The Last Daughter of Elysia

Chapter 31

The mist swept through the room once more, dispersing the Golight Lords as if they were made of smoke. Briar's living room came into focus, and candlelight flickered over the table. A clock chimed loudly, and a strange silence settled over Briar, Aelys, and Morgana. It was jarring to see Briar's lounges and shelves after what they'd just witnessed. It was jarring to see a normal, cozy room.

Morgana was dazed as if she'd suffered a blow to the head. It seemed as if it was all a bad joke, that the witches' magic wasn't poisonous after all and that King Erik was the one behind their genocide. That he'd convinced the Golight Lords to follow him so they could stay in power. Morgana thought about how angry he'd been when she'd failed her magic suppression training and that he'd only cared whether she took her elixir or not. It was all to ensure that her power would be crushed.

"No." Aelys's face was pale. "That can't be true. My father would never ..."

"It is true, Your Highness," Briar said. "I was there during the war. I saw him cut witches down as if they were nothing." She paused and her voice wavered. "I once had a friend from the Mother Coven, named Meredith. She didn't participate in the war, but she was executed all the same. All Meredith ever did was deliver faelings and witchlings into the world. Many would visit her because her healing concoctions could cure any illness. You couldn't have found a better healer anywhere. She brought life to Elysia, she never poisoned the land or anyone. So, when the rumors started about the witches' magic being poisonous, I knew it was a lie."

Morgana's stomach churned. "How could Erik do this? Surely, he didn't believe that the witches would've tried to control the fae?"

The grimoire hissed, "He believed it, sister ... fear can poison any soul. Erik is used to being the most powerful creature in Elysia. The thought of others being more powerful than him drove him to do terrible things."

Morgana felt her heart go empty. Erik had done this for centuries. He'd fooled them all into thinking that the Golights were good. That they'd done right by killing an entire species, to save the fae and faeries. To justify his genocide he'd made out that the witches were evil, all so he could make a power grab. He'd also turned the fae and faeries against each other by feeding the Golights lies about the Aeperians. He'd written history with his ideals.

Aelys shook her head. "It can't be true."

"You know it's true Aelys. Why else would he steal me from my family and poison me."

Aelys's bottom lip quivered, and Morgana placed her head in her hands. "Erik killed my parents. He set fire to the cottage with his magic and Damon didn't stop him."

Aelys's eyes shone with tears. "I wish I'd known ... Maybe I could've stopped them. But I never thought that they'd be capable of such ..."

"It's not your fault. How were you to know?" Morgana said. "It explains why he hasn't killed me either. Allegra cursed him that if anyone from Golah Court killed the last witch then his bloodline will die and the Golights will fall. He just settled on the next best thing, which was to poison me to the point of weakness."

"Allegra was always so clever," Briar said. "She saved your life by placing that curse on him."

Morgana's face crumpled. "She may have saved my life, but not my parents." She sobbed and Aelys wrapped her arms around her.

Briar gave them a moment. She got up and started cleaning the broken crockery and biscuits from the floor.

Morgana stared into space, whilst Aelys rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe her. But after a long moment, Morgana's sadness changed into something darker. It was like a monster had taken a bite out of her heart. She wanted to hurt Damon, wanted him to feel the same pain she felt. He'd let Erik kill her parents and he'd pretended to be her brother, her friend, when really he was her enemy. His betrayal had hurt the most because she'd loved him. And as for Erik? Morgana wanted him to die for his crimes. How could he be so hateful? How could he kill an entire species?

Tears stung her eyes as she tried to swallow the rising sickness. "They need to pay for what they did." Morgana's voice was a shaky whisper. "I want to take everything away from them."

"They should pay." Briar sat at the table. "They've stolen from my people too. For far too long we've been seen as the ones who were on the wrong side of the war. For far too long we've been the victims of Golight prejudice."

Aelys was silent, looking as lost as a human in one of Elysia's forests.

"Before you seek justice there is more that you need to know," said the grimoire.

Morgana, Aelys, and Briar swapped glances.

"What else could there possibly be?" Morgana asked.

"How could it get any worse?" Aelys murmured.

Light glowed from the grimoire, like the sun breaking over the horizon, and the scent of smoke and fire curled through the air. Aelys, Briar and Morgana clasped hands once more as faint cries and the clashing of steel echoed from the pages. The light grew brighter and brighter, until it washed over them. Morgana, Aelys and Briar floated out of their chairs.

Aelys yelped.

And soon they were falling into the grimoire. Morgana yelled, until her shoes landed onto the muddy ground with a squelch. Screams and roars bellowed over the clash of steel. Plumes of smoke wafted past, and Morgana coughed.

They'd been dropped right into the middle of a battlefield.