War of the Realms Box Set

by Sarah J. Stone

  Looking up though, she couldn’t bear to think what her life would have been had she not brought Aerie to this place. They had everything they needed. The small fields of vegetables were harvested all spring and into the summer. The dragons hunted sometimes and others Asphodul went out, using her bow to bring in what Aerie needed to grow and be healthy. As a fae, Asphodul needed little but Aerie was not and required other things in her diet.

  Asphodul never minded the extra work. Their life there never felt as if it were in captivity. Things were beautiful and simple, something life never was as Queen. The sound of Aerie’s laughter caught Asphodul’s attention. She paused, giving out a small chuckle as she watched her wizard daughter dance free in the tall grasses further toward the edge of the woods. Barimus stayed with her at all times, swaying his head with her body and closing his eyes as she ran her hand over his snout. She loved him so, and he loved her even more.

  Asphodul looked up at the sun, and thought about the days and weeks she had kept track of. Aerie’s birthday was in just a week, she would be eighteen. Asphodul had prepared a small party for the two of them, plus the dragons. Celebrating her entry into adulthood was a big deal, even if no one else in all the realms knew she was alive. Aerie never really asked questions about it either. She seemed content with her small life but Asphodul feared that one day Aerie would become bigger then it. She feared that her torturous past, her dark beginnings would haunt her. She couldn’t know for sure, though, and that drove Asphodul insane. She obsessed over it in her own mind, never letting a clue off to Aerie.

  Aerie did a cartwheel, landing in the grass and plopping down. She never wore shoes, not even when she was a little girl. But little no longer explained her expanding bust, her small waist, and the way her hips curved into her thighs. She was a woman of the times, and Asphodul couldn’t help but see her mother’s beauty, strength, and charm in her eyes. She had long been dead, but Asphodul had sworn an oath forever. An oath that changed the course of her life, twisting the reality of love and duty and forging a path she never thought she would travel.

  Aerie was a delightful girl, a girl with a wonder for the world around her. She smiled and laughed a tune that made every creature near her comforted and keen. Asphodul had watched her closely for so many years, wondering if the Dead King, even a small piece of him resided within her soul. But there had never been a whisper of anger or evil in Aerie. She was the kindest soul that had ever seen the deep hidden woods of the lands. And there had never been a question of why she was there. It was accepted as if she already knew, deep down, why.

  A slight breeze rustled the tree limbs to the right of the clearing, shaking Asphodul of her thoughts. She sighed and set down her basket, stretching her arms high into the warm air. She looked up at the sky, finding a bright blue right above but the edge of what looked like a deep and troubling storm approaching fast from the North. The sight of its chilled Asphodul.

  She stepped forward, putting her hands to her mouth. “Aerie. Time to come in. Before the storm drenches us…”

  Asphodul could feel a warm tingle in her chest, shooting down her arms into her finger tips. She stepped out of the garden, her knees buckling beneath her. She hit the moist cool ground and threw her head back, gasping. Her eyes shifted back and forth, glazing over in a translucent white film. The vision that had already been see by the Fae filtered through her like a movie reel. She gripped the grass beneath her but she could not feel it. All she could feel was the fear coursing through her vision.

  Aerie giggled at her dragon and looked over, finding her mother on the ground. She jumped up with a gasp and took off through the grass, sliding to a stop on her knees next to her mother. She reached out grabbing her arm. “Mother…I…”

  Aerie froze. She couldn’t see the vision that her mother saw, but she could feel the intensity of the emotion. The fear, the sadness, the anger. It flooded through her like a broken damn. Tears poured from her eyes as she open up her mind and took the feelings straight in to her bones.

  After a few minutes, Asphodul let out a deep breath, letting her head hang as the breath crept back into her lungs. Aerie released her arm and fell back on her butt, grasping onto her chest. Slowly Asphodul looked up into Aerie’s face. There was no time for explanations, she could feel the danger growing ever closer.

