The Awakened World Boxed Set

by William Stacey

  Angie saw the shape of old concrete enclosures through the trees—the kangaroo pen, she thought. And then she saw the first of the Fey, a grouping of a half dozen elves moving at a fast pace to the outdoor auditorium that had once been used for the Winged Wonders bird show. The elves were armed and armored with both spear and sword, their alien faces agitated. One, a white-haired female, turned and stared at Angie and Erin, but when she saw Ephix, she quickly turned away, following her friends into the auditorium. Other Fey converged on the site, a grouping of sprites, fairies, and long-horned ogden—all moving with haste. The ogden carried long-handled battle axes.

  "Your arrival has caused some consternation," Ephix noted. "Or should I say that thing that follows you."

  "Do you know what it is?" Angie asked.

  "Don't you?"

  Angie glanced away, a knot of fear forming in her gut. "No. Has it hurt anyone?"

  "Some of my kin, but they shall heal ... in time. Come, my sister convenes a council to determine a course of action." With that, Ephix stalked away, disappearing through the entrance to the auditorium.

  Angie led Erin through the dark tunnel leading into the enclosure. Bright sunlight met them on the other side, exposing the rows of benches set up in a circular pattern to look down upon the stage where once handlers had shown off the exotic zoo birds. The auditorium was filled with rows of Fey, all excitedly talking over one another, although arguing would have been a more apt term. They came in all shapes and sizes, from massive hulking trolls to the winged fairies, some no larger than the palm of her hand, others just smaller than her. Green-skinned goblins sat beside water hags, stunningly beautiful nymphs clustered with sprites and dryads, and the elves sat removed from all others, maintaining their decorum. There must have been several hundred different Fey gathered, one of the largest groupings Angie had ever seen. There were more throughout the enclave, of course, thousands, but these must have been the family heads. Whatever this beast was that had followed them into the ruins, it had inflamed Fey fears.

  Erin's head rose, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air. "Describe it," she whispered.

  Angie did her best.

  "Of all the times in my life to be blind," Erin said sadly.

  She was taking the disfigurement remarkably well, making Angie wonder if she were in shock. She squeezed Erin's hand. "Char will help." But could even Char, a grandmaster mage, heal horrific wounds like that?

  Then Chararah Succubus appeared on the stage, dressed in silver mail armor and black leather leggings with high boots that came to her knees. She held her silver Spiritwood staff, the symbol of her druid power. On her hip, she wore her battle rapier. Char faced the assembled Fey, and her large black wings snapped out, silencing the crowd. When she had their attention, Char drew her wings back in, folding them behind her.

  Angie drew Erin down to one of the benches, and they sat together. Char glanced at Angie, the trace of a smile ghosting across her lips. Then she faced the Fey and brought the end of her staff down upon the stage with a thud.

  "Thank you for coming, brothers and sisters," Char's deep voice boomed across the auditorium. Ephix, Angie noted, now stood at the far end of the stage, watching her sister. Char faced her sister, nodding in greeting. "And thank you, sister, for protecting us thus far."

  Ephix inclined her head in a sign of respect. Her expression, as always, was unreadable, but Angie felt her displeasure just the same, and a chill ran down her back.

  One of the elves stood, a tall male with traces of gray in his long dark hair, his fingers resting atop the hilt of his long sword. First Star Kaelin Da'Morven, Angie knew, the leader of the elven faction within Fresno, a close cousin of Queen Elenaril Cloudborn in the Coronado Enclave. "What do we face, Chararah Succubus? Have the humans broken the Concord?"

  "We do not believe so. From reports"—Char glanced at her sister—"it appears a single creature has entered our territory, a were-beast, we believe, although of a kind unknown to us."

  Excited whispers coursed through the Fey. "A were-beast?" Kaelin asked, his too-large elvish eyes flashing with indignation. "A human then? Are you certain this isn't a prelude to an attack?"

  Once again, a chorus of opinions rose among the Fey as they began speaking over one another in their excitement.

  "Be calm," Char insisted. "My sister's kin have engaged it, keeping it away from others."

  "What does it want?" Kaelin demanded.

