A COURT OF SHIFTERS AND SECRETS

F I F T Y - F I V E

NOVA 

The first thing I heard was nails scrapping again the earth, the smell of moldy dampness and ash permeated the air, slowly awakening my exhausted consciousness. 

My entire body jolted in utter agony as my brain finally woke up long enough to process where I was and what was happening.

I must have been passed out a while ago because I don't know how far or long we've travelled to get here. 

It must have been a while considering that the creature was about six feet deep into his digging, the only thing visible from his entire decayed corpse being his large wolf head. 

Whatever it was digging for, whatever it wanted to find, must have been really important if it diverted its course to bring me here.  

My bleary eyes blinked rapidly, adjusting to the complete darkness surrounding me before taking in my surroundings. 

I was in a room, that much was clear from the items occupying it, but farther than that I knew little else. 

I released a breath, lying back on the soggy floor and looked towards the ceiling. 

Only to be met with a sight that had me inhaling a sharp breath. 

Above me, the night sky was illuminated by brilliant hues of pink, purples, and turquoise, the lights almost resembling the Northern Lights... Except for the fact that the lights were in the shape of a dome. 

I inhaled sharply at the realization...

The Equinox...

I was near the Equinox, the border that trapped the Fae and all their lands in on themselves. 

Why would the creature drag me here out of all places? 

According to all the journal I picked up from the library, and the lectures the Professors taught in class, the area surrounding the Equinox was uninhabitable due to the distinct power influxes that radiated from it throughout the day. 

Because the Fae were the only ones capable of wielding old, pure magik; the magik that the Fae Royals relinquish to the Equinox in order to keep it whole, the radiation would be harmful to any other supernatural being or faction that tried to inhabit the land.

Which lead me to believe one thing: I was going to die. 

It was just a matter of what was going to kill me first, the Fae magik or the creature in front of me. 

I sat up gently, willing the nausea that arose away and wincing as the wounds on my leg and in my shoulder throbbed, the warmth of blood pooling underneath me soaking through my jeans.