Fiery Secrets: Legacy of Secrets #3

Chapter 2

Lia

I heard him. Christian spoke to me. He said he'd bring me home and I wanted nothing more than to be there with him. It had been almost a month since Austin brought me to the Trylle dungeon. I was dirty, tired, hungry and pissed off. When I first woke up, I was going to kill him, but I decided to let him talk first. That's when I found out about his unbearable truth; Austin was a slave.

When he was a boy, his mother made a Soul Covenant with Nolyn to keep him alive. Luz, Austin's mother and the Elven Queen, was incredibly powerful and dangerously smart. She knew what Nolyn was after and devised a plan to stop him even before he could reach their lands. But Luz knew she wouldn't be able to save all of her people. Instead, she bargained for the lives that remained after Nolyn laid waste to their colony.

As a result of the pact, Nolyn murdered Luz and, by doing so, almost all of her power was transferred to Austin. The very ancient magic that coursed through his veins was very similar to mine. Somewhere down the line, we were connected. At least that's what I learned in the Spirit World. I also learned that his mother wasn't dead, well not really.

The only satisfaction I had was that no one knew just what I was capable of, not even Austin. Sometimes, not even myself. Much had changed over the month I was imprisoned and I kept it to myself. Nolyn interrogated me until I was exhausted and tongue tied, but he hadn't gotten to the torture part. I knew it was coming. The more I pretended not to know, the angrier he got which would make him reckless. I was sort of counting on it. When people get angry, they get chatty and I needed to know his plan.

Another key to Austin's story was his step-father, Oscar. Oscar married his mother only days before the Trylle invaded and destroyed their people. Austin used a charm to keep him hidden from sight and he served as Austin's guardian for the six hundred plus years he's been Nolyn's prisoner. Luz was the love of his life and Austin became his son. It was sweet to watch him care for Austin as a real father should.

I still wasn't sure what to make of Austin's secret journey. His entire existence after his mother's death was looking for something or someone that would be the key to opening the Soul Wells. The Wells contained all of the Elves ancient magic and knowledge to be passed down through time from soul to soul. His mother had sealed them when she completed the ritual to transfer her power, which also kept all the Elves in a sort of limbo. Nolyn desperately wanted to bust them open and drink their powers, holding onto some type of illusion that the Soul Wells could also allow the Trylle to gain magical abilities. I didn't see the connection.

The Trylle were bred as warriors to protect the other breeds from enemies and from each other. In exchange, they weren't gifted any magical abilities as that would offset the balance. Just as with any good tale, ambitions and egos run a little too high. Enter Nolyn. Nolyn came to rule the Trylle at a young age. The King and Queen were the victims of a nasty disease, much like the Black Plague, leaving him orphaned to run the kingdom and territories. His only models were soldier brothers he'd trained with for many years, all of which had grown tired of their roles. The wanted more- as did he- and they used Nolyn to get it. Soon, he had a following of loyal and pissed off people. They wanted to rule everything and would stop at nothing.

In short, that is what brought me to the moldy dungeon with Austin. The chain of events linking our lives was uncanny, but that's what fate was all about. We had to meet, we had to train, and we had to become friends if we were ever to help each other. The hard part was going to be explaining it all to Christian.

"Is he coming?" Austin whispered into the dark. He often talked about Christian, but I knew it was because he was dreading the moment he'd have to face him. I wasn't too sure how Christian would react, but I wasn't going to let him hurt Austin.