17. bloodlust

"Ice fae!" someone screamed from within the circle of logs around the fire pit.

An array of gasps were heard as everyone craned their neck upwards to search for the enemies claimed to be seen. Once everyone had their sights on the white figures flying circles above them, the screams let loose.

"Everyone to your cottages!" Aerwyn screamed, guiding Ilmari and his friends in the direction of an air fae cottage. "Hide! Lock the doors!" his old voice strained to push itself out of his chest, coming out in bellowing echoes.

Nyx stood up, dropping her cup of tea and hearing the porcelain shatter. She looked around as everyone began frantically scurrying around, all loading up inside the cottages. Abitha and Aerwyn stayed outside, bringing everyone inside before closing and locking the cottage doors.

The two figurehead fae looked at the sky above them, seeing those icy, evil irises and those sneers that shone in the moonlight. The ice fae circled slowly, wings lazily flapping. Nyx counted five of them, but a sixth figure joined the group, except the newcomer did not join the circle but instead hovered right in the middle. Nyx could see the reflection of a silver crown, diamonds sparkling in her eye.

She gasped. "Eira."

"Run!" Aerwyn's voice rang in her ears, but she could not process his words.

For Eira's eyes had locked onto hers from above, and she remembered the day in the woods that seemed so long ago. She remembered the coldness in her body, the hands of ice on her throat. She felt frozen again like she did that day, but Aerwyn's commands came ringing louder in her skull.

"Run!"

Gasping, Nyx quickly turned and jumped over the log she had been sitting on, making a sprint towards the forest as fast as she could. She heard a chuckle echo through the clearing before hearing the dreadful sound of wings coming towards her.

Eira grabbed the back of the girl's cloak and took her off her feet, flinging her backwards with force. Nyx let out a choked cry as the button of her cloak dug into the front of her throat. She felt slight reprieve when she landed on the ground and rolled until she landed flat on her face, and the cloak loosened from around her neck. Spitting out the mouthful of dirt she had gotten, Nyx quickly tried to pick herself up off the ground as Eira landed on her feet only a meter in front of her and made quick strides towards the pathetic crawling human.

The Ice Queen's platinum tendrils that elegantly deviated from her neat updo flowed as a breeze circulated through the trees. She looked at the dirt-covered girl and laughed despotically. "I cannot tell you just how long I've been waiting to—"

A large gust of air howled and was sent right towards Eira, the force knocking her off her feet and pushing her back until she landed in the dirt.

Nyx turned to look at Aerwyn, seeing that he was conjuring another gust of air as the ice minions began flying down from the sky towards them. She looked back towards Eira to see that she was getting up.

"Where is Alastair?!" Nyx called to Abitha who began raising the sand from the earth and throwing ribbons of it into the ice fae's eyes to ward them off for longer. "And Caspian?!"

"I don't know!" Abitha, who was too focused on lifting the sand and aiming it, yelled back. Nyx covered her face as sand rained down on her. The wind was blowing fiercely because of Aerwyn, the tops of the tall trees bending tortuously, threatening to just snap and break. Nyx's golden hair whipped all around, its ends almost touching the fire in the firepit next to her.

Eira began to stand up, obviously knocked out of breath from her fall, and Nyx jumped to her feet to run, but a scream from the sky distracted her. Before she could even look up to see what was happening, two figures suddenly slammed down on the ground right before her.

It was Alastair, holding an ice fae by the neck, having drove them into the ground so hard that a crack had etched its way right across their face like ice itself. The ice fae twitched before its eyes closed, its body going limp under Alastair's hold.

The fire fae got off her knees before looking at Nyx, her flaming eyes scanning the girl to make sure she was not hurt. Nyx, taken off guard from seeing Al kill someone right in front of her, stared entrancedly into Al's eyes. She noticed something moving in the background behind Al, and she pointed. "Eira!"

Right as Al turned, the ice fae launched towards her, hands grabbing Alastair by the neck and lifting her straight up into the sky.

"No!" Nyx screamed, crawling up to her feet. Hearing wings coming towards her again, she whipped around and was relieved to see Caspian landing beside her.

"Where's Al?" he questioned, taking Nyx by the arms and watching as Abitha and Aerwyn struggled to fight off the four ice fae by themselves.

"Eira took her up there!" Nyx exclaimed, pointing to the cloud that had Eira had pulled Alastair through and disappeared into.

Caspian looked up with worry, knowing that Eira must have been taking Alastair as high as she could go, knowing that the cold and moist air would limit Al's powers. He looked between the sky and the two figureheads, trying to decide which way to go to help.

