(A picture of Laura Graycrest, Enjoy chapter 19!)
"Damnit," hissed Jaxon and tried to hide Blake who stood there pale and wide-eyed, watching the witches move across the strange architectures made of roots, wood, and magic in a circle-like form.
"Calm down, do not hide him like that. It will draw more attention to him," Dale hissed, standing in front of Blake far more casually than Jaxon was feeling.
"Take my medallion," Wallace said.
"What about you?" Blake asked, but grabbed onto the medallion handed to him.
"I am from a druid circle across the country and have been here only for a few months. I doubt that any of these people have ever laid eyes on me," Wallace reassured him but moved in to hide between the group.
"We need to move before we draw too much attention to us," Alex muttered, looking around. "Leon said to go this way."
Nightmane growled and snarled in his mind at every witch walking by, ready to defend Blake if anyone made a move while Jaxon desperately held the wolf back trying to look normal as they walked up the stairs.
He had never been inside Crann Eolais, and could only stare at some of the sights. Fairies and gnomes moving about, magic thick in the air and floating lanterns in every color possible. It truly looked magical.
"Does it always look like this?" Jaxon whispered to Blake.
"Not really, the lanterns are new and I swear there are more people around," Blake replied, watching the stands filled with snacks and strange drinks.
"It's most likely the Samhain. It is celebrated by the fae and fairies alike. Thin veil and all that," Wallace said, suddenly freezing when a group of people walked past them.
They were bronze-skinned, tall, and looking like gods. Their eyes were sharp and they wore ancient Greek clothes. What was most frightening though was not that they looked out of place, but that their eyes seemed to be able to focus on their group. The leader, a lean teenager with shoulder-long curly, raven hair and dark eyes on a tanned skin gave Blake a rather sexy smile, suited for a Greek, as he could see him despite the illusion that currently was cast on him. Which only made Jaxon want to turn around and punch him even more, but Alex just grabbed onto him and pulled him along.
Fortunately, none lingered but it still was frightening. "What was that?" Jaxon asked, glancing back at the people now out of sight, or rather glaring after the leader.
"Emissaries from the Ecclesia, or the Assembly in English," Wallace replied, clearly in awe. "I have only heard of them from legends.
"Ecclesia?" Dale's eyes went wide. "I didn't know they were still around."
"I don't know who they are, period," Jaxon muttered as they continued on, now more hurriedly as there were apparently creatures here who could see them.
"The Ecclesia was the first council of magic. Created in ancient Greece with members all over the world. They created the laws enforced by their warriors and obeyed by all magical. Of course, this was when the veil where thinner and magic was everywhere. When the veil became more prominent and the realms lost contact with each other the Ecclesia tried to hold them together. Walking between worlds as emissaries but they have lost much of their power over the years," Dale explained. "They were the ones that came up with the law that shifters shouldn't use magic after the fights between witches and shifters became too prominent. In return, the witches would not ever be the first one to start a war with the shifters."
"I'm guessing they are here because of the war between the shifters and the witches," Blake said.
"Yes, I imagine so. Though I doubt they can do much. They could only enforce the law forbidding shifters from using magic because the witches and shifters has turned over the judgment to them during that time. The two parties wanted peace and trusted the Ecclesia to be neutral. If we want to break the old rule then that is up to us," Dale said with a shrug, going silent as they finally arrived at the vault.
It was off around a corner, down a dark hallway that at least gave them some privacy, but much to their surprise the vault was opened.
"Shit!" muttered Dale, as he opened the vault and peered in. Jaxon and the other followed but with care as the vault was filled with artifacts and people seemingly handling them.
"What is-" Jaxon's voice was interrupted though when he heard a shrill voice shout a name he had hoped no one would utter in this place.
"Blake!" A shining fairy slammed into Blake, her fluttering wings sending dust everywhere. Without caring for her health, Jaxon ripped the squeaking fairy off his man but she just looked delighted. Her pink hair stood on end as she tried to skitter back into Blake's arms.
"Clary," Blake gasped, trying to hush her as her squealing had started to gather some attention from the other people in the vault. She finally settled down, when she got to cling to his arm which made Nightmane really furious. He kept snarling in Jaxon's mind, trying to reach the surface.
"What are you doing here, Blake?" whispered Clary, who finally seem to understand the gravity of the situation. With a gasp, she covered her mouth. "You aren't supposed to be here."
"We know, but we heard that Leon's mother plan to use something called the Khadga of Kali," Blake said and Jaxon noticed Clary shuddering by the name of the object.
"That thing, yes. It is filled to the brim with death and dark magic but Mrs. Graycrest seems obsessed with it. She has let Laura Graycrest guard it though, has ordered her to never let it out of her sight."
