Rise of the Warlock : Eternity Fae (book

2) Alexi Ferreira
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 Rise of the Warlock
ETERNITY FAE (book 2)
Copyright © 2024 Alexi Ferreira
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, any event, occurrence, or incident
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fictitiously.
 RISE OF THE WARLOCK
HOPE 1
TREK 2
HOPE 3
TREK 4
HOPE 5
TREK 6
HOPE 7
TREK 8
HOPE 9
TREK 10
HOPE 11
TREK 12
HOPE 13
TREK 14
A MESSAGE FROM ALEXI FERREIRA
 HOPE 1
It has been a month since we were able to vanquish the noise from the property and get rid of all the caped shadows in the city,
but we still can’t get into Eternity Fae Forest, the forest is still protected against anyone going in or out. Dream has been
painting her room as it is at Eternity Fae so that she can go there through the painting and let the others know what is happening.
Drez was opposed to the idea at first but when Dream suggested that he go with her he agreed. Ever since the moment that Drez
opened up to Dream to tell her that they are in fact mates that they have been inseparable. I am happy for the two of them, they
make such a cute couple and we all knew how Dream felt about Drez ever since she met him, but he was a dark horse and was
able to hide his feelings well.
We have let everyone get back to their posts once we got everything up and running again, but we know that there is someone in
the kitchen that is responsible for what happened here before. Someone poisoned the food previously, because when the
shadows attacked the guards they were mostly drained. The Gargoyles on the turrets are still grotesques and no matter what we
have tried we haven’t been able to turn them back into themselves. One of those Gargoyles is Shok’s brother which has him up
in arms turning every rock trying to find who is responsible for this.
Yesterday, Trek, Shok my mom the Sovereign Fairy Queen and two of the guards went once again to the border of Eternity Fae
to see if they could somehow find a way in. My Dad is still not up to going anywhere as the magic that was used on him has
taken longer to heal than others that have been attacked before. Dream, Love and I have been healing his wounds every couple
of days, extracting the darkness from his wounds and filling him with Love and Hope, but we need Reality or Rea as we call
her, and Vain here to add their magic to his healing as he gets better and then after a couple of days the infection starts setting in
again.
“Hope!” I look over my shoulder at Dream to see her looking at me with a frown, “You didn’t hear a thing I said, did you?”
“Sorry I was looking at the guards training outside” my mind was actually far from the training and the guards there, but I don’t
tell Dream that. I turn to look at Dream to find that the drawing that she has done on the wall is now finished, it looks just like
her room at Eternity Fae. “You are finished” I state as I take a step closer.
“Yes, that’s what I was saying” I look at her to see her still frowning. “Hope I’m not sure if this will work, before I was only
able to see what I painted, I’m not sure that there is anything else outside of the painting.”
“You worry too much Dream, it will be fine, just don’t forget to think of a way to get back when you going in or you will be
stuck at Eternity Fae without us, and to be honest I would rather you be here.”
“Aww Hope, are you saying that you would miss me?” Dream teases, “I thought that your arguments with Trek kept you
entertained enough.” I stick my tongue out at her in reply, it is true that most of the time we pick on each other more as
entertainment then arguing, but Trek can also be stubborn and drives me crazy most of the time as he tries to order me around.
I know that he’s my personal guard and as such he needs to make sure that I am safe, but he doesn’t have to be so
condescending.
“Are you missing him Hope?” Love asks from where she’s sitting on the floor reading a romance book. Love is a hopeless
romantic and as her name predicts sees love everywhere.
“No, why would I be missing him” I ask sarcastically, “he irritates me most of the time.”
“I think you’re missing him” Love says with a cheeky grin and a wink at Dream.
“Stop doing that, I just think that mom should have let me go with them, I might have been able to help. I’m not missing him.” In
truth I am missing him but maybe just a little.
“She’s very defensive, isn’t she Love?” Dream asks playfully.
“Don’t you start too” I mutter as I look at Dream that simply grins at me, “why don’t we concentrate on more important things,”
I say trying to get their minds away from me. “I was thinking that we should monitor more carefully what Dad is eating. I find it
very strange how the darkness keeps on coming back only after a couple of days and its never the same number of days,
sometimes its longer and sometimes shorter periods.”
“You think someone is doing something to keep him like that?” Love asks as she stands, closing her book and placing it on the
bed besides her.
“I’m not sure, it just seems strange,” I state.
“I agree with you, I have been thinking it strange too.” Dream confesses, “I mean, when we heal him there is no darkness left,
how does it come back?”
“Maybe we should go and see if there is anything that he uses that might be manifesting this onto him, or we will have to take
turns and stay with him, check everything that he drinks, eats, or touches that might be doing this.” I suggest as I look at both my
sisters.
“You know what I have been thinking,” Dream reveals as she starts packing her paints and brushes. “Maybe I could start by
going into each person’s dreams at night and try and find out if any one of them is the traitor.”
“Do you think you could pick it up from their dreams?” I ask.
“I’m not sure, but I’m thinking that I might see darkness in them and that would help us investigate if there is anything within
them” Dream replies as she turns towards us, cleaning her hands on a rag. “I’m ready, shall we go see Dad?” she asks.
The three of us make our way out of the room and down the corridor towards our parents room, “You could try, I have been
looking at peoples energy, some are darker than others, but nothing that would call out that they are a traitor,” Love confesses.
Love has always been able to see people’s aura, or the colour of their energy, and usually know if they are good or bad. For
her not to have seen anyone standing out makes me wonder if the person is even someone that works in the property, or if
maybe just someone that comes to deliver things.
“You can do that with things too, can’t you Love?” I ask as an idea starts manifesting.
“Yes of course, I have learned with time to block it and only see it when I want to, but I can see the energy of people, animals,
vegetation and even things when someone has touched it.” I see her eyes widening as she says the last. “Of course,” she says
with a smile and a wink at me. “I can see if there is anything in Dad’s room with bad energy, that might lead us to who has put it
there.”
We enter our parent’s room to see Dad sitting up in bed glaring at Thomas, he is my parents’ right-hand man and advisor. When
he sees us his expression changes, he opens his arms for us to go to him. His wings are peeking out from behind him which tells
me that he has been up and stretching them out sometime earlier.
“What’s wrong Daddy?” Love asks as she sits on his right, hugging him across his stomach and kissing his cheek. His arm
wraps around her as he lowers his head to kiss the top of her forehead. Dream and I are standing at the end of the bed, Thomas
is still standing next to the bed on my dad’s left-hand side.
“Nothing my angel, it’s all good.” His voice is gravely and low, “You can go Thomas” he mutters, and I see Thomas tense, but
he nods, turns, and then leaves. Dream moves towards where Thomas was and sits down on Dad’s left-hand side, his arm
stretches out and he takes her hand as he smiles at her. “Why are you so far away Hope, come closer.” I climb onto the bed,
crawling up I sit just behind Dream, her back to my front.
“So, are you going to tell us why you are so upset, but are trying to hide it?” I ask with a raised brow which has him looking at
me, grinning he shakes his head in amusement.
“You are just like your mother, doesn’t mince her words.” He says, and then shrugs, “I’m just tired of being in bed and I should
be by your mothers’ side, what if there is an attack?” his frown is back.
“You know that mom can take care of herself, and she has four guards with her.” Dream says as she tries to appease his
worries, stroking his fingers with hers, “besides, mom said that you would stay here to protect us.” I see Dad raise a brow and
look at her.
“Are you trying to appease me Dream?” he asks before he chuckles, “I have missed this, I wish Rea and Vain were also here.”
“Don’t worry about that, Dream has finished her painting and tonight she will go and let the others know that we are fine and
what they need to look out for.” Love reveals with a smile, her head against his chest.
“Are you sure this will work? I don’t want you to get stuck in a painting, and then we can’t get you out of there.” He states as he
lifts his hand to stroke Dream’s cheek.
“Yes Dad, I have done it before.” Dream confirms with a smile.
“I don’t like you girls experimenting with your magic when there is no supervision, that is why Selina was there to guide you,
to teach you.” He mutters.
“We are fine, besides Selina is with Rea and Vain. When they come here Selina can accompany them” I say, “but more
importantly, how are you feeling today?”
“You healed me yesterday, therefore I’m feeling good.” He says with a shrug.
“Well, we have had an idea.” I reveal, and go on to explain what we are thinking of doing to find if in fact someone is still
manifesting evil in the property, or if it’s some kind of magic that was used when they wounded my dad.
“I swear if we find a traitor in this house they will pay” he grunts angrily.
“I shall start” Love says as she sits up and then turns to look around the room, suddenly she frowns and then is crawling out of
bed and towards my Dad’s side table where a pitcher with water is sitting with a glass next to it. Next to the pitcher is a plate
that is covered with a napkin, and which seems like Dad has not eaten yet.
“Whatever is on this plate hasn’t got good energy” Love mutters, Dad leans over and pulls the napkin away to show us a plate
with two scones on it.
“You saying the scone is doing this to me?” he asks with a frown; I stand to go and smell the scone. If there is any poisonous
ingredient, I will be able to detect it. Leaning down I take a whiff of the scone, but I can’t detect anything, unless this is magic.
“There is nothing to indicate it’s an herb or poison,” I say.
“I don’t think It’s the scone, I see the energy on the pitcher of water and glass too.” Love says, “I think its whoever touched
these items that has left this trail of energy, but this might not be what is doing this to Dad.”
“Well, I think I’m going to go into the kitchen and see what is happening there, maybe I might find something,” I start to turn
when Dream interrupts.
“I will go with you, Love, maybe you should stay here and keep Dad company.”
“Definitely, and I still want to look at all the other things in the room, also check if anyone comes in that might have a dark
energy.”
“You girls be careful, where is Drez? He should be going with you if Shok and Trek arent’ here.” Dad asks as we stop in the
doorway.
“He was training with the guards, I’m sure he will be up soon.” Dream replies, “Don’t worry we can take care of ourselves.”
As we walk out of the room, we hear Dad grunt at Dreams reply which has me smiling at his protective nature.
“He still thinks of us as his little girls,” I state as we hurry downstairs.
“I think he will always think of us like that.” Dream agrees as we make our way to the kitchen, glancing at Dream I realize that
once again she has left her bow somewhere.
“Where did you leave your bow?” her hand snaps up towards her shoulder at my question and she frowns.
“Argh, I left it in my room” she is becoming better, but she still forgets her bow a lot and at these times we need to make sure
that we are always protected. My weapon of choice is my fighting sticks, I was lucky to have got these retractable ones for my
birthday from Trek, they fit on a holster to my waste. “It just becomes so cumbersome when I’m doing something,” She mutters.
“Maybe you should think of using some other type of weapon.” I suggest, knowing that she will reject the idea. All of us have
been trained with different weapons, but we have all excelled in one, and that one is usually the one that we have chosen as our
weapon of choice. Dream is the bow, she can shoot anything out of the air while in flight, she is an exceptional marksman, but
that’s when she actually remembers to carry the bow with her.
With me it has always been the fighting sticks, at first it was only one but with time I have enhanced my movements and rhythm,
and now am able to use a fighting stick in each hand with the same speed and accuracy as I was doing with just one. I also train
daily to maintain my movements supple and fluid. Trek makes sure that I don’t miss my training every day.
Arriving in the kitchen I see the chef standing over one of the cooks commenting on what he is doing. There are two others that
are standing to the side sorting out vegetables, one cutting meat and two washing dishes. I also see two of the serving ladies
and one guard standing in the kitchen.
When we walk in everyone stops what they are doing and looks up at us, the Chef immediately turns from chastising the chef to
walk towards us, a smile on his face. “Do you need anything?” he asks.
“No, please just continue with your work as we are just here to observe” I order which has the Chef’s smile turning into a
frown.
“Is there a problem?” he asks quietly.
“No, no problem” Dream replies with a gentle smile, I see the guard and the serving ladies leaving.
“Chef, do staff usually come into the kitchen to eat or is there a specific area for them?” I don’t see a table here like there is at
Eternity Fae so there must be an area where they all eat. He turns slightly to show us a door to our left.
“Through there is where everyone comes to eat, we always have someone there to serve them.” He says, “and through there is
where we serve our Sovereigns, the guard and of course you.”
“Are you the only chef in the kitchen at all times?” I know he won’t be, but I thought I would ask. He shakes his head.
“No, there is one more, but he will be in later.”
“Is there any reason at all for any other staff to be in the kitchen besides the kitchen staff?” he scratches his jaw, a frown
marring his forehead but then he shakes his head.
“No,”
“Good, from now on please make sure that only kitchen staff enter here.” I state, “If you don’t mind, we are just going to hang
around for a little bit, please don’t let us disturb you.” I can see that he wants to ask us why, but he must realize that we won’t
be saying anything, so he nods and leaves. Dream walks towards a chair on one side and takes a seat. I know that she will be
trying to see the darkness from where she is in each person, seeing people’s aura is mainly something that Love is good at, but
we can all do it.
I move towards where the food is being prepared. It is time to see if there is any poison in this kitchen, or anything that might
be turned into poison. I lean down to take a whiff of a pie that is sitting on the counter cooling. The sweet smell of cherries and
a hint of cinnamon tickles my pallet.
“These smell divine,” I murmur looking at the Chef with a smile. His frown clears as he smiles in pleasure at my compliment.
“If you wait another few minutes for it to cool, I will cut you a slice,” his offer has me nodding in pleasure. One of my
downfalls is my sweet tooth, I can’t resist anything sweet. This also gives me an excuse to stay longer and look around at
anything that could draw my attention at being suspicious. Taking a seat near where the cherry pie is I inconspicuously start
pulling at the small tubs of spices that are packed to the side and taking a whiff of each to ascertain that there is nothing in here
that could be hurtful to anyone’s health. I am doing fine until I smell the black pepper which has me sneezing loudly bringing
everyone’s attention back to me.
“Oh Dear, are you okay?” a young girl that is helping asks as she holds a napkin out to me as I sneeze again.
“Tha…Than” I start to say when I sneeze again, “thank you,” I finally manage to say.
“That’s what happens when you stick your nose where it doesn’t belong,” Dream teases with a wink.
“You know how I am, curiosity will get the better of me one day.” I quip making light of what I was doing, trying to cover any
suspicion that anyone could have. I know that if Trek was here he would be arguing with me right now that I shouldn’t be
putting myself in situations like this. It is easy for him to say, with his sensitive sense he would be able to smell the black
pepper as soon as he walked into the kitchen.
I think the fact that Trek is a werewolf is what makes him so overprotective. I know that I can be a nightmare for someone like
him as I always seem to be getting into trouble. I don’t do it on purpose, but my curiosity just gets the better of me. If he was
here now, he would be scowling at me, giving me his disapproving look. I trust Trek completely, I know that he will give his
life for me, he is honourable to a fault.
It is a great honour to be chosen as one of the princess’s guards, or companions as I like to call them. Trek is to be the leader of
the werewolves when his father passes. The thought that one day he will have to leave me, fills me with dread, I know that I
give him a hard time, but I can’t see my life without him. I have hope that in the future things will resolve themselves, so he
won’t need to go anywhere.
I know I’m being selfish, but losing Trek will feel like I am losing a part of me. Already there were days before the trouble
began that he would have to go home to deal with issues, days that I used to resent. I know that if Trek knew how I felt he
would lecture me, he loves giving me those, and even though I argue and moan, it pleases me to know that he cares.
I confess to myself that I am also a little jealous of him, every time I see another looking at him or a girl that has caught his eye,
I want to attack her. I hide my feelings by being flippant, but I can’t have him pitying me for wanting him. I mean, what did the
fates expect when putting a being like him before me every day, he is fit. Every muscle in his body flexes like a marble rope,
calling to be touched. His dark hair wild, acknowledging to his uninhabited nature.
“Are you okay?” I am brought from my thoughts by Dreams question, looking at her I see her curious expression.
“Yes, of course, I’m all good” I don’t even confess to my sisters that I have this attraction to Trek, I know that they suspect, but
suspicion and knowing is two different things.
I look around at everyone around me, bringing my focus back to what I’m supposed to be doing. With everything that just
happened it is evident that everyone is skittish. We are the royals, we are supposed to be stronger than other beings, supposed
to be able to protect ourselves and those that trust in us, but instead we are attacked.
It’s not even the attack, but the uncertainty of who it is that is attacking us. We can fight a foe that we know, but this attack is
done from the shadows. Whoever is behind this attack against us is strong, powerful, and very clever.
The Gargoyles have been frozen into their Grotesque selves, not being able to change as is their will. For anyone to be able to
exert that much power makes them a very dangerous adversary. They are attacking us from the shadows, their darkness growing
with each day.
“Here you go princess,” the Chef calls as he places a plate in front of me with a slice of the cherry pie that I was eyeing out
earlier.
“Thank you,” I say with a smile as I look at the Troll, contrary to certain beliefs Trolls are amazing cooks and very organized.
We can usually find them in kitchens or working as accountants or clerks throughout the Eternity Fey realm.
Taking a bite of the pie I sigh in pleasure, smiling at the Chef just as the door to the kitchen opens and in walks one of the
maids. I see her stop when she sees Dream and I and then she is looking around stopping when her gaze latches onto one of the
kitchen helpers that is standing on the far side of the kitchen, cutting carrots.
“Girl, what do you want in my kitchen?” the Chef asks with more anger than he has shown the whole time we have been here.
“I want to talk to Sam,” the maid replies raising her chin in confrontation. The helper the maid is looking at turns when he hears
her voice a surprised look on his face.
“Sam is busy, you can talk to him later.” The maid looks at us with a frown on her face and then back at the Chef that is standing
in her way, it is clear that she wants to argue but I think that our presence has stopped her outburst as she snaps around and
hurries out of the kitchen.
I glance at Dream to see a pensive look on her face as she too observes the interaction between the Troll and the Siren. There
is clearly bad blood between the two, but whatever that is will have to wait when Love rushes into the kitchen.
“Hurry, I need to show you something,” it is clear by her anxious request that whatever she wants to show us must be something
she has found in Dad’s room.
Huffing I grab the last bite of pie stuffing it into my mouth before I hurriedly follow Love and Dream out of the kitchen and up
to Dad’s room. Walking in, Dream and I both stop in our tracks when we see Dad sitting up in bed, there is a blank look on his
face as he stares at the wall before him.
“Dad?” I call, but to no avail as he seems to not even hear me.
“What happened?” Dream asks as she walks forward until she is standing next to the bed.
“That happened,” Love replies pointing towards a shelf to the side. On the shelf I see there is a tall object that has been
covered with a pillowcase.
“What is that?” I ask walking towards it only to be stopped by Love’s hand on my upper arm.
“No, don’t touch it” she warns, shaking her head emphatically. “It’s a big Onix, just before Dad went like this the stone
vibrated with evil that was debilitating. Someone has cursed the stone, and I don’t know what they have done, but it only
vibrates occasionally because if I wasn’t in here with him I wouldn’t have picked it up.”
 TREK 2
I know that being here to protect our queen is important but at this point in time with all the unrest that is happening around us I
feel restless in leaving Hope unguarded. The palace is full of guards that will be at her side if there is danger, but I need to be
there, I need to make sure that she is safe.
I am hoping that we find something soon that will speed up our returning home. Hope might be a handful, but I wouldn’t have
her any other way. I will do anything for her, she is my mate, but she doesn’t know it yet. It is hard being so close to her and not
telling her, not touching her like I want to touch her. When I see her near other men I want to rip their throats out, but instead of
telling her I let her think that I’m a grouch.
“Whoever is involved in this is strong,” Shok says as he walks next to me as we scout the border where the gate to Eternity Fae
lies. The Queen is standing behind with her guards, her eyes all seeing are trained on the energy gate that is currently closed,
stopping anyone from going in our out. She has tried to open it with her magic, but to no avail. The queen is a Fairy Queen,
powerful in her own right.
When I was drafted to be one of the princesses’ guards, I was angry. I know that it’s an honour to guard a royal princess, but I
have my own people to think about, to lead. My father has been ready to pass the reigns over to me for a long time, but because
of my place next to Hope I have held back.
When I first met Hope, I felt like my world had exploded around me, I couldn’t believe that the princess was my mate. The
feeling of protection that fills me when I think about Hope is all consuming. I know that I am going to have to tell her soon
about our bond, there is no way that I am going to allow any other being think they can have her to wife.
“Can you smell that?” Shok suddenly asks, which has me lifting my head and frowning as the smell of rotten flesh assaults me.
“It smells like something is dead near here,” I confirm as I start following the smell as it gets stronger the closer we get to its
source. As we get to the edge of the gate, behind a tree, we find the carcass of a goat, it is clear that someone or something has
been feeding from it.
“You think this has anything to do with what is happening?” Shok asks as he squats to look at the bite marks on the goat’s throat
pointing towards a jagged piece.
“There is a deeper stench rising from this carcass that isn’t from its rotting body,” I say as I try to identify the source. Looking
around I see a half circle burnt onto the ground that is surrounding the goat. “This was a ritual; someone is dabbling in the dark
arts.” The Queen has approached and is now standing a few feet away from where we are crouching, her hands are out before
her as she senses the energy around her.
“This is very dark magic; this is where it started.” The Queen says. “Set fire to it, let it burn until there is nothing left of the
magic they have performed here.”
“Once we burn this area will that allow for whatever magic was used to disintegrate so that the gates into Eternity Fae are
opened again?” Shok asks as he looks over his shoulder at the Queen.
“I’m afraid not, only the one that wielded this magic will be able to stop it or if they are dead.” She explains as we start
building the fire around the area where the ritual was held. As we have no idea who is behind everything that has happened,
finding the one responsible for this ritual is unlikely. We will have to kill all involved once we find out who the main culprit is.
We know that there is more than one because of the attack, but the problem is that we don’t know who the foe is and who isn’t.
“Shok, Trek, fall back and I will do it.” The Queen commands which has us standing from our squat to make our way over
towards where the Queen and her guards are standing. When Shok is standing beside me the Queen waves her hands and a few
seconds later a fire starts to blaze where the goat is laying. “We will be going back home now that we found evidence of magic
here, we need to find a way of finding where all this evil is coming from.”
The fire is now blazing high, the good thing is that this gate is situated in the middle of one of the forests. No human will be
privy to it until it’s too late to realize that something burnt down here, not that it will be found as an obscuring magic spell has
been placed around all the gates to make sure that humans don’t stumble into anything they shouldn’t stumble over.
When the fire finally starts to burn out, we make our way towards the two SUVs that are parked a few miles away. Just before I
enter the vehicle the Queen calls me over to ride with her, a summon from the queen has me uneasy.
When we are well on our way, the Queen sitting next to me in the back seat looks over, her wise eyes looking deep into mine.
“How are you, Trek?”
“I am well your grace,”
“How is everything back home?” the question about my home has dread building in my stomach, is she going to release me
from my guard on her daughter? I will refuse because no matter what, Hope is mine.
“Everything is going well your grace, thank you for asking.” I don’t know what she is trying to get at but whatever it is she
seems determined.
“Do you know why I wanted to talk to you?” her question has me shaking my head in response. “Why haven’t you claimed my
daughter?” her question has my head snaping around to face her. “Don’t be surprised, I have known that you two are mates from
the moment you entered our home.”
“I had no idea,” I reply, not sure what the Queen is leading to.
“I am still waiting for a reply,” she says raising a brow in question.
“Hope is still young, I wasn’t sure that is what you wanted for her,” the Queen shakes her head in amusement.
“What I want for my daughter is for her to be happy, and I know that you will make her happy. Not just that, but I need you to
keep her safe in this time of unrest.”
“I will protect her with my life your majesty,” I promise.
“I know you will Trek, my girls are the most important part of my life, but they are also our salvation.” Her statement has me
frowning in question, “my girls are more powerful than anyone knows, we need them to have time to grow stronger.” I tense
when the Queen suddenly takes my hand in hers, a smile on her face.
“We will be very lucky to have you in our family.” Her statement has a knot growing in my stomach, when I woke up this
morning, I had no idea that I would be getting the blessing of my mates mother, had no idea that after all this time I was going to
get her blessing and could finally take my woman as my mate.
“Thank you, your majesty,” I say lowering my head.
We are on the road for about an hour when we finally turn into the driveway to the house where we are now residing, until the
threat is found and we can all return to Eternity Fae. The Werewolves don’t all live in Eternity Fae, a few have found their
place here with the humans. I have come into this realm a few times to check on what they are up to, now I have to live here
until we find the evil that is trying to destroy all of us.
When the vehicles stop, I am about to open the door when Love comes charging out of the house, rushing towards the vehicle.
“Something has happened,” the Queen says in a concerned voice.
My heart starts to beat in concern, has something happened to Hope? Before I can think better, I am rushing out of the vehicle to
stop Love and ask her what has her in such a fluster. I am about to grab her upper arms to stop her when I hear a growl coming
from behind me. Grunting in irritation at Beast’s warning I hold my arms out to stop her.
Love is the only one that doesn’t have a guard. Well, that is not true as she has Beast and an appropriate name at that. I have
never seen his breed before as Beast is as tall as me when he stands normally on all fours. “Love, what’s wrong?” the Queen
her mother asks, a concerned look on her face as she takes her daughter in her arms.
“Dad is in a trance,” her words have the Queen visibly tensing, it is well known that the Queen and King married for love and
continue deeply in love.
“He was getting better, what happened?” The Queen asks as she starts making her way inside the house. I follow closely
wanting to make sure that Hope is fine.
“It’s the stone, but we can’t get close to it,” Love explains as she hurries after her mother.
“What stone Love?” I ask when it doesn’t seem like the Queen is going to enquire.
“That huge Onix that is sitting on one of the shelves, there is very dark energy emanating from it.” At her explanation the Queen
stops and turns to face Love.
“You mean the Onix that was given to us by Toron?” her question has Love nodding in reply. Toron is a warlock; he was the
