Enchanted Revenge (26 page)

Chapter Three
Kelpie: A creature that dwells within Muircadia. Normally resembles a horse, though without fur or hair. A loyal creature, friend to any Sprite. They have the ability to transform at will into the form of a female Sprite, and have been known to lure unsuspecting Fae to their deaths within the waters of Muircadia. All Kelpie are females and are asexual.

A few stragglers were still coming in when Lynn stood up in front of us. She was really the leader of the band of Rebels here in Muircadia. She maintained order and control. She was their foundation, their rock, their guide.

Though they always pledged to me, and to my reign, it was Lynn that they truly followed. At least here.

“I have a few updates before Jon speaks.” She motioned to the Sprite standing off to the side of her. I’d seen him around for the last week or so, but I didn’t really know anything about him. I hadn’t even known his name until she said it.

“First off, I want to say that every single one of you has been putting forth more than 100 percent, and its showing. We had yet another victory tonight, severely damaging the numbers of the Guard of Muircadia. We also managed to gain eleven new recruits to our cause.” People clapped, I clapped too. A few people cheered. “I just wanted to say how great you all have been doing.”

She looked down, and took a deep breath. “We did lose several Fae, though. I would like to take a moment of silence to honor those fallen.”

She bowed her head. The others did as well. I looked down at my hands, fingers intertwined, tattoo of a broken teardrop, and closed my eyes. I saw their blood, splattered on the ground. I saw their broken bodies. I saw it all. And though it was hard to see, I knew it would be worth it. I knew that this was the only way to stop Mastikh from killing, not only the Sprites in Muircadia, but all Fae and the entire Empyrean.

“I also would like to report that my amicus in Vesuvius has contacted me again, and I’m happy to announce that news of Lily has spread throughout Vesuvius. We now have confirmation that every province in the Empyrean knows that there is an heir, and she is here fighting with us to take down Mastikh!”

This elicited whoops and cheers from all over the room. Many clapped me on the back. Alec reached for my hand and gripped it tight. I managed a smile. This was the awkward part. And the scary part. Now all over the Empyrean everyone knew about me. This was good for us, but super scary, because I knew I would have a bounty on my head bigger than any other.

And really, I so did not want to be Queen.

“Now, Jon will tell us what he knows.” She motioned to the Sprite, as she sat and he stood in her place.

He was tall, towering over Lynn and most of the other Sprites. Probably taller than even the Nymph. His hair was black, as most of theirs was, and braided down the back. Directly over his left eye was a shimmering blue design that twirled down below his ear. And his piercing turquoise eyes were shaded beneath the biggest, furriest eyebrows I’d ever seen.

“So, I’m sure most of you don’t know me very well. It’s been many years since I left Lemuria, and though I already miss it, it’s been nice to venture out and see more of Muircadia again.

“I’ve been an advocate for overthrowing Mastikh for many years, as I was very close to our Honorable King Coenraad.” He bowed his head as he said my father’s name, as many others did. My stomach yelled at me, as did the lump growing in my throat. “I was overjoyed and thrilled to learn of Lily,” and then he motioned to me, and just barely dipped his head in my direction. I offered a smile, even though it was a small one. “Though I must say, and I think I can speak for all of us here, and across the Empyrean, that I am so very sorry for your loss. I offer you my deepest condolences.”

“Thank you,” I managed.

“As I’ve been in Lemuria for so long, my only contacts and information is based mainly in our Central Village. I’ve only been here for two weeks, and already I feel a strong connection to many of you. So, thank you for welcoming here with such openness.

“But I stand before you today, because I have just received word. A kelpie has brought to me a message, one that I felt I needed to share with you all right away.”

I looked at Alec.
What the hell is a kelpie?

Later. I want to hear what he has to say.

I sighed, to make sure he knew I was aggravated at his answer. I’d been here for a few months now and there was still so much I didn’t know about the Empyrean. How the hell was I supposed to rule it one day?

“Xan has been seen in Lemuria. And he appears to be staying, as he has been seen several times in the last two days.”

