Chapter 27 The Lost Wolf
”Fae also have their… passions or better said, their affinities, like music or science or painting,” Brun explained, while they rushed downhill towards the manor, “And for them, the place where they could find their passion was where their spirits where at peace, or in harmony. For Triarell, it was her grove, because she was a healer and was deeply connected with life and nature. Gweyir was a musician, so a sure place to find her was the music room,” he trained his gaze at her, “As for you it would be the library.”
Understanding flooded her, “Aranna’s workshop! That’s where you think the final piece of the puzzle is hidden?” she asked, panting behind him. Brun was a lot taller than she was and normally he would adjust his stride to match hers, but he was not bothering with that this time. She was not complete sedentary, but running was really not her passion.
“Just so” he acquiesced as they crossed a little bridge into the manor’s grounds and raced in through the kitchen door, stopping only when they stepped into the library.
Still breathing hard from the sprint, Lizzie watched Brun activate the secret passage and then followed him down to the workshop.
“Frankly I am a bit at a loss at where to start,” he had his hands planted over his hips. The infuriating man was not even winded and she felt like her lungs were about to climb out of her chest and give up on her, “Aranna dedicated her life to investigate the Dreams Thief and she shared every piece of knowledge with the Changelings.”
“Not to mention we have scoured everything here before,” she added making an ample gesture around.
He trained his eyes on her, “Forgive me, I must ask you again, what were Aranna’s exact words about what we should find next?”
She closed her eyes again, replaying the conversation in her head.
“Aranna said: To find out the truth, you and Brun must go to the place where my spirit found peace. You both will find the missing piece of the puzzle there,” Lizzie recited, “It’s not much to go on, except–”
“What?” he urged, taking a small step towards her and her heart leapt, but then he seemed to realise it, because he immediately took two steps back.
Lizzie wanted to scream.
“Aranna specifically said, you both,” she replied trying to concentrate on the issue at hand, “I think that means something…”
She began to pace, pulling to strings of information from her head.
“The puzzle box! I broke the spell because I’m Aranna’s descendant, but you cracked its code because she taught you the poem. And the locket… Aranna said something about a seal: Once the seal was broken, only one of my Clan could trigger it,” she snapped her fingers, “You cut your finger in it and when I reached for your hand…”
His eyes widened, “The blood! My blood must have broken the seal! That’s what she means by you both: we will only be able to uncover the next clue together.”
Well, now isn’t that awkward? Thank you, Auntie Aranna!
“But how are we going to do this if we don’t even know what we’re looking for?” she sobbed.
“Whatever it is, it’s surely glamoured,” Brun suggested, “If we tune in our magic, we may sense it. Then we can figure out what needs to be done.”
Lizzie nodded in silence and turned away from him, stationing herself in front of the nearest bookshelf. She had opened each and every book there before, but never using her magic.
Taking a deep breath, she reached for her power, expanding her senses, touching them one by one. Behind her, she could hear Brun opening some old wooden chests to inspect their content.
Minutes ticked by. There was nothing on the first bookshelf.
Or the second.
Her stomach protested aloud.
“Heavens! We forgot to eat!” he sounded mortified.
“I didn’t,” she rebutted making no effort to hide her grumpiness, “You were the one who rushed here like a mad man!”
His cheeks burned, “Forgive me, I got so caught up with…” then he checked the time, “It’s nearly tea time. Let’s have a bite and we can return later.”
Hearing another loud growling sound from her stomach, Lizzie was more than happy to comply. She was one of those people who got hangry.
But just as she was walking past the third bookshelf on her way out, something attracted her attention and she halted. It was not something her eyes were seeing, but rather a bizarre sense of familiarity, as if she already knew what she was going to find.
Next she felt her magic being pulled. She looked up.
On the topmost shelf, in a shadowed corner, she spotted a solitary book. It was rather narrow with a blue cover, reminding her one of Aranna’s journals.
The journal was high above her head and she went on her tiptoes to see it better but could not read the spine. Turning on her phone’s torch, she threw light in the dim corner and stared at the swirly letters in Fae language, slowly recognising the shapes.
“B…R…”
Her heart skipped a beat.
“Brun! I think I found something,” she called and he promptly came to her side, “Look!”
He turned his face to the where she was pointing and frowned, “What am I looking at?”
She gaped, “Can’t you see that blue journal there, on the top shelf?”
His eyes moved from her to the bookshelf and back at her, “I only see an empty shelf.”
“But it’s right there!” tentatively she stretched a hand towards it, but her fingers went through the journal as if it were a hologram, “Holy cow! I cannot touch it!”
