Bliath: Shattered

by Theresa Caligiuri

  “Oh, Vance, I am so sorry, are you sure you want me to have something that means so much to you?” Fera’s eyes were filling with tears.

  Vance opened the locket and showed Fera his parents, “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think, I know the locket is for you, besides now Fera, I can tell people that a Princess holds my heart.” He smiled trying to reassure her, or maybe himself.

  Fera looked at his parent, she was getting a déjà vu feeling, she knew she had seen them somewhere, but could not place it. She knew if she could maybe she could give Vance some sense of who he was or meant to be. She thought they must have been royalty or higher up in society, to have such a trinket, and the carriage they were in, in his memory.

  Breaking free from her thoughts, she threw her arms around Vance. She caught him off guard as both stumbled to the ground. She landed on top of him, their eyes locked again, and the energy current around them started to buzz, he reached up and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. She gave in and leaned down and kissed him softly, heat, electricity, and sparks, coursed through both of them and Fera thought she could feel some of it pool around the locket. Fera sat back up, realizing what she did, looking over at Vance he had a dazed look on his face.

  “Thank you Vance, I love it.” Fera whispered and she touched the heart, she felt a small jolt.

  Vance broke free from his daze and smiled back at her, “I am glad you like it. I think I will go see if my shower is as entertaining as yours. I suggest you try to sleep, in a few hours you will transition, I am going to nap, if you start without me, wake me up please, I don’t want to miss it.” As he left the room, he brushed his hand over her, and felt the charge as goose bumps rise up his arm.

  Chapter 32

  Fera yawned, as she closed the door to her room. Her mind was so over worked the last few weeks, she found it hard to just exist in the moment. Her hand went up and traced the locket. She could feel the sensation of energy in it. Fera tucked it under her shirt, it hummed against her skin.

  The room around her grew dark, Fera climbed into her bed knowing Vance was right, sleep was needed, the last few days it had been lacking, and she was feeling it.

  “A'mael?”

  Fera stirred in her bed, she was semi-comatose, she thought she heard Oren in her head.

  “A'mael, I am sorry to wake you, but I have a birthday gift for you.” Oren said in a whisper

  Fera sat up quickly, she heard Oren not in her head, but heard him, she knew it was his voice it grazed her mind so often. She saw a man at the foot of her bed, he was slightly over six feet tall, the moon light streamed in giving way to his chocolate brown hair, and stormy gray eyes, she gasped as she took in the rest of him, he wore a pair of riding pants that were clearly short on him, and nothing on top, his chest looked like it was carved out of stone, his whole body looked very solid. Fera was about to scream, when the man dashed in and put his hand over her mouth.

  “Please, Melamin, you know me - think! Look into my eyes, you know my soul.” Oren was now worried this was a bad idea.

  Fera gazed at the stranger, he sounded like Oren, but how could it be, she couldn’t wrap her mind around, then it clicked in her head, she was dreaming. She moved his hand and giggled, “This is a strange dream.” She smiled up at Oren, then reached up and touched his face, he let out a sigh. “Your eyes are not brown now?”

  “A’mael, of all the things you could ask me, you pick my eye color,” he smiled and shook his head, “The brown are a glamour, they go with the rest of the disguise.”

  Fera could not take her eyes off of him, she felt safe, and content in that moment a rarity compared to the overwhelmed terror the last few days had been. Oren stood up, and extended his hand to her. She took it notating how small her hand was compared to his, but how neatly they fit together. Oren pulled her up to him and put his arms around her.

  “I have waited forever to do that.” He whispered into her hair.

  Fera, buried her face into him, “You hug me all the time Oren.”

  “No, not like this, this is how it should be, will you dance with me?” Oren asked

  Fera laughed, “There is no music?” but Fera saw he was serious, she stepped back and slipped her arms around his neck. As his arms went around her waist, he gently swayed back and forth in the moonlight.

  “Sometimes A’mael, when two souls dance together, they make their own music.” Oren said heavy hearted.

  Fera stayed in his arms, and she did not know if it was the power of suggestion or her mixed up dream, but she could feel a hum pulsing back and forth between them, keeping time with their gentle swaying motion.

  Oren took one hand off her waist and traces the curve of her jaw before tilting her chin up to look at him, and before he knew what he was doing he leaned down and lightly let his lips graze hers. To his surprise she did not pull away or fight him, hope started to swell in his chest.

  “Fera, what if this wasn’t a dream, what if I was really Elven?” Oren regretting asking the question once it was out his mouth. It was one of the life questions that you didn’t want to know the answer to, as desperately as you did.

  She looked at him with an unreadable expression, then smiled, “Markus always said don't worry about the what ifs, you will lose the point of living if you focus on them. Besides, you would not deceive me like that, hurt me like that, right?”

  Oren did not answer her, he just pulled her close to him and started to sway again.

  It wasn’t long before she let out a sharp gasp, she could feel it, her whole body felt like it was tingling. The glow started. Oren took a step back.

  “Happy birthday, A’mael.”

