[Chapter 29]

“Yes you can, Noel Cypher, Spirit user and Master of the Water. Given your amazing abilities at your element, you most definitely can.” The voice interrupted me, and everyone turned to the originator of that voice, who was walking into the cave slowly.

Inside my mind, Kenton and Treyon cursed simultaneously, teaching me new colors of the English language that I didn’t know before.

Almost instantly, my Guardian reacted to his newly sharpened instincts, calling to his element while raising the stake in his hand.

“Who are you? State you name and business here.” Noel warned, crouching to a defensive position while trying to keep me hidden from view.

The tenor man’s voice only got closer as distinct splashes of water continued. Behind, I heard clicks of heels against the stone floor. There was more than one pair of feet making towards us, and it wasn’t a nice feeling to know that there were more people out here for us.

“You can relax, Noel Cypher. True, we may be vampires, but I have no desire for war. In fact, I have been the one spitting blood coaxing the rest of the court into a peaceful solution. We vampires need no more war than you.”

“Show yourself.” Noel commanded, not letting up as the figure came into view.

The first impression I had of him was that he was a big shot. He wore simple clothes –a black collared shirt paired with fitting skinny jeans. Yet, somehow, he managed to make these clothes look as if it belonged in the King’s closet. His auburn hair seemed aflame in the firelight, and his eyes held something deathly intelligent. He had a clean, shaven and a fresh set of features. Lips in a perfect Cupid’s shape, he had the exterior of everything a girl wanted. Except that he looked around his forties, and was definitely taken –as evidenced by the gold band that wrapped his fourth finger.

“I have shown myself for you, Noel. Will you lower your stake against me?” He asked in a polite tone of voice, a voice that sounded as if he wasn’t used to being disobeyed. I knew that tone of voice. That tone of voice belonged to Treyon and Kenton.

Noel rebelliously shook his head. “You are a vampire. Your very body is a weapon against my Faen and me. I cannot trust myself to lower my guard around you.”

The newcomer held Noel’s eye contact for a few long seconds, as if looking for something within the eyes of my Guardian. Then he nodded and smiled.

“I understand your distrust. But do not fear. I am not your enemy.”

“It does not make you my ally, nevertheless.” Noel shot back quickly.

The man opened his mouth to reply, but another voice interrupted him –a voice that was absurdly familiar to me. Suddenly, everything clicked into place, as she walked into view, bringing a fresh wave of curses from Treyon and Kenton.

“He is not, but I am Ashe’s ally. Please put down your weapons, and let me talk to Ashe.”Zephyra asked gently, finding my eyes almost instantly. It held there for a moment, before it turned to her twin sons standing at the other end of the cave, unable to move by my mind control.

“Kenton… How much I’ve missed you so!” She breathed softly, pressing her hand softly against her heart. Around her fourth finger was the pale marking of the ring that was threaded in the necklace around my neck.

Kenton’s eyes widened, but his mouth did not open, for he was under my strict order to shut up.

“I will be polite and kindly request you to let my sons free of your mind control.” The man asked, stepping beside Zephyra and putting an arm around her shoulder.

“And what would you do should I say no to allow Ashe to do it?” Noel retaliated. I knew he was trying his best to protect me, but he shouldn’t do something stupid. Something like bait the High King of the vampires.

The man, the King, looked back at Noel, and at the puddle of water at Noel’s feet, ready to answer to Noel’s call. There was a flash of silver within his eyes, and then the puddle of water at Noel’s feet froze to ice, causing my Guardian to stumble slightly. The King of the vampires didn’t wait a single moment before clicking his fingers, summoning a fireball to his fingers with no problem.

There was no smile on his face, just seriousness as he stared back at my Guardian, the fireball floating above his palm.

“I understand your protectiveness of your Faen, Noel Cypher, but do not push your luck. You know who you’re talking to, and you know exactly well what I can do. So do not waste my time, for I have a rampant son to take to hand, and a son to reclaim back into the court.” Favian Darkness, the King, spoke with a grave tone, and Noel knew to back down.

“Fine. But should you show any move to harm Ashe, I will not hesitate to try and stop you.” Noel warned, walking back and kneeling by my side in a show of protectiveness.