head of the witches and warlocks. I tense when I think of Toron and the bad blood between the witches and the werewolves.
“I thought Toron was no longer the head of the Covenant?” my question has the Queens eyes turning to me as she shakes her
head.
“He isn’t, Jinx took over the reins.” The Queen explains, “that Semi Precious stone was given to us many years ago as
protection.” With that she turns continuing on her way towards the room. We hurry up the staircase until we are entering the
room where we see the King sitting up in bed staring into space with a blank look on his face.
“Darling” the Queen calls as she hurries towards where he is, taking his hand in hers. “Oh, my Darling, what has been done to
you?” she cry’s.
I take in a breath as I see Hope approaching from where she was standing by the window. Our eyes meet, which has my very
core relaxing in peace when I see that no harm has come to her. Looking away from her eyes I cast my gaze around the room
until I see a mound that is covered by a pillow. “Is that the Onix?” I ask as I point at where the covered mound is, I take a step
towards it, suddenly stopped when Hope hurriedly comes to stand between me and the stone.
“Stop” she cries placing her hand on my chest, “that stone is dangerous, the dark energy emanating from it is evil and we don’t
know what could happen if anyone touches it.” I raise my hand placing it over hers on my chest.
“Well, I guess the only way we will know is if I go and touch it.” I say trying to step around Hope which turns out to be more
difficult than I thought as she stubbornly stops my advance.
“Enough, Hope is right” the Queen orders, “no one touch the Onix until we know what it does.”
“Stubborn minx,” I mutter as I take a step back frowning at Hope’s smiling face.
“Did you forget?” She asks with a raised brow. Instead of answering I glare at her, warning her to behave.
“Stand back,” the Queen orders as she raises her hands which has the pillow falling away from the semi-precious stone. The
stone looks harmless when I gaze upon it, but if Love, Hope and Dream say that the stone has evil energy, that is enough to
make me believe in what they say, and I will do everything in my power to keep everyone that is under my protection safe.
“Hope, Love send good energy into the stone while I hold back its evil,” the Queen orders, “Dream come and stand next to me
and help me hold back its evil.” I stand behind Hope keeping a close eye on her as she raises her hands facing them towards
the Onix.
The power that fills the room surprises me with its strength, I have seen Hope’s magic grow in the last couple of months to an
extent that surprises me. There is a blue light that surrounds her that radiates out towards everyone.
I can feel her magic start to penetrate my being, a feeling of peace fills my every fibre. I want to wrap my arms around and
keep her safe, but I know in my bones that my woman is more than capable of keeping herself safe.
Suddenly the ground below my feet starts to shake, dark energy is now vibrating from the Onix, a darkness that is palpable.
“Careful, hold tight,” the Queen calls, strain in her voice.
“It’s too strong,” Love calls.
“We can overpower it, hold tight Love,” Hope appeals. I want to place my hands on her shoulders in comfort, in strength, but I
know that at the moment she needs to do this by herself, she needs to fight this threat with her powerful inner strength without
distractions.
Suddenly there is an explosion which has the stone shattering into a thousand pieces, the threat has me throwing myself at Hope
pushing her down on the ground as I place myself over her to keep her safe from the flying pieces of stone.
“Are you okay?” I ask raising slightly from where Hope is laying under me when things quieten. “Hope?” I call worry rising
within me when there is no reply.
“No” she whispers.
“What’s wrong?” my heart is racing with worry that she is hurt.
“You…are too…heavy!” her reply has me snapping off her, my eyes running down her beautiful body.
 HOPE 3
I see Trek’s concerned look as his gaze runs over my body, I know that he’s my guard and that keeping me safe is part of what
he is supposed to do, but the thought of him throwing himself over me with no concern for himself has my heart warming. I
know that I am making more out of this than it is, but he must have some kind of feelings for me.
“Sorry,” he mutters as he takes my hand to pull me up into a sitting position. I squeeze his hand looking into his troubled
beautiful eyes.
“I’m fine,” I murmur suddenly remembering the others in the room when I hear a groan from Dream. “Is everyone okay?” I ask
looking around the room, seeing Mom as she bends over Dream, a long cut on her arm.
“We are okay,” Mom replies glancing behind her towards where Love was now hidden by Beast. “Love?”
“I’m good” Love’s voice emerges from somewhere behind Beast. I see her petite hand stroking Beasts head.
“What happened?” we all gasp as we turn towards Dad as he looks around from where he is leaning back against his pillows.
“I’ll tell you what happened,” Mom says in an angry tone, her body tense as she looks around the room. “We are going to pay
the witches a visit and find out why one of their gifts to us was cursed.”
“Cursed?” Dad asks with a raised brow as his eyes take in the room, there is a sharpness in his gaze that hasn’t been there
since he first fell to whatever this curse is.
“Yes, you were ill because of the Onix that Toron gifted us.” Dad turns his head towards where the stone used to be, his brow
rising in thought. “The stone was cursed with dark magic,” Mom explains as she helps Dream up to her feet.
“He has disappeared,” Dad says as he sits up, “I met with Jinx a few months back and she mentioned that he vanished just after
she was appointed.”
“We found a sacrifice near one of our portals,” Mom reveals, my eyes turn to Trek which has him nod in confirmation. “Now
the stone, it speaks of Dark Magic and who better to manifest evil than Toron?”
“Why, I thought he stepped down of his own free will when Jinx took over?” Love asks, now in clear sight of us as Beast has
gone to stand behind her.
“No, he made a lot of bad decisions which had other Warlocks and Witches rebelling.” Dad explains as he holds out his hand
for Mom to take it. “After long discussions he agreed to step down amicably, I don’t see why he would now rise up to attack
us.”
“It’s not just us, everyone is being affected,” Mom explains.
“Trek, take some men and bring me Jinx, I want to talk to her,” Dad orders.
“As you order your majesty,” Trek replies bending his head.
Trek is a leader in his own right, but he has always been respectful of his King and Queen. He could leave at any time, but he
continues honouring his obligations even though I know that his people are asking for him.
“I’m coming with you!” I state as I turn fully to face him. He turns away from Dad to face me, “It’s too dangerous at the
moment, you should stay here.”
“Nonsense, I’m coming you know that I can protect myself.” I insist seeing his face tighten in displeasure. I raise my chin
expecting him to contradict me, but then I am surprised when we are interrupted by Mom agreeing with me.
“Let her go, if Hope is there with you Jinx and her Covenant will be more agreeable,” I hear Trek grunt, but he doesn’t
contradict Mom. The real reason why I want to go is that Trek and Jinx have history and I want to make sure that their history
stays in the past and not ignite into something in the future.
It is clear by his stiff features that he would rather not have me with him which pains me, and has me wanting to scream at him,
but I contain my anger and ignore his displeasure waiting for when we are alone to tell him what I think of his disregard for my
feelings.
I will never tell him how I feel as I don’t want him to feel sorry for me and decide to leave because of my crush, but I will let
him know that I am more than capable of going with him into a fight.
“Go and get ready and I will meet you outside,” he orders as he starts to turn.
“I am ready,” I reply frowning as I look down at my black flared mini skirt, tall black combat boots and leather jacket. I
actually think that I am looking pretty mean today.
“You can’t go like that!” he replies with a scowl as he raises his hand, pointing his index finger at me.
“Yes I can, there is nothing wrong with what I am wearing.” I argue as I place my fists at my waist and glare at him.
“You are wearing a skirt,” he states huffing in anger.
“Really, I hadn’t noticed” I answer sarcastically.
“Hope” he says my name in exasperation, “Stop arguing, if we have to fight you can’t wear that to fight, you will be showing
everything.”
His answer has my eyes opening in surprise, “You mean they will see this?” I snap my hands down to the edge of my skirt and
raise it up over my waist hearing his intake of breath and Mom calling my name in warning.
He grunts as he snaps around and walks out, “What, nothing to say?” I call after him.
“You are going to give him a heart attack if you carry on,” Dream says in amusement as she looks at my tight black shorts.
“Not my fault he thought I was stupid enough to go without shorts under this skirt,” I reply.
“Behave Hope,” Dad orders as he shakes his head in annoyance, “I agree with him, it might be too dangerous at the moment for
you to go with.”
“What?” I shake my head in anger and am about to answer when Mom interrupts.
“Nonsense, she can take care of herself, and he won’t let anything happen to her if danger arose.” I wink at Mom in thanks,
turning I hurry out of the room before Dad says anything else and they decided that in fact I should stay back.
Reaching the courtyard Trek and four other guards are waiting for me, when he sees me, he turns to open the back door of the
SUV for me to climb in. Before he closes the door, he looks in “you will do as I say when we are there, I don’t want any
arguments.”
I know that he is just making sure that I am safe, therefore I nod to appease him, knowing that if for some reason I think that he
is in danger there is no way that I am going to listen to him and instead I will be right there to help him.
When he closes the door and walks around the vehicle to go and sit in the passenger side, I notice that three of the guards are in
the vehicle behind us and one is driving ours. He got another werewolf, two Elves and a Dragon to accompany us. All four
men I know as they are warriors in my Dad’s personal guard.
“Are you really expecting trouble?” I ask when we are well on our way.
“These days you never know what to expect,” he replies, his tone evidence that he is still angry with me, a deep rasp that sends
tingling vibrations through my body.
I have more questions but as he says these days, we don’t know what to expect which also means that we don’t know who to
trust. I trust Trek completely but I’m not sure about the guards that are accompanying us, therefore I spend the rest of the journey
in silence gazing at the scenery.
This realm is so different from Eternity Fae, I love my home, but this realm has a beauty about it that I also love. I know that
once we have found the culprit for this uprising, we will vanquish it and return to Eternity Fae. I should be pleased but
something within me says that I want to stay here instead.
I know that one of the main reasons for me wanting to stay is that I know that as soon as this is all over Trek will have to take
his rightful place among his people and that is here on Earth, and even though he doesn’t feel the same about me as I do him, I
don’t want to be far from where he is.
“We are here!” I look around in surprise, realizing that I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn’t see us pulling up outside
what looks like a farmhouse. I know that there will be powerful magic stopping anyone from entering without permission, soon
someone will come to the gate to know why we are here before letting us proceed.
“Wait here,” Trek says as he leaves the vehicle when a young warlock approaches the gate. They talk for a few minutes before
Trek is turning and making his way back towards the SUV.
“Proceed,” he orders when he is sitting safely in the passenger seat.
We start driving forward, through the gate and up the driveway towards an old farmhouse that is sitting among tall trees. If you
are human that is what you will see, being fae we can see the resplendent house surrounded by resplendent Oak trees. I see Jinx
appear at the door of the house, a beautiful woman in her own right. I want to scratch her eyes out in jealousy, but know that I
am being petty.
“Trek, it must be dire for you to come to my door,” I hear her say as I step out of the SUV.
“Jinx” he greets, my jealousy gnaws at my nerves as I sense the tension in the air.
“Hope, this is a surprise.” I met Jinx once before a few years ago, I didn’t think she would remember who I was by now.
“Please come in, we can talk inside.” I feel Trek’s hand on my lower back as he guides me in which surprises me as he has a
strict no touching policy. I don’t say anything making as if I don’t notice but everything within me is focused on the feel of his
warm hand under my open leather jacket just above the hem of my skirt over my black top.
As we enter there is a door to our left that must be some kind of front room as there are a few witches and two warlocks sitting
in a circle chanting. Jinx makes her way towards the back of the house turning into what must be her office. “Please take a
seat,” she invites pointing towards two chairs in front of the desk. “Would you like something to drink?” I am about to answer
when Trek interjects.
“No, we are fine we just need you to come with us to speak to the King.” Trek’s reply has Jinx frowning, she inclines her head
slightly as she looks at him.
“Why does the King want to talk to me?” while she speaks to Trek I look at her energy to see if there is any vestige of the evil
that attacked us earlier through the Onix. What I sense from her is light and no darkness like the pure evil that attacked us.
“The King will tell you himself,” I see her features tense at Trek’s reply.
“You can’t expect me to just leave right now,” before Trek can reply and ignite a confrontation which will take longer to calm,
I interject.
“I’m sorry for the sudden request, but it’s unfortunately an emergency that needs your input.” I see Trek’s frown at my
interruption, but he doesn’t intervene.
“Well, I guess if it’s that urgent we shouldn’t delay, let me just tell someone I’m leaving, and I will meet you outside.” She
walks towards the office door opening it for us to walk out. I make my way towards the door hearing Treks footsteps right
behind me seeing the glare she throws at Trek as he walks past.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as we step outside sensing Trek’s restlessness.
“It was too easy,” I look at him to see him scanning the area around us.
“You think she’s in on it?” I ask as I too glance around.
“Don’t know, but that was too easy.” He mutters, “come let’s get you inside the SUV,” I can tell that Trek is sensing danger and
I have learnt through the years to trust his animalistic instinct.
 TREK 4
The hair on the back of my neck is standing on end, danger is imminent, but I can’t tell from where it’s coming. My inner wolf
is howling, wanting to break free and attack the danger that surrounds us. “On guard” I can warn the others that there is danger,
but I know by their tense stances that they are also detecting the danger.
Jinx walks out of the house and then stops, she raises her hand as if feeling for something. I see a frown on her face as she
suddenly rushes towards us. I jump out of the vehicle “Jinx what…” I am interrupted by her shout.
“Hurry, we need to leave NOW!” she is jumping into the seat next to Hope banging the door shut behind her, “Hurry,” she cries.
“What is going on?” Hope asks but Jinx is raising both her hands in the air mumbling under her breath, I feel the air changing as
she continues to chant. We are speeding away as I start sensing evil surrounding us like a blanket of darkness. I glance back to
see Hope close her eyes and then her inner light is pushing out to surround us and the vehicle driving behind us, protecting us
from the evilness that is trying to engulf everyone.
My fury is running rampage, but there is nowhere for it to attack, this enemy is stealth, hiding from sight where we can’t
physically attack it. As soon as we drive past the gates of the Covenant the darkness dissipates, the oppressive pressure of evil
lifts.
“What the hell is going on?” Jinx snaps a few minutes later, “What was that?” it is clear by her questions and scared expression
that she isn’t aware of the curse that was in the Onix, or of the sacrifice done outside the portals.
“We don’t know what that is, but it has been attacking everyone.” Hope explains, “Eternity Fae is closed off, no one can go in
or out.” Jinx glances at me in surprise and then back at Hope.
“How did we not know about this?” Jinx asks.
Jinx and I were involved but when I was called to guard Hope and found out that she was my mate I broke it off with Jinx.
Hope has taken over my every fibre; I can’t even think of being with another woman. Jinx didn’t take rejection well; I didn’t
want Hope to be anywhere near both of us as I don’t want her to know that I was involved with Jinx in the past. Even though
Hope doesn’t yet know that she’s my mate, she will soon, and I know that she will not be pleased knowing that one of my old
flames is close.
Hope is unpredictable, one minute she is calm and collected, the next she is wild and volatile like a volcano. When she is
calm, she is a balm for my soul, a beauty which I could look upon for the rest of my life in peace. When she is volatile, she
ignites an excitement within me that is all consuming, that makes me feel alive in a way that I have never felt before.
My mate is perfect in every way, even when she challenges me. Earlier when she pulled up her skirt before I saw her shorts, I
was sure I was getting palpitations. She pushes me to violence even though I would never hurt her. The thought that another
being would look upon her with lust drives my fury running rampage. When I saw her perfect body encased in her tight little
shorts, I wanted to grab her and pull her close to me, kissing her passionately until she gave in, but instead I turned and walked
away before I disgraced myself before the Sovereign King and Queen.
Now that I know the Queen and King give me their blessing, I will make sure that Hope knows that I am her mate and that she
belongs to me. She might initially fight me, but I know that mates can’t stay away from each other for long, therefore I know that
she will give in, in the end.
“Trek” I tense when I feel Jinx hand on my shoulder as she calls my name. Sitting forward to break the contact I turn enough to
look back at both women. I must have missed something that was said while my mind was wondering because Hope is now
glaring at me, which has me tensing. Has Jinx said anything about our relationship?
“What?” I grind my teeth in irritation when I realize that I snapped in anger. I hear Jinx huff in annoyance before she replies.
“I asked if you weren’t able to track the culprit with your magic?” my eyes snap to Hope, I never told anyone that even though
I’m a werewolf, I have magic in me because my mother was a witch. I can see that Hope is not happy about not knowing, but
it’s not something which I tell people, and it was something that I was planning on telling Hope once we were mated.
I grunt in annoyance; Jinx knows about my magic because my mother was part of her Covenant, otherwise, she would never
have known. “No” I reply trying to dismiss her as I turn forward.
“That is strange,” Jinx replies as she ignores my evasiveness. “Trek used to be able to track anything, if he couldn’t identify it
with his senses, he can use his magic which has never let him down before.”
I grunt in annoyance wishing she would stop talking. “Remember that…” she starts to say only to have me snap in anger.
“Enough!” I growl in anger wanting to snap my arm around and place my hand over her mouth so that she can stop talking. I can
feel Hope’s eyes boring into the back of my head, I know that she’s fuming, know that she’s wondering why I never mentioned
my magic, but it was something that never came up, and until now I haven’t needed to use it while in the Kings service.
I hear Jinx huff in anger, but my rudeness has helped in keeping her quiet. We drive the rest of the way in silence, I want to turn
and look at Hope to make sure that she’s okay, but I don’t want to see her angry gaze staring at me, so instead I continue looking
straight ahead.
“We need to fill up,” Darius says from next to me inclining his head towards the gage to show me that we are running low on
fuel. Grunting, I nod indicating for him to pull up at the next service station. We went all the way to the Portals and back and
then the King sent us to get Jinx, we didn’t get a chance to fill up the vehicles before leaving again.
We drive for a few more miles when Darius pulls up at a service station, the others pulling up behind us. “I’m going to go and
talk to the men, I’ll be right back,” I say as I slide out of the vehicle, I breath out in relief. I start making my way towards the
men in the other SUV when I hear the click of a door opening. Looking back, I frown when I see Hope’s door opening and then
she is sliding out.
“Where are you going?” I ask casting my eyes around the service station to make sure that there is no imminent danger.
“Inside,” her tone brooks no argument which has me frowning. I know Hope, and when she throws that tone of voice at me, I
know that nothing I say will change her mind. “I’ll come with you,” I state as I fall into step with her. “What are you going to
get inside?” she glances at me, a glare on her face before she looks forward.
“None of your business,” she snaps.
“Why are you upset with me?” I ask, taking her upper arm when she ignores me and continues walking. “Hope?”
“Do you still like her?” her question has me stiffening, she knows?
“Jinx?” I ask cautiously not knowing how much I should reveal.
“Who else?” she snaps, now glaring up at me.
“No” Is she jealous? My stomach knots, could it be that my mate is already feeling our connection?
“Is that why you didn’t want me to come with you, so you had more time alone with Jinx?” her question has me letting go of her
arm in surprise as I shake my head.
“I didn’t want you to come because it could be dangerous, and because you are a distraction for me,” I reply honestly.
“Well, I’m sorry I messed up your plans,” Hope says sarcastically, snapping around she hurries into the Store, I grunt in
annoyance as I open the door and enter.
Looking around I take in the two men in the far corner near the counter, there is a woman talking on her phone when I walk in,
she looks up at me and stops what she was saying to stare. When she sees that I am looking at her, she smiles, I hear her
breathing speed up in excitement. Looking away I ignore her as I scan the store until I see Hope standing right at the back of the
store, her back to me as she talks to someone. From where I am standing, I can’t see who it is, grunting, I start making my way
towards where she is, my anger bubbling when I see she is talking to a young man that is smiling at her as if he has just won the
jackpot.
“Oh, that is wonderful, thank you” she is saying when I approach, there is a radiant smile on her face that has my hands fisting.
“I can’t believe you have never heard of them,” the man is saying when I come to stand next to them.
“Hope?” she glances at me; her smile disappears as she frowns. “We need to go,” I turn my head to look at the man, my scowl
changing to a glare when I sense his passion. I feel my chest start to rumble with a growl as the anger turns to rage. He tenses
when he recognizes danger, a look of panic manifesting on his face. He does well to be scared, I won’t have anyone else think
about my mate, or try to get her attention.
“Trek!” Hope calls in an angry voice as she places her hand on my forearm. “Don’t you dare,” she mutters pulling me away
from where she was standing with the man that is now looking pale. I want to shred him to pieces for smiling at Hope, want to
make him scared, so scared that he will never make anyone smile again.
My thoughts come to a sudden halt when I feel the sharp pain on my upper arm. Snapping my gaze away from the shaking man I
glare at Hope as she holds up one of her fighting sticks, the one that she hit my arm with. I know that if she used her power, I
would have been feeling more than just a slight sting, which in a sense calms my anger as it tells me that no matter how angry
she is with me she doesn’t want to hurt me.
“What was that for?” I ask taking a step towards her.
“For acting like a fool,” she snaps.
“It’s my place to protect you,” I reply as my anger starts to dissipate now that I have her all to myself again.
“I didn’t need any protection,” she argues angrily.
“I don’t like other men around you,” I confess, seeing her eyes widen in surprise. A few seconds later her angry expression is
changing, a wide smile is spreading across her face.
“What are you going to do when I start dating?” her question has my rage rushing back with a vengeance. I want to grab her and
lock her away where she won’t be allowed near another man again.
“Don’t push me,” I warn as I take her upper arm and start guiding her out of the store and towards the SUV. The thought of any
male ever touching her has me wanting to claw at the faceless being. She is mine!
 HOPE 5
I let Trek guide me to the vehicle, the anger that was consuming me before I stepped out of the SUV now completely gone. Is it
my imagination or is Trek jealous? Sliding into the vehicle I smile when Trek bangs the door shut.
“Is he always like that?” Jinx asks.
The smile vanishes when I remember Jinx, turning my head I shrug. I don’t want to talk to her about Trek, as a matter of fact if I
could help it, I wouldn’t even be in the same vehicle as her, but for now I will have to endure it as I know that she is important
to our cause.
Trek slides into the passenger side which stops any further comments from Jinx. I look over at him and feel myself smile as I
remember his jealous attitude in the store. Is it possible that he has feelings for me? I understand him being protective as that is
his job, but that doesn’t include him not liking me being near other men.
My smile widens as a plan starts to form, there is only one way to find out if he in fact likes me or if I am imagining things. I
know that things are crazy at the moment, and I should think on how to defeat this evil that is threatening all of us instead of
having my mind occupied with Trek all the time, but if I can find out the truth, than I can concentrate on more pressing matters.
I shake my head, who am I trying to convince? There is no way that I could possibly think of anything else if I knew that Trek
really liked me.
“What the…” my thoughts come to an abrupt stop when I hear Darius grunt. Looking out my window I frown when I see smoke
billowing from our property. My heart starts to race, did they get attacked again?
“Is that where you were taking me?” Jinx asks as she too is looking towards where our property is situated.
“Yes” I reply.
“What the hell is going on, why don’t you just tell me already?” she asks as she turns her head from where she was peering out
at the ragging fire. “There is clearly a threat, it attacked us at the Covenant and now here.”
“My parents will explain,” I say not wanting to give too much away until we know that Jinx is not involved in this ploy. I see
her angry expression, but I don’t give in as we need to make sure that we catch the responsible being that is attacking us from
the shadows.
Darius brings the SUV to a stop at the main gates, we can see the staff and guards running about trying to save things from the
fire. Some are using their magic and others are just rushing out with arm full of items. I jump out of the vehicle hearing Trek
shout my name, I ignore his roar of anger as I run up the driveway towards the mansion.
I am a few feet from the entrance when I am lifted off the ground, strong arms around my waist as they pull me against a hard
chest. I know without looking that its Trek’s arms around me, there is no one else that would dare touch me like this. “Let me
go,” I shout trying to get free.
“No,” he roars over the sound of the shouting and the fire.
“Everyone get back,” I turn my head to see Dad standing behind mom as she raises her arms to try and stop this fire. My body
goes limp in Trek’s arms as I see that they are fine, I glance around looking for Dream and Love among all the beings and find
Dream in the far corner wrapped in Drez’s arms.
I am pleased to know that she has Drez in her life, that she has found her destiny in his arms. I continue scanning the area
tensing when I don’t see Love or Beast. “I can’t see Love,” I murmur, but Trek hears me.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s around somewhere.” He states, “with everyone rushing around it’s hard to see everyone.”
I know he’s right, but it still worries me when I can’t see her, looking back at mom I see Jinx is now standing next to her also
helping in trying to stop the fire. “Let go, I need to go help” Trek’s arms tighten for a few seconds but then he is releasing me.
As soon as my feet touch the ground I am running towards where Mom and Jinx are standing with Dad standing behind them
like a guardian angel. “How can I help?” I ask looking at both women concentrated in their magic.
“Get your sisters, we need to mask the fire so that the humans don’t come here.” Dad orders as he continues to stand guard
behind Mom. He still seems slightly ill, but I know that he won’t budge while everyone is in danger.
“Okay, don’t worry,” I reply already rushing towards where I saw Dream.
“Hope,” Dream calls when I approach, “you are back.” I can see relief stamped on her features at seeing me. We are five
sisters, all very different in our ways, our powers also vary but we are very close.
“Yes, are you okay?” I ask as my gaze scans up and down her body to make sure that she isn’t hurt.
“I’m fine,” she murmurs as she steps away from Drez to stand before me.
“Dad asked that we mask what is happening here so that the humans don’t get involved,” I explain my reason for approaching
her. “Do you know where Love is?” I ask as I still can’t locate her.
Dream shakes her head, “I haven’t seen her since before the fire started,” she replies, “should we go look for her?”
“We don’t have time; we need to do this now or the fire will call attention to us.” I answer still uneasy about not finding Love. I
take Dreams hand and see her close her eyes to start chanting, I follow suit with the mantra required to build a cover around the
whole property. It would have been easier if all my sisters were here, but seeing it’s only the two of us it will take longer but
we will manage.
“Cloak of light, obscure all within your protection,”
“Cloak of light, protect all within your protection,”
“Cloak of light, obscure, obscure, obscure,”
“Mantle of light, thicken and cover this property,”
“Mantle of light, obscure all within, protect all within, obscure, obscure, obscure,”