  Vance came into the room, his eyes went straight to Fera, she looked ethereal with the soft golden light around her. He went and took her hand, but that is when he noticed she was not looking at him, but someone in the corner. “Who are you, how did you get in here?!” Vance demanded. He was confused why the alarms were not tripped. The longer it took the stranger to answer the more vexed Vance was getting, he was preparing for an attack, energy in his hand began to crackle, but what happened next took him by completely surprise.

  “I’m not dreaming.” Fera sounded complexly aghast, it was not sinking in. She could not breath, she could not think, her horse, her best friend, he was standing there as a man, not an elf. Her mind stopped, as the tears started.

  “Fera did he hurt you?” Vance was concerned and confused

  Oren stepped forward, furry in his eyes, “I would never hurt Fera!”

  “Liar” She gritted through clenched teeth and sobs.

  “Fera please, I didn’t, I couldn’t, please you have to let me explain.” Oren was cut off by Vance, “She doesn’t have to do anything, who are you?” Vance was torn between comforting Fera and putting this guy in his place.

  Fera looked up at both of them and her eyes locked onto Oren’s, and she spat his name out like it was a fowl word that cut like a knife.

  Chapter 33

  Realization dawned on Vance, that Oren was the elf before him, that he was a shape shifter and then several things crossed his mind at once. Before he could act on any of his thoughts flashing lights broke through the darkness, someone or thing tripped his wards. Vance dashed back to his room the get his sword, and pack.

  Oren stood starring at Fera, he knew the wards were tripped and they needed to move, but with Fera glowing like a star, they would be tracked easily until it faded. He went and gathered her pack, and crouched down in front of her, desperately wanting to touch her to comfort her, he reached his hand out.

  “No, don’t touch me, don’t come near me, I don’t know who you are, get away!” Fera shrieked and moved against the back wall of the room.

  Oren put his hands up to show her he meant her no harm. The way she was looking at him broke his heart, he needed to explain it to her, but there was no way she could understand right now. He could see as much as he was hurt, she was destroyed. “Fera.” He said softly, “
Let me try to explain, I never meant to hurt you, please you have to understand.” Oren was not above begging at this point as he watched the tears stream down her face.

  “Get away from her!” Vance demanded “We don’t know anything about you, just say away from her!”

  “Fine, I would never hurt her, I get it, but we have to go now, we are too close to the Elven border for it not to be them, and unless you are prepared to just hand her over, move!” Oren’s only thoughts were for Fera’s safety, because Vance nor Fera knew what the High Elves were capable of.

  Vance grabbed Fera’s hand and was dragging her behind him. They made it to the lower level before they hear the noises outside. Then the noises on the upper level as things crashed about.

  Vance looked about, they couldn’t run at this point, the best option was to try to hide Fera and bluff, desperately he looked around, he pulled her over in front of Aloine.

  “Fera, please, we are out of options, sit, don’t move, I am going to cover you with our stuff and try to put a ward around you but you can’t move or it will break, do you understand?”

  Her eyes were huge, but she nodded and allowed Vance to block her in, and as he place the ward around her, she could feel the energy shift, and the locket hummed loader against her skin, giving her comfort.

  Vance looked over at Oren, he had retrieved the sword out of Fera’s pack and was next to Vance.

  Sneering at Oren, “You know how to use that?” Vance asked trying to keep the contempt out of his voice.

  “My guess is, better than you.” Oren knew losing is temper at this point would make things worse.

  “Good, as long as it doesn’t end up in my back.” Vance shot back

  There was four men descending the stairs, when they came into view, it was clear they were four Elven men, and they were at least Elite Powers. Oren swore under his breath when he saw them, but Vance was close enough to hear.

  Wanting to gain control of the situation and his emotions before he put on a light show, Vance stepped forward, “Who are you and what do you want?”

  The most regal of the four spoke, “Where is the girl?” He accent was a bit thicker than Oren’s.

  “Auta miqula orqu! She is not yours, and clearly not here Nixion.” Oren spat at them

  “Such formality with your venom Oren, don’t you remember when it was just Nix? I know better, if she was not so close to her rightful place, you would still be a bigger horse’s ass than you are now. So I will ask again, where is she?” Nix’s tone matched his tone, and both were anything but noble.

  Both Vance and Oren starred down Nix and his men, daring them to prove them wrong.

  Nix made a motion with his hand, “Ela sen,”

  The other three elves started to surround Oren and Vance.Vance focused on creating energy spheres in the palm of his hand, he knew if they had any chance at walking out of here, or at least Fera getting out of here, he needed to control his emotion, and not lose his temper.

  If possible Nix’s maniacal smile widened, “Oh, what do we have here, she found her Elemental Prince.” Nix called out, “Oh Princess, I think you will want to show yourself. You see, we have ways of dealing with Elementals, and though it will cause me nothing but joy, your friend here will be in pain that you cannot comprehend.”

  Fera did not move, she wanted to, she wanted to scream out, but she couldn’t move. Vance let one of his spheres loose and aimed it at the elf on his right, the elf dropped to the ground as tremors racked his body.

