Eldritch Files: Elemental Flame Part 22

I knew the giving of names in Faerie meant the relinquis.h.i.+ng of power. I knew her name was Brendi, but that had been her human name. I didn't know if she'd taken a Faerie name.

"Inconsequential. Do you not want great power?" I asked, my voice rising above the murmuring crowd. "You have conquered the Summer court. You wish to march against the secondary courts by binding the Drachen to your will. Why put your people at risk if the monster escapes? Why hold him in this world when something so dangerous, so wild cannot be controlled. With this book, you would be invincible."

My point in that small speech was to play on the crowd's fears as well as their pride in their queen. Cordelia distracted me though, so I missed Brendi's reaction. Cordelia moved again. Not up, but sideways. I stopped myself from looking back, almost afraid of seeing Crwys.

To my surprise, the hooded man said, "It is a good exchange, my Queen. This book's power could be of more benefit than housing the Dragon. If you remove the Destroyer-"

But that was as far as he got. Brendi lashed out at him. I never saw the knife once she released the book. But there was no denying it was there, sticking out of the hooded man's chest. He grabbed the hilt before he dropped to the ground.

The crowd protested with angry shouts and many of them got to their feet.

"Silence!" Brendi's voice reverberated off the walls. She'd tinged it with magic and the people became quiet. She refocused on me. "Who are you? Why are you so interested in the Destroyer?"

"I am only interested in protecting my people, my Queen. So should you. The Drachen is dangerous. It should not be here."

-Careful...- Brendi's face flushed bright red. When she threw the knife, she'd taken a few steps away. Now when she approached, Bastien and the other wolves leapt into place, making a barrier between she and I.

She looked at me, looked at the large red wolf and then laughed. It was a small laugh, but it creeped me out. Brendi parted her lips and I saw her sharp, razor-like teeth. "Meticulous planning, months of research, hundreds of promises and the draining of my coffers and still, here you are before me, Samantha Hawthorne."

At the mention of my name, the glamour dropped and I stood before her in my jeans, boots and s.h.i.+rt. I still held the Hammer in my hand and felt Ivan step up beside me. "Let Crwys go."

She laughed again. "You still call him by that ridiculous human name? You know what he is."

"Yes. I do."

"You have no idea. He's a ma.s.s murderer."

I lowered my hands and kept the book tucked under my arm. "And what have you become, Brendi Ross?"

A gasp filtered through the throne room as I spoke Brendi's full name. Apparently, she hadn't divulged that tidbit.

"That's a human name!" yelled a lone voice.

But that voice didn't stay alone. Within seconds the ma.s.ses protested within the hall. They weren't screaming for war anymore. No, they were screaming for an explanation.

"The Queen is human?"

"She sullies the Faerie lines!"

"Humans have no place in the court!"

"Call the Wild Hunt!"

Brendi came at me with both hands out and she would have tackled me if Bastien hadn't intercepted with the help of his new harem. He stood on his back feet, s.h.i.+fting from full wolf to his war form of half man, half wolf.

A few screams for Brendi's blood turned into screams of surprise at the Lycan's display. Brendi avoided the swipe of Bastien's claws by stumbling back in time and throwing up a small barrier between her and us. I glanced back at the confused crowds, half expecting the soldiers loyal to Brendi to attack us.

When none materialized, I figured they were just as shocked to learn Brendi's lineage as well.

"Look what you've done!" Brendi pointed at me. "I brought order to this kingdom. Me! I destroyed a mad queen and they loved me. I drank the blood of the Queen to become this!" Her appearance s.h.i.+fted just enough to show me she was definitely not human, even if she wasn't Faerie enough to be Queen.

I advanced on her but made sure I was next to Bastien. "And you kidnapped a man who did nothing to you. You've kept him in pain, used his name and his past for personal gain and if I am to believe the stories I'm hearing of you conquering most of Alfheim, then how many innocent lives have you burned, Brendi? Come on. Tell me!" my voice echoed in the hall and the crowd's protesting died down. "The way I see it, you're no better than a tyrant. You'll never be a true Faerie, Brendi. You'll never be anything more than what you are!"

Brendi's gaze glanced at her audience behind me. She finally refocused on me and dropped her voice. "And what about you? A Witch who uses a forbidden magic, Samantha? You killed that pour Ghouled Witch to gain this power, you obliterated your father's home as well as his body, your stepmother's and the nurse. And what about Fred? You're just lucky the voice in your head can destroy the evidence so you can continue destroying everything and everyone that gets in your way!" she pointed at Bastien. "What happens when he interferes with what you want? Or your precious little Ivan? How will you explain away their deaths?"

