Bloodlines, page 4
part #3 of Amarok Series
Each of them crumpled to the ground and remained still as they waited to be filled again. One would think they had died if it weren’t for the slight expanding of their chests as they drew breath.
Meanwhile, the higher fae wrestled with their new reality. For them, death was surreal. They understood it as a concept, but it hadn’t been real. Death was something that happened to everything but them.
Now, they not only realized they could die but also that it was a terrifying, painful event. It panicked them and without Sibyl to help, they were lost.
Then one turned from fear to anger.
“Curse him!” Marduke shouted, drawing all of their attention. “Don’t you see what he did? He has destroyed us. We were perfect. Then that fiend twisted us into parodies of these talking apes. He made us destroy the very world we are meant to guard. He has ruined us!”
“You are right.”
Alistar stepped up beside him. “Our brother thought to manipulate us but now that his hold is broken, everything will be better. We can go back to the way things were.”
“I would have liked to kill him myself.”
The other fae gathered around these two. Many expressed their own anger at Sibyl and their agreement that things would go back to normal. Beneath that false rage, however, lurked doubt. They had grown accustomed to their new way of life and dreaded the dull existence of resuming their duties as silent guardians.
But no one spoke up, lest they shatter the brittle hope carrying them through the drastic time. No one among them. The dissenting voice came from a fae who stood apart from the crowd.
“We are all doomed.”
Akuji looked exhausted and it was reflected in his voice. “I know all of you wish to blame him. You want to make him the problem because then all of our problems have died with him. But they are not going anywhere.”
“Stay away from us!” Marduke stepped forward threateningly and a wave of fear rippled through the crowd. Alistar grabbing his shoulder stopped Marduke before his anger turned to action.
“Calm yourselves. He is the one who brought me here and gave me the means to combat Sibyl.” When Marduke relaxed, Alistar turned to Akuji. “What do you mean?”
“Sibyl knew the truth. He tried to tell me but I didn’t listen. You think he is the root of imbalance, that he corrupted you, but no. This world corrupted you the moment you indulged in it.”
“That’s not true,” Marduke argued. “He brought us here. He warped our minds, made us do the things we did.”
Akuji shook his head. “I have seen his life. I know everything. He offered each of you a choice. Each of you refused the will of the creators’ and you enjoyed every moment of it. You were tested and you failed. We all did.”
“Lies!”
“You think I am trying to deceive you?”
“Yes! There is no way I will ever listen to another one of you rainbow patterned demons again!”
“Then why are you so angry? So afraid? If Sibyl controlled you and put emotions into your head, why do you still feel them now that he is gone? Why are you all simply standing here instead of returning to your duties? There is a scar on the world less an hour’s walk from here but instead evaluating its impact, you wait here for someone to comfort your bruised egos.”
Marduke’s mouth gaped as a murmur went through the crowd.
Alistar, eyes narrowed with apprehension, moved to Akuji and pulled him away, speaking in whispered tones. “Are you—”
“I am sure.”
“Then how do we fix this? How do we go back to what we were?”
“There is only one way.” Akuji raised his head and met his gaze. “Surrender yourself to Harmonic. You must trust in us to right this world.”
Alistar averted his gaze. “You were trying to—”
“I tried to do nothing and will not. If I did, one of our brethren will surely strike me down. You must surrender to me. Now, brother. It is the only way. They look to you for action. Show them the way. Only you can.”
Akuji held out his hand. It hung between them for several long moments. Then Alistar raised his hand to his face, slowly retying the cloth Akuji had given him about his eyes.
“I may not have your abilities brother but I could feel how very wrong what Sibyl did was. More than that, I could see it with my own eyes. Asking me to willingly subject myself to that…” He shook his head.
“I know.” Akuji lowered his hand with a sad smile. “Then this is goodbye.”
“You are leaving us?”
“I must. I made the mistake of involving myself and it has cost us all greatly. The only hope we have is if I, and any member of my House who has not been corrupted, remain neutral. And for that, I must disappear. But allow me one last self-expression. I am sorry. So very sorry.”
Akuji left them. From within the village, Ata and Atsu snuck away before any noticed them.
The remaining fae in the village came together to fix the damage they had inflicted on the area but the consequences reached far beyond what they could see.
Worse damage had been handled with ease. Their greatest obstacle was their lack of coordination. With House Harmonic fleeing from their anger, the higher fae were crippled.
The sum of not being competent with their duties combined with their evolving egos made them unpredictable. Instead of basing their actions on benefitting the world, they were motivated by emotions; greed, anger, love, pride, and jealousy.
Conflict arose between them. Many times, it was settled by putting distance between those at odds but sometimes it led to physical confrontations. Their fights could reshape the land itself.
Humans recognized their immense power. They thought of the higher fae as gods and did their best to earn their favor. The fae used them in their conflicts, letting contests between mortals settle their differences to avoid catastrophe.
The valley between the two rivers remained in a state of constant war for decades until one fae emerged supreme. Marduke gathered most of the members of House Storm together. Once he dominated them, he waged war against the rest of the fae. As the most destructive of abilities, Storm easily overwhelmed the others.
