Fable, page 33
Serena was falling deeper into the vortex in slow motion, when she saw Viltzin stand up, grab Shaylee’s head as she watched Serena go, and push Howling Tooth into the right side of her back, poking the blade all the way through. Serena screamed out as she moved farther and farther away, while the long blade was retracted and entered Shaylee’s body again, this time in the upper shoulder of her left side. The last thing Serena saw was Shaylee reaching out to her as she fell to the floor, with Viltzin staring at Serena with a horrific smile. Then she was gone.
Shaylee was out cold as Viltzin watched the vortex close, not realizing an outsider had barged through and witnessed the act. Rasarlin picked up the dark lord’s blade with disgust and while Viltzin continued smiling his snarly smile, Rasarlin swung hard and took his head from his body.
He watched the hideous creature fall to the floor next to the dying Shaylee. The vile creature shook and vibrated, and his head was still letting out a horrendous screeching noise. Then the body lifted into the air along with the head as the Zeytar inside started rising out of its now useless host. Higher the lights of the Zeytar rose until Felvora turned, re-aimed her staff, taking it away from the dark lord for just a moment, and blasted the Zeytar essence into sparkles and embers, which fell to the floor and faded to ethereal dust before their eyes.
Faiay’aar and Kalandrya had not noticed this, as they were focused on watching the dark lord slowly age from their power. The castle was rocking very hard and the thunderstorms were in full violent force because of the energy that had been cutting the fibers of the realm all night. The spell had succeeded, as the castle started to crumble, but the work had not yet finished. Although the mist was growing and following the dark ones across the castle and out into the forest, it had still not reached the dark lord, as the Tuatha power was too strong.
The three dryads knew the treasures’ potential, but they all wanted their piece of the monster, so he would never return. Faiay’aar stopped briefly and then took the fourth Tuatha treasure in her hands. Knowing the outcome, she turned and looked at the others. With a full blast from all four stones the dark lord let out a howling cry and was obliterated into microscopic dust.
But the force of having two treasures at once in concentrated form was far too much, and the blast forced Faiay’aar back hard against the wall, burning her so badly she was charred from head to toe. Felvora and Kalandrya had had no time to stop her as they screamed her name and raced over to help her.
“Here, Flora, take my pouch. It is healing dust and potions.”
As Kalandrya handed Felvora the pouch, Faiay’aar lifted her severely burned arm, grabbed Felvora, and whispered with her final few strained breaths, “It’s OK, I will be with my sylphs in the forest. I have loved you all and …”
Both the dryads looked at each other in shock as they shed tears, all while the castle shook and the walls and bricks crashed down. They looked around the room but couldn’t find Shaylee or Serena and her child, only Howling Tooth, all bloody and dusty. Van Coinan was lying still, along with a mess of black dust. The blue swirly mist had taken over much of the castle as the two dryads picked themselves up and started heading for the door to safety.
As Felvora turned for one last look, she noticed movement underneath one of the dark faeries’ body. Returning quickly to see, she noticed Grilif trying to push it off him. She lowered her head down, and with a little smirk, though with watery eyes, she quipped, “Do you need a hand, my friend?”
Grilif let out an angry groan as bricks and shelves continued moving and falling around them. As she lifted the gnome up and out of the distress he was under, Kalandrya poked her head around the doorway and yelled, “Come on, Flora, let’s go!”
At the same time Van Coinan, now back in pooka form, turned his head and tried to move. Felvora picked him up without saying anything, and ran for the door. As both dryads turned to mist, Vaelenflixx flew out of the doorway and followed them out into the darkness of the hall.
The spell had worked, destroying all the evil. As they made it out of the castle and onto land, they met up with some other survivors. They all witnessed the castle crumble from the air and onto the ground, while the surrounding forest started to spring to life.
Felvora smiled as she turned to Kalandrya. “We have sacrificed much this day for our people but look at what we have. There will never be darkness upon the lands again. We will start over and rebuild our peaceful world.”