Brun stretched a hand. “There is magic here. There is something… I can touch it but not take it!”
Seriously Aranna?
“Let’s think this through…” she lowered her eyes to the floor. “I can see it, but not touch it while you can touch it, but not see it…”
You both will find the missing piece of the puzzle there.
You both.
“We need to do this together.”
“Together how?” he queried.
Without responding, Lizzie walked around him, placing herself against his back. For a moment she was lost in his scent and the warmth of his body. He had not touched her since the previous evening and she was ready to crawl out of her own skin with the need to feel him.
She heard his sharp intake of breath when her breasts pressed against his back, but before he could bolt, she grabbed his hand.
“I’ll be your eyes,” she muttered against his neck, feeling, rather than seeing, his skin pebbling with her breath and her own body responded to the proximity, “I’ll guide you.”
His arm tensed for a moment, his strong muscles offering resistance when she tried to move it, but then Brun surrendered control, allowing her to steer his hand towards the glamoured book.
With their united fingers she now could touch the edge of the journal but could not find purchase.
“Heavens!” he muttered, “I can see it now! How ever did you find this?” he gasped, staring at her from over his shoulder in astonishment.
She shook her head, “I don’t know… It kind of… called me if you know what I mean…”
“This has to be it. The final piece of Aranna’s puzzle!” he cursed under his breath, “I still cannot hold it!”
Lizzie allowed her arm to fall down and stepped away from him.
“Dang it! I thought this was going to work. How much more together do we need to be to do this?”
His eyes darkened and Lizzie watched heat crept up his neck, tinging his cheeks with red.
“There is a spell…” he started slowly, his eyes fixed on her with an intensity that melted her heart, “It is known as the Coupling Rune,” he swallowed hard.
She followed suit, feeling her skin burn with the phantom of his hands on her body, “Coupling as in…”
“Yes, Lizzie,” his answer was an exhausted exhale, “Fae couples would perform this spell as part of their marriage vows. It was the ultimate promise of commitment, because it connected their magic, but it enhanced their ability to sense each other and it made–”
He cut himself and his eyes dropped to her mouth. Her breath hitched.
“It made their intimate moments a lot more… intense,” he completed, his gaze never wavering from hers.
Lizzie clamped her mouth shut not to moan just at the way Brun was beholding at her. She wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.
“It was said that in time it even allowed couples to communicate with their thoughts,” he concluded, shoving his hands into his pockets. Then he shook his head as if he had just awaken from daydreaming, “But that is a stupid idea, we can–”
“No,” she interrupted him moving closer whether he wanted or not, “If we want the final clue, we need to make use of whatever we have in our arsenal. Once we’re done we can just… break the spell, right? Magical divorce?”
He was staring at her like he was a father having the sex talk with his teenage daughter.
“No, we cannot,” he replied simply, “That is why it is the ultimate promise between a couple. The spell is unbreakable.”
Bugger!
No wonder he seemed so uncomfortable. The idea of performing such spell must feel like another set of fetters were being placed on him and that was something that she, of all people, would never to do him.
“Okay, then Coupling Rune is off the table,” she sounded more confident than she felt, “I’m sure we’ll find another way. I mean, we cracked the first two riddles without coupling.”
Not a strictly correct assertion.
The obvious relief in his eyes made her feel as small as an amoeba.
Smaller.
The awkward silence in the chamber stretched as they looked at each other and then at the glamoured journal, but neither of them could think of a solution for their quandary.
Then he shook his head, “We have no choice: we have to try it.”
“No!” she fired back, “I will not put another shackle on you!”
Brun was taken aback by her words. Was this why she had refused to do the spell? He had thought…
He felt awkward about casting the Coupling Rune because it was an enchantment performed only by those who were deeply in love with each other, and after Aranna’s revelation, they both knew that it was not the case between them. He had not realised that she had refused because she did not want to give him yet another bond to her.
Another shackle.
He studied the bookshelf. Without her hand on his, he could not see anything and yet the journal was there, a journal with his name on it, which probably contained answers to the questions torturing him.
He brought his gaze back to Lizzie. Her eyes were like polished emeralds flashing with a myriad of emotions and yet her face was a mask of wilful determination. She would rather risk her life than allow him to be bonded with her forever.
This was his choice now and he felt lost for a moment because no one had given him a voice before.
And that was enough for him.
“Lizzie, this is my choice,” he repeated his own words aloud, relishing in their deep meaning and pointed to the bookshelf, “That journal has my name on it and right now, I need to know why, more than anything.”
