Forever Fae

Chapter 25 - Calista

The dark sorcerer and I headed down the many flights of steps in the tree and he held my hand the entire time. It was actually Avery's body, but I was curious to know how it worked. "Does Avery have any control when you take over his body?" I asked.

He seemed amused.

"No, he doesn't, and I know he despises it. I block him out when I take over his body. I don't like to hear his incessant whining."

"Tell me about it," I responded, knowing exactly what he meant by that.

Reaching the door, he opened it to reveal the outside. It was still dark, of course, but the lights of the dwellings gave off a faint glow across the village. I heard a noise in my head and I paused. Was that Merrick? I didn't think that'd be possible with the talisman still around my neck, but I could feel the connection open up.

"Merrick?"

"I'm here, Princess. Ryder and I are both here. We're off to your right hidden in the trees. Actually, we're both invisible hiding behind the trees. Why are you with Avery and holding his hand like that?"

"The dark sorcerer is inside Avery's body. He can take over certain people's bodies and when he uses his own body he can appear as anyone. He appeared as Ryder when I came to him the first time and I just about lost it, Merrick. I almost died of heartbreak thinking it was Ryder because I thought he'd betrayed me. Also, our powers don't work inside the dwellings, they only work outside. I hate that you have to see me like this, but I'm only pretending. This was the only way I could think of to distract him."

"Well, Ryder is right here with me and determined to get you to safety. I don't think he likes what you're doing, though. Well, neither do I. The clothes are a little distracting if that's what you mean by distracting the dark sorcerer. Whatever you do, try to stay outside as much as possible to give us more chances for escape."

"I will."

I was trying to talk to Merrick and talk to the villagers and some of the fae in the army at the same time, which wasn't very easy. We were headed to the prison, and I already had a sick feeling in my stomach thinking about what I was going to see in there. The dark sorcerer said he had a surprise for me, but I didn't know what kind of surprise would be in a prison. I had about two minutes before we reached it, so I continued to fill Merrick in on what had been happening.

"I am so sorry you have to see me like this, Merrick. Apparently, this jackass likes to pick out my clothes, and let me tell you, they're a little too small if you can't already tell. The ring Elvena gave me for my birthday is helping protect me from me being drained, but I'm starting to feel some effects from the talisman. This man is one sick bastard, and he's taking me to the prison to go do who knows what."

There were two guards at the door and both of them were trolls. The dark sorcerer had a lot of trolls there and a lot of fae from both the Summer and Winter Courts. It pained me to know that we had that many traitors. I wondered if there was a way to distinguish who was loyal and who wasn't when I got back home, or rather if I got back home.

The trolls bowed their heads and stepped aside. I walked through the door and the first thing I wanted to do was squeeze my eyes shut and put my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. Instead, my eyes stayed open and I tried not to focus on one particular thing. The visions of what I was seeing would stay engraved in my brain for eternity.

Blood was spattered all over the walls and ashes were scattered throughout the cells. The air was thick with the smell of death and pain. Bile rose in the back of my throat and the burning sensation felt like it was ignited over my entire body. I was appalled at what I was seeing and saddened to think of all the fae that had lost their lives there. From the amount of blood stains everywhere, I'd say these people suffered a great amount of torture, but what I didn't understand was that the prison was empty.