Vixen's Fate (Creatures of the Lands Book 4) Read online

  Vixen’s Fate

  Creatures of the Lands: Part IV

  Natalie Erin

  Contents

  Other Books by Gryfyn Publishing

  THE LANDS

  1. Chapter One

  2. Chapter Two

  3. Chapter Three

  4. Chapter Four

  5. Chapter Five

  6. Chapter Six

  7. Chapter Seven

  8. Chapter Eight

  NESTING’S HAVEN

  9. Chapter Nine

  10. Chapter Ten

  11. Chapter Eleven

  12. Chapter Twelve

  13. Chapter Thirteen

  14. Chapter Fourteen

  15. Chapter Fifteen

  16. Chapter Sixteen

  17. Afterward

  Acknowledgments

  The Witch’s Curse

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2017 by Natalie Erin

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The reproduction or utilization of this work in part of in whole including xerography, recording and photocopying is strictly forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Erin, Natalie

  Vixen’s fate / natalie erin

  Summary: Reagan must enlist the help of magical strangers in order to find her missing friend, Kennu.

  BISAC Category: Young Adult/Fantasy

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Art by Clarissa Yeo

  Distributed in the USA by Gryfyn Publishing

  For information about custom editions, special sales, ARCs, and premium and corporate purchases, please contact Gryfyn Publishing at [email protected]

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Other Books by Gryfyn Publishing

  Alora by Megan Linski

  These Starcrossed Lives of Ours by Megan Linski

  The Rhodi Saga

  Rhodi’s Light by Megan Linski

  Rhodi Rising by Megan Linski

  Rhodi’s Lullaby by Megan Linski

  The Kingdom Saga

  Kingdom from Ashes by Megan Linski

  Fallen From Ashes by Megan Linski

  Redemption From Ashes by Megan Linski

  Prince of Fire by Megan Linski

  Part I

  THE LANDS

  Chapter One

  Mourning What Was Lost

  The witch sat utterly alone in her home underneath he looming shadow of the Ice Born Mountains, refusing to shiver against the bitter chill that permeated the cabin. Though her dress was thin, and the blizzard that raged outside was horrendous, Nineva didn’t show her discomfort. The fairy merely tossed her mane of red hair over her shoulder and stared out the window with a tight-lipped, stony expression that was colder than the weather outside.

  Wyntier had left for Nesting’s Haven to be crowned king, but she had opted to stayed behind for a time to help Carmilla and Aravon rally the the Ortusans throughout the realm under one banner. It was a complicated task, one she didn’t trust the witless Bloodlusters to handle well on their own. She would leave when things proved to be under control. Besides, the Lands was her home. It had been for over ten years, and she wasn’t about to leave it. Not yet.

  It felt strange, living in an empty house. No children running around, and none of Wyntier’s scheming to keep her mind preoccupied. It was quiet, and gave her time to think.

  She mostly thought about her children. Nineva sat back in her chair and pondered the two, sweet little angels she had been gifted with, but had been too stupid to realize how special they were. She was a mother in pain, because she had lost her little ones. Her family no longer loved her as they had before when they were young toddlers, and the man she adored had left her alone. For nearly a decade, Nineva had hardly bothered to think about the beautiful daughter she had abandoned to the elements because she was jealous of her power, or the small son she had filled carelessly with human drugs, but now that she was alone with no Wyntier to whisper sweet nothings in her ear, she did.

  It was then she realized all her pain was because of the same, coldhearted person. She knew who was to blame for her agony, but she couldn’t do anything but complain about it. Despite all her magic, she was weak and useless. It was something even her husband knew, and that was why he married her. All he wanted was to use her dark power to achieve his own goals.

  Nineva buried her head in her hands and began to bawl for the first time in ages. Her tears formed rivers on her cheeks and hands, running down her neck onto her black dress. She cried for her children, whom she would never hold in her arms again. She cried for her family, who would never love her.

  But most of all, she cried for the man she thought she loved, because she knew she must stand by his side. For if he did not win the war, her family would never be hers again. Even though only a few would remain after Wyntier’s tirade, at least they would be her family.

  Nineva stilled her tears and resolved herself to indifference. She hadn’t spent the last twenty years of her life by Wyntier’s side for nothing. He would rule over Nesting’s Haven and the Lands, and she would help him do it.

  It wasn’t easy being the wife of a killer. But those were the vows she took in marriage, and Wyntier was the only one in her life who had never abandoned her. Even if it had cost her Vivienna and Soran, she could never betray Wyntier.

  There was nothing in the world he could do to make her leave his side. No matter what the cost, she’d help him.

  Even if he was a monster.

  Chapter Two

  Strange Dreams Not Suitable for a Deer

  If she couldn’t sleep, and was only resting, how could she be dreaming? Allakenzie had no idea, but then again, what was there in the world that she could explain anymore? The large doe ran through a field of tall grass, looking around in a desperate panic.

