I knew my father was angry with me, but sending me on a scout mission was a slap in the face. My mother's sins are not mine, yet he treated me like they were. To be fair, the new Queen, my stepmother, fabricated the sins they accused my mother of. I loathed her and her son. Her lies had my mother imprisoned in the castle and forced to be his mistress, stripped of the title of Queen. My mother was grateful because she should have been beheaded, but my father could not sentence her.
The Crown Prince should lead armies, not sent on spy missions; it was as if he wanted me to meet my end. He would be disappointed if he expected me to die on this mission. He has always underestimated me. I didn’t even have a full scout team, he just sent me and my two guards.
I could read minds, but it varied by person. My father, I couldn’t read at all, but my mother was an open book. My abilities strength depended on the person I was trying to read and their own will, mental blocks and their connection with me.
News reached my father of the Goblin army’s movements. Led by Prince Rehan. They had burned down multiple villages a few days from our Kingdom. The next on their list was the only remaining Pixie village. They had demolished the rest, they also attacked other kingdoms in their path as well.
“They are up ahead. It looks like they are preparing for an attack. My guess is they are waiting for nightfall.” My guard and friend Mohan informed me as he walked back to our campsite, we were downwind from the Goblin army, careful to stay close enough to watch their movements but far enough not to be caught.
“What do we do now?” Ezryn, my other guard, asked.
“We wait and see what they do. We are to observe and report back.” I reminded them. “My father thinks they are looking for something. We are supposed to find out what that is.”
“You never did say what you did to piss off the King.” Mohan hinted, as he took out his sword and began sharpening it. His eyes focused on the blade as his blonde hair fell over his shoulder.
Mohan wasn’t built like the other guards in the castle with their bulky frames that towered over you. He had a slight frame, although he was strong, he didn’t look it.
Ezryn was the complete opposite. Although a lot older than us, he was built and had broad shoulders and was one of the tallest soldiers in our army; it annoyed my father when my mother made him my guard. His salt and pepper hair were cut short, and a scar covered the right side of his face. He was the father I wish I had.
Mohan and Ezryn have been my guards and my only friends ever since I was little. My mother had appointed them to protect me, from enemies and my father, if it was needed. She was aware of his betrayal and the new young prince was a in your face reminder to my mother of his indiscretions. He favored my half brother and often treated me as an inconvenience.
“I wish I knew. He’s just always angry with me.” I frowned. “I just think it has to do with my mother.”
“The Sins of the parent pass to the kid, kind of deal.” Mohan stated.
“Pretty much.”
“It will be dark soon; we can follow behind.” Ezryn shared as he dumped a pail of water on the fire.
Grabbing our gear, we use an artificial masking scent so they couldn’t use their heightened sense of smell against us. Dressed in dark camouflaged clothes, we headed towards the Goblin camp.
When we could see and hear them clearly, we climbed up into the tallest tree we could find and observed what happened below.
When we approached, we could see they were already making their move as they stood at the entrance of the village. A woman with White hair and a slight frame lay at Prince Rehan’s feet, her husband a man with black hair and broad build lay beside her in a puddle of blood.
Prince Rehan’s blade dripping with the substance, he walked over them dismissively, as he headed into the village, yelling orders.
“Find their daughters!” he ordered as they swarmed the village, overtaking everything. Soon buildings went up in flames and ash was thick in the air, the pixies screams echoing throughout the valley between the trees.
I moved to help them, but Ezryn stopped me, “We are outnumbered, we can’t help them.”
“It’s a massacre,” I spat under my breath, thinking of the families being destroyed right in front of us.
“We can’t help them.” Mohan stated with sadness in his voice.
After the Goblin army had entered the village completely, we climbed down from our observation spot and checked on the man and woman. The woman was still alive, although barely. I knelt beside her as she tried to speak to me.
“They are after our daughters...” she struggled to speak. “The prophecy… help them.”
“Where are they?” I asked, but she stared back at me with lifeless eyes. I closed her eyes before I stood up and scanned the village. The Goblins were going house to house, killing any survivors.
