Page 13 of Stone Sentinels

“Maybe.”

“Noni make the cookies with dark chocolate pieces to make them real extra special for Mr. Flumph.”

I take the cookie from her hand an’ gives it a little nibble, hopin’ she ain’t tryin’ to poison me or somethin’. “HOLY FUCK THESE GOOD!” Thems explodin’ on my tongue like the best damn cookie I done ever had. I love chocolate, most sprite do, but this better than anythin’. I looks over an’ Noni grinnin’ at me again, so I shoves a cookie in her face.

“What Mr. Flumph do before he join Mr. Dragan?”

I don’t like thinkin’ bout my time with Anona, but Noni been nice to me. An’ I know she ain’t gonna tells nobody if I real honest. “I work for a butt-ugly demon an’ a clusterfuck o’ her demon pissheads that didn’t treat me good. I were their slave. They tell me what to do, all bitchy-like, till I don’t think I worth nothin’ but the scraps o’ food Anona feed me.”

“Oh, no! Was Mr. Flumph scared?” Noni ask.

“...I was... back then, but not no more. I ain’t the same as I were. Fetchin’ water an’ haulin’ bowls o’ slop around were better than gettin’ kicked in the head. But when Anona start bringin’ in ladies, ones that don’t got nowheres else to go, an make ‘em fuck the demons for food an’ bed, that when I know I gotta gets outta there.” I munch on my cookie, gettin’ crumbs on my little tunic an’ the window. “Only when Pretty get there that I finally do somethin’ bout it.”

“Noni understands,” she say. “The naughty king used to be Noni master. He very mean to her, make her do things she didn’t want to do, and he hit Noni. When things got really bad, he get mad at Noni and make her leave the castle. She almost starve when the soldiers trample her. When Master find Noni, that be the best day ever. Noni love Master.”

“What the naughty king makes you do?”

“Noni was told to pull the carts with the wings on them to the trophy room and put them in the shiny boxes on the wall. She have to use her magics on other faeries and spy for him.”

“Ain’t you spyin’ now?” I asks in a real soft voice as I look over at Mother Heifer. But she still passed the fuck out an’ droll even be rollin’ down her chin.

“Oh, this different. Noni want to do this. Before, Noni spying got other faeries taken to the big sphere they call theThrest. Noni never been inside, but no faerie that go in there come back out.” The little brownie shiver, an’ I pats her hand. Maybe we is friends. Maybe Noni more like me than I think. She smile, an’ we get back to watchin’ the Mother Heifer where she sleep.

She been real quiet lately, not talkin’ to mirrors or projectin’ in her sleep like before. It borin’ an’ I rather be out watchin’ the satyr gettin’ him’s butt kicked, but I gots a job to do an’ I’m gonna do it.

***

MORRIGAN

I cannot speak with Variant or Theren while the sprite and his brownie companion watch me at all hours. The days continue to drag as I try to overhear what progress the others have made. I want the book of prophecies that Dragan and Eilish have, but the brutish gargoyle rarely parts with the blasted thing. And now I have Aima and the satyr to deal with, as well. As my former student, Aima seems more suspicious than the others. She may need to be taken care of, and quickly. I don’t care if Theren has a soft spot for her. Anyone who gets in my way becomes a casualty.

I watch as Eilish trains in the clearing with the others. She’s getting stronger. Whether she becomes a threat or an ally still remains to be seen. I must continue to make them think of me as a neutral party, not taking sides with the light nor the dark, while ensuring their beliefs that I wish to restore the balance. This lie is necessary to make them trust that we have a common mission.

But I am the only one who truly understands that the balance is harmful to the natural order. Only the strongest should be permitted to survive. Peace welcomes weakness, and weakness breeds opportunity for annihilation. But chaos... chaos nurtures instinct. And I have seen instinct inspire the sort of strength necessary to claim power so that survival is a possibility. Silvanus, however, sees things differently.

As the last of the gods, he no doubt wishes to take the throne for himself.

Whatever his endgame may be, it stands in the way of my future glory and I cannot allow his plans to come to fruition.

A knock sounds on the door, and I call for whoever it is to enter. It is Aima. She rests against the wall, chest heaving from her spar in the clearing. “Supper will be served soon.”

“Thank you for telling me,” I answer, wondering at the true reason she has appeared here.

She studies me with narrowed eyes. “I’m wondering when the real you is going to show itself.”

I bite my cheek and turn to face her, putting my back to the window. “Pardon?”

“I don’t know what you’re up to, but I know you talk to Theren. He spoke of you constantly, said you were counseling him. And then he disappears, and the Unseelie Court is making decisions without their king.” Aima steps further into the room and slides her gaze from my head to my feet. “All of us have fought and bled for our cause, for dethroning those who are abusing their power so that we may restore the balance and begin rebuilding the Realms. I don’t want to think of you as a traitor, Morrigan, but sooner or later the inconsistencies in your lies will come back to haunt you.”

“What do you know?” I hiss. “You don't understand what it truly means to bleed for a cause. I’ve been around since the ancient times of mankind and I’ve survived every war. Crusades and holy battles, conquerors and false prophets... I’ve lived it all. Swords and shields are nothing compared to the weapons the humans had at their disposal, and yet they fell like all the rest. Every dawn of life has its setting sun, Aima—that is why mortality is so beautiful. I taught you that long ago. I had hoped you would have remembered.”

“So, is that what you believe this is?” she demands. “Our reckoning, our cleansing fire that will burn this world asunder?” Aima’s eyes plead for answers I will not speak of. Not to her. “You are weak, Morrigan. More so than any loss of power could ever cause. You are weak because you’ve given up. There’s more to life than just surviving. If not for you, Abedon, and the rest of the gods vying for power, the worlds would have continued as they were. The fae and the mortal realms would have existed with barely any knowledge of one another.”

“You know nothing, Aima!” I yell at her. “You speculate and listen to rumor rather than open your eyes.” I move over to the bed to pull my robes on. “Time will tell. And when it does, only those who are strong enough to understand the truth will bear witness to the new dawn.”

“Help me see it, then. If I’m blind to what’s happening, then show me the way.”

“No.”

---