The Overt Operation (Department of FAE Book 2)

by Renee Greene

  When the ogres and various followers of Evander came to the great hall, Nea began serving them. After all, she could hear more in the great room than in the kitchen.

  “Nymphs,” an ogre mocked as she brought food to his table. “They’re not good for anything but waiting on people.”

  If only he knew how powerful Nea and Cullen were, but Nea said nothing back.

  Cullen walked up to her, carrying a jug of water, and whispered, “Come over here and listen.”

  She followed him over to another table. As they walked, he discreetly filled the water jug with water from his hands. They reached the table, and he began filling goblets while they listened to the men talking.

  A minotaur was bragging about how the human had been captured, and several ogres, an ankou, and a horned humanoid with a beak and wings were boasting of how they would get information from the human if they were allowed to question him. All their methods were hideous tortures, and Nea had to fight hard to not say anything and scold them.

  Cullen appeared much more calm as he asked them where the human was being kept.

  One of the ogres mocked, “What? You think Evander will let you question him? You couldn’t hurt anyone, nymph.”

  No, nymphs were not as big or bulky as ogres. In fact, they were very lean and lithe. Yet, Cullen could hurt someone. Still, he held his tongue and gave no defense. “I am merely curious to see the human,” he explained. “Humans are very different than fairies, and a real human is a sight to behold.”

  “There’s nothing to be impressed with,” the ankou mocked. “He falls to ankou pain just as every other race does.”

  “I hear he was weak and talked,” one of the ogres scoffed. “He’s not so strong.”

  “He did beat an ogre,” Cullen noted. “Did you see the fight to the death?”

  “He didn’t kill him,” the ogre mocked. “I’d go up against him without any fear.”

  “You will get your chance,” the ankou informed them, “at least if he is lying. You know the rules.”

  “The rules?” Cullen asked. “I have not been here long.”

  “So you were taken in by Giles?” the horned man scolded. “You are a fool!”

  “I have done many foolish things,” Cullen agreed, “but I am here now. What will they do if he has lied?”

  “They will take him in front of everyone, kill someone he cares about, and then let us all take a hit at him before they kill him. It will serve him right for working with Giles. He chose the wrong side, and if he lied, he will pay.” The same ogre then turned to the ankou and asked, “What did he say to do to get through the arch? I think everyone would like to see what the human world looks like. We would have power there.”

  “Perhaps not,” Cullen corrected. “If their technology is as strong as it is rumored to be, your strength may mean nothing.”

  The ogre grumbled something unclear and glared at Cullen, so Cullen busied himself filling goblets as he asked, “Do you know where the human is being kept?”

  “In the dungeon, of course,” the ankou answered. “You must be new. Keep asking questions and you might see it first hand. Hold your tongue and serve.”

  Cullen didn’t say more. Instead, he and Nea walked over to another table. Unfortunately, at that one, there was a satyr who immediately noticed Nea.

  Satyrs were similar to faun, but not as tall or handsome. They had shorter goat legs, and their horns were smaller and curved upward. They were well-known for their desire for women.

  “A nymph,” the satyr noted as soon as she walked up. “A nymph, and a beautiful one. What is your element?”

  She did not respond, but pointed to her mouth and shook her head.

  “Oh, the quiet type,” he hissed. “That’s nice. Talking is over-rated where wenches are concerned. Have you had your tongue cut out?”

  “Mute people cannot answer,” Cullen noted.

  The satyr looked over at him, laughed, and bragged, “I am Welton the accomplished. I can deal with the wench without your help.” He reached over, grabbed Nea’s arm, and pulled her toward him.

  “Have you seen the human?” Cullen asked, trying to distract him from Nea. “I hear he’s been tortured and talked. Do you know which dungeon he’s in?”

  “I’ve seen him,” Welton bragged. “I was in the cavern when he came to negotiate. He was stung by a Tengai and walked in willingly. He didn’t leave so willingly. They took him with the Tengai to the dungeon. What a fool! The humans need us to rule them.” He hit his goblet on the table and called out, “When we rule the humans, we’ll have all the wine and wenches we want!”

