Empyrean: Return of the Fire Faery

by Twyla Turner

  Rafe didn’t even check to make sure it was dead. Once the dragon went down, he turned away from the fallen creature towards Imogen. His mouth fell open in shock when his eyes locked on her. The fireball still surrounded her, yet she was not exactly on fire. She was down on one knee and cringing as if in pain. Her eyes were tightly shut. Red, yellow, and orange light lit up her veins, and her butterscotch skin glowed from the inside out.

  “You are weak and pathetic. What can you do? Nothing!” The dragon’s deep voice rumbled at her. “We know who you are. Your father was weak. And so are you. You’re so pitiful, you let your parents die. Worthless,” it spat.

  Imogen’s skin began to glow brighter. Everyone stopped fighting, and the crowd in Faerien City gasped, as red markings swirled over the right side of her face. Then they snaked down her neck, over her shoulder, and down her arm. The fireball surrounding her pulsed and expanded. She slowly stood up, and the fireball moved with her, as her eyes finally opened. Her amber pupils smoldered like fire.

  “I am ENOUGH!” She shouted.

  She raised her hands above her head and then flung them down in front of her. As she did, the fireball burst from around her and condensed into a flaming sphere between her hands. The dragon’s face registered shock as she hurled the fireball back at him. The dragon flew back and hit the rock wall, breaking its back. The globe of flames bounced off of the downed dragon and she flung her arms towards the other dragon that had Saffi and Rae trapped. The flaming orb blasted it like a bomb and the dragon exploded.

  Everyone’s eyes followed the ball of fire as it glided back to Imogen. It stopped and floated a few inches above her outstretched hand. Fresh imprints blazed on her skin and shimmered vibrant red. Behind her, red wings fluttered softly. Her mane of wild, fiery red curls framed her stunning face. Her amber eyes now blazed brightly.

  The five of them were struck dumb as they stared at the once human girl. Their brains took a moment to register the magnitude of what just happened. In the town square, the crowd murmured excitedly.

  “You’re…you’re…a faery.” Rafe whispered in awe as he walked towards her, clutching his injured arm. The pain was forgotten in his astonishment.

  Imogen blinked as if coming out of a trance. She looked at the sphere of fire that hovered above her palm. Her eyes traveled up her right arm that was now imprinted with swirling, glowing red markings. She looked behind her, and her eyes grew wide as she took in her new wings. She dropped the fireball and clapped her hands over her mouth in shock. The orb of fire fell and extinguished on the cave floor.

  “Oh my God!” She exclaimed softly.

  Rae walked over to Rafe and held her healing hands over his torn arm. It healed within seconds. Rafe nodded his thanks to her and then they all focused their attention back on Imogen. The five of them surrounded her, taking in her transformation in amazement.

  “You have returned.”

  The crowd in Faerien City exploded with cheers and whistles of celebration.

  Imogen frowned at Saffi. “What do you mean, ‘you have returned?’”

  “You’re a fire faery. All of the fire faeries had been lost in the fight for good on Earth.” Saffi began to explain. “The fire faeries were our fiercest warriors, so they were sent to Earth to help fight evil. When they all lost their lives, we didn’t think we’d ever see another. So your return means a lot,” she finished.

  Imogen was speechless. She continued to look at her right arm with the new, unfamiliar markings swirling on it. The red within the imprints moved like licking flames. She felt the wings on her back and moved them like it was second nature.

  How is this even possible? Imogen thought to herself. Daegan didn’t respond. Even he was speechless.

  “How?” Imogen asked out loud.

  “I don’t know,” Saffi admitted honestly.

  “But it all makes sense now, right?” Rafe asked. “Why you were brought here?” He stepped closer to her and she looked up at his handsome face. Love still shown in his vibrant blue eyes and a look of relief passed over her face.

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “By the way.” He grinned at her. “You look even more gorgeous as a faery. If that’s even possible.”