I envision a mask floating around the property, everything inside hidden to the naked eye. I don’t know how long Dream and I
stand here chanting, hoping that everything is well hidden. If Vain was here we would have been able to set the mask and walk
away until we wanted it down, but because it’s just the two of us we need to keep manifesting the magic for it to work.
“Hope, you can stop now!” I open my eyes to look at Trek’s beautiful eyes looking at me. His hair is windblown, a frown is
adorning his forehead. I turn my head to look back at our house to see that the flames have gone.
“It’s over,” I murmur.
“Not quite, but the worst of it is over.” Drez replies as he slides his arms around Dreams waist to pull her back against his
chest.
“Good, now we can go and look for Love” Dream suggests as she looks at me.
“You two stay here and we will look for Love,” Trek orders as he inclines his head for Drez to follow him.
“Why does he always think that I will do what he says?” I grumble, seeing Dream grin at my words.
“I wonder if maybe it’s because he is your guard, and you are supposed to listen to him,” she teases. I wave my hand in
dismissal as I turn to go and look for my sister.
“Are you coming, I’m going to look for Love in the opposite direction where they went.” I state as I start making my way
through items that have been laid out in the open, and beings that are now resting from their mad rush.
“Of course, someone needs to keep you out of trouble,” I grunt at her teasing, “she’s most probably sitting somewhere with
Beast until everything has calmed down” Dream suggests.
We make our way around the side of the mansion to the back, and then we start scouting down and around the lawns towards
the trees. “I don’t think she would come all the way down here, do you?” Dream asks as we reach the trees.
“You know Love, she gets distracted and starts wondering,” I say as I turn to walk the edge of the trees towards where the front
of the property is.
“Beast keeps her safe,” Dream states which has me nodding in confirmation. Beast is just as his name depicts. A massive beast
of a dog that towers over most of the beings, he is ferocious when Love is threatened. No one knows where he came from or
from what factor he belongs, all we know is that Love found him one day in the woods in Eternity Fae. He was wounded and
for a time we didn’t know if he was going to make it, but Love sat by his side through night and day until he was up. Ever since
then that you don’t see one without the other.
“I wonder how the fire started,” Dream suddenly interrupts my train of thought with her statement, which has me glancing at her
and frowning.
“Do you know where it started?” I ask, but she shrugs at my question.
“The first we knew about the fire was when Shok ran into Dad’s room telling us to evacuate that the house was on fire.” She
recounts as we continue scouting the property.
“Do you think it was set on purpose?” I ask.
“I would say so, it was too quick for it not to be.” Her reply has me tensing as I think about what could have happened and the
maliciousness of someone setting a fire on purpose.
“That means that we have a traitor among…” I stop when I see something out of the corner of my eye. “Beast!” I shout.
I rush towards where I see him laying on the ground concealed by the trees, he is so still that my heart tightens with fear.
“Beast?” I call again as I approach, but there is no movement or sound. I stop when I reach him to step around his head to see
his eyes that are closed. Leaning forward I stroke his head calling his name, but there is no reply or movement. My gaze travels
down his body to find blood pooled on the ground near his front flank.
“He’s hurt,” I call out as I look over at Dream that has just come around to stand next to me.
“Is…is he…” the words get stuck in Dreams throat as she looks at Beast.
“He’s still breathing, see” I point towards his chest where I can see movement. “Go and get help, quickly,” I plead as I lean
down towards where I see the blood to try and find a way to help him.
“There is so much blood,” Dream whispers still staring at Beast.
“Go Dream, you are wasting time!” I snap which has her jump out of her frozen posse and start to run up towards the mansion.
“It’s okay Beast, I will help you” I promise, hoping against hope that it’s true. I stroke his long fur away from where I think the
blood is flowing from only to freeze when I see the jagged cut running along his side. I sense a presence, looking up I see Trek
rushing towards us from the other side of the trees.
“You never listen, do you?” he argues as he comes to a halt next to me, “always placing yourself in danger, you are going to be
the death of me.” He squats down next to me to look at the wound on Beasts body before grunting. “He is going to need
stitching, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to move him.”
“Dream went to find help,” I reveal as I continue scanning the rest of his body to find any further wounds. “Something must
have happened to Love, Beast would never have been here without her”.
“As soon as someone comes to help, I will go out and scout for your sister,” Trek promises as he raises his hand to my cheek.
“Hope, Hope” I hear Mom call from behind beast as she rushes towards us. Rising from where I was, I step around Beast to
see Mom, Dad and Dream coming to a stop near Beast. “Oh no, what happened to him?”
“I don’t know, but he needs help, he is bleeding a lot.” The concern on my parents’ face is evident as both of them know that if
Beast is injured it means that something must have happened to Love. Everything that has been happening is taking a toll on my
parents, I can see how pale Mom is from the magic that she had to exert to stop the fire, and now she finds out that one of her
daughters is missing. My Dad is standing next to her, a strained look on his face from his recent illness and the worry of the
threat on his people and family.
“Let’s see how he is,” Mom says as she walks around to check on Beast, Dad steps forward leaning down and kisses my
forehead before following Mom. “We can’t keep him here in the woods, we need to clean out this wound and stitch him up.”
“Trek, go get some men to help carry Beast up to the mansion,” Dad orders.
“Please also ask someone to start boiling water and find my medical bag.” Mom calls after Trek, I feel Dreams hand on mine
as she stands looking down at an unconscious Beast.
“Does this mean that something has happened to Love?” Dream asks in a whisper.
“We will find your sister,” Dad promises from where he is now standing near Beast’s head. A low growl suddenly emits from
Beasts chest. He starts to raise his head, a whine rumbling from him, which has Mom placing a hand on his fur to calm his
restlessness.
“Calm down Beast, let us help you.” She says in a gentle voice which has him whining again as if he wants to say something. “I
know, you want to help Love, but you can’t if you aren’t okay.” A deep sorrowful whine emits from deep within.
Just then I hear approaching footsteps, looking in their direction I see Trek, Shok, Drez and Darius running towards us, in the
far distance is two servants carrying items that are necessary to help Beast.
“My sovereign, where would you like us to take him?” Trek asks when they are standing in position around Beast.
“Lay him near the pool, under the canopy” the males get to work as soon as the order is issued. When they raise Beast he roars
in pain, the birds in the trees take flight at the noise. I feel so bad that I have to lay my hands on Beast to try and appease his
pain, my heart is constricted with the pain I feel coming from him.
I envision a bright green healing light sending it into Beast, I feel him start to relax as sleep takes over. I might not be able to
heal him, but I can take his pain away at least for a little while. Beast growls just before his eyes close and he is out.
The men carry Beast up the embankment towards the mansion, they lay him down under the canopy. Mom starts working on him
as soon as he is in place to try to heal him. “Trek, I want you to take the men and find Love” Dad orders, “take Hope and
Dream with you, they will be safer with you then here where we don’t know who our enemies are.”
Trek inclines his head in agreement, “wait here, I will be back with the men.”
I turn towards Dad to see him talking to Darius, an angry scowl on his face which indicates how angry he is. Dad takes a while
to anger but when he does it is prudent to keep away. “Come Hope, they are calling us” I turn to see Dream stepping towards
where the men are standing now waiting for us.
“I don’t need to tell you to be careful, do I?” Dad suddenly says from next to us, “listen to your guards and bring your sister
back.” I raise up on my toes to kiss his cheek and smile.
“Don’t worry, we will be fine” Dream says as she hastens on her way towards the men, I follow tensing when I see Trek frown
as I approach.
“What?” I ask, my hackles rising at his look.
“This isn’t a joke Hope, you need to listen to me when we are out there” I nod at his statement, knowing that he is right but if
anyone is in danger, he can’t expect me to cower away while I see them getting hurt.
“Shall we go,” Dream calls from the edge of the group, Trek grunts in annoyance as he waves his hand for me to proceed him.
The men flank out as we start walking down the embankment towards the trees where we found Beast. Love has a pure heart
and always believes the best in people; she has always tried to help beings that she has found are hurt, or in need. She is the
last of us that should have been taken by such evil. I wish Beast could talk; he would have been able to tell us what happened.
Trek kneels a few steps ahead to look at the ground, a frown adorning his face. “What is it?” I ask.
“These tracks have become deeper here, which means that whoever these belong to started carrying more weight from this
point.”
“You think it was Love?” I ask looking at the marks on the ground. “Those aren’t shoe marks, what does those?”
“A Centaur” Trek replies as he stands and glances around, his head is slightly lifted which tells me that he is scenting the air.
“And yes, I think he is the one that has Love, but he’s not the only one.” Centaur’s have always been a problem, they are wild
by nature, their human upper body not strong enough to fight their wild half horse bottom half, but they have never done
something like this. Whoever the mastermind is behind this attack, I am sure it’s not a Centaur as they are too wild to plan
something like what has been happening.
“Do you see more Centaur tracks?” I ask looking around at the ground to try and see what he does.
“There are two more Centaurs but there is also two with feet, by the size of the feet I would say they are Troll’s.” I gasp, that
means we are looking at a group of five. My heart races as I think of Love, Centaur are wild, but they aren’t mean, but there is a
faction of Trolls which are mean to their very core. We are at peace with the Trolls, but they have a group of them that have
been banned by their leader from their community as they wrought havoc constantly.
I know that Love can take care of herself like my other sisters can, but we are talking about a group of five strong beings that
are holding her captive. “How did they get to this realm, the humans will panic if they see them on the road” I say pensively,
the gates to Eternity Fae are closed, no one can go in or out. How did these beings manage to move between the two realms?
We are forever careful in this realm as not to give anything away, if these beings start to make an appearance to the humans, we
will all be doomed. “We need to find them quickly,” I whisper as I follow the others as they continue to scout the trees.
Looking around at our group I analyse the men, each one powerful in his own right. The guard to the Royal family is chosen for
their strength, their morals and their tenacity for good.
“Here!” Darius calls from the far-left side, “Magic has been practiced in this spot,” he explains which has Dream and I
hurrying to the spot to see if we can identify the magic and who did it. Magic leaves behind a trail nearly like tracks that can
tell us if its good or evil, old or new magic, what being it belongs to as each faction does magic in a different way, and the
power of that magic has different vibration that can lead us to who the being is.
As I approach Darius I can immediately feel the evil that radiates in this spot, the air is heavy with its raw dark power. It’s
clear that whoever was casting is practicing old magic, the power is evident that it is a very powerful being that is doing this,
but unlike most magic this one is difficult to decipher which being is doing it as there is different vibrations interlinked in this
place.
“How is it possible?” Dream murmurs as she leans down to place her hand on the ground.
“What is it?” Drez asks.
“I can’t tell what is doing this, it feels like different factions,” I nod at her reply.
“It’s old magic, evil and strong but as Dream says it feels like more than one being doing it,” I explain.
“You think it’s more than one doing it?” Brok our only resident Griffin, his sight is sharp like the eagle he possesses, his
strength is phenomenal like the lion that he is. I have only seen him in his raw state once before, a sight that holds your
attention with its majestic strength. Brok is a force to be reckoned with when he is crossed, and I am incredibly pleased that
he’s on our side.
“I can’t tell, what about you Hope?” Dream asks.
“It’s hard to tell as I only feel one source of magic, it could be more than one, but I think its only one being masking his magic
with a trick of various beings’ vibration,” I respond.
“Is that possible?” Drez asks as he pulls Dream back against him.
“I don’t know,” I say honestly. I never thought about it, but I’m sure that it could be possible.
“We have a problem,” Doil calls from where he is scouting a few steps ahead of everyone, “The tracks just disappear,” I hear
Trek grunt from behind me, he steps around me to make his way ahead looking for any sign that might indicate where they went.
“Nothing?” I ask a few minutes later when he walks back to us with a scowl.
“They just disappear,” he replies inclining his head back towards where he came from, “It seems like a portal was opened
over there where they vanished.”
“Oh no,” Dream cries, “do you think they went back to Eternity Fae?”
“That’s what I think,” Trek says with a shrug.
“How are we supposed to follow them into Eternity Fae if the portals are closed to us?” Doil asks.
“I can take us back,” Dream pipes up, “well, that is if my room is still intact.”
“Yes, that’s perfect,” I reply.
“What does she mean ‘she can take us back’?” Darius asks, “I thought the gates were closed.”
“You will see, let’s get back to the mansion and see if your room is still intact.” Drez answers as he takes Dream’s hand to start
guiding her back home. I didn’t think I would be going back to Eternity Fae so soon, but if this is what is needed to get Love
back, then I will be the first one to go.
 TREK 6
I don’t like the idea of going back to Eternity Fae with Hope and Dream when we don’t know how it is there. The danger that
we faced when we left was surmountable to anything that any of us has encountered before, not to know who we are fighting is
the problem because we can’t identify their weaknesses.
I also don’t like the idea of going through Dream’s painting, I know that she has done it before, but there is a lot that could go
wrong. Unfortunately, we don’t have another plan and to save Love we will need to do it. I follow the others to the still
smoking mansion, making sure to stay close to Hope in case there is a surprise attack.
The men take point, making sure to leave the women between us as they enter the mansion, navigating burnt beams and door
frames, broken walls and furniture, stepping over hazardous steps until they are entering Dream’s room. The smoke is light in
here and only a few items have been scorched, the rest is still standing. The walls are darkened by soot and the painting on the
far wall has also been affected.
“We need to clean the soot off, Hope can you do anything?” Dream asks as she glances at her sister.
“Maybe with a broom,” Hope mutters as she looks at the wall.
“How about we use the bed quilt to rub the soot off,” Eaton asks from where he is standing next to the bed. Eaton is a
Werewolf like me and my eyes and ears where the Guards are involved.
“No, that will just smudge it,” Dream replies.
“Let me try something,” Hope says stepping forward to place her hands on the wall. I immediately step closer in case
something happens; I don’t trust magic even though I have a portion of magic that runs within me, I find it too treacherous to
trust. I see her close her eyes as she murmurs under her voice, slowly a green light starts to shine under her hands, rising until it
is radiating out, fanning itself across the wall.
Sometimes I am still surprised when I see certain things that these sisters can do, they are all powerful in their own right, but
when they are together, they are a force to be reckoned with. The green shimmers and sways like water in a lake. Hope stands
like that for a long while, her body swaying with the movement of the magic, her expression calm.
“It’s working,” Darius says from the door, I look closely at the painting realizing that its more vibrant and not so dark. Hope
continues for a few more minutes, I worry that she’s exhausting herself. Earlier she had to mask the mansion from prying eyes,
and now she has to use her magic again for the painting. I know that she feels tired after using magic and today she hasn’t had a
chance to rest yet.
“Enough Hope, it’s clean” I order quietly as not to startle her. The shimmer starts to slowly disintegrate to nothingness as her
hands fall to her sides and she takes a step back into my waiting arms. Wrapping them around her waist I pull her against my
chest feeling her body slowly start to relax. “Are you okay?” I ask feeling her breath against my arm as she breaths.
“Yes,” she murmurs but does not move.
“Thank you Hope, it looks even more vibrant than before” Dream says as she places a hand on Hopes back to pat her.
“mmm” Hope acknowledges.
“We can make our way through once Hope is feeling up to it” Dream states looking out at the men.
“Go through what?” Brok asks with a scowl as he looks at the wall more closely.
“The painting,” Dream explains.
“What?” Doil snaps before glancing at me in question, his brows raised in surprise, I nod in reply. “You serious!”
“Yes, Dream has the power of moving between realms through her paintings” the men all look at Dream and then back to me, I
know what they are going to ask and I’m not sure I can give them an answer.
“Dream has the power to move between realms, are you sure that we can?” Darius asks as he steps right up to the wall to touch
it.
“Don’t worry, I will get all of you there safely,” Dream promises with a smile.
“I sure hope so, I don’t envy the thought of being stuck in a wall, or half my body is here and the other half somewhere else.”
Eaton mutters as he crosses his arms across his chest.
“It will be fine, you will see. All I need is for you to all hold hands,” Dream states with a smile which gets her the opposite
effect.
“Hold hands?” Darius grunts, “I’m not holding anyone’s hand, what am I, two?”
“You have to for this to work,” Dream implores, the angry look on all the men’s faces is quite comical if it was not for the
situation, we are in.
“Stop being such girls, you won’t have to do it for long.” I state hoping that I’m not lying as I have no idea how long this will
take.
“Come on, we are wasting time,” Drez states as he goes to stand next to Dream and holds out his hand. I look down at Hope to
see her gazing out at everyone with an amused look on her face.
“Are you feeling up to it?” I ask, which has her smiling up at me and then step back and away from me. The gap between us is
immediately felt, I want to pull her close to me again but refrain, instead I step up to Drez and give him my hand as I take
Hopes with my other one.
“Come on, we don’t have all day” I roar getting a grunt out of the men, but they slowly approach and start to hold hands. Their
unpleased expressions aren’t lost on me which has me turning my head quickly towards the painting before they see me
grinning in amusement.
“I’m going to pull everyone through, don’t let go no matter what” Dream explains as she steps up to the wall.
“What happens if we let go?” Brok asks.
“Then you will be stuck between the two realms” Dream explains, her words have the grin disappearing off my face in a
second as I once again look back at all the men in warning. I know that as varied species we all like our space, but now isn’t
the time to quibble about it.
“I need you all to stand in a line before the wall, when I step in you are to do the same, and don’t hesitate or you will be left
behind.” Dream’s warning has everyone tensing as we are now dependent on each other to make sure we don’t get stuck
between realms.
“Now, are you ready?” she asks receiving a grunt or a yes from everyone. “Raise your hands and place them on the wall, you
will feel when I start entering the painting, you are to do the same.” Raising both arms, I place the hand I’m holding with Hope
against the wall and on my other side is Drez as our hands are joined against the wall.
I sense a pull as I see from the corner of my eye Dream push her hands through the wall, immediately I am pushing through,
amazed as our clasped hands disappear through the wall. It feels like they are entering in through water, I hear the men mutter
as they start to push their bodies through. We are warriors, used to fighting and using our weapons to get what we want, to have
to depend on magic is a new experience for most, and one that some don’t like.
Being the leader of so many factions is tricky, as they are all so different and so powerful in their own right. I take a breath as I
push my head through, my eyes trying to see any danger, but all I see is a thick fog that revolves around us as we step through.
The fog starts to slowly rise as we move forward showing us the deep forest within Eternity Fae.
My senses are on high alert as I try to sense any danger, “Is everyone okay?” Dream asks as she glances at everyone. Once
everyone has responded the men loosen their grip on the others hand and step away.
I don’t need to tell these men to be on the alert, they are all well trained and used to danger. I brought the most experienced and
trained men with us to make sure that we are successful in getting Love back.
We start making our way through the dense forest, this short time that we have been away seems like months when looking at
the dying forest. The vibrant energy that used to emit from these trees is now gone. The sounds that used to be so familiar when
walking through this forest is no more, instead there is an oppressive dark quietness that sends chills up my neck.
Eternity Fae is extensive, trying to find where they have taken Love will be difficult. “Where are we going?” Hope asks
looking back at me.
“I think we need to try and find your sisters, Vain and Reality as they might know more about what is happening here then we
do,” Hope nods at my suggestion.
“Dream, where are they now, do you know?” Hope asks.
“The last time I was here they had already left, and I didn’t have time to go and look for them, but I was told that they went into
the Singing tunnels to keep safe.”
“That will make it difficult, there are hundreds of tunnels all interlinked down there,” Darius says.
“That’s where your people stay, isn’t it?” Brok asks.
“Yes, we own those tunnels,” Darius confirms, “If they went in there it must have been by invitation as no one is allowed
unless they have been invited.” The Dragons are proud beings, they are as old as time with the wisdom of the universe. They
do not try to rule, but if they tried, they would succeed as there is no faction stronger in any way as the Dragon. They are wise,
intelligent, strong, and brave with a presence that overshadows most of the other factions when they are around.
We will find the Dragons in the tunnels as they don’t run, if a Dragon is cornered, he will fight instead of submitting. Not many
have the audacity to confront a dragon as they too have their own magic.
“Will you invite us to enter the tunnels with you?” Hope asks Darius, knowing that he will not refuse a request from a royal.
“Yes, but my invitation is only open until we find your sisters and acquire their help, after that we have to leave” Hope nods, a
smile lighting her face in thanks.
“Great, let’s go find them” Dream says, her excitement evident to be joined with her sisters again. From the five sisters Vain
and Reality are the ones with the strategy brains, they would be great commanders. I have no doubt that wherever they are they
are surviving and conquering their situation.
We make our way through the forest nearing the spring where the mermaids live, the eerie silence greets us as we approach.
“It’s too quiet,” Dream whispers, her gaze wondering around the spring trying to find her friends, but there is no movement or
sound.
“What happened here?” Hope asks as we see signs of a struggle near the water’s edge.