I looked at Alec again.
Xan? The Xan?

He didn’t answer…again.

My alerts were flaring. We found him. Could we capture him? Could this insatiable urge to kill them all finally be over for me?

“I know where he is, and with your permission, I’d like to take a small group with me to find him and detain him.”

“Detain him?” shouted a lady on the other side of the room. “He needs to die. His crimes are certainly punishable by death.”

Several people agreed with her. I found myself nodding and shouting my support as well.

“That should be up to our leaders, not myself.” He looked to Lynn, and to me as well. Lynn were the same mask I did. He had killed too many Fae. He killed my parents. He was the last member of the Mortem left.

“He needs to die.” My voice sounded different. Stronger. Determined.

“Agreed.” Lynn offered.

“Then it is decided. This will be a stealth mission. We need to find him, and kill him. I thought perhaps a public trial and execution might be more fitting…” Jon suggested.

I looked to Lynn. It made sense. A show of strength. But if we only held him, he would surely escape, probably kill more of us, and then we would be back at the beginning.

“We can execute him in the streets. No trial is needed. We all know of his crimes. He should face the same fate as his comrades.” That was a man, a Sprite who I think was called Jessup. But I couldn’t keep all their names straight.

More cheers and shouts of agreement erupted.

“So be it. Lynn and Lily will assemble a small team, and together we will travel to Lemuria,” Jon said, before relinquishing the spotlight back to Lynn.

“If you are chosen to go with us, you will be contacted within the hour. We plan to leave tonight. If you believe you may be chosen, now would be the time to tie up any loose ends and say farewell to your loved ones.” Lynn announced.

Everyone began to leave. Lynn, Alec and I would stay behind to discuss who would go with us. My heart was pounding with excitement at the news. Since my birthday, when I finally got my magic, my main goal has been to find him.

Xan. I still didn’t know much about him. But I knew enough. I knew he was one of the Mortem. And even though he never hurt me when I was being held, he never did anything to stop his companions from torturing me either. He was an enigma. Something I didn’t understand. He never seemed to care much about what they were doing or what was going on. He just went along with it.

“Do you have any specific requests for who should come? I’d like to keep the party down to only ten,” Lynn asked the two of us, once everyone else had cleared out.

“Nope. I trust your judgment,” I told her, then motioned to Alec, because I was sure he would want some say.

“I’d like Daven and Liam, the rest you can choose.”

She nodded. “You two get packed. We’ll meet here before we leave.”

We nodded and then left.

“Did you know?” I demanded, because he always knows everything before me.

“No, but this is good,” he said. His eyes, hopeful and excited, shone bright green. “We can finally finish this.”

Before, I would’ve thought this excitement was only for Lix. I would’ve thought this was him seeking vengeance for them taking his first love away. But now I knew better. I knew this was for me, too. He knew how badly I needed this. He needed it just as bad, after seeing what they had done to me.

I hugged him, wrapping my arms snug around his neck. He kissed my cheek.

“We’ll find him this time.” I knew he couldn’t make that promise. But I was thankful for it. He truly believed we would, and I couldn’t help but get my hopes up.

“So…” I gazed up into his eyes, hoping he could see what I wanted.
We have an hour before we have to leave
, I told him, waggling my eyebrows, and hoping he could read the insinuation in my mind.

He closed his eyes, and kissed my forehead. “That’s definitely not enough time for me to do anything your thinking, but I can tell you what a kelpie is, if you’d like.”

Distractions. He was a pro at them. I rolled my eyes. Plopping myself down on the bed, I tried to calm my hopeful heart.

“Okay, shoot. What’s a kelpie?”

He smiled, knowing he had won, yet again. For whatever reason, he wasn’t ready for us to do anything more. I was ready. I felt like I was born ready to be with him. But he kept finding excuses.

When we had more time, I was determined to make him explain.

“A kelpie is an animal that dwells here in Muircadia. Normally it looks like a horse, but it can change at will, to take the shape of a Sprite. Though, they can’t hold that form for long.”

