by Tiya Rayne
“The Dark King.” She stops her frantic searching to look at me and for the first time I see true fear in Medina’s eyes.
Whoever this Dark King is, he frightens Medina, and if something can frighten her it must be bad. Medina moves a rug in her kitchen and pulls up a trap door in the floor. I’m faced with short wooden stairs that seem to disappear into pitch darkness. Plinket gives me a shove and I start to descend the stairs.
“Tipper!” I call out to my Familiar.
“I’m here, Girl.” I feel her spider legs brush against my shoulder.
The darkness down here seems to swallow me up. There is dim light coming through the cracks of the floor boards from above.
“Stay quiet while I deal with these men. Remember Girl, it was the soldiers that I rescued you from.” Medina warns as she closes the trap door and pushes the rug back in place.
I sit in silence on the dirt floor. There is only enough room for me to stand up, my head brushes the wood floor above me in some places. The length of the room seems to run as long as the kitchen. There are two tall book shelves in the far end corner full of glass jars, books and dusty cobwebs.
Tipper changes into the silver ferret and scurries down my body.
“Quick, help me look for the Familiar’s heart down here.”
I stand to my feet and follow Tipper. The little ferret is digging and sniffing around the ground. My eyes scan the jars along the small wooden shelf.
“What would it look like?” I whisper to Tipper.
“Sshhh, the Familiar can still hear you.” the ferret scolds then continues her digging.
“What exactly am I looking for?”
“A wooden box with carvings on it. The carvings are a spell that keeps the heart beating.” Tipper says in panted breaths.
I scan the shelves trying to find anything that looks like what Tipper described. I didn’t see a wooden box, but something else catches my attention. It is a jar with a black snake inside. However, what caught my attention wasn’t the snake, but the butterfly charm at the bottom of the jar. I get a flash of a memory, something that seems to come even further down in me than my other memories. It was the handsome man from my dreams with the pointed ears—the one Tipper called an Elf. He was standing in those familiar woods and fighting huge wolves. I remember I shot one of the wolves. Later, the nice man had given me this butterfly pendant necklace. It makes sense from what the handsome man showed me in my dreams. It’s clear he’s been in my life since I was a small child. If the dream girl and the visions are really me.
“Who am I?”
“A girl that isn’t helping.” Tipper chides.
“Sorry!” I say, placing the jar with the snake back on the shelf.
I had no idea I had even picked up the jar. I move to look at the other shelf when something else catches my eye. The shelf with the snake jar was not pushed as far back as the second shelf. The dirt behind the shelf is piled up higher in one spot as if someone had dug a hole and over filled it. I get down on my hands and knees, sliding my hand between the wall and shelf I push the dirt away. Not long after, my hand brush over something hard. I dig the object out of the leftover dirt and quickly reveal a rectangular wooden box.
“Tipper!” I call out as I sit back on my feet.
Just as I was about to lift the top, the Familiar flops down on the lid in her small bird form.
“If you open it now the witch will know we have it.” Tipper warns.
“So what do we do now?” I ask my small companion.
Chapter Five
Once again I gaze up at the blood moon. A dangerous sign of dark foreboding. Something big is going to happen tonight.
“I’ve searched these woods many times, my Lorde. I’ve never seen this cabin.” Kazlan—a captain in my army—says in his deep voice.
He is a bald dark skinned man from the Eastern Kingdom. He was one of the first of the Eastern men to defect.
“Interesting.” I rely, as I watch the Familiar rush to the small cabin with its grass roof. “Have you seen that bird before?” I ask Kazlan.
The man follows my gaze as the crow swoops into the window of the cabin.
“My soldiers say yes. Often.”
The witch is indeed hiding something, and if it is my Lilly she will forfeit her deceitful life.
From the walking dreams I’ve been able to determine that whoever has Lilly is not interested in her body. That is the only thing that has kept me from leveling the entire Locke in my fury. The emaciation and the scarring is proof that her captivity isn’t sexually based. Any man with a pulse and a dick will see the value in Lilly’s beauty. If a man had her he would surely violate her, and from the first moment I laid eyes on her I could tell that was not the case. I’ve seen many abused women, often by my hands, there is a look in their eyes, a look of defeat and deadness. It is clear she has no idea who she is and she looks as if she’s been mistreated. Yet, the dead look of being taken against your will is not there. It leads me to believe that a eunuch or a female must have her.
Either way, they will die a painfully slow death. From the moment I realized she had been taken, I have been in a bloody rage. There isn’t enough people to kill to subdue this anger. The longer Lilly was missing I just assumed that all was lost. With the bastards impending birth I thought my time was running out. However, Ofilla went to the dark spirits on my behalf once again. There seems to be a loophole in the original prophecy that Avalia failed to mention to her followers. A small window after the birth of the bastards still gives me time to swing the prophecy in my favor. I just need to win over Lilly. Everything consist of me making Lilly choose me over her do-gooders.
My hands ball into fist at my side as I think of how close I was to doing just that. The opportunity was ripped out of my hands. The night she took missing she was coming to me. She had chosen me. I could be lying between my woman’s thighs right now. Instead I’m out in these godsdamn woods searching for her.