Favian nodded in acknowledgement, and then looked at me again.

“Kindly let my sons go of your mind control, or I will force you to.”

I didn’t doubt him. I nodded, looked over to the two vampire princes who suddenly seemed so small and meek before their parents, and let them go of my control. Almost instantly, Treyon began cursing aloud as Kenton made towards his mother. We watched as Zephyra, in tears, hugged her long lost son again, crying his name while Treyon sulked.

Favian walked and stopped before me, shooting Treyon a look that made his son zip up his lips. I held Zane close to me, taking the warmth of both my Guardians close by and looked into Favian’s eyes fearlessly. What I saw was no stern or strictness. What I saw within those eyes of his was concern, worry and regret.

“Are you and your Guardians alright? I am terribly sorry for whatever my sons have done to you.”

“I… I won’t lie. Zane almost didn’t make it. We’re tired out of our wits. But I believe we will be alright if you let us go.” I answered truthfully, feeling small and weak as he stood over me. I was still sitting weakly on the floor, holding Zane in my arms like a precious treasure that I would never lose.

Favian smiled, kneeling down on one knee before me. His smile was bright and dazzling; a smile I realized Zephyra must have fallen in love with.

“You do not realize it, don’t you? You are not turning vampire. You are still Faen.”

I stared at him, churning in the new information.

“I… am not vampire?”

“Not one bit. Awakening Cynus’s spirit removed the vampire side that was beginning to take root inside you. Descendants with Cynus’s spirit should never be tainted. They are the true blue-blooded Faens. That is something I hope to help your kind preserve.”

“B-But my parents… are not Faens.”

“But your grandmother is. Your ancestor was. Hugo Alveron was the one with Cynus’s spirit. It makes you twice as Faen as anyone else.”

“So… I’m Faen?”

This time, he grinned. “Fully Faen.”

I sighed a huge breath of relief at that. I didn’t hurt so much anymore –save the many bruises I had while being thrown around by Treyon –and I wasn’t turning vampire. Noel’s hand on my shoulder squeezed slightly to show his relief too.

“I must apologize to you, Ashe. I have let my sons go too far this time.”

“But, sir, this is not Kenton’s fault-”

“I know. In fact, I knew that Treyon was part of this from long ago. I’ve always had vampires close to Kenton –to keep track of him –and when they spotted Treyon, they reported back to me instantly. The vampires alongside Treyon and Kenton; amongst them there were always some under my orders. I knew of Kenton’s and Treyon’s plan. Kenton had never been one who had been so determined, so I never imagined that Kenton would actually try out this. When my contacts told me of Kenton’s change of mind, I knew that my wife had found out about this plan. My contacts heard of Kenton’s and Treyon’s argument outside the cave before your Guardians came in, and fetched me quickly.”

“So you know everything from the start? Why didn’t you do anything?”

“Kenton was rebellious as a kid, but he never did anything too serious. Kenton usually did everything to get to his goal, but at the last moment, he would back down for no apparent reason. I thought this was something similar. When Treyon came in, I thought Treyon merely craved for his brother’s company all over again. I was caught up with dealing with the court, as well as with my Council. The more I got focused on concluding that no war would occur between vampires and Faens, the more I forgot about the danger my sons posed on my decision. When I finally got wind of their news again, they had terrorized you. I thought things were going to boil down when I found out that Zephyra had gone to talk to you. And then Treyon jumped in.”

With the last sentence, the disappointed father turned to face his sulking son, who winced at the attention he was receiving from his father.

“When Ashe was captured, we had already alerted the Council. They took it as a war. This is going to be hard to explain to Ms. Maxwell, Elvie and Mr. Rax.” Noel put in quickly, but the vampire king merely shook his head.

“I will personally explain everything to them. My brother has done enough with pricking his hands dealing with Rax. It is time Zephyra and I stood out instead of him and his wife.”

“Wait, you have a brother?” I didn’t think before I asked, before I realized it was most probably rude to have asked in such a manner.

Favian, however, didn’t seem to take offence one bit.

