Fairies or Foes

Chapter 8

The guild bustled with fear and excitement. Two hours earlier, Alice Nomex of the Moonlight Court had slammed open the door to the master’s office and stalked out covered in blood, declaring war on another dark guild. Then the entire Moonlight Court had disappeared into the office, and were still in there, talking softly about something - or in Alice’s case, screaming less than usual.

After about three more hours, the door creaked open, and Liselle flounced out, dragging something large and bloody behind her, something that looked suspiciously like the old guild master. All activity in the guild stopped and watched the broken corpse drag across the floor, a sickening smile on Liselle’s face as she advanced towards the door. The rest of the Moonlight Court followed her out, stopping in the middle of the room as she carried onwards, probably to dispose of the body.

Alice shifted on her feet, grinning wickedly.

“Well then, you’ve all seen it, we are currently without a guild master, and I believe as rules go, the one to defeat the guild master is the next one. And so, in this time of war, I declare myself master of Moonlight Insomniacs. Anyone with issues can take them up with me, personally,” she purred, cracking her knuckles for dramatic effect.

The rest of the court rolled their eyes at their resident drama queen, but the intention was clear. Some guild members were terrified, slowly backing into the walls like cornered rats.

Veribex stepped forward.

“From now on, we are at war. However, to attack first is not the strategy we will win with. We are going to let them attack, and then observe just what we're up against, so that we may find the most efficient way to combat it. In short, we are now living in a powder keg. Be prepared.”

He glanced around at the guild members. They were many, but they were a sorry lot. They couldn't keep up with a team of good magicians. Hopefully the Court could keep their best ones in action, that way they could pick off some of the smaller members. The odds weren't good, but Alice was never one to listen to odds. She would take on the entire dark guild herself if she had to, and be stubborn enough to win. Luckily, she had a guild to back her bull headed stupidity. Not that he would ever tell her that, though. He might end up dead if he did.

And he couldn't die. Not yet. Not now that he had her, as fragile and broken as she was, his Liselle. He needed her, and she needed him. And so he did everything he could to survive and follow her.

The front door slammed open, and Liselle walked back in, aware that Veribex was staring at her with those hauntingly dark eyes. She walked over to him and put her back to his chest, leaning back on his tall, broad figure. Looking at the terrified faces of the little guild scum, she deduced that they had already been given the war ‘pep talk’ that Alice had worked so hard on to make it as dramatic as possible. Giggling, she pushed off Veribex and followed Sara as she lead the other four daunting Court members out of the room to mercifully give the guild scum some time to adjust to the news.

Sara paused a moment and faced the guild a moment. Her eyes narrowed briefly before they went soft. She smiled and called out for their attention.

“I know not everyone likes Alice, but I do! I think she’ll be a good master,” she grinned. The guild halted their bustling. Liselle smirked. Jax snickered to himself. Veribex sighed. Alice lightly ruffled Sara’s hair. There was the sun again, sticking everything back together.

“Hey, you might have a future in politics,” Jax praised. Sara shrugged with an innocent look on her face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jax,” she said simply. Jax had worn a hoodie today. Sara tugged on it. “Gimme,” she demanded. He sighed. Sara did that a lot. Steal Jax’s hoodies, that was. She slipped it on and smiled. He looked away awkwardly.