by JD Cole
“You can truly rest now, my love,” she whispered. A small breeze caressed her sky-blue mane of hair, almost like his spirit was saying goodbye. How long had it been since their last embrace? More than twenty thousand years. Entire eras had come and gone since she had watched her beloved infused with a rogue Dragon, turning his body into a human-like powerhouse and his mind into something beyond a mystic’s, all to be able to process the god-like magic he wielded… and rendering his heart incapable of passions, ensuring he would not misuse his new strength.
She had long ago come to terms with the loss. Khun had been duty-bound to serve, as were all mystics, being the only mortals able to contain an Illeyark. Truthfully, she was shocked to find how hard Khun’s death was hitting her; she could not remember the last time she looked at him as anything other than The General. With well-honed discipline and willpower, she forced down her emotions. There was a time for grief, privately. That time was not now. She gently touched two of her tiny fingers to Khun’s forehead, then stepped down and made her way back to the queen.
Kelli couldn’t ignore what she felt radiating from her counselor. “Sorvir,” she mindspoke, “were they… ?”
“I don’t know what they were,” he replied. “But Pembruh Meshra told us all to give the Counselor her space with the General.”
Dufangen looked up at Kelli, her face devoid of anything but concern for her queen. “Are you well, Highness? The armor, it protected you?”
Kelli opened her helmet, the crown and protective mask folding up neatly as her bangs fell over her face, and she brushed her hair away. “I’m fine, Counselor… I am so sorry I didn’t get there sooner to help him. Maybe if I hadn’t stopped at the hospital tents-”
Dufangen raised her hand and frowned. “Stop. The General would not have appreciated you saving his life at the expense of the wounded faeries you saved. You did the correct thing, Majesty, you can be certain of that. On his behalf, I thank you.”
Kelli was momentarily at a loss for words. She looked down at the camps, now overflowing with former slaves. “How are we gonna move everybody?”
Meshra joined them then, bowing to Kelli. “Highness, thank you for your aid. Thanks to the humans’ magic window,” he gestured to Sean, “we watched you and Khun battle with the King. I don’t mind saying that’s the most frightened I’ve been in a long time, but you acquitted yourself magnificently.”
“Trust me, I had lots of help,” Kelli looked at her guards, her soldiers and the Hood. “The Royal Guard who died… what was his name?”
Petriz bowed. “Highness, he was Kinnemar, of House Ozramin.”
Kelli took a moment to memorize his name. “Do we… I mean, is there something in place to take care of their families, and the soldiers who are hurt?”
“That will all be handled, Highness,” Meshra promised. “I can brief you on the details at a later time, but rest assured our soldiers and their families will be well cared for. As to the question of moving everyone, we have twenty three landships on their way now. We dispatched them from Windham weeks ago and kept them hidden throughout the Borderlands until we were sure they would be needed. There will be more than enough transport to get everyone back to Jenshire.”
“The elf capitol?” Kelli asked. “Well, I guess that makes sense. What about the dwarves… or what are they called, the pashryk?”
“Dwarf is the common name,” Meshra nodded. “King Vorg has sent supplies and advisors to Jenshire to prepare the pashryk refugees for the journey to Mekerjh’rn.”
Kelli made a face at the unfamiliar names. “King… Vorg? Mee-ker-yorn?”
“Apologies, Highness,” the Pembruh stuttered, embarrassed at his gaffe in assuming she knew. “The pashryk king, Duraq Vorg. Their capitol is deep under Mekerjh’rn, a small mountain to the west-south of Windham. Jenshire is much closer to Matari, so the rescued will stop there to rest before being handed off to King Vorg’s people.”
“I remember the name now, sorry! It seems like those introductory lessons with Brevha were so long ago. So… what do we do until those landships get here? Do we have enough food, medicine?”
“Food will need to be rationed,” Meshra admitted. “The troops will gladly give up their meals for a few days if we must. There is ample game in the forest, but we cannot stop to set up the kitchens for preparing and cooking.”
