Her Mythical Warriors (Book Two)

Akira pulled her hands from the king’s and took a step back. She shook her head as she continued to step back.

“My mother would have told me if she was part fairy.”

Akio shook his head, “your father is my nephew.”

Akira felt faint. Wolfric moved behind her and pressed his chest to her back, holding her up.

“I thought Zeus was my father’s uncle,” Akira whispered.

Akio nodded, “he is. On his father’s side. Your father, Lysander, is my sister’s son.”

“That explains their connection,” Malique said, pointing between Akira and Levi.

Leviasen smiled at Akira, “hello, Cousin.”

Akira felt a tear slide down her cheek. She has family!

“Come, I will tell you everything,” Akio offered, holding his hand out to Akira.

Akira nodded and took the king’s hand. The group followed the king into another room, where they sat at a table already set with tea.

“Okay, where to start?” the king wondered.

“How about why my mother lied to me?” Akira asked—sadness in her heart for her mother letting her believe Apollo was her father—when all along she knew he was not. How else would she be named after Akio if she didn’t know Lysander was Akira’s father?

King Akio frowned. “I am sorry, but I cannot answer that. Your mother will have to tell you.”

Akira frowned. “She’s dead.”

Akio sighed, “I did not know. I am truly sorry.”

Akira nodded, “she died in a plane crash the Gods set up so Brynhildr could train me….”

“I don’t think the Gods set up the crash,” Wolfric said.

Akira looked at him. “But Brynhildr said….”

“They used it as an advantage. But your mother’s death was not planned. Why would they kill your father’s Havent?”

Akira frowned. “Because he’s dead too?”

“Oh, dear child. There is so much you do not know,” King Akio stated.

Akira looked at her uncle. Her uncle is the fairy king! Holy shit—that explained why she’s so damn short.

“Let me tell you about my sister, your grandmother,” the king offered.

Akira nodded. She was anxious to hear about her father’s mother.

“My sister Evelynia was born first. She was supposed to be the queen. But my mother’s husband, the man I will never call stepfather again, arranged a marriage for my sister to a horrible fairy from another fairy realm. He was pure evil reincarnate. My sister despised him, as did I. Our mother was killed shortly before this. We knew her husband had killed her, but we couldn’t say anything without proof. He was now king, and my sister was to be queen on her twenty-first birthday. Which was coming soon. And if our mother’s husband married her off to a king from another realm, he could stay king….”

“What about you? Couldn’t you take the throne?” Akira asked.

Akio smiled. “I was only seventeen at the time. I couldn’t take the throne, even if she offered it to me. Which she did; on the night of her wedding. But we both knew I could not take it. That night, I helped her escape.

“To this day, no one knows how she made it to a portal without being detected. Except for her, me, and our personal guards, who would give their lives for us. They were the only two we could trust at the time. Her guard wanted to go with her, but it would have been too suspicious. So, he stayed to help protect me from the two devils in our court.”

Akira leaned forward, intrigued by the story about the grandmother she never knew existed.

“What happened next?” Akira questioned.

Akio smiled, “I do not know. I only know that for months she traveled from portal to portal, staying as far away from our realm as possible, while she tried to think of a way to get rid of our mother’s husband. Then one day, she met a handsome man—who happened to be a demigod. The brother of Zeus himself.”

Akira gasped, “I thought Zeus’s brothers were all Gods.”

Akio nodded, “he has a brother who is half-human.”

“Do they actually claim him?” Wolfric asked.

Akio smiled. “If they did not, would they consider Akira, their niece?”

“Good point,” Malique agreed.

The king nodded and continued, “they fell in love and got married. Evelynia didn’t want our mother’s husband to continue his reign over our realm, and my twenty-first birthday was a couple years away. She knew if she didn’t do something so I could become king, he would kill me and fully take rein over our people.

“Not many sided with him. Some even believed, as we did, that he killed our mother. To beat him, she needed more power. So, she took the tests to become a demigod like her husband. She passed and became the first fairy-demigoddess.”