It was then that he saw one of the ice fae conjure a large ice spear and shoot it down towards Aerwyn. The air fae tried to block the spear with a swirling force of air, but the spear was too large and too heavy, breaking right through the shield and then right into Aerwyn's middle.

All the wind blowing through the trees suddenly stopped, and Aerwyn stumbled from the force of the spear, looking down as blood inked through his grey robes.

"Dad!" Ilmari screamed from inside one of the cottages, watching the horrific scene through the window.

Aerwyn's eyes, wrinkled from his age, squinted as his body began failing. Blood dripped from his lips and into his beard, and he fell over onto his side, his body limp.

Abitha looked over at Aerwyn's lifeless body and screamed. First, the scream was of terror and pain, but it slowly morphed into anger. Her scream echoed throughout the forest, causing birds to flutter up from the trees where they had been nestled. Nyx grabbed onto Caspian when she felt the entire earth tremble beneath them, as if it was vibrating.

Without even moving her hands to guide her powers, Abitha unrooted a large tree from the forest behind her, the loud sound of the roots crackling in everyone's ears, and launched the huge tree right towards the four fae. The tree, horizontally spinning, pummeled into three of the ice fae, pushing them by their stomachs far, far away. The tree carried the ice fae a long distance before it finally fell to the ground, crushing the ice fae under its weight and killing them.

Abitha's screams had ended, and she had now dropped to her knees beside Aerwyn, not noticing the last ice fae still hovering above them. A spear shot from the ice fae's hand and down towards Abitha, but Caspian, who had been paying more attention this time, used his control of water to turn the ice around and launch it back towards the ice fae who had birthed it, sending it through his chest. The ice fae fell from the sky and landed on the ground, dead.

Caspian rushed over to Aerwyn, kneeling down beside Abitha. Nyx came up behind them, gasping at the sight.

Aerwyn's blood had already pooled around him. The old man was on his side, trembling. The ice spear through him was freezing him from the inside out.

"Help me get him," Caspian demanded, going to place his arms under Aerwyn when the old man made a noise that stopped him.

"No," Aerwyn croaked, turning to look at Caspian. His grey eyes were slowly turning white, his tan skin losing its color. "No," he repeated. He slowly held out his hand, and Caspian quickly took it with both of his, leaning in closer.

Abitha held her hand on Aerwyn's shoulder, tears falling from her red face. The little flowers tucked behind her ear, once bright and pink, withered right before Nyx's eyes, the petals shrinking and turning grey before falling off, the now brown stems falling from Abitha's ear and onto the dirt beside her.

Caspian's eyes, once calm and peaceful, were full of sweltering emotion. They swirled like violent waves, forming tears that slowly slid down his dark face.

A door from one of the cottages burst open, and out came Ilmari, his dark curls bouncing as he sprinted over to the group, pushing through Abitha and Caspian to drop down in front of his father.

"Dad," he whispered, tears streaming down his face.

"Ilmari, it's not safe here. Go back," Caspian urged him, his voice steady even through the pained look on his face. He took the boy's arm to lift him up, but Ilmari aggressively shrugged away from him.

"Let me be with him!" Ilmari shouted, his hands holding his father's. Aerwyn looked at his son, a twinkle crossing his whitening eyes. "Dad, please. Please, just hold on," the boy whispered, his wings pressed tight around himself.

Aerwyn stared up at Ilmari for a moment, and it seemed that some sort of smile crossed his bloodied lips. It was faint, and most of all, it was fleeting, for the last bit of grey left his eyes, and they solidified into white. His head turned away, and he let out his last breath.

Ilmari's ears dropped, and he leaned over to press his face into Aerwyn's chest, silent sobs wracking his body.

Suddenly, two figures came plummeting from the sky and falling onto the dirt. It was Alastair and Eira, the fire fae falling right at Nyx's feet, and the ice fae falling a few yards away.

Alastair had scratches all over her face and arms, while Eira had black smudges of smoot all over her body and clothes. Smoke lingered from the ice fae's body as she rolled over in the dirt and coughed.

Slowly standing up, Alastair watched the ice fae with blazing eyes. She climbed to her feet and stood in front of Nyx and the others, turning to look at the group who was all huddled over something. Caspian stepped aside, and she saw Aerwyn, an ice spear through him, his son crying over him. Her eyes widened, pain and shock filling her, but there was no time to grieve.

Eira stood up, stumbling slightly. Everyone in the group turned to her and stiffened, Abitha standing guard in front of Ilmari protectively. Alastair stood at the very front, pushing Nyx directly behind her. The girl looked through the space between Alastair's protectively spread wings and her neck, watching Eira catch her balance.

Ilmari noticed everyone's silence and turned, his face red and teary, and saw Eira standing. "Kill her!" he screamed. "There she is! Kill her!"

