Chapter Six
Whispers of the Fae
Xanther stood outside the inn with Haldor, the cool evening air crackling with tension. Their hushed conversation felt like a fragile thread, about to snap at any moment. The tavern doors creaked open, casting flickering shadows that danced on the cobblestones.
“Grandfather, I don’t want any trouble. I just want to go south,” Issac said, his voice steady yet laced with an undercurrent of wariness.
Xanther’s eyes shimmered with an unsettling cosmic glow, golden flecks swirling like distant stars in a darkened sky. “And who travels with you, boy?”
Issac darted glances left and right, ensuring no hidden threats lingered in the shadows. “Raziel and Venus,” he replied, his tone firm but cautious. The three of them walked out onto the wooden landing.
Xanther let out a dark chuckle, his voice dripping with disdain. “You dare to travel with her?” His disapproval hung in the air, thick as fog.
Issac shrugged, resignation etching lines on his face. “I don’t have much choice, Xanther.”
“Oh Xanther, you know you have missed me.” She smirks as she walks down the three stairs.
He eyed her with caution. “Right, what are you doing on this planet Venus?
She shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t you wish you knew?”
The dark-haired man crossed his arms, his piercing gaze cutting through the morning twilight. He ignored her comment and turned back to Issac. “I’ll let you leave—if you hand over Aurelian.”
Raziel, emboldened by youthful defiance, stepped forward with a laugh that was both challenging and light-hearted. “Is that all it takes for you to let us go peacefully?”
Xanther narrowed his eyes, suspicion radiating from him. “Yes, yes, it is.”
“Fine.” Raziel descended the three steps from the tavern, his movements fluid and deliberate. He unstrapped his bow, the elegant weapon gleaming in the dim light, and handed it over to Xanther.
The dark sorcerer grasped the bow, an idle smirk creeping onto his lips. Yet something in Raziel’s demeanor stirred his instincts, caution flaring in his chest. “Why does this feel too easy?” he muttered, examining the weapon closely.
“Must everything in life be complicated?” Raziel shot back, his tone teasing, almost mocking. “We can leave now, as you promised, right?”
Xanther nodded reluctantly, still wary. Issac felt a flicker of hope as he turned to leave, and the three of them walked south out of the village, the weight of Xanther’s dark presence trailing behind them.
“Raziel, get ready to run on my command,” Issac whispered, tension coiling in his stomach like a spring.
Raziel nodded, his eyes sharp and alert, scanning the shadows for any sign of danger. Just as Issac’s father took out a whistle and blew it three times, summoning their steeds from the depths of the shadows, a chill ran down Issac’s spine.
“Now mount up and spur your horses hard!” Issac shouted, adrenaline flooding his veins. They leapt onto their horses and kicked them into a dead run, hooves pounding against the earth like war drums.
Xanther was still eyeing the bow when it suddenly disappeared from his hands. He growled in frustration.
“They knew that would happen. FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY IN NEXUS, I WILL MAKE THEM PAY FOR THEIR TRICK.”
Haldor stifled a chuckle, amused by his father’s rage.
“Do not just stand there! Get the horses, or I will take this as your failure!
As they thundered down the dirt path, the wind lashed against their faces, the world blurring into a chaotic whirl. But behind them, the ominous laughter of Xanther echoed, dark and foreboding. “You think you can escape? You think you can escape me?”
Issac’s heart raced, the dread coiling tighter. “Faster!” he urged, feeling the weight of his decision pressing down on him. They had to reach the forest—the only place where Xanther’s dark magic couldn’t follow.
“Keep your eyes peeled!” Issac yelled, determination igniting within him.
“What if he follows us?” Raziel asked, a flicker of fear in his silver eyes.
“He will,” Issac replied grimly. “We need to reach the stream. It is fed by the forbidden lake. This is a secret grove. Grandfather is banned from it. The Fae won’t allow him in. Do not trust any Fae though, they are all evil.”
As they neared the tree line, a pulse of energy rippled through Issac, like the crack of thunder overhead. He turned to see Xanther on a dark stallion, his eyes blazing with arcane fury. “I will have what’s mine!”
“Now!” Issac shouted, veering off the main path. They plunged into the woods, the thicket closing around them like a dark embrace.
“Foolish children!” Xanther’s voice sliced through the trees, a chilling reminder of the danger trailing them. “You cannot hide forever!”
“Keep moving!” Issac urged, the shadows closing in. “We need to stay together!”
Raziel nodded, resolve hardening in his gaze.
As they approached the stream, its cool waters sparkled under the morning rays. A beacon of hope amidst the chaos. “Stay together!” Issac commanded, and they splashed through the water, the coolness a brief reprieve.
Once they reached the other side, Raziel instantly felt the hum of a familiar magic vibrate through his bones. It created a symphony of strange feelings to rip through his spine.