The higher fae fractured into three groups; those who hailed Marduke as their king, those who wanted nothing to do with him and went their own ways, and those who plotted against him, coveting his power for their own.
Marduke built his city on the ruins of Sibyl’s village, the last relic of that time the Eternal Flame that still burned in the center. He blamed the fae’s misfortune on House Harmonic and did everything he could to eradicate them. Many died. The rest became myths, even among the higher fae.
Marduke’s kingdom flourished, the fae ushering in a new age of civilization. Yet, as with all things, change pushed against that as well.
Someone plotted against the king, waiting for an opportunity to strike. His machinations would change the world in ways no one could ever have predicted and ignite a war that would continue throughout all history.
GODS AMONG MEN
Chapter 6
Akuji’s prediction proved correct. The fae never returned to the way they were.
Under Marduke’s rule, they went on to establish several more cities within the valley and the surrounding area. Wary of the harm reckless use of their abilities could cause, they instead called upon humans to do their will. A relationship formed between the two. The humans recognized these beings held ultimate power over the world and worshiped them devoutly. The fae cared for humans under their control but not out of love. They regarded people in the same way an artist cared for their brushes or a rancher cared for their animals. As property, investments.
Up until this point, history is dominated by the actions of House Harmonic and House Storm. Now it turns to one of the lesser known Houses. One regulated to the background because of their lack of ability. However, it is not ability that changes the world, but vision. And one fae had a great vision.
He would come to be known as Doyle of House Void.
Doyle was very bitter. After Marduke proclaimed himself ruler of the fae, Doyle joined him. He craved the recognition Marduke received from their kin and the riches the humans surrounded him with.
But he received no recognition or riches.
The king of the fae did not hate any House besides Harmonic, however, his favor toward them depended heavily on how useful they were to his kingdom.
House Void were the least useful. Their ability is to cancel out magic. While they made great countermeasures against fae, they had no other use. House Storm could defend themselves and their pride would never allow them to keep ‘protection’.
Worse, Doyle could not even serve as an icon to inspire man. Unlike the bright shining forms of House Storm, he resembled a deep gray fog bound to a humanoid shape. Beneath that lay skin, blood, and organs, but this misty layer made Doyle seem insubstantial. Easily overlooked.
Except for his eyes. When the light struck them, they glowed bright red, an effect that tended to scare away mortals rather than rally them.
As a result, Marduke put Doyle in charge of a small farming village miles away from Eternal Summer, the city where Marduke resided. It was the greatest insult of the time. Instead of being worshiped, he had been placed in a small hovel to live alongside the lowest class of humans.
And the insults didn’t stop there. Marduke often culled his population. He had no need for the sickly and the crippled, but it would be wasteful and demoralizing to simply end their lives. His solution was to ship them off to Doyle’s village, where he expected them to be put to use in some fashion. Doyle was forbidden from killing them unless absolutely necessary. Scribes from Eternal Summer would visit and report back on the village’s population.
His brethren lived as kings while he labored as a zookeeper and nurse.
Doyle hated them. He hated them all but none more than Marduke. Anger mixed with envy made Doyle sick to his stomach whenever he thought about Eternal Summer. Day and night, he dreamed about tearing down the stone walls. Walking through his fields, he fantasized about how he would assassinate the king and he wondered how amazing the city would look at night, aglow with the Eternal Fire, viewed from the throne.
But that was the most he ever did. Doyle never took action against Marduke and completed every task he received flawlessly. He did this because he understood he had no chance of accomplishing his goal. While his abilities would greatly weaken Marduke, it would do nothing against the hundreds of magicless humans at the king’s command. One word and they would fill Doyle with arrows.
Or several members of House Storm could surround him. They might find such a display embarrassing but if it needed to be done, they wouldn’t hesitate. He couldn’t cancel out several of them at a time.
Doyle couldn’t see a way to make his reality happen and he valued his life more than his ambitions. He played the role of a good follower while his violent thoughts simmered behind a smile. Until the day he finally received a chance.
-
It happened on a bright morning at the beginning of spring. After several drop-offs from the city and many successful births, Doyle’s village had a population spike. He wasn’t the type to allow idle hands, so he ordered another field to be cleared.
During the first week of spring, he plotted a swatch of trees to be burned down to make room. But when he told his humans where he wanted it to happen, they all went pale and remained where they were instead of rushing off to complete the assignment. Disobedience from them was unheard of. Doyle’s shock and curiosity won out over his outrage. Instead of punishing them, he asked, “What’s wrong? Why do you all look afraid?”
“My lord,” one of them spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, eyes bouncing around the room nervously. “In that area, there’s a tree, a very large tree. It is…you see, it is cursed.”
The others in the room nodded while Doyle frowned.
“Cursed? What do you mean cursed?”
“The women. They and the children who go there for wild plants…they disappear. We find them, or pieces of them, later. The work of animals. But many have seen strange things at night. The tree moves in the most unnatural ways. Whenever someone goes out to investigate it, they never come back.”