Kelli scowled at the notion of exhausted troops going hungry, then looked over at the empty area near the camps. She could sense all kinds of wards in the earth, but getting rid of them would only use up her strength without solving the food problem. Focusing, she sought any kind of fruit bearing plants nearby, finding only some berry bushes and a few trees with an apple-like fruit growing sporadically in the woods. Using the Birthright, she ruled out that any were poisonous. She pointed at the woods as she worked at increasing their number. “At the very least, I’ll make sure we have more fruit than we can eat, out that way. Send some harvesters to go out and collect as much as they need. Under heavy guard, just in case.”
“Yes, Highness,” Meshra bowed and left to coordinate the activity.
“Taryn is down there with Incerra,” Derek told Kelli. “He’s the wizard that helped rescue your dad, and he bound himself to Kirama so she could break the King’s curse. I’m sure he’s making a huge difference, but I’ll ask Mae to find out if they need help or not.” As he said it, Mae melted into a stream that rolled down the hill toward the camps.
“If I may be bold, Highness,” Blademaster Denn offered, “there are still slaves within the city. Not many, but they were at work in the refineries when we attacked. There may be other stragglers, as well. With the goblin forces in full retreat and Matari in disarray…”
“You wanna go back in there?” Kelli asked, looking at Denn and his troops. Every one of them carried fearsome wounds, and were covered in muck and blood.
“With any reinforcements that can be spared, Your Majesty,” he nodded with conviction.
Kelli looked to Dufangen, but the Counselor avoided her gaze. She wants me to make this decision on my own. The Sprite Queen stared at Matari for a long moment, then looked at Denn. “If there are any mages willing to join you, then I will agree to let you go. But if you run into any necromancers, you will retreat immediately, do you understand?”
“Yes, Highness!”
Kelli raised her hand and cast a minor healing spell on Denn's troops; it didn't seal their wounds, but it did dull their pain and remove their fatigue. "Those effects will last you at least a few hours, but make sure you get treatment and rest!"
“You’re sending people back in?” Sean asked, his imposing figure walking over. He raised his hand for Denn to stay. “Sorry, I don’t speak his language,” he pointed at the blademaster, “but I couldn’t help overhearing you telling him to take some backup into the city.” While Khun Rhee had easily enacted his own language spell around the humans, the spell had not been cast on anyone at Matari. Sean noticed the Hood lifting an immer from over his shoulder and holding it out to him.
“Flashback loaned this to me. Came in pretty handy, but guns aren’t really my thing.”
“Did she, now?” Sean raised an eyebrow while accepting the rifle. Then he returned his attention to Kelli, filing a mental note to ask his sister about this later.
“There’s still some slaves that got left behind, stuck in the refineries, I think,” Kelli looked up at him in awe. She’d never realized a feralman could look this feral. “They wanna’ go back in to get them.”
“Hm. Well, if you guys don’t mind doing some more of your language magic so we can understand each other,” he showed Kelli his tablet with the drones’ overhead video feed, “we’ll provide intel support.”
“Yes, definitely!” Kelli nodded. “Thank you!” She looked at Dufangen. “Are you up to it, or should we ask someone-”
“I can manage,” Dufangen said.
Sean waved Popper over, who brought a radio backpack and a few headsets. They strapped the backp
ack to the large wolf’s left arm like a smartphone, and after a few minutes of orientation with the radios, Denn led his troops back into Matari: no less than a full battleprok, including five wizards eager to join them. Popper guided them past the worst spots of the city toward their goal, even alerting them to seven slaves who’d managed to get atop the western wall and who looked like they were contemplating jumping. The few battles that broke out were quickly won without casualties; the Goblin King’s forces were completely demoralized. In all, twenty-two more slaves were liberated before it was determined no more could be sought out without unnecessary risk.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ercianodhon laid on his stomach in his large, rich bed. On the floor was a trail of his armor leading back to the wall where his ethergate had brought him in. He kept as still as possible while using a solsdren goblin to lightly dab healing salves on his flesh to cool the throbbing and stabbing pains.