"A bit overkill for one artifact, especially when nothing has ever been stolen," Alex muttered, frowning at the people around them who seems to pack away artifacts.
"Nothing might have been stolen, but a lot of things have been taken," Clary replied, nodding to the packed away stuff. "After Elan coven started the conflict with the shifters the Ecclesia has arrived to take all the ancient Greek and Roman artifacts away so they cannot be misused. Other factions like the Indian one also wants to do the same and since the other covens have abandoned Elan coven in order to ensure that their artifacts aren't taken away, Elan coven has very little choice but to give them up to ensure that they aren't attacked by other supernatural factions."
"Is that why Ecclesia is here?" Wallace asked.
"Yes, they are overseeing the transfer to Elysia which is happening tonight as the veil is at its thinnest. They aren't the only ones. The fae and fairies are also leaving tonight, going to the sprite colony in Elysia."
"Elysia?" Blake asked, confusion written across his face.
"The realm of the Ecclesia, created by the Titans when the Olympians tried to kill them off. Later on, the Olympians were given refuge there and Elysia became a refuge for many supernatural beings. The sprites which consist of creatures born from the supernatural such as descendants of gods has an island there, Arcadia, where they have built their own society," Wallace explained. "I have never been there as it isn't easy to travel across realms."
"I haven't either," Clary said. "I have wanted to go there as the fairy colonies don't accept dust fairies."
"Dust fairy?"
"Half-human and half-fairy. The seasons' fairies are pure-blooded and the common fairies are half-fairies born from other supernatural creatures such as fae. Only dust fairies are looked down upon," Clary shrugged, but her words didn't sound as nonchalant. There was a heaviness there that suggested that she has known the pain of being a dust fairy.
"Guys, this is all interesting, but we can't be sidetracked. We need to find Laura Graycrest," Jaxon reminded them, really not liking this place. There was too much magic in the air and Nightmane was on edge.
Clary's wings fluttered before she let out a giggle. "I know where she is, follow me!"
As they walked Jaxon thought that he felt a gaze upon his back, glancing around he froze when he saw Jessie MacGuill walk past them. Standing there like struck by lightning, Jaxon couldn't move. He tried not to stare but let out a sigh of relief when his ex-girlfriend was gone.
"What is it?" Blake asked, coming back for him. His nervous eyes darted across the room.
"Jessie, she just walked past me."
"Did she recognize you?"
"No, I doubt it. She did look at me but just walked away calmly. She wouldn't do that if she had recognized me," Jaxon replied, remembering the last time they had met when she had summoned a sinkhole to devour him. Well, he did dump her at the time so maybe that was to be expected. "But I think we should keep moving either way."
"Agreed," Blake said, pulling Jaxon along while Jaxon couldn't help but glance back wondering if Jessie was leaving with the other fae too. She had always wanted to move to Elysia so maybe she finally would take the chance.
*****
"It's over here," Clary whispered, pointing at the atheneum. "There is an office inside the library where the small chest with the khadga is. I have to go but be careful."
"Thank you," Blake whispered and she gave him a final hug, which made Jaxon growl beside him but Blake just patted her head and watched her fly away. He turned to Alex who had pressed his ear against the door to the office. Fortunately, the library was big enough that the bookshelves hid them, or this would have looked mighty suspicious.
"Anyone inside?"
"I don't think so, I cannot hear anything," Alex replied, trying to open the office. His eyebrows shot up when the door opened. "Why the bloody hell is the door unlocked?"
"This is too easy," Jaxon muttered, and Dale rolled his eyes.
"Obviously, maybe the entranced is spelled," Dale muttered a few words and Blake could feel a surge of magic, but nothing happen. Dale frowned and leaned down, scraping a magical circle into the floor, and tried again. Still nothing. "Apparently, it isn't."
"Move back for a bit," Jaxon said, pulling up his sleeves and slowly edging himself into the room. Apparently expecting a trap to spring but nothing happened.
"The bloody witches are so damn arrogant that it never occurred to them that someone would try and steal the artifacts," Alex said, his face both incredulous and gleeful at the same time as they all walked in.
"Well, entering the Elan Coven in the first place is pretty hard so I guess it makes sense," Wallace muttered and glanced into the large office, filled with bookshelves and artifacts. "Though I start to suspect that this mess might be an extra security."
"Let's spread out and search," Jaxon said.
"Agreed, but be careful. There might be traps in here," Alex warned as they all moved to search the room.
It soon became apparently clear to them that the chest was not here.
"Did the fairy lie?" muttered Jaxon, saying what they all thought but Blake didn't like the comment.
"Or it has been moved, maybe that is why the room was unlocked."