“Perhaps your Council hasn’t told you about me yet. Yes, I have a brother. His name is Alaric Darkness, and his wife is Laura Johnson –my wife’s mother. They, with two other vampires, alongside my wife and me form the ruling Vampire Council.”

“Damn right you call it the Council, bro. Just call it your private circle of secretaries, and we’ll be none the wiser.” A new, mocking voice came from the entrance of the cave, and Favian and Zephyra sighed simultaneously.

“You’re not supposed to be here, Alaric.” Favian said, extending a hand to help me up. Not knowing what to expect from the vampire king, I carefully left Zane to Noel while I took Favian’s surprisingly warm hand, letting him guide me slowly to my weak legs.

“Neither are you, O Lord! Still, here you are, chatting up with the girl as if you’re trying to flirt with her before your wife.” Alaric replied as he stepped into the cave, eyes sweeping across the place quickly before he wrinkled his nose.

“Treyon, my nephew, I should have expected a place of lesser stink and more drama than this cave from you.” Alaric gave his nephew a disapproving shake of head, at which Treyon winced at again, embarrassed to even meet his uncle’s gaze.

“You should never have filled his mind with your nonsense flair for drama. This is partly your fault for not making things clear to the boys.” Zephyra scolded, rushing over and giving her brother-in-law a strong but playful hit on the head.

“What was that for? I merely taught them how to be dramatic when they were young! Is it such an offense?” Alaric demanded with a childish whine, hugging the back of his head while Noel and I stared. This was a vampire that was on the Council? This was the vampire that had been dealing with my grandmother and the other Council Heads thus far?

“It IS an offense, Alaric, when Treyon gets over in his head to make such a mess over things. Bad enough that Kenton believes so strongly to protect his brother so fiercely. You’re making them stupid heroes for nothing.” Favian replied, his hand reaching to the back of my neck. I froze up, a little afraid that he was going to do something to me.

However, his deft fingers found the clasp of my necklace, undoing it before I knew what was happening. Quickly, he slipped the ring that hung on my necklace out of its chain, reaching into his pocket for something else. Slipping it back on the chain, he clasped my chain back again, putting the ring between his forefinger and thumb, bringing it against the light for inspection.

“I didn’t do anything to it.” I said quickly, hoping to protect myself as he studied it carefully, turning it between his fingers. His wife made to his side, her other hand holding on tightly to her exiled son as if she would never ever let go.

“Favian, please. That’s my ring, and you don’t have to scare the wits out of Ashe. She has been a perfect angel to us, and you only have her to thank to getting Kenton back. Just let it go, and let her and her Guardians be free.” Zephyra insisted, frowning up at her husband as she slipped her finger through the ring quickly, snatching it from his careful gaze.

“That I perfectly intend to do. Except, I was thinking that by this incident, perhaps we could improve Faen-vampire relationship by leaps and bounds. Can we, Ashe?” Favian asked, turning back to me.

I looked at him, his wife, his brother and his sons all looking at me expectantly.

“I… I don’t know. I’m not part of the Council. I have no say.”

Favian merely smiled, extending a hand towards me in a gentlemanly manner.

“But you WILL be part of the Council. You are the one with Cynus’s spirit. By all natural rights, this makes you’re the Head of the Council. Of course, the Council cannot allow you to head them yet, but they cannot deny your place in the Council itself. Come, Ashe, take a walk with me, and I will tell you everything that is going to happen between Faens and vampires as long as you work with me.”

I gave Noel a look that hopefully told him I was alright and took Favian’s hand. Alaric snickered at the gentlemanly move Favian made, as if it tickled him very much so, and Zephyra sighed.

“Let’s get out and have a breather. This cave is stuffy and a downer on our conversation. But first, are you able to walk?”

I thought about the hurt that had plagued me the entire duration here. Then I thought of the actual futility of his question. He was a vampire, not a water user like Noel. Even if I were to tell him that I was unable to make a walk with him, what could he do? He smiled, kneeling on one knee before me. Power unlike anything I had felt before flowed across my skin, reaching to the water on the ground.