“Stay together!” Isaac called out. “We don’t know where they hide.”
As the three of them pressed on, the air thickened with magic, the presence of the fae was palpable. The hairs on Raziel’s arms prickled with anticipation.
Raziel felt the pull of the unseen beings, a mix of fear and wonder igniting his spirit. In this moment of peril, the chaotic beauty of this forest. Reminded them that help often lies in the most unpredictable places.
“Raziel…”
The young boy froze. His attention snapped to the right. Without thinking he followed the call.
“God damn it Raziel! I said do not listen to them they are EVIL.”
“But father, you always told me that evil needs a point of view. Perhaps you just do not agree with what they see as good.”
“Raziel… come…. I have been waiting for you.”
As if on auto pilot the young boy followed the call. Issac growled, and Venus snickered. They both unwillingly followed the boy.
“Raziel.”
They emerged from the forest to a clearing. The young fae gasped in surprise. A fairy castle hidden in the grove. A woman descended the stairs walking straight toward them.
“Fuck! RUN!” Issac demanded.
Raziel and Venus ignored him.
Raziel kept his horse walking on path toward the woman. He watched her with curiosity. Her silver eyes glistened in the morning sun. Her dress soft and flowed gracefully. Her long-pointed ears flicked at Issac’s command.
“Issac, I suggest you calm down or I shall ban you along with your grandfather?” her attention back to Raziel. “Come my young one. We must talk.”
Raziel felt calm yet apprehensive. The party approached the woman. Three fae exited little homes that lined the path they were traveling.
“Dismount and come inside.” Raziel and Venus did as she requested. Issac growled.
“What do you want Oylandra? I do not wish to deal in your trickery today.”
“She laughed, well then you can leave.” With a wave of her hand Issac was cast out of her home grove.
Raziel watched her power in awe, but it also sent a shiver of fear through his spine. Venus placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Fear not.”
His silver eyes looked at her with apprehension. Together they walked with the woman into the castle. “I have been watching you young Raziel.”
“Not this again.”
She chuckled, “You have already been to see my father I see.”
“Father?”
“Yes, The Aquatic King is my father.”
“Wait, he said that the Fae King killed you?”
She chuckles. “I am dead to him, but as you see I am not dead. I have had all my rights to the kingdom of the aquatics stripped.” A hint of sadness shined in her eyes.
“But that means you are my mother?”
“I am.”
She said nothing more to explain anything. Questions flooded the young boy’s eyes.
“But why did you abandon me?”
Her laughter, a melodic sound that filled the air. “Young Raziel, you lived with me. I raised you.”
Sorrow filled her eyes, “Your father and fae siblings were mean to you because you were not a ‘pure’ one. They teased you and you grew tired of it. Elderak, after you left, banished me. But he did not realize I took half of his noble fae with me. We have settled here, so I could be closer to you. We have watched over you for the last ten years.
“You asked Renaldo to take you away. You did not know he had intended on wiping your memories. Let me ask you this? How old do you think you are?”
“I just had my eighteenth birthday.” He said with pride and puffed out his chest. “Issac has raised me since I was eight years old.”
Her laughter turned malicious. “Renaldo has tricked you, my son. Before you left with him you had your one hundredth and eighteenth birthday. You have been under strong illusionary magic for the last ten years.”
“Wait, did Issac know this?”
Her laughter died. “No, I did not approve of him being anywhere near you. That man… He…” She sighed. “We will just say he is not my favorite person. But I had no choice against Renaldo’s song. I was grateful he allowed me to take residence here so I could watch you. I was worried. You are not like your brothers and sisters. Because you see. You are the only one that is mine. Elderak was well, less than loyal as my King.”
Raziel shook his head. “Why can’t I remember any of this?”
“Renaldo has plans for you, plans I cannot interfere with. But I want you to know that I love you, and for now you may stay here unless you want to go find your ‘father’.” She looked at him with an idle smirk.
“I am worried about him, Xanther was chasing us, because he wants my bow. He wants me dead.”
She chuckles. “Is that what he told you?”
“umm, yes, but now you make me question it.”
“You should question everything young one. I will allow you to leave.”
“I sent Isaac to the south side. Be cautious. It is Orc territory.”
Raziel eyed her with a hard gaze. “Why do I feel like a pawn?”
She chuckled. “Because my child the greater case has chosen you as a King. You are a pawn.”
He growled. “I do not want to be.”
She went silent and walked up close to him. “Then choose to not be. But sometimes, by making our own choices we realize that our makers trusted that we would do what our own nature dictates. Does that really make us pawns? Or do we become Kings in their games instead?”
He looked at her in confusion. “What does that even mean?”
“You will learn soon enough. Now, go to your ‘father’.” she said with disdain.