"That would be accurate," said a female voice with an American accent from the entrance. They all turned around toward a girl with long blond hair and bright blue eyes. Her pink lips were pursed as she perused them, holding what must have been the chest. "I presume that you have come for this."
"Laura Graycrest I assume," Alex said.
"That is my name, and who do I have the honor to address?"
"Does that matter?" Dale answered, his eyes following the chest.
"Yes, if you are sent by my cousin then it very much matters," Laura's eyes fell on Blake, seemingly unfocused for a second before they cleared. "Ah, an illusion spell. A risky endeavor but apparently fruitful one. Were you sent by my cousin?"
"What does it matter to you?"
"Because I would very much like this thing," She gestured to the chest," to be out of the coven. Preferably before it does harm and I suspect that my cousin wants the same thing which is why he was exiled."
"That wasn't really why he was exiled, but he does want that Khadga of Kali out of the hands of those who would use it," Blake admitted.
"Frankly, no one has told me anything. I was suddenly taken here from my home in Alaska to be trained to be the next matriarch. Fine, I thought, but where is my cousin and why would I need to take his place. No one was willing to give me a reply and then my aunt spoke of using this thing to kill an archon," Laura shook her head with a sigh. "That cannot be allowed."
"I thought you witches wanted Nemain out of here."
"Is that the archons name? Nemain?" Laura quieted down for a bit, seemingly deep in thought before she replied. "Not all witches. Those with wisdom know that killing an archon will most likely have consequences. Archons are a part of nature, an essential ingredient of the world. We don't fully understand the functions of archons but it's like removing all water from an area. All life in that area will die and turn into a desert. Something similar could possibly happen if an archon died."
"People are already dying," Alex pointed out.
"Archons are like natural disasters. You don't attack a storm. You weather it."
"She has a point," Ahriman's voice suddenly came out of the shadows.
"Seriously, do you come and go at will?" Alex said. "Why the bloody hell are we here if you could just have teleported inside and taken the damn thing?"
"My arrival alert all their senses. The coven has specifically put alarms in to alert if an archon comes in," Ahriman said.
"Then they know that we are here now!" Jaxon hissed, glaring at Ahriman who just snorted.
"They already know, your girlfriend-"
"Ex-girlfriend!"
"-recognized you. She has gone straight to the very angry Mrs. Graycrest who is on her way. I needed to warn you," Ahriman said. As if hearing his warnings, voices shouted outside the library.
"You need to get out of here," Laura said, handing Blake the chest. "Protect this. Is any of you able to use water magic?"
"I am," Wallace said, following her gesture toward a fountain at the corner of the library.
"Create something you can flee on," Laura said, painting a circle Blake recognized at the ground. With a few words, the circle lit up, ensuring that no one could enter. It was the same one Fingal Keir had used to keep Blake and Haley in the conservatory back during his first year.
"This won't hold forever," Laura said, glancing over at Wallace who had broken the fountain with the help of Jaxon. He had formed the flowing water into horses who danced across the library, stomping, and snorting.
"Sutev sugirf," chanted Laura, and a freezing wind rushed from her body freezing the horses solid.
"What are you-" Blake started to ask, but Laura was walking over to the horses. Carving in a symbol looking like a key, Blake recognizes it from pictures of Egyptian tombs as an ankh.
"Eramina" Laura whispered and all the ice sculptured shaped as horses started to move, frost seemingly to grow wherever they stood. "Climb up."
Laura turned to the entrance. The barrier that she has put up, slowly being drained. Blake could see Leon's mother stand on the other side. A veil over her burned face. She shouted for the others to hurry up while he climbed up on a horse only to look up at Ahriman who climbed up behind him with a smirk at Jaxon who looked disappointed.
"Was that really necessary?" asked Blake with an eye roll.
"No, but it was fun," Ahriman said.
"Go, go!" shouted Laura, being sent flying when the barrier finally broke. The horses were set in motion, stomping a path through the witches who threw themselves out of the way from the runaway horde.
Blake could hear someone shout something behind him. The ground rumbled and when he turn back, his mouth went dry.
A giant bronze minotaur followed them. Its eyes were red and steam came out of its nose.
"That thing?! I thought it was buried!" shouted Alex, making Blake wonder how he could have missed the conversation when Alex told him that he had encountered a bronze minotaur.
"They weren't supposed to find the temple," Ahriman said grimly. "Someone must have shown them where it lay."
The minotaur started to run, the ground shaking as it moved forward.
"And now it can bloody run?!" Alex screamed lividly, as the huge thing was almost upon them. As the shadow of the thing fell over them, Blake closed his eyes and prayed for a miracle.