“Maybe your sisters will know,” Brok replies as he leans down to scan the ground. “There are signs of Chimera being here,”
“Are you sure?” I ask in surprise, I kneel to scan for myself, it’s true there are signs of Chimera here. “How the hell did they
get out?” Chimera were imprisoned centuries ago for being too volatile and dangerous to be around others, if someone let them
out they have no idea the mayhem that can occur with them on the loose.
“I have never seen a Chimera, have any of you?” Shok asks in surprise.
“I went to the pits a couple of decades ago and saw a few of them, I stayed for a while to learn their ways, they are vicious,
deadly creatures,” I explain, worried that none are prepared for this fight. “They are treacherous, they get into your head,
convincing you that there is no danger and that’s when they pounce.”
“What is the best way to fight one?” Darius asks.
“Their ego, if they think they are superior and that they are winning, that is the way to get close. You need to go straight for the
heart because even though the Chimera are three in one, the lion, goat and snake, it only has one heart. You cut that out and you
kill the Chimera, the problem is that their heart is well protected.”
“Well, let’s go get ourselves some Chimera,” Brok quips as he swings his axe.
“Don’t ever underestimate them, they weren’t exiled for being harmless.” I warn.
“Do you think they would have attacked the Dragons?” Dream asks with a concerned expression.
“No, the Chimera look for those weaker than them, and would only attack the Dragon’s if they didn’t have any other choice.” I
explain.
“I think we should hurry up; I don’t think I want to meet one.” Hope says. When everyone starts making their way towards
where the Singing tunnels are it shows that she’s not the only one keen in not meeting a Chimera.
We travel through the thick vegetation, the men having to cut down branches for us to pass. I keep an eye on Hope making sure
that she does not get hurt, it is clear that she’s exhausted but my mate is strong, she doesn’t give up.
 HOPE 7
When we enter Dragon territory I breath a sigh of relief, my heart has been in my hands with fear that we would encounter a
Chimera, but now that we are here, I feel a semblance of safety.
There are signs of conflict as we approach the entrance to one of the Singing Tunnels, burnt flesh of unknown species lies all
around which tells its own story of the Dragons being attacked, and them fighting back. I know that if Vain and Rea are here,
they would have found a way of staying safe, they are fighters that know how to survive.
“They have tried to attack us!” Darius grunts in anger, his eyes glinting in rage.
“Your people know how to survive Darius, I’m sure they will be fine,” I say trying to appease his anger at the destruction we
see of the area. As we enter the tunnels there is an eerie silence unlike the usual gurgling sounds for what the tunnels are called
after.
“Be cautious,” Trek calls out as he takes out his blades, I pull my fighting sticks out in case of an ambush, I want to be ready for
the attack. “Stay close to me,” Trek orders as he comes to stand next to me. At any other time, I would rebel, but the things I
have seen outside hold me back as the thought of a Chimera attacking us sends chills up my spine.
“Someone is approaching,” Brok calls back to us, we all hold still waiting for whoever it is hoping that they are friendly. A
few minutes later a group of men come around the bend, their weapons up in readiness.
“We come in peace,” Darius calls.
“Darius?” we are clearly facing a group of Dragons as the leader clearly knows Darius.
“Cain, I thought you would be tucked away in bed where it’s warm.” Darius teases, showing that these two are friends,
Dragons are not the type to be in bed when there is a fight to be had, and it is known that they take offense when called lazy,
therefore, showing us that these two know each other quite well.
“No brother, I think that’s you that has become soft among the Royals.” Cain quips as he steps forward to embrace Darius. “It’s
about time you came home,” Cain says.
“I’m just passing, we are looking for the two princesses. You might have seen or heard of them, Reality and Vain.” Darius
reveals as he steps back to look at Cain. Cain nods but his gaze is traveling around our group, there is suspicion in his
expression.
“I see you brought strangers into our midst,” Cain states raising a brow as he looks back at Darius.
“These are guards to our Sovereign, Dream and Hope our Princesses are looking for their sisters.” Cain once again looks at
Dream and then me, he nods in respect as his gaze meets ours.
“You are welcome, your sisters will be pleased to see you,” his words have a weight lifting off my shoulders, I smile in
happiness and relief knowing that soon we will be united again.
“They are here?” Dream asks, a smile also appearing on her tired face.
“Yes, they have been here for a while” Cain replies, “we can take you to them now,”
“That would be great, thank you” I reply lowering my fighting sticks into their holsters. I notice that Trek has lowered his
blades but hasn’t holstered them, which means that he is still feeling threatened. I take an inconspicuous step closer to Trek and
place a hand on his bicep to assure him.
The men turn to start making their way deeper into the tunnels, as we walk the gurgling sounds slowly start to rise to greet us.
There has been a rumour that the Singing Tunnels respond to the Dragons, the silence that we encountered when entering tells
me that it might be that they go silent when a stranger enters which will warn the Dragons that someone strange has entered
their home.
The fact that they are now singing tells me that I might be right. The deeper we go the lighter it gets within the tunnels, the clear
quartz shining from the roof of the tunnels is stunning. The tunnels start becoming higher and higher, there are various entrances
that I am sure will lead to different areas, some to confuse visitors that are not supposed to be here. I am sure if anyone comes
in without knowing where to go, they will get very lost within minutes of walking through.
After walking for about twenty minutes, we encounter two women walking towards us, they have exotic runes drawn on one
side of their face which identifies them as Dragons. When they see us approach, they stand to the side to let us pass. It is
evident by their unfriendly look that they don’t like strangers in their home.
We come upon an opening into a great gallery, looking down we see many walking around. There are stalls with items on
display which I see people bartering over. Then in the far corner I see a bench with two children playing. It is sad to think of
all the destruction that is happening at the moment, children being hurt or killed, families being separated, and beings being
pushed out of their homes all because of evil hearts.
“This way,” Cain calls as his men each go their own way, he guides us down a narrow path to the bottom. “You will find Vain
and Reality over there,” he says pointing towards an arch in the far distance.
“Thank you,” I murmur making my way towards the arch, my heart racing at knowing that I am going to see my sisters that I
haven’t seen in a while. I see Zain and Aqua standing guard by the arch, when they see us, they bow their heads in
acknowledgment, a happy smile on their faces. Zain is Reality’s guard, Aqua is Vain’s. Walking through the arch I stop when I
see Reality kneeling on the ground surrounded by children as she tells them a story, Vain is bent over something which I can’t
see from where I’m standing.
“Hello” Dream calls out, Vain and Reality snap around towards us, their expression light up with pleasure as they both start
rushing towards us as we run towards them. It has been way too long without our sisters; we have always been together and
now because of this war we were separated without knowing what was happening here, and them not knowing how we were.
Rea slides her arms around me in a tight hug, I feel tears of joy running down my cheeks as she takes a step back. “I have
missed you,” she says as Vain comes to hug me, her arms stay around me longer than usual which evidences her happiness in
seeing me. Vain is an independent soul, but I think that no matter how independent she is she has missed us.
“What are you two doing here, it’s dangerous, you should have stayed on Earth,” Reality asks as she looks behind us to where
the guards are standing as they look out for us.
“It’s a long story, let’s go sit somewhere so we can explain everything to you,” Dream suggests which prompts Rea to take my
hand and Dreams as they guide us to a bench a few feet away.
“Okay, spill it” Vain commands impatiently when we are sitting, she is standing before us tapping her foot.
“Love has been kidnapped,” I blurt out which has Reality gasping and Vain groaning in anger.
“Who kidnapped her, do you know?” Reality asks.
“Where was Beast?” Vain asks simultaneously.
I hold up my hand for them to calm down so we can explain, I know that Vain will most probably interrupt one hundred times
before we finish our recounting of everything that has happened since we left, but they need to let us recount our story before
interrupting.
“To first answer you, no, we don’t know who kidnapped her, and yes Beast was with her, and he got injured.” I state before
continuing, “when we managed to escape here, we looked for Dad and Mom in the human realm, only to find that they had been
attacked too.”
Vain opens her mouth to interrupt which has me raising my hand before she can talk, “Let me finish or we will never get to the
end,” she grunts but nods as she folds her arms. “When we found them, the Gargoyles had been cursed to stay in their grotesque
form not being able to change.”
“Shok’s brother is one of them,” Dream states as she looks over at Shok that is now talking to Zain. Shok and Dream have
always been good friends, at one time we thought that they liked each other, but then realized that it was Drez that Dream loved
and not Shok.
“There was a fight, at the time we thought that we had pushed them back but Dad was sick and kept getting worse until Love
found that the Onix in our parents room was cursed. I went with Trek to find Jinx and bring her back to try and explain why a
semi-precious stone that was given to Dad as a present from the Witches was cursed, but when we got to Jinx something tried
to attack us there too.” I take a breath before continuing, “it’s just such an evil energy, but we still don’t know where it’s
coming from or who is attacking us.” I see the look that Vain and Reality share which intrigues me.
“Do you know who is attacking us?” I ask.
“Finish telling us what has happened and then we will tell you what has happened here and what we think,” Rea states.
“Okay,” I reply continuing with my retelling of the past events, “When we got back the mansion was on fire, and everyone was
outside trying to put the flames out. We noticed that Love was missing so Dream and I went looking for her only to find that
Beast was injured, when Trek and the men,” I incline my head towards where the men are resting, talking among themselves
near the arch. “Started to scout the area they found that magic was used to open a portal, that’s why we are here looking for that
thread of magic, and maybe be able to find Love.”
“You said Dad was sick, how is he now?” Reality asks with concern stamped all over her features.
“He is feeling much better ever since the stone was broken,” Dream explains taking Reality’s hand in comfort.
“Well, we have also been through our fair share of fights on this side,” Vain explains, and I see from the corner of my eye
Reality nodding in agreement.
“Just after you left, we were attacked in force, we had to run from our home as the food was cut off and we weren’t able to
receive anything, but also because we didn’t have the force to stand against the creatures battering down our walls.” I gasp at
Reality’s recounting thinking of the horror that they must have experienced.
“We tried going to the Siren’s, but they too had been attacked and were gone from their home.” She is shaking her head in
thought, “You should have seen, there was so much destruction it was sad.” Reality explains, a look of deep sadness crossing
her features as she recounts her experience.
“We were going to go and ask the Wolves for help but we didn’t make it there as the whole river pass has been destroyed, so
we turned as we were close to a Singing Tunnel, that is where we first found shelter, but in the morning when we woke we
were surrounded by Dragons, at first we thought they were going to attack us, but to our surprise they were there to protect us,”
Vain reveals.
“Chimeras were after us,” Rea says, “but the Dragons pushed them back, if it wasn’t for them we would have been dead.”
“They keep attacking every few days, trying to wear us down, but for now we have been able to hold them off,”
“Do you know who is sending them?” I ask hoping that they have a suspicion that we can follow.
“I think that we have more than just a suspicion, come with me” Vain states as she inclines her head to the far side of the high
cavern. The three of us stand to follow her, I notice Trek making his way towards us.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
“Vain says that she knows who is behind all of this, she is going to show us something” I explain.
“We are coming with,” Trek replies raising his hand to call the others as I turn to hurry after my sisters. It’s the men’s right to
also see what we are going to see, after all we are all in this together. Vain takes us through a narrow tunnel until we are
stopped by a door of water that runs down like a waterfall.
She raises her hands to the water “Source of life, pure and bright please let us pass,” I am speechless when the water starts to
subside and the tunnel opens up to a small cavern the size of a small room, to the right I see what looks like light streaming in
from a small opening on the cavern wall. I am about to step forward when Trek snaps his right arm around my waist pulling me
back against his chest.
“Stop” he growls warning the others, “there is something in here.”
Vain glances back and smiles, “yes, this cavern is guarded by Joel but don’t worry he won’t harm us.” Just as she says that I
see movement to the far left of the Cavern, but it’s so dark there that it takes me a second to realize there is a Dragon laying
down, his eyes are open following our every move.
“Uum…should we be in here?” Dream whispers from behind Drez.
“Don’t worry, come on let us show you this.” Rea insists as she walks towards the crack which clearly faces the outside. I
follow but every few steps I glance back to make sure that Joel the Dragon hasn’t moved because even though Vain and Reality
are comfortable with him, I have seen too much lately to trust anyone completely. When we are standing a few feet away from
the cracked piece on the Cavern wall we stop.
“When you look out you will see a camp.” Vain explains, “that is the camp where the Chimera return to after they attack us, in
the centre you will see a dark blue tent, we have seen Toron the Warlock coming out of there to incite the Chimera, there are
also other beings that come here but they all leave after a couple of hours, we think that they come to rest or receive more
orders before they go back to do whatever they are told to do.”
I gasp and glance at Trek, we were right when we realised that Toron was the one that gave our parents the Onix. Toron is
responsible for the evil that has befallen everyone, he is the one attacking and raising mayhem wherever we have gone.
“Toron is the one that gifted Mom and Dad with that Onix just before he stepped down from being the leader of the Witches,
that is when Jinx took over.” I explain, “we suspected him but weren’t sure, now we are.” I step towards the crack, at first the
bright light from outside blinds me, but slowly my eyes adjust which allows me to see the scattered tents, I look for the blue
tent in the centre hoping to see Toron.
“There are different beings down there,” Dream says as she too looks out.
“I thought the leprechauns were on our side,” I whisper when I see a group of leprechauns walking into a tent.
“We believe that he has done something to most of the beings down there as a few of them aren’t evil, but they are doing his
bidding.” Rea explains.
“Why haven’t you attacked when they are at camp?” Darius asks.
“Because this isn’t his only camp, and he isn’t always here, we are trying to understand his pattern so that when we attack, we
can root him out.” Vain explains, “and he also has a Phoenix in his group which makes it really difficult to capture him when
the Phoenix is around.”
“Not possible,” Brok replies taking a step forward to look through the crack. I can understand that him being part Phoenix, the
knowledge that such a regal and powerful being subjecting itself to the evil plans of another seems unreasonable.
“I’m sorry, but it is true” Reality states with a shrug, “that’s why we haven’t attacked yet, we need to understand how he is
getting all these factions under his control before we can attack and maybe be subjected to his mind games.”
“What if he has Love,” Dream says, “we can’t leave her in his hands, she has to be saved.”
“If she is there, we will get her.” Drez promises as he strokes his finger gently over her cheek.
“There must be a reason why he would go into the human realm to get Love,” Trek says.
“Maybe he thinks that by having Love we will also give in, and he can control all of us, we can’t rush into this without knowing
what is behind all of this,” Vain states.
“Well, we can’t just leave Love,” I argue, “there must be something we can do.”
“First we need to make sure that he has Love, and if he does, where she is,” Trek explains, “There are a few Centaurs and
Troll’s down there, but we can’t be sure that they are the ones that took Love.”
“I will go and scout around, I will be back with information.” Brok volunteers.
“I’m coming with you,” Trek replies, “You need someone at your back” my stomach tightens at the thought of Trek placing
himself in danger.
“I…”
“Don’t even think about it,” Trek interrupts before I can tell them that I am joining them on their quest. “We need to be as
inconspicuous as possible, too many of us will stand out, especially if one is a princess and someone recognises you.” I know
that what he says makes sense, but it doesn’t mean that I will like it. I hate the thought of knowing that Trek is placing himself in
danger and I won’t be there to help.
“You better be careful, if you get hurt, I won’t like it,” I mutter.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back to keep you in line” he teases with a twinkle in his eye which has me huffing. I can feel my cheeks
burning with embarrassment, happy that the cavern is quite dark to cover my blushing cheeks.
 TREK 8
Brok and I leave the Singing tunnels behind as we make our way around the woods that cover the entrance to the tunnel which
we excited, a smile lifting my lips when I think of the awkward hug that Hope gave me before I left. I know that she has
feelings for me, I just want to make sure that her feelings are deep enough before I tell her that I’m her mate, as I don’t want to
scare her away.
I know that she wanted to come with us, but there is nothing on this earth that would have had me agree with placing her in the
middle of danger. Besides, I need to have my wits around me when in the enemy camp and not be distracted with keeping Hope
safe.
“When are you going to tell her?” Brok suddenly asks from beside me.
I tense as I was not aware that Brok knew that Hope and I were mates. “She’s not ready yet,” I reply.
“You are just prolonging the inevitable,” his words have me grunting, the truth is that I don’t know how she will take it, Hope is
unpredictable and the thought of her telling me that she doesn’t want me as her mate scares me half to death.
“Maybe, but I need to make sure that she is ready” I explain. I won’t ask him how he knows, Brok has a knack for knowing
things. I know that he won’t talk about what he knows to anyone, as Brok is loyal to those that are loyal to him.
We continue the rest of the way in silence, until we are at the edge of the camp. “There are no guards,” Brok mutters looking
around suspiciously.
“You think he knows that the Dragons can see the camp from where they are?” I ask looking around to try and detect any foul
play. Brok glances at me and then takes a step forward, his body and features tense. We make our way around the camp,
surprised when we encounter a few beings that completely ignore us. There is a glazed look to all of them that is evidence that
something has been done to them.
We see a few Chimeras which keep to themselves and ignore everyone else. There are a few Trolls and Centaurs standing by
the main tent. Looking at them I am transfixed by their stillness, glancing at Brok I see him looking towards a tent in the far
south corner of the camp.
Glancing that way I see the Phoenix that Vain spoke about, “See…” I’m about to ask Brok if he sees any evidence of Love but
am cut short when Brok lifts his hand for me to keep quiet. Instead of continuing I trust his judgement and instead keep my
mouth shut, I understand a few minutes later why he wanted me quiet.
Looking around I realize that no one is talking, they are standing around but not actually communicating with each other. I
elbow Brok lightly on his arm to follow me, I want to get as close to the main tent as possible so that we can see if Love is in
there. As we approach the tent, I feel a strong force pushing me back, the push only lets us approach as far as where the
Centaurs and Trolls are. There is a protection spell around the tent, Toron is making sure that no one approaches him.
After walking around the tent to assure that there are no gaps in the spell, we start making our way towards the tent where the
Phoenix was standing. Brok inclines his head to let me know that he is going to step inside, I nod turning my back towards the
tent, so that I am looking out towards everyone. Brok disappears inside, a few minutes later he is stepping out to walk towards
the edge of the camp. We make our way towards the cover of trees turning when we get there to look back at the camp.
“They are all under some kind of spell,” Brok says as he leans against a tree, a pensive expression adorning his face.
“What did you find inside the tent?” I ask.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing” he mutters, “The phoenix was sitting cross legged in the middle of the tent, there was nothing else
there. When I entered, he opened his eyes but seemed to not see me.”
“Maybe the sisters can break the spell,” I say.
“They will attack if they feel threatened,” Brok says as he leans down to pull a long blade of grass to place it in his mouth. “To
do that we will have to find a way of keeping the sisters far from the action or they will get hurt.”
“You will be surprised when you see how strong those girls are,” I say, “together they can unleash a power that is all
consuming.”
“Okay,” Brok says, “how are we going to do it then?”
“We aren’t sure if Love is in there, we will have to wait for our opportunity because I won’t have the girls in danger if she isn’t
in there,” I say.
“Maybe we should go and find these other camps that the girls spoke about, the more we know about it the better.” Brok
suggests as he continues to scan the camp.
“I agree, lets get back to the tunnels and arrange with the Dragons to fan out and find all of the Warlocks camps.”
We start making our way back, not walking through the same path so that we aren’t followed or tracked to the Singing tunnels. It
takes double the time but finally we reach our destination. Entering the tunnel, we are met by a group of Dragons. Darius is
with them awaiting us, the women are standing behind, hidden from sight.
“Welcome back brothers,” Darius greets as we approach.
“How did it go?” Hope asks as she comes to join us, her smile radiating light straight into my heart.
“The beings we saw there are all under some kind of spell which we were hoping you would be able to break,” Brok explains
looking at the girls.
“What kind of spell?” Vain asks stepping closer.
“They all seem to be in a trance, no one talks, and they just stand around,” I explain.
“That sounds like a Zombie curse,” Reality calls out from where she’s standing with Dream and Drez, “Do you remember
when we were learning how to hypnotise, and I accidentally tranced the shaman?”
“Oh, I remember,” Dream replies with a grin, “that was funny, the poor man was doing everything you commanded.”
“Do you remember how you broke the spell?” I ask hoping that they can break the spell on the beings in the camps.
“Well…umm,” Reality starts to speak and then quietens as she strokes her template in contemplation. “Seline helped, and she
did insist I do it with her, but I’m not sure if I can get it right again.” I noticed that Seline was not with the two sisters when we
arrived, I didn’t want to ask in case something happened to her, but now is the perfect time to ask.
“I haven’t seen Seline, where is she?”
“We don’t know, when we were attacked Seline stayed behind to hold them back with her magic.” Vain reveals, “she promised
