Discovering Fae

“What in the actual fu-?” Ben began.

“Why are you so far ahead of the others?” Blaine interrupted as he stood up and dusted off his knees.

“I’m faster than they are,” I made a face.

“That’s incredibly reckless, Fae!” he grabbed my shoulders and gave me a small shake. “What if someone tried to attack you? What if they tried to take you again?”

My wings flexed to give me balance again and his eyes went to the truly massive appendages.

“Mal is going to be so mad at you,” Ben said, propped on his elbows and staring openly at my wings.

“It was his idea, actually,” I grinned. “I’m not so great at the landing part without blasting people to the ground yet.”

“No. Really? I wouldn’t have guessed,” he rolled his eyes and stood up, turning to glare at Naz. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“I have very good eyesight,” he grinned, pointy teeth on display.

“Asshole,” Ben muttered.

“It’s also difficult for me to fly slow enough not to leave Mom and Dad behind,” I said, feeling my cheeks flush a little. “The angles and air currents... flying is a lot harder than it looks, stupid birds.”

Ben laughed and Blaine shook his head as I heard the soft hum of Mal’s wings as he landed.

“So, how spectacularly did they eat dirt?” he asked me.

“Blaine managed to stay mostly upright,” I pouted.

“Maybe next time, then,” he laughed and walked to my side. “You were a little wobbly still and over corrected again.”

“I’m literally falling to the ground. What do you expect?” I rolled my eyes.

“It’s a controlled descent, Fae, not a free fall,” he put his hand on my shoulder.

“So, what happened?” Ben asked.

Mom and Dad landed as we started explaining the past three weeks and walked towards whatever destination we had before us. It took the rest of the day before it was all told. Naz seemed very interested in the journals to the point where I ended up showing him Hadria’s.

As soon as he opened it and looked at the pages, he hissed and dropped it like it burned him, jumping away from it, his tail slashing the air behind him while he crouched in a fighting stance.

“Okay,” I picked the book up and closed it. “Talk. What was that about?”

“How did you come to possess knowledge of the Gatekeepers language?” he demanded.

“The... You mean those creepy freaking bat things that kidnapped me?” I frowned. “I think that’s what the old man called them. Gatekeepers.”

“You were in the realm of the bat?!” he shouted, shooting up in shock.

“We need a bit more information here, you two,” Mom said casually as she handed out bowls of stew for our dinner.

“The Gatekeepers are beings no one wants to meet,” Naz began. “They exist outside of the threads of Fate, and they often unbind the ties already made to achieve their goal. There are several Gatekeepers, each taking on the form of an animal avatar.”

“Creepy bats,” I raised a hand, my wings reacting to the motion and setting me off balance, so I nearly fell backwards if Mal hadn’t have caught me. “This is getting old very quickly.”

“You’ll get used to them, honey,” Mom patted my knee.

“So, why the shock about the bats? Is that a bad thing?” Blaine asked.

“The bats never give those they take back,” Naz answered.

“Well, to be fair, they didn’t give me back willingly,” I snorted. “I kind of was bringing their precious cave down around us at the time.”

“You what?!” he shouted again.

“Keep explaining,” Ben huffed.

“I’m sorry, but how in all things unholy are you not dead?” Naz held his hand up. “If they didn’t kill you, their guardian would have.”

“Beats me, but it got me home, so I have no regrets,” I shrugged, careful not to knock myself over again.

“Wait,” Blaine said, looking from me to my wings then back to Naz. “They alter the threads of Fate. Could they have done this to Fae?”

“That’s not Fate’s doing,” Naz answered. “That’s genetic. I’m not sure about the color, though. That could be either. The markings... That is Fate, but I doubt the Gatekeepers would have changed it, since they had no intention of sending you back and you weren’t Bonded at the time.”

“So, she was going to grow wings and they were always going to be... It’s impossible for those to be real, right?” Ben asked. “I’m trying to get my head around this and all but I’m having a hard time with it. You should have had one or the other but somehow ended with both? That shouldn’t be possible.”

“That’s the idea of it,” I nodded. “Look, aside from the ones that created the Royal line, no Celestial and demon pairing had ever happened, and it hasn’t happened since. Out of that, only two have ever had wings before me.”

I held up the book and Naz hissed again.

“What is your problem?” Ben asked. “It’s a book.”

“Gatekeepers only ever take demons of very potent lineage. Being Immail’s heir explains why they took you, but those things could just as easily take me, too. We’re cousins, remember?”

“That’s actually confusing me,” I raised my hand. “Immail was created, right? How can he have blood family?”

“He was created, as was the foremother of my house,” Naz explained. “The Unholy One made them of his own blood, so they share a blood relation.”

“Gotcha’,” I held a thumbs up. “So, I think I have a theory on this wing thing.”

“Those are pretty wicked, Fae,” Ben grinned, eyeing them over my shoulders. “Gives you this badass look with the markings, too.”

“Thanks,” I smiled at him. “Anyhow, I’ve been reading Hadria’s journal, and I’ve just gotten to a part where she says a ram has taken her away from her world. I think she might be talking about a Gatekeeper.”

“There is a ram, if I remember right,” Naz nodded, eyeing the book.

“How do you know so much about it?” Ben asked venomously and I looked at Blaine who rolled his eyes and shrugged.

“Their realms were created during the Great Divide that created all realms, whelp,” Naz spit back. “Records were made, straight from the Unholy One, who was there when it happened.”

“And you believe the words of someone that calls himself ‘Unholy’?” Ben scoffed.

“I do not question my nature, which comes from Him,” Naz said, his tail snapping in the air. “Where is the demonic pride in you, fox?”

