angelspart3

Part III      Griffen looked up from the scroll he was trying to translate as Atry stormed into the main room of the cavern. "Shaye at it again?" It was more common to see Atry and Shaye in a battle of the minds than it was to see them agreeing peacefully.
     "Who else would it be!?" Atry yelled. "She has no respect for a member of the royal family!"
    "Atry, the only people she respects are the ones who earned it, and trust me, I think the last person who did that died centuries ago," Griffen chuckled. It was funny to see the prince so angry.
     "She respects you," Atry challenged. Griffen sighed, he knew Atry was trying to best him so he'd be in a foul mood when Shaye got back so it would be him who she took her frustrations out on.
     "Maybe a fraction more than the dirt on the bottom of her shoe, but trust me, I have done no great deeds to show her I'm worth it. Sure, I've hung in there with her for, what, ten years now? But that's nothing in her perception of time. I'm the dude she can kick out of her house and scream she won't look at me again without kicking my ass, and call four hours later with something she needs me to check out. With Shaye, trust and respect are completely different things."
     "She's so stubborn!"
     "And she's usually right," Griffen said gently and went back to his translations. He heard Atry huff in anger and storm off. Smiling, he shook his head and choked back a laugh that was threatening to force its way out. Turning back to the paper, Griffen frowned thoughtfully, and suddenly something clicked in his brain. "I got it!"
     "What?" Fly and Atry demanded at the same time. Griffen shook his head irritably, they ignored him every other time of day, and now they decided he was useful.
     "I think Shaye should hear it first," Griffen said slowly. "It directly involves her, and I think she might need some time to let it absorb before anyone else knows. For all I know, she might bolt on us and not come back."
    "No news is good news," Fly sighed, and settled back down in front of the door and Arty returned to his room, firmly closing the door behind him, muttering about needed sleep badly.
     "I don't think Shaye knows what she's gotten herself in to," Griffen told the dragon. He started a bit when Fly answered.
     "When her people prospered, they hated faeries, they thought them cowards who hid within their city walls, dependant on them to defend them from anything that should come their way. When her kind died out, they held the belief to their dying day that it was the faeries who betrayed them. I was surprised Shaye didn't know that, and I didn't think she needed to know that since she spoke of you being wise in some areas she had little patience with. True, she called you annoying little bastards," Fly said, raising his head to look Griffen in the eye.
     "Fly, Shaye calls everyone annoying little bastards," Griffen laughed, flinching at the look the dragon gave him. Turning serious, Griffen said, "This will change Shaye's world, for better or worse, I don't know, but it will change her life, and her, drastically, and that I fear will be the minimal affect. I know she's capable of things that were thought to be legend in the time when majicks were a way of life, and I don't want to think of what she will do when I tell her this."
     "Then don't."
     Griffen shuddered and pried his next words from his throat. "I have to, she's my friend and she deserves to know."
     Fly nodded, "only a true friend would risk his life to let another know her life will change whether she wishes it or not. Maybe faeries have evolved on Earth, you are truly a noble being, Griffen." Griffen sighed and put his face in his hands, it would've been better if he had proved his nobility in another way, not this, anything but this.
     "I'm going to her room to wait for her," Griffen sighed. Fly smiled sadly and watched his retreating back before turning back to the open door.
     "If only he knew that she was destined for that destiny."
     When Shaye returned hours later, Griffen was ready to throw himself off the cliff than tell her this. He jumped to his feet when she strode into her room.
     "Isn't it a little late for you to be up?" Shaye sighed, closing the door. "Everyone else is asleep, you should be, too."
     "I had to tell you I deciphered the scrolls." Shaye head snapped up. "But it's not what we expected, quite the opposite, really. They are about you, your people, or some of the, knew you escaped death."
     "What? Then why couldn't I read it?" Shaye sounded almost heart broken, and Griffen would have rather ripped out his own heart than tell her the next part of it.
