Chapter 12 – FIRST SPELL

MEANWHILE, on the other side of the throne room, Eleand met Winzi’s gaze. Her silver eyes were glimmering as she gave him a warning. This little witch immediately ran into him when the intruders came inside, a female faerie in black and a male that looked like a warrior.

Winzi was communicating with him in his mind while holding his shoulders.

Don’t look at them. Just look at me.

She followed Winzi’s command. He could sense the danger; he couldn’t control his body as it trembles voluntarily just in the presence of the female faerie in black. He could hear her talking with Aserah. Her voice was dangerous and sweet in her ears. Maybe it was a typical attribute of one faerie—enchanting.

The intruder’s laugh was soft but sinister. An invisible force made him look in her direction. Even Winzi was trying to block his sight.

Thanks to the gift of faerie eyes, he could vividly see the lady in black. Eleand scrutinized her looks from her back. Maybe some magic was cast in him because he was instantly drawn.

There she was, moving with lethal grace, wearing a shimmering black gown encrusted with crystal beads, and her hair, black as night, coiled and braided in a crystal crown atop her head.

She possessed a slender body and an elegant curve of her nape. Her unusually pointed ears were longer than he usually sees here. She wore a delicate silver earring glittered in the light.

Too bad he could only see her back. He silently wished he could see her face.

It seemed the lady heard him; she looked slightly on her side, and he could suddenly see a slight view of her cheek. Her complexion was like alabaster. He could tell that her beauty was a weapon itself.

Deadly.

Eleand felt a sense of longing when he missed the chance to see her face. Maybe he was under her spell. He was abruptly aware of others’ presence when the intruders disappeared. He blinked hard.

Winzi let go of him. The tension around was gone when those two unwanted visitors left.

“Who the hell are they?” Eleand managed to ask. Ahldrin and Zanti put down their swords. It seemed they looked relieved.

“Zenus and Rieska,” Zanti answered.

“You mean, Rieska the Faerie Queen?” He stared in disbelief.

“Yes, she is,” Aserah confirmed.

“Ohh…” His expectation for the Ancient Queen was ugly and old, just like the antagonist of every fantasy movie he watched. He even imagined her like an old witch flying in her broom while laughing. Again, he was wrong. He couldn’t see the face of the Faerie Queen, but he was sure that she was stunning. An ancient goddess of death because her beauty was lethal enough to shake this world.

“She knows you are here, Eleand. I guess you need to train to protect yourself from Rieska. Do not leave the palace alone.” Aserah looked bothered.

He nodded. “I understand.”

“Let me train him,” Winzi volunteered.

“No way!” He was displeased with the idea, “I want Zanti to train me,” he suggested.

Eleand could imagine the harsh training if Winzi was in charge. Training with her would be torture. She would only find a valid reason to make him suffer. This witch loved to terrorize him.

“I want to, but I will be in Argia for the council meeting,” Zanti answered.

“You should be thankful. If I’m your trainer, consider it an honor.” Winzi rolled her eyes.

They halted arguing when Nahil suddenly appeared. Her butterfly wings fluttered, and she wore a flower crown. Her kind face looked perplexed.

“I found two dead bodies near the Spring Region—heavily mutilated. I don’t know what creature does that. They were rotten and barely recognizable.”

Eleand and Zanti looked at each other. They were about to report the incident they found if they were not distracted by the intruders earlier.

“We discovered a dead body as well in the mountain boundary of Mirasaen and Aderawiel,” Zanti reported what happened.

“Maybe the Alundra did those killings,” Ahldrin concluded.

“No, I checked the wounds. I’m sure it wasn’t the Alundra. There was a scent of dark magic lingering there.” Zanti hardly shook his head.

“I’m sure this is Rieska’s doing, isn’t it obvious?” Winzi said.

Aserah answered, “Maybe, that’s a possibility. But I know her. Rieska won’t kill that way. She can annihilate an entire city, but she would never mutilate her victim.”

“Maybe she wanted to be more creative this time.” Winzi joked, but no one laughed. She lowered her head and immediately apologized.

“I’ll send more trackers to search what is this sister creature murdering our comrades.” Ahldrin looked determined to find the culprit.

“Do it,” Aserah nodded and turned to Eleand, “Come with me in the library. I have some important things to tell you.”

Eleand agreed. He thought they would use the Vanire, but they walked out of the throne room and went inside the library.

