Enchanted Revenge (27 page)

Chapter Five
Furnace: The thirty feet wide border that circles the entire length of Lemuria. Within the furnace, rows of boilers heat and purify the waters within the Central Village, and then release it, clean and breathable once more. This purification process is largely important, as without it, the waters within the village would fester and inhibit life.

“Follow me.” It was the first time Jon had spoken since we left the camp and I finally remembered why we’d even brought him along. He knew his way around Lemuria better than any of us, even better than Lynn, considering she hadn’t been back in decades.

My feet padded against the sand, which was more forgiving than I thought it would be, gently pushing me faster, rather than slowing me down. Maybe it wasn’t sand at all. Maybe it was a giant, soft trampoline hidden under us. 

We ran together, staying close, forming a tiny blob of black against the pale blue around us, like a spider scurrying away from the big bad human. When we reached a building, we ran right past it, gliding effortlessly through the edge of the village. Beyond these cement walls, I could still see the towers in the distance. Now that I was closer, I could see that they were white. Even though at times they looked blue, and then sometimes they looked green.

I ignored them though, and focused on following Jon and the others. We rounded another building, which lead into an alley. I stopped

An alley.

I’d been down that road before. The others whizzed past me causing tendrils of my hair to tickle my face. Alec stopped, turned around and came back to me.

Grabbing my arm he asked, “What is it?”

An alley. An alley. An alley
.

“Hey, it’s okay. You aren’t alone. I’m here.”
We need to keep moving,
he added at the last minute. The urgency in his voice grounded me. I had to suck it up.

I nodded just as Liam rounded the corner, motioning for us to come on, aggravation coloring his features.

I kept nodding as my feet finally listened to my brain and started moving again. I kept nodding, as my feet slap, slapped against the ground, one after another. I kept nodded as I thought to myself,
Keep moving
. Alec never released my hand. I held on tighter than I should’ve. But he didn’t appear to mind.

I played it over and over again in my head like it was my very own mantra. Keep moving. Just keep moving, moving. Like Dory sings. Just keep swimming. We could do this. I could do it.

We caught up to the others, just as they were descending into a tunnel, a sewer grate lay on its side next to the circle opening. Liam had just disappeared into its depths, as Alec led me to it.

You first
, he insisted.

I nodded again. I could do this. My foot entered the darkness before the rest of my body followed, stepping onto a ladder within. My hands buzzed when I grabbed the prongs, as the magic smothering me shrunk and was barely noticeable. I ignored it, moving as fast as I could, so Alec could follow right behind.

I kept climbing down, not sure when I would hit the bottom, but when Alec placed the grate back, closing us in, black, inky darkness permeated everything.

I stalled, but only for a moment, before continuing my descent.

“Hurry, we need to hurry.” That was Jon, exasperation flared in his hushed words. I listened, hurrying, speeding up my movements. He didn’t sound too far away, and when my feet finally landed on something other than another rung, I knew to go to my right, where he was.

I bumped into someone, as someone else bumped into me, and my magic flared with their touch, shocking me back to reality. Focus. I needed to focus.

Alec’s hand found mine, somehow, and together we hurried through the darkness.

“Light?” Alec whispered.

“Not yet. Too many guards in this area.” Jon’s reply was even quieter than Alec’s question had been, if that was possible.

We continued on, the darkness closing in on us. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. I could only hear the slapping of our shoes- despite how quiet we were, our hasty breaths, and my booming heart, thumping and pounding in rhythm with my steps. 

And then I heard something else. It sizzled, hissing like a snake. I didn’t stall this time, I knew everyone else could hear it too, but they continued on. So I did too. No hesitation.

The further we went, the louder the sound grew. It was bubbling now, boiling. And the temperature increased. Sweat dribbled down my neck and along my brow. My hand started slipping in Alec’s. We kept going though. I kept pushing forward. My heart slammed against my chest, banging against its cage, trying to explode.

Things changed again, and we slowed as we rounded a corner. A light emerged from the darkness, so suddenly that I had to blink against it as the brightness blinded me.

“We can walk now, and whisper. There shouldn’t be any guards in this part of our city.” His voice was still soft, but not as quiet as before.

