FATESWORN

10 ~ save the day

Something in the air shifts and changes, and then, the sky above us clouds over. Lightning flashes in the sky, then thunder rumbles. The humans don't pay any attention, but I know otherwise. I turn to Rynn, who looks at me, gray eyes devoid of happiness or hope.

"Rynn," I whisper, my gaze snapping to the humans who are lurking all around us, but not looking our way. "There's someone coming."

"Who is coming?" she whispers back.

"Shut up, fae bitch!"

"Fuck you, you inbred bastard!" I snap.

"Kesh...?"

"The fuck did you say to me?!" demands the human man who storms toward us, his rage roiling off him in waves.

Lightning strikes, and Jade appears behind him. She moves fast, slashing his throat and throwing his body to the dirt. Yue appears, leaping down from above and slashing into the men across from the tent that Ash was taken to. Thorn appears and strikes down two men at once.

Kaulder, the man from before, emerges from the tent. He draws his sword, and Thorn lifts his gaze to him. The rage on Thorn's face is terrifying.

"Where is my friend?!" Thorn demands.

"You .... you are a faerie! A stupid little, prancing, bark-eating bitch!" Kaulder yells.

Thorn laughs.  "You really think that this is going to offend me? You humans got to get more creative."

"You and your faerie friends are a blight on this world," says Kaulder. "And I'm going to kill all of you."

"Of course you are," Thorn says.

Someone grabs Rynn's cage, pulling her into the woods.

"No! Kesh! Help!" Rynn yells.

Thorn's head turns, and he sees me in my cage, trying to reach for Rynn. Seconds pass, and he's in front of my cage, tearing it open. He helps me climb out of the cage, his jaw set as he tears apart the iron chains.

"Look out!" I exclaim, and he dodges the swipe from a sword that Kaulder had lashed out at him. Thorn parries the blade and shoves Kaulder back, knocking him on his ass.

"Kesh!" Rynn yells. I turn, seeing her being dragged in her cage into the woods. I unfurl my wings and fly after them. The man dragging her drops her cage, and raises a knife, aiming at me. He throws it, and I dodge at the last second.

I land in front of him, and slam my wings into his chest, throwing him off his feet. He hits a nearby tree, and sinks to the ground, unconscious. I kneel down before Rynn, and try to tear open the cage. Yue appears beside me, and she opens Rynn's cage, then helps her out of it.

"Find Ash," Rynn says.

"Protect her," I say, looking at Yue.

Yue nods.  "Where is Ash? Who is Ash?"

"Ash and Rynn are my sisters," I explain. "Kaulder took Ash into his tent."

A look of fury crosses her face. "What?"

I nod. "He .... he took her. And she was screaming."

"You might not like what you see in there, Kesh," Yue says, softly. She rests a hand on my shoulder.  "You won't forget it if you see it."

"I need to see,"  says I. "She trusted me, once. And now, because of me, she was betrayed by her own men."

"No," says Rynn as she steps up to me and Yue. "No, Kesh. This is not your fault. It has proven that their loyalties were fragile, at best."

"You did not do anything wrong, Kesh," Yue assured me.

The three of us walk over to Kaulder's tent. Yue snaps her fingers, and the tent's flaps fly open. "I'll be out here. If you need me, just yell."

Rynn and I walk in. Our sister lays on a cot, her body covered in bruises, her clothes torn and bloody and dirty. She looks at us, and her gray eyes are so haunted, so .... broken, that I can't handle looking at her. But I force myself to do so.

She turns her head towards Rynn, who rushes to her side. She's talking to Ash, but none of the words she says come to me. I sit on a nearby seat, and just stare. But then I realize it — what's happened to her.

Kaulder somehow has started the process of turning her into a faerie. But not the kind that I am, nor the kinds that Thorn, Jade, or Yue are. No, he's been turning her into a Saldhe, a dark type of fae. Her pale tan skin isn't that color anymore, its becoming gray. Her ears are already elongated and pointy, and her features are sharpening. So are her teeth and nails. Her platinum blonde hair is turning snowy, like mine.

"Oh, gods," whispers Rynn. "He ... what did he do to you?! How did he do this?"

"There's a lake nearby," Ash mumbles. "He dragged me to it, after everyone was asleep, through a hole in the back of the tent. He shoved me in the water until I thought I'd drown. Then, he would pull me out and revive me. He did it until I started to change. Then, he .... he did it some more."

"Fuck," I mutter.  "A Lazarus Lake."

"What? What is that?" Rynn asks, tuning to me.

"A long story, for another time. Come on now, we gotta get out of here."