Elijah
“Thank you for your precious time, your grace. It was an honour to make your acquaintance,” said the woman with a note of unhappiness, slipping into a bow after Elijah gently repeated that he had someone else he needed to speak to. In all honesty he did not, and he hated the lie as it left his lips, seeing the glint of hurt in the young courtier’s hopeful eyes. But the room was becoming stifling with the dancing of bodies moving to the rising tempo of the violin.
Before he could find a corner to retreat to, a hand came down on his shoulder. Had he not heard Kadec’s footsteps approaching prior, he might have jumped. The man sidled close as he said, “You speak well, and you know just how to rebuff the attentions of overly eager suitors. I think you absorbed more from the people you guarded in Viridya than you care to admit. I cannot help but notice, though, you seem distracted. More wine?”
So Kadec had noticed his wandering attention throughout the night. He internally kicked himself, thinking he had kept his glances at Arii subtle and fleeting.
Elijah took another sip of the wine he had been nursing, surprised to find it was pleasant and still cold. He rolled the golden liquid around his tongue, tasting the tang that he presumed was the passionfruit, and the bitterness of the alcohol. Masked amongst the flavours was something else, too. Something he felt was familiar, but he could not quite put his finger on it. He took a healthier gulp, earning him a grin from Kadec.
Kadec proceeded to re-fill his glass. “Manners and social etiquette come naturally to you it seems, but I would like to see how you would handle a more stressful situation.” As he spoke, courtiers who had been dancing on the floor before them began to part, the music fading to a hushed drone as the candles about the room dimmed.
Elijah blinked rapidly, glancing down at the glass in his hand as Kadec slid behind him, moving to his opposite side.
“Wars are not just won with weapons of steel, but with weapons of words. And not all combat is constrained to a battlefield. It is easy to swing a sword and end lives but how will you handle strife within your own court, silent as assassins and sometimes with familiar faces?”
Bodies shifted, faded, shuddered. If Elijah had been paying closer attention, he would have seen ten hooded figures wading through them like snakes through water, converging on his location.
But his attention was a quickly fraying ball of yarn.
As Kadec spoke, the crowd appeared to disperse to either side of the dancefloor as a scene was revealed to him, just as he pinpointed the familiar taste swirling on the back of his tongue.
Magic.
“Elijah!”
His eyes swiftly lifted to see Arii, holding a knife to the throat of a wide-eyed Lorch. She was dressed in assassin’s leathers, kohl lining her eyes so thickly that it looked like warpaint. There was a curl to her lips that he knew well, and a glimmer in her purple eyes that haunted his dreams when he were not suspended in a nightmare. Elijah blanched, hesitation warring with instinct to leap down the dais and save his friend. But Arii… she was his friend too. More, she was so much more. Confusion as to why they were on the dancefloor had him spinning back to find Kadec before his throne, a strange breeze toying with the prince’s clothing and hair. Pointed canines glinted within the crescent moon of his widening grin.
With a flourish of his hands, Kadec dropped a glamour, revealing what Elijah had begun to suspect only moments ago. He spied delicately pointed ears where seconds ago the man had the rounded ones of a human.
Kadec was a Fae.
Elijah supposed he should not be surprised that even more male Fae existed, and just like the twin leaders of the South, they were hiding in plain sight under simple glamour. Part of him was thrilled with the revelation that he was not alone, but now was not the time to celebrate, not as the castle ceiling above faded away to a sky of red, dark grey clouds rolling overhead. The walls fell away soon after, leaving no one but himself, Kadec, Arii and Lorch in the middle of a dry and desolate wasteland.
His shoes crunched upon gravel, drawing his attention to his feet.
Not gravel.
Dry, old bones. The land was littered with them, leached to bright ivory and cracked with time, and it did not take Elijah long to realise human bones were in amongst those of animals of all shapes and sizes. The dirt that danced in flurries was as red as blood, dried and ancient.
Elijah’s head back to Kadec who stood a few feet ahead of him. “This isn’t real, you’re using magic! You’re a Fae!”
The world around them was a ruin, yet Kadec’s expression shone with excitement. “I did wish to tell you outright, Eliverus, but one cannot be too careful when our kind have been hunted to near extinction. Humans are easy to fool, it is true, but I knew you would figure it out quickly, especially once you tasted the wine. Your mind is a well-built fortress, so you will have to forgive me for resorting to the use of magic-infused liquor in order to communicate like this, but in the mind, there is nothing to hide.”