“Does that make me the second?” Akira asked, intrigued even further by the story.

Akio grinned, “yes. Your father was the first fairy-demigod.”

Akira smiled at her uncle. This wasn’t so hard to believe. She has always felt there was something different about her. She could never figure out what it was.

“She returned and defeated our mother’s husband, forcing him to give up his hold on the title. Even though I was nineteen, our people made an exception and crowned me king. Now that she was a demigoddess, my sister could no longer be queen. We banned our mother’s husband from this realm, and she left with her husband. She visited now and then, but only for short periods. The day I met my nephew was the day I met my wife.” He smiled at his queen, then continued with his story.

“Our mother’s husband had banned my sister from entering our realm a year after she disappeared. Her new powers as a demigoddess and being the rightful heir to the throne—overpowered his ban, and she and her husband could enter our realm. But until she was ready to take him out and get me the title, she stayed back, so no one knew their plans.”

“What about his followers?” Akira wondered.

“He had maybe ten loyal followers,” Akio answered.

“And my father?” Akira asked.

Akio smiled, “when your father was old enough, he came to see me on his own often. He was here when your mother and Apollo came to our realm searching for your mother’s next warrior.”

Akira frowned. “Apollo was my mother’s first warrior?”

“Yes,” Akio answered.

“That explains the jealousy,” Wolfric said.

Akira’s warriors looked at Wolfric.

“That’s not what we were jealous about,” Darius said.

“We weren’t exactly jealous, more sad,” Zelious admitted.

“We knew you were her chosen mate,” Malique said.

“But he isn’t,” Akira reminded them.

They looked at her, and she smiled.

“You have discovered your chosen mate?” Akio questioned.

Akira nodded as she looked back at her uncle. “Yes. They are all my chosen mates.”

Akio looked at his wife, then his son.

Levi nodded, “it’s extremely rare. It is also rare for a Havent to have all mythical warriors.”

Akio smiled at Akira, “you are as special as I was told you would be.”

Akira blinked. “Who told you I would be special?”

“Your grandfather, Idris.”

Akira frowned. “So, everyone knew I wasn’t Apollo’s daughter and what was happening to me, but no one stepped in and stopped it?”

Akio frowned. “What happened to you?”

Akira turned away. How could they let her live the life she lived before the plane crash?

“Akira. No one knew what happened to you. Apollo killed your mother’s warriors and took her away. We knew she was pregnant, and she promised to name her child after me. We didn’t know where Apollo had taken her. We looked for several years, but there was nothing we could do—because Apollo was her warrior,” Akio informed her.

Akira frowned. “You didn’t know what Apollo did to us?”

Akio shook his head.

Akira told them in less detail than she’d told her warriors and friends, the life she had with her mother and Apollo. Akio looked ready to kill.

“The council did not believe the letter I sent about Apollo,” Akio said. “They sent a letter; telling me, they would ban us from their realm if I interfered again. That included all fairies. So, I let it drop. But once Apollo had what he wanted, I thought he would raise you as his own….”

“The Gods hid Akira from everyone but her warriors,” Wolfric told him.

Akio nodded. “I can see she is hidden. But I can also see a spark. I guess it’s our blood connection.”

Leviasen grinned, “that’s why I can see her eyes glow when others cannot.”

“These two have been trying to figure out a connection between them since we met Akira,” Julianne said.

Levi smiled at Akira. “I thought I might be one of her warriors. But we thought fairies could not have a Havent. But now I know differently.”

Akira smiled back; it all made sense now. He’s her cousin. There is a connection between them. A blood bond.

“If my mother knew she was pregnant with me, why didn’t she say or do something?” Akira asked.

Akio sighed, “we knew if she told Apollo, he would kill you the minute you were born. Only a Havent’s chosen mate can impregnate her. So when he became her chosen mate—by killing off the others—Temple faked her pregnancy announcement. Claimed she’d just discovered she was a few weeks along. Then, somehow, she made Apollo believe you were premature. The doctors plugged you into a machine to keep you breathing, even though you were healthy.”

