Vera's Song (Creatures of the Lands Book 2) Read online

  “She won’t remember anything until the right time comes,” Allyr said.

  Ionan widened his eyes. This was deeper than he ever could have imagined. Kotakenzie shook his feathers and said, “You must promise not to speak of any of this, not even to your family or friends.”

  Ionan went to speak but Allyr hushed him. “You must listen. Allie was given a special gift when she was born. The full extent of her powers was bestowed on her by the Creator to revolutionize a new era. But in order to do this, she must learn how to control it. Her powers of prophecy are only the beginning. Within her she has the ability to fight thousands.”

  “What are you talking about? Allie is just a little girl,” Ionan grumbled, not liking what he was hearing.

  Kotakenzie stepped forward. “When she was born, her powers were apparent upon her birth. The Great One was intent on keeping them a secret. But, as you know, secrets rarely stay that way. Word leaked out and the Council heard. They wanted to keep everything normal, and so they hired someone to come kill Allie in the night.”

  “Murdering an infant? The Council knows no bounds,” Ionan hissed.

  “They never got their chance. Wyntier too heard of her powers, and he came in the night to steal Allie away so he could force her to use her powers for himself. He and Vera murdered us while we were trying to protect her, along with several others.”

  “Vera could never hurt you, Allyr! You were her best friend!” Ionan insisted.

  Allyr’s blue eyes blinked at him sadly. “She could not disobey a direct order from Wyntier, and so she killed me first, so I would not have to bear the sight of my child being stolen away from me.”

  “Keota’s own mother died by Wyntier’s hand,” Kotakenzie added. “She was the last person to defend our daughter until the Great One came and managed to save Allie from Wyntier’s grasp.”

  “Anurati. No,” Ionan said, shaking his head. “It can’t be true. Not her. She was such a kind soul.”

  “You knew she would do anything to help, Ionan. And that night she gave the biggest sacrifice of all, because everything depends on keeping our little girl safe,” Kotakenzie said, nodding his head at Allie. “Anurati gave her last breath getting Allie to the Great One. And so Wyntier’s plans were thwarted, but not for long.”

  “What do you mean?” Ionan asked.

  “After Allie disappeared, Nesting’s Haven dissolved into chaos,” Allyr said, shaking her head. “Wyntier and Vera, along with several of his followers, went to destroy the Council. The two warring sides caused the city to collapse, and many were killed in the process. The Council eventually won, and chased Wyntier out of the city. His followers went into hiding. The Great One shoved Allie in ceremony after ceremony to get her to a safer home. But to no avail. Vixen did the last thing she could to keep her out of Wyntier’s way...she sent her to you.”

  “And now Allie and Kennu are bonded,” Ionan whispered. He looked over at Kotakenzie. “But what does this have to do with anything?”

  Allyr and Kotakenzie looked at each other, reciting in perfect unison;

  “The alliance will bond together,

  In perfect harmony,

  Friends brought to stop the evil,

  And set the Changers free.”

  “Set the Changers free? What does that mean?” he asked.

  “The two necklaces and the crown are the only way. Allie has to destroy them,” Allyr insisted.

  “Excuse me?” Ionan asked.

  “When Wyntier is at his strongest, there will be only one that will take him down. The knowledge of the one that knows all, is all in one,” Kotakenzie said.

  “Who knows all? You can’t tell me any of this and expect me to understand...”

  “And at the very end when death is the only result, remember to look back and below,” Kotakenzie said.

  “What are you talking about?” Ionan asked, shaking his head. The figures began to fade and Allie let out a loud squawk. Ionan rushed forward, shouting, “Wait! This makes no sense! You cannot leave without telling me what this means!”

  They were gone. Allie turned and chirped at him, flying by his side. Ionan rubbed his eyes on his right wing, feeling more tired than he had in ages. Allie looked up at him and asked, “Is Io okay?”

  “No Allie. Io is not okay,” he said, and he groomed her head feathers lovingly.

  “You moron! You nearly gave us a heart attack!”