  "We are not certain," Char said, "not yet."

  "Us," said Angie, standing up. "It followed my friend and me into the city."

  Many of the assembled Fey had missed the arrival of the two women, but all now turned and stared—some angrily, some in naked fear. The closest Fey moved away, opening a space between them.

  "I ask for sanctuary," Angie continued.

  "Sanctuary?" a water hag demanded in a disbelieving tone. Her green skin hung in bags around her baseball-sized yellow eyes, her hair like seaweed. She raised a long, powerful arm, the fingers like talons pointing at Angie. "You bring a monster among us and then ask for sanctuary?"

  Others agreed, an angry collection of voices raised in disbelief and whispers of disapproval.

  "She has the right!" insisted Char. "Or do none of you remember my adopted daughter Angela?" When the voices quieted, she continued. "Nor do we know for certain why the beast has entered the city."

  Angie sat again. Her presence was, at best, tolerated by the Fey, adopted daughter of their ruler or not. She needed to be very careful here.

  "There are other humans on the fringes of our territory," Ephix said, stepping forward. "Those must have known they were trespassing. We should have driven them away last night—as I asked—yet you denied my request."

  Char rounded on her sister, her posture stiff. "You know as well as I they did not enter our territory. Close is not trespassing. We would have been in violation of the Concord."

  "Perhaps, sister," said Ephix, standing up to the much larger Char without a hint of submission. "But something is very wrong here if humans dare to approach our land. Fear of us, fear of my kin has always kept them away. We cannot survive in a world where humans no longer fear us. We must correct the balance ere they grow too bold."

  Char turned back to the assembled Fey. "We will not break the Concord. Nor will we allow a beast to move freely about our home."

  "We must hunt it down and kill it," Ephix stated bluntly. "It's already injured a score of my vampires."

  "I am not so quick to kill," said Char. "Especially not just to provide a lesson for others who may not pay attention anyway. Now is the time for calm. Why did it enter the enclave? If it pursued my adopted daughter and her friend, then why? To what purpose? Who were these other humans? Why did the beast attack? Was it provoked?"

  "You accuse my kin?" Ephix replied, heat in her voice. "For decades now, we have risked our lives to keep others safe."

  The other Fey went silent, and even Angie had to suppress a gasp. It was an open secret among the Fey that Char and her sister often argued in private, but to do so openly, before the other Fey, was unheard of. Among the prickly Fey, such challenges often ended in blood, even between sisters.

  "I ask for clarification, not accusation," Char insisted. "This would not be the first time you have lost control over your servants, sister." Just for a moment, Char's glance darted toward Angie, sitting among the Fey.

  "My warriors of the night protect all of us," Ephix said, articulating each word carefully, speaking slowly so all could hear. "They do this out of devotion to me, but also out of a desire to protect other Fey—those who cannot protect themselves, fairies and nymphs among others. They deserve better."

  "It is not distrust to speak the truth," Char said, her gaze locked on that of her sister. As they argued, their voices grew louder, more emotional. Some of the Fey seated in the auditorium began to slip away, not wishing to be anywhere near the feuding sisters.

  Erin leaned in closer, using her hands to find Ang
ie's ear. "Those vampires were hunting us, despite what this Ephix says. Whatever that beast is, were-creature or not, that's twice now it's helped us. Two times can't be a coincidence."

  "I know," Angie whispered. "But I can't get between Char and Ephix. It's ... complicated. Besides, that thing did follow us here. We are responsible."

  "Sister," said Ephix in a voice devoid of any warmth, "however this beast came to be here, it does not change the fact that the humans are responsible for it, whether that be your daughter and her friend or the other humans traipsing about our borders. You are not queen here. All have free will to act in defense of the enclave. While I love and honor you, I say this beast must be brought down. It must be hunted and killed."

  A chorus of agreements rose among the assembled Fey. The leader of the elves, Kaelin Da'Morven, stood again. "Ephix Lamia is correct, Chararah Succubus," he said. "We elves live closer to the humans in the Coronado Enclave and have cause to trust them less. Deal with the beast first, and then we may debate the next best course of action."