As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see around us. The walls were slick, dripping with something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, considering we were already surrounded in water. Oil? Slime? Who knew. Alec was sweating, probably as much as I was, and his face was redder than I had ever seen it, flushed from the run and the heat.

The others were still in full Sprite mode- blue skin, gills, freaky eyes and all.

“Where is the heat coming from?” Alec asked.

“The furnaces. We’ll be getting closer to them. We have to pass through some to get to our base here.”

“The base is past the furnaces?” Lynn surprised tone intrigued me. I didn’t understand why that was such a big deal.

“What are the furnaces?” I couldn’t help myself from asking.

We kept walking as Jon turned around to answer me. “Boilers. They heat the water, vaporizing it before sending it back out into the village.”

“It’s a purification process,” Lynn elaborated for me. “Takes in the toxins, burns it and sends the clean water back out.”

“So why is it such a big deal if we have to go past them?”

“They are very hot. It won’t bother you two as much, especially not you, Lily. But the heat is hard on a Sprite.” Concern laced each of her words, unease dripping from each syllable.

“It’s a safety measure,” Jon explained, as he looked to Lynn. “No Sprite in his right mind would go near the furnaces. So the guards never expect anything to happen around them. We only pass through, then the base is on the other side, basically surrounded by them. It’s the safest location we’ve ever held here.”

It was obvious he was proud of the location, making me wonder if it had been his idea to have this specific little hidey-hole.

Lynn didn’t say any more, but the grim look on her face concerned me. We rounded another corner, which revealed an ending to the tunnel. At the far end, a door the entire length of the tunnel, from top to bottom, stood tall.  It had a circle lever in the front that resembled the front of a vault door.

We stopped in front of it. Fear spiked through the Sprites. Their eyes had gone wide, making them look even less normal than before. More alien than human. I could feel their dread, unease, and anxiety infiltrating the water all around me. Their hearts beat as one, pounding the water, sending waves through us in this small space.

My heart sped up to match them. And all of a sudden I realized I wasn’t scared at all. Excitement burned in my veins. I hadn’t felt this much heat since long before my birthday, and the magic in my veins delighted at the thought.

“Bring in the water.” Jon spoke to the others, his voice taking on an eerie quality, making him sound harsh and croak-like.

Their skin deepened in color. Blue covered every inch of their exposed skin. Their gills shrunk. But their bodies expanded. Bloating, getting larger. It looked like they had each gained 20 pounds in a matter of seconds. Their skin pulled taut against the strong muscles twitching in discomfort underneath.

In that moment, they looked more like blow fish than humans, or even Fae. I stepped back, not meaning to, and Lynn smirked at me, finding humor in my discomfort.

“You look like freaks,” I joked. And she stuck her tongue out, which now was long, thin, and forked, like a snake’s tongue. Gross.

I made a face, hoping she knew how nasty she looked. And she laughed.

Alec rolled his eyes, but told me,
You’re right. Complete freaks.
I giggled as he laughed.

“Ready?” Jon’s voice was slick and taut, making him sound like a completely different person.

The other Sprite’s nodded.

Alec held my hand tighter.

“Deep breaths now, Lily. Deep breaths and hold in your last breath.”

I did as I was told. Soaking in the oxygen, what little bit of oxygen that was available to me, before releasing it. I did it again before storing the last breath deep inside my lungs.

Turning the handle clockwise, Jon opened the door. It creaked and groaned, not wanting to pull loose. With a bang, Jon defied the will of the door, pulling it open.

Heat. Everywhere. I pushed past them, my feet moving with a will of their own.

Fire.

I yearned for it. The closer I got, the hotter I felt. Sweat covered every inch of my body, pooling along my neck, between my breasts, at the lowest spot of my back where Alec always touched.

The room was orange. Red flames danced below giant, metal cylinders lining the room in parallel aisles.

So hot.

I reached forward, so close I could almost feel the flames licking my skin, caressing me. My hand reached out, wanting to touch them, the flames that danced so gloriously below the gigantic buckets of water.

Blue sparks merged with the red flames, igniting them from below, making them swell and expand. They grew, maturing into bastions, strongholds. The fire spread up the sides of the containers, up and up.

A hand pulled me back. Alec looked at me like I was crazy.