  Imogen smiled bashfully, and Rafe reached out his hand to touch hers. She felt a jolt of electricity shoot up her arm. Her imprints went from dark red to yellow and back again, like the colors of a flame. It was the soul surge. Imogen’s eyes shot up to Rafe’s, and he smirked.

  “Finally felt it, huh?” He asked.

  “Yeah,” she said in awe.

  Rafe reach up to touch her face when they heard clapping coming from one of the tunnels. Rafe dropped his hand, and they turned to look at the four entrances. Just then my vision cleared and the images projected into the night sky vanished. The crowd shouted their protests as their view of the danger unfolding miles away was cut short. Now we were all blind to our fate. Our uncertain future hung in the balance.

  I looked at Aviana and Yaron’s worried faces. I closed my eyes and prayed that Imogen and her allies made it out alive.

  Chapter 41

  Imogen

  Our intimate moment was interrupted as massive creatures ran out of the tunnels and surrounded us. Their skin was grayish. Their bodies hairless. They had pointy ears and nasty sharp teeth. Their bottom teeth protruded from their mouths like a wild boar’s. All they wore were tattered dirty pants. Their wide barrel chests and enormous arms were exposed. Their strength on display.

  “Ogres,” Rafe said under his breath.

  The clapping that had drawn our attention to the tunnels grew closer. Finally, out walked another creature I had only heard of in stories or seen in movies. Half man, half horse. A centaur. He had long jet black hair that reached past his chest. Large, white horns like a ram’s curled around on either side of his head. He had a long beard that ended in a point in the center of his chest and held together with a large silver bead. The human part of his body was ripped with muscles, and his skin was tan. His black pupils were surrounded by creepy white irises with a black outer ring around them. Eyes that made a shiver run down my spine and the tiny hairs on my body stand on end. His face was racially ambiguous as if he was a mixture of every race on Earth. The horse part of his body was pure white with a black tail to match his hair.

  He finally stopped clapping as he walked in front of us. “That was such a sweet moment.” His voice was otherworldly, it was so deep. “The fire faery has returned to Empyrean once more.” He stopped in front of me and stroked a large calloused finger down the right side of my face, over my new imprints. I felt Rafe tense up next to me, and I jerked my face away from the centaur’s hand. “Too bad your welcome home is going to be cut short.” He sneered at me as he got in my personal space.

  “Says who?” I said defiantly through clenched teeth.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I forget to introduce myself.” He smiled pleasantly, showing off perfect white teeth with lethal fangs like a vampire. “I’m Hafgrim. Ruler of Myrkur. Purveyor of Darkness. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He said politely as if he didn’t have plans to kill us all.

  “I’m Imogen. Human girl. Now faery. Sent to kick your-” My insult was cut short by his massive hand gripping my throat.

  I clawed at his hand as he lifted me off of the floor. My feet kicked wildly, desperate for air. Rafe made a move to help me, but two ogres grabbed him and restrained him. Then Hafgrim threw me down like a ragdoll. My breath was knocked out of me and my armor clattered against the hard rock floor.

  Before I could get up and attempt to retaliate, two ogres grabbed my arms and hefted me up, despite my best efforts to break free. I looked over to each of my friends, and they too were held captive by Hafgrim’s minions. Except for Daegan. They couldn’t exactly hold him by his legs. So instead, they pointed sharp spears at him to make sure he stayed in line.

  “Strip her of her armor and their weapons. Then take them up to the tower. Lock them up, while
I decide their fate. I definitely believe a celebration of their demise is in order. And they’ll be the guests of honor.” Hafgrim smirked gleefully.

  After following his orders, the ogres dragged us away. They carried us through the tunnels, up to the main floor of the dark and dreary castle. I looked around, trying to find a way out of the castle, but after several twists and turns down corridors lit by torches with the heads of different creatures lining the walls, I lost track of where we were in the castle. Finally, they took us up a winding staircase. At the very top was a large prison cell. One of the ogres unlocked the barred cell door, and they threw us in one by one and forced Daegan in by poking him with the spears. I felt the tiniest of relief at the fact that we were all locked up together in the same cell. I’m pretty sure that I’d have had a panic attack if I was in a cell by myself.