     "Because something else knew it, too, they found the original scroll and destroyed it, but not until they had copied it into their own tongue."
     "Who is it? What is it?" Shaye demanded.
     Griffen flinched. "The dragons."
     "What? No, Fly thought we were extinct, he didn't believe what I was."
     "He's a good actor, Shaye, I don't think he knew what we found, or he wouldn't have let me read it." Griffen shook his head sadly. "The dragons wiped out your people, claiming they were greater. Your people were great fighters, yes, but they were also blinded by loyalty to their friends. The dragons knew their strategies, and they knew where to strike so they would win. Your people were heavy believers of legend, and when the dragons started picking people off in the woods and stealing away with them at night, they believed it was their time, they didn't fight it. Then the final attack came when they were too weak to fight back. The dragons wanted to show your people who had finally beat them, who was the greater, and who would survive."
     "But, Fly-"
     "Is taking you to your death!" Griffen yelled. "Shaye, you have to run or you will die. They know how to kill immortals, I read that, members of your family were immortal. You father and mother were the last to die, they were the rulers of your people, you are the heir to the thrown, which the dragons have held since they believe you wouldn't find the means to return to reclaim it. Now that you're back, you will be able to regain power, make the people follow you, beat the dragons. You will reign over the lands, bringing a new age! Shaye, you are an uncrowned queen here! If you follow Fly even a day longer, it may be too late for anything. The dragons are waiting until they know for sure that your kind is completely wiped out. When you die, they will unleash a force to terrible on this plant it, it will die, and they will move on, they may take Earth next, they may not, but they will destroy everything unless you do something!"
     Shaye sat staring for a while, it came to the point where Griffen was about to shake her to bring her to her senses, even though that might end in him getting his ass kicked when she looked up with a look so cold, Griffen felt the blood leave his face. Shaye looked like she would kill an entire race without blinking. "Get Atry and don't let him open his mouth. We're leaving tonight."
     "Shaye-"
     "Do it and don't argue with me, boy, I have something to do before we leave. You have five minutes to get Atry and to pack, I will leave then, if I must drag you kicking and screaming the entire way." Griffen opened his mouth like he was going to say something but wisely closed it and slipped out of the room to rouse Atry and to pack. When the door silently closed behind Griffen, Shaye sprang into action, throwing things into leather bags, she left much of her clothing where it was, taking only the bare minimum, and what she had taken from Merlin's caves on Earth with her. The rest of her luggage was the books, scrolls, and other assorted things she had collected during her stay here. She wouldn't let the dragon have it. Her face twisted in a snarl, Shaye strode out of her rooms, carrying her things and aimed at the sleeping dragon. Uttering a spell, she gave him a week's worth of sleep.
     "What did you do?" Griffen hissed, coming up behind Shaye and putting his hand on her shoulder.
     "Bought us time to disappear," Shaye said. "Come, there is not much time. There is one place I believe is safe, and I don't think the dragons will dare go there, I hope."
     "Where?"
     "The Castle of the Dawn," Atry said wearily. "The only place that dragons cannot go, the majicks that bind it are too old to be remembered and too strong to be broken. The combination makes it an impenetrable fortes. I don't think Fly thought Shaye knew about it, but when she did listen to me, I told her valuable information about these lands. I didn't know half of what the scroll said, yes, I heard it, but the dragon didn't, don't worry, and I am completely willing to give my life to help Shaye achieve her destiny."
     "It won't come to that," Shaye said grimly. "Come, let us go, it is not a long flight, but I fear it will take some time to convince Atry's people of the threat, and to prove to them the scroll is real. It may take longer to ready an army to be ready to face the dragons if Fly does what I anticipate he will. We don't have much time as it is."
     The two faeries nodded and followed Shaye into the silent night, leaving the dragon to his week long sleep, that nothing but Shaye could disturb.
     "Prince Atry!" a panicked guard yelped as the blonde faerie led Griffen and Shaye to the palace walls. "We were not expecting you!"
