Dark Realm 70

“Where the hell are we?” Joy glanced around.

“We’re in the land of The Fae.” Emerson smiled.

“I’ve never seen such vivid colors before.” Brinley twirled around touching the long fern leaves. “Even the air smells different.”

“I pray that is a good thing.” Lyric the Queen of the Fae stepped forward. Her long silver hair fluttered in the breeze.

“I meant no offense.” Brinley bowed her head.

“There is no need to be offended.” Lyric lifted Brinley’s chin. “It is an honor to finally meet you. Welcome all of you. This place is enchanted, no evil can harm any of you within my land. Please follow me.”

“Awesome. Come on.” Joy smiled at Brinley.

Brinley took a step toward the queen.

“Not you.” Lyric stopped Brinley. “Your path starts over there.” The queen pointed to a plateau.

“No way. We stay together.” Joy took a step back to stand at Brinley’s side.

Brinley stared at Lyric, and with a slight nod, she turned to Joy. “I’ll be fine. I will find you later.” Brinley patted Joy’s shoulder.

Joy stood in front of Brinley and whispered. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Divide and conquer.” Brinley hugged her friend. “Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.” Brinley whispered in Joy’s ear. “See you.” Brinley waved walking toward the hilltop. Brinley wondered with each step what would befall upon her. Am I ready? At the top, the hooded one stood with his back toward her.

“Who are you?” Brinley said with more venom than she meant. Why did this person dredge up so much emotion within her?

“Straight to the point. You are so much like your mother.” The Hooded One spoke.

Unfazed Brinley spat. “You knew my mother. How?”

The Hooded One slid the hood back and then turned to face her. “I knew her because she was wife, your mother. My name is Nevyn. I am your father.”

Brinley’s knees gave way and she hit the ground with a sickening thud. Brinley wiped the sweat dotting her forehead. “What?”

“Oh, Brinley.” Nevyn stepped up to help her, but she pushed him back.

“Don’t touch me.” Static from Brinley made the hairs on the back of Nevyn’s neck rise.

Nevyn knelt beside her raising his hands. “I won’t touch you. I promise.”

“How come I don’t remember you?”

The reason why your memories are blurry is that your wonderful mother placed a spell on you. To keep you safe.”

“A spell?” Brinley croaked.

“We clouded your real memories. Your mother and me. Your birth split the skies open, red bolts of lightning flashed across the dark sky like a heartbeat. Some beings feared what your birth would bring to the realms.”

“To the realms? Screw the realms, I am your daughter, and you gave me away.”

“We love you, Brinley, but once your sigil appeared on your palm people saw it as a bad omen. As word got out, we feared the worst, we knew if we kept you in Aella you would die, so we hid you. One night dogmen breached our gates and allowed the Alu to enter, our streets ran red with blood and a fire cleansed our realm.” Her father tried to help her back to her feet.

“No.” Brinley pushed his hand away. She climbed to her feet swiping the dirt from her jeans.

“I know this is a lot to take. I’m sorry it had to happen this way. No matter what, I have always been watching you.”

“Watching me?”

“I’ve watched over you since your birth.”

“Wait, you watched each time I was thrown away. You watched me as I lived homeless on the streets. Is that supposed to be a compliment? You watched me while doing nothing? I didn’t need you then and I don’t need you now.” Brinley spat.

“I know you’re angry.”

“Angry? Oh, I’m way passed angry. I’m fuckin pissed off.”

“What language.” Nevyn shook his head.

Brinley clicked her tongue. “Are you fuckin serious?”

Nevyn dropped his head. “I’m sorry. No matter how pissed off you are I am still your father.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I am the only one who knows you, the real you. Allow me time to explain and after if you still want to ignore me, I will leave your life never to return.”

Brinley folded her arms across her chest trying to calm her beating heart. “I’m listening.”

“Our people lived in a peaceful, beautiful realm called Aella. The Sylphs are the keepers of the light. There is one main rule in the universe, only one certain thing, everything has a balance. A warrior is born throughout the ages when darkness was close to destroying the realms.”

“A Realm Walker, right?” Brinley exhaled.

Nevyn nodded with a smile. “I forgot how smart you are.”

“I’m not that smart,” Brinley groaned.

“Brinley.” Her father reached out to touch her.

Brinley stepped back. “Finish your story.”

“Your mother, Indigo had a quick wit. Like you. I miss that.”

Brinley cleared her throat.

“Sorry.” Nevyn stepped further away from Brinley. “Most sylphs have sigils. Some for water, or earth, or fire. The sigil marks us differently but sometimes there is a child born with a sigil like yours, it is rare, but it does happen.” Nevyn placed his arms by his side. “But your sigil is rare. To be able to control lightning is unusual. In Aella your mother loved to walk through a tunnel system called the Cave of Prophecy. She told me your birth was foretold on the walls in the cave. Almost daily I would find her roaming through the system; no one would enter the cave, except your mother. She spent countless hours reading the walls. The night your mother went into labor the skies tore open and thunder roared in the distance. I didn’t understand what was happening until I smelled smoke. The Alu possessed people causing them to kill. Our people destroyed each other. Aella was scorched from the realm. I couldn’t leave your mother. I loved her so much. Someone lit our home on fire.” Nevyn stared at his hands. “I didn’t care about myself. You were born surrounded by fire. The ceiling crashed down, pinning your mother. I reached out for her,” emotion clogged his throat. “Your mother stared at you. She loved you. She saw the mark on your hand. Together we hid your sigil then she handed you to me. I promised I would protect you. And I hid you in the realm of humans. I know you are angry with me. I hope you will allow me into your life one day.” Nevyn wiped his tears.