“You should have realized, Ashe, that I am not your average vampire. More than a mere name, I am more than just a vampire king. In fact, my Queen is not your average vampire either. Let me show you why.” He whispered softly as I watched his deft, long fingers make motions in the air, as if he were holding on to invisible strings holding on to the water.

Without warning, he beckoned the water to my feet, pressing his palms calmly on my shin at the same time. The same power as Noels healing filled me with comfortable warmth, starting from my feet. The ache and pain slowly faded away, the odd sensation spreading all through my body like slow fire.

Noel gasped behind me, but I was just staring. Favian chased the lethargy from my system, erasing the pain.

“I would take away memories of your pain, Ashe, but I can’t do it anymore since you’ve become Faen’s Child.”

“You can… Heal?”

He chuckled softly, coming back to his feet, taking my hand gently as if he expected Noel to jump on him for that one movement. Still keeping a careful touch on me, he started guiding me towards the mouth of the cave.

“I am an elemental vampire, dear girl. I can control elements like Cynus, like you. With these set of skills, and my wife by my side, I killed my tyrant parents and took their places. But that is beside the point. We will talk outside.” He began leading me out, eyes kept politely on me.

Behind us, someone made a move to follow, and Favian stopped abruptly.

“Alaric, talk to the boys and bring them back to the kingdom. See that they are well and fed, and have them waiting for me in my room. If Laura is free, have her talk to them. We need some form of sense in Treyon and Kenton needs to know exactly how much our court has changed over the years.” The kingly figure fit the voice as Favian commanded his brother, motioning to his two sons who were silent and meek.

Watching them before their parents, it was really a wonder how different they were. I had been terrorized, tortured and tormented by them. I had been deathly afraid of them, crazily repelled by them. Now; they looked just like a pair of kids that had yet grown up.

“The Faen Council is coming to fetch their members soon, Fav. You need me to negotiate with them. Jane Maxwell is okay, but it’s Ashe grandmother and Rax that you’ve got to guard yourself against.” Alaric tried to make himself seem useful, but it didn’t work with his brother.

“If I can deal with you, Alaric, along with Zoran, I will have my own way to deal with them. My decision of dealing with matters of Faens is final. There is no point in trying to argue your way through. Now go, before I make you.” Favian brushed off his brother’s protest, continuing on as if his brother hadn’t spoken at all.

We walked out into the open air, and I took a quick, refreshing breath of the night’s air. It had been at least a week since I was stuck here. I missed the outside world.

“As the Faen’s Child, Ashe, it should mean that you are a leader of your kind. I have finally decided to step into the matters between vampires and Faens, and I want you to be my correspondence in the Faen Council. Your Council will be confused at my sudden appearance, and get all enraged that you suffered. I need everyone, and most importantly you, Ashe, to know that the entire truths of my words are always leaning towards peace.” Favian said, bringing me down a distinct trail.

“I don’t know if I will really have a say in the Council.” I guessed I had to be honest, since it was a fact that I was pretty sure everyone knew.

“You will definitely have it. Besides, I’ll be fighting for you for your place in the Council. With the backing of mine, Ashe, you are going to be more than just a mere Council Member. You are going to be the Council Head.”

“Then what does this have to do with you? Why would you care if I’m in the Council?” I tried my best to make myself sound merely curious, and not challenging. I wouldn’t know what to do if he took it as a challenge. He was a vampire king, and clearly a vampire I had never seen the likes of. I was just… a Faen.

He was silent for a long moment, making me a little awkward as we walked in the dark woods. In the silence, I realized that he made no noisy footsteps in the darkness.

“I trust your judgment, Ashe, and I see you as the future leader of the Faens. You are not a leader now, but I am willing to help you. And when you truly become a leader, I know you will never forget me, as well as the help I have lent you. This deal works for me in a way that I am keeping my vampires safe. In a much more practical light, you can consider yourself as an ‘inside person’ for me when you get into the Council. Of course, I do no demand that you will tell me every single detail of what goes on in your Council, but I will be calling on you frequently to check in, as well as to get to know you better.” Favian continued, breaking the silence with his breezy voice. He seemed to have thought this through thoroughly, but I wasn’t sure how much of the truth he was speaking for right now.

