"Unh!" I groaned as my back hit into something hard, stopping my slide. The ibisa stood up and immediately tumbled to the ground, its feet having been bound in what appeared to be some type of netting. Large iron balls swung around the creature's front and back left legs. It let out a blood curdling screech as two humans approached. One weidling a sword, and another human who stood still from behind. An extremely large greatsword in his palms, placed into the ground. Their helmet adorned with a smattering of blood.
I fought to get onto my knees as the sword wielder began to charge toward the ibisa. It raised its free paw and slashed at the knight, who dodged within a hair's breadth and tumbled to roll out of the creature's striking distance. That's when I saw it. The long purple cloth that hang from their waists in the front and back. And the lightning bolt and giant war hammer emblem on the front.
These were not just guards. These were not simply officers of the militia. These were Templars. Templars had come to this realm of the faeries. It was little wonder how they so easily slaughtered the fae despite their magic.
As the attacking templar regained composure, I looked over to spy my bow a few feet a way. Looking back, I saw the man as he made careful strides around the ibisa, waiting for an opportune moment to strike. I gritted my teeth, grabbing my weapon, and fumbling to hold it upright in my sore hands. Some of the skin had stripped from sliding across the tough ground. Wincing, I managed to get an arrow nocked into it. My whole body was aching as I fought to focus the arrow. Inhale. Exhale.
Focus.
"Fire!" I shouted to myself, and the human paused his tactical movements to glance in my direction, the arrow slamming into his shoulder between his gaps of plate armor, perhaps only an inch or two. The ibisa reached up as the man recoiled, swiping his legs out from underneath him, and awkwardly angling itself over the Templar. The ibisa squawked, and there was a sickening crunch as it bit through the helmet and crushed the human's skull.
I refused to look, instead standing up as I aimed my bow once again while the ibisa was finishing off its attacker. The one that had remained turned to face me. I focused completely on the fully armored templar, waiting for him to make a movement that would let me sink my arrows into his sad excuse of skin.
Though to my surprise, he raised his hands slowly, allowing his greatsword to remain standing, stuck in the dirt as he came forward. "No! Stay back!" I warned. Give me an excuse, is what I really wanted to say. He paused, raising his hands further to reach for his helmet. I flexed slightly, and the arrow went flying, skidding far off to the side at my overcaution. I cursed, reaching over to grab another arrow to the quiver until I paused. Mouth hanging wide open.
The templar threw his helmet to the side, shaking his brown hair from his face. His bright green eyes staring at me. The slight freckles of his skin illuminated by the surrounding burning landscape.
"A-Alphonse," I stammered. Swallowing hard as I took in his appearance. His hair shining with blood, scrapes across his typically perfect and beautiful face. "Penelope... Penelope is it you?" he called, coming closer. "S-Stay back!" I finally pulled out an arrow, though not yet putting it against the thread of the bowstring. "Penelope, I've been looking for you! We've all been looking for you, I was so scared they'd killed you." He choked on his words, tears flooding his eyes as he paid no heed to my words and ran toward me. I found myself frozen, unsure if I could bring my weapon against him, or if he would kill me.
Within a second, he was on me. His arms wrapped around me tightly as he pulled me against him. "Penelope." He breathed into my hair, pulling away to give me a look over. "You look different," he stammered, smiling wide despite the carnage around us.
"As do you. A templar." My voice was soft, shaky. I couldn't believe it. I glanced over his shoulder, watching the ibisa as it in turn watched our interaction closely. Steam rose from its beak from the iron it bit through before trying to bite through the netting upon its feet to free itself. And to no doubt kill Alphonse.
"Please, tell me! Why are you here? Why are you doing this?" I begged him, giving him my full attention.
"We believed they were holding you hostage! They kidnapped you! How could we not come return one of our own and steal them back from these bastards," he growled.
I moved to push away from his grasp, but he held me tightly. "No, no that's not true! That's not the whole story! These people have helped me, they have been wonderful," I begged.