  There were cheers from the people around. When they died down, Welton turned his attention back to Nea. “What is your element?” he asked. “Can you make the wind blow around us, or maybe create water for us to drink?” She shook her head, so he asked, “Can you make a puff of fire?”

  She didn’t answer, but tried to pull away from him. His grip was too tight.

  “Let her go!” Cullen insisted.

  Welton laughed and boasted, “All wenches want me. Satyr’s are irresistible.”

  “You will not charm her,” Cullen demanded. “Let her go.”

  Welton pulled Nea over onto his lap and kissed her, so Nea heated her hand up, singed his chest, and jumped away from him.

  “We’ll be going now,” Cullen told him, stepping between Nea and Welton.

  He motioned for Nea to go back to the kitchen, and he backed up toward it, watching Welton the entire time. When they went back to cooking, Cullen asked, “What now? I fear we drew too much attention to ourselves.”

  “Likely,” Nea agreed. “I guess we wait for an opportunity to go to the cavern and try to rescue Dylan. Unfortunately, the cavern will be the hardest place in the entire land to get into unnoticed. The cavern will only have one entrance, two at the most. Those will be heavily guarded, and new recruits won’t be allowed in, likely only those closest to Evander will be. We will have to be careful and plan well.”

  “Indeed,” Cullen agreed. “This is going to get ugly.”

  *****

  As Cullen and Nea waited on the ogres, Dylan had his wrists tied together and was hanging by the wrists from chains anchored to the top the dungeon with his toes barely touching the floor.

  Two ogres were in the dungeon with him, right outside the cell Pyria was in.

  “Where is Bryan, and what is his weakness?” one of the ogres demanded.

  “I don’t know,” Dylan answered, so the ogre hit him.

  The other ogre then demanded, “You will make us human weapons!”

  “I don’t know how,” Dylan admitted.

  “You lie!” the ogre seethed, and he punched him. Dylan’s toes barely touched the ground, so he swung backward from the hard hit.

  The ogres next went to mocking him for being a puny human and beating him for that. Really, he had no information to give, but the ogres were looking for an excuse to beat him. Dylan could not understand how anyone could take joy in hurting someone else. He’d done nothing to them. Yet, they delighted in punching him, and after a while even pulled out a whip. Dylan braced himself for the beating, but it was worse than he even imagined, and he cried out in pain. It wasn’t as bad as the pain from the ankou, but the pain from the ankou subsided quickly. The pain from the whip didn’t.

  When they were done, the ogres threw Dylan into the dungeon cell beside Pyria. She had her feet anchored to the floor so she couldn’t fly off and her tail was also tethered.

  Dylan hit the ground hard and lay there.

  “I’m so sorry,” Pyria cried. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

  He wasn’t very responsive, as he was in a great amount of pain. He just lay on the floor and moaned.

  He had been lying there for over an hour when more guards came in, both were ogres.

  They pulled Dylan out of the cell, tied his hands behind his back and led him up the stairs.

  He was once again taken to Evander, w
ho was sitting at a table in the large cavern with a platter of food and a goblet of wine.

  “Would you like something to eat?” Evander offered. “Please, have a seat.”

  Dylan moaned back, but was in too much pain to be coherent.

  “My, my,” Evander exclaimed. “You do look in bad shape. I am afraid my guards are a little too eager to beat prisoners. It is the ogre way. After all, they have been very wronged by elves and other fairies, so it’s understandable.”

  Dylan was tempted to make a remark back, but thought it unwise and really didn’t have the energy.

  “I will have you healed,” Evander offered. “You are of no use to me in your condition.”

  The pixie who was kept in the cage was released to heal Dylan. He lay on the floor and she knelt beside him. She rubbed his wounds gently and whispered, “I am sorry.”

  When he was healed, Evander had him sit across the table from him, but didn’t have his hands untied.

  “Nilix has not been able to figure out what fruit will work for us,” Evander began. “You will need to go with him to locate fruits that will work. You obviously found the right ones for you.”

