Shadow Assassins (The Second Realm Trilogy)

by Vazquez, Melissa

  That was at least how Evangeline described his behavior sometimes, and that his behavior set feminists back centuries. Evangeline was exaggerating of course, but it was her equivalent of an affectionate hug.

  Marco even impressed this woman with his pocket knife. She had never seen the mechanism the folding knife worked with and he showed her how he had been using it, to free himself of the forest’s confines. She complimented his world and his own innovation.

  She was incredibly kind. She reminded him so much of Kaydee, in the gentle way she spoke with him. She was no Kaydee though, as she had been ready to shoot him before.

  As they came to a small clearing, the woman turned to him. “I apologize for my rudeness. We have been traveling together for some time and I haven’t even asked for your name.”

  He smiled at her and folded his pocket knife. “You’re fine, I forgot too. I’m Marco...Marco Martinez.”

  She repeated his name, then introduced herself as Camira Caleo, of the Oraldine colony to the west of the Feynid forest, some distance away.

  “If your colony isn’t anywhere near here, how did you get lost in the forest?” he asked.

  She turned away from him, uncomfortable at his question. She continued through the clearing and Marco had to run to catch up with her.

  “Did I say the wrong thing?”

  “No, it’s not that,” she said slowly, as if trying to choose her words carefully. “I am...to be wed to the leader of our proud warriors soon, but I cannot stand D’jerik. A brave warrior he may be, but he cares not for me or my interests, just his status among his fellow warriors. It is a bad match, but I can do nothing to stop it.”

  “Were you running away?” he asked.

  She stopped walking near a large pine tree. She was silent for a moment, before she finally replied, “Running away is the coward’s way out.”

  That wasn’t a no.

  Before he could pressure her into giving him another answer, he froze. He hadn’t meant to, but he thought he had heard the sound of female laughter. Not just any female, though, but Evangeline. Evangeline had her sarcastic sense of humor and her sarcastic, derisive chuckle. That wasn’t what he had just heard; what he had heard was Evangeline, laughing pure free and unfiltered, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Being absolutely carefree was a tall order for the angel-demon hybrid. The sound wasn’t one heard often, if it was heard at all.

  “Evie?” he asked.

  “What?” Camira asked, oblivious to the laughter he was hearing.

  “Evie! Er...Evangeline, one of my friends. I just heard her a minute ago!”

  The elf’s eyes widened. “Her?”

  Marco didn’t catch how her voice held a tremor of fear in it. He had already separated from her, pushing away from the path they had been walking through to a side path of tangled roots and thorns. He ignored the thorns as they ripped through his jeans and whipped at his arms and face. Evangeline’s laughter was closer, drawing him in...he had to be close to her, now. He faintly heard that elf girl calling out to him, but really, who was she to him besides a few minutes’ pleasant company? Evangeline was his long-time companion and to hear her sound so happy was a rarity. Marco wanted to see why she was so happy.

  “Marco!” Camira called out again.

  He paid the voice no mind. All reasonable thought was gone from his mind. All he wanted to see was Evangeline, happy and carefree for the first time in too long–

  He stopped in his tracks as he saw his friend in front of him. She was wearing an odd white dress and her hair spilled down her shoulders in tangled, wild waves, but her eyes were bright and her lips were stretched into a smile – a true smile, at that, not just the mocking smirk she wore most times.

  “Evie!” he yelled across the field to her, despite her usual dislike of the nickname.

  Instead of harassing him over the disliked nickname, the Evangeline before him turned and gave him a beautiful smile. How did he not see the beauty in her face before? All he remembered seeing before was her sarcasm and the cruel-but-affectionate teasing she gave. She was beautiful, here.

  Compelled to join her, he crossed the field to her, where she was whirling around and laughing as though amused by something he could not see. The white dress she wore billowed out behind her, a flag marking her joy.

  “Evie!” he cried out again.

  Join me. The words weren’t physically spoken, but Marco felt as though she had said the words that wove through his mind. Her words were silky smooth and seductive, making his heart beat faster, making him want to be next to her desperately.

  He lunged forward desperately, reaching out for her. She turned to see him reaching for her and smiled again. She reached out to him as well, her hand grasping his. A mild electric shock went through him as they made contact. She felt so right to him–

  His thought process cut off abruptly as she pulled him to her and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was a surprise, but a welcome one. She took the kiss further, pushing him back until he felt the mossy hardness of a tree against his back. Not that he minded. Evangeline could have pushed him onto a bed of nails and he would have thanked his lucky stars for her touch...

  

  The Feynid Forest was not a good place to be separated in.

  Camira’s heart pounded unpleasantly in her chest as she followed Marco. Marco had abandoned her quickly for who he thought was his friend. Camira knew better. She should have warned Marco better. In her hesitation, Marco was now in the hands of the creatures she was trying to avoid.

  Faeries were not like their cousins, the fairies thought to be extinct. They were two similar sounding creatures, but two creatures that were like the sun and moon in comparison. Fairies were gentle in nature, focused on healing and their earth-based magic. Faeries on the other hand...