He released me enough that I could look up and into his obviously confused eyes. Brows downturning. "What are you talking about? We were told you were forced here against your will—that's why they are burning this faerie realm down to the ground!"
"No! They didn't hurt me, they took care of me. Alphonse, this is not right. We have to stop this from continuing and free your hostages." He took a step away from me. The look on his face obvious that he wasn't sure what to make of this situation.
"No, this can't be right. The high fae told us—"
"The high fae?" I was even more confused than he. What was the misunderstanding here?
Before we could talk more, he looked upward. Noticing movements overhead from the thicket of the trees before I could. Before I could even react myself he quickly flipped backward and rolled to a halt even in his full set of iron armour. He planted in the ground closer to his weapon, as another dropped from the treetops, gripping another weapon. It was the dark, blood covered dagger I'd seen earlier in the dryad's back when he was going to kill me. Faariin rose from his three-point landing, his back turning toward me as he pointed the weapon toward its destined target.
"Pray to whatever idols you have, human. You are next to fall," he warned, though Alphonse did not make a move to attack him nor run back for his weapon, simply holding his ground with eery calm. Without a second’s thought Faariin rushed toward him, blade overhead and moving to stab him in the center of his throat. Alphonse grunted, raising his arm up for the blade to strike against the thick iron, deflecting the attack. Though not the power behind it. He rose to his feet, unable to do anything as Vethari released a vast flurry of attack after attack. Leaving the templar unable to do much more than block each strike. Unable to retaliate.
"Faariin, please stop! He's not going to hurt us!" I cried out as the high fae threw a hand in front of him, a bright flash of grey swirls pushing forward and sending Alphonse several feet in the air before landing hard on his back with an agonized groan. "Faariin!" I shouted, running forward, only to get the same thing done to myself. "Stay out of this!" he shouted, as my soar was broken, by me hitting midair against one of the surrounding great oaks and sliding onto the ground.
I began to cough, looking up to see Alphonse scurrying on his back, his face scowling deeply. He reached into a small casing on his boot to pull out a dagger of his own and swiped it, Faariin hissing as he flung himself back from his approach, a now smoking cut in his abdomen bleeding slightly.
"Both of you, stop!"
Alphonse remained lying on his back, blade in front of him, ready to counter whatever attack was to come next. But could he? Could he defend himself from high fae?
I had kept my bow in my grasp, nocking it now once again.
"Stop it! Stop it both of you!" I cried out.
This isn't how things were supposed to be.
My childhood friend was on the ground, defending himself from the fae I'd had reservations about this entire time. I didn't know what to do. Nor was I sure what I was thinking. Alphonse rolled out of the way of another strike and once more slashed the iron weapon against Faariin's bare flesh. He seemed exhausted, but completely unfazed from any of his physical strikes.
But if that iron got deep enough, he couldn't heal himself. He could die. And he could well kill Alphonse.
Who? Who was I supposed to stop first?
If I shot Faariin, I didn't know what would happen. I saw the magic in the ring of the first arrow I shot, did it still have a more charges within? He could potentially lose all his powers and be a targ
et with these templars around. But if I shot Alphonse to stop him, Faariin would no doubt go in for the kill.
This was lose-lose. I knew that.
Without giving it another thought, I screamed, releasing the arrow.
23
I opened my eyes at the sudden grunt I heard, breathing hard as I saw the body fall to the blood-soaked ground. Dust and ash drifting upward in slow-motion.
Slowly I let the bow in my hand drift down, my fingers straining against the warped wood as they shook with anxiety. I opened my eyes wide in shock at what I'd done. Without much of a thought at all to my surroundings, I rushed forward toward him and dropped to my knees, picking him up and cradling him in my arms.
Only then did I realize the ring on my finger begin to crack, little by little. A small vein that turned larger, and larger until the ring completely shattered with a resounding crack, the miniscule pieces drifting down like glitter and disappearing around us. The arrow sticking out of his bicep glowed a bright green before fading into the dull brown color of the wood that it was created from.
