan echoed how my head felt. I am alive.
Where? And who is with you?
He sent a mental image of an identical room to the one Yuki and I were in, Shea curled in the crook of his arm and sleeping soundly. Awww.
Should I try and wake him?
No. Sit tight. I'll try to find you after I find out what happened and where Delron and the light elves are.
As you wish.
"I'd kill for some fucking aspirin."
Yuki reached up and offered me her arm. "Want a sip? Might make you feel a little better."
As much as I wanted to say no, I was more than half tempted. I felt like roadkill and she wasn't lying. Her blood was potent enough to heal all sorts of ailments. "Depends. Will it make you feel any worse?" I studied her reaction.
"No," she said without hesitation. She wasn't lying as far as she knew. "I don't think I could possibly feel any worse, and I'm hoping if you feel better, I will, too."
"Okay, but just a sip."
She nodded and brought her wrist back to her mouth, opening a tear that would take a bit longer to heal than two puncture marks. She winced as she did it, before thrusting the wound in front of my face. "Hurry, before it closes."
I didn't need to be told twice. I grabbed her arm and licked across the wound, catching the blood that was about to fall into my lap. We both groaned as the blood hit my tongue and tendrils of pleasure shot from my tongue through the rest of me. I closed my mouth over the wound and bit down, my fangs piercing the flesh and making a new wound.
Fangs? Wait…what?
"Master?"
In fear, I pulled her arm away from my mouth and ran my tongue over my teeth. My canines had indeed elongated but weren't monstrous like they had been when Dar had performed the Fourth Rite. They had practically filled my mouth and left me feeling like I had turned into a saber-toothed kitty Dot. The fangs in my mouth now were much more slender, elegant, and vampiric. Turning my head, I showed them to Yuki and wasn't comforted as she gasped and slid back in the chair, nearly toppling as the legs caught the uneven stones of the floor. "What the fuck is going on?" Fear clutched my chest in an icy grip.
"Your ears, too?"
I reached up and ran my fingers over the tapered ends of my pointy little ears, shuddering as pleasant feelings ran from the sensitive flesh down my arms. The image of myself staring back from the globe of unseleighe magic embedded itself in the forefront of my brain. In a panic, I felt my forehead as I looked over my shoulders for shadow wings. Luckily, I wasn't winged or horny.
"You're turning into us. All of us."
No. You're being influenced by your father's spheres, the goddess' voice whispered into my mind.
Spheres?
Domains. Those that worship who and what he is.
Oh, boy. So, if I get that gem out of me and give it back to him, I go back to normal Dot?
Perhaps. I wish you luck, Daughter.
"We really need to find my father," I said aloud to Yuki.
"They're gone."
"What's gone?"
"Your fangs and ears. You look normal again."
"Thank the Lady. We really need to find my father."
"Maybe we should try to get out of here first
."
"Good plan."
I slid from the bed and headed for the door, being closer than Yuki. Reaching out, I touched the handle and felt the light ward go off in my hand. It wasn't designed to hurt, just alert. Kind of like a magical doorbell. The door was locked from the outside.
"We're locked in and I just let somebody know we're awake."
"Melt the lock, or you want me to kick the door open?"
"Maybe we should just wait. Somebody knows we're awake."
"I should have tried the door as soon as I woke. My apologies, Boss."
"If your head felt like mine, I don't blame you."
"You're feeling better, at least. I can feel it."
"Yep. You should sell your blood to energy drink manufacturers."
"The FDA might have an issue with blood in drinks."
"Not if you bribe them enough."
Yuki chuckled and I sat back down on the edge of the bed to wait. Thankfully, we didn't have a long one. The lock clicked, the handle turned, and in walked something out of a wet dream. A very wet one.
Elves were, for the most part, pretty. There were handsome ones, exceptionally handsome ones, and some that make you go, sploosh. But they were all pretty. The one that walked into my room was fucking god-like. We're talking sploosh, drip, dribble. He looked like he had been carved from marble into an image of the fertility god of pillow talk. His face was a little wider than any elf I had ever seen or imagined. His jaw a little squarer, too, giving him a bit more masculine look while still being pretty and handsome. I think I blushed when he stopped a few feet from me and gave me a little bow.
"Lady, welcome to the Unseleighe Court of Willowmere."
His voice… It was like a cool summer breeze caressing my flesh as I danced skyclad under the moon. Of course, I was naked, or it wouldn't have been able to touch the places it was touching. I wanted to beg him to read me a 2019 Ford Flex Owner's Manual or the Apple Terms and Conditions. In French. "Uh… Hi."
He smiled and the remainder of my capacity for rational though fluttered through the barred and shuttered window. I didn't care.
Fifth Essence: A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 5) Page 16