He guessed that Tom Ingram was gone, stolen along with Incerra, but he didn’t have the motivation to check. Nor did he have the energy to ponder how someone had gotten into his castle, and how his curse had so utterly failed to kill the Sprite Queen. Pain wracked his body and consumed his thoughts. Not since the Sen’giza wars had he pushed himself so hard or endured so much trauma.
It would be weeks, he knew, before his body recovered and allowed him to move around with any normalcy. Those weeks would be spent struggling with two questions: Why did she heal me? And without Incerra, how can I breach Windham and kill her?
~ ~ ~ ~
“It’s about time we got you home,” Kelli said to Derek, pulling him away for a moment alone with her friend.
“What are you, my mom?” he joked.
“No, but I guarantee your mom is worried sick about you!”
“I did disappear without warning,” he agreed. “I need a cover story-”
“Tell them the truth.”
“What?”
“Your parents, you-”
Derek raised his hand at her, looking back at the large group of fae and humans mingling around the command camp. It didn’t look like anyone was paying attention to them, but he activated a white noise generator anyway.
“Ugh,” Kelli wiggled her pinky in her left ear. “What the heck is that?”
“Just in case anybody gets the cute idea to point a microphone at us.”
“I can mindspeak, y’know,” she said silently.
“Or we can just do that,” he replied, killing the white noise.
“Hear me out. I don’t think the Faery Realm is gonna’ be a secret much longer. Dufangen told me how you lied about us being on Mars, that’s pretty clever. But between the Chek’than threat, and now these humans knowing we exist, I’m gonna have to manage not just leading the Sprite Kingdoms, but preparing for what happens if the outside world finally figures out where we are.
“I’m gonna need all the support and advice I can get, which means I’m gonna’ be selfish and ask you to come here as often as you can manage. Would you do that for me?”
“You know you don’t even have to ask.”
“I know. So then, it’s not fair to keep your family in the dark about why you might disappear at any given moment, don’t you think?”
Derek paused for several moments. “They’re gonna freak when I tell them I’m the Hood, but I can’t imagine how they’ll react when I try to tell them about you and the faeries.”
“Don’t forget the body-snatching alien slavers. Kinda’ important.”
“Of course, we can’t forget them! Isn’t your husband working on that, though?”
“Yeah, but how likely is it he’ll find every Chek’than clumped together where he can take care of them all at once? Until he gets back, I have to assume more could attack us at any time.”
“Fair point.”
“So,” she said aloud. “Are you ready?”
“What, right now? You can open a gate right here?”
“Devon built a spell into the armor that lets me gate directly to Windham or my house,” she confided in mindspeak. “Once we’re past the Ythsimerin I won’t have any problem getting you home.” She led Derek back toward Dufangen and Sorvir. “Counselor, Sorvir, I think Meshra and the others have things pretty well in hand. I’m going to take the Hood back home, he’s been gone way too long. I will be back soon, I promise.”
“I will go with you,” Sorvir said, but Kelli shook her head.
“No, I want you to stay here and speak for me in case something comes up. You know me well enough to know what I would want if someone needs an immediate answer to something.”
Sorvir almost stumbled back in shock. “My queen, I- that is a great honor. I pray nothing needs attention until your return, but I will act on your behalf as you ask.”
Dufangen looked at the trio, obviously uncomfortable with the idea. “I have to insist that you take the guards with you.”
Kelli rubbed her chin. “Just one. I don’t want to risk a scene taking a group of us to Hawaii. I’ll take Petriz,” she waved the Royal Guard over. “He’s been to the ranch already.”
“Yes, Highness,” the sprite agreed, remembering the day they’d crossed the Ythsimerin and brought the Queen’s family back to the castle.
Dufangen nodded reluctantly. “Very well, Highness. Hood, once again you have the gratitude of the kingdom.”
