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Feri war
Chapter 25
The Neornites landed in the square.
A sigh of relief escaped me. 'Thank God!' I muttered under my breath.
Their arrival caused quite a stir, especially for the warlocks. Momentarily, all fighting paused before restarting again. I think they needed to get over their initial shock. However, this time thing wasn't that easy for them, we had the upper hand. And somehow it also helps that the newcomers looked menacing, even for me who knew they were allies. Their massive wings made them appear larger than they were. They had some sort of short swords and were cladded in armour that barely covered their head, chest and forearms. Their appearance was like a cross between a gladiator and an angel.
Seeing that I was distracted, a warlock tried to sneak an attack. Before he reached me, a female Neornite drove him back. The Neornites had strategically placed themselves around me as if I were the chess board king. They didn't know that I was more like the queen; secretly overpowered. And I showed them.
I flipped a warlock off with my telekinesis and quickly stunned two others with feri energy, showing them I was on par with them.
I gloated over my triumph. It felt exhilarating. I wanted more. But the feeling was short-lived as the grin on my face flipped down.
Charlie!
His core had flickered. Instantly, a feeling of dread washed over me. Something was wrong. Charlie was hurt. Without a thought, I was already on the move.
Warlocks flew out of my way as I made a mad dash for the tall building. The building was intricately and interestingly built. No doors on ground level, just archways that resemble honeycombs. Inside, led to an internal structure. Frankly, it was just another building within the larger structure. I didn't have time to appreciate the ingenuity of the construction. Charlie's core signature was on the top level so I hurried up the marble staircase splayed before me in long strides. I didn't meet any guards on the way, which was peculiar. In the back of my head, was the looming presence of a trap. Hyped up on adrenalin with an undertone of desperation, I dismissed all reasoning. Charlie was in danger and I was going to save him.
Finally, atop the stairs, I paused to get my bearings. Charlie was in the immaculate chamber before me blocked by a double door entrance. Guarding the door, however, were two large guards with spears. They moved. I took a combat stance thinking they were going to attack me, but they didn't. Instead, each took a side of the door and pulled it open.
I was being invited in. huh?
I strode carefully and even avoid giving them my back as I stepped inside the chamber. They closed the door behind me as I passed through. What's the game plan here? Just as the doors were about a sliver to a close, a white ghost squeezed through. It was Eric-wolf. He had made it too.
Eric didn't acknowledge me though, he growled at whoever was behind me, his hackle raised. 'Welcome to the both of you,' the deep voice of a man said. I turned to see a slender elegantly dressed man. His slick dark hair was tied behind his head revealing two elephant ears but as a whole, he might be considered handsome.
'Thank you for the compliments, Your Majesty. It's flattering coming from you.'
God dammit! Is my shield down?
Eric-wolf glanced at me. I shrugged. I pulled it up and enforced it just for good measure.
Callum Hunter laughed.
He stood on a throne-less dais in front of very tall vertical stained glass windows with intricate colourful pictorials on them. 'I'm happy you could come,' he said as if he had extended us an invitation. In a way, he did, yeah. Kidnapping Charlie, pushed his army out to stop my friends but me in, and his gaze, I've felt this gaze before. It was then I realized that he was the presence that has been observing us back at Dougsfort.
'Why are we here?' I asked.
He grinned.
He was about to answer when Charlie groaned. My eyes were drawn to the man at the bottom of the dais a few feet from us. Charlie! His clothes were bloodied and mangled as if he'd been mauled by a lion. Overgrown facial hair along with the mess atop his head, he looked so old and so fragile.
He was mumbling to what I understand he was saying "get away".
Callum sighed. 'Do forgive the distraction. He was meant to remain quiet.' He clicked his fingers and Charlie writhed in pain with clenched teeth as if not to shout out loud.
On instinct, I threw an energy ball at Hunter which he deflected towards the ceiling where it put a hole in a wooden beam. Eric was quick to follow. He launched towards Hunter. The witch clicked his fingers again and I heard the wolf's bone crack. Eric unceremoniously fell to the floor. His back left leg sat at an awkward angle.
'Eric!' I yelled and turned to Callum. 'You, son of a bitch. You're going to pay for that.'
'Now, now, Your Majesty. you mustn't use such foul language,' he said smugly. 'Now let's discuss the...'
Fueled by rage, I didn't allow him to continue when I started sending any furniture I could dislodge at him. To my surprise, he would leisurely deflect or turn them to dust with his clicking fingers. After some time, I knew it would be pointless to continue so I tried a psychic attack. I created an explosion in his mind which sent him back a few steps. Since it was working I sent a few more until he sent one my way. I defused it but it was the distraction he needed to reinforce his shield because my next attack failed.
Dusting his long sleeve tunic, his grin grew more sinister. 'You're strong but as you saw I've been prepared for this sort of attack.'
Still fuming, I raised my hand to blast him with some feri energy, but he quickly pointed his fingers toward my guardians. He won't hesitate to hurt them. I know he would. That stopped me.
I glanced at the couple on the floor. Eric was now in human form besides his mate. It surprised me that he managed a shift while in such pain. It sure didn't work for Hoagar, the deer shifter whom Wren and I met this one time on our way to Koff last summer. His overbearing pain took away his shifting ability and he was stuck in stag form for a few days before we came along. I stared at Eric. He must possess incredible resilience or he loved Charlie enough to overcome all pain. Either way, it was an impressive feat.