ASERAH guided him to the corner of the library, and Eleand found himself holding a thick old book. Few faeries were earnestly reading inside. Books were neatly placed at their table.

He could have a rough estimate that the books in the library could be millions. There were ladders around and a spiral staircase going underground. Everything his eyes looked; books were piled up everywhere. Some were glowing in various bright colors.

“That book contains the basic spells a mortal can wield. Your mortal ancestors originally used that to learn magic to defend themselves from dark faeries,” Aserah explained, staring down.

“Really?” He looked at the book in his hand.  It seemed like he would have a new hobby starting today. Good thing he would not be bored during his stay here. If he could master the content of this book by chance, he could easily defend himself.

“You have to be careful learning magic. It can be dangerous for humans. If only I had another choice. But I can’t defend you all the time. Erganiv is not a safe place for the likes of you, especially now that there are threats all over the palace.”

“Why are you doing this to me? I heard that harboring a mortal here is against your law.” Eleand somehow felt guilty because he could be the reason for Aserah to be punished—just because she saved him.

Aserah lowered her gaze. “I owe your ancestors a lot during the Great Fae War. Let’s say I am paying a debt.”

“Thank you, Lady Aserah. I will do everything to protect myself. I promised to train hard. I will make myself useful when I learn magic.”

“Fariyah will train you. She is well-versed using basic magic for mortals.”

“Excuse me, who?” His forehead creased. Apparently, a stranger would train him. He silently celebrated that Winzi could not bully him. But what if his new trainer would be more brutal than Winzi? Eleand immediately dismissed that thought.

“She is the priestess governing the Winter Region. You will stay at her temple starting tomorrow. You will only come back here once you can wield magic without hurting yourself.” Her voice sounded hopeful.

Darn. He wanted to complain that maybe it was better if he should just stay in the palace. But they gave him the privilege to learn magic. He was not in a position to whine. He would be their burden if he continued being a freeloader in the palace.

“All right, I’ll be in the Winter Region for my magic training,” he tilted his head up. He would do his best to learn magic. Especially it was the only way for him to survive in this realm.

“One more thing, it seems the amulet is not properly functioning when Rieska is around. I will create an illusion for your appearance to look like us.” She raised her hand and attempted to click her fingers.

“Wait—wait, what do you mean? How would I look like?”

“Don’t worry. It’s safe. You will have pointed ears like a normal faerie, that’s all. It will also cover your human scent. It’s better to take precaution, not everyone around here is loyal, and Rieska might squeal to the council about your presence here.”

His body quivered. He didn’t mind whatever his looks would be, especially if it were just an illusion. He was more concerned about his involvement with the Faerie Queen. The thought of her mutilating his body comes to his mind.

“Do what must be done. I won’t do anything against your will. I will do my part to repay you for helping me,” he sounded confident.

“Okay, now, close your eyes.”

Eleand immediately complied. He felt the flow of energy covering his body. When he opened his eyes, there was nothing unusual.

“The illusion spell is just temporary. It would be best if you learn how to use it by yourself, so you can freely move alone here like an ordinary fae,” her eyes beamed, looking at him.

“So be it. I will only come back here if I can already wield magic on my own.”

“Definitely, because Ahldrin will train your hand-to-hand combat skills.”

He nodded. And in just a blink, Aserah disappeared. Eleand gently shook his head while staring blankly at the book in his hand.

What could be its content? He was curious. Eleand did not hesitate to open the book.

The line in his forehead deepened when the pages of the book became visible. There was an illustration on the first page, a silhouette of a wolf in a clear black ink. There were inscriptions he could not understand, and they looked ancient.

Eleand turned to the next page. It appeared like an ancient language. For a moment, he was perplexed about the book’s content. How could it be possible for him to understand the context? Was Aserah trying to make fun of him? Did she want him that much to be thrown out in the palace to make this nonsense?

He remained clueless as he closed the book. He exhaled sharply, trying to grasp what was going on. But suddenly, he felt an invisible force telling him to open the book again.

Eleand scanned the pages for the second time. He identified a drawing of a moon waxing crescent on a random page and gently touched it along with the inscriptions.

What the heck is this?

To his great astonishment, the ancient inscriptions moved! He almost dropped the book as he flinched.

It caught him in awe when he tried to look at its page because the inscription changed to a modern roman alphabet easier for him to read.

Chambre…Siego…Niptoumi… Eleand continued reading. Until the words from his mouth progressed, he could not simply stop.

His vision went obscured.

Everything went dark.