  She shook her head as she followed the clumsy trail Marco had left behind in her wake. The Feynid Forest had been specially set aside for the faeries that inhabited it, as a way of corralling the creatures into this one spot, instead of having them run rampant throughout Aurialis.

  Faeries were tricksters. That much she had explained. What she didn’t explain clearly was their ability to invade their victim’s mind, searching for sexual preference and people that play a special part in their victim’s life. They transformed into that person, looking to trick their victim until it’s too late. A faerie had obviously burrowed into Marco’s fragile human mind and sought out the form it now took, this woman named Evangeline.

  Speaking of Marco and Evangeline...there they were. What she saw was a sight that made her stomach turned. Marco was being pressed back to a tree by a faerie. She was sure now that elves were immune to faerie charms, as she saw what they really looked like. The woman in front of Marco might have looked like the woman named Evangeline to him, but to Camira, all she saw was a wild figure maybe four feet tall, with slightly green-tinged skin and long, wild and tangled hair of varying shades of green and brown. Eyes like a cat’s focused on Marco as the creature bared a mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth. This creature would be going in for the kill soon.

  Not yet. Camira wasn’t going to stand by idly while Marco was devoured. She pulled her bow up and notched another arrow into position.

  “Let him go!”

  The faerie let loose with an inhuman screech as it turned its head towards her.

  “What are you doing?” Marco cried, horrified. “Don’t shoot my friend!”

  “That is no friend of yours, Marco,” she said. “This is the creature I warned you about before, the one that takes on the forms of those close to you before devouring you as food!”

  The confusion in Marco’s gaze was clear. The same went for his voice, as he asked, “What are you talking about? This is Evangeline!”

  “I don’t think so.”

  

  Marco was horrified. Camira was going to shoot Evangeline! He pushed his friend out of the way and blocked Camira’s path with his own body. Let her shoot him,
if she wanted to kill someone that badly.

  Camira looked absolutely exasperated. “Get out of my way.”

  “No, not until you lower that arrow.”

  “Ask your friend who she is yourself! The deceptive creatures of this forest cannot speak any understandable language! Even with your mage speak, you will not be able to understand her!”

  Marco wanted to ask how she knew he was using mage speak, but it must have been obvious, since he wasn’t from around here. Instead, he turned to Evangeline. “Well, you heard the woman. Go ahead and prove her wrong!”

  Evangeline only glared at the woman. Her face had too angry an expression for her. Usually, when Evangeline’s anger reached a certain point, she had trouble keeping her composure. She would want to transform into her demon side. That wasn’t happening now. The Evangeline before him just looked wild, ready to attack.

  It didn’t make sense.

  “Well?” he asked, his voice hitching higher in panic. Was Camira correct, was this woman before him not Evangeline? It might explain that kiss he had experienced...

  Before conflict could carry any further, two arrows flitted from the trees to the far right of Marco. Evangeline gave a horribly inhuman cry and fell to the ground as the arrows made a new home in her side and belly.

  “Evie!” he cried, stepping closer.

  “Get back!” a harsh male voice yelled.

  He turned. From behind the tree, two men approached. The two males were bare chested, except for a small metal plate that crossed over the upper half of their chests in elegant, swirling designs. Their pants were likewise light in color and had the same metal design going, like a sort of armor plating. Marco instantly noticed the pointed ears on both, but one drew his attention more. He had waist-length black hair tied back with a leather thong. Feathers adorned his hair, matching the same feathers that were nestled in the arrows he shot.

  “D’jerik,” Camira whispered faintly.

  The elf called D’jerik stepped forward and swiftly shot two more arrows point-blank into Evangeline.

  Marco would have protested, if he hadn’t have seen what became of Evangeline. Instead of bleeding out, she was warping, turning into a strange and somewhat feminine creature shorter than Evangeline, anorexic-skinny, as he called it, with green skin and hair the color of the forest around them. Strange, slitted cat’s eyes shone with pain and anger.

  He flinched. This was the creature he had kissed?

  “Oh, God, what is that?” he cried, fighting the sick feeling crawling up his throat.

  D’jerik’s companion answered. “Faerie. Disgusting creature, isn’t it?”

  “D’jala, to me,” the first man said.

  The second elf man called D’jala hurried to D’jerik’s side. He hurriedly pulled a knife from the belt at his waist and slit the creature’s throat. The creature stopped protesting, falling to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

  The first man glared at Camira. “Not a wise move, to be running from the village, Camira. Your father is looking for you.”

  Camira’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not running away.”

  The hostility that Camira held for D’jerik hung thick in the air between them. This man, D’jerik, was the man she had been promised to marry. He was the type of man Marco thought most women would go for. Tall, muscular and in his white and silver armor, he looked like he could kill with ease. Instead of swooning over him like Marco suspected many women did, Camira looked disgusted.

  Made him feel better about what had happened to him.

  That feeling disappeared fast, though, as D’jerik raised his bow to Marco. “Camira, to me! Get away from this disgusting human.”

  “Excuse me?” Marco said, offended.

  “I will do no such thing!” Camira protested.

  “I do not have time for arguments, woman! To me!”