Alastair made no moves.

Ilmari looked at the back of his leader with grief-stricken eyes. "Why aren't you doing something?!" He shot to his feet to do something, himself, but Caspian grabbed him and held him back.

"No, son!" he whispered close to Ilmari's ear. "Not now. Not here." He looked into Ilmari's eyes and held the boy's face. "Not before your father's dead body."

Ilmari looked at him in shock at his words. Respect for the dead was a highly regarded practice in the fae world. Bodies were to be buried immediately, and violence was forbidden to occur in front of the dead. But Eira had never respected that tradition, and Ilmari did not understand why they had to, especially when they had Eira in her most vulnerable moment.

"Leave, now, Eira," Alastair commanded strongly, her voice deep and languid. "Be grateful we have enough respect to not kill you now."

"Fools," Eira croaked before bursting into a coughing fit. Nyx had no idea what Al had done to her, but it looked as if she had been filled with smoke and soot from the inside out.

"GO!" Alastair shouted, making Nyx jump.

Eira finally stood up straight, wiping her mouth with her dirtied sleeve. Her crown, unfortunately, was still resting on her head untouched. The fae's eyes shifted behind Alastair, seeing a set of golden brown eyes peering at her. "Harboring a half-breed?" she breathlessly spoke, tilting her head to the side and laughing. "A bastard child." She tilted her chin, the humor leaving her face and being replaced with bloodlust. "Just give her to me, Al, before I have to kill the rest of you."

Nyx jumped when she felt Abitha gently grab her from behind, pulling her closer to her and keeping her arm over her. She held her not only to keep her from Eira, but to keep her away from Alastair, whose body was bound to become a fireball at any second. Nyx held the earth fae's arm and watched Eira smirk.

"Have some respect," Alastair spat, a few of her feathers glowing orange with anger. Nyx could feel the heat on her face. "One of ours is dead behind me. Aerwyn."

Eira feigned a sad look. "Aw, Aerwyn? I remember that old geezer," she chuckled. "Always up Nikolaus' ass telling him what to do. Was he that annoying with you, as well?"

A shout from behind the group caused them all to turn and look. Ilmari burst through them and began running towards Eira. Al tried to catch him, but his wrist slipped from her hand.

Eira's eyes moved to the young boy running towards her, and with the flick of her wrist, she sent a sharp shard of ice his way.

Alastair propelled herself forward with her wings upon seeing the ice. She reached Ilmari within half a second, grabbing the boy's shoulder and leaping in front of him, spreading out her wings to shield him. The ice melted once it hit her wing, but another stronger shard was quickly sent, this time slicing the back of Alastair's knee, tearing through her pants and cutting her skin.

Wincing, she turned and sent a large fireball towards Eira who gasped and jumped up away from it, hovering in the air. Alastair turned around to face her and put up both of her hands, sending more flames her way. Eira, finally realizing that she had no chance, dodged the flames and dipped around, quickly flying away.

The group seemed to let out a breath as they watched Eira fly away towards the direction of her castle. Alastair quickly turned to Ilmari and grabbed his shoulders, looking at him with anger. "Are you insane, boy?! You could have gotten yourself killed!"

Ilmari winced when Al grabbed him, expecting to feel heat burning through his shoulders, but to his surprise, her hands were cold. His eyebrows creased, and he noticed that her eyes, which had been fiery red moments before, were dulling rapidly.

"Al?" Caspian questioned, running towards her upon seeing the color of her eyes. He touched her shoulder—it was ice cold. He turned her with his hand and looked at the cut behind her knee, his eyes widening when he saw that frost was forming over the cut and freezing the blood that dripped down her leg.

Alastair looked at Caspian like he was mad, but then she started to feel painfully cold. She stepped away from him, looking behind herself at the cut. She stumbled, gasping for breath as her body began to tremble from the cold.

"Catori," she whispered, "Take me to Cator..." She fell to her knees, and Caspian quickly caught her before she fell frontwards, struggling to hold the large fae in his arms.

"Abitha, bring firewood!" he shouted as he lifted Alastair in his arms and sprinted towards the cottage where he had made Catori hide safely.

Nyx watched as Abitha went to the pile of wood leaning beside her cottage and grabbed a piece, sprinting to the firepit and placing the edge of the wood into the fire until it was lit. She ran after Caspian who was holding a limp Alastair in his arms, bursting into the cottage where Catori was hiding with some earth fae.

Feeling that it was best if she stayed out of the way, Nyx restrained the urge to follow, worry filling her at the sight of Alastair, who was always so strong and powerful, face the greatest weakness to the fire in her veins—ice.