“What are you doing?” Concern was present in his voice, but something else too. Fear maybe?

I looked down at my hand. Red blotches were blossoming all along my pale skin, now more red than white.

Pain spiked through me. Pain I hadn’t even realized until I stopped looking at the fire.

“I don’t know.”

The others were already on the other side of the room, rushing to get away from the heat. Their blue skin was turning an ugly shade of green, like vomit colored. Yellow blemishes kept creeping up, tainting the blue hue of their normally pristine skin.

He shook his head, then pulled on my arm, to get me further from the fiery infernos.

We ran past the boilers, all hundred or so of them, as we reached for the exit. I turned back to sneak one last peak at the flames. Almost as if they could hear me, or feel me, they bursted up, reaching new heights along each pillar of water.

We went through the door, and when it shut, I couldn’t help feeling like I had just lost something. Like a part of me was just locked up, caged inside, unable to get out.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I looked down at my hand again, the angry burns staring back at me only reaffirmed in my mind that I was going crazy.

“We’re here,” Jon announced, turning to face us. The frog had escaped his voice, and he was talking normally again, though they all still looked off, paler than normal and like they all needed a weeks rest after a bad case of the flu.

He opened the door to his left, and we entered together.

I looked around, surprised by the sight.

“Well, this is not what I was expecting,” Alec murmured in my ear, his breath breaking through our magics.

“Yeah…you could say that.” I took a deep breath. “What the hell is this?”

Chapter Six
Enveloped: To encase an area within Muircadia with a barrier that expels the water, leaving it dry. It can be convenient for Fae, other than Sprites, to envelope an area. Though very few places in Lemuria are, many of the outer villages are enveloped, so that other Fae may come and go easier.

There were more Sprite’s than I had ever seen in one pace, all bundled together in this giant room. Cots lined the walls, and in the back I could see white sheets sectioning off rooms. A Sprite came out from behind one of the curtains, blood on her hands, only to grab some gauze and rush back inside.

Almost all of the Sprite’s were injured in one way or another. Some held their faces, blood oozing out. Others were covered in burns, all over their hands and faces. Many were covered in gauze, wrapped up like mummies trying to hold themselves together. Some adorned casts on their arms and legs.

So many were crying. Children gathered together, being consoled by older women. To the left, men were gathered around tables and tables of weapons that looked mostly familiar, though some I had never seen before.

Lynn looked like she was gagging, until I realized she was only trying to hold in the tears. This was her home. Her love.

“How can it be this bad?” Her voice was a mere murmur, a prayer, a cry for help born from confusion and anger. “How could we let it get this far?”

But no one had the answers.

A male Sprite walked up, heading straight for us. He was the tallest Sprite I’d seen, making me a dwarf in comparison. His onyx hair slicked back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. And he had a scar, deep and angry looking, from the tip of his chin up to hairline.

“Jon, you made it.” They reached for each other, embracing. “Did you have any trouble?”

“No. Thank you for sending the kelpie.” The other Sprite nodded, as he placed his hand on Jon’s shoulder. “You need to rest before we can do anything.”

“Of course.” He turned around and shouted, “Sue!” His voice carried across the room, as he called out. A tiny woman came up behind him, scurrying around reminding me of a frightened rat. She even looked rat-like, her nose long and skinny, and her other features tiny and pinched together. “Can you show them to the resting rooms, please?”

“Of course.” She turned to look at us, “Please follow me.”

We did, everyone sauntering off, exhausted from the journey.

“Alec. Lily. We have separate rooms that would better accommodate you.” Jon’s words stopped us. Rooms just for us? “They are near where I will stay, you can follow me.”

“Of course,” Alec answered for the both of us. I didn’t think my voice would work if I tried to make it. I couldn’t understand the devastation surrounding us. Moans and groans of pain whispered through the water, knocking on my magic, trying to bury its feelings of guilt and remorse deep within the confines of my heart.

We walked closer to the men and women busying themselves with weapons. Liam was already with them, apparently not in need of rest. He was handling what looked like a sword, except it had two blades, one longer than the other.

We entered a hallway, doors lining the walls on both sides. After a few minutes, Jon and his friend stopped walking and turned to us.