  Asphodul gripped Aerie’s shoulders, pulling her to her feet as she rose. “Go inside, close the shutters, danger is coming.”

  Aerie wiped the tears from her cheeks and nodded, taking off toward the house. Asphodul looked at Barimus and gave him a simple nod. It was all he needed to know.

  ***

  Nekane grunted as he sat down in the cold wet dirt and leaves. He pressed his back to the tree stump behind him and gathered his things. He pushed them to the side and turned the spit he had created for the fire. Another meal of fire roasted rabbit, but he had managed to find some berries and nuts when foraging, something extra for the night’s dinner.

  Being alone never bothered him, he had been alone for many, many years. That night, however, something was different. Something was pushing at him, grabbing onto him. It was a feeling he couldn’t quite figure out. Seventeen years, almost eighteen, Nekane had been traveling the lands. He never tired of his search. He never wavered in his need to find the red eyed child from his vision. He didn’t even know if she truly existed or had it been a hallucination plaguing the grief and bitterness twisting knots in his stomach as he sat in his old abandoned castle. That fact had remained to be seen. What he did know was that he would continue until death found him, or he found those eyes.

  Nekane turned the spit one more time and carefully raised the long pole from the holders. He brought it down in front of him and pulled out his knife, cutting a piece of the rabbit off and taking a bite. The warmth of the meat warmed his stomach and he let out a deep breath. His future was unknown, he understood that. But if his vision had been just that, then he needed to find this child before it would be capable of harming anyone else in its wake. By then of course, the child had probably grown to a full adult. Still, Nekane knew when the time came, he would know them.

  He sat eating his rabbit until full, cut the rest of the meat and wrapped it in a brown leather pouch. He stuffed the extra in his bag for the next day’s breakfast and did the same with the berries and nuts. He crawled forward toward the fire, letting it warm his face for just one more moment before tossing handfuls of dirt over the flames until they were exhausted. Nekane stood and stomped his foot down on the embers, making sure the fire had gone out.

  There was a clearing to the right of him, but his fire had presided in the cover of the canopies as to not alert anyone of his presence there. He cleaned up his tools and grabbed his bag, walking into the clearing. It was a bright spot in the dark and dreary woods, the moonlight shining down like a spot light. The grass in that spot was vibrant and lively, and he could hear the warning chirps of birds above, protecting their families from his strange presence. He was a stranger there, but then again, he had been a stranger in every place he had gone.

  Nekane would love to camp right there in the soft lush green, a cushion that felt like clouds compared to the cold forest floor. But he knew without the cover of the forest he would be in danger. So, he would camp just inside the Forbidden Woods and the next day continue his journey. His gut had told him which direction to go. It was a tingling in his chest, something invisible pulling him along in his search and he could not ignore it. He had travelled too far and too long to let his intuition be interrupted by fear.

  He smiled, remembering for just a moment the way the grass would hit his kingdom and the children would laugh and play. Something from so far in the past it felt like a lovely dream. He tapped his fingers to his bag and turned around, heading back toward his site. As he stepped into the shadows of the trees a strong wave of fire blew through his chest and down his arms. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground, his eyes clouded over.

  The vision slammed to
a halt, bringing him to a large clearing far in the woods. Through the tree line he could see her. The girl from his vision long before. Her eyes were honey colored and warm, and she laughed as she played in the field. Large dragons surrounded her, watching her with love. They were not just her protectors, but her family too.

  The girl, more like a woman now, was beautiful and soft in skin. She laughed gayly, picking a flower and setting it on the snout of the dragon. Nekane took another step to get a better look. A twig snapped beneath his boot and the girl swung around, her hair following in the sunlight. She stared at him, the flower dropping from her hand. Suddenly, her eyes began to glow a deep and ominous red.

  Nekane gasped, coming out of the vision. He leaned forward and vomited before sitting back and closing his eyes, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He felt shaken and flush all over so he let his body carry him back onto his butt, leaning exhausted against the tree. His chest heaved quickly and shallowly up and down as he panted, trying to retrieve his senses. Trying to clear what was a vision and what was reality.

