*Author's Note*

Hi. 

As usual, a huge thank you to everyone who has voted/commented/viewed this story. I hope you've liked it so far, and keep tuned for more updates.

Thanks especially to @victorian-girl for her lovely comments, and @JTNestman for following this story through :)

Sorry that this update is so late - I had a lot more work to do than I thought...

I hope everyone has a brilliant week. 

Enjoy.

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KERES PULLED HER ARMOUR over her head. She had been travelling for days - retracing the steps she had taken when she first travelled to the Lakes. It had been almost a year, so Ragnar's coronation had gone ahead. 

She frowned as she remembered. 

That day, when the sprites had brought her the news she had cleared a six foot radius around her of all vegetation with a single thought, and a burst of energy.

In the early days, she had been temperamental. The smallest thing could set her off, but mostly it was news from the outside world, which was nearly always bad.

The sprites were meant to be extinct, destroyed in the first war against the Dark Fay, but they lived in the woods that surrounded Tenebris as well as the Lakes, and they gossiped, like every species. They brought her news, and she tried (often unsuccessfully) to keep her anger inside.

When she destroyed things, she did try to make it right. She had spent many a day painstakingly using her magic to coax seedlings out of the ground and regrow the shattered trees.

Now she had control over her powers. They were concentrated in the staff, which let her channel them, and point them at whomsoever she chose. Very rarely, she used magic without the staff, but it tended to be dangerous, and she had no way of aiming, so anyone nearby was at risk.

She was using the staff as a walking stick, but she had leant it against a tree while she strapped on her armguards.

The armguards had been part of her possessions at the palace, but she had scratched her own design over the top of the Tenebrian crest. It showed a horse, with curling golden coils twisting around and behind it.

Keres had never been brilliant at drawing, so one of the horse's legs was longer than the others, and it was a little lopsided.

She had been practicing teleportation, like she had seen the Dark Fay do, but it only worked over short distances, certainly not the journey she had had to undertake to get here.

After days of practice, she had finally been able to disappear in a cloud of thick smoke, and reappear on the other bank of the Lake.

Standing hidden outside the gates to the city, she could smell the fire. She could hear the shouting, the sound of metal on metal.

She had heard about The Shadow, and his followers. They were no match for her.

Once she destroyed him, she would take her rightful place as Queen, and then everything would be normal. Everything would be peaceful. She would be happy again.

Keres took a deep breath, grabbed her staff. She could feel the crackling and sparking of a powerful spell in her fingertips. She shut her eyes, and disappeared in an instant.

When she opened them, she was standing on a battlefield. Smoke and flames filled the air. There was a figure in front of her, in armour. The leader. The Shadow.

She smiled.

He lunged at her, and she stepped aside lightly. Nothing seemed important anymore. Keres could think of nothing except her goal.

He kept coming, a blur of movement, but she was faster. She dodged his blows, nicking his armour with her magic. It had filled her mind for too long, gnawing at the edge of her thoughts.

She sent a blast of golden fire into his chest.

It had consumed her. She knew she had failed. This was her chance. This was how she set everything right. This was how she won.

Someone sent a knife flying towards her back.

Keres stopped it mid-air, and threw the girl through the wall of a burning building with a flick of her hand.

She couldn't hear the screaming anymore.

Keres focused on the armoured man. He pulled himself off the floor, and swung his sword.

It hit her staff with a clang that echoed around the burning town.

She felt the magic flow through her.

It was over so quickly, she didn't know what spell she had cast. She didn't care. She felt something slice her arm. It was a faery with white, lace like wings, baring her teeth, and gripping her sword.

"That won't hurt me you know." said Keres softly.

The faery didn't move.

Suddenly the things running towards her became vague, oddly shaped shadows. She felt a strange wave of tiredness wash over her. She shook her head, but her vision didn't clear. She laughed.

"Poison?" she asked, tutting. "You should know better."

It was gone in a second.

Keres gritted her teeth, and roared, a gutteral mix of anger, fear and pain. This was it. She wrenched a sword out of a body lying on the ground, and threw it at the faery.

It caught her by the wing, pulling her backwards.

She laughed.

Keres felt herself let go.

When she opened her eyes, dust filled the air. Everything was rubble, except for the stone statue directly in front of her. It stood, untouched, gleaming in the weak sunlight.

********

54 years later...

The boat made its way through the narrow passages.

"Nearly there," said Vya, who was at the tiller, steering carefully. "No more than an hour."

Even though there was no wind, the boat was moving fast, cutting a path through the clear water. Bri glanced suspiciously at Skye, who had her eyes closed and was muttering under her breath. The corseque she was holding was glowing faintly.

"So the Lakes." began Cassian. "What's a Kelpie?"

He looked lost, but Vya took pity on him.

"The Kelpies are an ancient race of beings that have been around since the beginning of creation. They look a little like horses I guess, but they've got a mean streak. If you're not careful, they'll try to drown you. Oh, and they can shapeshift."

"Shapeshift." repeated Cass weakly.

"But they'll definitely be able to help." said Skye, opening one eye, "They owe the Dark Fay after we protected the Lakes during the wars."