“I have a question.” Brinley interrupted her father.

“Of course, please ask me anything.”

“Was my mother human?”

Nevyn chuckled. “Who told you that?”

Brinley shrugged. “What does it matter? Am I half human?”

“No, my sweet girl. I hid you in the human realm so no one could find you. I wanted you to be safe. But when I heard rumors about Maggie and Asher, I needed to help you. Every day I gave Emerson organs laced with a powder so he could not find you.”

“That was why you met Emerson in the graveyard?”

“Yes,”

“But why didn’t you show yourself to me?”

Nevyn exhaled. “I thought my appearance might scare you.” Nevyn pushed off his hood to expose his burns. “Your safety has always been my highest concern.”

Brinley finally allowed herself to look at Nevyn. Nevyn stood six feet tall. In the twilight, his ebony skin shimmered like gold. His long hair was shaved on both sides with a long braid hanging down his back. Nevyn shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“I’m not afraid of you,” Brinley whispered.

“And I am not afraid of you.”

“What was my mother’s name?” Brinley wiped her face.

“Her name was Inigo. She was beautiful like you.”

“I’m sorry.” Brinley hugged Nevyn. “I have a lot of pent-up aggression I must learn to get through.”

“There is no need to apologize.” Nevyn dropped his head.

“That day in the graveyard did you know I was there?”

Nevyn nodded. “Yes, I did.”

“Does Emerson know who you are?”

“No, fear not, sweet daughter. She knows nothing. Anything else?”

“So, if my gift is rare what does it mean?”

“Babies are born in Aella can take days for the sigil to appear. There is no real way to predict the next realm walker. When I was young, learning my power of weather manipulation my father told me stories of the realm walkers. It saddened me because their lives were hectic and lonely. They endure so much strife when you’re your sigil appeared I feared for your life. I wanted your life to be filled with joy, not horror.”

“You can manipulate the weather?” Brinley changed the subject.

Nevyn laughed. “Would you like to see?” He looked over his shoulder.

Brinley nodded. Nevyn’s honey-brown eyes glowed. He turned his gaze toward the sky. The wind whipped around them. The earth underneath her feet shook. “Whoa.” Brinley held out her arms to steady herself. The clouds roared as huge droplets fell. Nevyn moved his hand merging the clouds above them. He created shapes from the fluffy brume. Nevyn turned his attention toward his daughter. Within the mist, Nevyn lifted Brinley into the air. Brinley giggled.

Nevyn clapped his hands releasing his daughter from the mini cyclone he created.

“I must admit. That was kind of cool.” Brinley smirked.

Nevyn laughed. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Fair is fair.” Brinley stared off into the distance.

“How did you feel the first time you used your power?”

Brinley stared at the dirt underneath her feet. “Scared, I guess. I didn’t know what to do. I had no one to ask about anything. I thought I was human. I’ve always felt different from the people around me. Knowing what I know now and now still makes me feel a certain kind of way.”

“What kind of way?”

“Abnormal.”

“Why?”

“I met this guy. I thought maybe it would work but he wanted a ‘normal’ woman.” Brinley said with invisible quotations. “I’m far from being normal.” Brinley created an orb of lightning in her palm. “This isn’t normal, right?” Brinley stared at her father.

“Do you want to be normal?”

“I go back and forth.” Brinley kicked the stones at her feet. “Sometimes it feels like I can’t control myself, Maggie and her mother knew I felt dark feelings, they prayed on those emotions.”

“We all get tempted by the dark, some succumb to it while others fight against it.”

“What scares you about your powers?”

“I’m afraid my power will consume me.”

“What do you truly want?”

“Peace,” Brinley whispered.

Nevyn raised his eyebrows. “Do you want to harm people, Brinley?”

Brinley cleared her throat. “Sometimes. There are moments when I use my power against others that feel good. It was like a floodgate opened inside of me. I wanted to hurt Mahala for what she did to Joy.”

“What happened to Joy?”

“When we fought Mahala, she brought two banshees with her. She poisoned Joy. I did everything I could do to find a cure.”

“What was the cure?”

Brinley exhaled. “Me.” She whispered.

“Say it again.” Nevyn stepped closer this time Brinley didn’t move away.

“I brought Joy to a woman named Emmaline. Everything she tried failed. I was sure Emmaline could save her, but she couldn’t. Joy began to convulse in my arms. I watched her die. Emmaline suggested CPR.”

“Healing breath.” Nevyn stared at his daughter in awe. “You are unique. I will never leave your side again. I am your father by blood, but I want to be your dad you want.” Nevyn stood next to her.

Brinley looked up at her father. “I would like that.”

“Me too.” Nevyn wrapped his protective arm around her shoulders.