Fae's Promise

Prologue Toby Fire ravaged the village, casting a wave of heat through the ranks of those begging for their lives. Help us. Please. Stop! Not my daughter! Light Fae cowered as creatures they hadn’t known existed tore through their homes. Homes that had once lain hidden safely behind the magic found in the book of power. Tobias O’Shea skittered back, stumbling over something warm behind him. His eyes searched the square frantically until he saw what tripped him. A body. A young man lay at his feet, blood pooling in the grooves between cobblestones. This was Aghadoon, the fae village his grandmother discovered in the human realm using the book’s power. The book. Someone crashed into Tobias from behind, and he fell forward, diving to the left to avoid the dead man. His knees hit the stones, sending pain rocketing through his body. His hands slammed down next, the shock reverberating up his arms. Blood seeped through the cracks in the stones, its warmth soaking into Tobias’ scratched palms. He scrambled back until he hit the side of a building that didn’t burn. Fire from surrounding surfaces licked at the walls, yet it remained intact. Tobias pressed his back against the cracked wood of a door and drew his knees in to his chest, hearing the words his grandmother, Enis uttered to him only hours before. It’ll be okay, Toby. This book can give you magic, the kind of power you’ve never seen. All he wanted was his sister, his twin. But Enis was right. It hadn’t been the first time he held magic in his fingertips, but it was the first time the power belonged to him. His sister wasn’t channeling power through him, he wasn’t strengthening her magic. This was his magic. Enis taught him how to use the book to awaken the O’Shea magic in his blood, the portal magic. And it led him here. Tobias closed his eyes, wanting to pretend the world wasn’t coming down around him, that every time he heard a body thump to the stones it wasn’t his fault. He’d brought them here, the Dark Fae king and his army. The innocents of this village had only ever wanted to protect the magic of the book. “Tobias!” Someone screamed his name, but he couldn’t find them amidst the cacophony. A creature King Egan had called an ogre ran across the square, each stomp shaking the structures nearby. A Light Fae, who’d been a prisoner until weeks before, used his magic, drawing power from the sun to keep the fires blazing. An Eldurian. He had to be. Tobias knew the Eldurian queen. The future Eldurian rulers were his cousins since his mom and theirs called each other sister. It would hurt them to see their ancestral magic used for such evils. There’d been a place for people who did evil things. The prison realm. But now… “Tobias!” He heard it louder that time, the voice. Uncurling himself, he searched for someone, anyone he knew. A sword flashed, the sun glinting off its rusted blade, almost blinding Tobias as an unfamiliar fae ran for him. He froze in the moment, wishing there was something else he could do. Tia would have had a plan. She’d have used her power to save the day. But all he could do was open portals, though he’d only done it a total of once. He wasn’t sure where to begin or if he could even manage it on his own a second time. His eyelids slid shut. If he couldn’t help Tia save the world from Egan Byrne, he’d rather not play a part in this war at all. But the blow never came. Instead, warm droplets sprayed his face. He opened his eyes to find Riona kicking the slain fae off her sword. Her wings, a mixture of white and swirling black shadows, stretched out behind her, adding to the fear he already felt around her. “Tobias.” He recognized the voice. Had she been the one calling for him this entire time? When Tobias didn’t respond, Riona bent down to grab his arm and hauled him to his feet. She pushed him forward, kicking open a door as she did and shoving him inside before shutting out the battle ensuing outside. Her wings curled in, making her odd tattoos the only thing separating her from the Light Fae. “Tobias.” She shook him. “Toby, did you c***k your skull?” He shook his head. “Then speak, child. Don’t scare me like that again. I’ve been searching for you the entire fight. You ran from the king’s side.” He had. When Egan killed the first fae, Tobias ran. “You came for me?” She nodded, the blood spattered on her dark skin giving her a harsh look. But if she wanted to protect him, did that mean she was still loyal to his Uncle Griff? “The king would have my head if we let you get hurt. You’re our way back to the fae