Faariin groaned in my arms, his brows furrowed upward with a heavy sweat covering his forehead. He seemed to be in pain even in unconsciousness. The muscles glistening as they strained together against gritted teeth.
"You saved me," Alphonse carefully stepped toward me, placing a gauntleted hand onto my shoulder.
I fought back the scream that pressed against the concave of my throat. I sniffled, shrugging his hand away as I pressed my forehead against the chest of the high fae in my arms. "Of course I did!" I practically yelled at him. "You've been my friend for far too long. He would have killed you if I hadn't done something."
Battle cries around us rang out continually, as did the scraggly breathing of the ibisa that remained entangled within the netting and iron behind us. 'Free me so I may consume both of your bones.'
The familiar echoing in my head had me sit up to turn to look at it. "No! You're wrong!" I gritted my teeth, as it laid panting in the dirt.
Alphonse seemed the most shocked as he turned around to peer at the monstrosity, in his eyes. "It spoke in our minds..." he whispered. The blade in his hand tapped subconsciously against the side of his thigh as he processed what he was to do with it.
Alphonse began to take a step closer toward the beast, which caused it to shriek angrily.
The shrill of its panicked cries broke my heart further than it had already been shattered. "Leave it be. I'm here. You can take me back home and I won't cause any trouble!" I said through gritted teeth, still clutching Faariin in my arms. I hoped Vethari would come and save us. Where was he?! The Templar stopped in his tracks. With a snort he turned back to face me and slid a hand toward my underarm, forcing me up to my feet as Faariin slipped from my hands and back to the filthy ground.
He turned me to face him, and as I stared, he was smiling. I couldn't read what for, but a smile nonetheless was better than the battle-hardened face of stone. "I'm happy that you're alright."
I nodded, forcing a tiny smile to my own lips. "And I, you, my friend. Please, can you make this stop? I don't want anyone else to get hurt." Alphonse gave a curt nod, retrieving the chain of iron that was around his neck from inside of his armour. On the end was the locket his lover had given him, as well as a small cluster of amethyst crystals.
He plucked one of the many gems and pressed it tightly between his armoured fingers, until it started to crack, and shatter into a fine dust. A bright light surrounded both of us for an instant, forcing me to shield my eyes in surprise. As it faded, and the world returned to the burning hell around us, Alphonse grabbed my arm tightly.
Spinning me around I winced from how rough he was treating me. "Ouch! Alphonse! Stop it!" I yelled as I felt cold metal placed around my arms. Thick, heavy, and enough to encircle half of my forearms. I tried to pull away, but he refused to release me just yet.
"I know you saved me, and I thank you for that. But we still aren't sure if you're corrupted in any way by these faeries."
I looked over my shoulder as menacingly as I could at him. Baring my teeth as if I was now embodying the anger from my high fae lover. "How dare you," I growled at him fiercely. I wasn't sure what was coming over me at this moment. Some base form of bestial rage. He looked at me sorrowfully as he turned me away from the unconscious high fae. I thrashed against my restraints, but he easily held me still.
The continuous clanking of metal surrounded us before several other Templars and guards entered the scene. Some of them looking worse for wear, covered in splatters of fresh and dried blood alike. Some their own. Some clearly not.
"Take him to the iron carriage, away from the others, and take her with him. When we get to the Alabaster Temple I will speak with Father Acaba and learn the next part of our mission," Alphonse said formally. His head was held high as he peered down his nose at the other officers. They slammed their armored forearms bottomside up against their chest and bowed slightly at his demands. My eyes darted back and forth between them.
Alphonse passed my chains off to another officer, and a few others gathered around Faariin. They too placed him in another set of chain made of pallicus, the iron content not as high as if they strapped him in traditional contraptions. I scoffed. At least they were kind enough to not let iron restraints burn his arms off. Roughly, two of them forced him up to his feet, and the fae hissed in pain, his eyes fluttering open before his head hung low, no longer resisting, or making any sounds for that matter.
