Chapter Twenty-Eight
Elek
Shards of glass lay in every flower petal and blade of grass in the once enclosed garden. When I awoke to her missing I hadn’t been too concerned until the hammering that came to the door. She was gone and the fairies were as well.
I stood close by as Anton gave his statement to the guards and Leena, claiming he was bewitched to lure her out of the room. Supposedly, he attempted to stop the fairies from taking her but there were not enough marks on him to back up his claim. I didn’t have to hear his entire tale to know what had happened.
He was envious and wanted Sera to reconsider and the fairies used that to their advantage to manipulate him into believing they could break us apart. The only reason my sword was not embed in his gut was strictly because there were too many people watching. Although, I had started to think of several plausible accidents that could befall him.
When Zander finally appeared I darted for him before he could reach the disgusting liar.
“Don’t even bother talking to him. I know where they have taken her and I’m heading out now. Although, if I were you I could reconsider who I would call a friend. He practically gift wrapped her for them.”
“We can’t just go storming into Silvania demanding her back. There’s protocols for a reason.”
I blinked and blinked again. He couldn’t be serious. I didn’t have time for this.
“Then I’ll drop you a letter once I have her, if you even care. And when I get there I won’t be making demands for her. When I get her to Demarcus, I’ll also have a few new fairy wings to nail to my trophy wall.”
Pushing past him, I didn’t wait for a response. It would do nothing but take up more time and I had no patience to spare while she was in the hands of those bastards.
Huri greeted me at the entrance, fuchsia wings already unfurled.
“She’s at Lockwood. It’ll be faster if we flew over the sea and away from any land masses.” They said as we positioned ourselves.
Large black wings stretched outwards from my back.
“We will stop at Fort Khronos first. I’m borrowing a few men.”
Nolan had been quick to gather up men and supplies, even becoming giddy when he was informed that we were taking Lockwood. Seventy men with abilities ranging from fire conjuring to control over ice and spewing toxins faced me in the courtyard, wings flaring with the anticipation of a long flight. Regardless of not meeting her yet, they took her kidnapping to be as much of an insult against them as it was against me. That was true loyalty.
Digging the pad of my foot into the ground, I prepared to kick off when a young soldier raced his way through the crowd towards me. Clutching his side, he panted harshly.
“Your Highness, an army is emerging from the forest! Draugr, fairies, and elves are among them. There has to be close to a thousand.”
I cursed loudly. Oberron was going to stall me for as long as he could. Like hell he was going to be able to kill me though. Huri came into my side view, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Let’s make quick work of this army. I’ll send word out for more soldiers to come to our aid. As soon as they are taken care of we’ll go to Lockwood.”
They were right, yet I was reluctant to agree. Leaving the fort to go on ahead would be reckless. I looked back at my men, with more now filing in and waiting for orders.
“Groups A and B will do a swift recon and fly overhead. We need accurate numbers and information of the beasts they have on their side. You will have thirty minutes to return, and remember that if anyone falls their body comes back here. No one gets left behind.” For more reasons than one.
Twenty of the soldiers dispersed and took to the skies.
“Group C, prepare the infirmary. Something tells me that we will have more casualties and wounded than before. D and E will prepare their assault from the windows. The rest of you will come with me to the wall and wait for further orders. Keep on standby until A and B return.”
The sun beat down on us. At the edge of the forest various beings stood still, having paused completely on their assault of the fort. In the distance overhead the bodies of twenty soldiers could still be made out in the sky, traveling further away from us to assess the enemy.
Soon, I too took to the skies, hovering over the wall. The higher I rose the worse our situation appeared. Counting at least a dozen dark energy domes slowly making their way towards the front, it was likely they held wraiths among other nocturnal creatures, such as banshees and chimeras. All creatures of nightmares.
A flash rose up from the treetops, engulfing the flying soldiers. Shielding my eyes from the light I soon watched in horror as each of them crashed downwards into one of the energy forces. They wouldn’t be coming back out, not alive at least.
Huri flew up beside me.
“They have illusionists, light bringers, and necromancers. We can do our best to hold them back, but if reinforcements don’t get here by nightfall, we will lose the fort.”
“Today is just getting better and better.” I retorted, lowering myself back to the wall to address the others.
Their faces said it all, having witnessed the swift end to the others. We were going to lose many more. I turned to Huri first, keeping my voice low.
“Any word from our fearless king?” I asked, slightly annoyed that the old man hadn’t come to investigate himself.
“He went straight for Hyperion. We should see more dragons heading this way, I just don’t know how long it will be. Then he planned on waiting in Thanases and send anyone else he could spare.”
The reinforcements would be appreciated, but so would a king who cared enough to show up. However, it was not the time to dwell on what we were missing. I peeked over the rim of the wall towards the forest line before turning back to the others.
“We can’t always wait for others to come and bail us out. Fire users will go after the draugr and the energy fields. Burn the entire forest down if you must to eliminate them all. Ice users will go after the chimeras.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small vial with swirling silver liquid, the others followed suit. It was an effective tool of Huri’s making, allowing for the user to become immune to the magic of fairies and elves, but it would only hold us for so long.
“Make it a point to return to base for more elixir after each hour from when you first take it. Hold on to at least two more in the event that you cannot return. And no matter what, don’t let them take you alive or dead.”
I downed the contents before my last words of encouragement.
“Whomever brings me the most pairs of wings will be instantly promoted to captain and receive a nice bonus when they retire.”
Murmurs picked up with anticipation. Incentives usually had that effect on people.
Scanning the line once more before I flew to join the fray, I reached deep within me to feel for her. So long as I knew she was unharmed I would be able to focus on the situation at hand.
Similar to a newly kindled flame, there she was. A corner of my mouth lifted at the sensation. A warm aura that abruptly burst into a blaze of fury. There was no pain or misery. Only determination to escape on her own. Perhaps she’ll make it out on her own before I was finished at the fort.
“All good?” Huri asked, clapping me on the back.
“It will be.”
