Echoes of something flickered across Jacob’s green eyes. He might not have lived there, but he felt the pain of that time quite acutely.
“The battle raged for countless years, thousands of years in Earth time. So much of Faerie was destroyed, but still there was never to be an end. The shining ones and the shadow spawn were the balance of each other. Neither could ever truly be destroyed.”
This was not sounding great. No wonder the fey had started to flee.
“In the end, the shining ones managed to trap the shadows, placing the demons into a deep slumber, and then they removed themselves from actively policing Faerie, focusing on keeping the shadows locked away. Faerie has fallen into a land of ruin and fear ever since. Without the shining ones influencing the Gold, the world was no longer safe for the fey, so some of our ancestors left.”
“Do the shining ones still live on the Isle of the Gods?” Braxton asked his brother. “Will we have a fight on our hands when we get there?”
I knew the boys wouldn’t care either way. We had no choice here. But it was always good to be prepared.
Jacob shrugged his broad shoulders. “I don’t know, Brax, I’ve never been to the island, and I don’t know a single fey or demi-fey who has either. The shining ones abandoned our land. Maybe they’re slumbering too.”
I was reminded again of Louis saying that he hoped “they” wouldn’t wake. Shit. Right about now I needed that damn sorcerer here so I could ask him if he was talking about the shadow spawn or the shining ones. It would be nice to know what we were walking into, and who we didn’t want to wake.
“Where do the shadow spawn sleep?” I wondered out loud.
Creases formed around Jacob’s fey eyes. “The location of the shadows has been lost through history, either deliberately or by chance. I don’t think any fey know where the shining ones stashed them.”
Great, so they could be anywhere. We were so screwed.
During this conversation our speed had continued to increase; we were running now, and the length of bridge behind us was increasing dramatically. It also seemed as if the length in front was shorter. I still couldn’t see our destination, but it looked brighter across the horizon.
Why is Larky not welcome on the Isle of the Gods any longer?
This information had been niggling away at me. What had he done all those years ago? What had he asked for and promised in return? Creating an army of marked required a massive level of power. A spell like that was multi-layered, intricate, and extremely difficult to cast and maintain. We were talking about thousands of supernatural creatures, all now tied to the king. The shining ones would not have done this for him unless he’d promised something huge.
A heaviness settled into my gut, joining the dull aching pain in my back. I knew his plan had everything to do with me, with the massive dragon mark spanning the side of my body. I was different to the others, but why? What had Larky done?
The bridge started to descend in a gentle slope and the brightness at the end increased. We were close now. I forced myself to focus on simply getting in and out of the island without some god screwing us hard. Because even in my sexually-deprived state, that did not sound enjoyable. Plus, I was only going to drive myself insane trying to put together a puzzle that was missing so many pieces.
I reached out and Braxton met me halfway, fingers interlocking. Somehow he knew I needed something to keep me from drifting away. Or maybe he’d needed the comfort too. I was used to being strong, never letting shit bother me, but I’d been thrust into this massive battle and I had no clue what I was supposed to do.
None of us slowed even as the brightness became intense enough to blind. I could tell by their rigid jaws and lack of comment that the boys were not exactly happy to be running into an unknown danger, but when you have no choices left … yep, this shit sucked balls.
At the very last moment, when the piercing brightness was causing actual shooting pain in my head, I closed my eyes. The wooden planks disappeared from underneath us and the ground softened. I stumbled as voices rang out, a chorus that was so familiar. Braxton’s firm grip on my hand was the only thing which kept me standing.
I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the black dots and blurry vision. The moment I could see, I spun in a circle, taking in everything, trying to catalogue it all so my poor brain could catch up with what my eyes observed.
The bridge, voices and ashy mist were gone. We were on a very large island, surrounded by water so clear I swear I could see the sandy bottom for miles out. The sky was a peach color, and I couldn’t tell if that was because of the time of day, or if this soft shade was simply native to this part of Faerie. The waters held me mesmerized for some time. They were magical in nature, sparkling unnaturally, brighter than any green I’d seen before, so many shades of aqua and turquoise that there was no true way to describe it. Its beauty was literally breathtaking. I was having trouble taking it all in.
My wolf and dragon slowed their pacing inside and stared with me, all of us finding a sense of peace and tranquility. I could have stood there staring out into the waters for an eternity and that still wouldn’t have been long enough.
I’m not sure exactly what snapped me out of the daze, but by the time a sense of clarity started to filter in, there was a strange tingling sensation running up and down my side. I lifted my shirt to see what was happening to me.
Braxton ran a warm hand along my body. “Your mark is changing, Jess.” His voice was low and rumbly as his hand continued to glide across my side. “It’s moving, swirling. It almost looks as if your dragon is flying. It likes this island.”