Etherea: The Lost Daughter

19

Duane glared venomously as billows of violet smoke erupted from the Emerald Court, he had been in the tavern sleeping peacefully when the whole city was engulfed in chaos. Barely he escaped as barrels and carts burst into flames. It must be her, he thought. Perhaps his enchantments had not entirely failed him. Now to find her, he spat on the earth at his feet as he wiped ash from his coat. "Duane!" A voice called merrily in the distance, he stifled a groan as he turned to greet the six Silver Princes. It was an insult to him that Ciar had also named them Princes. The eldest of them, Aidan, approached him first. They were all the same to him, with their silver eyes and jet black hair, only by the sigils on their cloaks could he tell them apart. They greeted him in chronological order, Duane resisted the urge to laugh at their ridiculous formality. He hated it, the politics of the Fae world. He could rip them to pieces if only it would not displease Ciar.

Bradan, Caden, Eoghan, Keegan and Lorcan followed Aidan. To most, it was an intimidating sight. Duane had lived too long, seen too much to fear them, they were children to him. "Some event ey?" Aidan nudged the Gold Prince. Duane was good at keeping them oblivious to the threat he posed and his own grin grew on his face "what a shame, I should have visited a brothel first" Duane laughed as they looked back towards the city. Eoghan snorted at this "you would have met the Scarlet Death should you have done so" Duane howled with laughter at that "the Scarlet Death? Who in Etherea named that stupid little girl such?" He asked as he guffawed. Keegan looked curiously at the golden eyed Fae "you know her?" Keegan asked when Duane had regained his composure.

Duane rubbed his eyes of tears, he had laughed harder than he had in a very long time "know her? I had her wrapped around my finger until that bastard Torrin got in the way" Lorcan eyed him curiously, he could not imagine Nia under anyone's control; and he had only spent a short time with her. "Forgive us, Duane, but our scouts have reported many things that contradict your words. Not forgetting how she killed not one, but two of your Faelcu as a mortal, she has since boiled an Abhartach from within after it drank the blood of a woman in her presence, survived and killed an Ellén Trechend beneath the mountain; now she has burned those brothels to the ground and poisoned half the Emerald Court" Lorcans brothers laughed as he came to the girls defense "our brother has become a lover of hers it seems" Caden nudged his younger brother in jest. 

Duane scoffed at that "I suppose her ass isn't half bad to look at" he chortled. Lorcan felt his fists curl in his pockets. Aidan sensed the shift in his little brothers demeanour and threw his arm around Duanes shoulders "we have come to aid the evacuation of the city on Ciars command, as I am sure you have too" Duane had not heard from Ciar since he revealed his failure to capture Elvinia. Duane grumbled a response as Aidan handed him an antidote before they trudged through the thick purple fog. Bradan coughed as it took a moment for the antidote to take effect "Lorcan, Keegan, take the carts and roundup survivors. Eoghan, Bradan, set up camps outside the city. Duane, Caden and I will find the women" Aidan's smirk made Lorcans gut twist. He pitied any who fell in the path of his brothers, especially Caden. 

The group disbanded, Lorcan kept the grimace from his face as he looked at the carnage Nia had wrought. He knew he was different from his brothers, but he did not know why. They had no care, no sympathy for anything. Maybe it was because they had known their father much longer, had served under Ciar and tore through Etherea with little consequence. He had spent only a fraction of their time at war and found he enjoyed it even less. Keegan kicked the Fae at his feet as Lorcan rolled them over. He scoffed at his brothers softness "we do not have time to be gentle Lorcan, come on" at this Lorcan rolled his eyes, but he listened.

As they dragged the lifeless, yet living, Fae from the ground Lorcans shoulders ached. They pulled the carts, brimmed with bodies, out of the city. On their third run, as Lorcan grabbed the cart handles to leave once more; a glint of green caught his eye, Uaine lay in the dust. His eyes still wide open, terror on his face. Lorcan dropped the cart and hoisted him onto his shoulder. He could not leave him, but knew taking him to their camps could still prove fatal. It is better, Lorcan decided, to give him a chance. With that thought he threw Uaine atop the pile and grunted at the weight of the cart as he dragged it.