52. Vynsiel
VYNSIEL
I hadn’t expected to be back in Elysial so soon.
It had been a week since the battle with Valnea’s forces and I’d recovered well.
During that time, some of the sylphim who’d surrendered had revealed an alarming and disturbing plot among their kind.
Though sylphim were strong in mind, direct mind control was expressly forbidden.
Valnea had obviously gotten them to overlook that, but as it turned out… they’d been inside Valnea’s head first.
Some time ago, perhaps a couple hundred years, a group of sylphim high nobles, the elite of Elysial, had hatched a plan.
They’d find a gullible high elf and start whispering in her ear, slowly gaining her trust. They’d be her spies and build up her power until she trusted them as her inner circle, then they’d begin the long process of corrupting her mind.
Their target had been Valnea. They’d twisted her thoughts till she’d betrayed her own kind, inviting the titans in to assassinate the royal family.
By that point, these sylphim had spies lurking in the titan realm, using their powers to remain unseen, while bending the minds of the titan king and queen, till they saw the world as Valnea did.
Valnea’s insanity, her plot to destroy all the prime races, it had all been the doing of the sylphim.
Everyone had been dumbstruck to learn this. Luckily the bulk of the sylphim forces hadn’t been involved in this plot. They went along because they had no choice; their leaders had dictated a course and whether they liked it or not the other sylphim followed.
Now, the lesser sylphim were repentant and remorseful, confessing this horrific plan.
They even helped us track their leaders back to Elysial to be brought to justice.
They crafted items to protect the minds of the seraphim and dragons who went with them, and we’d tracked the rogue sylphim to a castle of cloud, where they were now cornered.
We expected heavy resistance… but there was none at all, an ominous sign. Creeping through eerily quiet corridors, we kept on guard, but we needn’t have bothered, for when we found the group in the large main hall, they were all dead, but for one.
High Lord Andulus Eyrial was known to be the strongest of the sylphim, their leader.
He’d spent most of his life in the elven court serving the elves.
His mental prowess was unparalleled as witnessed by the dozens of dead sylphim around him, all bleeding from the ears and nose and eyes, their minds… crushed.
He waited with a dagger in hand, sitting on the lord’s throne at the far end of the hall. When he saw us, he said, “We simply wished to free ourselves. How were we to know the tyranny of the elves would one day end?” Then he slid the long dagger into his chest and ended himself.
I shook my head.
Such a waste.
The sylphim had been elevated in status by the elves, yet they’d craved even more power.
They’d resented their elven masters. Perhaps they’d thought they were using their powers for good, to overthrow the elves, but given the grand scale of genocide Valnea had planned, somewhere along the line, their idealism had been corrupted.
I almost felt bad for those sylphim who remained. It was going to be a long time before anyone trusted them again.
Our force returned to Seial, a somber lot.
Izzy met me outside as I approached her residence.
“What’s wrong? Did you not find them?” she asked, concerned. She must have misread the dismay and discomfiture in my spirit. She ran to me and embraced me tightly. My arms went around her reflexively, but I was still a little lost.
“No, we found them, but they’ll never see justice. They were all dead,” I said, shaking my head. “I just… can’t understand how they could do all of this, cause so much destruction and death and claim it was in the name of freedom or a better world.”
Izzy hugged me tighter. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “What do you need?”
I had to laugh.
“You’re the one being coronated in three weeks, swamped with work trying to set up a new government for a bunch of well-meaning but unruly races. And here you are asking what I need?”
She pulled back so she could look me in the eye. “I’ve recently realized something. This is how things change, not with big sweeping governmental laws, but by one person helping another.”
The profundity of that statement stunned me to silence for a while. Then I slowly shook my head. “You continue to amaze me, Angel, my guiding light.” I pulled her close again.
“I am amazing, it’s true,” she said playfully.
“Thank you, again,” I whispered, holding her tight. “I was lost, and you found me. You shone a bright light into my dark life and forced me to change my ways. You saved me from Saldrea, and from myself. You allowed me to forgive myself and start over, learn to grow again, be the man I want to be.”
“I’m pretty sure you did most of that on your own.”
“I did, yes, but I wouldn’t have done any of it if you hadn’t come into my life. And you did save my life, at least once.”
“True,” she whispered, hugging me back with her fierce elven strength.
“My heart and spirit are free now,” I whispered. “They’re both yours, now and forever.”
“And you have my heart and spirit too,” she whispered back. “Now and forever.” Then she pulled back again, a quizzical look on her face. “That sounded a lot like vows, are we unofficially married now?” She smiled as if that was exactly what she wanted.
“Any marriage at this point would be a formality,” I said, dipping down to kiss her softly. “Words are all well and good, but it’s what we feel that counts.”
She shifted, sliding her arm behind me as she came to my side. We continued the short walk to her residence.
Her voice was a little dreamy with remembrance when she said, “You once had issues with me being with just one other guy, are you okay with the small horde I’ve picked up?”
“I am,” I said solemnly. “Their hearts are true. Together, you and I and them, we’re unstoppable.”
“Right answer,” she said squeezing me from the side.
It was amazing how a few minutes with Izzy could lift my spirits from the depths of gloom to the heights of joy. It’s why I called her “Angel” and “guiding light” because she rescued me from myself every day, in so many little ways.
I squeezed her back as we made our way inside.
Izzy was going to make a great queen. She’d irrevocably change the realms of fae, even if she had to do it one life at a time.