Kalandrya, emotional because of the many losses, looked behind her at the bourgeoning wildlife and colors, while thinking deeply about the sacrifices so many brave ones had made. She turned a little farther around and saw thousands of her kin, survivors of the war, standing among the vast foliage and trees, talking and comforting each other.
Pixies, gnomes, woodland elves, sprites, wisps, and all the wonderful creatures she called friends and companions, smiled and danced as they celebrated the fall of the darkness. It had been so long since they could breathe deeply.
Kalandrya turned back, wiping away a small tear as two merrow rose from the ocean and headed their way.
“We are so glad you are alive, Felvora. Where are the other three?”
Felvora pointed behind her to where Vaelenflixx hovered around Grilif and Darf, and all were laughing and smiling. How Darf escaped was still a mystery to her, but they were safe.
Telgran smiled and answered in his gurgled tone, “I wasn’t sure if you survived. After we left you underneath the castle, we weren’t sure if you made it. We had to leave because the storms were too much. We are sorry we couldn’t do more.”
Felvora moved forward, placed her hand on his soft, spiky shoulder, gently so as not to pierce her green skin, and whispered, “I will owe you forever. For saving us, then bringing us here in time for the war—I cannot thank you enough. Your part in this was just as important.”
Telgran smiled, placed his webbed hand on Felvora’s shoulder and whispered, “You have all saved us with your selfless actions. We can remember our loved ones and nurture those remaining.”
Before long, without saying another word, he turned and placed his webbed hand behind Nelarvas’ back. They slowly walked to the edge of the stairs of the grounded part of the castle and dove from the high cliff face into the water, heading back to their island.
Felvora turned to Kalandrya and said, “Well, I suppose we head home,” as she sprinkled some green powder over Van Coinan’s foot. He hadn’t been injured, just stubbed his foot and fell over, then had a sleep in the middle of the battle. He hopped to his toes, and just as they were about to begin their journey home, they heard the same roar as before when they were inside the castle.
Looking up to the top of the remaining crumbling part of the castle, which was surrounded by some blue mist, they saw movement, and then another roar.
After hearing the horn, Rasarlin and Vaximardruusz moved toward the castle, knowing something was happening and innocents were in trouble. As they saw the devastation firsthand, they didn’t want whatever was overrunning this land to take hold; besides, Rasarlin and his partner had been to a lot of worlds, seen a lot of darkness, and witnessed too many innocent lives fall. If they could help while they were there, they would, and anyway, they both had a thing for fighting.
Vax flew high and swiftly, following the noise, avoiding the lightning, and heading for the colors blasting from the castle. The wyvern landed on the roof of the castle which reminded them both of some dark lands from their world. Rasarlin slid off and found holes in the tower big enough to climb through, while Vaximardruusz roared to scare the evil inside. Rasarlin had three arrows left in his quiver, so went for his blade. He took it out and descended a level to where the commotion was coming from.
Immediately he faced grotesque creatures trying to kill him. He cut them down one by one, sometimes two at a time, with his swift and strong fighting style. Farther and farther he delved, slicing and cutting hard as he made it to the entrance of the room where it was all happening. That’s when he saw a perfectly innocent being get cut down. With his anger rising, he worked out very quickly who the evil ones were and who were the innocents. Fully focused only on her, he entered the room, and as the sword was pulled out from the winged one the second time, he looked around, picked up a large sword from the ground, and quickly ended the dark creature’s life.
As the green mist hit Viltzin’s essence, Rasarlin leaned down to see if the beautiful-looking winged female was OK. He could hear her moaning as he checked her over, and tried to apply pressure, but couldn’t stop the bleeding. He ripped some fabric from another strange winged creature lying next to him that was far uglier and twisted, before wrapping both wounds tight.
He had little time and if she stayed there, she would surely die. So he took her in his arms, and moved very quickly, trying to avoid goblins and other foul things, slicing them down with his new sword. He was out in the hallways before anyone knew he had even been there.