“Buried with one of my best friends, thanks,” Ben stood up and left our camp.

“Demons don’t have friends,” Naz growled and sat abruptly, arms and legs crossed as his tail lashed around behind him. “We don’t trust.”

“We do,” I said, standing up. “Having people that you can rely on isn’t about species, Naz. Animals do it and form packs, herds, flocks. Humans do it and call them friends. We look out for each other, help each other, protect them. If you don’t have anyone you can trust to come hold you up when you need it, then you have a very pitiful and empty existence. We lost more than just our friend. He was our brother in every way that counts the most. Ben took the hit the hardest, because he was there for a grieving family when the rest of us couldn’t be, so you better start understanding that he’s blaming himself because for all of his tricks, he felt just as useless as the rest of us when we failed to save our brother.”

“You’re right,” he lowered his head and sighed. “Forgive me, my queen.”

“No. Start respecting my Bonds, Naz,” I pointed my finger at him. “Until decided otherwise, you’re the outsider here and it is no trouble of mine to see you gone.”

I walked away from the camp, following Ben until I found him a good distance away, a small wisp the shape of a flower in his hand. I said nothing as I awkwardly sat next to him, trying to adjust my wings so I didn’t sit on them.

“Freaking monstrosities, I swear,” I muttered when I inevitably sat on the end of one of them.

“He would have peed himself to see this, you know?” Ben snorted when I held on to his shoulder to lean over and move my wing out from under me. “You with wings that, by all accounts, shouldn’t exist. That would have been right up his alley.”

“Yeah, he’d be holed up in the library with me for days, tracking down answers,” I chuckled. “Too bad I’m finding that books don’t always have them.”

“They don’t blame you, you know,” he said, taking my hand and passing the wisp into my palm. “His family. Not one of them blame anyone, really. They hurt for the loss but understand what he did. What he chose to do.”

“He shouldn’t have had the choice in the first place,” I looked up at the stars.

“No, it was always his choice,” he sighed. “He wanted to come here. We shouldn’t have taken him that close to the battle, but I think he would have found his way, no matter how far behind he was. He chose to save people, Fae. He saved your parents, who saved Mal, who saved you.”

“I tell myself that every day and it never helps,” I shook my head.

“No, it doesn’t help. But it might, eventually,” he said, making another wisp, this one a fern. “I heard what you said to Naz.”

“He had it coming,” I nodded.

“I thought I had been holding myself together so well in front of you,” he chuckled and poked at the wisp, making it jump and wiggle like it had been tickled. “Goes to show how much you notice with the rest of us being none the wiser.”

“I know my brothers, Ben,” I bumped his shoulder with mine. “And I know Blaine isn’t doing so hot either. And Mal’s not handling things as well as he wants anyone to believe. I’m pretty sure therapy went out the window for me after the bat incident. You don’t have to act like you have it all figured out. We’re all messy but that’s what makes us a family. We know it’s easier to deal with our messy together, because it’s far too much to handle alone.”

“Nando would be proud of you for that,” he smirked at me after a moment of silence.

“He would, wouldn’t he?” I laughed. “Come on. Let’s go back before Mal has a stroke and comes to find me.”

“Wanna bet he’s already on his way?” Ben chuckled.

“Hell no. I expect him to show up in like, three seconds,” I laughed as he stood up and took his hand. Of course, I stumbled as my wings moved to balance me, which they didn’t do. “I swear, these things are so freaking awkward, it’s amazing I haven’t broken my dang neck.”

-----

Having Naz helping us find Zane moved things along a lot faster than I had hoped it would. We weren’t sure if the Hazed Morphi we were currently tracking was Zane or not, but at least we were getting somewhere.

Naz was also proving useful by pointing out that fairy flight was slightly different than the flight I would experience with my larger wingspan, stronger flight muscles, and heavier wings. The fact that they were, mostly, Celestial meant any tips he had to offer, having known many demons with wings, had to be taken with a grain of salt due to the widely different structures. He did, however, have something to offer, by suggesting I study the larger birds of prey, like eagles and hawks, and that was making a bit of a difference in my flight, but I still felt very awkward on the ground.

The attitude between Ben and Naz settled and lost a lot of the tension after everything happened four days ago. I wouldn’t bet on them being nice to one another, but they were at least trying to be civil, which I was taking as a win.

Blaine was more reserved and getting quieter and quieter, which I could have put on him confronting his rabid twin. Until I saw the frown on Naz’s face as he watched Blaine packing his bedroll this morning.

Mom and Dad left last night to handle meetings and royal stuff I wanted no part in, leaving the five of us to hunt down and trap the Morphi I hoped was Zane.

Blaine led the way, being the better tracker, with Ben not far behind, and I walked next to Naz, needing to know what he knew about Blaine.

“It’s the Fury,” he said before I could even ask. “I can practically see it coming off him.”

“Hell Fury?” I asked and he nodded. I looked at Mal and he was frowning much like Naz had been a little while ago. “Is there a way to stop it?”

“Usually, but I’m afraid he may have let it go past that point,” Naz frowned harder. “He’s strong, Fae. Very, very strong. I don’t think there’s a person alive strong enough to bind him right now, much less if his Fury takes him.”

“So, what happens?” I asked, looking ahead to watch Blaine as he followed a path I couldn’t see.

“Nothing you’ll like,” Naz looked at me with meaning.

I gasped and covered my mouth, freezing on the spot as Naz kept walking.

“I hate agreeing with him, but that might be the only thing we can do, because he’ll stop at nothing until he has eaten enough to satisfy the Fury,” Mal sighed, and I grabbed the front of his shirt to help keep me on my feet as my wings shifted and the feathers rustled.

Why does this always happen right when things start to work out?