realm, remember?” His heart sank. Maybe she’d never been loyal to Griffin at all. Maybe it was all a plan to get here, where she could help the king find the power he sought. Tobias couldn’t look at her hard expression anymore. He breathed deeply, trying to get control of his heart the way Mom taught him. Mom. Tears welled in his eyes. What would she say when she found out what he helped the prison fae do? He blinked away tears, hearing his sister’s voice in his head. Iskaltians don’t cry, Toby. When we’re hurt, we get back up again. We fight. She wouldn’t have let anyone use her. Wiping at his eyes, he scanned the room they’d entered. “Why isn’t it on fire?” Everything else in this doomed village was. Riona slid her sword into the sheath at her waist, her shoulders relaxing the tiniest bit as she glanced to the door. “Because it’s been spelled.” Spelled? Tobias walked on shaky legs to one of the shelves where ancient looking leather-bound books and scrolls were stacked in tight rows. The twin Prince and Princess of Iskalt were no strangers to tragedy or danger. They’d spent months in the human realm with their evil Uncle Callum and lived. But they’d been together. Now, Tobias couldn’t even feel his sister anymore. Riona sighed as she blocked the door with a heavy wooden chair she wedged under the doorknob. “The king has given strict orders that no one is to enter the library. We won’t be found until the s*******r is finished.” Tobias flinched at the word s*******r. An entire village of fae who just wanted to live their lives while providing a sacred service. They were gone. Grainne’s lineage had protected the spell book for so many years, and now it was snuffed out in a single day. A library that didn’t burn and was obviously important to the king? Tobias reached for one of the scrolls, but Riona’s voice stopped him. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Tobias curled his fingers in, despite her protest, making him more curious than ever. He’d never been one to act on curiosities. That was Tia’s way. Riona slumped onto a wooden chair in front of a long, cherry wood desk. “I never thought this was possible.” She rubbed a hand over her face. Tobias inched closer to the fearsome warrior. “What are you talking about?” “From what I’ve been told, kid, your O’Shea magic would have woken years ago if you had any potential for magic.” O’Shea power was different from the Iskaltian magic he didn’t have. It didn’t wait to fully manifest until one came of age. “I’m only ten.” He crossed his arms, unable to look at her. “Yes, which is my only hope.” When he didn’t respond, she continued. “The book woke your portal magic, but it’s different from the other O’Sheas. Your father, your uncle… they struggle to take more than a few people through with them at a time. Yet you brought part of an army into the human realm on your first go. There’s also the time skew. If Griffin leaves the fae realm at night, it’s daytime in the human realm, rendering him powerless until the moon rises again. But you… despite the darkness and the full moon, it was day in the prison realm when we left. And now…” “It’s still day.” She nodded, giving him a weary sigh. “Did Callum bring you to the village?” Tobias nodded. “So, you knew where to portal, but I wonder if the power that book gives you would let you portal to places you’ve never seen before.” She rested her arms on the desk and shook her head. “That book breaks all the rules.” Tobias didn’t get a chance to find out if the fear he heard in her voice were true because a flash of light blasted through the door. It didn’t burst inward like Tobias expected, but the chair blocking it exploded into a thousand tiny shards of wood. The door opened, revealing King Egan flanked by two Light Fae with wicked smiles. Riona rose to greet her king. “Egan, you should know nothing can destroy this library.” She dipped her head in respect. A wide smile spread across his face. “Just a test, darling.” She lifted a brow. “And that.” She pointed out to the square where Tobias caught a glimpse of the c*****e and turned away. “Is that a test?” Egan walked forward and put an arm around Riona. “No, dear. That was a victory.” Enis followed him into the room, her eyes searching the library before finally landing on Tobias. “Toby.” For a moment, he wondered if the relief on her face was genuine, but as she wrapped him in a tight hug, he found he didn’t care. His body shook in her arms, and he sent a silent apology to Tia, wherever she was. It turned out, Iskaltians did cry. At least this one did.