“They can change from horse to Fae? Like, for real?” My surprise was evident, both in my voice and my face. I had to force my jaw back up, after it dropped below my stomach.

He chuckled. “Yes. That’s the only way it can communicate with us.”

“Can it change to other shapes too? Or just horse and Sprite?” I mean, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was gonna turn into some crazy ass monster.

“The shape it maintains resembles a horse. I mean, they don’t have fur. Their skin is closer to a seal’s skin than an actual horse, and their mane and tail is more slimy than soft hair. But they swim fast, are fiercely loyal, and very kind. Some are wary of them, because when they’re in their Sprite form, they have the ability to lure Fae to their death, here in Muircadia.”

“To their death? Like a siren?”

“Exactly. All kelpies are female, so when they transform into Sprite form, they are vastly beautiful and easily lure Fae, both male and female, to a painful death in Muircadia. Not other Sprite’s of course, just any other Fae.”

“Shit…” Being wary didn’t quite cover how I felt about them.

He laughed, his dimples showing through once more. “You don’t have to worry about them, unless you somehow lose your bonum and have some mischievous urge to threaten Muircadia.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I have many mischievous urges…” and then I winked at him.

That earned me a deep, throaty laugh. I treasured it. Locked it up tight in the little box sitting between my lungs, hidden by those steel bars some call ribs. I would never let it go.

Chapter Four
Lemuria: The Central Village in Muircadia. The entire city is beneath the water. Only a Sprite can visit, or one with magics powerful enough to shield himself from the water. Though the city is covered in water, there are some buildings and places that are enveloped and dry within Lemuria.

Leaving the Rebel base this time felt different, as if somehow I knew, deep down inside, that I would never return. Though we had traveled all over Muircadia in the last few weeks as we searched for the last remaining Mortem member, Xan, we still hadn’t gone to Lemuria.

I heard about it. I knew many Sprites, including Lynn, loved it, yearned for it. But up until now, we hadn’t had a reason to go there.

Excitement bubbled in my veins. My heart thundered beneath my chest. I wiped the sweat from my hands. The nauseous feeling wasn’t from the excitement though, it was an effect of the nervousness I couldn’t shake.

There ended up being exactly ten of us, counting Jon as our guide. And though, it wasn’t the smallest group we’ve had go on a raid before, this somehow felt different. I couldn’t shake the creeptastic feelings flooding my system. Maybe it was that we were all in black this time, no blue, no color at all. Black shirts, black pants, black hats. Apparently black would help when we got there.

As we got closer to the permeable wall that held out the dangerous waters of Muircadia, I dug deep inside myself, searching for the lock that I could twist to unleash my magic. It was something I had to master early on, after my awakening, considering where we were. I had to be able to surround myself with my magic and hold the waters back or I never would be able to go anywhere in Muircadia.

I felt the warmth spread out from my heart, surging through my veins, down to my finger tips and all the way down, deeper, lower to my toes. I breathed in through my nose, clearing my mind. Allowing instinct to take over, I directed my magic where I needed it to go.

Seconds, minutes, years. It felt like time slowed to a crawl as my magic surrounded me. I knew the process took less than ten minutes, but while I concentrated so hard, my body was flying and crawling, boiling and exploding. I could get lost in the sensations coursing beneath my skin.

To my right I could feel Alec doing the same thing. His warm cloud-and-breeze smelling magic penetrated my nose, but I didn’t-couldn’t let it faze me. I focused. I pushed the magic out, just a little, surrounding myself in my own scent- sun. Heat. Hotter than Alec’s. But still, somewhere inside it, I could feel the air, smell it in me.

When I looked over at Alec, he appeared just as I knew I did, with a film surrounding him. It wasn’t a bubble anymore, like when we first came here and I hadn’t matured yet, since he didn’t have to hold it around two people any longer. It only came off his skin about an inch, from the stray tips of his hair, to his fingernails, to the tips of his black boots.

