Chapter Sixty-Five
I’ve heard rumours that there are more lands out there, across the sea. That a thousand years ago, a group of gods left to create more wonders. My plan is to find a way to take Hadrian and our child there.
Tabitha Wysteria
Rio explained her plan first to Rowan and Elowen.
The silence that followed stretched long and heavy enough to make her sigh in quiet frustration.
‘You can’t be serious,’ Rowan finally said.
‘I am.’
‘But you can’t.’
‘Rowan.’ Elowen jabbed him sharply in the ribs. Rio smiled faintly at the grunt of pain that followed.
‘It’s the only plan we’ve got,’ Rio said.
Rowan exhaled slowly, clearly unhappy. ‘Fine. But only if he agrees.’
All three of them turned towards the small wolverian child.
Rio had no idea what the boy looked like, and an old, familiar itch stirred within her to step closer, to reach out and trace the shape of his face so she could build his image in her mind. But she did not move.
She never did that with strangers.
Only Rowan and Elowen had ever allowed her that closeness, the only two Fae she trusted enough to map with her fingers. The rest of the world she understood only through the careful descriptions they gave her.
‘I will do it,’ Edur said.
Rowan grunted in reluctant approval while Elowen let out a low whistle.
‘With me then,’ Rio said.
She did not need eyes to feel the shift of earth beneath approaching footsteps as they followed her over the broken section of the wall. Their small band of Fae veered left, the stone barrier running alongside them as they hurried across the uneven ground.
Ahead, somewhere within the murky wetlands Elowen had described, a group of witches and warlocks lay hidden among the swamp’s shadows.
The plan was simple, if it was carried out well.
They would need to walk for several hours before reaching the swamp, so the group travelled in silence, ever watchful. Every rustle of grass, every shift of wind through the wasteland was listened to with care.
When Rio was finally told the swamp lay close ahead, she lifted a hand and gestured for the child to come nearer.
‘Do not be afraid,’ she said gently. ‘All you must do is confuse them. You will not see us, for we will be invisible. But no harm will come to you.’
The boy hesitated.
‘Ya cannot promise me that.’
Rio blinked in mild surprise at the honesty of his words, but she inclined her head in acknowledgement.
‘Perhaps you are right,’ she said quietly. ‘This is war, and in war… we die. You may change your mind if you wish.’ She felt the air shift faintly as he shook his head. ‘Very well then.’
Rio straightened and turned towards her people. She allowed the magic to bloom through her fingers, the familiar warmth spreading across her skin—a sensation she had always loved.
Unlike witches, who had to study and labour to wield magic, the Fae were born with it. It flowed through them as naturally as breath.
She lifted her right hand and pressed it against her chest.
‘We are Fae. We are ancient. We are legion.’
A smile touched her lips as her people echoed the words.
And together, they turned and marched into the waiting swamp.
…
Rowan had already spotted the cluster of witches hidden within the swamp and was quietly circling around them.
Before they had cloaked themselves in invisibility, he had caught Elowen’s arm to keep her beside him, but Elowen had never been particularly fond of rules. She had promptly stomped on his foot and slipped away, following Rio in the opposite direction.
Rowan muttered something under his breath and turned his attention back to the child.
The small wolverian boy moved through the swamp with careful, capable steps, though from a distance he looked convincingly lost and frightened.
For a fleeting moment Rowan considered abandoning the plan entirely and rushing forward to snatch the child away from danger.
But before he could act, the witches turned.
They had heard the movement.
The plan was simple: Edur would distract them long enough for the Fae to circle around unseen, forming a barrier from which the witches could not escape. Then they would strike using their magic while hidden from sight.
The Black Lotus were natural predators.
With the protection of their magic shields, Rowan had little doubt they could tear through the witches with ease.
The Fae could not truly become invisible, of course.
Instead, they wove delicate veils of magic that settled over them like drifting dust, shielding them from mortal sight.
To anyone nearby they simply ceased to exist. Only if someone came very close might they notice the faint disturbance in the air.
A ripple, a shimmer, the slightest mirage betraying that something unseen moved there.
Edur stopped abruptly, his foot caught fast in the mud.
He stood on the far side of the swamp water, too close to its treacherous edge. The mire had swallowed his leg nearly to the knee. Rowan watched as the boy struggled to pull himself free, keeping his mouth tightly shut so as not to alert the witches lurking nearby.
Then the green lights appeared.
They flickered into being between the thin, crooked trunks of the witch trees—those eerie green orbs the witches used to see through the dimness of the swamp.
Edur froze.
He turned slowly, staring at the approaching glow with wide, terrified blue eyes.
Rowan knew he should stay where he was. The entire plan depended on the child distracting them. But Edur could hardly distract anyone if he was trapped in the mud.
And Rowan found he could not simply stand there, watching those frightened eyes.
Cursing quietly under his breath, he rushed forward.
He splashed down into the murky swamp water and waded across. Somewhere behind him he thought he heard his sister call out in warning, but he dismissed it as nothing more than his imagination.
Within seconds he had hauled himself onto the opposite bank and reached the boy.
Edur nearly jumped out of his skin when Rowan grabbed his shoulders.
‘It’s me,’ Rowan whispered quickly. ‘Rowan.’
The child relaxed at once and nodded.
Rowan moved behind him and slid his arms beneath the boy’s.
‘On three,’ he said. ‘I’ll pull you out.’
Edur nodded again.
The green lights were drawing closer now.
Rowan counted under his breath.
Three.
He pulled.