“These next few rooms are enveloped. You should be able to rest better here.” He knocked on the door, before opening it. As the door swung in, I could see the familiar water-wall barrier that had surrounded the smaller villages. I released the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding in. “Yes, I didn’t think this one was taken. You can stay here. I’ll be just across the hall.”

“Thank you,” I told him, because even if he didn’t realize how much this meant to me, I still had to tell him. The expenditure of magic it took to hold these waters back was taking more than a toll on me.

“We’ll convene in the evening, after dinner. That should give us several hours of rest. Put it to use, please. We need you both focused and coherent.” That last part he said to Alec, and then made some weird face. Whatever that was supposed to mean.

We walked in, and as soon as my eyes landed on the bed, it called to me, pulling me forward. I plopped down on the bed, face first, burying my face within the covers. I took a deep breath and released my hold on the magic covering every inch of me. I allowed my brain to relax, finally.

The thin film withdrew, leaving my skin free to breathe the air once more. Well, the lack of real air. But it was better than having to hold the magic bubble around me.

Alec flopped down beside me, on his back, and I watched as his magic withdrew as well. I stretched, my arms going above my head, loosening my bones and joints. Alec scooted along the bed, making his way up to the top.

He patted the side beside him, beckoning me. I got up on my knees crawled over to him, leaning beside him, in his open arms.

He wrapped his arms around me, spooning with me. I pulled my hair to the side, so it wouldn’t be in his face, and he placed his lips on my neck. Shocks of fire raced from the spot where he kissed me, down, down throughout my body.

I started to turn toward him, hoping for more of those kisses, but he held me still.

“Jon was right. We need sleep. Nothing more.” He kissed the back of my head as I sighed. “Sleep, we can talk and stuff tomorrow.”

“And stuff…” I murmured as my eyelids already fought to stay down, against my will.

Within seconds, I fell asleep to the sound of his snoring.

I woke to a burning in my hand. Forcing my eyes open, I looked at it, the red blotches from before had turned an ugly brown-pink that lashed out at me in angry pain.

Alec stirred beside me; his warm arm pulled me closer to him. I could feel him, smell him, and I smiled. His body was fit so close to me, like two pieces of puzzle that were made for each other. My back was firm against his hard chest, and his legs were still bent right next to mine. We fit perfect.

His hand started moving, trailing lazy circles and designs on my stomach. Sparks flew through me, zinging up and down…and way down. Down deep into my heart, and further down, below my stomach, warming parts of me that only ever warmed around him.

The pain in my hand forgotten, I turned around to face him. He smiled down at me before leaning forward and kissing my nose. I ran my uninjured hand along his arm, feeling each and every ripple of muscle along it, before reaching his face. He shuddered under my touch, his eyes closing in sweet pleasure.

Looking at him, my breath caught in my throat. He really was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. His jaw was squared and strong. His nose just slightly off, but sharp. His blond hair circled around his head, little pieces drifting down, shading his eyes. And then he opened them, and looked back at me. Those eyes. Green and swimming, they called to me.

His finger trailed down my cheek, sending tingles down my body. His hand dropped lower, sliding down my arm, and over to my stomach, before grabbing my back and pulling me closer to him. Our legs tangled together.

The moment was charged, the atmosphere on fire.

“You are so beautiful.”

And then he kissed me. His lips barely brushed against mine, softer than a whisper. I leaned into him, loving the feel of his lips on mine. But then he pulled away, only to drop his mouth lower. He trailed delicate, soft kisses along the same spot he’d just touched.

He kept going, shocking me with each touch of his lips to my neck, to the skin just under my ear, to my ear lobe…He was fire in my veins. I pushed my body closer to his. Warmth gathered in my chest and in the lowest pits of my stomach.

I thought…finally. Finally it will happen. I was more than ready. More than anything I was ready to be with him the way two people come together in the most beautiful and intimate act of unity. Because I wanted that. And I wanted it with him.

I reached my hands along his hips, pulling his shirt up, touching his chest and every rippling muscle beneath it. I tugged, hoping he would get the picture.

But then he took a deep breath, pushing my hand down, he rolled over to his back.

I lay next to him, breathing harder than I should’ve been, harder than when we were running in the dark. My heart pounded against my chest, trying to break free, to be with him.

I sighed.