  “I don’t want to help you get through the arch,” Dylan admitted.

  “I don’t care what you want,” Evander hissed. “You will find the juices to get us through. That is not a request. That is an order. You have forty-eight hours, and if you don’t have the elixir to get us through by then, we will kill Pyria.”

  “No!” Dylan screamed.

  Evander smiled victoriously. “Feelings for her?” he mocked. “Susceptible to her love potion?”

  Dylan didn’t respond.

  “Faun can charm,” Evander explained. “Therefore, we are immune to all other forms of charm, even love potions.” He leaned forward and noted, “You don’t seem to be easily charmed. Are all humans like you?”

  “I like to think of myself as strong-willed,” Dylan replied. “I will let my head make my decisions, not merely my feelings.”

  “But you care a great deal for Pyria?” Evander noted.

  “I do not want to see any lady harmed,” Dylan responded. “Honestly, I do not want to see anyone harmed. I am a peaceful person.”

  “But you are a fighter,” Evander noted. “Obviously, you beat an ogre in a battle to the death. Yet, you claim to be peaceful.”

  “I am,” Dylan insisted. “Yet, I will protect the innocent.”

  “Innocent?” Evander asked. “Do you see Giles as innocent? Do you see those who support him as innocent?”

  “I do,” Dylan admitted.

  Evander clasped his hands together to try to hide his anger. Yet, the hate was clear in his voice as he hissed, “My brother is not innocent. My brother took the throne that should be mine. My brother cast me out. My brother will not accept me as I am. I am not welcome back in the kingdom without changing to fit who he wants me to be.”

  “I can understand that,” Dylan noted. “He does not need people riling his subjects up against him. Perhaps what he wants is what is actually best for you.”

  Evander hit the table. “Giles is not innocent! Now, you will go with Nilix and help him develop the elixir to get us through the arch. You have forty-eight hours.”

  “That’s not enough,” Dylan argued. “I know nothing of fairy chemistry.”

  Evander looked at him curiously, as chemistry was not a word that translated to a fairy language.

  “I don’t know how fairies’ bodies work,” Dylan explained. “They are different from humans.”

  “Then I suggest you learn quickly,” Evander warned. “Fairies understand potions, but obviously, you understand something we don’t, as you came through the arch. You have forty-eight hours.”

  Dylan was taken over to Nilix. That was rather intimidating, as the first thing Nilix did was ask how humans taste.

  “We don’t eat intelligent lifeforms,” Dylan explained. “Would you eat other red caps?”

  Nilix smiled an eerie smile at him. The ankou beside them explained. “Red caps eat any life form, including their own if one of them gets badly wounded.” Dylan tensed uncomfortably.

  “Give me your hand,” Nilix instructed.

  Dylan couldn’t, as his hands were still tied behind his back. “Are you going to eat it?” he asked warily.

  “No,” Nilix answered. “You are needed alive.” He then had Dylan’s hands untied, had them tied in front of him, and had him hold his hands out. Ogres held them so he would hold still.

  Panic struck as Dylan saw Nilix raise a knife over his hands. He tried to pull his hands back, but the ogres had a strong grip on him. Fortunately, Nilix only made a cut in the fleshy part of his hand. He then squeezed blood into a pot of something. The liquid in the pot fizzled and sent a puff of smoke into the air.

  “That likely won’t work,” Nilix complained. “It seems human blood mixes violently with muljiberries. They likely are not like the berries you took.”

  Dylan felt bad for a moment that he’d lied to them. Yet, what else could he do? His father had taught him that lying was bad, but as an agent, it was at times necessary, so in the line of duty, he was allowed. Mostly he was worried that Pyria would be killed because he lied. Of course, they wouldn’t accept the truth. Agent Hall had told them and he’d told them that connection and selfless sacrifice was the answer. Connection… that made him think of Vanessa. He longed to see her again. He would have to fix their connection to get back through. Yet, he had other things to focus on. Somehow he had to keep Pyria alive.