to find us, but we still haven’t seen her,” I can tell by the girls expressions that the thought of Seline being lost to them saddens
them. Seline was their mentor, nearly like a second mother as she looked after them and brought them up when the Queen
wasn’t around, which was a lot of the time.
“You did move around, maybe she just hasn’t found you yet,” I say trying to appease their fears. Seline is a powerful being in
her own right, if she wanted to find the girls, she would, which doesn’t bode well for her absence. Looking at the girls I know
that they realize that too.
“Did you see the Warlock?” one of the Dragons asks.
“No, the tent which belongs to him has a protection spell around it that doesn’t let anyone close.” Brok explains, “but we have
thought of a plan, but this plan would need everyone’s help.”
“What’s the plan?” Darius asks.
“We need to find out where the other camps are, this needs to be well planned so that we can attack them simultaneously. The
best option would be by air, but they would see the dragons, therefore we will need to scout the whole area and try and find the
camps and how many are in the camps,” I state.
“What if we used the cloaking spell on the Dragons?” Hope asks, a thoughtful expression adorning her face.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Well, the only reason the Dragons do not go and look for the camps is that they will be seen. If each one of us rides one of the
Dragon’s, we can cloak them from prying eyes,” Hope explains.
“Oh, that’s a great idea” Reality says.
“It would definitely be quicker than scouting the surrounding area to find the camps.” I reply, thinking of all the risks involved
but not finding a reason to stop this plan, which is until Hope speaks again.
“Darius, can I come with you?” Hope asks with a sweet smile that has my teeth grinding.
“Of course, princess” he replies, a growl rising from deep within my chest. Hope looks over at me and frowns.
“Don’t worry Trek, Darius can also keep me safe.” The thought of her close to the Dragon the whole day has my hands fisting. I
want to reach out and strangle the now smirking Dragon.
“Of course, I will princess, you will be safe with me” he promises with an exaggerated bow.
“This is great, we at least have a plan of action. Shall we go prepare and strategize,” Vain asks exited to get the plan actioned. I
want to say no, that we will get another plan, but I know that this is the best plan at the moment and we can cover more ground
this way.
Everyone starts making their way deeper into the tunnels, I follow with Brok to my left. “You snooze, you lose.” He says matter
of fact knowing that this situation is rubbing me up the wrong way. I turn my head to look at him and growl, warning him to shut
up. The warning triggers a grin from him as he shrugs innocently.
I hear the other girls asking some of the Dragons to ride with them, seeing Drez scowl when Dream agrees to ride with the
leader of this group of Dragons. He will understand my plight, at least Dream already knows that Drez is her mate, not like
Hope that thinks she’s free to flirt with whoever she deems.
I will kill Darius if she so much as flirts with him. Reaching the main Cavern, various other Dragons join us. The planning
begins with maps being laid out, groups of Dragons being chosen for different areas, weapons being discussed, and magic
spells being plotted.
It’s finally decided that there will only be four Dragons with the Princesses going out as not to raise too much noise. These will
scout the area from the air to identify the exact location of the Warlocks Camps. The girls will travel with the Dragons to cloak
their travels, gathering as much information as possible so that when we attack, we have a chance of winning this battle.
“When are we going?” Vain asks, excited to get out there to find Love.
“I think we should all sleep on it tonight and tomorrow leave really early so that we are back before nightfall,” Reality
suggests as she leans down to pick up one of the maps and starts to role the parchment sliding it into its holder.
“I’m good with tomorrow,” Darius replies from where he is standing next to the Dragon King that joined our discussions a
couple of hours earlier. No one knows how old the Dragon King is as he has been around for centuries, he is one of the Eternity
Fae elders with more wisdom than most. It is clear by Darius and the Kings interaction that they are remarkably familiar with
each other.
“Stop scowling, don’t you like the plan?” Hope asks quietly from next to me. Looking down at her I want to snap and tell her
that I don’t like the idea of her riding on Darius back for most of the day, but instead I find myself opening my mouth to tell her
that it’s a brilliant plan which to be fair it is, but not the perfect plan for me.
I have decided that the first opportunity I get I will tell Hope that she is my mate, MINE!
 HOPE 9
Holding on I look around as Darius turns one way and then another looking for some sign of a camp. We have been out for over
an hour, and it is starting to worry me because before we would have seen many different species going about their day to day,
but today it’s eerie as there is no signs of life below.
I know that most will be in hiding, waiting for this war to end, waiting for a sign of peace so that they can live their normal
lives again. Some would have tried to fight, but by the destruction below us it is evident that Toron has risen with a dark power
that overshadows all the good in our Reign.
I tap the back of the dark blue dragon’s neck below me as I bend forward to point to our right. “Look…there is smoke rising
from over there.” Darius huffs as he flaps his wings and turns in the direction of where I see the smoke. A few minutes later we
are flying over what looks like two small huts belonging to gnomes.
“Maybe there isn’t any camps on this side,” I state as we continue flying South Easterly towards the lake. I believe that we
shall find evidence of a camp or something that will help us find Love, my heart jumps at the thought of my sweet sister being at
the mercy of a demented Warlock that is power hungry.
I snap out of my thoughts when I hear Darius grunt. Looking down to the ground I see a camp flooded by tents and beings
scattered among the tents. Darius starts to swoop so that we have a better view, the lower we go the more tents we see. This
camp is bigger than the camp that Trek and Brok went to, this camp has a log cabin in the middle that must have belonged to
someone before Toron took it over. I see a couple of fire Salamandra’s laying near the water, the vegetation around them sparse
as it has died from where they have travelled over it. The fire Salamandra’s are extremely poisonous and creatures which keep
to themselves, away from others.
That they are coexisting with others is extremely rare and evidence of foul play. “We need to try and see into the Log cabin; we
can’t tell if Love is in there from up here.” Darius grunts as he continues to fly around the camp, I know that he is trying to
capture as many details as possible. We are flying over the Log Cabin once again when I see a cloaked figure stepping out, my
heart starts to race as I recognise his long purple cape, the thin white beard, and bushy brows. We were right, Toron is behind
the evil that has descended upon Eternity Fae, and has befallen on those in the Earth Realm.
We see Toron lift his hands; his wide sleeves slide back to show the rune tattoos running up his lower arms. A few minutes
later the beings start approaching him, his eyes slitted as he looks out at everyone. “Look at me and know that my word is law,”
he says clearly as he turns his hands to face everyone standing before the Log Cabin, there is some kind of unseen wave that
washes over everyone.
“Today I got news that the four princesses are with the Dragons, that they are getting ready to attack us.” My heart thunders in
my chest as I hear what he is saying, how is it possible that he knows that we are all with the Dragons? There must be a spy
among us.
“Everything is on track; they will do exactly as I predict and then I will have them in my grasp.” His words have my fear
escalating, not because of his threat but because he has just admitted that Love is being held by him.
“Come out,” he calls.
I wait anxiously wondering what he has planned. I see the Log Cabin door open and then a few seconds later Love is walking
out. I want to cry out in relief to see her alive and well, but I know that if I give us away, we will be caught before we get back
to the tunnels. I suck in a breath when Love comes to a stop next to Toron, her eyes glazed, her expression blank like the other
beings that surround them.
Horror fills my eyes when I see Love raising her arm towards Toron, he takes her fragile arm in one of his hands lowering his
head he bites deep into her arm drinking her blood like a vampire. Shock fills me as I see the Warlock drinking from my sister.
One species that we do not have in Eternity Fae is Vampires, as we thought that they had all been extinct centuries ago when
they tried to kill others. Tears escape and fall down my cheeks as I sit on Darius feeling powerless, not being able to help my
sister that is just a few feet away from where we circling.
When he raises his head there is blood on his smirking lips, “Go, I want you to bring me the Fairy Ghost Quartz.” He orders,
“by any means necessary.” All the beings immediately turn to make their way towards the Forgotten Forest where the Druids
live and where they hold the Fairy Ghost Quartz that is rumoured to hold the power of the dead.”
Darius starts flying away from the camp and Love. I turn my head to see Love making her way into the Log Cabin. There is so
much that we saw today, and now we know one of Toron’s goals. “There is a traitor within the Dragon walls,” I say hearing
Darius grunt.
The Dragons can communicate telepathically in their Dragon form with each other or with their mates, but not with anyone else.
The way back is made in silence, my thoughts going over everything I saw today and what possible evil plan Toron can have
that will draw us to him.
When Darius lands in the clearing before the Singing tunnels I step into his clawed paw to be placed on the ground before he
changes into his human form. The cloaking spell still in place until I am sure we are safe inside the tunnel. Trek, Zain, Aqua,
Drez and two Dragons are waiting, when we appear Trek walks over to enfold me in his strong arms.
“Are you okay?” he asks a minute later as he takes hold of my upper arms pushing me back to scan my body up and down.
“Yes, I’m back safe and sound.” I state as I look up at his familiar face.
“Did you find a camp?” one of the Dragons asks, but before I can answer Trek is pulling me behind himself.
“Someone is approaching,” he whispers. A few minutes later Rea and her Dragon are revealing themselves.
“You are back, how was it?” before Reality can answer I interrupt her as we can’t be sure of who to trust.
“Let’s wait for the others to arrive, I think we should all be together before sharing.” I see Trek frowning at my words, his gaze
feels like he is looking deep into my soul. I take his hand squeezing it gently trying to make him understand without saying
anything.
“Yes, we don’t need you to repeat yourself over and over.” I smile up at his words thanking him silently. I make my way
towards Rea pulling her arm so she can follow me into the tunnels as she was about to talk to Zain, I want to talk to her away
from prying ears.
“Stop pulling me,” she grumbles but she follows me until we are standing inside the tunnel, I see that Trek has come to stand at
the entrance to the tunnel to make sure that no one follows us. I incline my head in thanks before turning towards Reality and
explain what I found today. I see her eyes fill with tears as I relate the fact about seeing Love and what I evidenced.
“He is going to go after the Fairy Ghost Quartz, we need to figure out what he wants with it.” I say, “But he seemed to sound
like he has a plan to capture us, also he knew that we were here.” I see the surprise on Reality’s face. “There is a traitor here,
or someone among us that belongs to his followers.”
“We also found a camp, but there were very few beings there.” Reality whispers, “It was strange as most of them were
Goblins.” I frown at her revelation, why would Toron have Goblins working with him, I understand that they are mean little
critters, but they are small, weak, and untrustworthy.
I hear Dream’s voice, glancing behind me I see that Trek has disappeared. Frowning I start to turn but then see Trek at the
entrance to the tunnel, Dream is frowning as she stands next to him. “Your sisters would like to talk to you,” I hear him say.
Dream walks towards us, a clear look of confusion on her face. “What is going on?” Dream asks.
“Did you see anything while out there?” I ask.
“No, we didn’t find any camps just a lot of destruction. It was so sad!” there is tears in her voice which leads me to hug her as
I understand where her sadness comes from.
“We didn’t see any beings at all in our long journey, is that possible?” Dream asks.
“They will all be in hiding,” Reality replies.
“What is going on?” Vain asks as she walks towards us, “As soon as we entered the tunnel Trek is ushering me here,”
“Did you see anything?” Reality asks instead of answering Vain.
“We found a camp…well, not really a camp but a couple of tents together.” Vain says, “there were only three Chimera in the
camp.”
“We have a problem,” Rea explains, “Hope found Toron, and he has Love.”
“How is that a problem?” Vain asks as she stands before us.
“Toron knows we are here,” Rea says and continues to explain what I saw and what was said by Toron.
“Now we need to decide on who we are going to trust, and our plans need to stay between us because I think that Toron’s goal
is to capture us.” I tell my sisters my suspicions and my plan on proceeding with what we need to do.
“I think we should trust the men that came with us,” Dream suggests as she looks towards where the men are still standing
waiting for us.
“We can trust our guards too,” Vain says looking at Reality and getting a nod of acknowledgment from her.
“Good, we don’t want a large number to know our plan. We shall call all of them later and sit down and plan what our next
step will be, we need to keep in mind that Toron seemed confident that we are doing what he expects, which means that we are
playing to his plan, therefore we need to make sure that we aren’t predictable.”
“Maybe instead of us going to help the Druids in protecting the Fairy Ghost Quartz we send the Dragons, and we concentrate on
the rescue of Love,” Vain suggests.
“That is one possibility, but let’s think about everything and later when we are together with the men, we can decide on what
our next plan of action is,” I propose.
“Okay, let’s not keep them waiting or they will start to get suspicious.” Rea says as she steps around me to make her way
towards where Trek is still standing guard at the entrance to the Tunnel.
When I come to stand next to him, he looks down at me with a raised brow, “we can go in now,” I say
Darius looks over at me, I can tell that he understands what I am doing and that he agrees. I might not have spoken to Darius
much before we came on this quest of finding Love but Dad trusts him completely as Darius is Dad’s main guard, therefore I
trust him.
Dream and Shok walk past us into the Tunnel, the others quickly follow leaving Trek and me alone. “Did you hear our
conversation?” I ask as we turn to follow the others.
“Yes,” he replies.
“Do you agree with what we are doing?” my question has him stopping to turn to me.
“I trust your judgement,” he says, “but also what I heard leads me to believe that you are right and that there must be either
someone among us that is leaking information to Toron or that he has spies at the entrances to the Tunnels and saw us arriving.”
“That would mean that if he has spies, they would have seen us leaving today to go and scout for camps,” I say with a frown,
was everything we saw today possibly a show?
“We just need to make sure that we count for all these possibilities when drawing up our plan of action.” Trek advises as he
lifts his hand to my cheek, his thumb strokes the back of my ear. “For now you need to go and eat something and rest, I will
make sure that everyone that is supposed to be at this meeting is there and I will find us a place that has no prying eyes or
curious ears.”
I lift my hand to place it over his, “Thank you Trek, you are always there for me, and I know that I have never said it before, but
I am grateful for everything you do for me and for my family.”
A smile lifts his lips which lights up his beautiful light honey-coloured eyes which shine with vibrance when he is happy.
Before I can think of what is happening, he has lowered his head and is kissing my lips, the contact surprises me as I didn’t see
it coming, but this is something that I have been longing for so long that instead of stepping back or gasping, I lift both my arms
running my hands behind his neck, feeling his hair between my fingers as he deepens the kiss.
As soon as the kiss starts it ends, he steps back breaking the contact between us. I stand transfixed looking at him, speechless.
“I shouldn’t have done that now,” he mutters as he runs his fingers through his dishevelled hair.
“Why did you do it?” I ask not sure what I want him to say but sure that I do not want him to say that it was a mistake.
“There are things we need to talk about, but now is not the time with everything that is happening.” He starts to turn to make his
way inside, but I grab his upper arm holding him back. I know that if he really wants to go, he will and its not my puny strength
that will hold him here, but the fact that he is still here means that he isn’t as keen to leave as his words might portray.
“Talk to me, please,” I plead hoping that he feels the same about me as I do him.
“You’re my mate!” I stand frozen at his words, “I know this might be a surprise to you, but I didn’t want to tell you until you
were ready.” Surprise is an understatement, I am speechless. Without another word I turn and hurry after the others because at
the moment I can’t reply, I can’t even think.
How dare he know that we are mates and not tell me, how dare he drag it on for such a long time, making me wonder if he even
liked me or not, and all that time he knew that we are destined to be together. The anger coursing through my body is like a
volcano on the cusp of erupting, if I don’t get away right now, I will explode.
 TREK 10
The minute she turns and hurries away I feel the knot in my stomach tighten, I want to rush after her and make her talk to me,
want her to tell me what she is feeling, but instead I stand frozen seeing my mate run away.
What I feared has happened, Hope doesn’t want me as her mate. I want to throw my head back and howl in anger, I want to take
Hope in my arms and make her understand that she is the right one for me, as I am the right one for her, but I do nothing. Instead,
I slowly follow the group making my way to where we are all staying.
I have things to do, a meeting to arrange, a safe place to find where we can all meet, but instead all I can think about is Hope’s
expression when she heard that we are mates. There was such anger in her expression, anger directed at me.
“Darius” I call as I see him heading towards the upper part of the main Cavern. He stops to wait for me, his eyes taking
everything in as I approach. “I need a safe place for a meeting tonight, a place where we won’t be seen or overhead,” he nods
at my request, “Is there such a place down here?”
“I will arrange it, give me an hour,” I nod in thanks crossing that off my list as I proceed to go and talk to everyone that should
be at the meeting and making sure that news of this meeting doesn’t leak to anyone which we don’t want to know about it.
_______
While I organized the details for the meeting, I kept an eye out for Hope but to no avail as she didn’t make an appearance,
instead I had to tell Dream of our plan so that she could inform Hope.
Now I am standing outside waiting for the girls to join us so that we can make our way to the location which Darius arranged
for the meeting, and I feel like a teenage boy with his first girlfriend. I hear the girls talking among themselves before I see
them. When my eyes clash with Hope’s it is evident that she is angry, her eyes are sparkling with ire.
“Are you ready?” I ask getting a reply from everyone except Hope. I incline my head for them to follow Darius as he starts
making his way towards the area where we will all meet. I come to stand next to Hope but she quickly moves away to walk
next to Reality. I want to pull her into my arms and not let her go until she has heard what I need to say, but there are other more
important things happening now that I need to focus on. I grunt at my thoughts, easier said than done.
Darius guides us towards a cavern deep within the earth, stepping inside I stop and look around at the beauty that surrounds us.
The walls and ceiling are radiant with Amethyst and Quarts, the energy within this cavern is pure. Everyone is standing in awe
as they look around, there is a gurgle of water to the far end where I can see a small pond.
“This is beautiful, how haven’t we seen this before?” Vain whispers as she walks forward, and then I realize that she did not
whisper. The water and the semi-precious stones reduce the noise in here which will assist if anyone has followed us and is
trying to listen in as we will see them long before they can come close to hear any information.
I glance towards Darius and nod to assure him that this is exactly what I was looking for. “Shall we walk further in,” I suggest
as I would like to get away from the entrance.
“Come this way,” Darius says as he walks towards the pond, only when we are close do I see the rocks that have been
moulded into chairs, they are situated strategically, proudly around the space of water. “No one will be able to hear what we
discuss except for us in this group.” He explains as he waves his hand towards the chairs.
The girls are the first to position themselves on the chairs, their petite forms swallowed up by their big expanse of rock. Then
Brok and Shok take the other two chairs, the rest of us find space between the chairs and on the other side of the pond to sit.
“I’m not sure if all of you know the reason why we have met here, but we suspect that there is either a traitor among the
Dragons or Toron has infiltrated the tunnels with one of his. Therefore, we have chosen only this group to share what we have
found and what our plan might be moving forward.” Hope reveals. “Darius, do you want to tell everyone here what we saw
and heard earlier today?” I see his surprised expression, but he nods and starts to relate the same information to everyone
which I heard Hope tell Reality.
The men’s expressions change to one of anger as the telling continues and Darius reveals what Toron did to our princess Love.
When Darius finishes retelling, Hope continues, “another two camps were found, but one had only three Chimera and the other
one was full of Goblins.”
“Now, after hearing everything that has been said here today, what are your thoughts?” Reality asks.
“The question is, why would the Warlock want the Fairy Ghost Quartz?” Brok asks with a frown.
“As some of you might know, there are four very powerful stones placed strategically through Eternity Fae.” Dream explains,
“those stones are what keeps the balance between such strong beings living in peace together.”
“Do you know where all the stones are?” Doil asks.
“No,” Vain says, “the four stones are with four different factions for safe keeping and only they know where the stones are,
also, not all of the beings within those factions know of the stones. It’s only the elders which have been entrusted with keeping
the stones safe from harm.”
“How did the Warlock find out that the Fairy Ghost Quartz was with the Druids?” Brok asks, “if the stones are entrusted to only
a selected few that information should never have got to him unless he has captured an elder,”
“Even if he caught an elder, he wouldn’t know where the other stones are or with which factions. One elder doesn’t know the
location of all the stones.” I explain, “the stones are the balance in Eternity Fae,”
“I’m confused,” Doil states as he scratches his head, “if the princesses don’t know the location of the stones, then why does he
want to capture them?”
“I don’t think the stones are his only goal, I think that he wants all the princesses together because there is no power as great as
the power of five,” Shok explains.
“Then what do we do?” Doil asks, “do we go and protect the Fairy Ghost Quartz, or do we save Love?”
“I’ve been thinking about that, I worry that it’s all a trick,” I confess, everyone turns to look at me. “I suspect that Toron knew
that someone might be spying, and he put on a show for them to see.” I look around at everyone seeing their reaction. “Think
about it, why would he drink Love’s blood in front of the other beings if they are already under his control, and why would he
tell the beings to go and collect a stone which they have never seen, or from a faction which most of them are scared of.
