FAE the fight against entitlement

Escape with a breath of Gray

"Damn, that was close," Rampart said through a wide smile he did not often wear.

"Gentlemen," Reka said, "you poked Nereus to the outer edge of sanity tonight with Ozil's rescue. My confinement and torture in the golden cage was the Erlking's only soothing concession since the disappearance of half breeds. His daily threats that I would soon bear witness to Ozil's brutalization and slow death are what kept Ozil alive. I have no doubt many would have witnessed my torment tomorrow, and days after, until my headless body was skewered on a pole outside the castle. I am forever in your debt for rescuing both of us, Aldul, but I fear the Erlking's rage will excel to a frenzied killing spree of innocent fae. I can't be the object of his rage."

"I will not leave you here alone," Rampart said. "If you stay, I will join you."

Reka and Rampart stood facing each other in halls darkened by the Gray. The Erlking's rage echoed off the walls around them.

Ozil did not miss the fear for her people in Reka's violet eyes as she struggled with a decision she was desperately trying to make. A soft blue glow of color rose in patches on her otherwise white cheeks. Translucent wings lie limp over her back and shoulders like another layer of skin. And still, her beauty was magnetic.

"We will stop him, Reka," Ozil said. "Nereus has inappropriately crossed the lines of rationality too often as of late. Many of the fae that once supported him can no longer ignore the deaths of innocent friends and neighbors at his command. And if Nereus does as you say, the fae are sure to scatter to protect themselves."

"Ozil is correct, Reka." Rampart said. "The fae will rally with us. Especially with Ozil and you at our sides, and the news of the jinn breaking the treaty Nerues made with Talock will soon be public. Help us end this."

Aldul had been quiet and stood patiently while the others spoke but now his lips were tight, and his eyes scanned the stairs and hallway. "We must move, fae Reka. Choose wisely. I will open the Gray for you to exit, but will go no further. Know that it was not my choice to rescue you. I only fulfilled Rampart's requests for Ozil and then you. I do not regret doing so. But we must get back to camp."

Reka ruffled her white skinned bat-like wings and bowed her head. The Erlking's rants were closer now. It was clear Nereus was headed toward them and the room Reka had been captive in. When she turned and headed down a stairway leading them away from the Erlking, they followed. They raced down damp, drafty halls, and cobblestoned stairs toward a starless sky. Housemaids and cleaning staff with fear in their eyes, and shocked expressions on their faces, peeked from cracked chamber door's and swiftly closed them again.

"Damn him to an early death," Reka hissed. "Finally, I will be beside you in battle again, Ozil."

Ozil beamed with happiness, his wings helping him keep up. "To finally get you back from the captive queen of a beehive I had so diligently guarded for years, and once again willing to stand beside me in battle gives hope for a good future for all."

Rampart gave Ozil a side glance. "You never told me Reka was a fighter."

"And a damn good one," Ozil said, eyes sparkling as he turned a corner and flew beside the others down the last passageway. "She was my first guard."

"I was her replacement?"

"Yes. Reka has a powerful a magic, Rampart. This you will see." Ozil's eyes moved to Reka. "I have missed you, friend."

"And I you." Reka's lavender tattoos pulsed on her hairless head, shoulders and arms.

"If you are as powerful as Ozil says," Aldul said, "why didn't you fight Nereus, Reka?"