  He suggested that they go outside and look at berries, so he could see if any looked familiar to him.

  Nilix agreed, but they kept his hands tied, and they brought four ogres and an ankou with them. The ankou would be intimidating even if they couldn’t cause pain with their touch. After all, their faces were dragon-like and they had scaly skin, folded their wings to look like a black cape, and carried a scythe.

  “Do you have a name?” Dylan asked the ankou.

  “Koth,” the ankou answered in a deep, threatening voice.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Dylan replied, trying to break some tension. “I’m Dylan.”

  “Silence!” Koth demanded. “Walk. Lead us to where we are to go.”

  “I don’t know where berries are,” Dylan pointed out. “Perhaps you should lead me.”

  “I’ll lead,” Nilix insisted. He walked off with them following.

  Dylan had hoped that going outside would give him a chance to escape, but with so many guards and his hands tied, he didn’t see any opportunity. If only he could escape and then rescue Pyria.

  He looked around at the various berries that grew wild. The land was pretty where the wild plants grew, except for the ruins of the old buildings. He knew nothing of the berries. He did see some blueberries and assumed they were the same as on his world. He saw strawberries too, but they grew on vines.

  “Those,” he said pointing to the strawberries. “Have you tried them?”

  Nilix said he had, but they did pick some. The oranges, however, were harder to find. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of citrus fruits in Elliad. He did see something that looked like an orange, except it was lavender. The name orange really didn’t fit. He picked one off of the bush it grew on and started peeling it.

  “Is it safe?” he asked Nilix before tasting it. Nilix nodded, so he took a bite. It did taste similar to an orange, but so much sweeter. “You don’t have our same fruits here,” he explained to Nilix. He asked for a strawberry. It too was so much sweeter, but the sweetness was more like being sweetened with real maple syrup than sugar. It was amazing. “Your fruits aren’t the same as ours,” he explained. “I can’t find fruits for you. I have no idea what your blood is like or even how similar our bodies are. Just give up on this.”

  “You have forty-eight hours to get us through that arch or Pyria dies,” Nilix reminded him.

  Dylan tensed. How was he supposed to get anyone through the arch? He co
uldn’t make anyone connect to Vanessa or Bryan, and he couldn’t make anyone selfless. He looked around at the ogres, ankou, and red cap with him. Having a heartfelt conversation about connection and selflessness was not even a possibility. His mind raced. Somehow he had to do something. Perhaps he could make some concoction, convince Evander it would work, and then escape at the arch. Unfortunately, Pyria likely wouldn’t be brought to the arch and would be killed afterward.

  He used the excuse of looking for berries to explore as much of the area as he could, hoping to find something that would give him an idea of how to get out of the mess he was in and save Pyria too.

  The ruins themselves spread for miles, and beyond them were several villages of ogres, trolls, red caps, and others who did not desire to be part of the fairy kingdom King Giles ruled. Many were soldiers who wanted to destroy the “seelie” fairies, at least that was the word Nilix used.

  Dylan wasn’t sure what seelie meant, so Nilix explained that the seelie are those races who think themselves better and want to control them.

  Dylan remembered something mentioned in English class about seelie and unseelie being the creatures of light and dark, or good and bad. Of course, he’d met good ogres, so the stereotypes didn’t always fit.

  The ruins themselves had fugitives from the fairy kingdom. Many were thieves and cut-throats who were either escaping to not be killed for their crimes or who were banished. There were many tents, and lots of loud drunken laughter. The sun was setting, and the night air was eerie. Dylan wasn’t afraid of the dark, but Evander’s camp really made him uneasy.

  The smell of dinner lingered in the air as they passed the great hall on their way back to the dungeon cave.

  “That smells so good,” Dylan thought out loud.

  “It was,” one of the ogres boasted. “There was some new cook. She’s a nymph who can’t speak, but oh, the food was good. I ate five bowls. Too bad you won’t get any. It’s old bread and water for you, not even ale.”

  At the news of a mute nymph, Dylan perked up. Finally there was a ray of hope. A plan was starting to emerge.