Fairy War

Chapter 21

"At least hear them out," Niana said, catching almost the entire room by surprise with her sudden outcry. "They may be lying, but who here is willing to refuse them entry and run the risk they're telling the truth?" The response was complete and utter silence. "I assume there's one of you who intends to speak for your group?" she asked.

"They call me Ereth'al," answered the Fenrir who'd spoken first, stepping forward as the others shrunk back slightly from the obvious hostility that still hung in the air. When Ereth'al reached the dais, he made his way to the remaining chair and sat down. A pair of gloved hands reached up and lowered the hood, revealing the same face we'd seen on other Fenrir, except this one was heavily scarred. "I am aware that my kind has done little to earn your trust, and that you are well within your rights to distrust every word I speak, but I promise you this: I wouldn't have come here if I believed there was any other choice."

"Get to the point," a fairy sitting near to the Sidhe Queen, dressed in robes that made him appear more ninja than fairy, spat out. "We don't have time to waste on worthless apologies."

"Do you have any concept of what Feth'rael's plans involve?" Ereth'al asked.

"We believe some kind of summoning spell," said the Sidhe Queen, "but we haven't the first idea how or where."

"You are both right and wrong," Ereth'al said with a sigh. "It is not so much a summoning spell he's attempting to enact, but the preparation of stripping away the last spells guarding the realm of the living from the hordes of the underworld. The weakening of the fairy races has left the barrier on the verge of collapse, hence how he can possess dead bodies and summon the Wraiths to his side."

"But how would he do that?" Nareena asked. "If it was as simple as a spell surely he would have done it already?"

"He intends to overwhelm the barrier," Ereth'al replied. "Now that he believes he has sufficient support this side of the barrier to protect him, he's going to summon the creatures from the underworld en masse. Against a full strength fairy species he would struggle, but we are a long way from being at full strength." He sighed, shaking his head.

"But people believe in you again," Crystal said. "If what you told us is true, surely that would boost your power enough to fight him?"

"You forget the downside to us getting stronger," Nara said, squeezing her hand tightly. "Whatever else he is, Feth'rael is still essentially a fairy – if we get stronger, so does he."

"So we can't fight him without the humans' help, but that helps him at the same time?" Firehawk asked. "Then what? How are we supposed to win?"

"In order to summon them he's using a network of objects," Ereth'al replied, "but I'm afraid we don't know what they are. My fellow defectors and I were maintained as guards for one of his hidden enclaves but his inner circle told us that if we dared look inside, our lives would be forfeit. The only hint we ever had was a brief glimpse of a group of objects that didn't make any sense... at least in the context, anyway," he added.

"This is a bit of a long shot," I said, scratching my chin thoughtfully, "but by any chance did these objects look like large eggs?"

"Yes," replied one of the other Fenrir, his eyes wide, "but how could you possibly know that?"

"Because I suspect I saw – and indeed played a part in foiling – one of his attempts to perform a summoning spell," I replied. "He held my mother prisoner and..." I paused, grateful for Niana putting her hand over mine, offering me support. "She claimed they'd impregnated her, that Feth'rael was going to use the child to bring something into this world."

"So if we just locate any women who've suddenly had unexpected pregnancies we can find where the other eggs are hidden," Mickey blurted out, instantly falling quiet when he realised almost everyone in the room had turned their attention to him. "It's just a thought," he mumbled.