  "The Concord," Char warned, pointing her staff at Kaelin.

  "There is no risk to the Concord if we defend ourselves within our own territory," Ephix stated bluntly. The assembled Fey nodded to one another, murmuring in agreement. "First we deal with the threat in our home."

  Char, no fool, must have sensed the consensus turning against her. She sighed, extending an open hand to her sister. "Do as you feel you must to protect those under your charge, dear sister. I shall do the same. As you say, the beast must be dealt with."

  The slightest trace of a smile curled Ephix's lips, and her eyes turned all black, even the sclera. She bowed stiffly and then spun about and slipped away, her body already altering, with tufts of black fur sprouting down her spine, her hands turning into claws. She disappeared into the shadows.

  "What just happened?" Erin asked.

  "Ephix is going to kill that were-creature," Angie said simply, knowing it was inevitable.

  "Alone? During the day? What about her vampires?"

  "She doesn't need anyone else."

  The assembled Fey began to rise and move away, more at ease now that a decision had been made and Ephix was on the hunt. They smiled and chatted easily with each other, having all just accepted, as inevitable, the intruding beast's demise.

  Then Char stood before Angie, towering over her, concern on her face. Angie rose, throwing her arms around Char's waist and burying her head against her large chest.

  "Welcome home, daughter," Char said, hugging Angie back. "I only wish your presence were in less worrisome times." She pulled back from Angie and then considered Erin. She reached forward, gripping Erin's chin with one hand, and lifted the cloth from her eyes, examining her wounds as she twisted Erin's face to the side. "These wounds smell of foul magic," she whispered. "How came you by them?"

  "Our attackers, Mother," said Angie. "Likely the same humans Ephix spoke of. They ambushed us near Malaga. One of them was a mage, a very powerful mage."

  "I see. This is disturbing, humans willing to attack my own daughter on my very doorstep. Now I share my sister's anger. This cannot stand."

  "Can you help her, Mother?"

  "I can, but there's no time just yet. For now, you must help me."

  "I don't understand."

  "First," said Char, facing Angie, her wings outstretched now, "we must hunt down and find this beast that's followed you—before my sister does. I need answers to questions, and if Ephix finds it first, she'll kill it."

  Chapter 19

  Angie waited in the doorway to Char's sanctum. They had come here almost straight from the meeting with the other Fey in the auditorium, and it was not yet late morning. Char stalked to an overloaded bookshelf that she used to store items and began to root through its contents.

  "What are you looking for?" Angie asked, but her thoughts were with Erin, lying in a bed in Char’s infirmary.

  "An old talisman," Char replied in a distracted tone.

  At that moment, Anthalas, Char's elderly elven fencing master, slipped into the sanctum, his arms bearing what looked like a rifle but was, she saw a moment later, an air rifle. Under his arm, he also carried a small black plastic hand case. "As requested, my lady of the forest," Anthalas said as he handed the case to Angie.

  "What is it?" Angie dropped to a knee and opened the case, seeing a half dozen hypodermic needles loaded into feathered air darts the size of fountain pens. The interior of the case carried an unmistakable chemical smell.

  "Take care," Anthalas warned, handing her the air rifle. "They're filled with a powerful comatosing sedative."

  A partially faded stencil along the side of the case stated the sedatives were a Class A drug and the property of the Fresno Zoo. "These are old, decades at least. How do you know they still work?"

  Char answered over her shoulder without looking. "We had to sedate one of the lions last year when a rotted molar drove it into a near-constant rage."

  "You couldn't capture it with magic?"

  Char sniffed. "Not without terrifying the poor thing half to death."

  Anthalas offered Angie his hand and helped her to her feet. "Let me show you how the rifle works."

  The metal parts of the weapon were slick to the touch, with a light trace of oil. She wasn't surprised. Anthalas maintained all weapons with the utmost care. The air rifle was surprisingly easy to operate. A canister of compressed air fitted to the rifle's stock. A simple scope on the weapon helped with the aim. Anthalas showed Angie how to load and prime the weapon for firing. Unfortunately, unlike an assault rifle, this weapon fired only a single hypodermic needle and was slow to reload. But after several minutes, she felt comfortable enough in its use, at least in theory. Confronting an angry supernatural were-beast was an entirely different matter.