Rasarlin went the way he had come, trying not to trip over the mess he had left earlier, and witnessing mists surrounding the dark creatures and turning them to dust. Knowing he had to get to Vax as quickly as he could, he continued upward toward the tower. When he completed his final ascent, he was met by his friend, who whispered in his mind, “That was quick. You only rescued one?”
Rasarlin didn’t bother responding to his comment. Instead, he reached into a large satchel tied to the left foot of Vax where he kept all his belongings, including his medicines. He hoped that if he could save this one, he could go back in and save some more, but there was something about this creature that resonated with him, a familiarity that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. That’s why he got so angry and homed in on her when he witnessed Viltzin’s final blow.
Vax had his wing down where Rasarlin had laid her. She was still bleeding heavily so he needed to stop it as soon as he could. He reached in his pack, pulled out some green paste from a wooden box, opened the dressings, then spread it front to back over both wounds, watching it seep in.
He then found some soft powder and covered the dressings with it, before hitting them with a flint and lighting them on fire. Rasarlin then attached the burning garb to the end of his new sword. He waited a moment, took the burning garb off, and then fused all four wound openings with the burning hot sword. She let out a scream with each one, before passing out.
While this was happening, the castle was shaking and crumbling. They didn’t have too much time before Vax would have to launch, but he couldn’t move her yet.
Rasarlin opened the leftover dressing and split it, covering each wound with just enough material before he sat back and waited. He turned to his companion and whispered, “I miss my magic. I could use the Marelarph shard, but it may thrust us out too early, so it’s up to her now.”
They waited for as long as they could, witnessing the surrounding land change from a dark, horrific place to beautiful colorful scenery. As time moved forward, and the sun started climbing, the pair could not sustain their position any longer and had to take the chance and move the lady with wings.
Rasarlin placed Shaylee in between some rigid follicles on the middle part of Vaximardruusz’s back, securing her with some rope from his pouch. The wyvern gave an almighty roar and started ascending high into the air.
Felvora and Kalandrya, along with the rest of the Fae, looked high into the sky. Witnessing such a strange creature reminded them of similar beasts long forgotten and only existing in stories from an age past. The creature disappeared into the blue mist still floating through the land. In the next moment the castle exploded, throwing shards and debris for hundreds of miles. As the Fae took cover, the sky began exploding, opening up as if the skin of the world was shedding to reveal another sky.
As the swirls of lightning and thunder took hold, whatever it was kept unwrapping, closer and closer, until the morning was now night again and the trees disappeared all around them, revealing different landmarks. The mountain they were on seemed higher as the forest faded away, and they were now overlooking a green countryside with fences and strange metal machines.
Felvora turned to Kalandrya, took the arm she was shielding herself with away from her face, and as they lay where they had dropped to the ground to avoid the debris, she whispered, “I don’t think we are in Faelynn anymore.”
EPILOGUE
VAXIMARDRUUSZ CLIMBED HIGHER INTO THE AIR, trying to get some height so he could see a better place to land. As they moved up into the blue misty clouds, a great noise hit them and the mists faded, and they were met with not a morning but a dusk. Rasarlin fell from his ride as they entered the new strange place, thankful the mountain terrain now had some soft hay to break his fall with.
Thinking the time trap had sucked them back through far too quickly this time, he pulled out his sword, held it high into the air, and shouted, “When will you send us home?”
Rasarlin looked at the dull Marelarph shard on his chest while he lowered his sword, and then watched Vaximardruusz loop over and fly across the fields, roaring from the same frustration his friend had. As the beast turned back, he witnessed the last of the glow from the sun before it became completely dark and the moon turned to blood.
Rasarlin stood, awaiting his wyvern’s return. Shaylee would not have come through if it was the shard that caused this. Vax landed with a thump and Rasarlin climbed swiftly onto the magnificent creature’s back, with the ease of someone who knew every scale and every nook. He was, after all, the last of the Taarlin Knights from his world, so that skill set came with the territory.
