Of Gods and Fae (12 page)

"Is that all?" she remarked. "I should have
known Maria had something like that in mind when she offered her
solution," she said. "Well, the past is the past." She paused in
front of me as she came full circle. "You know that no male has ever lead
the Dryad."

"So I've been told," I answered. "But I also
know that it is not forbidden."

"It may not be forbidden," she replied with just a
hint of sarcasm. "But it has never happened here." I saw the briefest
motion of her hand and then several male Fae warriors moved slowly through the
crowd towards us.

"I don't think that would be wise," I remarked,
removing the sword of Cronus from my belt. I held the hilt in my hand and I
caught the barest of a flinch as she saw what I carried even though I had not
extended the magic blade. Without a word Charlie began moving between me and
the crowd, which was now becoming more excited.

"Do you intend to take this realm by force?" she
asked, once again appearing composed. The warriors stopped in their tracks.

"I would prefer not to," I answered truthfully.
"There is no reason for us to be at odds."

"This is madness," she said after a moment.
"Surely you know your history. These Fae will never accept a male as their
leader. And as to being a High Fae, we have not forgotten the prophecy. We
would rather die than risk a dark Lord rising amongst us."

"I am no dark Lord," I answered. "And as to
acceptance, the Hamadryad have already done so. Why should they be any
different than the Fae gathered here?"

"The Hamadryad," she stammered and then I saw her
reach out with her mind. I could guess what she found. "The realm is
closed off… What have you done?"

"Perhaps I can answer that," a voice proclaimed
before I could respond.

I turned and saw Sylvana walk away from the portal that
emanated from her tree, the ethereal threads of magic that bound her to the
huge oak trailing golden light as she came towards us. The Fae below us immediately
became quiet.

"Sylvana…" Cacilia sputtered, forgetting about me
for the moment and running over to her. "But how?" she asked as she
hugged her.

"He freed me," she answered, pointing in my
direction.

"But who guards the Temple?" Cacilia asked,
glancing back at me.

"I do." Sylvana looked at me, smiled, and then turned
to the crowd of Fae that stood before us.

"Gentle Fae," she began. "Not in 2000 years
have I seen the sun. And even then, only when our Lady, Demeter, would allow
it. As a pledge of loyalty I gave my word to protect her Temple. For this oath
I was bound to the roots of my tree to insure that I would always be faithful.

"Yet today, this Fae, no, this High Fae, Robert, son of
Gabriele and heir to Maria, released me from this bond without a word or demand
of service. Then, instead of demanding, he asked me what I wanted. Once again,
I pledged my oath to protect the Temple. But this time he placed his faith in
me without bond, trusting in me alone to perform my duty. No dark Fae would do
such a thing.

"As eldest of the Hamadryad, and as my daughters have
already done so, I acknowledge this Fae, Robert Hoskins, grandson of Maria, as rightful
heir to the throne. What say you, eldest of the Dryad?" she asked as she
turned to Cacilia.

Talk about putting her on the spot.

"Not since the days of Demeter has this throne been
occupied," Cacilia said. "And never in our history by a male. Perhaps
Maria was right to do what she did. If that is the case than you have been
wronged. But I cannot doubt Sylvana's trust in you. We have spent our lives
protecting the Fae here since
The Fall
. The wheel turns and I will turn
with it. I will acknowledge you as the rightful heir of Maria." With that
she bowed. There was a burst of commotion in the Temple by the other Fae, then
one by one they bowed as well, or at least most of them did.

"No!" came a screech from the center of the crowd.
Fae were pushed back as an older female, flanked by at least four others, stepped
forward. She pointed a finger at me. "You will never lead the Dryad, half
breed."

Where had I heard that before? I thought as she turned
toward the crowd.

"This... usurper… should have died long ago," she
said and her face changed into that of an old witch. "And you two,"
she added, now directing her anger at Cacilia and Sylvana. "You have
failed as well." Then she reached into a pocket of her skirt with both
hands and pulled something out. Throwing her arms out she scattered what looked
like small stones into the air. "Kill them all," she cried.