  Marco could see why Camira wanted nothing to do with this man. He wasn’t exactly Prince Charming looking to sweep up his fair maiden.

  “I think not!” Camira yelled over him. “This human has been good to me. We were making our way out of the forest before you got here.”

  “This human needs to back away if he does not want my knife through his gut,” D’jerik growled, completely ignoring what Camira had said.

  Alarmed at the sudden hostility, Marco backed off. He didn’t dare say it out loud, but he wondered to himself who had pissed in this guy’s cereal...or whatever the elf equivalent of cereal was. He doubted the elves ate Cheerios.

  D’jerik’s ice blue eyes shone with obvious satisfaction as he saw Marco back off. In the same commanding voice, he ordered Camira to come home.

  “Alright,” Camira said. “But only if we help Marco first.”

  That was obviously not the answer D’jerik was expecting. He glared towards the human Camira spoke of. “This human?”

  “Yes. He is not from around here and needs to get to Moonriver Academy. He has been gracious enough to help me. I think it’s only fair that we return his kindness. Allow me to help him!”

  Marco watched the two argue. He had a feeling that if he spoke up to interrupt, the male elf would drop him with an arrow without even blinking twice.

  “We do not help humans,” the male elf said.

  “He is no ordinary human, D’jerik. I have seen his powers. And besides that, he helped me. I owe him.”

  D’jerik let loose with a juicy foreign-sounding curse. Seething, he turned his back to her. “Fine. We’ll escort him to Moonriver only if you come back to the colony.”

  After she nodded and they made an agreement, D’jerik nods at his companion. Silently, D’jala pulled a length of rope from a heavy-looking pouch on his belt and pulled Marco’s hands behind his back. Marco gave a protest but Camira was shouting over him, demanding why Marco was being tied as though he were a prisoner.

  “I do not trust humans,” was the simple, cold reply she received.

  Marco called to Camira, letting her know he was okay with it. It was a small indignity, but if they agreed to help him get out of this forest, then he would put up with it. Having three armed elves around would be more helpful than if he was alone and armed with only his pocket knives and dagger.

  “We have a small war party outside the forest confines,” D’jerik said gruffly, shoving at Marco to get him to walk. “We will ride towards Moonriver after we get out of this godforsaken forest.”

  Relief flooded Marco as they left the forest. As they walked, he couldn’t help but look back towards the spot where the fallen faerie lay. Having an escort of three deadly elves was definitely better than traveling alone, considering what they had done to save him.

  Being tied was a small indignity, but he would go along with it. For now, at least.

  Chapter Nine

  Night fell over Moonriver Academy for the Supernaturally Gifted. The students kept to their normal routine, unaware that anything out of the ordinary was happening. Dirk was growing uneasy as he watched the crescent moon rise over the night sky. He still didn’t know where the Shadow Assassins were, or if they were okay. Nighttime could be rough in some parts of the Second Realm. If they were really still on Aurialis, they might have had a better chance, but he feared for them if they were on the Isle Dark. The Isle, with all unwanted magic users and criminals, had become a sort of prison over time, for those who were not wanted. Some criminals were imprisoned there. Some dark magic users, drawn by the lure of the Isle Dark, went there voluntarily. Either way, it was not a good place to be. If the Assassins were indeed on the Isle Dark, he feared greatly for them.

  He stood out in an open field with a handful of teachers and other school officials who had been alerted to the current situation. Grounds keepers had been searching the school's territory for the Shadow Assassins all day but the only person who had been found was a rogue student who was trying to skip class. No Shadow Assassins.

  As the teachers re-grouped together to discuss what to do, none of them noticed three figures s
lip by them.

  The three figures slipped around them, circling around the stables, hiding behind trees until they finally reached the open gate that led to the outside world.

  

  “Dammit, there are too many teachers around to steal the horses again,” Dante growled. She hadn’t dared to speak until she, Dimitri and Moonshadow were out of the school grounds.

  Sneaking off of school property was hard enough on a good day, when the grounds keepers weren’t patrolling and other protective magic wasn’t activated. In their search for the missing guests, the teachers had lowered their protective spells that prevented strangers from entering Moonriver Academy, or from students from exiting. It made it easier for Dante and her companions to sneak out.

  “Where are we going, Dante?” Dimitri dared to whisper, his voice barely louder than the night breeze.

  “Back to the Emeralde Kingdom.”

  “Do you know how far that is on foot?” Dimitri protested in a hissing whisper. “On horses, maybe we could make the journey during the night, but not on foot! What are you thinking?”

  “I am so tired of people asking me that!” she snapped. When she saw her friend flinch, she softened a bit. “Sorry, Dimitri. But I don’t know what else to do. I can’t let those people suffer any more than they are now. We have to help them.”

  “I agree, but on foot?”

  She sighed impatiently, then reached into the pocket of her jacket. She pulled forth a small pouch that jingled with the sound of many coins. “No. There’s supposed to be a Gypsa caravan nearby. Maybe we can borrow a horse or two for the night. Gypsa traders will sell their first born child for a few gold coins, after all.”