He rushed over to where Shaylee had been but couldn’t see her. Without panicking, he retraced their steps and deducted that in the heat of panic Vax had tightened his defenses and as a result buried her underneath his soft but firm follicles.
“Just relax, Vax. You’re tightening too much. Loosen up your back a little.”
Vax knew immediately what Rasarlin meant and opened the follicles on his back. In a way they had protected her from harm, so it wasn’t a bad thing, but she was not in a good way at all.
Rasarlin, with the help of Vax, slipped her onto his wing. She was still unconscious and looked far too pale to be healthy. Meanwhile, there were more blasts in the sky and all around them. As Rasarlin looked across the countryside, he could see trees growing up, mountains crumbling away, and figures appearing from nowhere. It was something he had never seen before, ever. Dark magic was at play, he thought, as he heard some strange voices near him. When he looked over, he saw dozens of fresh arrivals, as more landmarks changed around them.
The talking become louder, but the language was still strange. Normally the Marelarph shard would manipulate his foreign speech to the new world’s language so he could understand it, but it needed some time to gather source information. Looking behind him he saw the new arrivals coming closer to see the giant beast, but then suddenly Shaylee let out a scream, “Serena!” before fading out once more.
Some arrivals close by heard it and came running over. Felvora pushed Rasarlin aside as Kalandrya held a knife to his throat, which caught the attention of Vax who gave a loud snort and groan in response. Knowing they must have been friends and not wanting to get in the way, he put his arms up and stood back as Felvora took Shaylee’s head into her hands and began checking her wounds. As barbaric as the dressings were to a healer, she nodded to him for his attempts and for saving her life. She then pulled out her potions and healing powders from her satchel, forgetting they were standing on a wyvern’s wing.
Shaylee tossed and turned while Rasarlin observed the ever-changing landscape. Then Kalandrya whispered, “Flora, this is the old world where the humans dwell. I’ve seen it before. The air is heavy and gravity is dense, I can feel it in my bones.”
Felvora replied straightaway, “But how can that be when the remains of the dark castle stairs are just there, and in the far distance I can see the Tuatha Dé Danann Monolith exactly where it should stand next to the Aurora Forest which is miles and miles away?”
They turned and looked back at each other as Felvora’s color started to fade to a pale green instead of her usual glow. “What kind of dark magic did we unleash? We have combined the realms into a paradox, this is Faelynn, but it is also the human realm,” she said.
Kalandrya looked up at the wyvern, over at the stranger, then back to Felvora, before whispering, “What have we done?”
GLOSSARY
Aethelwyne (Ay-thel-wine): The house name of the ruler of Faelynn.
Alicorn: The horn of a unicorn that holds power.
Alvantaar (Al-vant-ar): The merrow that washed up on shore and was taken by the shadow-clothed humans.
Alvina Whittleleaf (Al-vine-ah): A pixie from Maelenflitt.
Aurora Forest: The biggest forest in all Faelynn with an abundance of different life.
Baldaar (Bald-ar): A three-horned half tiger, half humanoid faery, husband to Faleesa.
basilisk dragons: Long extinct dragon snakes in the times of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
brownie: Mischievous faery who likes to steal trinkets.
Brumlemd (Brum-lem-ed): Grilif’s father.
Chaxinn (Chacks-in): Young woodland elf boy.
Daarr: A dark Elvenfae guard from Xarkynan.
Darf: A gnome from Aurora.
dark elf/dark Elvenfae: Twisted and evil Elvenfae, turned by the dark lord to aid in his war against the Fae.
Darlygah Frostdrop: Former Elvenfae warrior guard/best friend to King Aethelwyne and current blacksmith for the palace.
Darphanin (Darf-an-in): The leader of the woodland elf warriors and prince of the woodland realm.
Draconian (Drack-oh-nean): Race of creatures from another planet fighting the Zeytars.
Dralixx (Dral-icks): A furious troll who killed Grilif’s parents.
dread collectors: Dark witches send them out to find potions made from Fae.