Elijah gestured at the apocalyptic world around them, tossing the wine glass to the ground as thunder rolled in the distance.
He growled. “Is this an illusion?”
“Of a sort, yes. But it is best to name it as foresight. This–” he spun and thrust his hand out at the desolate land and dark mountain peaks in the distance, “–is the fate of our land if you should fail. If we all should fail. I have seen this vison many times, as have my forefathers.” Speckled embers drifted in the acrid air, and Kadec’s face faltered, dark brows drawing into an expression of sudden seriousness that he rarely seemed to show. “We have been waiting so long for you, but you must prove you are the glue to bind us all back together. You must prove you have what it takes to rule the kingdom, and to bring them back, thus restoring balance.”
“Them?”
“The dragons.”
Red lightning snapped in the distance at his words and Elijah swallowed past a lump in his throat. Did he truly have what it took to bring the legendary, majestic beasts back from their home realm? But having that kind of support in the battle to come would be invaluable.
He glanced back at Arii and Lorch, voice coming out stronger than what he felt inside. “I don’t understand.”
“Fear comes in many different shades, Eliverus. Light shades, like fear of speaking in public or fear of spiders, to darker shades like fear of being rejected, fear of loss, death, what we cannot control, fear of betrayal.”
He was trying to gauge what Elijah feared the most. Kadec’s trial was not only exposing those fears to the Prince of the west, but to himself too. What did he fear the most? Was it the responsibility of ruling a kingdom? Was it the horrors manifesting in the north, or was it indeed fear that those he trusted the most would betray him?
“You think I fear my friends betraying me?”
“I think everyone fears such things, and as King you will find people change when they think they can get what they want from you.”
“Arii wouldn’t betray me,” he said firmly. “None of them would.”
Kadec’s eyes flashed. “You truly believe so?”
“I know so,” Elijah bit out, even though the image of her pushing him away flashed to mind. He shook it off. “Tell me what I need to do, what you need from me.”
“I need you to show that you can do what must be done in order to rise up and save our land.” Kadec gestured back to where Arii stood, blade still pressed to Lorch’s neck.
Elijah swallowed again, throat bobbing, eyes narrowing as the man approached him, and his dark hand hovered over Elijah’s chest – right above his thundering heart. “We Fae draw the most strength from our emotions, and power like that cannot truly be tamed into submission.” Kadec’s eyes roved over Elijah’s broad shoulder. The Prince continued, his voice low. “But with such powerful emotion comes unpredictability, for hearts are fickle things that can throw all rationality and reason from the mind. But where they can weaken us, they can also give us strength. To bring back what will be your greatest asset – aside from your own raw power – you must find focus and display balance. But above all, you must sacrifice.”
Arii and the friends he had made in the last few weeks had given him direction and reason for being. Before he met Arii, he was content to pace through life without true purpose, other than to protect his best friend. He supposed his priorities had not changed, they now extended to more than a handful of people.
Now it extended to the entire land.
But Kadec’s words confused him. Who or what was he to sacrifice, and why?
“Tell me, Eliverus, do you fear death? Or do you fear what death can take from you?”
Elijah swallowed, his eyes seeking Arii’s and meeting emotionless amethyst. The illusion, Kadec’s words, none of it was making sense. The Prince wanted him to conquer fear, but despite what he said, Elijah couldn’t help but think Kadec was trying to tell him something else.
After a long pause, Elijah whispered, “I would greet death as a friend knowing everyone I care about is far from its clutches, if only for a time before they too greet it with open arms.”
A tiny quirk of Kadec’s lips was the only indication that he took his words on board, for the rest of him was stark. He lifted his arm, and Elijah gripped the pommel of his sword on instinct. He could see a flicker within the man’s eyes, something that hinted to him that the Prince was not yet wholly convinced. He eyed Elijah’s movement as he said, “It is not me that you will be fighting, Eliverus. But yourself.”
Suddenly Kadec’s palm flared magic and he thrust forward, slamming it to Elijah’s chest.
And then Elijah was falling.