  “Allie!” a voice cried. Her head snapped up, eyes bright with alarm. “Allie, where are you?”

  The source of the voice was a young, sickly boy, only sixteen. His green hair was tossed over his golden eyes by the intense wind. Allie knew on sight that this boy meant a lot to her...meant more than her own life.

  “Allie!” the boy cried again. “Allie, where are you?”

  Allie bounded through the grass and yelled, “Boy, I’m here! I’m right here!”

  “Allie!” he screamed one more time. Allie went to touch his head with her nose, but he vanished. The instant he did Allie lost control, spinning on the spot.

  “The boy! Where’s the boy?” she called. “I need to find the boy!”

  “Allie! Allie, quit dreaming!”

  The young doe tumbled out of her memories, covered in sweat and scared out of her mind. The quietness of the wooded glen she rested in seemed entirely unsympathetic compared to the stormy field of her nightmares. Many deer in the herd around her hadn’t even stirred, let alone awakened at the sound of her cries. She looked beside her to see a young stag, one the herd called Cozue. “The boy. I need to find the boy.”

  “What boy?” Cozue asked in confusion. “Allie, who are you talking about?”

  “I don’t know! All I know is that I love him and I have to find him!” she explained quickly. She was starting to make a scene...ma
ny deer in the herd were startled awake by her loud proclamations in the thick brush they had taken shelter in, next to the cover of large trees.

  “Maybe he was your fairy,” Cozue said in concern, lowering his voice to try and calm her down.

  “I don’t know who he was to me,” Allie said. “I just know that he’s very special, and before I forgot everything, I knew him. We shouldn’t be apart, not ever.”

  “If it’s that important to you, I’ll help you find this boy, Allie. You know I will,” Cozue said gently. “Now get some rest. Maybe things will be clearer in the morning.”

  Allie laid her head down and Cozue did the same. But she, unlike him, didn’t close her eyes. Allie knew she had to find this boy.

  But where to look? she thought. I don’t even know where I am right now. Until I figure out more about him, I’m stuck here. She sighed and a tear fell from her eye, shimmering in the starlight.

  Allie had been with the herd for a few days now, and even though she was a deer, she was utterly convinced that life as a deer wasn’t suitable for her. When the other deer tried to get her to eat berries, bark and plants, she found she couldn’t swallow and spit them out. Orphiyus and Star were sure she was going to die of starvation, however days passed, and Allie didn’t weaken. Despite this, she remained stronger than all the other deer, even the bucks. Often, whenever the subject was brought up, Stream proudly said, “See, I told you! She’s a magic deer!”

  Being a deer was also terribly dull. In her boredom she was found wrestling with the stags and was quickly looked down upon by the other does for it.

  “It’s just unnatural for a doe to fight. We leave that to the boys,” Star said, in a rather snobbish voice.

  Allie paid no attention and kept fighting with the stags. For some reason she felt a desperate need to fight, one that only grew more intense the longer she resisted the urge. Soon, all the stags in the forest were tripping head over hooves for her, including Cozue.

  “Why don’t you become my mate, Allie? The other does in my harem won’t mind. They like you a lot,” Cozue said as they roamed together through the forest one day.

  “I’m not sure, Cozue. I need more time,” Allie said. She liked Cozue, but something was holding her back from saying yes. She would have eagerly agreed to become his mate if she hadn’t felt that something was missing. Like her incapability to eat or sleep, she couldn’t explain the growing hole inside her. It was gnawing at the edges of her sanity day by day. It was a deep, open void, one that sucked the life out of her and made her cry when nobody was around to see. She had no idea what it was, and thought she never would.

  A month passed, the days drifting by like poisoned honey. Allie felt like she was swept up in some horrible dream, with no escape. The void only grew larger when her nightmares continued. She was particularly shaken one morning after an awful dream, one in which the boy screamed at her to leave, and never come back.

  “Allie, are you alright?” Cozue asked.

  “I’m fine.” She and Cozue were on another walk, but this time, she was shaking. It was impossible to suppress the dreams. They came at her fiercely, without any regard for her sanity, and were tearing her apart. She took a deep breath and once again tried to listen to the comforting sound of her heartbeat, but it wasn’t there. It never was.

  “I see the tears, Allie.” Cozue nuzzled her gently. “What’s wrong?”

  “He wanted me to die. He...never cared about me.” She gulped between sobs, her tears falling into the grass.

  “Who wanted you to die, Allie?” Cozue asked. “Who?”

  “The boy wanted me to die. So I left.”

  Cozue shook his head. “There is no boy. It was just a dream,” he said kindly. “Everyone has dreams. They’ll go away eventually, and soon you’ll forget all about this boy nonsense.”

  “Really?” Allie asked, her tears slowing.

  “Really.” Cozue answered. “Everything’s going to be alright. Just try to forget about it.”