  He turned to see Kia waving at him, holding Keota’s hand. Casiff followed, with Snow Drop behind him and Lottie and Cornia came bringing up the rear. Lilja and Caini trotted happily beside them.

  Ionan romped over to Keota and put his head down to greet his Accompany.“How did you find us?”

  “We had help from his dad, after some elves tried to kill us,” Kia explained, pointing at Keota. “It sounds stupid, I know.”

  “You should have this back,” Casiff said, handing Kia her knife. “I’m tired of carrying it around.”

  “Now that Kia is healed, Keota, you know what we have to do now,” Ionan said.

  Dropping Kia’s hand, the Accompany let out an angry noise and said, “I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself!”

  The entire group gasped, but Ionan ignored them. “You heard what Wyntier said. The only way to save Kennu is to kill me, as a trade. We have to do it.”

  “I don’t think so!” Casiff shouted and he tripped, falling face forward into a snow drift. He got up off the ground and brushed his shirt off, looking embarrassed. “You’re the brains and the brawn of this operation!”

  “Which is coming to a close,” Ionan said.

  “I don’t care!” Casiff said and he whirled around wildly at Snow Drop, who was breathing heavily onto his hair. “Will you please give me some space? I barely know you!”

  “Oh well, how rude,” Snow Drop said, turning around and smacking Casiff in the face with her tail.

  “And this is why you are bad at being a fairy,” Kia laughed, trying to break some of the tension.

  Keota paid them no attention. “Ionan,” he whined, but the Changer simply stared at him and said, “Not in front of the children, Keota.”

  “Children? As in plural?” Kia asked, looking around. Allie, who had been hiding behind a rock, jumped out at the couple and yelled exuberantly, “You found me!”

  Keota let out a shrill, annoying screech and cried, “What is that thing?!?!”

  Everyone else laughed and Kia caught Allie in her arms, Keota putting up his hands to protect his face.“Hey baby griffin. Where’s mommy?” she asked kindly.

  “No mommy, just Io,” the griffin proclaimed.

  Kia peered at her and said, “Of course! Allie!”

  “What?” Keota asked and he put down his hands. He looked at her and she giggled, biting him sharply on the nose. “Ow! Yep, that’s Allie alright.

  Kia’s good mood changed when she noticed Kennu was not with her. “Allie, where’s…”

  She broke off as she caught Ionan swaying his head back and forth. She glanced at Casiff and he mouthed, Didn’t…get…away…Wyntier.

  She bit her lip and looked at her husband. The look on his face told her that he had understood.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rebellion and Lost Siblings Are All Part of the Plan

  “Kennu can’t be far,” Kiatana said, looking at her friends. “I’m sure if we hurry, we can find him tonight.”

  “My Queen!” a strong, booming voice called from the top of the mountains. “I request a word!”

  The group looked up. The source of the voice was an elf. He had bright green eyes and his blonde hair was pulled back in a braid, and was dressed richly in what looked like silks.

  “Of course,” Kia forced a smile at him as she spoke, putting Allie down on the ground.

  “I am Zornaka, the elfin king and I am here to speak on the behalf of my people,” he began.

  “Then speak for them,” Kia commanded. “I haven’t got all day.”

  Zornaka chuckled slig
htly at her impatience. “We elves believe that fairies have held the throne for too long. Today, we take it for the elves!”

  As he spoke thousands of elves, more than anyone had ever seen, arranged themselves along the top of the mountains, surrounding them. “Leave no survivors!” Zornaka barked and the elves began pouring down the mountainside, their weapons raised high as they charged towards the group.

  “I just knew they were up to something! There was no way that they were going to let us get away!” Keota yelled as he bunched up his fists, preparing to fight.

  “Next time I’ll take your word for it!” Kia called back. She pulled out her knife as Ionan bared his fangs, the wolves surrounding Caini and Allie.

  “Do not kill the queen!” Zornaka called out. “She is mine, after she watches her friends die!”

  Vera shivered inside the small bedroom. There was little light in here, and she could feel herself losing strength quickly. The black magic around her ankles and mouth refused to budge. If she didn’t get some sun soon, she was going to die.