“You three, come with me!” I say to Kazlan and the two soldiers standing with him. “The rest of you, spread out and keep watch.”
Before I approach the door, Medina opens it and steps out looking younger. The first sign that something isn’t right. Many years ago, her brother in law cast a spell on the newly widowed Medina. He thought she was a manipulative and deceitful bitch. Most agreed with him. His spell rendered her a hideous old hag for all eternity so that no man may ever fall victim to her beauty like his brother. The spell was unbreakable. If Medina has found a way around it, it means she is using powerful magic. That knowledge alone is worth this trip.
“My Lorde,” the witch praises as she drops to her feet. “You have to pardon me. I was not expecting your visit. I am not prepared.”
“Does my visit need to be announced in order to be welcomed?”
She stutters over her words, her beautiful mahogany skin flushing with fear and embarrassment.
“Of course not, right this way.” She stands to her feet and leads the way into the house.
The moment I walk over the threshold of the small cottage the smell of jasmine seed greets me.
Her second error of the night. It pisses me off that she thinks so little of me. Jasmine seed is a potent perfume and is often used to cover up strong scents. My question is, what scent is she trying to cover?
I walk around the immaculately clean cottage taking in everything. There is a pot of stew over the fire that someone has ruined by dumping the fragrant flower into. A pile of blankets lie in the corner of the kitchen. I cast an eye to Medina and she seems nervous.
“Have you got a new maid?” I ask. “I don’t recall you being this meticulous with cleanliness.” I rub my hand over a shelf of small vials filled with clear liquids. My finger comes back clean.
“I…I…do. She isn’t here now. Gone home for the night. She’s an elder woman…. Immortal.” Medina offers the lie boldly.
If her maid did not live here, she would not need a sleeping pallet. She glances over
at the black crow on the perch by the windowsill.
“Can I offer you a quick drink or some food to take back with you? I know you are a busy man, no need to linger on my behalf.” Shaking, she grabs for a tea kettle and starts filling it with water.
I take in the floor of the cottage, it is covered in mud. I can distinctly see large paw prints that taper off into large bare foot prints. Belonging to the Familiar, no doubt. There is also a smaller set of footprints that belong to Medina and another set. A set that seems to have been drug recently and then stops at a rug. So that’s where she is hiding her secret.
Suddenly, the black crow lets out a loud caw drawing Medina’s attention. She drops the kettle of water on the floor. The bird flies out of the open window.
“Is everything alright?”
“Yes. Yes, of course.” She answers nervously, picking up the kettle. “It seems some of my chickens has gotten out of the coop. Umm, Sit, my Lorde. It has been so long since I’ve been able to see you. We should sit and catch up.”
I pick up on her change immediately. So does Kazlan. The man’s eyes narrow on the witch. I’ve already decided that I will take the time to study her further. I wasn’t leaving until I figured out what she was hiding under that rug.
“Don’t mind if I do.” I pull out the chair and sit.
I watch her as her eyes flit back and forth between me and the window the bird departed. I don’t speak, letting the silence agitate her even more. Her nervousness works best in my favor.
Medina clears her throat before she speaks. “Have you any luck in finding the human girl?” She takes a seat across from me.
I clasp my hands over my knee leaning back in the chair.
“I have not. I like to believe that I have many loyal followers that are being sure to keep their eyes out for my future bride.”
“Oh yes, my Lorde. I have been very observant. Making sure to watch out for the girl.”
I could almost taste the lie in the air. She was being deceitful about Lilly, but was she lying about helping look for Lilly, or is there more to this. I could not imagine that she would defy me so boldly as to be hiding Lilly from me. Surely she does not seek death that bad.
“That so.”
I never take my eyes from her. I watch as a bead of sweat dots the top of her lip.
“Yes, I am,” She busies herself trying to fix me a hot cup of tea that I never asked for. “I often send Plinket out through the forest to search for her. He has not yet come back with any sign of her. Although, I doubt she is anywhere near this forest. She wouldn’t survive the hidden dangers, not with that heavy belly and weakened state.”
The moment the words left her mouth she knew she had made an error.
The room pops with electricity. Even she feels my rage.
“Or….. so I’ve heard…” She stammers over her words nervously and accidentally spills the tea she was pouring.
“Shit!” She swears as she grabs a brown towel and wipes the mess from the table.
That’s when the scent hits me. A scent that immediately has an effect on me. My groin hardens and stretches down my thigh. I knew that scent as well as I knew my own. Not even lavender seed could cover that scent.
I stand from the table knocking the chair to the ground. I grab the witch’s wrist in a death grip and bring her hand with the towel in it to my nose. Lilly’s vanilla smell is so strong on the rag that for a moment I get lost in her scent. When I focus back in, my anger and fury is crackling around me like lightning.
I push the witch to the floor. I knew she was hiding something under that rug. I stomp to the dingy rug kicking it back. I find a trap door. My Lilly is here. I pull open the door and rush down the rickety steps bending at the waist to fit my 6ft 7in into the small space.
I roar my anger and frustration into the darkness of the cellar.