  After they pushed in Daegan, they slammed the door and turned the key in the lock. “Enjoy your accommodations. I hope you have a lovely stay.” One of the ogres taunted us sarcastically, and the others laughed.

  I felt my anger start to boil. As the ogres turned to leave, the one that had taunted us passed one of the torches on the wall. I could feel the flames and with my new power over them, I made the torch burst in his face. I smiled as he screamed and batted the flames away. He turned back and glared at me as I smirked with satisfaction.

  “You’ll pay for that.” He growled.

  I just raised an eyebrow in response. Once they left, my bravado drained away and was replaced with tremors. Rafe immediately wrapped me up in his arms.

  “It’ll be okay, Immy.” He tried to soothe me.

  “Will it?” I pulled back and looked up at him. “How are we going to defeat him, Rafe? He’s surrounded by an army of ogres and dragons. And we have no idea what sinister plans he has for us. It feels hopeless.” I walked over to the black stone wall and slid down dejectedly.

  “We can’t give up, Imogen,” Rae said fiercely. Uncharacteristically loud for her normally quiet demeanor. “We’ll figure this out.”

  Rafe slid down the wall next to me and took my hand in his. “We will.”

  ~~~

  “Immy.” My dad said my name with disappointment. “I know you can do better than that. You left yourself wide open for an attack. You didn’t even try to protect yourself.” He gave me his classic disapproving dad look.

  “Sorry, dad. I guess I’m just distracted.” I took a defensive pose, trying to be ready this time for his attack as we sparred in our little home gym.

  “What’s up?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Imogen.” He dragged my full name out, and I knew he meant business.

  “Some kids made fun of me in front of the boy I like,” I admitted.

  “Boy? What boy?!” My dad said indignantly.

  “Daaaaad!” I said embarrassed.

  “Fine.” He pouted. “What were they saying?”

  “They were calling me ginger, the red-headed stepchild, and I can’t even say the worst.” He gave me a look, and I sighed. “They said my head looks like a used tampon.” Tears filled my eyes. “Worse than that, my friends didn’t even defend me. Hailey just laughed along with everyone else.”

  My dad pulled me into his side, giving me a side hug as he rubbed my arm. “I’m sorry, sweetie.” He took a deep breath and then continued. “You will learn that people will take your differences and use them as a weapon to make you feel less than. But I assure you, your differences are what makes you beautiful and unique. You won’t believe me now, but one day you’ll look back and remember this moment. And you’ll smile because you’ll finally understand that you’re enough just as you are. And you’ll even feel beautiful. Not despite your flaws and differences, but because of them. You’ll also find someone that adores every coiling fiery curl, every freckle, and all the amazing unique parts of you. And they won’t be swayed by the words of silly people.”

  He stepped back, gripped both my shoulders and looked down at me seriously. “Also, not everyone that calls you friend actually is a friend. A real friend will never purposely do anything to make you feel anything other than amazing. It’s a hard lesson to learn, and it takes time to weed out the bad apples. But you’ll get there. I promise.”

  “Thanks, dad.” I quickly brushed tears from my cheeks, trying to compose myself.

  “Now, let’s get back to your training.” He said as he took the stance of an attacker. “One day you might have to save the world.” He waggled his eyebrows at me and grinned.

  “Yeah right, dad.”

  I gasped softly as I came awake. I blinked back tears at the dream of a long lost memory of my dad and me. It had felt so real that my heart hurt as I realized that it was only a dream.

  I wiped away my tears and a soft light caught my eyes. I looked up and had to clap my hands over my mouth to keep from crying out. I glanced around me, and all my friends were sound asleep. I looked back up and saw my dad standing there. Except, it wasn’t actually him, but a projection of him.

