Fates of Midgard - Inner Origins Book Two

Chapter 1 “Are you going to lie there all day?” “Hold on, let me give it some thought.” I closed my eyes and checked in with my body. “Maybe.” I stayed on the floor, the hard oak planks cool against my shoulder blades. It was a nice contrast to the warm, humid air in the room. “Yeah, I think I might,” I reaffirmed. “It’s pretty comfy down here.” Laughter pealed around me, echoing in the large hall and making some of the silver shields hanging on the wall ring in sympathy. I opened my eyes and gazed at my tormentor. Amber Slaight stood peering down at me, amusement clear in her eyes. Her dark hair was wound in several small braided buns atop her head, which only served to accent her pixie-like appearance. Well, that, and a plethora of rave-worthy glitter eyeshadow and long fake lashes. I swear, only Amber could get decked out for training and not chip a nail. I grinned up at my friend who only moments before had handily flipped me over her shoulder onto my back. “But, then again, maybe I won’t,” I said, kipping up and landing lightly on my feet in one smooth movement. “Good. You know, I think you’ve really got the hang of the glima now. Let’s try it again.” She came at me head on, grappling with me as she attempted to flip me again. “Not this time,” I vowed, and pushed back, pulling her arm down across my waist, twisting my body to push her to her knees. Quickly, before she could sprite her way out of it, I put one knee into her back, forcing her to the ground and pulling her arm behind her to apply more pressure. “Yield.” More laughter tinkled out of her and she nodded. “I yield.” I grinned and let her up, lending her a hand for support. Amber had been training me in the ancient Viking style of hand-to-hand combat, glima, for the last two months. Despite the fact that I was several inches taller and had years of training in martial arts, including Krav Maga and Capoeira, today was one of the few times I had outmaneuvered her. Amber Slaight was a fae warrior, part of the elite Light Guard, and one of my best friends. When I’d found out I was fae just a few short months ago, it had all come as a shock to me. My mother had raised me to be a normal human girl. Well, as regular as you could be when you held several black belts and moved to a new town every six to twelve months for your mother’s work. At the start of my senior year of high school we’d settled in Bennington, Vermont, and everything had been picture-book perfect. I’d quickly fallen in with a great group of people, and even found a serious boyfriend. It was the first place I’d ever lived where I’d really felt home. Unfortunately, before the month was out I’d I discovered my boyfriend’s parents were sinister Dark fae, my mother was a Light fae who worked hard to protect the world of humans, and I had special powers. My mother had been kidnapped, tortured and drugged in an attempt to lure me to the dark side. (Hey evil people, here’s a tip, don’t mess with my family if you want me to work with you.) Then, to top it all off, my boyfriend dumped me. Don’t get me wrong, it hadn’t been all bad. I’d met Amber and some other really nice Light fae when I journeyed to their homeland of Valhalla in Aeden, a hidden underground realm of the fae, nestled deep in the hollow core of the earth. I’d even gotten to know my father, Bran Le Fay, who turned to be the commander of the Light Guard and a really good guy. The dad I had never known had immediately arranged a rescue team to retrieve my mom from the Shade Council, the leaders of the Dark fae. Mom was still unconscious in a form of suspended animation, suffering the effects of a Light anti-serum that we had yet to find the antidote to, but at least she was safe here in the fae sanatorium with several other Shade victims. “You know, I think we may make a Lasrach warrior out of you yet,” Amber winked at me, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Really?” I quipped. “Because in the two months I’ve been here, we have yet to go over any lasair moves.” Lasair was a specialized form of fae martial arts that integrated dancelike moves and acrobatics in a way that made Brazilian capoeira look positively remedial. The word itself meant “flash of light,” which is exactly what the swift, graceful moves brought to mind – if your brain could process what was happening before you were taken down. “Patience, young grasshopper. Glima may look clunky compared to lasair, but it is essential to learn how to move flawlessly and slowly before you can flash. Besides, with all your other training, I think you will pick it up even faster than the glima.” “I thought all my moves were slow, compared to yours?” I asked wryly. “Slow for a Light Guard, but you know you’re a better fighter than most. Save the false modesty for the men-folk – we must be gentle with their fragile egos.” I laughed, and Amber joined in, linking arms with me. “Come on, let’s go grab some food.” “Alright,” I agreed, letting her drag me out of the training room. “Speaking of men-folk, have you had any news from Ewan?” Amber’s boyfriend was also in the Light Guard. He was leading one of the three teams tracking down research firms with ties to the Dark, searching for an antidote to the anti-serum. So far, there had been several promising leads, but the labs kept turning up empty or wiped clean of any useful information. With every day that passed, I felt more and more frustrated. Since Amber hadn’t seen her boyfriend in all that time, I knew she was getting just as antsy as I was for some concrete results. “Ugh, no,” she growled. “I am so sick of the Dark. Your father says he can’t understand how they are always two steps ahead of us. He thinks it must have something to do with the Morrigan’s visions.” I shivered at the mention of the vilest man I’d never met. Mikael Morrigan was the leader of the American Shade council, and was just about as dark as they come. Even worse, he was a powerful Earth fae with a penchant for igniting natural disasters. As a descendent of Verdandi, one of the three “fates” or seers known as Norns, he had an awesome tendency to see deeply into the present moment, which apparently meant he could see our plans