There is a tunnel dug into the dirt ground just large enough to fit a person. That’s when it dawns on me. The Familiar. That’s why he left in such a hurry and why all a sudden Medina seemed content with me being here.
I turn to Kazlan. “You are to make sure no parts of these woods go unchecked. I’ve summoned Kotche and the others to help. I want only my best searching for Lilly.”
“Yes, My Lorde. And the witch?”
I turn to a whimpering Medina.
“My great Lorde, I was going to tell you….. I…I… was just holding the human for you. I found her….. only this morning.”
I didn’t want to hear any more of her lies.
My back hand connects to her face. She flies through the air and hits the other side of the small room crumpling to the floor.
“Grab that bitch.” I direct one of the other soldiers with Kazlan. “Medina will regret every second that she ever met Lilly. When I am done with her she will only wish that I had killed her.”
We exit the small cabin, after setting everything on the inside a flame. I did not want any reminders of my woman’s prison left standing. I found a drop of blood inside a cabinet built into the wall. With a taste, I could feel her fear and pain of being locked into that shithole.
Waiting for me in the yard is Kotche and 12 of his brothers. Their eyes the color of fire, their skin the color of ash. They looked truly frightening. I smile at my finest creations.
The red haze covering the moon has seemed to grow darker, more prominent.
“My bride is somewhere in these woods. I want her home. You do not sleep, you do not eat or rest until you have my Lilly. Anything that tries to get in your way….. you kill it—gruesomely.”
All 12 of the beast roar up into the night in a cacophony of deafening sound. Their heavy feet pound against the ground like a stampede of wild boars.
“My Lorde,” A soldier calls.
I turn to the voice and notice the soldier has a small boy clutched around the neck. The child struggles and fights, but my soldier’s grip is strong.
“I found this kid snooping around our horses.”
I squat down in front of the kid getting eye-level with the lad. He’s not that old, with filthy golden hair and face so smeared with dirt he looked darker than Kazlan’s dark brown complexion. He’s probably some little punk looking to join my army. I take recruits as young as this all the time. They are great for target practice.
“Well what do we have here? What’s your name lad?”
The kid stiffens. He squares his shoulders and look directly in my eyes.
I’ll give the little fuck some credit, he has balls.
“My name is Matthias.”
“What are you doing in these woods at this time of night Matthias? And I advise you to think about your response, because the wrong answer may be the cause of your death.”
The kid tries to pull away from the soldier, but earns a quick punch to the face.
“You answer the Dark King when he speaks to you.” The soldier demands on my behalf.
With blood flowing from his split lip the kid looks at me without an ounce of fear in his eyes.
“He is not my king.”
The soldier lifts his hand to strike the kid again, but I hold up a hand to stop him. I stand to my full height.
“Do you see this?” I shout to my soldiers as I turn my back to the kid. “This is a brave ‘man’.” I mock.
The soldiers laugh.
I clasp my hands behind my back as I circle the boy. “Even in the face of imminent death, this lad remains faithful to his cause.”
The boy again tries to pull away from the soldier. I face him again and sneer down at him.
“Who is your king, lad? If it is not I? What cause do you fight so audaciously for?”
The boy’s eyes scan his surroundings as if he believes someone will come and save him. No such luck, boy.
When his eyes finally focus on me I see something in them. A look of determination, a look of resignation. Then the look clears and I see only fearlessness.
“I serve the twin Kings. And my cause, is the death of the Dark King.�
��
The soldiers hiss their irritation.
I shake my head at the boy and pull the blade from my scabbard. I thrust the knife into the boys gut and twist. The guard releases the boy and he falls to the ground.
“You have failed your kings and your cause.” I spit the words out to the fallen boy and turn to leave his treacherous body in the woods to rot.
That’s when I hear a sound that stops me cold. I turn around to the sound of the boy’s laughter. With blood pooling between his teeth he smiles up at me.
“He shouldn’t have let me go.” The boy says, then traces away.
“Nooooo” I shout as I realize what he meant.
The kid had the ability to trace, which meant as long as my soldier held onto him he could not get away. And if he, a non-magical, had the ability to trace, it only meant one thing.
“FUCKING AVALIA!!!!”
Chapter Six
“I think we should try the Western Kingdom. Artimus has been suspiciously quiet recently.” Augustus says as he peers down at the map of the Locke spread out across the table in our secret meeting room.
This is how our nights conclude. Throughout the day we search for Lilly or any signs of Lilly. At night we compare notes and findings. Then we discuss where to start our search for the next day. Tonight is different, with that sinister blood on the moon we thought it best to go out tonight. The arrival of that foreboding moon, sent Avalia into a panic. Not only has she been plagued with headaches all day, but her sights has been unusually silent today. Even now she stands at the open arch window and stares up at the moon. She’s more distracted than I am. I can tell she’s worried. We all are. With Lilly still missing and that threatening moon, everyone in the kingdoms are nervous. Already a crowd has formed at the gates of the glass castle, they hope for protection or any word from Avalia about what to suspect.
I look down at my pocket watch noticing that now would be the time to meet Lilly in the dreamscape. Unfortunately, she will be disappointed tonight. Tonight, I will be out searching for her instead of in her dreams. Avalia has agreed to meet with her tonight.