My body shook as I stared at her. My response died on my lips as she tore away the coverings to expose my sins to Bastien and to Ivan. "How did you-"

"Know these things?" Brendi laughed. "Because the demon inside your aunt told me your secrets, Sam. The idea to bring the Dragon here, to leave you helpless without him, was not my original plan. I still wanted you, Samantha. Not some boorish cop."

I blinked. "The demon in my aunt?" That was Dionysus!

"Your expression is priceless. Your being here isn't by chance, Sam. We knew you'd never voluntarily come back to Alfheim, so it was my job to bring you here. We attacked those closest to you-but it always seemed you won out. Even through a warlocking meant to weaken you, you were always protected."

"No one protected me."

She looked up over my head. "He's always protected you. Him and that d.a.m.n Witch Vervain."

"You're working with Dionysus."

"Until you made me kill him."

What? I turned away from her and searched the floor for the hooded man.

He wasn't there. I pointed to where he had been. "That was Dionysus?" He'd been right in front of me and I still didn't know what he looked like! I called my Elementals and they came in record time. All of them faced Brendi, and I felt the tingle and surge of Arcane.

She laughed at me. "You can't hurt me. Even the Dragon can't hurt me." She conjured a fireball and threw it at us. Even though my Elementals were there we weren't ready for her strong and sudden magic. The fire enveloped us and I built a sphere of protection with Spirit.

Bastien sounded surprised.

I lowered my hands and looked at them. I'd seen the fire, felt its heat and knew it was real. But we weren't even singed.

Ivan leaned in. "Is she shooting blanks?"

Brendi's eyes widened as she stepped back and pointed at us. "You drank it! You stole it!"

"Drank what?" I heard Ivan ask. "You mean that stuff in the green room? It was water!"

"No!" Brendi looked really terrified now. "It was blood. Blood of the Drachen!"

I wanted to throw up. I turned and got a better look at Crwys. The arrow. I saw the constant trickle of blood from the wound in his heart down his chest, and over chain links as it fell into a hole in the ground. A hole that led to a basin deep under the palace. A basin that collected the blood of a Dragon.

Something moved over Crwys's chest, a slight s.h.i.+mmer of light, and I realized Cordelia was hanging onto his shoulders. She was right there with him in a place I couldn't get to.

"Cordelia!" I shouted. I wanted to tell her to free him, cut the chains, to somehow get him down.

"Samantha! He's hurting because of this." Cordelia became visible and had her hand on the arrow.

"NO!" Brendi shouted as she ran forward.

Cordelia, visible now, her big eyes excited, grabbed the arrow and, after a few yanks, pulled it from Crwys's heart.

Everything broke up at once. The crowd screamed as they realized what just happened and tried to climb down from their seats. The guards took off running toward the pit where Crwys was suspended, all of them barking orders.

The building pressure I'd sensed erupted in that instant as Crwys's head came up. He opened his mouth in a yell that shook the hall's foundation. I put my hands to my ears as Ivan grabbed me and pulled me to the side as a chunk of obsidian fell where we'd been standing.

I landed hard on my side with Ivan on top of me. When he scrambled off, I looked back to get a glimpse of Crwys but all I could see was a ball of light. It was like peering directly into the sun as it expanded to fill the room. The scream continued until it deepened and became a deafening growl.

"Oh holy G.o.ddess of the five Elements!" Ivan said nearby. "Sam! We gotta move!"

I'd put my hand up to s.h.i.+eld my eyes from the light, but the light was gone. In its place was something I'd never believed I'd ever see in my lifetime, except maybe in the comfort of a movie theatre.

A Dragon.

A real live, fire-breathing Dragon. It stood on its back legs and spread out its arms, stretching thin membranes between long, boney knuckles. It lifted its head back and roared.

Crwys's true form.

"FOOLS!" came a voice over the screaming, running Faeries. "YOU WOULD SEEK TO CONTROL THE SON OF GAIA?"

Ivan was up and dragging me to my feet. I was too preoccupied with watching the Dragon. Watching Crwys. He bellowed fire as he spoke and focused on an entire stand of Faeries. Yellow, red, amber fire belched forth and covered the stands. When the smoke cleared, nothing moved.

Dear G.o.ddess...

-You have to stop him before he destroys this land again.- How...how can I stop him like this?

-Look deep and you'll know.- I frowned. That was not helpful. My Undine popped up at that moment and moved in front of me. She smiled and clutched her chest. Was she in pain? Did she have heart burn? Did she need to go?

In what looked like a frustrated attempt to prove a point, the Undine rammed my chest just over my heart- My heart.

Ivan had pulled us to a small alcove behind the dais. I couldn't see Brendi and the hooded man was long gone. I saw Bastien and his wolves as they ushered Faeries through doors behind the remaining stands. I grabbed Ivan's hand and pushed the book into it. "Put this in my backpack. And keep down. Do not get killed or Dharma will never let me hear the end of it."

