Forever Fae (3 page)

“Ryder, you need to hurry up
,
jackass
,
o
r we’ll be late
,
”
Warren yells.
 

Warren is my best friend and a strong fighter. He’s a little shorter than me reaching six feet, with black hair and eyes so dark they
appear
black.  We are built the same way with moderate sized muscles and toned bodies.  We have to be that way in order to be strong warrior
s
.   He persisted for days on going with me to this ceremony, and I don’t know why.  I found it kind of odd how adamant he was on being able to go.  For the past couple of weeks, he’s been moody and very apprehensive.  Also, he’s been very aggressive during warrior training.  His viciousness had almost co
st
us
the life of a young warrior so
I banned him from training for a while.  The fae do not die easily, but a beheading will do the trick a
nd of course iron weakens us.  One fatal gash from an iron blade will spread poison through our bodies and we will die in minutes.

I yell
back humorously, “What’s the matter, Warren, Cinderella afraid of not being able to meet the prince before midnight
?
” 

Warren
grit
s
his teeth and scowls
.

“Shut the hell up and let’s get on the road.”

I don’t know where his attitude has come from, but I’m just about sick of it. 
He’s been like this for weeks and I’ve put up with it because he’s my friend, but I’m not going to put up with it anymore. 
I step into his space to where we’re
almost
nose to nose and demand to know what’s wrong with him.

“Look Warren, I don’t know what your problem is, but if you don’t stop this attitude, I’m going to kick your
fucking ass all the way to the Summer C
ourt and back.
You’ve been like this for weeks now and i
f you’re not going to tell me what’s wrong, I suggest you suck it up and move on.  This cry baby bulls
hit is going to stop now!
”
I yell.

At this time, my brother Kalen
ma
kes
his appearance and
g
ives
me a fist bump. 

“What did I miss?  Are you two ladies having a lover’s quarrel or something?
” He looks over at Warren and says,
“
Man, Warren, you look like you need to get laid or something.  Maybe you’ll get lucky with a summer chick.”  No matter what kind of situation I’m in, I can always count on my brother to lighten the mood.

Laughing, I say “Kalen, you never cease to amaze me.  If anyone’s getting lucky, we know it’ll be you, but I think Warren is over his tantrum now, right?”  Looking over at him he nods and leaves the house.

Kalen likes to joke a lot and doesn’t t
ake anything seriously.  He looks like our mother with
his
raven black hair
as well as her ice blue eyes.  He keeps his hair shoulder length whil
e I keep mine short.   Even though
our hair is different colors and lengths, we have the same shape face and eyes.  Anyone could tell that we are brothers.  He likes to flirt with any female that walks, and he’s a total jokester.  He’s played many pranks with his affinity to water.

I walk inside my house and pack a few items to take on the trip to the Summer Court.  It’s time to head down the road so I load up the carriage.
Warren rides up beside me on his horse and apologizes. 

“Look Ryder, I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting.  I don’t know what’s come over me these days.” 

I wish I knew
,
too.  I waved him off and said, “Just figure it out is all I c
an say.”  I watch him ride sullenly
to the gate.  A feeling of u
nease sweeps throughout my body and I don’t know if it’s from my encounter with Warren or from that unsettling feeling in my stomach that I’ve been getting for no reason
lately
.
I don’t know why I fee
l this way, but I wish I could figure it out.
  

To my brother I say,
“Well how about we get going then
?
 
Kalen, r
ound up the warriors and meet me
at the front gate.”

  My brother
le
aves
to assemble the m
en, and I climb
up
on
to
my sleek, midnight colored mare.  My parents had given her to me when I turned sixteen and I named her after the Greek goddess, Artemis. 
I’ve always been fascinated with Greek mythology.  I had
been training as a warrior for years by then and I knew my horse would be just as strong of a warrior as
me
.  She has definitely lived up to her name as Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt. 

Travelling through to the different courts has always been an interesting thing.  Our kingdom is nothing but snow and ice.  The Mystical
F
orest
lies betwee
n our court and the Summer Court, and I’ve always loved to see all the different fae creatures.  There are several villages we pass through and most of the creatures in them just wave and smile as we pass by.
  The Mystical
F
orest
is filled with an abundance of trees that block out the sun
,
making it a nice
,
cool journey.  The smell of the forest is always welcoming.  It sme
lls of pine and earth.  In the Winter C
ourt, our a
ir is crisp and pure smelling, and it’s always cold
,
too.  The Summer C
ourt, however, is a different matter. 
We are used to the colder temperatures and our bodies keep a cooler temperature as well, but the
Summer
fae are used to the hotter temperatures and also have hotter skin.  The heat can be a nuisance for us Winter fae so, hopefully,
this ceremony won’t last too long and th
en we can head back home.

Chapter 3

Alasdair- Dark
Sorcerer
(Black Forest)

“The plan has been set in motion,
M
aster
.”