"Unhand him! Don't you touch him!" I yelled at the guards as they dragged him over the ground, with me following not far behind. Alphonse began to walk in another direction, completely ignorant to my screaming. Maybe I had made a mistake after all. I should have shot him straight through the forehead. How could he do something like this! After all the time I'd known him!
My wriggling did nothing but add to the slight pinching of the tight irons I was placed in. And soon enough I gave up. I'd need whatever strength I had left for later. All I could do was hope that they would leave the rest of the fae they'd yet to find unmolested. But with these Templars around I wasn't sure if they would or not.
We had been led onward for nearly a mile before we saw a multitude of cages. About five or six fae in each of them, some also splattered in blood. Some were nursing obviously broken limbs, willing them to repair and heal quickly as their mystical abilities allowed them to. I winced. Not only at the gore and carnage these people had suffered but from the glares I could feel as Faariin and I were forced to pass by. I could hear the hateful whispers among them. Blaming me for all of this.
Maybe it was my fault for being here, I should have never gone to Vethari. Not once. And none of this would have happened.
Faariin's body was easily flung into a seperate carriage with thick bars. It wasn't long before I was carefully unlocked from my restraints and shoved into it as well. I stumbled slightly as I hit the side of the cage with my head, hissing in pain as they slammed it shut before I had a chance to recuperate and try to attack one of them. With what I was unsure. I no longer had a bow, dagger, or anything tucked into my boots. They'd disarmed Faariin as well.
The warriors around us began to rally together here at what seemed the base of their operations. Many of the militia members, a few priests from the Alabaster Temple, and a dozen Templars. This was a full out attack. Not a trade deal gone wrong, judging by the sheer number of military figures. I could feel their pitiful looks as well, thinking I must have fallen under some faerie spell as I glared at them hatefully.
"We're going to start heading back soon. Father Acaba will want to see them once we make it to town," one of the militia members mumbled to a Templar. The Templar nodded, glancing at me and stepping closer to the other before speaking. He whispered something as he motioned toward us and took a step back. The militia members looked slightly confused but nodded all the same.
"Yes, sir." The Templar saluted the other soldier, "And don't forget to destroy the faerie circ
le once you leave. Give them no place to hide!" he shouted before strutting ahead.
They began to mount horses, strapping the dozens of carriages to two horses each, and it wasn't long before we started to get dragged away, a few of the fae screaming in fear and surprise. I pushed the sounds out and focused completely on Faariin. I grimaced at the arrow in his arm and was careful to cradle him without putting too much pressure on his wound.
"I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have used the ring on you. Maybe you could have saved us." I shook my head in disbelief. "This is all my fault," I sighed, not sure what I was expecting.
As we began to make our way further and further from the burning town, I spotted one of the Elder Trees against the ground. Its face petrified in a look of horror as it was turning slowly to ash, unable to move, if not dead already, as the flames licked at its body. These things were so ancient and wise I couldn't imagine even killing one of them.
All of this. It was me. I hugged Faariin close. I never imagined I'd hold him like this, given how despicable he had appeared, but it was better than being alone. "I would gladly die if this would make everything right, and I understand if you want to kill me after this. I deserve every bit of your wrath."
He shifted slightly, and I pulled away. His eyes opening in slits as he tried his damndest to move his mouth, trying to say something that was more than a groan or cry of pain. He managed to shift his head to the left and right, shaking his head as he looked at me hard, the ring taking out every ounce of power he had at his disposal as it would for days to come.
"Don't speak." I choked on my words, placing a finger to his lips.
"We will find a way out of this," I cried. He watched me for a moment, before his eyes closed again, allowing himself to fall limp as he passed out once more.
To the Alabaster Temple then. I would find a way to save as many of these fae as I could.
Even if it cost me my own life.
Solitary Fae (Humans vs Fae Book 2) Page 15