His back hit the bed of a shallow pool, water splashing and shocking the breath from his lungs. He gasped at the sudden chill, rolling over to thrust himself back on his feet. Gazing up, he saw a dark and endless sky of stars, mirrored upon a boundless still pool that reached off into the horizon. Around him the world was dark as pitch, the void above a twinkling galaxy of suspended diamonds.
A thick mist slithered around his feet.
Arii stood just a few paces away, still wearing the assassin’s garb, but Lorch was nowhere to be seen. She was different, so different to the woman he had come to know. Her eyes were desolate, skin paler, lips tinged red with blood. The honey tips of her hair were stained red, and he noticed more droplets of blood speckled upon her neck and jawline.
Then she changed.
Her face and body warped, morphing into to a familiar face that wore a malicious smirk, a drawling laugh leaking from the lips of his new foe.
The face was suddenly his own.
Kadec’s voice hovered in the air around them, “The magic you possess is beyond powerful, it is catastrophic. One day it will consume you, unless you do something about it.”
Elijah watched in disbelief as his doppelganger lifted his arms, and the water behind him bubbled violently as something emerged. Water fell away as a draconic creature clawed from the earth, emerging with an earth-shattering roar.
A Kryvern?
No… not a Kryvern.
The beast’s neck was longer, arching from a barrel chest covered in thick, glittering scales. Its body was muscled, spines flowing down the centre of its back to the tip of its long tail. The horns protruding from its skull were longer, the proud head featuring a thick jaw and severe brow ridges, housing glowing gold eyes. Powerful wings lifted and flared, tipped with claws; wings that looked entirely strong enough to lift the beast from the earth with just a few strokes and a push of its powerful hind legs. Its scales glittered crimson, golden eyes narrowing into slits. The beast moved, lips rippling over dozens of jagged teeth as a menacing orange glow flared in the throat behind them, a terrible growl rumbling from within its chest as flames escaped between its teeth.
A dragon.
Magic flared up Elijah’s arms, snapping into his palms as he blinked water from his eyes.
This was not real, it was a trick – a test, set by Kadec to prove his heart could be without fear.
But he was not without fear.
It stole his breath, quaked his limbs and numbed his fingers, threatening to drop his sword. He could not deny that he feared the immense power within him, unending and seemingly limitless. He feared the price of such power. He feared he had the potential to go mad.
No-one was truly without fear, no matter how much training they endured, how much they steeled their mind and honed their body. Fear was engrained into the fibres of all beings, it was unavoidable.
What really mattered was how he overcame his fear, how he dealt with it right now.
Elijah recalled Kadec as he spoke of his family history and the way his eyes shimmered and his tone hinted at incredible respect for the creatures his family had spent lifetimes protecting. As one of those magnificent, colossal creatures moved before him now with flames licking between parted teeth, he knew he had mere moments to decide his next course of action, and that action would greatly influence his fate, and that of everyone he knew and cared about.
Elijah had always prided himself on his outward composure and knew many believed him to be fearless. He had been the King’s shadow – his bodyguard – a man who was one with darkness, living by and one day presumably dying by the sword.
But he had never been without fear.
He understood why Kadec’s trial was being carried out this way. There was no way to hide his true thoughts, his true feelings, when connected directly mind to mind. If this were taking place in the real world, he would rush in and face the threat head on without much thought. When Arii had spoken about the possibility of Kadec putting him through ‘mind games’, this was not exactly the first thing to come to mind.
Had Arii known of the Prince’s hidden Fae heritage? Surely she would have told him if she had known.
Kadec’s earlier words about betrayal wearing a familiar face briefly entered his mind, but Elijah was swift to strike it down.
Now though, he was at war with his emotions, which had him pausing and thinking. Perhaps that part of the illusion was a test to see how he reacted to facing the dragon. The beast was formidable, and he had to admit that he did feel a spark of apprehension curl in his stomach. Kadec surely did not wish for him to kill the creature, one whom his family had helped protect for generations, not to mention a being of which he believed would be their land’s saving grace. Its appearance here now suggested that Elijah had a deep, perhaps unexplored fear of those beasts, or it was an object of symbolism. There was much of his family history to explore, and part of him feared the rumours that had been fed to him while growing up – those about madness in amongst the immensely powerful magic.