I wiggled my fingers in front of my face, the thin layer of magic covering them caused my pale skin to shimmer. I smiled.

I loved magic!

We breached the wall, walking through it and into the water surrounding the village. I felt it glide over my magic coating, sizzling just barely as the dividing forces met.

We left quickly, moving through the water faster than I ever could have imagined. The longer I stayed, the more I practiced, and the better I got at diverting the water around me, moving it out of the way. The Sprites were much faster, and had to slow their pace so Alec and I could stay with them. In the water,
they
were the force to reckon with.

I looked at Lynn, her black hair flowing behind her, as she swam through the water like a water moccasin. Her fingers were webbed again, which still wigged me out. Her skin had changed shades, taking on a blue and green tint, especially around the gills in her neck and wrists.

She looked back at me and smiled, and I could see how much her pupils had changed, looking more snake-like than human. The vertical slit in them wasn’t even the weirdest part, when she winked, her second set of eyelids closed in together, forming a vertical line beneath her normal eyelids. Freaky.

I smiled back. She was more than excited for this. She was more than ready to find him and kill him. But not more than me.

Lemuria was directly in the center of Muircadia, further than I had ever traveled before, and deeper than I thought I would ever go. As we went, I could see the darkness seeping into everything, snuffing out the last little bits of light that managed to break through the layers and miles of water above us.

I pushed harder anyways, despite the building panic that I would never see the sky again, that I would never truly fly. That I would never be able to spread my wings under the beating sun and feel the wind glide over every etching in them. That my magic would weaken and give out and I would drown and burn in the acid at the same time.

Alec sped up so he could stay next to me, a question burned in his eyes. He reached over, aiming for my hand and I willingly offered it to him. His warmth spread over me as our magics combined. I could feel him, his magic, weaving in and through my own as they united.

What is it?

I shook my head.
Nothing
.

He looked around. I saw what he did. Darkness. Indigo. Deep purples and blues that were more and more resembling only black. Various fish swam in schools going one place or another. And then our little group, on a hunt.

Nothing more. Just dark. Black.

Life would be so much easier if you just talked to me
.

I rolled my eyes, as I turned my head toward him, hoping he could see how dramatic I made it.

It’s just weird, going further from the sun,
I admitted.

He nodded, understanding flew through his features.

I’ve only been to Lemuria a few times, that feeling never goes away. It’s against our nature to be this far from the sky.

How far away is it, exactly
? I hoped he couldn’t hear the near hysteria in my tone.

Depending on how fast we can go, at least two more days’ worth.
I could both hear and feel the compassion in his words.

Two more days of going down.

Down.

Down.

Further away from the sky. Further away from air, the suns warmth, the wind, dryness. I sighed.

But pushed harder.

Will Lemuria be like this? All in the water?

He nodded.

I think I knew the answer already, but was hoping for a different one. Being in the smaller villages wasn’t as bad, because at least there was a wall surrounding them, keeping the nasty water at bay. But in Lemuria, the only thing that would keep me safe was my own magic.

Thoughts of the Mortem surfaced. When the Sprite splashed water on my face. When my skin sizzled. When he rubbed it along my arms, scraping the blood and skin off, trying to push it down to my bones.

Muircadia waters were more damaging to me than they would be to Alec, due to the half Pixie blood pumping through my veins. But it wouldn’t kill me as fast as a regular Pixie, thanks to my Sylph lineage.

I couldn’t help the shiver coursing through me. I can do this. I
can
do this.

Of course you can! I’ll be there. It will be okay.

I hadn’t meant to say that to him. I was just trying to reassure myself, but his words helped calm me, even if just a little.

And that’s how it went, for the next couple of days. We swam, and then swam some more.

Ironically I loved swimming. I mean, it wasn’t my favorite thing ever, but I normally enjoyed it on a hot Kansas day. But this wasn’t like swimming. I couldn’t feel the waters on my skin, or flowing through my hair. And I
so
didn’t want to. Everything about this was wrong. I needed aridity. I needed heat. I needed the sun, the wind. I needed…to get the freak out of this water hole of hell. 