"Was she worried?"

"She thought you were dead, Ivan. We both did. We were wrecked. Now wipe that grin off your face and do what I said."

"What're you gonna do?"

I looked back at the rampaging Dragon. The temperature of the room rose. I noticed the heat but I didn't feel the heat. I wasn't sweating. I looked at Ivan. Neither was he. "Are you hot?"

"I don't know. Dharma thinks so."

I poked him. "No, I mean look at the fire. The heat of a Dragon. We've seen what he can do when he's not in his true form. Shouldn't we be like...melting?"

He put his hand to his face. "Yeah...what's up with that? You don't think this has anything to do with why Brendi couldn't set us on fire either do you?"

I did. I believed it had a lot to do with it.

-Go to him!- "Just do what I said." I pushed myself up and ran through the exiting crowds of Faeries like a salmon swimming up stream. Crwys took up the entire back of the room as the stands burned. The ceiling was on fire as well, and I was pretty sure we had minutes before it came raining down on us.

I ran right up to him, as close as I could get and started shouting his name. "Crwys! Look at me! It's Sam! Please...look at me!"

He wasn't listening. I didn't think he could hear me through the shouting and his own roaring. The hiss of fire alerted me to a falling ball of flame and I sidestepped it. How was I going to get him to see me and not get barbecued?

Can you help?

-Yes!- the Arcane sounded as panicked as I felt.

I didn't fully release control, but I gave up enough as I felt the Arcane Magic fill the s.p.a.ce around me. I saw my hands glitter red and I felt my vocal chords expand and strengthen. I called my Sylph. He came to me as I opened my arms. He wasn't a small, cute burst of wind now, but a fully formed golden man with hair like a wispy breeze. He was invisible from the waist down.

He offered me his hand, so gentle and graceful in the midst of the chaos. I placed my hand in his and we rose above the cracking obsidian floor and into the smoke filled air. We paused just in front of the Dragon and I faced him. My Sylph vanished from sight but he still held me in the air.

The Dragon set the other stand on fire and then brought that fire up and braised the ceiling. This part of the palace had very little time left. "Crwys!" I bellowed and my voice carried in the hall.

The Dragon paused and looked in my direction. I recognized his eyes, those beautiful amber red eyes. But now they were as big as me and filled with hate and pain. "WHO ARE YOU?"

My heart skipped. "It's me! It's Samantha!"

"LIAR! SAMANTHA IS IN HER WORLD. SHE WOULD NEVER ENTER HERE!" I recognized the slant of his head and I watched as his chest glowed. It'd done that seconds before that last blast of fire. Did he plan on killing me?

"No I'm right here! I would go anywhere to find you!"

"YOU LIE!" That's when he let loose a plume of dragon fire at me. I threw up my hands and screamed. I expected pain, agony and the death of being consumed by fire.

But the only thing I felt was a blast of hot air. I blinked a few times and looked down at myself. I was still whole-not even singed!

-The Dragon's blood protects you. His fire can't harm you.- But...he just tried to fry me! Me!

-He's hurt and in pain.- I couldn't get him to recognize me.

"Crwys!" I screamed at him and held my arms out. "You bought me roses! You signed your name! Your real name!"

"I WOULD TELL NO ONE MY NAME!".

"You told me! You wrote it in a card!"

"I ONLY GIVE THAT NAME TO THE ONES I LOVE. I LOVE NO ONE NOW. I AM ALONE.".

"You're not alone. I'm here!" I took in a deep breath. "Listen to me, Azazel Apollo!" And when he paused, I said what I'd wanted to say since Valentine's Day. "I LOVE YOU!"

Everything stopped, except the fire. It raged on around us as we stared at one another. I saw recognition in those cold eyes. And then he was gone, his entire body folding up in a mushroom cloud of black smoke and flame.

My Sylph lowered me to the ground and once I had the rock and debris strewn stone under my feet I ran into that smoke, into that fire without caring. The only thing I wanted was Crwys. "Crwys! Talk to me!"

"S-Sam?"

I heard his voice to my right as my Sylph blew away the smoke. Crwys was on his knees on the floor, his hands at his sides. I knelt down in front of him and he looked at me with those beautiful eyes. He looked like h.e.l.l. Brown, dried patches of blood stained his face, fresh blood dripped from his lip. I reached out to touch the stiff, hard b.l.o.o.d.y s.h.i.+rt over his heart where the arrow had pierced him.

Crwys took my hand and held it, staring at it as if he'd never seen anything like it. He closed his eyes as he cradled my hand against his face. He was warm and alive. I wiped at my eyes before I moved closer and placed my other hand against his neck.