“But you will be bonded to me… Forever!” she cried, “I can’t… I can’t do this you!”
Going against every sensible reason screaming in his head, he took a step closer and placed a hand on her cheek. Her skin was so warm… All he needed was to lean forward a bit…
He cleared his throat to focus, “You are giving me the choice and that’s enough. Once this is over, I will…” he swallowed down a knot, “Once this is over, I can disappear from your life.”
Her eyes widened, “Brun…”
“Please, Lizzie,” he begged, “I need to know.”
Choking on a sob, she nodded slowly. Her eyes were swimming with tears and Brun thought he was actually going to pass out from restraining the will to embrace her.
“Let’s do this then,” her voice was only a whisper, but she had a determined expression on her face.
Taking a deep breath, Brun stretched his hands. He had only heard the rune once, during Triarell and Ryul’s marriage ceremony, but the words had been engraved in his head because to him, that moment had been equivalent to having his skin branded with fire.
It was a memory that he did not cherish.
“Take my hands,” his voice sounded weak to his own ears, “And repeat after me.”
Bloody hell, am I seriously exchanging marriage vows with Brun right now?
Only they meant nothing.
Pushing away the useless and inconvenient thoughts, she placed her palms on his. She could feel his magic pulsing through his skin and now it was natural for her to sense it.
Brun began to sing the rune and his voice startled her. He had sang spells before while teaching her, but this time his voice sounded deeper and it alone called her magic forth. It felt like he had grabbed hold of her soul and was pulling it out of her body.
Trying to keep the focus on the matter at hand, she gingerly repeated the words with him. She recognise a few like life, heart and shelter, but could not grasp the full meaning.
However, those were bloody marriage vows, so she had a fairly good idea of the general purpose.
After the third repeat, Lizzie managed to sing without stumbling on the unknown words and on the fifth, their voices fell in harmony.
The effect was instantaneous and…
Exhilarating.
Her whole body flared with life, as if each of her cells had been turned into a miniscule lantern. She was not physically glowing, only she felt like she was.
When her mind connected to his, it was such a sensation of bliss that Lizzie wondered how she had lived all her life without that.
“It’s done,” his strained voice made her eyes snap open.
He was looking at her with an expression of utter shock.
She bit her lower lip. Very soon he would regret that decision.
Dropping his hands as if they were on fire, she turned to the bookshelf, “Well, let’s see it that does the trick then!”
Although she had her back to him, Lizzie could feel him nodding, so she just lifted her hand towards the journal and Brun mimicked her gesture, his bigger palm easily covering hers.
When their fingers touched the journal, she felt a tingling sensation, similar to what she felt with Aranna’s puzzle box. An invisible barrier dissolved into glittering dust, disappearing as if it had never existed.
Gasping in shock, Brun grabbed the journal and pulled it out easily this time.
It had a dark blue cover and two words written in silver were perfectly visible over the sigil of a wolf sitting on a crescent moon. A metal latch kept it closed, but it was not locked.
“That is your name, is it not?” she asked pointing at the first set of letters.
He nodded slowly, staring at it with an expression of utter disbelief. All blood seemed to have drained away from his face.
Squinting, she tried to read the second word, “T… H… E… Darn, I cannot read it.”
“The Theynore’s wolf!” he muttered, opening the latch with trembling fingers, “Brun Theynore!”
“And who is Brun Theynore?” she asked, scared by the pallor on his face.
He pulled a chair and sat down before answering, “I do not have the foggiest, but Theynore was Fayla’s Fae Clan name and this here seems to be his journal.”
Feeling the cold hands of foreboding throttling him, Brun flipped the first page. A folded piece of paper fell down.
“What is that?” he asked as she retrieved it from the floor.
“It is the sketch of a tree,” she replied handing it to him.
He studied the sketch for a moment, “I think it’s the oak where we found the puzzle box,” he put a finger on a small scribble on the corner, “See, she wrote Look up here too.”
Lizzie chuckled, “Aunty Aranna wanted to make sure we found that box!” then her eyes fell on the journal, “What does it say?”
He shoved the sketch back inside the book and began to read. The writing was small and careful. Unhurried.
“Heavens, this is dated to more than a thousand years ago!”
“Bloody hell!” Lizzie cried, pulling a chair and sitting beside him. For a moment, the scent of her body nearly made him lose focus. The Coupling Rune seem to have made it stronger, “What does it say?”
