Chapter Twenty-Three

 

 

 

 

Dylan

 

The city of Aturine in the Guildrin Court was underground, a maze of halls beneath the massive root systems of the trees in the forest. Deep beneath the ground, Nautilus and I walked along the packed dirt paths toward Ilarial’s chambers. Knowing her, she was already aware we were coming.

It’d been so long since I’d been here. I believed Soap and Shade had come here when he’d first met her. A twinge of jealously zapped me as I walked. He’d met her first. I’d nearly forgotten that fact. No wonder he was so possessive of her. I guess if I had met her first, I might have felt the same way. Sharing her wasn’t easy, but for the sake of our children and her happiness, it had somehow worked out.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Nautilus commented from behind me. I paused, letting him fall in step next to me.

I shrugged. “I guess I don’t have much to say. I was just thinking how I wasn’t the first to meet Shade. Soap was. It’s odd how things have worked out.”

Nautilus threw me a curious glance. “Have you heard from Shade lately?”

And there it was, the one question everyone asked when they were with me. It was usually the first question. At least Nautilus had waited some time before asking about her.

“No. I haven’t heard a peep.”

“That’s concerning.”

“Yeah.”

Nautilus frowned, turning forward as we reached a single door down a quiet hall. The only one down this way was Ilarial. Even though she was a gentle soul and a talented oracle, most faeries avoided her. Maybe it was the promise of knowledge… that she knew what everyone was thinking, knew their futures. Maybe it was just plain old fear. I wasn’t afraid of her. She’d saved Shade a couple times and always helped when needed. People’s fears were almost always irrational.

I reached out and knocked on the old wooden door. A feeling of calm washed over me as we waited, and glancing at Nautilus, I could tell he’d felt it too.

Ilarial was a force to be reckoned with. She could calm a battalion of battle-ready soldiers or evoke emotion from the hardest criminals. I wouldn’t ever want to be caught on her bad side.

The door creaked opened, and Ilarial’s kind face peered out at us. “Hello, Dylan… Nautilus. I’ve been expecting you.”

We bowed as she opened the door wider.

“Good morning, Ilarial. It’s good to see you too.”

She observed us as we passed by and closed the door behind us. She never was one for many words, but I could feel the cool tap of her gaze against my skin. Power ebbed from her like a calm mountain stream, etching away at hard rocks over time with a gentle but powerful persistence.

“Please, have a seat. Are you hungry?”

We both shook our heads.

“No, we’re fine, thanks,” I responded. I slipped down onto a silk pillow as she took her position on the other side of a carved wooden table low to the ground. Its surface was rough, nicked with use. She held out her hands, one to each of us, and nodded, encouraging us to take them.

I slipped my hand into hers as Nautilus did the same. Immediately, I felt even more at ease, relaxing into my cushion as the flow of good energy smoothed away weeks of worry.

“The Land of Faerie is in chaos,” she began. “You have journeyed here to find an answer. The humans leave for the borders in a panic, some aging to the point of enfeeblement. But still they carry their weakening bodies away from Faerie. To stay would mean certain death.”

I nodded. “Anna and James… they were affected by some mysterious ailment we believe is caused by the Land of Faerie. It tried to kill them.”

She let go and peered at us, taking in my face before doing the same to Nautilus. Her long platinum hair was so light, it appeared like long strands of crystal. Her eyes were pools plunging to depths no man had ever seen. I shivered again. Her gaze was powerful.

“Shade is the key.”

I groaned internally. What else was new?

“How?”

“She’s an Ancient of Faerie, but she is the only one who carries human blood in her veins. She may have transformed into a powerful being, but at her core, she is still human.”

“What does that have to do with Faerie rejecting humans?” I demanded. I was tired of hearing how it was Shade’s destiny to save everyone. She couldn’t save us. She couldn’t save Soap let alone anyone else. She had tried, yes, but she wasn’t all powerful.

“You underestimate your wife.”

“We’re not married anymore,” I snapped, holding up my left hand to show Ilarial the tendrils of metal embedded in my skin, running from my finger and up my arm. Soap had a matching gauntlet on his arm. Our rings had melted the moment Shade had taken Kilara’s place. It signified our severed bonds.