“How do I know if you’re lying to me or not?”

In the dark, I saw Favian turn and give me a smile, showing off his white teeth, as if his skin wasn’t pale enough already.

“How do you know if I haven’t already? But that is beside the point. You have nothing to lose, Ashe. I will be frank with you; I am only doing this for my advantage. You get a say, I get a play in your court. It’s a win-win situation for both of us, so why don’t we establish friendly relations while we are keeping up our ends of the deal?”

I would rather like to say that I thought on the same wavelength as him, that I was as used to dealing with politics and deals as he, but I just wasn’t the businesswoman.

“I can’t speak for anything, Favian. I-” I began to reply, before I got interrupted.

“-Are going to have a big problem if you don’t tell us if you’re alright, Missy. You have greatly worried us so, and should you worry me any longer by saying that you’re trying to make an alliance with this vampire kind beside you, I am not going to wait before I snatch you from his control.”

I spun around quickly, feeling Favian do the same slowly. It seemed as if he had already known of the intruder, and didn’t seem a single bit surprised at all.

But I should have expected for the vampire king to know. He wouldn’t exactly be a vampire king if he didn’t stay alert of his surroundings; for people trying to hunt out for his life.

“Mr. Arliden! Why are you here?” I blurted out before I could stop it, running over to embrace him. Being away from my friends and family; being tortured out of my wits, it had made me appreciate just how much to be in contact with them.

He chuckled with a small hug of reply.

“My dear, are you alright? You had us worried like hell… Where are your Guardians?”

“Back in the cave, Mr. Arliden. Zane’s … hurt. Noel is with him. I’m alright. A little tired and hungry, but alright.” I explained quickly.

“Then would you care to explain why I feel you so different than before? Your power is different, as like that man’s over there. Are you a vampire now?” There was a hint of joke in Mr. Arliden’s voice, but I couldn’t decide, for the life of me, what that dangerous glint in his eyes meant.

This time, however, it was ‘that man over there’ that answered for me.

“That is because, Jason Arliden, of the fact that we are both the recognized spiritual and physical embodiment of the respective leaders of our kind. I am the Vampire’s Child. Ashe is the Faen’s Child.” Favian replied politely, but there was certain, subtle growl in his voice, as if he were trying to warn my teacher to not piss him off by ignoring his presence.

My teacher rose to the challenge instantly, even though it was probably the stupidest thing I had ever seen him done thus far.

“And do you have a problem with me trying not to pass any attention to fire your ass to bits? I’m trying to give the due care to the needs of my student, Favian Darkness, so you’d better keep your hands out of our affairs. Yes, you’re powerful and all, but maybe you could just take your two sons to hand and tell them that running around terrorizing girls of Ashe’s age and kidnapping them is a no-no outside your vampire court?” It surprised me greatly so when Mr. Arliden marched right up to the vampire standing behind me, poking a longer finger in his chest, forcing the Vampire King to take a few shocked steps backwards.

Mr. Arliden folded his arms afterwards, giving Favian an expectant look while the king stared at the teacher in shock and open wonder.

“In defense of my sons, Kenton was out of my grasp for years, and Treyon did not terrorize Ashe prior to this particular incident.” Favian pointed out, still keeping strangely calm, a weird slight smirk drawn across his lips.

“Oh? Push the blame to your kids? Good going, Mr. Darkness. So I should blame my daughters when they accidentally burn their mother’s bed sheets? So I should tell my wife to just scream her head off at them?” Jason Arliden demanded like the father he perfectly had never shown up till this point.

“DON’T YOU DARE PUT THE BLAME ON PAULINE AND CELINE! IT WAS YOUR FAULT, JASON ARLIDEN, THAT YOU HAD THEM PLAYING WITH CANDLES!” An enraged shout pierced through the silence of the night, successfully shocking us all. All three of us jumped when Ms. Arliden came bursting through a thick section of the bushes, plucking out the leaves from her hair but still making towards her husband with fire in her eyes.

“Y-you… heard me, d-dear?” Mr. Arliden, losing all composure and aura of confidence, cowered before his wife’s presence, stuttering painfully while Favian and I stared.