Doyle sighed deeply after the man recounted their experiences because he knew the source of the ‘curse’. And it could be far more trouble than the villagers thought.
“Very well. Resume your normal duties. I’ll investigate this cursed tree.”
The villagers looked greatly relieved at his words. Their eyes nearly shined with gratitude and admiration for the ‘god’ who took mercy on them and accepted them when no one else would. He waved them away and they bowed clumsily before shuffling out. Then he left his modest home in search of the tree.
It didn’t take long to find. As the humans proclaimed, the tree was large, easily three times the height of those surrounding it.
Doyle stopped several feet away and raised his voice. “Come out! I know you’re in there!”
His shouting echoed in the silence. For several minutes, there was no response. Then the bark of the tree moved. With a resounding crack, it split down the middle. The slit widened until it was a foot across.
A small green arm came out of the opening, followed by a head, a compact chest, and two legs. The creature that emerged was four feet tall and the color of summer grass from head to toe. Thick ridges wrinkled its skin, giving it bark-like texture, and its ears stretched beyond its head. Besides these oddities, it appeared human.
“Hello, hello,” the creature spoke. “Ah, I didn’t think another fae would wander upon my tree so soon.”
“Didn’t you? This is the Valley of the King. You are less than a day from my village and a week’s pace from Eternal Summer. What are you doing here? Don’t you have your own city to run?”
“Hmm. That would explain why so many humans have wandered by. And here I thought I was just lucky, very lucky. To answer your question, no, I do not have a city to oversee. I never got involved with Marduke and his kingdom. Trouble, lots of trouble. All I need is my tree.”
Doyle frowned at the answer. House Verdant had been the first to sign on with Marduke and were second only to Storm. Destruction wise, they had the second strongest ability. While they were intended to be healers, they could destroy life just as easily.
Marduke especially wanted them because they ensured the land they resided on remained bountiful. More importantly, after witnessing what they could cause when left unchecked while within Sibyl’s village, the king of the fae worried they would destroy his kingdom without constant supervision.
What luck he had. For the first time, Doyle didn’t resent being dropped into the out of the way village. If he could convince the Verdant to cooperate, the two of them could turn his little village into the slice of paradise he’d always wanted.
Doyle flashed his best smile. “I have no problem with you or your tree. In fact, I am delighted to have kin so close.”
The other fae nodded. “Good, good. Would be a shame if I had to leave my tree. It’s a very nice tree. Took years to get it just right.”
“Have you taken a name brother?”
“A name? No, no. Never bothered. Oh, but the humans before called me something. No…Nev…Novar? No, it was Novak. Yes, yes, that’s what it was. That will do for now.”
“Novak. I am called Doyle. Don’t take this as an insult but what are you doing here? There isn’t much out this way.”
Novak’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he smiled wide enough to reveal two rows of tiny pointed teeth. “That is it! The space and the humans. I need isolation to do my work. Yes, yes. Humans get unsettled when they know what I do and they leave. Very inconvenient.”
“...What work?”
“Do you want to see it? I will show you!”
Novak moved to the tree. He laid his hand on the slit and it stretched wider until there was plenty of room to walk through. Then he beckoned to Doyle, who followed him into the large plant hesitantly.
Doyle’s apprehension doubled when he was met with darkness. A hand reached up to pat his tense shoulder and he heard Novak speak from beside him. “Give it a minute. Your eyes will adjust.”
They did. After a few minutes, Doyle’s eyes adjusted and he recognized it wasn’t total darkness they were in. Moss along the inside of the tree gave off a faint light that allowed him to make out outlines in the room. One of which was easily recognizable.
“Is that a man tied to your wall?”
“Yes, yes. He is my best work. But the pain is no good. Does something to their minds. He is broken now. Lost all reason.”
As Novak’s sentence finished, the man screamed and bucked in the vines holding him in place. When one of them snapped, Doyle backpedaled, keenly aware of what an enraged human could do to him if he got loose. “Can’t you control him?”
“No, no. Watch.”
Novak made a gesture with his hands and the man screamed again, with more pain than anger, but it was suddenly cut out by a tearing sound. Something splattered to the ground and the man gurgled wetly. Then he went quiet.
“You see? I cut his throat and that stops the screaming but he heals too quickly. Starts again. The only way to end it is to kill him and I’d rather not. He is one of my few successes. I have much to learn from him.”
“You cut his throat…and he lives?”
“Yes, yes. These humans are such interesting creatures! Fully formed yet blank slates. I believe it is the blank spaces in their cells, parts that aren’t being used. Not sure. All I know is that this space can be filled with other things. Even the cells from a fae. And since our cells contain our magic…”
Novak waved his arms in a grand gesture. “I do not know what to make of it but he is extraordinary, yes extraordinary. A man with the power of the gods.”
“Amazing.” Doyle stared at the gloomy outline of the bound…creature. As Novak said, he didn’t know quite what to make of him and he thought maybe calling him a man might not be appropriate.