“I see movement on the other side of the blaze, lets go investigate.” Mohan suggested, pointed to the other side of the village.
“We have to be careful not to be spotted by the army.” Ezryn warned us.
Nodding, we made our way through the burning houses and weaved through the bodies that littered the streets until we came to the other side.
The army had gathered on the other side as well and Prince Rehan yelled, “Kill them all!” As he pointed to five figures far in the distance. As the army charged, the five figures ran.
Those must be the daughters of the dead couple. I looked at my guards, who nodded as we made our way through the forest, hoping the distance would be shorter, following the figures and hopefully catching up to them before the Goblins do.
If that is who the Goblin army is after, then I must bring them back to my father. We were able to get closer, but they were fast. I could make out glimpses of their appearance. Each one looked so different from the other.
A woman with long white hair was yelling at them to keep going. She looked like a ghost the way she moved and drifted through the trees.
“The Goblins are closing in. What do you want to do?” Ezryn asked as he assessed the situation.
“We need to lead them away from their target.” I ordered, veering away from the target's trail making noise, purposely breaking branches and stepping into crunching leaves to lead them in the direction I wanted.
Ezryn and Mohan followed, making as much noise as possible, leading them away from the five pixie women. We would have to lose the Goblins and come back and track them after.
I jolted awake just as a migraine hit me, signalling a vision. Clutching my forehead, my vision went black, and pictures formed in my mind, until I could see the message clearly. “Let me go, they’ll find you and they will make you suffer!” I promised. “You’re a fiery little pixie, aren’t you?” Colonel Delano mused. “Fiery and little, huh? I’ll show you little!” My eyes turning grey. Colonel Delano screamed in pain as he fell into pieces as if being chopped up by invisible blades, blood puddled on the floor as the pieces fell, making a sick thud sound. I looked around the room. Spirits of tortured creatures were everywhere, missing limbs and bloody. Smirking at the ripped apart colonel Delano, I had never been afraid of spirits before, but these were terrifying. I looked around for Ela and Karm, but did not see them. I was completely alone. My vision slowly returning to normal, my migraine eased as sweat dripped down my brow and the colonel's scream echoing in the back of my mind.
We led the Goblin army away from their target as planned. It also took a lot longer for us to lose them. Their tracking abilities were uncanny, at least they fell for our trick. By morning, we were finally able to lose them and circle back to where we had left the targets. Ezryn knelt beside the tracks we had found and studied them; "it looks like they are heading this way." He deduced as he pointed upstream. Nodding, Mohan and I followed as he led the way. Eventually, the tracks led to the river. “What now?” Mohan asked, slightly annoyed. “We can assume they went upriver and look at the banks and travel upriver as well, and hope we find their trail again.” I suggested. “If that doesn’t work, we can always come back here and do the same the opposite way.” Ezryn shared. “Okay, it’s settled.” Mohan agreed. We headed upriver scanning the banks for tracks. A few miles up, we found what we were looking for. Heading in that direction, we zigzagged back and forth through the forest, ha
The chill of the morning dissipated as the sun reached its zenith. We had been walking for around two hours when Ari broke the silence that enveloped us. “Do we even have a plan? Where are we going?” Ari snapped, annoyed. “Simple, we are going in… this direction.” Huricana laughed, pointing in front of us. “I’m more concerned about putting distance between us and the big green if you know what I mean.” Sunama whispered, worried. “They could be right behind us.” “Big green?” Huricana spat with laughter. “We should head toward one of our allies. We need an army if we are going to stop the Goblins.” I suggested casually. “An army?" Ari stared blankly, "What do we waltz up to an allied king and say?" Making her voice high pitched and whiny she said, "Please king sir, give my sisters and me control of your army so we can fight the nasty goblins and fulfill the prophecy." Her voice returning to normal, she glared. "They’ll laugh in our faces and lock us up." “Do you have a better idea
