"The Council?"
"The Council of Seven. It's our highest authority. It's made of leaders of the Seven Kingdoms that make up Aldera, as well as other wise and powerful beings that help rule our world."
"And with so many great minds the best idea you could come up with was to dump all your trash into our world?"
"It was either that or watch our world become an anarchy."
The teapot started whistling, an eerie sound against the monotonous pattering outside. Aeryn went to the stove and prepared a second round of tea. Connor got up and left the kitchen. He returned a second later, holding Iris' jacket. Inside one of the pockets, her phone was squealing.
"Are you sure you want to answer it," Lorelai said matter-of-factly. "You wouldn't want to interrupt while we're in the process of exposing ourselves. To a human of all things."
"Lorelai," Aeryn scowled her.
The girl massaged her temples and ran her hands trough her hair. "Really, am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?"
Connor gave Iris a quick look before he turned to his sister. "Lorelai, the memory spell doesn't work on her. What other choice do we have? And don't say kill her because I swear…"
Iris began to feel dizzy again. She excused herself from the table and went a few feet away to answer the phone. "Hello?"
"Iris, thank God," Elizabeth said sighing with relief. "I've been trying to reach you all morning. Where are you?"
"Hi, Grandma." Guilt washed over Iris. She'd been so caught up in those new developments that she'd completely forgotten that her grandmother had probably been worried sick about her.
"What happened? The school called. You and Marion never got there."
Connor was signing Iris. She didn't understand what he was trying to say but she suspected it had to do with what to tell her grandmother and the others about the incident.
"Uhm," she babbled into the phone. "The car broke down on Chestnut Road," she said, thinking that whatever lie she and Marion would have to agree on, she would still have to explain the damage to her car. "Connor came to pick us up. I'm at the Elwoods now."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"Marion too?"
"Yeah. We'll be home soon."
"Okay," Elizabeth said, although from her voice Iris could tell that she wasn't too happy to be dismissed so easily. "Be careful. Tell Aeryn I said hi."
"Will do. Bye, Grandma." Iris was glad that her grandmother didn't insist. She ended the call quickly and sat back down at the table.
Aeryn returned to the table with the steaming teapot and refilled everyone's empty cups. They were all quiet and Iris took the chance to tackle the question that she was aching to ask ever since she got to the Elwood mansion. "That thing that attacked us… It wasn't a regular wolf… or dog, was it?"
Aeryn sat down, slowly. Her jaw was set, her face gloomy, like that of someone who was about to deliver some bad news. "No, it wasn't."
Connor seemed anxious. "Did you get a chance to look into it, Grandma?"
"Yes. Lorelai, would you please bring the Book?"
The girl left the kitchen and returned a few seconds later with a big book in her hand. She took her seat at the table and laid the book in front of her grandmother.
Aeryn started flipping the pages. She was handling them with care but Iris noticed that the woman wasn't really looking at the contents, as if she knew exactly which page number to stop at.
"What's that?" Iris asked, pointing at the massive book. Its pages were so thin that Iris feared they would dissolve under Aeryn's fingers.
"The Book of the Past," Lorelai replied.
Iris looked at her, waiting for further explanations, and when the girl didn't offer them, Connor intervened. "It's like a Supernatural Index that records every event and creature in the history of the Fae. That thing that attacked you… We don't know what it is but we might find it in here."
After turning a few more pages Aeryn stopped at one with a strange text written in a language that Iris didn't understand, very similar to the one on the bottle label she'd seen before on the living room tea table. The woman spread her fingers on the page and suddenly the letters lit up a light blue and a tridimensional image rose a few inches above it. It looked like a hologram of sorts and Iris felt her stomach contract when she realized what it depicted—a creature very similar to the beast she'd seen earlier that morning, only this one was in a leash, resting at the feet of a woman in a black dress torn at the hems, one hand clenched in a tight grip around the end of the leash, the other wielding a burning whip. She had flames in her eyes and her face was grim and dark, as was the dead land spreading endlessly behind her.
"That's it," Iris said, shivering at the thought of the beast hitting the windshield of her car. "What is that?"
"A hellhound." Aeryn set her eyes on Connor. "I had my suspicions when you sent me that photo but I hoped it wasn't true."
"That doesn't sound like a friendly breed," Iris said.
"It's not. Those are the hounds of Satune, the Fae Goddess of the Dead. They announce death, because they track the souls of those who are about to enter the goddess' domain and make sure they cross over. The hounds also guard the entrance to the Realm of the Dead. But without a master, or under the control of a weak one, they become a weapon of mass destruction." Aeryn paused for a few moments and Iris thought she saw a slight tremor in the woman's shoulders. Then Aeryn whispered, more to herself, "But that's impossible."
"Why's that?" For the first time since they'd started that conversation, Lorelai was completely serious. Worried even.
"Because summoning a hellhound was declared a capital crime two thousand years ago."
6
Of Course Something Had to Go Wrong
The girl didn't move. Despite the pouring rain, her face was dry and set under the hood of her cape. Dorian clenched his fists to his sides, blinking repeatedly to clear the rain out of his eyes. "I said, take me to Kane."