  He’s left me in here to rot, she thought. Typical of him, picking the cruelest way.

  She wasn’t going to go quietly. If there wasn’t a way to get out of here, there had to be something she could do to stop Wyntier. She turned her head and looked at his bed to see the book they had found at Malaki Shaman’s hut lying there innocently. That book had caused more destruction in the past few years than Wyntier had in his entire life. It was responsible for the poison in the syringe that had hurt Kia and Maekrel, responsible for the witch growing in her dark magic, and had given Wyntier more knowledge of Allie’s powers and his enemies weaknesses than he ever had before. Wyntier had stated he wouldn’t do anything until he had read the entire book when they discovered it, but for some reason he never finished it because there was always more to learn. A book with that kind of knowledge shouldn’t belong to anyone, let alone her Accompany. Whatever happened to her, Vera knew that if that book remained in Wyntier’s hands there would be no hope for the Lands or anywhere else.

  I have to hide it, she thought. Struggling against her bonds, she leaned over to the bed until she had enough strength to nose the book onto the floor. She then pushed it with her paws into the closet, where she covered up the book with the blankets and coats that Wyntier had left inside.

  That’s not going to stop him, Vera thought, dissatisfied, but she knew there was nothing more she could do. She shut the closet door, but as she did so she felt a tremor run throughout her entire body.

  Unable to scream, Vera moaned. Her stomach felt like it was being stabbed over and over again with a knife. Falling onto the floor Vera tried to get into a more comfortable position, but the bonds prevented it. Her body began shaking and Vera wished that someone, anyone, would come so she wouldn’t have to be alone.

  Creator help me, Vera thought, and she laid on the ground, unable to do anything but be still and think about the pain.

  It would seem that there was no way the group was getting out of this. There were hundreds of elves for every one of Kia’s group, and no matter how many of them met death by the group’s hand, there were ten more to take their place.

  The wolves had formed a circle around a small group of elves. They paced around their targets, snapping and biting every time someone moved. As one elf began to run Lilja launched at him and knocked him to the ground. With one simple move the elf’s life ended. The others remained still as the wolves launched themselves onto the elves, blood spewing everywhere by their fangs.

  Ionan rampaged among the battle in the form of a lion, picking off elves one by one. As they began to surround him he took to the sky as a dragon, breathing flame down upon the elves. Allie flew beside him and dive bombed several unsuspecting elves, pecking out their eyes and leaving them disoriented.

  Snow Drop kicked out her hooves at the attackers. A braver elf charged at her and Snow Drop latched onto his shirt and sent him flying. He landed behind her with a bone shattering thud.

  Keota sported a wound in his left shoulder and struggled to fight off the ever present elves. He kicked one in the shins and several other elves tripped over their fallen comrade. Kia fought off the enemies that were purposely losing to her, knowing they were simply trying to drain her energy. One by one they fell to her set of knives. She started to fight her way to Keota but was blocked off by several larger elves who pushed her back and kept her where she was.

  Casiff had taken to the skies, throwing large rocks at the elves below him and forcing his weak wings to sustain flight. With every miss he swore, and he shouted to Kia, “I can do this all day, but I think I’m going to run out of rocks!”

  “If you run out of rocks on a mountain, you’ve reached a new level of pathetic!” Kia cried.

  “I WOULDN’T DOUBT IT, WITH HOW MANY ELVES I HAVE TO KILL!!!” Casiff screamed back angrily.

  “There’s too many of them!” Kia yelled to Keota. “We’re never going to stop them all!”

  “Hey little sister, need some help?” a voice called, drifting over the mountain.

  The battle halted in place, elves freezing in their tracks as they gazed up the mountain side. Zornaka turned to look at the fairy who stood on the other side of the mountain directly across from him. His smile turned to fear. “The cursed one.”

  “Nineva!” Kia gasped.

  The fairy smiled. “Hello, sister.”