even as they hatched. Even more disturbing, as least for me, he was able to tap into other people’s visions as they were having them. Why did this bother me? Because, lucky me, I had Norn ancestry, too, and had inherited my paternal grandmother Kalila Norna’s ability to see events before they happened. Mikael had been torturing me for months through my visions, threatening my family and friends if I didn’t join the Dark and help them take over the world. I didn’t have a handle yet on what that would entail, but I knew helping the Dark wasn’t an option for me. The Dark had a long history of using humans for their own evil purposes. Pretty much every corrupt corporation you could think of that abused the earth, caused pollution or took advantage of the downtrodden had a fae on its board pulling the strings. Ever since I’d tuned into my own abilities as an earth fae, I couldn’t begin to imagine harming the planet in any way. I could feel the light and the energy that flowed through everything on a quantum level, and the idea of poisoning that beauty of being had become especially disturbing to me. Not that I was running out and buying hippie skirts and flower garlands anytime soon. But, the sentiment was there. We rode the moving staircase in a spiral down from the tower’s training arena, each of us silent and captive to our own thoughts. When we arrived at the bottom, I forced myself not to think about the Morrigan – not only was it unproductive, but just thinking about him could have the unpleasant side effect of inviting him in with another forced vision and psychic visitation. It had happened enough times over the last few months that I knew better than to leave any opening, no matter how small. I turned my mind back to what Amber had said about the lasair training as we exited the golden tower that housed all the defense, intelligence and military training facilities of Aeden’s capital city, Valhalla. “So, great teacher, when do I get to start the lasair training, anyway?” I asked, smirking at her. “Actually, I think we can start tomorrow.” “Seriously?” I whooped. I wasn’t a woo-girl, but sue me, I was excited. “Yes! Finally.” Amber laughed. “If I’d known this was all it would take to get you out of your funk, I would have started the training weeks ago,” she teased. “Yeah, well, I’m just excited that I get to learn the key to defeating a Light Guard,” I laughed, hip checking her as we walked. “Once I know lasair, I’ll be able to kick Alec’s butt, assuming he ever comes back here.” Even though I’d started off joking, the old irritation crept up, and I couldn’t help the angry promise that colored my words. “Now Siri, you know he’s doing the best he can. He’s been working around the clock under Ewan and Mitch, following every lead they get to find an antidote for your mom.” “Hmpf.” I made a face. “Yes, he’s been very dedicated to his work. Yet somehow, I can’t help noticing that while you get regular updates from Ewan, Mitch, and Bran, Alec has not bothered to contact me once. Not. Once.” My voice rose in volume as I spoke, and Amber glanced around with wide, amused eyes, raising a finger to her lips to shush me. We’d just entered our favorite café at the bottom of Tower Six, which also housed a vast indoor, multi-level marketplace, and I could see that I’d drawn the attention of the other diners. “Fine,” I muttered, bowing my head close to hers. “But I mean it. The next time I see him, he’s going down.” Out of all the fae I’d come across, Alec was the one who had affected me the most. So much, in fact, that whenever we were near each other I’d felt this massive pull towards him, an amazing flow of energy that lit up every aspect of my being. Amber called it “the surge”, and it was the type of romantic connection that all fae tweens dreamed about. It was rare, it was powerful, and it had filled us both with a longing too intense to ignore. I thought we had come to an understanding, and started something together. And then he’d left. At first, I’d told myself to have faith, but as the bloom of love wore off and the weeks went by, I couldn’t help feeling abandoned. Alec had said he thought my family wouldn’t accept him, that I was destined to be matched with a more impressive family bloodline. I’d scoffed at that notion with the typical disbelief of any red-blooded, freedom-loving, American girl, but maybe he’d meant it. I suspected now that he was trying to give me room so I could meet someone more suitable, someone with less mixed-human DNA and more fae power and clout. As if I needed or wanted any more of either. According to ancient Druid prophecy, I was the girl who combined the three necessary bloodlines needed to end the war between the Dark and the Light, either returning peace above and below, or bringing about an era of world slavery and domination by the Dark. I mean, honestly, didn’t I have enough to deal with? I figured the least I deserved was to choose my own boyfriend. Too bad he didn’t entirely agree. For all his cockiness, apparently Alec still had some self-esteem issues. His mom was human, and he was sure that the faes-that-be would all be chomping at the bit to hook me up with their prodigals. If he’d bothered to check in with me, he’d know that wasn’t the case at all. I’d barely met anyone besides Amber, Bran and a couple other guards since we’d arrived, sticking almost entirely to training and eating during my waking hours. No one had tried to introduce me to their eligible sons. No one had tried to seduce me. But, he hadn’t bothered to check, leaving me to become more and more annoyed with his absence. “I don’t care if he is trying to help us and find the antidote for the anti-serum. He could easily have passed on a message or contacted me by now. He’s just being a jerk. As usual,” I hissed in Amber’s ear. To my surprise, she giggled, her tinkling peal of laughter gaining us even more attention. “Oh, Siri, you are the best, really you are. Of course he’s a jerk. He’s a guy. But he is totally your jerk. He’s not great at opening up, Odin knows, but trust me – even the great Alec Ward can’t outrun the surge.” “He can if he’s never around to feel it,” I muttered. “Stop worrying so much. Come on, let’s eat.”