He made a choice then.
The dragon shifted, neck arching as its eyes narrowed into slits.
Elijah steeled himself, lifted his weapon and pointed it forward.
Then he opened his palm and let the sword fall.
Ariiaya
The world passed her falling body so quickly that all she could see was a whirl of stars. There was no clarity, nothing to indicate where she was, or when her body was to collide with solid ground. She screamed, limbs flailing as her body jerked with shock.
When contact with solidarity did not happen immediately, Arii realised this was an act of magic; and this kind of magic was nothing she had ever experienced before. It pressed upon her skin with weight, and what she tasted was not of this world – it was deep and decadent like dark chocolate, tinged with a foreign spice she did not know, almost choking her.
Ancient, frenzied, endless and absolutely terrifying.
She could still see the fading sphere of light through which Nocturne had pushed her, now but a speck in a cosmic race through space. It had felt like ages had passed, but she sensed it had in fact been mere seconds.
Evergreen decorated walls suddenly snapped into focus around her as the sounds of voices and music rushed into her ears, giving her a second to brace for impact.
But impact never came.
Arms enveloped her, one behind her head and the other snaking around her waist as her saviour used the momentum of her fall to dip her into an elegant move that could have been mistaken for the conclusion to a dance, the tips of her hair just brushing the polished marble floor. Light flickered about them, highlighting the small, inconspicuous space in the castle that she had been thrown into. A quick sweep of her gaze told her it was the end of a hallway.
Her breath broke free with a gasp that she could not control, head spinning and stomach churning as she lifted her head to meet bi-coloured eyes and a wide, languid smile.
Nocturne.
The light around them winked out with a snap, as the warped hole of magic she had fallen through shut.
Anger flared back to life quickly as they straightened, and she threw her hands up to shove him away, just as a second wave of terrible nausea swept over her before she could throw a curse. Instead, she threw herself to the side, clutching the rim of a nearby pot plant and hurling what little she had in her stomach into it.
“Ah, I remember my first time. The nausea passes once you have voidwalked a few hundred times.”
Arii spat into the flowerpot, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she groaned, “I’m going to kill you.”
Noct’s grin only widened, eyes glittering, “Oh Arii, please refrain from further threatening my life, because all it will do is turn me on… unless that is your intention?”
“The hell is wrong with you?”
“Many, where I come from, wonder the same thing.”
Figures rounded the corner, and Arii felt who was approaching before she saw them. Nem dashed down the hall towards them, glittering obsidian and silver and closely flanked by Krepth.
“Arii? What happened to you? You disappeared!”
Arii pointed an accusatory finger at the dark, tall man across from her, spitting. “He pushed me through a… hole? Through a… cosmic split in time and space… what even in the gods-bloody-hell was that?!”
Noct brushed at his lapels, looking almost bored. “It was a Void, and I would have given you prior warning but honestly, I normally kiss then tell.”
Nem drew her dagger, a snarl curling her lips as she spoke to Arii while keeping her eyes on Noct.
“You dropped from our bond, Arii. I thought you had been killed!” Her aquamarine eyes were slightly glazed in the dim light and Arii saw the last remnants of fear leaving their depths. Nem pointed the weapon at Noct, whose lopsided grin never faltered.
Krepth placed a hand on Nem’s arm, his expression one of carefully compressed fury. His voice was even though, as he said, “He – whoever he is – will have to explain later. Something is happening in the throne room.”
Elijah.
Krepth’s words diverted the tension, and they hurried towards the throne room.
Saving her rage for now, Arii ran ahead, silently cursing her form-fitting dress as she pushed her legs to move faster underneath the heavy fabric. Her body was protesting, still recovering from her fall through time and space, but she ignored it with the promise she would seek retribution by mutilating Nocturne’s perfect face – later.
Music continued to play, and guests still milled about, piling food on silver plates, sipping wine from crystal glasses and conversing in perhaps slightly more hushed tones than before – but all appeared unchanged from when she had left to get some air.
“I’ll find the others and cover your backs,” whispered Krepth, shooting a quick glare at Nocturne before slipping away.
“Something feels… off,” said Nem as they pushed through the crowd, aiming towards the dais.
Arii scanned the room, letting her senses flare open.
Of course, her friend was right.