Cassian gulped and smiled. "Great."

Bri kept her eyes fixed on the tunnel. It could have been her imagination, but it was widening out, from a thin river, to a wide channel.

The walls of the cave dropped away, and suddenly they were back in the forest. The trees were thick on either side, but there was light overhead, and she saw birds wheeling above.

Skye sighed quietly, and reached for the tiller as Vya swooped off.

Cassian reached for her hand, and Bri took it gratefully.

Wind filled the sails of the boat, and it picked up pace.

"Whatever happens." she said, not too sure why she was speaking at all. "Whatever happens, you stick with me."

Cass didn't laugh. Instead, he nodded.

"You stay with me too," he said. "We do this together."

Bri sat down, pulling her knees up to her chest, and closed her eyes.

She was walking through the city.

Her feet were leading her towards the centre, and though she tried to turn, to see around herself, she didn't move.

There were noises behind her, and shapes moved in the almost-dark, but she couldn't turn her head.

She was in the centre, in the large stone courtyard. In front of her was the statue. It looked just the same as before, but she couldn't see its eyes through it's helmet.

Strange.

She reached up to push her hair out of her face, but it was in a neat braid that wound around her head, not a strand out of place.

Silence.

There was no sound, except her own heartbeat. Finally, she forced her head round.

There were things in the darkness. Odd things with odd shadows.

Bri felt her own breathing accelerate. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, like a drum. It got louder, and louder, until it was deafening.

The things were coming towards her, reaching out long arms with long claws. They brushed at her skin as she tried to run.

Bri jerked awake, her breathing quick. She pushed her hair out of her face, and shivered.

It was freezing, and dark. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vya, no longer flying, standing again at the tiller as still as a statue, gripping one of her katanas in her hand.

There was still pressure on her hand. Cassian held it tightly, passed out next to her. He was snoring gently.

She smiled, and eased her hand free.

"Vya." she hissed.

Vya jumped, swinging the katana towards Bri's head.

"Whoa!" Bri gasped, lifting her hands in surrender.

Vya grinned and lowered the blade. "Sorry. We're here."

The river had turned into a lake. It was wide, and flat, and a large beach filled with smooth pebbles stood on the opposite bank.

Bri smacked Cassian lightly.

He shot upright, and looked around blearily.

"Are we here?"

"Yep."

"Kelpies?"

"Not that I can see..."

The boat lurched as it hit the shingle, and Skye jumped out, splashing as she waded ashore.

"We'll leave you here." said Vya, "This is between you and them."

"How will we contact you?" asked Bri.

"You won't." smirked Skye. "We'll find you."

And with that, they were gone. Vya spread her wings and rocketed up into the blackness, and Skye grabbed her corseque, closed her eyes, and disappeared in a cloud of thick blue smoke.

They were alone.

Cassian peered around. He stepped off the boat, and held out his hand. Bri took it and helped herself down.

The water was ice cold.

The surface of the lake, clear as a mirror stretched out in front of them. Not a ripple disturbed it's surface.

"Hello?" asked Bri, raising her voice. The wind picked up, and for a moment, it seemed to whisper the words back. She scrambled out of the water, splashing noisily in the shadows.

Hello, hello, hello.

Bri felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. She turned her head slowly.

There was a horse in the lake. Bri looked closer. No. The horse was on the lake, trotting towards them and shaking its head. Waterweed and lank, lifeless algae dripped off it's mane. The whole lake seemed to emanate a blue light. Waves started to wash across its surface, growing in strength and ferocity.

The horse's eyes glowed like lamps in the still darkness.

Bri couldn't move.

"Is that it?" hissed Cassian, transfixed.

Bri tore her eyes away from the creature to look at him. The blue light cast odd shadows onto his face.

It was running now, galloping towards them. In a moment, it would come crashing into her, but she still couldn't move her feet.

She couldn't breath, couldn't think, couldn't scream. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact.

Something knocked into her, throwing her onto the ground. Winded, she drew in a deep breath.

Bri pushed Cassian off of her, and stood up. There was nothing. The horse had disappeared.

"What's happening?" she whispered.

Cassian shook his head, groaned and pulled himself to his feet. "What in Kallysta's name is going on?"

The wind picked up again, blowing her hair around her face. Something was coming out of the trees on the opposite bank. It was a figure, a human figure. A girl.

She made her way slowly down the beach, and stopped, the waves lapping gently at her feet.

Bri felt a shock of recognition. Everything came flooding back, and she staggered.

Bri sprinted across the rocks, scrambling upright as her wet shoes tried to find purchase on the pebbled floor. She could hear Cassian shouting her name, but she ignored it.

As she got closer, she could make out the features of the girl, eyes closed, unmoving. She knew that face better than her own.

Bri came to a stop a few feet away, her hands limp at her side. She could feel the tears running down her face, but she made no move to wipe them away.

Cassian skidded to a halt next to her, looking from the girl to Bri, then back.

"Bri what's going on?" he asked, looking at her tear streaked face.

Bri tried to speak, but she could only make out one word.

"Alizah."