I realized what she had thrown as Spartoi began popping up
from where, what had to have been more Dragon's teeth, had fallen. Then she
stepped back as at least four male Fae pulled bows and began to lift them in the
direction we were standing.

Grabbing both Cacilia and Sylvana I carried them to the
portal with Sendy flying behind me. Cacilia started to protest but I held up my
hand. "I need you safe," I yelled.

"But it is forbidden to enter, and what of my
Fae?" she started to say, but once again I chimed in.

"New boss, new rules. Sylvana, keep her safe. Sendy,
stay with them. Go!" I yelled, pushing them towards the shimmering gate.
Turning back I saw Siegfried grabbing a handful of arrows from his quiver and
faster than I thought possible, firing them one after another toward the other
Fae archers and at the Spartoi that were rushing the dais.

Charlie was still with me, having guarded my back as I
escorted my aunt to the portal. "Grab Sophie and get the other Fae out of
here," I ordered as I extended my blade and ran toward Siegfried, now in
front of the dais, dodging arrows as I leapt from the stage to join him.

Fae where running in all directions and several of them were
battling one another as I dodged the rushing Spartoi to reach him. None of them
would cause him further problems as my enchanted blade had cut them down and
they were no longer moving.

"Many of the locals are fighting the hag's Fae as well.
Where is your aunt?" Siegfried asked as I knelt down beside him.

"Safe," I replied. "I ordered the dogs to
start clearing out the civilians. How many are with her?"

"Perhaps several dozen, counting the Spartoi," he
answered. "Gerda is trying to get the locals out of here as well.

"Have you seen Diantha," I asked.

"No," he replied. "But she will be close."

"True… Ok. Keep em busy, I'll take care of the
Spartoi," I said, letting the magic take over. I jumped up and ran toward
the closest two, my sword glowing blue as arcs of electricity shot up and down
the blade.

I cut through the first two as if they were paper, the magic
of my Fae blood and the power of the sword merging as I hurdled toward another
three chasing down some escaping Fae. Then it was off to the next group as
Spartoi after Spartoi fell to my enchanted blade. When the last one was down, I
stopped to locate, what had Siegfried called her? The hag. The magic was
surging through me now and I immediately turned back to the dais where I felt
her presence. She was standing in the center with several of her archers
surrounding her.

With the Spartoi gone, Siegfried and the others had a pretty
good handle on things in the crowd so I headed for the dais to end this
madness. As I stepped up she turned towards me, still flanked by her archers.

"Protected the old ones, have you half breed," she
cackled. "It matters not. You cannot save them all." With one hand
she grabbed at her neck and I saw that she, too, carried one of the same pendants
we had found on the other Spartoi. Then, with her other hand she reached into
her skirt again. Mumbling an incantation as she did so.

I rushed towards her to stop her but was slowed as her Fae
defended her. Then, just as she raised her hand, a shot rang out and she fell.
I guess Diantha was around after all. Finishing off the warriors she had
surrounded herself with I knelt down to see if she was still alive, Diantha
joining me.

She took a last look at me, then smiled as she died. But she
had had the last laugh as her hand opened and a large piece of what looked like
coal tumbled out. There was a spark, and then a flash and a large cloud
appeared on the dais next to her. Pushing Diantha behind me, I backed up to see
what the hell I was gonna have to deal with now.

"Get to Siegfried," I yelled and then turned back
to face it. As it coalesced, I saw I wasn't facing another Spartoi, this was…
well, this thing was different. It was winged and held a large shimmering
blade. Some kind of Demon, then. It turned to me and I could smell the reek of
dark magic as it burst into flames. Shit, I thought to myself, some kind of
Ifrit. That's all I need in the middle of a Fae forest.

It raised its blade and attacked. The battle was on. We
fought up and down the dais, neither one being able to do much damage to the
other. My blade seemed to have little effect, other than to block his swings.
Every time it went through the Demon it was like cutting smoke. It seemed
focused only on me and as it moved flames dripped and flew outward from it.
Through the accompanying smoke, I saw one of the flames land on a fleeing Dryad.
She burst aflame.