  Even though the two were sisters, Kiatana and Nineva couldn’t have been more different. Nineva had long hair that was red as blood, and her eyes were blacker than a pit of despair. She was dressed in an incredibly expensive dress that was as black as her eyes, and her skin was as white as snow. Her wings were ones of a bat, not a butterfly, and she displayed them proudly as she hovered over the horde of elves.

  “Where have you been?” Kia called, tears flooding her eyes.

  “Here and there,” Nineva shrugged. “On the count of three, you and your friends need to run like hell.”

  “Why?” Kia asked.

  Nineva didn’t bother to answer. “One…two…three!”

  Kia began to sprint away from the mountain and the others followed her quickly, having no idea what was going on. A half a second later Nineva flew into the sky, shouting out a spell in a language none of them had ever heard before. From her hands came a terrible magic that devoured the thousands of elves that had flooded the mountain range. Black flames ripped across the peaks and destroyed everything in its path, laying waste to bodies and stone. As the smoke cleared and the flame went out a horrifying scene was revealed. Burned carcasses lay everywhere as dark blood formed pools all over the area. No elves had survived.

  Nineva touched down with a small smile as the company stood gazing at the massacre with open mouths.

  Kia put her hands over her eyes and buried her face against Keota’s chest. “Can we just get out of here please?” he asked Nineva kindly, patting his wife on the shoulder.

  “Of course,” the fairy smiled. “Let me see your shoulder really quick.” She walked up and placed a hand upon Keota’s wound. “Hali,” she whispered again in that strange language. A black flame flowed across his arm and then vanished, taking his wound with it. Keota shivered.

  “Follow me,” she said. “I know a safe place.”

  “Kia,” Casiff said lowly. “I don’t know about this.”

  “She’s the cursed one,” Lilja said with a small growl in his throat. “You saw what she did to those elves. Should we trust her?”

  “It’s my sister,” Kia said harshly. “Of course we can.”

  Nineva took off through the pine trees that surrounded the mountainside. At Kia’s insistence they followed her for several minutes until they came to a house carved out of stone.

  “Come in quickly.” Nineva gestured toward the door. Everyone went inside except for Snow Drop, who was too large to fit. Ionan changed into a hawk so he could go inside, landing on Keota’s shoulder nervously. Nineva closed the door behind them and looked into t
he small home. “Soran,” she called softly.

  “Mommy!” A six year old boy came running into the room from deep within the house, a small black dog following closely at his side. He jumped into Nineva’s arms and she held him against her hip tenderly, giving him a red-lipped smile. The dog sat on the floor next to her and wagged his small tail.

  “That’s mommy’s boy,” Nineva said before turning to Kia. “Why don’t we all go sit in the kitchen?”

  “Yes, I really do need to sit,” Kia said quietly as she wiped a tear from her eye. Keota wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders and guided her to the kitchen.

  “Wow,” Keota said, looking around in awe at the beautiful, intricately carved furniture that laid around the room, the hearty fireplace burning brightly. Nineva had the best of everything, as was obvious by the various items in her home rimmed with gold and silver, and the rich rugs lying on the floor. A few pies sat happily cooling on the granite counter. “For my son,” Nineva explained. “He loves them.”

  “Your house is beautiful, Nineva. Your husband must be a wonderful provider,” Kia said, staring at all the beautiful things.

  “He has fine tastes,” Nineva explained. “Must be a change from your little hut in the forest, Kia. I can’t imagine it’s very comfortable for a queen, but I’m sure your husband does his best.”

  Nineva glanced at Keota and the Accompany reddened. Turning around, Keota directed his wife and the others towards the velvet chairs nearby. When they all got comfortable Nineva said, “I’m sorry that I didn’t return home to see you sooner, my sister. I’d heard you defeated our father, but returning to that place is too much for me to bear. I’d also feared you thought I would harm you with my magic.”

  “I lost my big sister. That did more harm to me than any dark magic,” Kia said. “And then mom left to go be queen. I rebelled against Malaki because I thought it would bring you and mom home.” Kia tried not to cry and Keota held her hand in his.