  "You sure you don't want to come?" she asked Anthalas.

  His smile was barely there, a thin eyebrow arching as he watched her. "Not even a tiny bit."

  Char turned away from the shelf, stuffing what looked like a Native American dream catcher—a handmade willow hoop the size of a baseball onto which had been woven a beaded web—into a pouch she had tied to her belt. Brightly colored feathers adorned the hoop. Even from where Angie stood, the object resonated with mana. "What's that for?"

  "Maybe nothing," Char answered, tying the pouch's flap shut. "It all depends."

  "You said it's a talisman. What does it do?"

  Char smiled and adjusted her sword belt. "You can still sense the presence of life, can't you, even without your shade?"

  Angie inhaled deeply, set her shoulders. "Yes, and I need to talk to you about that."

  "Later. I need you and your special talent right now." Char turned and stormed out of her sanctum, giving Angie no choice but to follow.

  Angie watched as Char examined the terrain where Mother Smoke Heart and her servants had ambushed them hours earlier. It was just after ten a.m., and the sun beat down on the trampled grass, still shining with blood. Flies buzzed madly about the seven corpses, and scavenger birds rested nearby, glaring balefully at Angie and Char for disturbing their feast. Two of the corpses Erin had shot, but the beast had savaged the other five. The birds and small predators had fed on the corpses, Angie could tell, but not the were-beast, if that was what it was. The stench of blood, carnage, and voided bowels was staggering under the heat.

  Char, seeming unbothered by the stench, knelt in the congealing blood next to one of the corpses. "Whatever did this was large, very large. You say it walked upright?"

  "Like a cross between a man and a black panther, a were-panther."

  "Or a were-jaguar," Char said softly.

  "What's the difference?"

  Char rose, wiping her palms on her leggings. "To these men, none." She bent over a paw print in the soft, bloody earth and traced her finger over its outline. The print was shaped like a half moon, at least eight inches wide with four huge toe marks—This thing has serious claws, she realized. The prints we
re deep as well. Angie was no hunter, but it must have weighed hundreds of pounds.

  "You're sure it walked like a man?" Char asked her.

  "Or woman."

  Char sniffed, the trace of a smile on her lips. "Indeed, daughter. Indeed." She used the end of her staff to turn one of the corpses over. The man's chest had been ripped open from shoulder to abdomen, with the internal muscles exposed and intestines gleaming. "Whatever this thing is, its paws are larger than a lion's."

  "Erin says it's been tracking us since Sanwa City."

  "In the city?"

  Angie nodded, her grip tight on the air rifle.

  "Such a creature couldn't possibly go unnoticed, even among your kind."

  "Thanks."

  "Not an insult, an observation. Ephix and I have some experience hiding among humans, but we can only do so by altering our form." She stood upright, biting her upper lip, her face clouded with doubt. "I sense ... something, a foul presence." Char turned in a slow circle and then stopped when her gaze fell upon Erin's discarded backpack, the one she had been wearing when ambushed.

  Char approached and knelt beside it, her fingers trailing over its material. "Yes. In here," she whispered. "What are you?" She opened the flap and gently emptied the contents. When the obsidian dagger fell free, still partially wrapped, Char's mouth twisted into a snarl. She touched the blade's stone surface with a fingertip. "Where did you come by this?"

  "I was taken hostage by some people, mages, Mother, but unlike any mages I've ever heard of. They cast ... unusual spells, used magic I've never seen. Their leader was a woman they called Mother Smoke Heart."

  Char sighed, nodding to herself. She wrapped the blade in the cloth again and carefully placed it in the same pouch that carried the dream-catcher talisman. "Blood magic, ritual magic. Dark arts and best not spoken of aloud, even here under the sun."

  "Mother, that woman, the mage, she wasn't interested in me at all. Maybe the beast isn't, either."

  "If it's been following either of you, then it won't likely stop now. Sooner or later, Ephix will find it." Char stood, glancing about. "Can you sense anything with your gift?"