     "I wasn't expecting to be home now, either," Atry shuddered. "Alert my parents I am home."
     The guard suddenly aged about thirty years. "Your parents, Prince Atry, are dead. They were killed as they slept a day after you left. We still do not know how it was managed."
     "Dead?"
     "It has started," Shaye said quietly. "Atry, you know what to do. Call whoever you need, we have less time than I thought. I have something to do."
     "Halt!" the guard screamed as Shaye bolted into the darkness. He was about to charge after her when Atry held up and hand and shook his head. He turned to Griffen and led him into the thrown room of the palace to wait for Shaye.
     "What's she doing?" Atry wondered aloud.
     "Who knows?" Griffen smiled weakly. "Knowing Shaye, she's probably doing something neither of us thinks is possible and would probably have a fit over."
     "Yes, that sounds like her," Atry sighed, wishing he hadn't spoken out loud. Griffen seemed to sense this because he nodded once and walked silently off, leaving Atry to his thoughts.
     Meanwhile, Shaye was casting a spell she had learned. Her people had discovered the majicks too late to save themselves, but hopefully she could use them in time to save the city, and the people in it. Nearly whispering the words, Shaye cast the spell. She knew what it was supposed to do, she just didn't know how it would do it. The spell was to show who was a traitor, she knew the dragon's couldn't have succeeded in the assassination themselves, they had to have someone working with, or for, them. Gasping loudly, Shaye pitched foreword, barely able to catch herself on her hands. The room spun, and went gray. Fog seemed to fill the room, disintegrating the walls, the building itself, until she floated in the gray clouds alone. Slowly, people became visible through the haze, and Shaye knew them. She branded the traitors into her mind before the disappeared. Growling as the majicks released her, Shaye raced from the room to find the traitors.
     "What is that girl doing?" Atry demanded. He and Griffen had been waiting three hours, and no sign of Shaye.
     "You don't think one of your guards took her as a threat and arrested her, do you?" Griffen asked, not pausing his frantic pacing.
     "No. We would have heard the screaming," Atry frowned. He glanced out the window in time to see a streak of copper hair and feathered wings streak across the courtyard. "What the hell- ?"
     "What?" Griffen asked, running to the window. He flinched when he saw Shaye tackle a fleeing man from behind and pin him to the ground, bending to hiss something in his ear. To his surprise, a number of royal guards ran after Shaye, surrounding her and the man, and more surprising, they seemed to be following Shaye! "What the hell is she doing?"
     "She just arrested Hem!" Atry yelled when he saw the man's face. Griffen flinched when he saw the other faerie turn a livid shade of red. Turning back to the window, he saw Shaye pause in thought and nod once to herself. She waved a hand to dismiss the guards before rising into the air and entering the thrown room through the window.
     "Sorry I took so long." She seemed calm, why?
     "Why the hell did you just do that?" Atry screamed, and Griffen looked frantically around for a source of cover.
     "I arrested the ones who would turn us all over to the dragons," Shaye said calmly. "They had people working on the inside, I had hoped they had been forced, but it was all on their own free will. They are being taken care of, no death, just imprisonment."
     "Traitors? Here?" Atry asked, his anger becoming confusion.
     "Yes, you can never know who to trust. Sometimes it is not enough to trust you gut instinct, sometimes you need something stronger. Leave it at that, Atry!"
     "Women," Atry muttered. "Since you just arrested my counsel, I have no one to summon to try to convince of who you are. Unless you want to speak with the guards? They all ready seem to be following you quite nicely. Unless my eyes deceive me?"
     "Don't get cute." Shaye was still smiling, but it was no longer amused. Griffen looked frantically around and finally dove behind a stone pillar, praying it would be enough to protect him if Shaye got really mad. "Go get some rest, you need it. We will talk tomorrow."
     "Only here several hours and already the fucking queen of the place," Atry muttered as he stormed out. Griffen sighed in relief as Shaye let him go without further argument.