The hideous troll kneeling in front of me said the words I wanted to hear.  His name is Gothin
;
he was cast out of his tribe and came straight to the Black Forest where I found him.  I look down upon him and congratulate him on the good news. 

“Good, good.  My time for revenge is well under way, so
…
what news do you have of the ceremony tonight?” I ask.

Gothin lifts his head and shows his rotten, pointed teeth when he grins
.

“Our people are in place.  No one suspects what we have planned.” 

This is great.  Once I have the princess in my grasp, I’ll be able to keep the prophecy from coming true.  I wish I could just walk right into the Summer Court and take her, but I can’t.  I have to be patient, and then when the time is right she will be mine. 

I am Alasdair, the last dark sorcerer of my time.  I escaped as a young boy, but only in spirit form
,
while my family and friends were slaughtered by the courts.  Our goal was to take over the courts and cla
im all of the Land of the Fae.
Unfortunately, the sorcerers in my clan became careless and greedy.  They let their own greed lead to their destruction, but not this time though.  I have been building my army for over a hundred years now.  It’s taken a lot of time, but I am very close to my goal. 

My dwelling in the Black Forest is actually luxurious.  I conjured up many different homes in the trees and on the grounds.  My home is set in the middle of the hugest tree of the forest.  The prisons are well secured and I have my army patrolling the grounds in shifts.  We are safe for the time being because no one dares to enter
the
forest.  Many have tried but they were either killed or are now part of my army. Inheriting my family’s power has come with many advantages.  My army and minions listen to everything I say and they follow my orders.  I’ve lured numerous creatures here with thoughts of wealth and prosperity.  In return, I have their full loyalty.  Most of my army
are
traitors to their own kind or thieves that have been cast out.  They are greedy, murderous fiends that will help me take over this land.

My family came to the Land of
the Fae from the mortal realm.
When my people used their magic to find other realms, they stum
bled upon the Land of the Fae.
Once they crossed over, their magic intensified.  The natural
magic of the land fueled theirs and w
ith their arrival the courts were alerted to the change.  When my peop
le were told to leave war broke out because my people didn’t comply with the demands.
  We were told the black magic of our people would corrupt the land.  Both courts came at us full force and they almost didn’t win.  Our power didn’t have enough time to strengthen bef
ore they devastated our numbers and
I have been planning my revenge ever since.

The courts don’t know that there is a dark sorcerer out here in the Black Forest.  They may be close to figuring it out, but hopefully my plan for vengeance will be well under way before they have a chance to stop me.  My power
has
slow
ly
gain
ed
over time, and t
he power I absorb is giving me a body. I can obtain my solid body for a small amount of time if I use the talisman
I’m wearing for
energy.
When I take my true solid form
,
it’s the body I was born with.
I have long
,
brown hair to my shoulders and gray eyes.  However, I can change my true form to make me look like anyone a person desires.  This will come in handy when I have the princess here.  When I am in my spirit form, I take my true form’s shape
,
but I’m not solid.  I appear as a ghost, but more corporeal than a ghost.  Over time I will be solid, and
will
be able to enjoy the
temptations of life on my own.  I can take over a fae’s body and enjoy things through them,
which I have done occasionally, but i
t takes a lot of power to do
it,
so I don’t do it that often.  I have done it several t
imes with my minions
to get the inside information myself.  As long as they wear the necklaces I give them, I have the power to transfer into them.  They don’t really like it when I have control of their bodies, but it’s not like they have a choice.  They signed over their lives when they decided to join me. 

I absorb my power through the forest and by a secret way that nobody other than my army
knows
about.  Around my neck I wear a talisman.
  The gem is a bloodstone that
naturally helps to strengthen
and lengthen lifespan and i
t
also
helps to steal traces of power from
the people in my army as well so
I consider it payment to be abl
e to be a part of my army.  The
power
I steal
then gets absorbed
into
me
,
making me stronger. 

If I were to put t
he talisman around someone’s neck
it would
absorb their power more quickly and kill them in mere seconds.
  I do this as punishment to those I capture
who
won’t pay fe
alty to me.
Once I capture the almighty p
rincess, I plan to steal most of her power.  The more power I take, the easier it will be to persuade her. I don’t want to completely drain her because I want to keep her to be my
q
ueen
. 
There are no love
ly women here in the forest, but
I
’ve actually been around the
p
rincess
and
have
seen her exquisite beauty.  No one even suspected that somet
hing was amiss during that time when I inhabited my minion.
  I have spied on her numerous times since then to witness her power. 
I could see the light inside of her that only one of
T
he
Four possesses. 
It will soon become mine and I will be one step closer to gaining the power I need and the body I desire.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts and then
I look back to Gothin and say, “P
repare the scrying bowl.  I need
speak to my informant.”  He
le
aves
immediately and
comes
back just as fast. 
He sets up the scrying bowl for me to us
e
and bows.