Akira blinked. “That’s the excuse they used for me being small. I wasn’t premature.”

“No, you weren’t. Your mother’s final letter informed me of her plans to make everyone believe you were early, so Apollo wouldn’t kill you. And she assured me she would keep her promise to Lysander and name you after me,” Akio said.

Akira sighed. “I can’t believe all these lies and deceit.”

“To keep you safe,” Wolfric said, pulling Akira against him.

Akira nodded as tears streamed down her cheeks. If not for Apollo, she would have grown up happy—playing with her cousin and Julianne. Rather than tortured and discarded as she was.

Levi patted Akira’s hand. “It was fate for us to meet. Don’t you agree, Cousin?”

Akira looked down at Leviasen squatting beside her chair and smiled. “Yes. It was fate that we met. And fate brought us here so I could learn the truth.”

“Hey, you know this makes you quarter fairy, right?” Levi grinned.

Akira chuckled, “yeah. It explains why I’m so damn short.”

~⚔~

Akira and her group stayed in the fairy realm for a week. Akira got to know her family. The king and queen introduced Akira to the kingdom as their princess. When it was time to go, Akira hugged her uncle and aunt and promised to visit again.

Leviasen and Julianne were granted permission to finish the journey with Akira and her warriors. They left the Fairy Realm with more answers and fewer questions.

As they stepped through the fifth portal on their way to Akira, Wolfric, Malique, and Zelious’s home realm, they stumbled into two small bodies.

“Grandmama!” Fin and Stella shouted, tackling the elder troll to the ground.

“Get off me,” Brizell ordered her grandchildren, a smile lighting her face.

“Brizell.” Akira watched the elder troll.

Once Brizell was on her feet and the twins were hugging their little brother, the elder troll motioned for Akira to come closer.

Akira and her warriors moved toward her. “What is wrong?” Akira asked.

Brizell took a deep breath and let it out. “The twins sent me a message about your five warriors being your chosen mates.”

Akira nodded and answered, “yes.” Why would Stella and Fin send a message to their grandmother?

“Don’t be upset with them. They have been keeping me caught up with everything going on. And this was most important,” Brizell said.

“Why is who my chosen mate is so important?” Akira asked.

“Not who, but how many,” Brizell corrected Akira.

Akira frowned. “But how is that important?”

Brizell pulled a book from her bag and opened it to a well-read page.

“A child will be born with the powers of the Gods. She will be hidden from those who seek her and give birth to the champion. When the child comes of age, she will find her warriors. When they have bonded, she will be bound to five warriors, all will be the chosen mate for the demigoddess. The Gods will fall, and the end of the world will be near.”

Akira’s heart stopped beating for a split second, then started up again, pounding in her chest.

“What is that?” Wolfric asked the elder troll.

Brizell looked up from the book. “It is a prophesy told hundreds of years ago about a Havent with five chosen mates, who started the fall of the Gods, and the end of times.”

Akira shook her head. No, she can’t be the cause of the end of the world.

“Akira,” Wolfric said as he caught his Havent.

“The prophecy has to be wrong,” Malique growled.

“You would think the Gods would kill her rather than hide her if she was going to cause their fall,” Darius stated.

“My grandfather would have told me about this, wouldn’t he?” Zelious questioned.

“Whatever happens, we are not the cause of the world coming to an end,” Niall growled.

Akira opened her eyes and looked up at her Wolfie. There must be something they can do to stop this.

She will give birth to the champion.

At least they have a few years before they need to worry about it, right? If their son is the champion, the world won’t end until he’s old enough to fight it. Right?!

“What does it say we need to do to prepare for it?” Wolfric asked the elder troll.

Brizell looked at Wolfric with a frown. “There is nothing you can do. It started the moment Akira found her chosen mates.”

Akira whimpered. She’s going to cause the end of the world.