Dark Realm 56
Joy and Brax watched Brinley enter the restaurant.
“Thank you for being here, Brax.” Joy rubbed the back of Brax’s hand.
“Where else would I be?” Brax smiled. “While we have a moment, let me introduce some of my friends.” Brax turned to face the dwarves he brought with him. “This is Flint. He can create anything he puts his mind to, and this is his brother Hugo. There are other dwarves surrounding the building.”
“Nice to meet the woman Brax cannot stop talking about?” Hugo pointed out.
“Oh, really?” Joy turned to smile at Brax.
“Aren’t we supposed to be watching for the signal?” Brax’s cheeks turned pink.
“Aw, he’s embarrassed.” Flint poked Brax. “Poor little guy.” Flint chuckled.
“You’re so cute,” Joy nudged him.
Brax winked at her.
A branch snapped behind them putting the party on alert.
“I’ll find out.” Flint ran out into the darkness. He returned moments later, pushing Emerson in front of him.
“What are you doing here?” Joy stared at Emerson.
“I’m here to help.”
Joy nodded. “You're welcome here. Where have you been?”
“It’s a long story.” Emerson crouched down next to Joy. She glanced around. “Dwarves, huh?”
Joy nodded.
“Cool.” Emerson flashed a smile. “Where is Brinley?”
“She just walked in.”
“Great, I’m going inside too. I wanna see Asher die.” Emerson stood up, but Joy grabbed her wrist. “Not yet,” Joy whispered. We must wait for the signal. Just chill.” Joy released Emerson’s wrist.
“Okay.” Emerson knelt next to Joy. The young imp shivered. “A lot sure has changed. I can feel the darkness surrounding us. What happened?”
“Brinley and I had some errands to run, I guess we stayed away for too long.” Joy kept her eyes glued to the restaurant on the hill.
“Errands?” Emerson questioned Joy.
“You make this sound like a trip to the market.” Joy glared at Emerson. “I’m sorry for what Asher has done. This is where we take back our lives.”
“Asher must die. And I wanna see it. That bastard ate a friend of mine and made me watch.” Emerson kept her eyes straight ahead.
“Jesus.” Brax shook his head; his thick dark hair resembled a lion’s mane. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Emerson exhaled. “I can’t tell you everything. I’m sorry. Look, Joy, I know you don’t like or trust me, but that’s on you. Brinley risked her life to warn me. She didn’t have to do that. After watching my friend lying there surrounded by his friends. I swore I would kill him. We all have our reasons were all here tonight.” Emerson looked around. “We all fight for the light.”
“We fight for the light.” Everyone said in unison.
“How did you survive?” Joy asked.
Emerson licked her lips. “Someone saved me.”
“Who?”
“I never saw his face, but he took me to The Golden Glade.” Emerson shrugged.
“The home of the Fae.” Hugo sounded in awe. “So, the stories of the Fae are true?” Hugo stared at Brax.
“Not all of them.” Emerson bowed her head. “The rumors of the fae being angry, spiteful beings are fictitious. They welcomed me and kept me safe.”
“Now is not the time to relax. We have other things on our mind tonight.” Brax nodded at his fellow dwarves.
“Agreed,” Hugo said.
Brax rubbed his hands together. “So, you must know something about Asher.”
“I know he’s always surrounded by bloodthirsty werewolves,” Emerson replied.
“This should be fun,” Hugo smirked. “Do you know how to kill those bloodthirsty werewolves?”
“There are a few ways I know of; one we can light their asses on fire. Of course, silver works. If we pierce their heart with silver they die, they revert to their human form.”
“I love these odds.” Flint squeezed his ax.
“I’m not done. The werewolves surrounding Asher have never been human, they know no fear and they will not stop. Those fuckers are big. They run on their hind legs. Cit it’s head off to be sure you killed it. But I have something that might give us an edge against those freaks.” Emerson reached down in her pocket to reveal a vial of a thick opaque substance.
“Bless gods,” Flint whispered. “I know what that is.” Flint touched the vial. “It’s the Elixir of Stability. The Fae use it on their weapons to strengthen them. Every hit never misses. The strength is time ten. It’s one of Fae’s most glorious inventions.”
“Flint, your knowledge of the fae is kind of creepy.” Hugo poked fun at his long-term friend.
“Shut up,” Hugo growled as he elbowed Flint. “We should use it on our weapons. We need all the help we can get against those werewolves.”
“Agreed. Emerson, may we use it?”
“Yes, we can coat everything from my talons and forked tail to all your weapons.”
“Excellent.” Joy smiled at Emerson. “Thank you.”
Emerson nodded as they used the elixir to power up their weapons. “It tingles a bit,” Emerson said, flipping her tail. “I like it.” She smiled. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Stay put until we get the signal,” Brax answered.
“That is not a good plan, especially if what Emerson says is true about the werewolves. I don’t think Brinley knows about them. They can slaughter her before she even kills Asher.”
Brax stared at Joy. “Change of plans. We move, right now.” Brax led the team down the embankment to join the battle.