Afterall, the Druids are only seen if they want to be seen, they are like the name of the stone, Ghosts,”
“You think he was tricking us?” Dream asks.
“I think that he expects us to go and retrieve Love thinking that the beings he had at that camp have gone looking for the stone,
but when we get there we will be defeated as they haven’t gone anywhere.”
“I think you could be right,” Brok states, “when we went to the camp those beings were so under his spell that they don’t notice
anything or anyone, therefore him drinking from Love must have been a show.”
Reality looks over at Vain, “makes sense,” she says.
“Then what do we do?” Dream asks, “How do we know what to do if he is one step ahead of us?”
“If we go to the Druids, we will be leaving the tunnels defenceless which will allow for him to attack, and if we attack him to
retrieve Love we might find ourselves defeated depending on what power he has on his side.” Darius states as he stands to
start pacing the length of the pond. “Something that has been playing on my mind since the beginning is, why was that camp full
of Goblins?”
“Goblins are pesky irritating little critters, but they aren’t threatening even in big packs,” Doil says with a shrug.
“Where was the camp with the Goblins?” Drez asks.
“Not too far out from one of the entrances to the tunnels actually, I was quite surprised that we saw a camp so soon after lifting
off, but then we travelled further and didn’t see anything else,” Vain revels.
“Which entrance?” Darius asks with a scowl.
“We went North, it’s one of the entrances near the whispering river,” Vain relates which has Darius snapping around as he
starts heading towards the doorway.
“Where are you going?” I snap which has him stopping only long enough to explain his concerns.
“Goblins are known for digging tunnels, they are going to flood our home to push us out. I have to go and tell the Dragon King.”
He is already on his way when he finishes his sentence.
“Oh no, he is right!” Hope gasps, “they have been doing this right under everyone’s nose.”
“We can try and stop it,” Dream says, “if we find out where the tunnels that they are building are, we can collapse the tunnels”.
“Maybe we can try and detect the Goblins and impede them from continuing.” Hope suggests as she sits forward.
“How are we going to do that?” Reality asks with a frown, “if we try to collapse the tunnels that the Goblins are building, we
might collapse the singing tunnels.”
“Would you be able to hear them digging underground if you got near enough?” Vain asks me as everyone knows how sensitive
my senses are.
“I could, but how would you know?” I ask because there is no way that we are letting the princesses out of the tunnels until we
are sure it is safe.
“Hope?” Vain calls.
“Yes, I can direct us,” Hope says excited.
“What are we missing?” Brok asks what all the men are thinking as the sisters have the habit of talking in riddles which usually
confuses the hell out of everyone else.
“What they are saying is that Hope is linked to you, therefore she should be able to track you with her senses and then direct
our energy towards where you are which should be enough to collapse the tunnel that you find,” Dream explains with a grin.
“You can track me?” I ask surprised.
Hope looks over at me, her chin rising a clear sign that she is still angry. “Yes, why is that a problem?” I raise both my hands in
surrender not wanting to upset her more than she already is.
“Does this mean that everyone thinks that Toron was trying to get us out of here so he could take over the Singing tunnels, like
that we don’t have anywhere to hide?” Reality asks.
“Yes” I reply confident that this is the better plan as my wolf seems calmer now that we have identified this ruse that Toron
was cooking up.
“What about Love?” Reality asks.
“Once we stop the Goblins from flooding these tunnels, we can concentrate on saving Love,” I state.
“What if he hurts Love because we have destroyed his plan?” Dream asks with a concerned expression.
“He won’t hurt Love as I think the goal is to have the five of you to be able to do his bidding.” I explain. ”Now, I need to go
and find Darius and tell him about our plan before they do something that will impede us from following through with what we
have agreed.” I get up to follow Darius to find Brok falling into step with me.
“I’ll join you if the meeting is finished,” I nod but as we walk out of the cavern and further down the tunnel, he stops me with a
hand to my forearm.
“I think there is more going on here than what we are seeing,” I turn to face him knowing that if he found the need to follow me
and talk away from the others it is something that he thinks someone, or all shouldn’t hear.
“Like what?” I ask.
“Everyone always says that there is no power like the power of five, that is the five princesses together, but what we don’t ask
ourselves is what exactly that power looks like.” I frown trying to understand where he is going with this. “What I am trying to
say is that their power can still be shifted for evil and not for good, maybe that is what the Warlock is trying to do, because if
they turn their power to evil, it will destroy everything and everyone.”
“They wouldn’t do that,” I state confident that the girls are pure of heart.
“Yes, now they are but if Love gets affected with his evil, that energy affects the others too because as you saw today, they are
linked, and that link is dangerous.”
“They are strong, I believe that they can fight the evil that will try to penetrate them,” I say, but the seed of uncertainty has been
sowed, it is something that I need to think on and figure out if something like that does happen how we can stop the sisters from
destroying everything and everyone.
“I hope you are right,” Brok says as he slaps my back in friendship before taking his leave. I make my way towards where I
know the Dragon Kings home is, my mind now in turmoil thinking of how I can protect the girls, but mainly how can I protect
my beautiful Hope if evil tries to take her from me.
 HOPE 11
The plan is set, and everything is in motion. Trek will be leaving tonight under the cover of darkness to get as close to the
Goblins as possible to work out the path of the tunnels. Brok has offered to accompany him which calms my soul knowing that
Trek has someone at his back for protection. We also know that Brok is not a creature that can be locked up here with so many
others as it must be driving him crazy, he likes his open spaces as he is a solitary soul.
I know that it will take a couple of hours before Trek and Brok reach the camp, the others have gone to bed to rest but I can’t
sleep knowing that Trek is out there in danger. I should have gone to speak to him before he left, I want to know why it took him
so long to tell me that we are mates. Is he embarrassed about me being his mate? Doesn’t he like me in that way? Does he think
I am too young for him?
I shake my head in annoyance at my thoughts, these are all questions I have that are running through my mind. I wanted to know
if Trek liked me as much as I did him, now I don’t know what to do with the information he gave me.
I know that as mates we are destined to be together, that our bond grows stronger together than apart, but what happens when he
must go back to his people? Closing my eyes I concentrate of Trek’s energy trying to find him in the darkness of the night, it
takes me a few minutes but I soon feel his strong presence.
I know now that the reason why I can feel him the way that I do is because we are meant to be together, that he is my destiny.
He is the strength to my weakness, my grounding, the reason to my confusion. “Can you hear me?” I whisper in my mind
wondering if this will work.
A few minutes later I hear his reply, “Hope?”
“Yes,”
“Why did you never speak to me like this before?” his voice a whisper in my mind.
“I didn’t know that I could,” I reply, the next hours are passed in silence. I don’t want to disturb his concentration as long as I
know that they are safe I will keep silent. When dawn is just starting to show itself there is a knock at my bedroom door.
“Yes?”
“It’s us, can we come in?” Rea says as she opens the door to show Dream and Vain are with her.
“Of course,” I reply with a smile as I sit up against my pillows.
“Were you sleeping?” Dream asks with a raised brow.
“No, I haven’t been able to sleep,” I confess.
“Can you still sense him?” Vain asks as she comes to sit next to me, stretching her legs before her she leans back.
“I can speak to him in my mind,” I reveal seeing the look of surprise on the others faces.
“Really, I have to try that with Drez” Dream says with a frown.
“That’s great as he will be able to tell us exactly what we need to know instead of us trying to guess or sensing with our energy
before doing anything,” Rea says as she takes a seat at the end of the bed crossing her legs as she faces Vain and me.
“Is he there yet?” Dream asks as she pulls the only chair in the room towards the bed to sit down.
“I will ask,” closing my eyes I concentrate on Trek’s energy feeling it like a life current within me. “Trek, are you there yet?” I
wait, wondering if he will hear me this time or if the distance is too far for him to get anything.
I am about to open my eyes and tell them that I can’t hear him anymore when I hear his reply, “Yes, we are just waiting for them
to wake up and start moving around.” Snapping my eyes open I smile relating the news to the others, I am about to ask the girls
how they want to proceed with the magic that we have to do when I hear Trek in my mind.
“Hope, why are you upset with me?” his question surprises me at this moment as I wasn’t expecting him to ask me. Rea is
talking which is interfering with my concentration I raise my hand for her to quieten as I close my eyes to give Trek my
undivided attention.
“You could have told me that we were mates from the beginning, instead you have made me wonder if you liked me or not.
Were you embarrassed to be my mate, or were you hoping that you were wrong and that I wasn’t,” there is silence for a long
time before I hear his voice again in my mind.
“The only reason why I didn’t tell you is because I wanted you to be ready, I wanted you to want me as much as I want you, I
wanted you to be happy with us and not confused.”
“Well, you have done a bad job of that haven’t you, I feel more confused than ever. If you wanted me so much you should have
just told me instead of making me wait.” I open my eyes angry at our discussion to see my sisters looking at me with curious
looks on their faces.
“What’s going on?” Vain asks.
“Nothing,” I snap in irritation not wanting to discuss my argument with them.
“Really, even telepathically you guys argue?” Dream quips with a chuckle.
“How do you want to proceed with what we need to do?” I ask ignoring Dream’s question which has her tutting at me in
amusement.
“I think that you start by grounding your energy with Trek’s when he tells you that he is in place, and then you can siphon from
us as you start to collapse the tunnels” Rea suggests with a shrug.
“Maybe you can use him as a conductor, pushing the energy through him to the ground” Vain says distractedly as she examines
her nails.
“Won’t the energy be too strong for him?” I ask not wanting to hurt Trek in anyway.
“It might be, but how else are we going to target the exact location unless we have something siphoning our energy towards it.”
Rea says as she places her hand over mine, “he will be fine as the energy will be coursing through him and not into him.”
“Trek!” I call.
“Yes,”
“When you find a tunnel please stand over where you think it might be and I will send the necessary energy to course through
you into the ground, we are hoping that it will help to collapse their tunnels,” I explain.
“That’s fine,” he replies.
“Please tell me if it drains you, or hurts you in someway and we will find another way,” I plead not wanting to hurt him in
anyway.
“Don’t worry Hope, I will be fine, you forget that I have some magic that flows in my veins too.” His words calm me
somewhat.
It is another hour before Trek tells me that it’s time and that the Goblins are awake and making their way underground for us to
be ready. I take in a deep breath as I go and stand at the end of the bed, Vain comes to stand behind me placing her left hand on
my shoulder, Dream comes to stand before me placing her right hand on my other shoulder and Reality comes to stand next to
me facing me she places her right hand over my heart as I lift both my arms, turning my hands to face up to the ceiling I close
my eyes.
“Now,” I hear Trek clearly in my mind a minute later.
I focus all my energy pushing it out through my hands I envision Trek, to have it course through him as it enters his body and
leaves through his feet. I don’t know how long we cast our power before Trek is telling me to stop as he is going to move to
another tunnel. After finding another one we do the same until we are sure that it too has collapsed, we continue with our work
for hours. My arms are feeling the strain, my body is feeling drained, but still we continue, making sure that we stop the
destruction of the Dragons home.
“Enough!” I hear the whisper of Trek’s voice in my mind, I immediately stop the flow.
“Are their more?” I ask but there is no reply, we wait and wait but even though I ask again Trek does not answer.
“Do you think they caught him?” Vain asks as she slides down to sit on the floor, her features looking strained.
“He would have said something,” I murmur still waiting for him to say something, but he doesn’t. My heart is tight with worry,
my mind racing with concern that something happened to Trek. We are still sitting in the room an hour later when Darius comes
to call us saying that the men are back as Brok changed to fly Trek back as he is injured.
Hearing that Trek is injured my heart seems to stop, I don’t wait for my sisters to catch up, I am out of the room following
Darius as he hurries towards where Brok and Trek are. When I arrive, I see Trek laying on the ground, his tanned complexion
is pale, drained.
“What happened?” I ask as I kneel besides him, my fingers stroking his stubbled cheek.
“Whatever you were doing it got too much for him, as each tunnel collapsed, I saw him getting weaker and weaker until we
collapsed the last one and he fell to the ground unconscious.” Brok explains.
Tears fill my eyes as I know that I did this to him, I asked him to tell me if it got too much, I should have known that he would
never have given up. “We need to help him,” I plead looking up at Brok, Darius and my sisters.
“He has had enough energy for one day, I think that you need to let him rest,” Rea suggests as she kneels next to Trek to place
her fingers on his neck to feel his pulse. “He’s just drained, a few days of rest and he will be up and around again.”
I am not pleased with the diagnosis, but I know that she is right, “I will take him inside,” Darius suggests, “we will keep an eye
on him until he wakes.”
My hands are fisted as I follow them through the tunnels until he is being laid down. He misses all the Dragons clapping in
thanks at Brok and his return, and how they have saved the Dragons lair for another day.
“I’ll get them to bring you some food,” Darius says when Trek is comfortable and Brok has also gone to rest.
“I’m not hungry,” I reply.
“You need your strength; you look as pale as he is.” Darius insists, “he won’t be happy if he wakes up and you are the one that
is sick.” Huffing I nod, if nothing else to get him to leave.
“He will be fine,” Dream says as she places a comforting hand on my shoulder, “he won’t miss out on mating with you now that
you know.” I told them when Trek dropped the bomb of being my mate, but to my surprise they weren’t as stunned as I was.
“I don’t know if I want to mate such a stubborn and infuriating man,” I grumble, angry that he didn’t stop me from hurting him.
“You mean as stubborn and infuriating as you?” Rea asks with a raised brow, “confess Hope, you two suit each other.”
I grunt in reply, knowing that they are all trying to appease my concern, but the only time that I am going to relax is when Trek
opens his eyes and I see that he is fine. The others finally leave, leaving me alone with Trek, Darius brings the food and also
leaves warning me to rest, but I sit on the chair next to Trek’s bed and wait for him to open his eyes.
I don’t know how long I was sitting here, but the next thing I know I am waking with a gentle stroke on my cheeks. “You’re
awake,” I murmur when I open my eyes and see Trek leaning over, staring deep into my eyes.
“Why are you sitting here next to my bed?” he asks with a raised brow.
“I wanted to make sure that you were okay, why didn’t you warn me that you weren’t feeling well?” I ask and see him shrug at
my question.
“We needed to defeat Toron; it might not be the war but it’s a kink in his armour.” I nod at his explanation.
“I’m glad you’re awake,” I whisper as I stand feeling awkward for being found here, “I think I’ll go now that I know you are
okay.”
I am nearly to the door when Trek is suddenly standing before me, “hasn’t anyone ever told you to beware of the big bad
wolf?” his question has me rolling my eyes in amusement.
“I’m not scared of the wolf, I can kick his ass,” my comeback has his lips kicking up as he grins.
“Can you now?” he asks as he lowers his head and then he is kissing me as he turns to push me against the door standing close
before me. I feel everything around me shake, the power of his kiss shaking my very being.
“What the hell?” he grunts as he lifts his head to look around only then do I realize that it’s not the kiss that has my world
shaking but the very rock around us is vibrating. “Get out, quickly!” he grunts, opening the door and pushing me out as he
follows.
I see the others outside rushing towards the arch, “What’s happening?” Vain calls to one of the Dragons that is running past us.
“Your sister!” he shouts as he continues on his way.
“My sister?” I whisper looking around to see Vain, Rea and Dream’s surprised expressions. “What did he mean?”
“Love is outside the South tunnel with Toron, she’s responsible for this.” Darius shouts as he hurries towards us, “Can you stop
her?” I shake my head in surprise, why would Love be trying to destroy the Dragons Lair?
“We need to get closer to her,” Reality answers as she takes Dream’s hand, her gaze stopping on my surprised look.
“We are going to fight Love?” I ask, knowing that if we don’t want the walls of this lair to collapse around us we need to do
something.
“There is no other way,” Vain mutters, “lead the way,” she says to Darius that turns and quickly makes his way towards the
South Tunnel. We all hurry after him making sure that we dodge falling rocks. Before we reach the outside opening, Reality
starts chanting, Dream follows suit, Vain takes hold of Reality’s other hand and also starts following the chant. I take a deep
breath, my heart breaking at the thought of having to fight my own sister.
I approach Dream and take her hand feeling the energy flowing through her hand to mine, I join the chanting raising my voice
with theirs. I close my eyes releasing my strength into the spell that will stop the vibration of Love’s voice. From a young age
we all learnt how to help each other with our special abilities and how to stop them when we lost control, this is one of those
moments which for us isn’t a hard spell but it’s a difficult one knowing that Love is not in her right mind while using her ability.
The chant resonates through the tunnel and out to those waiting outside for the Dragons to run outside so they can get killed, but
Toron is wrong if he thinks that we won’t fight just because he is using our sister as bait. I know that Love is still in there, I
know that she will want us to stop her. The chanting becomes so loud in my ears that the sound of screaming from the Dragons,
the singing from Love and the crash of rocks is blocked out.
I only stop chanting when suddenly I am pulled away from Dream, our hands breaking the link. My eyes snapping open to see
Drez pulling Dream into his arms as Trek is doing with me. I want to check on Rea and Vain, but Trek’s chest is blocking my
view of them. “You did it, she stopped.” Trek whispers in my ear.
I nod, to let him know that I heard. I want to run out and check on Love, want to see what is happening around me, but my body
has finally exhausted itself and is slowly shutting down. I haven’t replenished my energy from earlier when we stopped Toron’s
plan with the Goblins and now the energy that was needed to stop Love has depleted every drop of strength that I have. Closing
my eyes, I let the darkness take me, let the darkness enfold me in its quietness. The last thing I hear is Trek calling my name
before I lose consciousness.
 TREK 12
“Hope!” I call, but she has lost consciousness, my heart is racing in my chest as I pick her up against my chest, holding her
close.
I look around at the other sisters to see Reality and Vain siting in the far end of the entrance against the wall, their heads back
against the rock wall, their eyes closed as they restore their energy. Dream is enfolded in Drez’s arms, looking as limp as the
others.
These girls might have the strongest magic in Eternity Fae, but they are still too young, still fragile to encounter evil like they
are encountering now. I want to protect Hope, want to run away with her somewhere safe, but I know that I can’t. Hope will
want to fight, will want to be part of this war that has befallen our world because of the evil heart of a Warlock that craves
more power than any one being should ever possess.
I want to kill Toron for the pain, the heartache that he is causing, but I know that I am not strong enough to go against someone
like him. Grunting in anger I look around to see the ground littered with boulders and rock that has been dislodged because of
the magic that was used. As we rushed through the Dragon’s lair I noticed the destruction that was being inflicted.
The Dragon’s will want the princesses to leave, they will link this attack to them being here, they will not realise that no matter
what, Toron would still attack as he seems to want possession of all the factions. I need to find the others and warn them, tell
them that they have to be ready to leave at moment’s notice.
“Darius,” I call but he doesn’t turn, “Darius” I call again but he still doesn’t turn, only then do I realize that Darius and the two
other Dragons that were at this entrance with us are unmoving, they seem to be frozen. “What the hell?” I grunt as I look around.
“We are in more danger than I thought,” I mutter, looking over at Shok and seeing the realization on his face. Whatever the song
was that Love was singing it managed to incapacitate the Dragons which leaves us vulnerable.
“Hurry, we need to move deeper into the tunnels before the Warlock sends his minions in to see if his plan worked,” I order
which has Rea and Vain standing but instead of walking further into the tunnel they are walking towards Darius. “What are you
doing?” I ask exasperated as I want to get everyone into safety, but they seem to have other plans.
“We can’t leave him,” Rea says as she places her hands on his forceps.
“They did the same to the Gargoyles on the Earth Realm, Hope, Dream and Love tried to change them back, but they weren’t
successful,” I explain.
“They seem to be ignoring me as they start chanting, one is standing before Darius while the other stands behind him,” it is
evident how drained the two are, if they carry on, they won’t be able to get away like we need to do. I incline my head towards
Zain and Aqua for them to take their charges and help me get us to safety.
When we were still all living in Eternity Fae the leader of the Guards was Brog, a big strapping Werewolf and my friend.
When the war started, he was killed defending everyone, he gave his life to protect all of us. I promised myself that I wouldn’t
let his life be in vain, that I would continue protecting those he held dear. I don’t believe in leaving any behind, but our first
priority is to protect the princesses and I know that if Darius could talk, he would tell us to leave. I see the two women fighting
their guards as they forcefully take them away from Darius. “If you want to do something for him, put a protection spell around
him until we are able to come back and save him, but trust me when I say that your sisters have already tried to break that spell
with no success.”
“He is telling the truth,” I look down at Hope only now realising that she has awoken, her features still drawn with fatigue, but
her eyes are bright with awareness. “Let’s block the entrance with a spell, to try and stop anyone from coming in unless they
are Dragons.”
The other two quieten, finally Vain pushes against Aqua to let here go and lifting her hand she starts manifesting a protection
spell. Rea copies her sister, her movements sluggish, but her words clear. Dream and Hope do the same chanting their spell,
their words in unison as they chant.
“Light so bright, light so pure, protect these tunnels from any plight.”
“Light so bright, light so pure, protect these tunnels from any fight.”
“Keep all within safe, keep the peace within tight.”
“Light so bright, light so pure, rise, rise and what we say will be right.”