He rolled to his side to look down at me. “We should get up and get some food before the meeting.”

“Why? I mean, we could stay for a few more minutes, or hours.” I said, while staring at the ceiling, which was also blue, like everything else in Muircadia.

He kissed my temple. I looked over at him, his eyes were dark, a hunger in them I knew matched my own. I reached for his face, but as he saw my hand coming, he grabbed it.

“I didn’t realize it was so bad.” He turned and reached into the abscondita, still hooked to his belt, and pulled out a little cylindrical container.

I looked down at my hand again, it was pretty bad, and now that he brought it up, all my focus was on the pain radiating up from my hand.

“Here,” he said, reaching for my hand. “Let me help.”

I placed my hand in his, as he rubbed some salve on it.

“It’ll be fine,” I told him.

“Why did you do it?” His voice was still husky from the kissing fun, and only made me want to kiss him more.

“I don’t know.” I cleared my throat. “I really don’t know.”

He looked up at me, searching for some hidden answer, before tending to my hand once more.

“I mean, I didn’t mean to get that close. It was just so pretty. And I umm…” I didn’t know what to say.

“It looked like you were making the fire grow,” he murmured, not taking his eyes from my hand. I could feel the dead layers of skin come off, allowing the new skin beneath to breathe once more.

“Yeah…it did look like that.” I looked down, finally closing my eyes and trying to disappear. I still didn’t know what that meant. The only other Pixie I knew was a murderous bitch that was dead…and my mother I guess, but she’s dead too. My heart ached for her even more than it always did. I needed my mother, my best friend, not just because she was my mother, but because she would have answers to questions I never knew I had before.

I seriously needed some answers about this Pixie blood in me.

He wrapped up my hand, and then we took turns showering before heading to dinner. Afterwards, we all gathered together in a room, which very much resembled the meeting room we used at the other base.

There were more than just the ten of us who came present. Several faces I didn’t recognize. Some that I had seen when we first came in though. Jon’s partner appeared to be the leader of this group, though, as he stood to the front, everyone looking to him with hopeful eyes.

“Thank you all for coming. I’m sure you have noticed the new additions to our group here, including the infamous Sylph Realm Guard called Alec, and his companion, heir to the Throne of the Empyrean, Princess Lily Volante.” He paused as everyone around the room nodded and smiled toward us.

“I’d like to…” he started again, before someone cut him off.

“Is it true that you killed the other Mortem members?” It was the same mousey woman from before. I think her name was Sue. She glared at us, skepticism in her eyes. “The story has been spreading like a storm across our villages, and now that I see you, I just find it so hard to believe. You don’t look like anything special to me. And it seems less likely that you participated at all.”

My wings burst forth at the accusation. I hadn’t meant them to, but any time I was angered, excited, or really felt any strong emotion they came out. It already felt unnatural to hold them in all the time, I really had no idea how Alec did it, always acting like it wasn’t a big deal.

They sent a shudder through the room, blowing the stale, non-existent air around us, blowing my hair forward into my face. At my outburst, Alec’s wings shot out too, his spicy aura filling me up, eliciting even more fiery emotions.

The look on her face satisfied me. I doubted che’d ever seen a Sylph in true form before. I would bet my eyes were bright orange, flaming with passion, and I already knew, without having to look at him, that Alec was a formidable sight to see.

The others around us looked more in awe, than shock, and that too made me fill with pride at my new wings, at who I am.

“I can guarantee that every single member of the Mortem is dead, beheaded, save for this last one called Xan,” I told her, my voice strong and imposing. “And I can also tell you, that I don’t appreciate the implication that I have ever lied. Or any one that I stand with. We are here to help, not only the Sprites and your Muircadia, but to rid our land of Mastikh and all his followers.”

As I spoke I could feel the importance of what I said. The rightness. My determination flared inside me, making me stand strong.

She nodded, and then looked down, ashamed. I ignored the stares as I leaned back, shifting my wings to hang over the back of the chair.

I glanced at Alec, his smile showed how proud he was of me, his features oozed sexy satisfaction. I tried to hide the smug smile that forced its way onto my face.

“Sorry, Frank, for my interruption,” Sue whispered.

Frank cleared his throat. Jon only smiled beside him.