  When he opened his eyes, the forest seemed darker than before. He was close, he could feel it in every fiber of his being. Everything that had led him through the forest, across the lands, and forward through the seasons had led him right there to that moment. The girl was in his reach.

  When he found her, he would finish what he set out to do once and for all. He would save the realm from destruction, something he had failed to do for his people long before. This time, nothing was going to stop him.

  Chapter Thirteen : The Wolf King’s Vision

  Far out in the realm, through the blowing bustling fields of wheat a small wooden cabin sat, tucked back from the main thoroughfare. The long gravel drive meandered back between two large swaths of glistening green grasses, and perched at the edge of a bright forest that was always full of life. It was evening, the sun setting across the wheat fields and the birds taking their last flights before nestling into their homes in the nooks and crannies of the fields and forest.

  Pike sat on the steps of his front porch, leaned against the railing. He held an apple in his hand, cutting through it with his knife and popping the juicy pieces into his mouth. He exhaled, leaning his head against the old wooden rail as the house creaked familiarly behind him. He hadn’t been that relaxed in a very long time, and possibly even never in his life. Everything had always been so heavy on his shoulders.

  The last seventeen years he had spent traveling. From the moment he strapped his sword, fur lined cape, and bag to his back and walked away from the Fae, he hadn’t stopped. He walked the lands, watching the aftermath of the Dead King slowly begin to fade as people’s lives rejuvenated and the dark shadow of fear that once loomed over the realm finally disappeared into the sun. He met so many people along his journey, never revealing his true name or that at one point deep in his past he had swam like the dolphins through the ocean living with the now completely eradicated Mer-People. That he was a prince then, and a King of sorts now.

  A king he didn’t feel like, but when he came upon a small crop of untouched land and built a cabin to lay his head beneath, he finally felt like a human. His legs were no longer strange to him, the memory of his tail and life as a Prince, faded completely away into the outskirts of his mind. He wouldn’t stay at the cabin forever, nor did he since he had built it. But having it there gave him a comfort of home. Walking up the familiar gravel drive was exciting every time he came back from wandering the countryside and exploring the less known villages and Kingdoms. It was his quiet in the storm of him mind.

  Pike cut another piece of apple and slid it between his lips, sucking the juices from the flesh of it. He could remember the days spent perched on the rock at the banks outside his home. He could still see the shimmer of love in his wife’s eyes, before she had become just that. It didn’t take long though for that shimmer to disappear from his memory and be replaced with her sobs and screams as the Dead King tortured her to nothingness.

  Then there was the wolf. The wolf that gave him the honor of the cloak, the honor of the Wolf King title. It visited him often in his dreams, talking of days in the future and long since past events that would shape his life. The wolf gave wisdom he would not find on the trails of the realm. And he reminded him of warm days in the Vale. Pike couldn’t help but wonder if his feet would ever find those soils again.

  Pike tossed the remainder of his apple out into the yard for the roaming animals and put his knife in the sheath hanging from his side. The sun was almost all the way gone, and the festival of the Dead King was only a week away. He had heard the stories of the splendor and glory of the celebrations, but had no plans ever to return to the Vale to celebrate alongside of the people. He was honored to be the one to end the Dead King, but celebrations he could never really do. Not with everything that was lost during that battle. The memories were still too bitter and too sensitive.

  The vision of the others dancing wildly under the moon, fireworks lighting the sky made him smile. He felt as if he could almost hear the piping of the flutist and the strumming of the harp from there. He was happy for them but he was content and comfortable where he had settled. His heart was too full of emotion and question to open up his life to share with others at that point. As far as he was concerned, he could live there for an eternity and be more than happy to sit on his little front porch with nothing more than the wolf following his dreams to keep him company. He had felt too much loss to not be fearful of anything but solitude and he felt that fit him just nice. Even if the cold nights often felt colder all alone.