"I'm afraid Kane is unavailable at the moment. He'll contact you soon to set up a meeting."
"That was not our agreement. Take me to him. Now!" He pulled out his sword. Behind him, Raven did the same.
Dorian looked around. A dozen soldiers came out from behind the trees, surrounding them from all sides. The raindrops glimmered on the smooth, silver surface of their helmets and breastplates. Dorian wondered what species they were. They couldn't have been Fae. Their bodies would never be able to withstand so much iron. Judging by their accelerated heart rates and the heat they emanated, they had to be werewolves. That was good. They were fast, but in human form they were easy to kill.
Raven turned slowly, his back close to Dorian's. "Are you sure about this?" he asked. His voice was weak, like a whisper, but Dorian could hear it just fine.
"I am now," Dorian said, tightening his grip on the sword handle.
The girl stood still, just fifteen feet away from them. She was smiling. She removed her cape and threw it on the ground in front of her. Her long, ebony curls, half of which were gathered in a massive, complicated bun at the back of her head, sparkled under the heavy rain. Dorian noticed that she wasn't carrying a sword. Or any visible weapon whatsoever.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Raven said, eyeing the soldiers who were now just a few feet away.
Dorian raised his sword and assumed a fighting position. "Tell me about it."
"Your blades won't help you now," the girl said, still calm, still smiling. But then her right index finger trembled. It was such a slight movement that it was barely visible inside the thick leather glove covering it, but it was enough for Dorian to realize where she hid her weapons.
A split second later, her arm rose and five sharp needles flew towards him. He swung his sword and managed to deflect them. Two fell to the ground, the rest went to his left. In the corner of his eye he saw two soldiers fall. One had been hit in the eye, the other in the neck. So much for the armor. Behind him, he could hear Raven's sword clank
ing and squishing as it cut into the flesh of the enemy.
Two soldiers came at him from the sides. As Dorian tried to avoid their swords, he took his eyes off the girl for a moment and didn't see the second wave of needles coming at him. He managed to block a few before a sharp pain cut through his right arm, forcing him to take a step back. His eyes still locked on the girl, he switched his sword into his other hand and pulled out the two needles lodged in his shoulder and upper arm. Two warm streaks of blood rushed down under his sleeve.
The third set of needles flew towards him just as he was ducking to avoid the blade of a soldier. As he swung his sword and saw the enemy fall, he heard a moan behind him. Raven had been hit. The wounds in Dorian's arm were burning and the pain was spreading fast. That meant only one thing. The needles were poisoned. He didn't know how many the girl had left but he knew that he wouldn't survive them.
Then he noticed the cape on the ground. The girl followed his gaze. Guessing his next move, she launched another wave of needles, this time with both hands. Dorian threw himself on his knees towards her. As he glided on the slippery wet ground, his back bent backwards, he lifted the cape with the tip of his sword. The fabric unfolded in the air like a fan. Dorian slid underneath it and swung his sword in one swift blow.
The girl took her gloved hands to her throat. Dark red streaks rushed through her long fingers. She made a gurgling sound, then her hands fell to her sides and she crumbled to the ground.
Dorian rushed to Raven. He was lying face down in the middle of a circle of bodies. Three needles were coming out of his shoulders. Dorian pulled them out and turned his friend on his back. Raven's face and clothes were covered in blood. He had a cut on his upper arm and another one on his right thigh but they seemed superficial. The rest of the blood belonged to the enemy.
"You're a lousy negotiator," Raven said, wincing as he sat up.
Dorian was panting. "The needles are poisoned. Please tell me you know what it is and how to cure it."
"I hate poisons."
"You work with them every day."
"That doesn't mean I like them in my body."
"Tell me you have an antidote!"
"No." Raven pointed at the girl lying a few feet from them. "But she might."
Dorian stumbled to the girl. He was getting weaker by the minute. If she didn't have the antidote on her, he was going to die. He started searching her. The front of her leather corset was stained with the blood that rushed out of the cut in her throat before she fell to the ground. Dorian's fingers slipped on the wet leather when he propped his hand against her body. He realized that his arm was getting numb. Not a good sign. He felt something hard in one of the pockets of her dress and prayed that is was a bottle of antidote. It was the moonstone. Dorian cursed and checked the other pocket. Nothing.
"I can't find it," he said to Raven, who was now standing behind him.
"If I were a hot poisonous mistress, where would I hide the cure?" said Raven, mostly to himself. He went to the opposite side of the body and grabbed the girl's shoulder and hip. Dorian wanted to ask him what he was doing but he felt too weak to speak. He pulled down the collar of his shirt. The skin on the right side of his torso was streaked with purple veins. He didn't have long. Raven turned the girl face down and inserted his fingers into the massive mane gathered at the back of her head. A second later he took out a vial with a pink, semitransparent liquid inside.
"Got it!" Raven opened the vial and handed it over.
Dorian drank the content and fell to the ground. For a moment the pain worsened and he wondered if whatever was inside the vial wasn't a catalyst instead of an antidote. "Raven…" he tried to speak but the pain cut off his airways.
"Just give it a minute."