Edur came free with a wet, sucking sound but Rowan had forgotten how slight the boy was. He pulled far too hard.
The two of them toppled backwards together, crashing into the mud with a heavy splash.
Rowan cursed.
A heartbeat later a blast of magic struck them.
The force hurled them apart. Rowan crashed into the swamp water with a splash, swallowing a mouthful of the foul liquid before coughing it back out. He spat into the mud and blinked the filth from his eyes, searching for Edur.
He found him.
The boy was running.
Two witches were already chasing after him.
Rowan didn’t hesitate.
He hauled himself out of the murky water and sprinted after them, splashing through the swamp with reckless speed. With a flick of his magic he lifted several fallen branches from the ground, sending them sliding beneath the witches’ feet.
One of them tripped with a curse.
The other leapt cleanly over the obstacle and reached Edur in seconds. Her hand snatched the boy by the arm as a shrill cackle spilt from her throat, echoing through the swamp like a dark spell.
‘Well, well,’ she crooned. ‘What have we here?’ Her fingers began to glow with sickly green light.
Rowan didn’t slow.
He slammed straight into her, knocking her sideways.
‘Run, Edur!’ he shouted.
But the boy did not move.
He stood frozen where he was, eyes wide with terror, his chest heaving.
Rowan barely had time to wonder why before the witch lashed out with magic. The blast sent him flying backwards, crashing hard against the ground.
He hissed and blew across his fingers.
At once the tree behind the witch twisted and bent as though suddenly alive. Its branches whipped downward, wrapping around her legs and wrenching her arm into the air.
But Rowan’s attention was already elsewhere.
More witches were emerging from the swamp.
Dozens of them.
They formed a tightening circle around him and the boy, their tattooed hands raised as green smoke curled between their fingers.
Rowan felt it instantly.
The magical veil that had kept him hidden had vanished.
One of the witches stepped forward and pointed directly at him and Edur.
‘On your knees,’ she commanded.
Rowan ran a hand through his blue hair, then immediately grimaced when he realised it was now full of mud.
‘Brilliant,’ he muttered under his breath.
If Elowen had been standing beside him, she would have told him not to be so narcissistic. No one cared if his hair was muddy or not.
Rowan strongly disagreed.
Still, he did as he was told and dropped to his knees.
Edur, however, had not moved.
Rowan gestured sharply at the boy, urging him to follow his example, but the wolverian child only stood there trembling, his body locked with fear.
One of the witches stepped towards him, fingers lifting lazily.
Rowan watched in horror as the witch twisted her hand and used blood magic, forcing the child’s body to obey. Edur collapsed to his knees with a helpless jerk.
‘Stop it!’ Rowan roared. ‘He’s just a child!’
The surrounding witches laughed, clearly entertained.
The witch standing before Rowan stepped closer until her face hovered inches from his own.
‘Was this your grand plan?’ she asked mockingly. ‘To wander away from your army and play at being heroes?’
The others chuckled darkly.
Rowan shrugged casually. ‘We thought we might take you on.’
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a strange ripple among the swamp leaves in the distance.
Good.
The others were close.
He just needed to stall them a little longer.
‘You truly believed one Fae and a child could defeat us?’ the witch pressed.
‘Not really, no,’ Rowan said lightly. Then he smiled. ‘But the Black Lotus… definitely yes.’
He saw the moment realisation struck her.
Her purple eyes widened.
Her mouth opened ready to shout a warning. But she never got the chance.
She had barely begun to turn when the air itself seemed to shift. Rowan watched as something invisible drove straight through her stomach.
She froze.
Blood spilt slowly from her lips as a dagger protruded cleanly from her gut.
One by one, the witches began to fall.
Invisible blades flashed through the swamp, and the Black Lotus moved like silent ghosts among them, cutting the witches down before they could even see their attackers. Bodies dropped into the mud, green magic sputtering uselessly into the damp air.
Rowan let out a long breath of relief and pushed himself to his feet, brushing mud from his clothes with a grimace.
His sister Elowen appeared beside him, Rio just behind her.
‘Why are you incapable of following through with plans?’ Elowen asked idly, examining her nails with feigned boredom.
‘It worked out, didn’t it?’ Rowan replied.
Rio stepped between them before the argument could grow.
‘We continue circling the witchlands and eliminate as many witches as possible,’ she said calmly. ‘We need to reach the other side and close them in. Our goal is the far side of the wall.’ She turned her head slightly. ‘We will travel through the swamp so we remain unseen.’
Rowan opened his mouth to complain, but the moment Rio narrowed her eyes at him in warning, he wisely shut it again. Instead, he turned back to Edur and gave the boy a light pat on the arm.
‘You did well.’
When the child didn’t respond, Rowan frowned.
‘You okay?’
Edur finally exhaled softly and nodded.
Before Rowan could ask anything else, the boy simply began walking in the same direction as Rio and the Black Lotus.
‘Leave him be,’ Elowen said.
Rowan glanced at her.
‘Whatever he’s been through,’ she continued, ‘it’s up to him to decide what to share, and when.’
‘But I—’
‘Leave him be.’ She gave him a firm look before turning and following the others.
Rowan scratched the back of his neck.
He was certain the wolverian child was hiding something but he had no idea what. Perhaps Elowen was right. Perhaps Edur would speak when he was ready.
Not when Rowan decided the moment had come.
Unfortunately, patience had never been one of Rowan’s greatest virtues.
‘Hey, wait up!’ he called after them, hurrying to catch up with the group.