  Pike closed his eyes for just a moment, letting the breeze wash over his face. It should have been cold there, bitter, but ever since the Dead King left the weather had been loving and gentle. He stood up and took his knife back out, reaching over and grabbing his rag from the edge of the railing to wipe the sticky juices from the blade. He chuckled as he ran the cloth over the insignia of the Mer-People, a gift long ago from the Wizard.

  Sheathing it, he began to back up on the steps reaching the top and pausing. His eyes shifted back and forth as a tingle in his chest grew stronger and stronger. It fluttered up to his shoulders and sifted down his arms, creating a tingle in his fingers as well. Suddenly everything in his body tightened and he dropped to both knees, groaning and grasping at his chest. He couldn’t fathom what was happening to him in that moment. All he had wanted was a hot cup of tea before retiring to the comfort of his bed for the night.

  Drool dripped from his bottom lip and his face turned bright red. Suddenly, his head flew back, and he breathed a long breath of air into his shaking lungs. His eyes fluttered wildly until a coat of white covered his pupils. His arms fell to his sides and his fists clenched as the sounds of screams echoed through his mind. They seemed so close, so familiar.

  Visions, scenes of life fluttered over his vision so fast he couldn’t tell what was what. There were so many moments in his eyes and all he could do was let them pass until the right one was shown to him. He could hear the voice of the wolf in the far off distance. “Let it come to you. Let the vision show you.”

  As Pike attempted to stop fighting it, the same vision that both Asphodul and Leonetta had flooded through him until it was completely over, and his body fell into a heap on the porch. Pike laid there, breathing heavily, staring out at the wheat fields blowing back and forth, his vision going from blurry to not over and over as his body recovered. There was nothing that could compare to the strain his body felt every time a vision was handed to him. It had been many years though, since there had been anything close to that.

  Pike swallowed and turned over onto all fours, shaking his head like the wolf would have done. He reached up and grasped onto the railing, groaning as he pulled himself to his feet. His legs were shaky and he stumbled forward slightly, grabbing onto the pole. He looked out at the fields again before shifting his eyes up at the night sky. The stars seemed to twinkle in a pattern, something he had seen Leonetta do l
ong before. She was listening, he could tell. She was waiting for him to call to her.

  What is this? He said in his mind, speaking to Leonetta in the way he knew she could understand.

  The wind began to whip wildly, blowing the grasses into small knots. Pike put his arm up and squinted his eyes as a fog crept forward, a light briskly shining from inside of it. He took one step down and put his hand on his dagger, unsure of what was to come. A figure lingered in the edge of the fog for a moment and then stepped out. Pike let out a deep breath and took his hand from his weapon. Leonetta stood before him, her body translucent, and her gown flowing wildly around her. She looked like an angel.

  Pike plopped back down on the step. “Though it’s good to see you, Leonetta, you couldn’t have just spoken to me using your Fae tricks?”

  Leonetta smiled kindly, walking up to the steps and grasping her hands in front of her. “Some things are far too important to speak of without looking you in the eyes.”

  Pike’s face went serious for a moment and his hands clung tightly to the steps. Leonetta glanced down at the ground, thinking for a moment. Her eyes came back up, catching Pike’s. There was a tingling sensation within the pit of his stomach as she gazed into him as if she were searching for something. “Have you seen the vision as well?”

  Pike did not like the sound of as well. “I did. It took me by surprise and brought me to my knees. There were so many voices, so many faces, and then eyes redder than I can even remember the Dead King’s eyes glowing. It made my hair stand up on end and I can barely think of it without shuttering.”

  Leonetta picked up her hand, palm up, and closed her eyes as she blew a cloud of fog toward him. It covered Pike for a moment before dissipating. Almost instantly he could feel his nerves calm and the anxiety lessen. “Thank you, Leonetta. Now, tell me what all of this is about. If you saw it as well then I know there is more to it than just a vision.”