The candles were dimmer than before, the walls draped in shadows. The music seemed quieter, too, yet people still danced as if nothing were amiss. The scent of food and incense still hung in the air but there was something else lingering, twisting along her senses as she inhaled deep.
“Magic,” sighed Nem, her shoulders tensing, just as they came within a few feet of the dais.
There was no mistaking the sweetness that coated the back of her tongue, or the shiver that skittered across her skin, causing the hairs on her arms to stand on end. She searched for the source, her gaze flying along the elaborately carved chairs on the dais to rest on Kadec. To the untrained eye, it looked as if he were simply standing with arms crossed, a smile upon his face as he oversaw the people dancing before him. But to Arii, she could see the dim flame in the depths of his green eyes and the ripples of power emanating from his skin that told her he was using magic. It was not the kind that she and Nem used; a show of light and flame and sparks. It was the kind that was contained behind the eyes and within the mind.
As they neared, the guests parted to reveal Elijah standing like a statue. He held a glass of amber wine, and his free hand hovered an inch from the pommel of his sword as his eyes stared into the distance – gaze fixed on something far away. Sweat beaded his brow, and a tiny twitch was visible on the corner of one hazy grey eye. Within those eyes, shadows danced.
Spellbound, he was undoubtably spellbound.
Arii jerked towards him, just as the cool blade of a weapon pressed to her neck.
“Move, and I’ll open your throat in front of all of these fancy partygoers,” hissed a familiar voice.
“Hello, Devina.” Arii hissed.
Just as she wondered how on earth Devina had got into the castle, her attention flew to a tussle nearby. A cloaked figure shoved Nem violently to her knees, red rivulets of blood trickling from her nose as her head was jerked back by her hair, a blade pressed to her throat too.
More cloaked figures brought her other friends to the floor.
Collectively the assailants pulled back their hoods, and each face was familiar.
Furies.
Shit.
An older man approached Kadec’s side, his skin the same deep brown, his eyes the same striking shade of green. His eyes were winged with wrinkles, the same creasing his mouth. “What is the meaning of this intrusion?” he thundered.
Kadec’s glance shifted to them as his arms dropped, but his eyes still flickered with magic.
“Fury assassins crashing my party?” He clucked his tongue. “Well, this is a first.”
“We are here on behalf of the King’s Hand, Lord Valdis Kruel. Hand over the traitors to us and no one will be hurt this night.”
Arii’s eyes dashed to Elijah in desperation, and yet he still stood as if he were a statue.
Why had Kadec not released him from the spell yet?
“Does Lord Kruel forget the existence of messenger birds? It would have saved you and your troupe the effort of making your way here, Miss Divine. I’m afraid I must decline your request and ask you to leave,” Kadec fired back.
The blade pressed tighter to Arii’s windpipe, and she felt the flame-haired Fury tense behind her. “What part of a blade to your guest’s throat do you not understand, Prince? My question was merely a formality and honestly I am being generous, for I want nothing more than to slice Ariiaya’s pretty little traitorous throat and spill her blood!”
“I missed you too, Devina.” Arii choked.
“Shut the fuck up!” she bellowed, cheeks rosy with frustration. Arii wondered what Valdis had offered the Sisters of Fate for the services of their assassins… or what he had threatened. It was becoming clearer now that the women she thought she knew, the women she thought existed to keep order and balance in their land were turning out to be as acidic as a pit of vipers. She should have known, should have not been so naïve and blind. Arii supposed she should be open to an explanation on their part, but with a dagger presently at her throat and the prospect of death seconds away, she was not feeling very impartial at the minute.
Arii’s eyes darted to Elijah again as she called, “We need you, Elijah. Fight it!”
Devina made a sound of disgust.
Kadec sighed, sweeping his hands out at his sides. “I’m afraid my answer is still no.”
The muscles in Devina’s arm tensed, and Arii heard the woman’s satisfied intake of breath – a whisper against her ear. She heard the smile in her voice as she said, “Blood it is then.”
So, this was how she would die. Not swinging her weapons upon a gore-covered battlefield as she fought for a better future – but as a lamb for slaughter.
Regret stabbed at her heart.
Wishing she had the chance to tell him – to tell them all – that she was sorry, and she had been wrong.