By the third day everything was dark. We were so deep I could feel the pressure beating down on me from the heavy water above and all round me. Pushing against my magic. It was like wearing a water suit and jumping into a vat of acid, hoping the flimsy material would be enough to keep the poison from getting to you.

I shivered. It was cold. So cold I could feel my bones shivering. And the deeper we went, the colder it got.

We had only stopped once to rest and sleep, and we’d had to take turns, since someone had to stay away to keep Alec and I shielded. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and was so ready to get the hell away and never come back.

Blackness surrounded me. No fish. No weeds, plants, or anything. The only thing I could see were the Sprites around me. Their skin was radiant, a pale glow circling them each. Alec and I didn’t glow, even as we went further down. But the Sprites, though still pretty weird and a little eerie, were stunning.

When Lynn offered a small, encouraging smile, I barely saw it. All I saw were her crazy eyes. They really glowed. Not a little luminous like her skin, but like a freaking fire was hidden inside. Where she looked there were two spotlights, like she had flashlights in her head.

But even after a while, the novelty and appeal of watching them beautifully transform time and again wasn’t enough to make me want to continue.

Fatigue stole me energy.

I started slowing, not intentionally, it just happened. I wasn’t sure if my exhaustion was finally getting the better of me, or if it was the fact that my brain was screaming at me to not go any further, in case my magic gave out and I would drown and burn and die. All my instincts were shouting at me. Every cell in my being screeched at me to stop! Don’t go anymore! Turn around! Save yourself!

Safety. I needed it.

But then I noticed everyone else slowing as well. Maybe it wasn’t just me.

That’s when I saw it. Far in the distance I saw blue. Not black, like all the other water around me, but a dark blue.

I looked over at Alec, and relief was evident all over him.

I swam closer to him, reaching for his hand. He noticed and came closer to me as well.

Is that it?

He nodded.
We’re almost there.

I smiled. Hope recaptured control, pushing the doubts and fear away.

Is the water different, or what?
I couldn’t figure out why we were all moving so slow compared to how fast we had been moving before.

It’s thicker around the Central Village.

He was right. The water
was
thicker. I wasn’t necessarily moving slower, it was just harder to go through. And as we kept going, it continued to get thicker, harder, as if trying to swim through slush instead of liquid.

Despite the thickness, moving closer to the light filled me with excitement. All the water was turning blue thanks to the light from the village reaching out far beyond its borders. The vegetation grew in number; there were greens and oranges, blues and reds all around me. Coral, weeds, and more beneath me and reaching upwards.

And the animals. Fish of all different shapes and sizes were swimming about. Their colors sparkled in the light from the village. Jelly fish, white, blue, purple and red. Turtles, little groups of them, big and small.

Dolphins that actually appeared to be normal. And they were beautiful. I could hear their singing, all the way from where they were, which was at least a couple of hundred yards away.

And then I saw it. The glistening towers, shining in the light that came from who knew where. As we inched closer, it felt more like we were walking than swimming, and I could fully take in the sight before me.

I had no idea what time of day it was, but there weren’t any Sprites in sight. Just different creatures swimming around. And then there was land, sandy blue, as it led up to those towering buildings in the distance.

I looked around, expecting to see a field of poppies and a yellow brick road, leading up to this Emerald City.

My feet finally landed and my body sagged down, thankful for the reprieve. Swimming for days was hard, way harder than walking for weeks through Ardennes. Especially since I felt like I could never actually catch my breath. Like I was slowly suffocating. Dying a little bit the further I went, the closer I got to this city.

Alec, still holding my hand, pulled me to him and planted a kiss smack dab on my cheek. And I eased into him, my body craving his attention.

“We made it,” he whispered, his voice carrying through the water and the barriers our magic made.

“Shh…” Lynn hissed, as she pointed to the far corner. “We aren’t alone.”

No, of course not. It could
never
be that easy.