'Would you listen to me now?' Callum said.
Callum Hunter was powerful. Even more so than I expected. Without a single doubt, he could kill us all right here and right now. Yet he hasn't done so. And I think I'm about to find the why of all of this.
I folded my arms as a sign of passive submission and remained silent.
He grinned again, but with a chuckle this time. 'You're beginning to understand.' Another sigh and he straightened his tunic's collar. 'Let's cut to the chase. The reason I've lured you here is that you have something that I want. And as a sign of goodwill, I'll be happy to trade your guardian for it.'
'Don't give him anything, Rye!' Eric yelled.
'No!' I yelled when Callum cracked his fingers at him. Eric shook violently before he fainted on top of Charlie. 'You bastard. I'm going to kill you for this.'
He ignored my taunt. 'As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted. I have something that you badly want and you have something that I badly need. It's only fair if we trade.'
I set the animosity inside me aside long enough to try and figure out what that bastard needed from me. As far as I know, I didn't have anything of value in my possession. Whatever he wants though, I can see right through his sinister plan. He isn't going to let us waltz out of here still breathing. I have to come up with a plan for when that time comes. For now, let's entertain him some more.
'What do I have that might be of interest to you?'
His face brightened. 'Ah! I see the trade is on. He stepped down from the dais and took a debonair posse; legs apart one slightly back, one hand at his waist and the other swirling underneath his chin at the imaginary goatee that he doesn't have.
'In exchange for your guardian ... and now guardians. I want the dragon stone.'
The dragon stone? How does he...? Oh yeah. He had been spying on us, hasn't he?
I opened my mouth to reply and then closed it again. I just thought of something. Charlie was taken way before the stone was revealed to us. How on earth did he...?
'I don't need to read your mind to figure out the puzzling look on your face,' he said. 'That stupid Malakai girl had the stone and she was within my reach. I tried different methods to extract that thing but it resisted me. At some point, I came to realize that the stone was reacting to my aura. Someone cast a powerful spell on it preventing anyone with impure intention from ever touching it. It nearly killed me a few times. I also realized that if I force it too much it will self-destruct as well.'
He sighed dramatically again. 'A few people died in trying to get it for me, either by the stone itself or by me. But the point is, we were all unsuccessful. So when my dear friend Lord of Herring told me about your visit to his city, I came to the realization that you are feres. Who else besides a feres can retrieve the stone?'
I promised myself to remain quiet but my curiosity got the better of me. 'But I wasn't the one who retrieved the stone.'
'Yes, but you touched it first. You disarmed it making it easier for the good doctor.'
Is that what happened? I was still a bit sceptical about all this.
'Why do you want that stone?'
'That Your Majesty is no concern of yours. Now if you'll hand me the stone, you and your guardians can walk out of here free without any attempt on my part to stop you. That's a promise. Do we have a deal?'
Despite, my brain yelling at me not to listen to him, Charlie's and now Eric's core were fading. If I tarry, I will risk losing them. Even more so, I will risk losing all my friends still fighting outside. I called for the stone. I've already made my decision.
I walked right up to my guardians. I made sure they were within distance for me to protect them if things go awry. Hunter knew what I was doing, the stupid grin on his face told me so, but he allowed it nonetheless.
I summed the dragon core and gave it to him. The moment he caught it, the temperature in the chamber fell. A small gust revealed a smoky ring on the dais. A feeling of dread washed over me when I saw that portal. I knew who was coming. And when it was large enough, Helledon stepped out with an even more sinister grin than Hunter's.
I instantly pulled up a shield around my guardians.
Helledon snorted. But he didn't say anything to me. He splayed a hand at Callum. 'Finally, I've succeeded.'
Callum's debonair demeanour morphs into a subservient one. 'Yes, master.'
Huh! He was working for the Helledon all along. That didn't come as a surprise.
'Let me have it,' Helledon said.
Callum hurried up the dais and handed him the stone. 'Here you go, master. Now we could end them once and for all,' he said smirking in my direction.
His words paused Helledon. and I saw the shift from pleasing to the disdain for the council leader Callum Hunter. 'WE! In my plans, there is no WE. There's only I.'
Callum should have heeded the warning in Helledon's tone but he was too self-absorbed to notice. 'But master, I helped you, didn't I? I was the one who came up with the plan to use the feres. And you said if I succeed I'll be your partner for real?'
Helledon laughed. For a moment there I taught he would regard Callum as an equal partner. He put his arms around the man's shoulders laughingly before he broke the leader of the council of witches' neck without any effort.
Council leader Callum Hunter fell to a heap at Helledon's feet.
A gasp escaped me bringing Helledon's attention to me. He glanced at my guardians' bodies and grinned. 'I could fight and kill you now, but you haven't suffered enough before I gave you that privilege.' He pointed towards Charlie and Eric. 'They're too far gone, far beyond saving. They will be dead soon and there's nothing anyone can do to save them. And that in itself is the way I want to kill you. Bit by bit and pain by pain. You will feel what it felt like for me losing a son.' He turned to his smoky portal and walked right up to it. Then he paused before disappearing completely.
But it was his last word that echoed through my mind.
'Summer is approaching. Prepare for a world of hurt.'
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End of chapter 25