Cursebreaker and Fireheart

Chapter 21: The Night Court

Aelin felt as if she wasn't in her own body. Surely she hadn't survived everything she'd been through to simply fall to her death. Surely it was someone else now tumbling towards cobblestone streets and a winding river. 

But then she felt Rowan's hand tighten on hers. No. This was real. She'd come here for a purpose. 

"Shift!" She yelled at Rowan over the wind. "I'll be fine!" 

His eyes said he didn't believe her. But she forced herself to let go of his hand and twist away from him. She angled her body for the huge balcony jutting out of the side of the mountain looming over the city. People were gathered there, but she didn't have time to worry about that. She tucked in her arms and pointed herself like an arrow towards that balcony, racing towards it faster and faster. 

When she was close enough, she turned slightly, throwing out her hand. Just in time, her fingers wrapped around the balcony rail, sending her body straight into the wall with a large crack. It knocked the breath right out of her lungs, and she might have let go if not for years of training. 

Groaning, she heaved herself upward and climbed over the rail, breathing hard. She rotated her shoulder as she landed on her feet. She'd definitely injured something. 

"Aelin?" Aelin stopped dead at the female voice. She slowly turned and met the eyes of Feyre Cursebreaker. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Feyre asked, looking her up and down. Aelin supposed she did look different in her assassin suit. 

Aelin looked at Rowan as he landed on the balcony and shifted back to Fae form. He growled at her. 

"'I'll be fine', you say." He grumbled, walking over to her. He nodded once at Feyre, then stood by Aelin's side and crossed his arms, eyeing her shoulder. "Fine, my ass."

"Oh, I like him. Is that Rowan Whitethorn?" A male with dark hair pulled away from his face was grinning at the new arrivals. He looked so similar to the other two males there, Aelin wondered if they could be brothers. It took Aelin a moment to realize what looked off about all three of them. They all three had midnight-dark bat wings. 

"It would seem we're at a disadvantage here," Aelin said. "You all know who we are. But I only know Feyre. And..." Her eyes landed on the male standing next to Feyre. He wore a black suit that matched his dark hair and violet eyes. "Rhysand, I assume?" 

Rhysand gave her a short nod. "So you're Aelin Galathynius. What brings you to Velaris, might I ask?" 

"Lots of things." Aelin sighed. "But mostly, we've come to warn you. And help you, in any way we can. Deanna is coming here. She plans to steal all of Prythian's magic." 

"What?" Feyre demanded. "I thought she was after you!" 

"She is. But first, she's going to come here to take your magic. She and the other gods want to use it to close the door I opened in their world and supposedly other nasty things. Then they'll come for me." Aelin explained. "Deanna made it quite clear. After you left, she told me her whole diabolical plan." 

"That's convenient." The blonde on Feyre's other side said. "Maybe a tad too convenient." She was eyeing Aelin's suit as if she could see the knives hidden within.

"You're thinking she told us a fake plan?" Rowan asked her. "The gods aren't known for their subtlety." 

The blonde narrowed her eyes. "So we're really up against gods? Who want to... steal all of Prythians magic, then destroy her?" She gestured to Aelin. 

"Yes, that sums it up nicely." Aelin said. "Now, can we get to introductions, please?" 

Feyre sighed heavily. "Fine. That-" She pointed to the blonde- "Is Morrigan." 

"The  Morrigan." The blonde corrected. "I'm Rhys' cousin. And his Third in command." She was still glaring at Aelin's suit. "Tell me, how many weapons do you have hidden in there?"

Aelin's brow quirked upward. "Too many to count, I'm afraid. Tell me, what's with the extra 'the' in front of your name? Thinking pretty highly of ourselves, are we?" 

Morrigan's lips slipped into a grudging smile. "I have a feeling we'll get along fine." 

"I'm Cassian." The large one with the tied-back hair said. "I lead Rhysie's armies." He jerked a thumb at Rhysand, who rolled his eyes. 

"Impressive," Rowan remarked. "Tell me, what exactly are you three?" He gestured to Rhysand, Cassian, and the last winged male, who was slimmer than the other two but still covered with muscle. Aelin noted that his hands were covered in what looked like scars. "You aren't Fae." 

"Technically speaking, no." The scarred one said. "We're Illyrian. Rhys, however, is half-Fae." 

"And... you are?" Aelin asked him. 

"Azriel. I'm Rhysand's Spymaster." He replied shortly. Aelin guessed he wasn't much of a talker. 

"Spymaster? So you deal in secrets and espionage?" She asked. He only nodded, so she turned back to the High Lady of Night. Feyre was looking at the sky, where Aelin and Rowan had fallen through. The gate had disappeared now, leaving nothing behind.

"Was that a Wyrdgate?" Feyre asked. "Deanna said something about them. Oh, and-" She looked back at Aelin. "We also found some very interesting books about your world. Deanna is the goddess of the Moon, right? And her sister, Mala, is your ancestor, isn't she?" 

"I'm impressed, Cursebreaker," Aelin said. "Yes, I'm descended from Mala." 

"But if Mala and Deanna are your family, why did you trap them in the hell-world?" Feyre asked, tilting her head. 

"You're quite uninformed, I'm afraid," Rowan interjected. "They didn't leave her much choice. You see, in return for Aelin forging the Lock, the gods promised to take Erawan, a Valg King, with them into their world and destroy him." 

"Let me guess," Cassian said. "They went back on their word? Also, what the hell is a Valg?" 

"You don't want to know." Rowan and Aelin said at the same time. She grinned at him, then turned back to Cassian. "But, yes. I tried to barter for the life of a friend of mine. They weren't having it. And then they went back on their promise. So I thought they deserved some payment, that's all." 

"Oh, I definitely like her." Morrigan told Feyre. Feyre gave her an amused smile. 

"Anyway..." Aelin said. "Feyre, we aren't here only to warn you. We'll need your help as well." 

"With what?" Feyre asked. 

"I have an idea, of sorts." At the word idea, Rowan's eyes snapped to her. She laughed. "Don't worry, Buzzard, I'm going to tell you every little detail. And it doesn't even involve me dying this time!" 

"This time?" Cassian repeated. "Just how many of your plans could have gotten you killed?" 

Aelin said "Only a few," while Rowan said "All of them." She glared at him. He just smiled smugly. 

"Alright, fine, a fair few." She admitted. "But this one won't... hopefully." 

Feyre laughed slightly. "Well, on that note... why don't you two come inside? We can talk strategy." 

Art by Silvverart!!

I went back and added the little extra bit about "The" Morrigan to this chapter when KateJoseph2 suggested it because it was too damn funny to leave out XDXD