"I haven't… got… a minute." He closed his eyes and thought that that was it, but then the pain began to fade, slowly at first, then faster and faster, until all that was left was the stinging of the puncture wounds. Dorian sat up and looked at his chest. The veins were gone. He sighed, relieved.
Raven was crouched on one knee in front of him, smiling. "Feel better?"
"You know, sometimes I think that, because nothing can kill you, you can't really estimate how long it takes someone to die."
"It's not true that nothing can kill me. Anyways, now what?"
Dorian got up and picked up his sword and the moonstone. "Now we go meet Kane."
Iris didn't need to know much about Fae history to realize the gravity of what Aeryn had just said. It was enough to look at the three faces in front of her to know that. The teacups were full and steaming again, giving off an inviting perfume, but, despite the parching thirst, Iris was afraid to pick hers up. She was so nervous, she could actually picture the cup slipping through her trembling fingers and spilling all over the precious tome on the table.
"That doesn't make sense," Lorelai said. "I remember our history lessons. Hellhounds are impossible to control. Unless their master is the Goddess herself, whoever tries to control them ends up losing their mind. Who would want that?"
"Someone who wants us out of the way to get to the Amulet? It's the only thing here valuable enough to take such a high risk." Connor proposed.
"Even so, you think someone would be crazy enough to resurrect an uncontrollable deadly beast when there are so many other ways to get rid of us?"
"I don't know, but you have to admit that the timing is suspicious. Two weeks before the Harvest Supermoon?"
"Say you're right and someone did resurrect the hound. How would they do that without Satune's Seal? Last I checked, it was still locked tight in the Council Treasury and the only ones who can take it out are members of the Council."
For a moment everyone remained silent. Iris looked at them like they were speaking in Chinese. She tried to keep up but, between the whole Fae business and the weird names, it was nearly impossible.
Connor tapped his right index finger on the page picturing the deadly creature. "Are you sure this is the animal you saw? It was raining, you were scared…"
"I'm sure." Iris wished she could forget the image of the beast, with its flaming eyes and its bloody jaws.
The Elwoods looked at each other for a few seconds, as if they were having a telepathic conversation just between the three of them. Probably still in Chinese.
"What?" Iris asked eventually.
"No one, Fae or human, crosses paths with a hellhound and lives to tell the tale," Lorelai explained. "They're uncontrollable. That's why they were extinct in the first place."
"I'm telling you, that was the beast I saw."
"And it went away when you asked it to?"
"Yes."
The telepathic conversation resumed.
"What?!" Iris asked again, exasperated.
It was Aeryn who answered. "Drink your tea, honey. It's going to get cold."
7
Are You Even Human?
"We need to protect her, Lorelai. The only way to do that is if we tell her what's going on."
"She escaped a hellhound attack. I think she should protect us. Besides, she's a human. We don't expose ourselves to humans, remember?"
"Sooner or later we'll have to tell her. The memory spell didn't work and she won't let it go until we do."
"Maybe we should do the spell again."
"It's no use. It doesn't work on her. She's special."
"Oh, she's special alright. To you."
"Agatha warned us about this day and what happened this morning proves that she was right."
"Your brother is right, Lorelai."
"I can't believe you're taking his side on this, Grandma. You were the one who said we should keep our distance from humans."
"We all know she's not just a human."
"Oh, come on, Connor."
"She's a human who might just be able to control a hellhound. You heard her. It stopped when she asked it to. Then it went away when she asked it to. The fact that she's alive is a sign that she's not just a human. Or at least not
a regular one."
The voices were coming from a distance at first, but they gradually became clearer and louder as Iris was coming back to reality. Damn it, they drugged me. Again. When she opened her eyes she was lying down on the same couch she had an hour before. Marion was still sleeping on the other side of the glass table. Iris sat up and looked around to see where the voices were coming from. She got to her feet, struggling to keep her balance, and headed into the kitchen.
"Okay. Everyone needs to tell me what the hell is going on here or else..." She wasn't sure what to threaten them with—after all, they all had super strength, super speed, super everything—so she stopped and hoped they'd imagine the worst. "Start talking."
She sat at the table, staring at the three figures in front of her and wondering when she would wake up. The whole situation seemed like a nightmare that was getting worse by the minute and she wanted it to be over before she would lose her mind. The Elwoods stared back at her in silence. After what seemed like forever, she couldn't take it anymore.
"So what am I? I'm human but not really, I'm special, but not really. This woman—Agatha was it?—asked you to protect me. I think it's time you all start telling me the truth. So? What am I?"
Lorelai spoke first. "That's what we'd like to know. You told the hound to leave and for some reason it did your bidding, which makes us wonder why."
"Maybe it just went away of its own free will."
"Hellhounds don't have free will." Connor's voice was calm but firm, like someone who was an expert in the subject matter. "They do what they're told. They're given a target, a goal, and they don't stop until they reach it. It may take them an hour or a century but they get it done."
"Unless their master goes mad." Suddenly, Lorelai seemed to take pleasure in the conversation.
The Fountain of Truth (Tales of the Dark Fae Book 1) Page 7