  His image before me was nebulous like smoke. As if, I could run my hands through it and he’d disappear. He smiled down at me, and I slowly stood up, trying to keep quiet as I stepped forward. He was the same but different. He still had caramel brown skin, freckles spattered across his face, and bright red hair cut low. Only now, he had red imprints going down the right side of his body. Markings just like mine, but more masculine. His amber eyes glowed, and I knew what my eyes must look like now that I had changed. And behind him, beautiful wings glittered red. He even wore clothing similar to the way the men dressed here in Empyrean.

  “Dad?” I said softly.

  “Hey, sweetie.” His deep voice sounded ethereal as he spoke and fresh tears came to my eyes.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, knowing he’d be able to read between the lines. That I was asking about us being faeries and Empyrean.

  “It wasn’t time for you to know. And knowing you, you would’ve thought I was crazy.” He grinned at me and my soul warmed at the familiar sight.

  “No, I wouldn’t.” I gave him back a watery smile. “Why did you go to Earth? Why didn’t you take us back when things starting getting bad there?”

  “I wanted to try and do some good on Earth. I thought I could help. And I think I did for a time, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. And I stayed because I loved your mother. She couldn’t come to Empyrean because she was human. So I stayed.” He explained.

  “Is she at least with you now?” I said hopefully.

  “Yes, she is.” He smiled brightly. “And we’re watching over you. So listen to me, Immy.” He turned serious as he continued. “You do possess the power to defeat Hafgrim and the darkness. Stop doubting yourself. You wouldn’t have been brought to Empyrean if you couldn’t. Now that you have found your power, just remember that you control all things fire.”

  “Alright,” I said though I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant since it sounded like a riddle or something more that I was supposed to know about my powers.

  “I love you, Immy.” He said as his hazy image started to fade.

  “I love you too, dad. Don’t go.” I reached out, and my hand went through the mist. “I miss you guys so much.” My voice wobbled as tears streamed down my face.

  “We will always be with you, Immy. Guiding you. Watching out for you. You’ll never be alone. Remember that.” He said as the mist completely disappeared.

  I took deep hiccupping breaths as I tried to calm my erratic emotions.

  “Immy.” I heard Rafe behind me.

  I turned to look at him, and the sympathy in his eyes let me know that he’d heard everything. More tears blinded me, and I swiped at them. Rafe held out his hand to me, beckoning me to come towards him. I walked to him and took his hand. Rafe pulled me down to sit in between his legs. He pulled my back against his chest and wrapped his strong arms around me. We stayed like that for a while. Quiet and comforted.

  “Well, I guess it is official. I’m sta
ying in Empyrean.” I said softly, breaking the silence. I turned my head on his chest and looked up at him.

  “Did you think you had any other choice?” He raised an inquiring eyebrow at me as I felt his voice rumble through his chest.

  “I wasn’t sure. I was afraid that there was going to be some all-powerful force that would make me leave when the war was over.” I confessed.

  “Not a chance,” Rafe said fiercely. “And even if there were, I would’ve just went back with you.”

  I scrunched my eyebrows together. “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what would you have done on Earth?” I asked curiously.

  “Been with you.” He said sweetly, and I watched his imprints undulate from dark to light blue, over and over again.

  I sat up straight and cupped my imprint covered hand against the side of his face. Rafe leaned down and touched his soft, full lips against mine. I felt the ripple of the soul surge course through my body as he deepened the kiss. Regular human butterflies and warm fuzzies had nothing on the soul surge. My whole body tingled. From my scalp to the soles of my feet. I could actually feel him as if he was touching my soul and holding it for safe keeping. It was honestly the most comforting feeling in the world.

  The sounds of several footsteps in the corridor broke our moment and woke the others. Several ogres appeared and one stepped forward to unlock the cell door.

  “Time to wake up, kiddies and meet your fate.” His voice grated worse than the rusted cell door swinging open.