Ilarial held out her hand for mine, and after a moment of hesitation and resentment, I pushed aside my anger and placed my left hand into hers. She examined the metal laced across my skin. It shimmered like mercury, a constant reminder of the darkest day of my life, the day I had lost Shade.

“You are cursed.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“This is the curse of the Heart of Fire and Ice. You are prisoner to a love that cannot hold you. Soap faces the same fate. Shade is the key to this, but she has no knowledge about how to break it.”

I furrowed my brows, pressing my lips tightly together in a frown. “What does that mean?” I was tired of riddles. If only she would just say what she meant, then maybe I wouldn’t feel so helpless.

“It means the metal of your marriage rings should have completely dissipated, but it was an unwanted severance for you and Soap. Shade didn’t want to let you go, but the magic she acquired would have no connections to her past. She fought it, and it looks like you remain with the promise of metal along your skin. This will reverse if Shade finds her way back to you both.”

“And how does she do that?”

Ilarial, for the first time since we’d arrived, tightened her lips.

“She can’t, can she? It’s impossible.” I knew it. There was no fixing any of this.

“Nothing is impossible, Dylan.” Ilarial tilted her head at me. “Faerie is not linear like the human world, but it is symbiotic with it. You cannot have one without the other, and as the magic of Faerie continues to waver, we find ourselves at the mercy of the human world. Our answers are not here in Faerie, but out there, in the human world.”

I scratched my chin. Was she trying to tell us that we couldn’t fix the magic in Faerie without finding out something in the human world? These riddles were driving me mad.

“So the reason Faerie’s magic is haywire is because the human world is causing it?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“How? That makes no sense!” I threw my hands up, jumping to my feet, ready to bolt.

“Hold on, Dylan. I think we need to listen to everything Ilarial has to say.” Nautilus reached out toward me, grasping my arm. I shook it off.

“Why? This is a waste of time.” I turned to walk out, my impatience getting the best of me.

“You know why,” Ilarial stated. “Shade couldn’t remain with you while pregnant. You watched how emaciated it left Ciaran. You must know that this distance between you is necessary. She must hone her powers, learn to control them, become one with them. Only then will you and your daughters be safe, and she’ll be able to return to you.”

I stopped in my tracks, listening to Ilarial’s plea for me to listen. I paused, shutting my eyes at her words. Ilarial was truly gifted. How had she known about my conversation with Ciaran at the archives, since it wasn’t something I’d told anyone but James? I turned slowly to look at the wise oracle, feeling like a fool for rushing out.

“Please, Ilarial, just tell me what I need to do to break this curse and bring Shade home. I just want my family back.”

Ilarial held her hand out to the pillow I’d left on the floor. I returned to my seat, feeling defeated yet hopeful.

“I’m sorry if I don’t have the exact answers you’re looking for, Dylan, but I can tell you that Shade is fighting a battle as we speak, and she’ll need your help in due time. Right now, I suggest you go to the human realm and find a man called Astenos. He’s lived ironside most of his life and maintains his Faerie magic intact. He has balanced the mortal world with the immortal. He would be the one to ask how to rebalance the scales of power between here and there.”

I threw a worried glance at Nautilus, who gave me reassuring nod. “And if we find this Astenos and he can’t help us, what then?” I asked.

Ilarial looked concerned for the first time. “Then the Land of Faerie will fall, and chaos will reign here and in the human world. Dark times will come. Darker than we’ve ever seen.”

I exhaled slowly, feeling gutted.

“Dylan, you cannot fail. The faerie courts are chaotic, restless. Trust no one, and tell no one what I’ve told you. Even those we trusted in the past may no longer be loyal. And promise me something.”

“Yes?”

“Should you learn anything troubling, remember that everything must be done for a reason. It is unwise to judge anyone until you know all the facts surrounding their actions.”

I didn’t know her reason for saying it, but I knew I wouldn’t get any clarification. I frowned but nodded. “I promise.”

She smiled. “Then I bid you good journey. Be safe.”

We both rose, thanking her as we exited her chambers. She’d left us with more questions than answers, but for the first time since Shade had turned into an Ancient, I felt like I could make a difference.

If I failed, however, the whole world was doomed. Absolutely no pressure at all, right?