The minute the sisters grow silent I am taking Hopes’ hand to guide her away from the entrance, the others follow suit. I hear
the concerned gasps from the girls as we pass the destruction that has occurred in the Dragon’s lair as the rocks fell to block
out previous entrances, there are Dragons that have been injured, and some killed by the fall of the rocks. Instead of the usual
chaos, there is silence as the Dragons help the injured and start cleaning away the debris.
When we enter the main cavern, we find Doil and Brok walking towards us, Doil is bleeding from a cut to his upper arm and
Brok is holding his side which indicates that he might have hurt his ribs. “You made it!” Doil states as he comes to stand before
us, “we were heading out the west tunnel when the walls collapsed” he reveals with a grunt.
“There are Dragons by the entrance that are frozen like the Gargoyles,” Brok explains, “I don’t understand as the ones in here
are fine.”
“Toron must have infused his own spell with Love’s as she sang, because only her singing wouldn’t have frozen the Dragons.”
Rea says as she rubs her hands up and down her arms which I notice has Zain stepping up close behind her to rub her arms for
warmth.
“Do you think he is using Love as a conduit?” I ask as I glance around making sure that we aren’t in any imminent danger
standing here.
“Yes, I think he might be” Dream replies with a sad expression.
“We will find a way of breaking his Zombie spell on everyone and then we can defeat him,” Hope says as she takes Dreams
hand in hers.
“For now, we need to be helping the Dragon’s clean up and try and rebuild what has been destroyed,” Vain states as she looks
around at the destruction. I look around once again surprised at the calmness of the Dragons, I thought that they would be at our
throats, blaming us for what has happened, but they are calmly going about what they need to do without blame or finger
pointing. I know that Dragons are the oldest, wisest faction in Eternity Fae, but only when I see how controlled they are do I
realise how much the Wolves still need to learn.
If we were with the Wolf packs, they would be slaughtering us right now for the danger that we have brought to them, but
instead the Dragons understand that even though they are currently under attack because we are here, they would have attacked
them either way in the long run to try and conquer their power.
Darius had invited us to enter the tunnels and stay but only until the girls found their sisters, the minute they did we should have
left, but no one kicked us out, no one said anything, and now Darius has been turned into stone.
“Are all the entrances protected?” I ask, I want to make sure that we aren’t all slaughtered in our sleep if somehow, they
manage to make their way inside.
“Yes, we have protected the tunnels, the Dragons home, for now they won’t be entering without us knowing.” Rea replies.
“You need to rest,” Zain says as he looks at Rea which earns him a glare.
“I agree with him, all of you need to rest,” I raise my hand before they can complain as they open their mouths to argue. “You
will have to fight Toron again,” I explain, “and I am thinking soon, therefore it would make sense for the four of you to try and
recuperate your strength so that you can help us instead of being too exhausted to do anything.”
“We need to help, we can’t just go and sleep,” Hope complains earning her sisters’ quick agreements.
“That’s fine, then why don’t you go and find all the kids, take them to one place and keep them occupied while their parents
make it safe for them again.” I see the scowl on Vain’s face, but the girls finally agree as they start looking around for the
children.
“Let’s get to work, we need to try and make these tunnels safe again” I order, I know that even though I’m not their leader, I was
the second in command when Brog was leader at Eternity Fae. When Darius is around, we defer to his order as he is the King’s
guard and higher in rank, but now that he isn’t here the others will defer to me.
“Doil, why don’t you go and get your arm sorted and then come and help.” I state as I see the blood still running from his
wound. He nods, turning he heads in the direction where the infirmary used to be.
“Have any of you seen Darius?” Brok asks as he looks around.
“Darius was with us; he was frozen like the Gargoyles are” Shok’s explanation has Brog’s eyes widen in surprise.
“No way,” he mutters, “never thought they could do that to a Dragon,”
“Looks like the spell targets specific factions as it didn’t affect any of us” Shok says as he bends to pick up a large rock and
push it towards the wall of the Cavern. We start helping the Dragons cleaning up, helping the injured ones getting them to the
infirmary. We work for hours, building, cleaning, and assisting with the dead.
I keep an eye on the girls, making sure that they do not tire themselves out. I see that Dream has fallen asleep against the Cavern
wall with a little girls’ head on her lap as she was stroking her hair. Both are sleeping peacefully even though there is banging
and scrapping all around them.
Hope is sitting with two boys, playing some king of game while Rea is sitting a few feet away with a group of four kids as she
tells them a story. Vain is sitting on a boulder with a teenage girl, by their earnest expressions I would say that Vain is guiding
the girl through her fears. It is known among the guard that Vain has the gift of helping beings with their self-confidence, with
their purpose, guiding them to become the best that they can be. She is great at strategy, but she is better at building and guiding
people. Her self-confidence and wisdom are always welcome and adhered when offered.
We all know that the sisters are still finding their powers, that they are still building their strength and inner magic. Toron is
forcing them to speed up their growth, stopping them from finding their own strength at their own time, finding the magic that
binds the five of them. Instead, he is pushing them, so that he can acquire their strength for his own evil plans.
I will die before I allow any harm to any of them, I will die before I allow the rise of the Warlock to overshadow all the good
that has been the core of Eternity Fae for Centuries. He has won this battle, but he hasn’t won the war because if we have the
sisters on our side, we still have a chance.
Looking at Hope I smile, as long as I have Hope in my life I have won. Hope calms the savage side of my nature, she brings
light into my life, into the life of those that have the privilege of being close to her.
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Kansas
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Title: The Kansas University science bulletin, Vol. I, No. 6,

