Jump to content
  • Join Gay Authors

    Join us for free and follow your favorite authors and stories.

    Cia
    • Signature Author
  • 926 Words
  • 3,775 Views
  • 4 Comments
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Take Flight - 11. Chapter 11

Wordless shouting surrounded Birch. He stood, frozen, locked in horror as Sayer changed. His dazzling white hair darkened to black and his skin became gray and pebbled. His eyes, now a malevolent red, began to shine.

“Sayer,” Birch whispered.

His beloved raised his hands and the shouts became fever pitched. Two muscle bound fae, the ones who’d been guarding the inside of the doorway, shoved the butts of their weapons into Sayer’s stomach, knocking him back.

“Move, my lord!” Birch stumbled to the side as they rush forward. The iron door of the cage clanged shut. The guards cursed as they drew the bolt on the lock.

Sayer collapsed.

“What did you do?” Birch rushed to the cage. His hands flexed around the bars. He wanted to touch Sayer. He couldn’t reach him through the bars.

“He’ll be fine, my lord. The iron of the cage cut off the magic. It hits Darklings that way at first. They collapse from the loss of the magic.”

“Will he…?” Birch stared at the limp form that looked nothing like the Sayer he knew in either his human or fae form.

“He won’t change back. They never do.” The second guard grunted.

Birch glanced at the guards. He took a deep breath and let go of the bars. “Watch him for me, okay?”

Both fae bowed. “Of course, my lord.”

Walking away from Sayer took every ounce of Birch’s will. He couldn’t collapse in hysterics. There was no one else to save Sayer. He had to find the Alchemist and hope he got a fix on the magic’s source.

Birch began to run. He could do this. His chest hurt by the time Croll guided him to the roof.

The guard turned with his hand on his sword when Birch burst out onto the roof. He dropped his hand and bowed. “Sorry, my lord.”

“Did you see it?” Birch waved the guard off. He rushed over to the Alchemist where he stood at the edge of the roof next Vernon. “Did he draw enough magic?”

“Yes.” The Alchemist pointed toward a large forest beyond the field of flowers where the other Darkling had been. “Out there. I can still see it, even after the flow cut off.”

“Where is Lord Sayer?” Vernon asked.

Birch felt tears sting his eyes. He blinked several times and took a deep breath. “The taint was too much for him when he drew in that much magic.”

“He’s a Darkling?” Vernon gasped.

“Only until we figure out what is causing this. We’ll save him and the other fae too.” Birch swung around. “Let’s go.”

“My lord?”

“We’re going without him. Croll, you’re in charge here, as Sayer wanted. We need some fae to go with us. A mix of types, just in case we find something magic could help with.”

“I anticipated that.” Croll headed down the wide stairs. “I have six guards waiting for you. One Dinnshenchas who can manipulate fire, two dryads who can manipulate nature, a Formorian water fae, and Ledishe. They can manipulate air, and they have a special affinity for nature. They stay far from the borders, usually. They’re unable to handle the destruction humans wreak on the land.”

Birch froze on the last step. “And it never occurred to you before to use these Ledishe to track the imbalance in the magic?”

Croll shook his head. “No one ever looked at the problem like you did. We never considered that the magic might be polluted deliberately by an outside source.”

That shocked Birch. It seemed so obvious. “Why else would magic, stable for eons, I’m assuming, suddenly go wrong?”

“We can discuss our nearsighted inability to adapt to new problems in our realm, or you can go find the source and stop it,” Croll snapped.

“Asshole.” But he was right though Birch hated to admit it. He kinda liked that Croll wasn’t all ‘my lord’ this and that to him.

“I want my friend back.” Croll looked away.

Birch felt bad. He’d forgotten that other people cared about Sayer too. “We’ll find the source.”

***

“Horses? Really?” Birch eyed the tall animal he was supposed to ride. “Where’s the saddle?”

“You don’t need one.” Vernon helped the Alchemist hop onto his horse.

“They’re fae horses. They won’t let you fall.” Ange, one the dryads, grabbed his horse’s mane and leaped gracefully onto its back.

“If you say so.” Birch used a rock to hop up. The back of the horse was a lot wider than he expected, and not nearly as comfortable as it looked. The horse looked back at him and nickered, showing its teeth.

“Um, hi.” Birch leaned forward and patted the horse on shoulder. Land with no cars… so he got stuck riding Mr. Ed. “You don’t talk right?”

The other guards mounted their horses.

“You still have the trace of the magic, right?” Birch asked the Alchemist.

He tapped his glasses. “These don’t lie. South.”

“Let’s go.” Birch grabbed two handfuls of the horse’s mane and held on for dear life. “Flying doesn’t sound so bad now,” he muttered.

Birch quickly grew accustomed to the swaying beat of the horse. Plans swirled in his mind. He knew how to neutralize oil damage, to rebuild ecosystems… but he knew next to nothing about magic. Sayer was supposed to be here.

“I’ll figure it out.” He had the help of the Alchemist, and a variety of fae guards dedicated to Sayer.

“Find the source of the taint, fix it, get Sayer back. Easy as pie.”

Copyright © 2014 Cia; All Rights Reserved.
  • Like 24
  • Love 2
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
You are not currently following this author. Be sure to follow to keep up to date with new stories they post.

Recommended Comments

Chapter Comments

can't believe sayer ran off so half-assed! I still am wondering if his parents are in that room? I have to say I would have expected Birch to be more upset. I mean, he just got him back and to see him turn into a darkling and have to be stabbed and thrown in a cage? How horrible! He should have been livid with him for running in like that and not talking it through or planning. I did expect him to be able to re-focus and do what had to be done, but I can't believe he's so cool about it. Birch is smart and he has picked up more than you'd expect him to with so little info about his new home, but to have solving this problem be the only way he can have Sayer back would be a scary thing! I'd expect him to sway a bit under the pressure. Maybe there wasn't enough room to show his feelings. I am surprised he didn't try to free him like he did the other fae, but I guess he knew it was more important to see if the alchemist could follow the magic. I love how Birch was like 'you didn't use those fae? duh!!' with croll. lol He is going to drag the fae forward I think! I'd love to see you expand this story...include what happened to Sayer's parents, etc. Thanks Cia!

  • Like 1
  • Site Administrator
On 11/15/2013 01:18 PM, Daithi said:
If Sayers was the Royal Heir and the strongest of the Fae why is there no hullabaloo and outcry when he turned Darkling....strange. Loved the conversation with himself that Birch had about riding the horse, I'm glad he was able to find some humour with the future possibility of losing Sayers to the dark side.
It's on the DL maybe. These fae were warned and are focused on the goal... find and fix the problem. Maybe the fae back at the castle are going nuts, but we can't see that since this is from Birch's POV and he's gone. Thanks for the review Daithi!
  • Like 1
View Guidelines

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Newsletter

    Sign Up and get an occasional Newsletter.  Fill out your profile with favorite genres and say yes to genre news to get the monthly update for your favorite genres.

    Sign Up
×
×
  • Create New...