     "Come out, Griffen, you are acting childish," Shaye said, a smile apparent in her voice. Griffen blushed a little, he didn't think Shaye had seen him take his dive to hopeful safety. "Do you think I am overacting?"
     "No," Griffen said honestly, surprised that Shaye was asking advise. "I think you did the right thing, but you should have told us what you were planning instead of letting us watch you tackle Hem. But I must say, a CFL quarterback couldn't have done better!"
     "I hate football," Shaye muttered. "I'm going to bed, it's been a long day." Griffen grinned and shrugged. He let Shaye leave before him, not wanting to be too close if Shaye and Atry met in the hall, neither was in a good mood, and, well, Shaye angry was a dangerous thing. Griffen left the thrown room and headed to his rooms. Atry had told him where they were, and the servants around the palace guided him. Shivering as he closed the marble door behind him, Griffen suddenly felt a flash of pure fear surge through his veins.

     Throughout the next week, all three of them did their share of screaming at each other and anyone else who dared question or oppose them. Shaye especially was ready to snap at any poor soul who happened to look at her with even the smallest hint of a question in their eyes.
     "The people want a coronation!" Atry was yelled. Griffen sighed, he and Shaye fought about this daily, hourly, if given the chance.
     "I refuse to claim the crown until after the battle!" Shaye yelled back.
     "If you wait any longer, we may start loosing support of the people! They may start to think you are using me and the entire thing is an elaborate hoax!"
     "It won't come to that," Shaye hissed. "The dragons and their followers are outside the walls, the battle will begin tomorrow at dawn. Whoever has doubts in their minds will become firm believers when the battle cries sound tomorrow and the ground becomes soaked with blood."
     "Enough!" Both Shaye and Atry froze and stared at Griffen who had leapt from his seat. "I'm sick of listening to you two fight! Atry, yes, she should have a coronation, but there's no time now! Shaye, don't say it! No one who is not deaf, dumb, and blind doubts our word! They have all seen the dragons hover, and they know the threat is real. Calm down, both of you, or I will go out there and fight the dragons myself! I'm sure they're more agreeable than you two are!"
     "Fine, I'm going to get some rest, I need it," Shaye said, spinning on her heel and striding out of the room. Griffen sighed, it was as close as putting and end to an argument with Shaye as possible. She was stubborn at the best of times, now, she was impossible. Sometimes he thought she just liked to agitate the price, if he said the sky was blue, she said green. Sighing, Griffen sank back into his chair, cradling his head in his hands. Atry had stormed out shortly after Shaye, leaving him in precious silence.

     The moon and stars were still bright when Shaye, Atry, Griffen and the faerie people prepared for the final battle. Shaye wore black dragon-leather armor, light and flexible, yet stronger than any steel. Her hair was done in dozens of tiny braids and ended in white beads made of dragon's bones. She wore her enemy, and her face was a mask of hate. Atry and Griffen wore the finest steel in the palace. It was strong, but nothing compared to the leather Shaye wore. All assembled wore looks of grim determination. As soon as the suns broke first light to the East, Shaye let out a battle cry, echoed be the people following her and those fighting her. Everyone knew that she wanted Fly, and she would stop at nothing to get to him. Exchanging one last look with Atry, Griffen charged into battle, screaming.
     Shaye rose into the sky, Escalabour drawn and ready to use, a snarl twisted her face, and hatred filled her heart. Scanning the early stages of the battle below her, Shaye dove into the ranks of the army below her, voicing a battle cry. She knew this would probably kill her, but she intended to kill every dragon as she went. If you were going to die, take as many of the enemy as you could down with you. That's what she had been taught, and that's how she was going to fight.
It hit her like a mountain, sending Shaye sprawling to the ground. When she looked up, her rage deepened. It was Fly, standing over her.
     "You haven't won yet, Shaye," Fly said. "We can stop this, together, just let me take you to my superiors."