“Yes,” Sorvir added, offering his forearm to Derek, who grasped it firmly. “We are in your debt, Master Derek. The kingdom is richer for your friendship.”
“Go in peace,” Dufangen said, “but please remember, Veylsa is our property, and it must not be misused.”
“I won’t forget it,” the Hood promised, looking up at Mae. The watery sprite stood tall and passive, Veylsa glued to her back as her long misty hair floated about the weapon.
“He’ll be coming back,” Kelli said. “I don’t wanna stir up any controversy, but I think he’s proved himself enough that we can come up with some kind of special role for him, can’t we? An ambassador, maybe… or no, what about like a visiting fellow at a university or something?”
Again, the mystic looked from one teen to the other and sighed. “I do not know what a visiting fellow is but yes, I believe he has more than proved to be a friend of the fae. But please, Highness, do not make a habit of welcoming humans into the Realm. You have yet to be formally crowned, we cannot begin your reign with changes that the Houses will raise objection against. There is still the matter of the mosquitoes that must be addressed.”
Kelli winced. “Yeah. I know. How much trouble am I in?”
“There will be council meetings to determine that, and you will likely face restrictions until you are fully trained. Against my better judgment I am letting you take the Hood back yourself, because you probably won’t have much personal freedoms when you return.”
“I accept that, and I agree with it,” Kelli nodded. “I will learn everything you need me to learn, I promise. But I have to say it: I need the support of my friends and family if I’m gonna’ make it through this. I think we’ve all earned that much.”
“This I will not argue,” Dufangen said, obviously drained both physically and emotionally.
“What’s that about?” Derek asked.
“I’ll tell you in a bit.” She opened an ethergate with her armor and led him through.
~
Kelli pulled a deep breath of fresh Pacific air into her lungs, tinged as it was with the smells of the ranch. “Man, you have no idea how much I’ve missed this place.”
Petriz lit his wings, but Kelli managed to grab his arm before he took flight to scan their surroundings. “We need to be discreet here, okay? The humans don’t know faeries exist, I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Of course, Highness, I apologize, I don’t know what came over me.”
“You’re in a new world and feeling anxious,” she grinned at him. “Trust me, I can relate!”
“Wow,” the Hood said, looking around at the large property. �
�Nice place, Kelli. I’m kinda jealous.”
“Yeah, it’s home. I don’t deny life’s been good to us.”
“So, you want me to come clean with my ‘rents, but the question is, what’s gonna happen with yours?”
“I dunno. Hang on. Pau hanas,” Kelli commanded her armor enchantment to release, and it quickly disappeared into the ether except for the bracelet dangling on her wrist. Her rich protective outfit was drenched with sweat, and she tugged at her blouse to air it out. “Ugh, I need a shower.”
“You’re not the only one,” Derek said, pulling off his helmet and shaking the perspiration from his hair.
“Hood,” Mae said, her eyes sparkling. “There is an ocean nearby! Do you mind if I-”
“Yeah, go ahead, recharge, or whatever you need to do.”
The elemental stabbed Veylsa into the ground and melted into a pool of water that raced across the grass in the direction of the sea.
Kelli looked over at the pen, remembering that Orion had been left alone out here. The pen was empty, and she started walking toward the stable. “Hey, while we’re here,” she waved the others to follow, “I wanna see if Devon came by yet to get my horse. And we should totally jump in the pool for a bit before I send you home.”
“You’re avoiding the question,” Derek said.
“No I’m not, I answered it. I genuinely don’t know what to do. Mom and dad are both safe at least, which is more than I could say this morning, so I’m content with that for the time being.”
“Off the top of my head, if you don’t mind some ideas? If your dad is going to be in stasis for a long time, maybe your mom should come back here, get your family’s affairs in order, sell the ranch or set up legal custodians or whatever, then go back to the castle and you can cast a healing spell on her. That way she and your dad can wake up together in the future. You’d still be around when they woke up, right?”