The nymph had just finished shifting when a spear flew by Ari’s head, her eyes turned orange and she accidentally the nymph on fire. The nymph shifted back in a rush as she let out a blood-curdling scream and frantically tried to put the flames out. Sunama, with her eyes flickering turquoise from her power, doused the fire with water that she called up from the earth. “Great, you gave away our position?” Ari yelled as smoke rose from the nymph. “No, the smoke from the nymph did.” Sunama yelled back, “Because you set her on fire!” I walked over to the nymph who was lying on the ground and helped her up; she was already healing. “Stay away from me.” She snapped, getting up off the ground. “This isn’t helping matters!” Gia spoke calmly, as an arrow flew past her nose. “That’s it, I’ve had enough.” Her eyes turned emerald, green, and she tried to create a void in the ground, but ended up creating a small crack. Sunama was holding her stomach as she laughed hysterically, Gia slapping
After the Goblins left, the elf man turned to face me. “I am Tyr. Did they hurt you?” he asked after he introduced himself. I shook my head. "No, they didn’t. I’m Akasha and these are my sisters, Ari, Huricana, Sunama and Gia." Each of them nodded as their names were spoken. “It’s nice to meet you all.” A man from the elf army walked towards me his dark brown hair was long and braided down his back, but the sides of his head were bald, he had the same high cheekbones and pointed chin that Tyr had but he had broader shoulders and was a few inches taller than Tyr his eyes were a pale blue that almost looked white. “This is General Moon.” Tyr introduced him. “Call me Frey,” he smiled at my sisters and me. “Why are you running from the Goblin army?” Tyr asked me. What harm would it do to tell them who we were, after all, we're trying to get help from their king? “They burned down our village and we are the only ones that made it out. Or at least I think we are.” I replied as Tyr mad
The soldiers were relaxing, visiting, and joking amongst each other, that is aside from the ones on guard duty. After recreating the anchor with Ela and Karm, I walked around as my sisters rested in the tent, all except Ari, who had seemed to vanish. Karm and Ela went to search for her on the outskirts of the camp while I was walking around the camp looking for her, a little worried because she wouldn't just up and leave. I was about to give up on my search and return to my tent to get my other sisters to help when I heard Ari yelling about fighting tactics, following her voice, I found her and Frey behind one of the tents. “I’m just saying strength trumps speed any day.” Frey boasted as he smiled down at her. "Typical man saying that, I know for a fact speed would win." She argued, crossing her arms. “Are you guys really fighting about this?” I laughed as I walked towards them. They turned to me, “Well?” Ari asked angrily. “Well, what?” I asked, hoping they wouldn’t drag me in
I was glad we had found Akasha. I didn’t realize the extent of her abilities, but everything I discovered about her made me want to know her more. She was beautiful, but not in the normal sense. Her long white hair flowed to her waist and shimmered in the most dazzling ways, like diamonds lined every strand and her bright blue eyes were full of wisdom, yet I could see she had another side she didn’t show people. She’s the oldest of her sisters, yet short and petite with graceful curves and the white and gold peasant dress she wore just accentuated it. Half the damn army couldn’t keep their eyes off her and she seemed oblivious to it. She had the telltale characteristics of a pixie with her little claws and petite pointed face with pointed fae ears the stars that lined her neck and shoulder proved just how much power she held, her and her sisters had many tiny stars of differing colour I’m assuming to match their elements. I escorted them to the fire where dinner was being served a
My sisters were sleeping by the time I got back to my tent, I looked at their sleeping forms and moved around them to my spot, trying not to wake them. I quickly changed into a white nightdress, setting my sword on the ground beside me. I sat cross-legged in my spot and went into a meditative state. This way I could rest my body while guarding my sisters, when we reached the kingdom, I would get a better sleep. It also helped prevent the nightmares I had been experiencing of late, some of them being my visions recurring over again and others of the goblins killing those I love most. My sisters. In my meditative state, my body could rest while my spirit observed my surroundings and communicate with the spirits that were around, usually they were more than willing to help. I had to be careful though because evil spirits were dangerous; they were like a poison that could corrupt those around them, there are ways to protect yourself, or cleanse the poison away, but it was a lot of work