He cleared his throat and began to read it aloud:
I have made safely into the human world. This is a beautiful place, full of green and wild-life, not too dissimilar to home, but which, as we already knew, lacks magic. Well, that is not entirely true: this world does possess magic, but its inhabitants are not capable of harnessing it.
I am weary now and need to rest! Even with my mixed blood, I nearly spent myself opening the gateway.
“Mixed blood?” Lizzie interrupted, “What does he mean by that? Was he half human?”
Brun shrugged, “I do not know… But this does not make sense…”
“What doesn’t?”
“The gateway. Only Enchanters were powerful enough to open it.”
Lizzie frowned, “I don’t understand…”
“The Theynore Clan – Fayla’s Clan – they are Conjurers! That’s not… possible!”
She blinked at him for a moment and then understanding dawned on her, “Wait, didn’t you say that marriages between Fae castes were kind of taboo?”
“I did indeed, but it seems that my namesake here was an exception to this rule.”
“You think that’s what he means by mixed blood? That he’s the son of a Conjurer and an Enchanter?”
“Just so,” Brun acquiesced, “However, such child would have been shunned… Treated as an aberration even!”
Lizzie shivered, “But why?”
He shrugged again, “That I do not know, but right now, I am fairly certain that this is the solution Aranna spoke of!”
“Brun holds the solution!” Lizzie muttered, “Aranna was not referring to you!”
With a grim expression on his face, he resumed reading.
I must have slept for days after the crossing. I woke up with a grown beard and a hole in my stomach, and my throat was so dry it burned.
Luckily, I found a village not too far away from the lake. The humans were scared of my appearance at first and I spoke none of their language to be able to communicate. They kept repeating the word ‘sìthiche’, which I later learned it is refers to some kind of magical being.
In response, I cast a small spell for them, but that made things worse, thus in the end I settled for simply taking control of their minds and make them believe I was one of them. I mean them no harm. I just want peace.
Brun Theynore went on to narrate his first years – or rather, decades – in the human world, adapting to its way of life while keeping his true identity a secret. At first he chose to stay alone and avoid all contact with humans, but then, about a century after crossing the gateway, he fell in love with a woman.
They had a child together – a daughter – and he had been surprised to see that she had inherited both his Conjurer’s and Enchanter’s talents.
“Didn’t you say that Fae powers are inherited on either female or male line?” Lizzie interrupted.
“Indeed,” Brun agreed, “But clearly it works differently if the bloods are mixed…” he flipped the next page, his eyes darting along the page. Then his brows arched, “Heavens! Listen to this!”
My daughter will have a long life-span, though not as long as mine, I reckon. I devised a spell to change my wife, to prolong her years, but it was all for naught because she found me.
I thought I would finally be able to live in peace, in a place where my mixed blood did not matter, away from it all. Away from this terrible war amongst the Fae and from the Dreams Thief!
Alas! She found me! My sister found me and her hatred has no limits.
She killed my wife, the love of my life, as if she were an insect on the floor and then attacked me! Because of what I am, my magic has always been stronger than hers, but she caught me by surprise and wounded me badly this time. I know I do not have long to live.
I must save my child!
“This is the final entry,” Brun closed the diary with a sigh.
“Oh my God!” Lizzie cried, her hands covering her mouth, “What does this mean? How was this Brun connected to the Dreams Thief? Do you think his blood-thirsty sister was Fayla?”
Brun did not respond immediately, still staring at the diary in his hands feeling sick. Finally he lifted his eyes to her.
“The date of this last entry matches the date when the Endellys sisters led the Fae into this world. That was four hundred years before I was born… I was told that Fayla was the last one of her house, therefore it had to be her. Unless this sister he refers to is from his Enchanter’s side…”
“Jesus, Mary and the Apostles!” Lizzie blasphemed heartily, allowing her body to fall against the back of the chair, “Okay, so Fayla’s brother was some kind of hybrid Fae pariah who ran away from the Otherworld. Has she ever mentioned this brother to you?”
Brun shook his head, “Never, she never spoke about her own Clan. As you said, if he was a pariah, he probably represented an embarrassment to her. Perhaps not even the Endellys knew about him.”
“But not big enough of an embarrassment to prevent her from naming you after her brother…”
He combed his hair with his fingers, “If she killed him, perhaps she regretted what she done to him? Fayla was… harsh, but she was not a murderer…”
“Do you think that’s what happened?”
“I don’t know, Lizzie… This is all very… confusing,” he rubbed his face and then he looked at his watch, “It’s late and we ate nothing since breakfast. Let’s go back up, eat something and rest.”