  “I’ll try.” Allie said, though she knew forgetting the boy would be like forgetting who she was altogether. It felt like she was remembering something, but she wasn’t sure. All she knew now was that the boy had hated her, and there was no longer any reason to go find him.

  Allie made a decision. She would stay here with the herd, because this was her home now, even if she didn’t quite fit in.

  Reagan sat underneath the hole that had recently been torn in the roof of her home, not knowing what to do.

  That...monster and the cold, chilling man on his back had taken her father. The scaly, winged creature had grabbed Adam and carried him off into the sky while she hid, unable to do anything but watch her dad be taken against his will to a place called Nesting’s Haven.

  What did she know about it? She remembered how Kennu told her that his dad, Keota, was from Nesting’s Haven. If that was true, then he was her only hope. But how could she face Kennu again, after she’d broken his heart and lost Allie? How could she ask him for anything now, when she’d been so cruel to him?

  But then her mind turned towards other things, like what Kennu had mentioned about the man who had taken her father...Wyntier. This Wyntier had kidnapped Kennu and his friends as a baby, and now he’d killed Allie. If she put the pieces together, she had to figure Wyntier was her father’s employer. Her dad had told her his employer had hired him to experiment on animals, to discover cures for diseases and make the world a better place.

  Now Reagan understood all Wyntier wanted her dad for was to make weapons. Wyntier had been the source of all of Kennu’s problems, and she and her father had helped him, and were helping him to destroy this land

  “No! I won’t let it happen!” she said out loud, standing quickly. She bolted up the stairs of her ruined house, knowing she had to find Kennu. She knew he didn’t want to help her right now, but he was her only hope to save her father. She grabbed a bag and began throwing everything she could fit from her wardrobe into her backpack.

  The glittering black crown, the one that changed depending on who was wearing it, was sitting on her desk. She didn’t see a use for carrying a thing like that around in the woods with her, but it had been a gift from Kennu, so she threw in it the bag anyway before running towards the kitchen and grabbing any kind of food that didn’t have to be cooked, things like chips and cheese crackers.

  She zipped her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Reagan began to leave, but then she stopped. Her sunglasses lay on the counter next to her swimsuit. She grabbed both, tossing the bikini in her bag and putting the sunglasses on her head. She didn’t know where she was going, and she was pretty sure there wasn’t going to be a pool and a lounge chair waiting for her, but she felt she might as well be prepared. She left her house and began hiking through the trees, heading towards Kennu’s house.

  As she got closer to the hut, a strange smell began to overtake the sharp, cleansing scent of the forest. A musty, burning odor, like the scent of ashes after a fire, ravaged the air. The closer she got to the house, the more burnt the trees were, until the forest all around her was completely destroyed, every tree black and hollow. When she arrived at the small hut, she let out a horrified gasp when she saw what was before her.

  Kennu’s house was beyond repair. The front door was the only thing still standing, other than a small section of the front wall holding it in place. Everything else had been torched to the ground.

  “What happened here?” Reagan whispered. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she realized someone had burned the Verinian to the ground. She walked through the destruction, looking for anything familiar.

  A small fleck of white on the ground caught her eye. It was a sheet of singed paper, one that had barely survived the fire. Almost half of it was gone. She reached down and picked it up. It was one of Kennu’s drawings, though it wasn’t one of his best. The face of a cruel man stared back at her. She recognized him immediately. It was the same man who took her father. Wyntier had been here, and he
had destroyed everything. Most likely, he had killed Kennu.

  It was then that she realized something critical. Despite how hard she had tried to keep it just a game, she had fallen in love with him. She loved Kennu.

  Or had loved him. Now, he was gone. Unable to take this reality, Reagan sat in the ashes and cried.

  “Kennu’s dead. Allie’s dead. His whole family is gone, and it’s all my fault!” Reagan shouted these words to no one as she cried into her hands. “I was such a stupid idiot! I never realized I was hurting them so much!”

  Her voice echoed through the decimated forest. After a time, Reagan stopped crying and pulled her hair back, out of her face.

  Wyntier might have killed Kennu. But maybe he hadn’t, and he was still out there. If there was the slightest chance that her friend was alive, she was going to find him.

  Reagan stubbornly got up and began walking through the ruins of the Verinian. She didn’t know where to start looking for Kennu, but the remains of the forest seemed like the best place to start.

  Luciana sat beneath the shelter of the trees, cradling her small son to her chest. Nathanial laughed and giggled as Rex tickled the boy’s nose with his squirrel’s tail, screeching as the boy lashed out his hands and pulled. The infant laughed and pulled again, making the Changer screech.

  “What is going on over here?” Rose asked, coming into view between two large maple trees.

  “Not much. Nathanial’s only playing,” Luciana said, smiling. “Isn’t this just so cute? He likes Rex.”

  “No. He likes to hurt Rex is what he likes,” Rex whined, running up into the trees to protect his tail.

  Luciana giggled at her Changer and rubbed her nose against her son’s. “We’ll be there soon, won’t we, Rose?”