September 1902

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Language: English

Original publication: Lawrence: Kansas University, 1902

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE

KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN, VOL. I, NO. 6,
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 THE
KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE
BULLETIN.
Vol. I, No. 6—September 1902.

(Whole Series, Vol. XI, No. 6.)

 CONTENTS:

I.—New Fossils from the Upper Carboniferous of Kansas, J.

W. Beede.

II.—Variation of the Spiralia in Seminula Argentia (Shepard)

Hall, J. W. Beede.

PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY,

Lawrence, Kan.

Price of this number, 15 cents.

Entered at the post-office in Lawrence as second-class matter.

Kansas University Science
Bulletin.

Vol. I, No. 6. SEPTEMBER, 1902. { Whole Series,

{ Vol. XI, No. 6.
 NEW FOSSILS FROM THE UPPER
CARBONIFEROUS OF KANSAS.

BY J. W. BEEDE.

With Plate V.

The following will be of interest and value in completing the faunal

succession of the uppermost part of the Carboniferous, as well as for
the biologic interest of one of them.

Ceriocrinus harshbargeri, n. sp. Plate V, figs.

1–1c.
The distinctive features of this species are: Surface ornamented
with both pustules and granules, large interradial supporting plate
above calyx, ten short, massive arms.
Description: Calyx basin-shaped, shallow, quite concave below.
Infrabasals partly covered, but located entirely within the body
cavity. Stem small and apparently round. The five basals are large,
recurved below the middle, concave in the center of the more
depressed part, four apparently hexagonal and one heptagonal, and
larger than the others supporting the interradial; all higher than
wide, sutures not much depressed. There are five large, massive
radials a trifle more than twice as wide as high, well beveled, faceted,
and apparently sagging a little on the upper articular surface.
Interradial large, fully half within the calyx, higher than broad, and
the upper portion very strongly curved inward. This plate supports
another entirely without the calyx, which is comparatively large and
appears to be pentagonal when seen from without, the two upper
sides being much longer than the rest, making the plate appear
triangular at first sight, fitting closely between the arms on either
side. The five brachial plates are large, contiguous save on the
posterior side, and produced into an obtuse spinous process. Much
of the upper surface of these processes is faceted, supporting the
costals, and in this manner giving the animal its greater lateral
diameter above the calyx, and affording more room for the massive
arms which, when closed, form a box around the inner part. The
costals are ten in number, two to each brachial, large, nearly three
times as broad as high, and convex. The distichals are sometimes
present and sometimes wanting, very broad and thin when present.
Arms ten, broad, outer surface of each nearly flat massive, composed
of two series of interlocking plates, each one of which bears a
pinnule. Pinnulæ long and narrow. The articular surface of the arm
plates is minutely crenulated. These plates decrease in length though
but little in height as they approach the tips of the arms. The surface
of almost the entire animal was ornamented with granules, and the
lower part with both granules and pustules.

Measurements: height. breadth. length.

Calyx 11 mm. 30 mm.
Basals (vertical) 5½ „ 12 „
Radials 9 „ 18+ „
Brachials 7 „ 17 „ 8 mm. beyond calyx.
Costals 4 „ 9 to 11 mm.
Distichals 2 „ 9 „
Arm plates 2 „ 3 to 5 „
Interradial 7 „ 6 „

Aside from the markings mentioned, the calyx is also ornamented

with depressions which look at first like borings of some kind, but
which have the same granular character as the rest of the surface.
Position and locality: Carboniferous, Upper Coal Measures,
Topeka, Kan., from the Osage City shales, over the Osage coal.
The type was collected by Prof. W. A. Harshbarger, in honor of
whom it is named. Type now in the collection of Washburn College.
 In general appearance this species is strikingly like C. craigii
Worthen, but differs in the following respects: The body is not
smooth but highly ornamented, and the anal piece is much larger. In
all specimens of C. craigii that I have seen the body is smooth and
glossy, and shows (even when apparently unworn) no indications of
former surface-markings, while this species possesses both pustules
and granules, the latter covering about the entire specimen. In
mature individuals the interradial is much larger. Two smaller
specimens, probably younger ones of this species, are figured in the
accompanying plate, showing the relative growth of the calyx and
interradial. In both the ornamentation is the same as described in
this species. C. monticulatus Beede is from the same locality and
horizon, but has long, slender arms, brachials not spinous, and the
calyx is deeper. The most fundamental difference, however, is the
number of arms possessed by the latter species, the number being
sixteen or eighteen, while the one here described has but ten.
C. nodulifera Butts differs from this species in having a node at the
upper part of each basal and also on the radials. It also has more
acute and apparently longer spines. Mr. Butts makes no mention of
finer surface-markings. The Topeka specimen is from a much higher
horizon.
Aviculopecten subequivalvus, n. sp. Plate V,
figs. 3, 3a.
Shell thick, moderately large, subequivalvular, rather convex, quite
oblique, ears well developed. The hinge is nearly straight, the beak
does not project, the angle of divergence of its sides is about eighty to
ninety degrees. The left valve, exclusive of the ears, is ovate; anterior
ear well developed, obtusely angular, marked only by strong lines of
growth; the rise from the ear to the body of the shell is abrupt; the
marginal sinus separating the ear from the rest of the shell broad,
shallow, and ill-defined. The posterior ear is unknown. The anterior
margin below the ear forms an ovate curve, which is probably
continued on the ventral and postero-ventral margins. The surface of
this valve is apparently marked only by stronger and fainter
concentric lines except on the front and back sides, where there are
radiating rows of vaulted lamellæ. It is entirely probable that these
marks once extended over the entire surface, but have been worn off
from the more convex portions. Judging from another specimen, the
right valve is somewhat flatter than the left and quite as oblique.
Posterior ear very small and obtuse; anterior ear quite large, marked
by obscure, large, radiating ribs and probably vaulted lamellæ, as
well as strong concentric markings; separated from the shell by a
deep sulcus. Margin from the beak around the posterior to near the
middle of the shell is a regular ovate curve, antero-ventral margin
somewhat produced but rounded, extending obliquely toward the
beak until the deep byssal sinus is reached. Ornamentation as in the
other valve. In this specimen it seems that the radiating rows of
scales covered the entire surface before being worn away. Length, 36
mm.; height, 32 mm.; hinge, 17 mm.; thickness, about 5 mm.
Position and locality: Thin limestone, south of Dover, Kan., in
Upper Coal Measures. Type in author’s collection.
This shell may prove to be a Pseudomonotis, as the critical
characters are not well known. It is not liable to be confused with any
other shell from the Coal Measures.
Pinna lata, n. sp. Plate V, fig. 4.
Shell small for this genus, not very convex, probably plain except
the usual growth marks, acutely pointed at the beaks, which are
terminal. The angle of divergence of the shell is thirty degrees. This
species is based on three casts. The type is not distorted, but the
posterior end is broken away. There are two other specimens from
the same locality, but compressed dorso-ventrically, which show the
same characters as the type. The size is about that of Aviculopinna
americana Meek, but the form and markings as shown on the cast
are very different, and the beaks are terminal. Length of type along
hinge, 27 mm.; height (20 mm. back of beak), 11 mm.
Position and locality: Carboniferous, Upper Coal Measures,
Howard limestone, Topeka, Kan.
The small size, great angle of divergence at the beak and sharp-
pointed beaks easily distinguish this species from other members of
the genus from the Coal Measures.
Pleurophorus whitei, n. sp. Plate V, figs. 5, 5b.
Pleurophorus —? White, Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. 77, p. 27, pl. iv, figs.
5–10.
Shell of medium to large size, transversely ovate, with the depth of
the shell greater at the anterior than at the posterior end. Beaks
moderately prominent, subterminal; umbonal ridge prominent,
extending obliquely to postero-ventral margin. Hinge straight or
arcuate, usually about three-fourths the length of the specimen. The
right posterior lamina is well shown on good casts. The anterior
adductor impression is usually prominent, being set apart by the
depression produced by the ridge behind it. The impression of the
two cardinal teeth is also visible. The anterior margin drops
obliquely downward from the beak nearly to the middle of the shell,
when it rounds, rapidly at first, into the ventral margin, which may
be straight, somewhat sinuous or even convex on approaching the
postero-ventral region: at the end of the umbonal ridge it rounds
rapidly into the posterior, oblique truncation, reaching the hinge at
an oblique angle. The lines formed by the hinge and ventral margins
converge toward the posterior, thus leaving the greatest depth of the
shell in front. Above the umbonal ridge the shell is obliquely
flattened to the hinge. The surface, as shown in excellent molds, is
ornamented only by fine lines of growth, which are sometimes a little
stronger beneath the beak than elsewhere, and weaken on and above
the umbonal slope.
Position and locality: This species is found in the Upper Coal
Measures, upper Wabaunsee stage, east of Barrett, Kan. This is the
only locality known to the writer where this shell, abundant in the
Permian, is found below the Wreford limestone. Types from Permian
west of Stockdale, Kan., “about 100 feet above Cottonwood
limestone.” Collected by Prof. E. A. Popenoe.
This species is extremely variable, as shown in Professor White’s
figures, above cited. The short shell with the posterior shallower than
the anterior end is in sharp contrast to most of the species of the
genus. In surface ornamentation it resembles P. tropidophorus more
closely than any other species. It is distinguished from P.
subcuneatus Meek by its short, thick form and larger size. This
species is the more abundant of the two in the Permian rocks of the
Big Blue series, while P. subcuneata only has been identified from
the Cimarron series.
Allorisma kansasensis, n. sp. Plate V, figs. 6,
6d.
Shell small, rather gibbous, transversely subovate. Beaks
prominent, incurved, approximate, located about one-third the
length of the shell from the anterior end. Anterior outline descending
obliquely from the beaks nearly to the ventral margin, where it turns
rather abruptly backward along the nearly straight basal edge to the
posterior extremity, where it rounds off regularly upward and then
forward to meet the hinge. The hinge is apparently straight and more
than half as long as the shell. The umbonal ridge is prominent,
rounded, ill-defined, fading away at the extremity of the shell. Above
this ridge is a depression which, with the smooth, elevated hinge,
would cause a strong keel on the shell back of the beaks. The
concentric ribs are prominent, fading out at the upper part of the
umbonal ridge and near the anterior border. These ribs are quite as
prominent on the casts as on the shell itself. On the central and
postero-central regions are the characteristic distant, radiating rows
of fine, closely set granules. The shell is less convex below and back
of the beak than on either side of this region, though it is not
concave. The length varies from 1.7 to 1.4 the height.
Position and locality: Upper Coal Measures, Howard limestone,
Topeka, Kan.
This species is very closely related to A. curta Swallow, but differs
from it in having a straighter hinge and a more remote beak. It is
from a lower horizon. In the latter respect it differs from
McChesney’s species also.

Paleontological Laboratory, Indiana University,

May 22, 1902.
 Explanation of Plate V.
All figures about natural size. Drawings by C. McK. Beede.
Ceriocrinus harshbargeri.

Fig. 1. Right posterior view of type.

Fig. 1a. Diagram of anal plates of same.
Fig. 1b. Surface detail enlarged.
Fig. 1c. Diagram of basal view.
Fig. 2. Calyx of another specimen, probably of this species.
Fig. 2a. Diagram of a portion of posterior view of another slightly
smaller specimen, showing variation in size of anal
plate.
Aviculopecten subequivalvus.

Fig. 3. View of type. One side incomplete.

Fig. 3a. Opposite valve of another specimen.
Pinna lata.

Fig. 4. View of type, a left valve.

Pleurophorus whitei.

Fig. 5. Type specimen; cast of a left valve on the same slab as

the two following and the cephalothorax of a large
limuloid.
Fig. 5a. Cast off a broken specimen, showing the anterior
muscular impressions.
Fig. 5b. Specimen of different outline.
Allorisma kansasensis.

Fig. 6. Imperfect cast, showing strong concentric undulations

impressed upon it.
Fig. 6a. Lateral view of type. Shell exfoliated in front.

PLATE V.
 VARIATION OF THE SPIRALIA IN
SEMINULA ARGENTIA
(Shepard) Hall.

BY J. W. BEEDE.

With Plate VI.

Owing to the systematic importance and the rarity of good

material of the brachial framework of the brachiopods, any light on
the extent of individual variation of these parts is of considerable
importance. In the spring of 1899 the University of Kansas received
from Prof. C. N. Gould a set of ten specimens of Seminula argentia
(Shepard) Hall that show the position of the spires. These specimens
were all from the same horizon in the Lower Permian. The University
also had another specimen showing these characters, as did a
specimen in the writer’s collection. Recently the study of these
specimens was taken up and some remarkable results developed.
Both valves of this species are quite convex and not infrequently as
broad as long. The older specimens are quite ventricose. However,
the shell is subject to a considerable variation in form. Four of the
twelve specimens studied were somewhat compressed, but it so
happens that three of these approach the normal type very closely,
while the fourth does not vary from it greatly. Those showing
greatest variation have not been subject to any visible external
deformation. The specimens under discussion are of about the
average size and form.
The normal position of the spire is with its apex pointing to the
side, near the line where the valves meet, at, or a little in front of, the
middle of the shell, which is also the widest point. In the central part
of the shell cavity the edges of the spires nearly meet. In front they
flare apart, leaving a large, subcircular opening. For convenience, in
this paper, this opening will be spoken of as the frontal aperture of
the spiralia. It will also be necessary to orient the specimens so that
definite positions may be referred to. For this purpose we will
consider the specimens as front toward (back away from) the
observer, with the brachial valve uppermost.
A specimen from the Topeka limestone, Upper Coal Measures, at
Topeka, Kan., shows the spires with the apex of one of them pointing
almost directly forward toward the anterior end of the shell, turned
through a horizontal angle of about ninety degrees from its normal
position, while, as nearly as may be determined from the specimen
as cut, the apex of the other one is directed toward the median line of
the pedicle valve just in front of the hinge. This specimen was
selected to be ground, because it was a good specimen, of normal
form. Another specimen (No. 3), from the Permian of Cowley county,
Kansas, has the apices of the spires turned at an angle of about forty-
five degrees or more in a vertical direction, causing the point of the
spire to be located near the middle of the right side of the brachial
valve, while the other points to the opposite of the pedicle valve. The
spire is quite flattened, approaching disk shape, with the apex quite
obtuse and the frontal aperture very narrow and almost slit-like (this
may be partially due to a very slight compression, but the
compression, if present, is so slight as to modify it very little), owing
to the position of the spires in the shell, which prevents their flaring
much at the front. The shell is not an old one, and, for this reason, is
somewhat less ventricose than many adults. The young specimens
are much flatter than the old ones in this species.
The spiralia of No. 10 are turned in a similar manner, but through
a much smaller angle. The frontal aperture is typical, as is also the
general form of the shell. The spiralia are conical, and the tips
probably acute. In No. 6 the position of the spiralia, their form and
that of the aperture are normal. Nos. 6 and 9 show spines on the
spires. The spines are closely set, thick, blunt, and nearly twice as
long as broad. In fact, some appear to be nearly as large at the tips as
at the base. In No. 9 the spires are normal, except that, instead of
being flaring conical, they are more in the shape of a folded shield
shape with acute apex. In other words, the frontal aperture is
produced by the dorso-ventral compression of the entire cone rather
than the flaring of the frontal portion. The apex of the left spire is
bent somewhat downward. The position of the spiralia in No. 7 is
about normal, the tips obtuse, the spires almost perfectly depressed
conical, frontal aperture only slightly wider than the space farther
back on the side next the brachial valve. No. 5 has apparently been
compressed laterally, through this compression did not affect the
positions of the spiralia, for they are normal. They appear to have
been of the typical form in every respect. In No. 8 the spires seem to
have been turned through a slight vertical angle, though the
incompleteness of the specimen prevents a close study of position.
The form was apparently normal, except that the lower edges may
have been somewhat pressed inward. Nos. 1 and 4 are about normal
throughout. No. 2 is normal as far as can be seen, except that the
apices are turned through a small vertical angle. The anterior portion
of the pedicle valve is crushed in. No. 12 is normal throughout.
It is unfortunate that none of the specimens show the crural
attachment of the spiralia. Such structures must certainly vary in
order to support the spires in their various positions.
The above facts would seem to indicate the following conclusions:
First, in those spire-bearing brachiopods in which the form of the
shell does not govern the position of the spires, the Athyridæ in
particular, the spires may be subject to a considerable variation in
both position and form. Second, that the crural supports are
probably so modified as to accommodate the spires in their various
positions.
In the light of the foregoing, it will be seen that in the future it will
be necessary to study the structure of several specimens before using
small variations of internal structure in these shells as bases for
group divisions.
One might expect greater individual variation among the Flint
Hills specimens, owing to the physical changes that were taking place
during the close of the Carboniferous and the early Permian; changes
which soon caused this species, together with many others, to
become extinct. However, this cannot be said of the most striking
case (No. 11) from the Topeka limestone. It would seem that such
variations as are found in Nos. 3 and 11 would be decidedly
detrimental to the well-being of the animal, though the latter of the
two seems to have been a vigorous individual.

Indiana University, Bloomington,

April 8, 1902.
 Explanation of Plate VI.
Drawings by Sydney Prentice, except No. 12, which is by C. McK.
Beede.
All specimens natural size.
Seminula argentia. Variation of spires.

Fig. 1. Specimen brachial side up.

Fig. 2. This specimen shows spires viewed with pedicle
side partly removed.
Fig. 3. Pedicle view, showing part of spire.
Fig. 3a. Above individual, brachial side up.
Fig. 4. Brachial side of fig. 4a.
Fig. 4a. Pedicle view of specimen, showing position of
spires.
Figs. 5 and 5a are the brachial and pedicle views of a somewhat
laterally compressed specimen.
Fig. 6. Pedicle view of specimen.
Fig. 6a. Brachial view of fig. 6.
Figs. 7 and 7a are the brachial and pedicle views of a specimen.
Fig. 8. This figure probably shows the brachial side of
specimen, while fig. 8a is the opposite side.
Fig. 9. Brachial view.
Fig. 10. The pedicle view of a specimen, and fig. 10a the
brachial side of the same.
Fig. 11. Brachial valve nearly ground away, to show spire.
The sickle-shaped structure is probably the base
of the opposite spire. Beede’s collection.
Fig. 12. Specimen with brachial valve largely broken away.
All specimens but No. 11 in collection of University of Kansas.
PLATE VI.
 TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and
variations in spelling.
2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings
as printed.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KANSAS
UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN, VOL. I, NO. 6, SEPTEMBER
1902 ***

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