Page 51 of Wrath of the Fae

Nothing. Just a distant stare and glazed-over eyes.

‘Do you know these symbols?’ I repeat, kneeling beside them. ‘Do you remember ever seeing anything like them or hearing-’

‘Above. Below. Together… new life.’ She sings her words as if recalling a nursery rhyme. ‘Of nightmares and dreams.’ She giggles, shuffling in her seat as she stares into the flames.

‘I don’t understand, Elder. What do you mean?’

She’s nuts. I told you.

Shut up, Lucca!

‘Please, Elder. Please try to focus. Feathered wings. These symbols. Portals in a tree. What do they mean? What do they have in common?’

She finally looks at me.

‘The Goddess, of course. Silly child. She had wings of feathers.’

‘The Goddess?’

‘This was the First Kingdom to be built,’ she says, her voice dry and ancient. ‘It ended the night.’

‘It’s constantly night,’ Lucca reminds her. ‘You loopy old bat,’ he adds in a whisper.

‘The first Kingdom to be built?’ I ask. ‘What do you mean?’

She leans over a little as if trying to get closer. I rise up on my knees and rest my hands on hers.

‘This Kingdom is the oldest in the Realm, my great-grandmother told me once. When she was as old and wrinkled as me.’ She lets out a little laugh. ‘It ended the night.’

‘I thought the First Kingdom was the original?’

She slowly shakes her head.

‘We are not supposed to be here.’

‘What do you mean?’

Her fingers grip mine as she places them beside her head, inviting me to see.

I get blasted with images as disorganised and chaotic as her aged mind. Images, I think, that are from a book. Or maybe her imagination as she heard stories as a child.

Flashes of fire and brimstone. Of monsters and beasts. Of razor-sharp feathers and swords and blood.

Then a picture. One painted on a page.

Of the rune markings that are etched into the ground below us.

But it’s not in a dank cellar.

It’s in a grand palace.

And standing in the centre of the rune circle is a man and woman.

She has golden wings like a butterfly.

He has wings of black feathers.

They are kissing. Around them is a shield of light. Beyond it are monsters. Surrounding them, safely hidden, are more Fae.

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