     "Fine," Shaye growled. She saw the look of triumph in the dragon's eyes as he turned away from her. Smiling grimly, Shaye whispered a protection spell and readied herself to move in any direction at any moment. She followed Fly to a grove of trees far from the fighting. Five dragons watched the battle calmly, 'already certain they will win,' Shaye thought as Fly announced their arrival.
     "The Earth Angel," one said, almost warmly. "We began to think you wouldn't return to claim what is yours."
     "She doesn't know," Fly grated.
     "Even better," another smiled.
     "I do know." It was Shaye's turn to smile. "We deciphered the scrolls, Fly, that's why Griffen was so excited. I found them, we read them, we know, we will win." And with that, Shaye flew at the nearest dragon, her sword drawn.
     Steel cut through flesh and a raw scream of pain echoed through the trees as a sinewy tough arm suddenly became a geyser of blood. Shaye screams mixed with the dragon's roars of pain and anger at being found out. She swung blindly at the beast she attacked, hacking at bone and chopping flesh, not letting death come easily. As the first beast fell, a line of white fire seared across Shaye's side, a dragon had lashed out and struck her. Hissing in pain and rage, Shaye wheeled on the beast and screamed. The dragon matched her cry and charged, mouth wide and teeth ready to tear her flesh from her bones.
     Grinning like a mad woman, Shaye tucked into a tight ball as the dragon flew over her, missing its target. She was on her feet before the beast was able to come to a complete stop to make another attack. "You fought with my ancestors," Shaye yelled. "You know how they fight, but you do not know how I fight!"
     Soon, the ground was muddied from the spilt blood, dragon as well as Shaye's, revenged bodies littered the ground, it looked like the work of en entire army, with a long survivor from each side. Panting and trying to ignore the fiery pain in her side, Shaye turned and faced Fly. He was the last, he was the one she wanted. Grimacing, Shaye pulled herself erect and held her bloody sword ready.
     "Little warrior, you have done well," Fly smiled, looking around him. "I am impressed you found out about this, though we almost had you."
     "Almost is the same thing as never," Shaye spat. "You... I trusted you! Truly noble creatures, bah! I've never heard such bullshit in my life!"
     "Ah, the little one is mad," Fly taunted. "The one who runs when things get difficult. Run now, little one, and I will spare you precious Earth."
     "How can I trust you?"
     "Because I didn't kill you on sight," Fly grinned. Shaye grimaced and turned away, opening a wormhole to take her home.
     "Leave me alone," Shaye muttered as she leapt into the silvery hole.
     The dragon smiled proudly, the little one had fled, just as he known she would. It was just like her kind to run when things got hard, cowards, really. Chuckling and shaking his head, Fly turned to head towards the Castle of the Dawn to claim his thrown.
     "Too bad I'm a liar," Shaye said, and thrust her sword into Fly's chest. The dragon screamed as the cold steel passed through his rib cage, slicing through muscle and fat, sliding nearly into his heart. He could feel every millimeter of searing pain as Shaye twisted the sword in his chest and slowly pulled it out. Collapsing, Fly howled in the agony of defeat. They had been destroyed by a simple girl who was the last of her kind, who had been hidden from them for nearly a millennia. The king had been right, the Angels had soared that day. Writhing on the ground, Fly looked up at Shaye, who wore a mask of stone, though her eyes glistened with the thrill of victory. The last thing he heard was Shaye.
     "I hope you burn in hell," Shaye said as the dragon drew his last shuddering breath, and died at her feet.
     Gasping in pain, Shaye rose into the air, already hearing the victorious cries of her armies coming from the palace walls. Her flight was wobbly, and she feared her wings wouldn't support her.
     "Shaye! We won!" Griffen yelled, seeing Shaye emerge from the walls.
     "It's over," Shaye smiled. The world went black, and Shaye collapsed.

Epilogue Part II Part I Index