“Every single word, loud and clear, Jason! You will not try to teach Favian how to take his sons to hand, when you cannot deal with your own daughters! I know you’ve been hoping to have a son, but deal with the fact that we’ve got twin girls!” Ms. Arliden snatched her husband’s ear, twisting it painfully and eliciting a yell of pain from him.

Favian and I exchanged helpless looks.

“Ow… ow, ow! Stop it, Reena! We have an audience!” Mr. Arliden begged, helpless to raise even a single muscle against his wife.

“I know! I’m sure Favian here needs a lesson on exactly why he should be keeping his mouth shut next to a pissed off wife, and Ashe needs to learn these skills to take Noel or Zane to hand!” Ms. Arliden continued twisting her husband’s ears, something that kind of tickled me so; unfortunately sadistically.

“Please, Reena! Just let me go! We are here on business!”

Ms. Arliden gave him one last painful twist, before she let him go, turning to us with a sweet smile as if she hadn’t done anything at all.

“Oh my! Dear Ashe, are you quite alright? You must be in so much pain; do you need help getting back? You must be so tired. Did you sleep at all? There are terrible eye bags there! Did you eat? You seem so thin! You need to rest, Ashe. Why does your power feel so different? Oh my, are you a vampire now? Show me your element! Quick!” Ms. Arliden’s train of words almost went as fast as Dru’s gossiping, and I could only obey to the last part. I pulled my powers to myself tiredly, feeling something that I hadn’t felt before.

The spirit, the mind control waiting for me to use.

“The doors to those magick are opened to you, Ashe, as Faen’s Child. Mind control is blood magick. We –you and I –along with Cynus, are the only few people who can control elemental, spiritual and blood magick.” Favian tapped me on the shoulder, educating me –though the lesson came a little late.

Still, I nodded to show my appreciation to him, and drew on my affinity to fire. I didn’t even have the time to think up an image before a large fireball burst to life, shocking even me too.

“That usually happens when you have just awakened a new magick or power. When I discovered my talent for spirit, I almost destroyed my entire kingdom in an earthquake trying to call for Earth.” He added –kind of late again.

Quickly, afraid that the fire would get out of hand, I snuffed it out. But it was enough confirmation for both my teachers.

“You’re still a Faen! Thank gods!” Mr. Arliden exclaimed, receiving a hard smack on his arm for his inappropriateness in his comments.

I was pretty sure the two of them would have taken up most of our time but we were interrupted at that moment when Zephyra walked in on us, meeting eyes with her husband almost immediately, before it swept on to us.

“Alaric is ready with the boys. Kenton seems a little weak. Treyon’s still sulking. I made things clear with Noel. Mother is worried about us and the boys.” Zephyra spoke worriedly to her husband, an urging tone in her voice.

In reply, he nodded seriously back in reply.

“Arlidens, please meet my wife, my Queen and my mate, Zephyra Johnson. I had planned to stay till Elvie, Rax and Jane comes around, but I have no more time to spare outside of the kingdom. Please pass a message to your Council that I will contact Ashe soon, and be noted that my wife and I will be attending meetings between our Councils in place of Alaric.” Favian spoke formally, and giving them a quick bow.

Exchanging a look, my teachers nodded back to the vampire king and queen. With a replying acknowledging nod, the vampire king and queen disappeared back into the darkness of the woods. And then they were gone.

Then I was free.

And tired out of my mind.

I didn’t talk more afterwards. Mr. and Ms. Arliden helped me out of the forest, piled me quickly into a cab and got me home, where I found Noel and Zane already rescued by their fathers and the three Council Heads.

There was a great load of fussing and tears. I cried a lot too, because the stress finally broke upon me. My mother cried the most. Raun clung on to me and didn’t let go until he fell asleep on my lap. My father had red eyes and he hugged me the tightest of everyone.

I recited my entire story while taking a hot, warm meal that settled immediately in my empty stomach. Then, when my parents finally rested, I recited the true story –inclusive of Faens, magick and vampires.

And then I went to bed for the first time in a painful, long week.

I did not wake up until two days later.