  “Well looks like we will do this another way, most unfortunate. I thought you would want to see your Grandmother, Princess, have they poisoned your mind against us? And you Oren, I thought you would be more than happy to deliver her, so you could put this all behind you with nothing but time served. As for you Elemental, that was rude, Thornin did nothing to you. Princess, you were warned. Templa en' tessa lova termara en' temple” Nix’s tone was scolding as if they were children that needed to learn a lesson.

  Fera could tell that energy was released, and she heard something hit the ground, and heard gasping and gargling sounds, what she could not see that it was Vance, and Nix was slowly draining the life force out of him.

  “Nix, enough. You are killing him.” Oren said with a more civil tone now that he was in a very bad spot.

  Nix laughed, “As soon as you come out princess I will stop draining the life out of him. Oh dear Fera, he is not looking well at all.”

  As tears rolled down Fera’s face, she knew she could not let Vance suffer and or die for her. She knew she would meet her grandmother, but why would her grandmother send someone like him to collect her? She took a deep breath and stood up.

  “Fera, No!” Oren was beside himself that she showed herself. What was she thinking?

  She took a few shaky steps forward, “Stop, stop hurting him. Please stop.”

  Nix released Vance from the spell, leaving him a shell on the floor, and walked over to Fera. “Aw, now there’s a good girl. I see you are upset, and have been run ragged by your companions here, but I see what all the fuss is about. You are definitely lovely, and you look like the morning sun all aglow right now.” Arrogance dripping from his voice.

  Fera refused to look up. Nix reached out for her, Oren stepped between them, he did not care what happened to him but, he knew what Nix was capable of and it was anything but good.

  “Lle naa haran e' nausalle! You will not touch her! She is your Princess and you are not to touch her.” Oren spat at Nix.

  Fera’s head snapped up. Oren was not on Nix’s side if he talked to him like that. Maybe he is part of the resistance? She knew they were in trouble and Vance did not look good, he still wasn’t moving. Oren had her sword, she couldn’t get Vance’s he was half on it. She needed to stall Nix until she could figure something out.

  Fera spoke, carefully choosing her words, “Nixion, why ambush us if you just wish to take me to my Grandmother? How do we know you have not turned on her and working for the resistance?”

  “The same could be said for you Princess, why did you hide, and your guards greet us with force?” Nix threw back at her.

  Fera was beginning to understand that Nix was playing the game of evasion, and side stepped Oren. The one thing she learned from playing cards with the staff at home was how to bluff. “Clearly I am heading to my rightful home, I did not bring an army with me, and if you know so much you will know we are trying to outrun the resistance. My guards did not attack you, but hid me to assess the situation, and you are in no place to issue demands to me. As far as I know and am concerned, you are a nothing. Someone sent to get information, because they are easily expendable.” She tried to put as much superiority in her tone as she could muster.

  Nix was clearly taken back, and Oren seized the opportunity and flooded Fera’s mind,

  “Listen you have to cast it’s our only chance, and it has to be directed at Nix, I will take out the other guard and then we run. Pelekta yassen I' handele say that but focus on Nix and release a small amount of energy then stop or you will risk yourself. Nod if you understand.”

  He saw Fera nod out of the corner of his eye, as she let a hiccup slip out, she was upset, but trying to keep it contained to the best of her ability.

  Fera felt the added pressure in her head, but she understood Oren, and if it helped her and Vance get out, then so be it. But she didn’t want anything to do with Oren. That cut hurt too much for her to bear, it made her feel like she had lost everything. She readied herself, not knowing what she would do, just hoping she would not kill Nix. That Oren would not put her in the position to do so. She pushed the energy into her right hand, the one that bore the mark.

  Chapter 34

  The events that occurred next will forever be a blur in Fera’s memory. She saw Nix ready himself, she could feel he was shifting power in himself, it was nowhere near as great as hers, but still she could feel its pulsing movement.

  “Now Fera, I can feel what you are doing. Here I thought yo
u were untrained, your magic kept from you. Think through what you are doing - I would hate to see you get hurt, or one of your friends here.” Nix was addressing her much like you would an insolent child.

  “If you use magic on the Princess, Nixion, you would be tried for treason, and held accountable for your actions, no matter your rank, even if she attacked you. What game are you playing Nix?” Oren interrupted.

  A cold smile graced Nix’s face, “You make an excellent point Oren, why cause her physical damage, when emotional works so much better.” With that he turned his palm to Vance, who was still in a ball on the ground. “Quanta yassen 'kshapsa.”

  Vance’s body tensed then shuttered, Fera didn’t know what he did or what to do, but she knew it could not be good, “What did you do to him?” She demanded.

  “He poisoned him, it will spread slowly until he dies.” Oren was horrified that Nix did that, but he knew his ruthlessness all too well.

  “Take it back now!” Fera shouted, she didn’t realize how much energy she had built up, she was quivering with fear, angry, and some many things at once. Nix was right - emotional attacks were worse, but what he had not considered the repercussions of it could be much worse.