"Get the Fae out of here," I yelled at Siegfried,
who had been firing arrows into the thing.  I watched as he slung his bow and
ran to a few other Fae who were just standing there.

As we fought I wondered how I could beat it. I guess I could
have called on the Pterippus for help, but for some reason that was a card best
left hidden. No, what I really needed was a damn rainstorm. Wait, I thought,
parrying another swing. I don't need water, dirt would do just fine. Seeing
that the Temple floor was emptying, I jumped from the dais, the creature
following. As I faced him once again, I dodged his attacks and retreated
towards the center and as we reached it, I let the magic flow outward to the
trees.

As I had commanded, great roots burst forth from the ground
and enveloped the Demon. As they encircled him, less and less of his flame was
visible. With a loud whoosh, the roots engulfed the Demon and then dragged him
under the ground, entombing him as the earth covered him and extinguished his
flames. As the smoke cleared I looked around at the Temple floor and dais to
see how much damage had been done. Several Fae were dead and not all had been
with the hag. Many more were injured and even Gerda was limping.

"Nice move," I heard Diantha say from behind me.
"Sorry I couldn’t get to her sooner."

"It worked," I answered. "Have the others
render as much aid as possible." Then I sent a command to Sendy to have
Cacilia come out and headed back to the dais to meet her. Siegfried joined me
as I began to step up to it.

"What the hell was that thing? Some kind of
Ifrit?" I asked, stopping in front of him.

"Ifrit? No, I do not think so. Rather some spawn of Flereous,
a fire Demon from Hell," he replied.

"You mean like the real Hell? I thought they just lived
in the Underworld," I countered.

"Some indeed do," he answered. "It is
difficult to be sure with this one. Nonetheless, it is foolish to enslave true
Demons. They are dangerous to control and once summoned by dark magic can hardly
be trusted. It would turn against its master as soon as the spell weakened. It
takes a powerful Mage to summon one such as this. The enemy does not appear to
be too careful in the enchantments it weaves."

"No shit," I said, realizing again how little I really
knew. I suppose it would have been better to kill him but this was just as
effective. I'd fought a Demon once before. He had also been under some spell
cast to bring him forth from the Underworld. When I killed the Mage that had
summoned that one, the spell vanished. Demons, it turns out, aren't necessarily
evil. That one had still been tough as nails, but I'd been able to reason with
him once the spell was lifted and we'd came to an understanding. But who had
summoned this one? Certainly not the hag. No, Cacilia would have noticed that
kind of magic here, or at least she should have. This battle had been won but
the war was far from over, I thought to myself as I stepped back onto the dais.

"I see you were victorious, my Lord," Sendy said,
as she stepped out of the portal with my aunt.

"Well, we won, but I'm not sure I'd call it a victory."
I turned to look over the Temple floor. Several Fae were having their wounds
attended and several more would never rise again. "Who was that?" I
asked Cacilia as she walked towards me.

"Her name was Zenia. She was a spell caster but I've
never seen this side of her," she said as she stood over the body.

"What's a spell caster doing here?"

"Not all Fae are as adept in magic as others. She sold
her spells to those that could not perform the magic themselves. But always
simple things, never evil, until now. How could I have missed this side of her?"

I knelt down by the body just in time to see the amulet she
had reached for turn to smoke. Damn, I thought to myself, I should have looked
at that sooner.

"What was that?" Cacilia asked.

"Some kind of portal device." I answered.

"You've seen these before?"

"Yes, on two other Spartoi we met in the woods before
we made it to the Temple."

"In my woods before you arrived? But I sensed
nothing." Cacilia contended.

"None the less, they were here. As was she." Diantha
responded.

 "I'm sorry this happened," I said, standing to
face Cacilia. "I am not a dark Fae but it appears the darkness followed me
here anyway."

"It is not your fault," another voice said.

I turned to see Handion, the Elf, astride the Pterippus, Althaea.
He dismounted and walked over to us.

"They would have come eventually," he said.
"If not today, then tomorrow. It is the dark Fae's desire to rule all
things. Do not be sorry for that which you cannot change. Instead, focus on
that you can."