The Faerie Slayer
Chapter 4

*****

Abby's POV

The jarring sound of my phone ringing jolted me out of my slumber and back to consciousness. Annoyance laced in my every action, I reached for the taunting object.

Ben, 22 missed calls.

I had little recollection of all that had happened last night. My memory ends as soon as I had reached Deadwood Creek. I remember feeling as light as a feather, and happier then I had been for as long as I could recollect.

Jack.

My head was suddenly inundated. The scenes and images were of a man in my room, putting me to bed. It was hard to tell if it were real life or if it were a dream. The man in my thoughts was not Jack, but I had seen his face before, elsewhere. I shook my head as if to shake off my hangover and called Ben back.

"Hello?" He picked up on the first ring.

"Morning," I mumbled, still only half awake," you called?"

"Where the hell have you been?" His tone was angry. I couldn't recall the last time he'd been mad at me.

"I'm at home, in bed, I was sleeping."

"No, where were you last night? I left you by the alley for like five minutes and then you disappeared. I called you like a hundred times-"

"Crap crap," the memories came flooding in like the unbolting gates of a dam," I'm so sorry! I was with Jack, and he took me the the river-"

"Why the hell were you at the river?"

Good question.

"I'm not even sure to be honest with you. I don't remember much. I think I blacked out."

"You had like four drinks, how is that even possible?" Ben sounded sceptical.

"I hadn't eaten before, I don't know. I don't even remember what happened at the river. I think I might have passed out and he brought me home."

"That can't be what happened because how would he have gotten your address?"

Crap. Another good question.

"Maybe I didn't pass out. Maybe he noticed I was really drunk and asked me for my address so that he can take me back home."

Ben snorted. I could almost paint the frown on his face using my memory for reference.

"Do you remember going to bed? Did this guy hurt you-"

"No, he definitely didn't hurt me. I remember being put to bed, yes. I just-I can't remember details, it was blurry."

The man that was in my bedroom was not Jack.

"Yeah, okay. Something was weird about that guy."

"You think something is weird about every guy I date."

"So now you're dating the guy?"

I felt my head begin to throb," no, you know what I mean."

"Are your parents still away for the weekend? Want me to come over?"

"Yea, they won't be back until Sunday night. Please come over with a shitload of Advil, I think my head is going to explode."

"On it. See you in an hour."

I was still snuggled in bed when Ben had arrived. Snowball, my beloved dog that I was convinced I would kill for had joined me. I removed the pillow I was using to shield the sunlight from my eyes as oppose to getting up and shutting the blinds. By the door stood my sneering childhood friend, Chinese take out in one hand and a bottle of Advil in the other.

"Finally," I sat up," give me those pills."

"You can't just take the pills, you have to eat something first," he began to sort the food on the table by the side of my bed. The smell of the Sweet and Sour Shrimp was prudent enough to make me want to spew.

"I can't eat anything right now, please-"

Before I could finish the sentence, Ben's chopsticks were swatched with rice noodles and aimed for my lips. I struggled to chew, my body's first instinct was to spit everything out but I resisted, finally swallowing.

"There's eggs in that I think, so it's technically breakfast," Ben's attempt at justification made me roll my eyes. He tore a piece and fed Snowball.

"Can I have the pills now?"

He poured me a glass of Diet Coke and handed me two red Advils. I chugged the contents quicker then I probably should have.

"Thank you," I mumbled.

Ben's comforting hands rubbed my back and I let my head plummet onto his shoulder.

When he left, the sun was midst getting replaced with shades of roseate and mauve. Ben had another concert to get to, and although I was invited, I still had not recovered from the night previous. I don't typically drink much, but when I do, I always lived to regret it.

I was sprawled on the leather sofa, remote in hand strolling mindlessly through doltish television. My thoughts slowly drifted back to last night. I was hounded by the recollection of memories, there was no doubt that I had felt strong hands tucking me into bed. My vision was nebulous but I recalled seeing the broad back of a tall shadowy figure. As cloudy as my memory was, I still remembered his dark eyes. The truth is, I was unawarely forcefully concluding it as a dream. Then how come the more I think about it, the more I remember?

The difference in dreams is that they tend to fade away from your memories retrieving any details along. I had no answers, I don't even think I knew which questions to ask to begin seeking them.

Kade's Pov

It was late, and it was still unclear to me why I was stationed outside of Aubrette's home. For a while it was decided, I was going to kill the half faerie girl and present her to my father in the form of dust. I hadn't been able to sleep after my grandmother and I had finished talking. I stayed up, confined completely to my chaotic and undecided thoughts. I could hardly bear the thought of hurting Aubrette, let alone killing her. To murder her would be a crime. I remembered what the trow had said that night by Deadwood Creek.

'The human girl has royal blood ,her fate is forethought.'

My concerns were not to worry about whether Aubrette lives or dies, clearly that is being taken care of already by the folk. My worry was to ensure I present my father with something, in the form of faerie ashes, tonight. I wondered if the trow would come back. If so, my plan would be to kill him in place of the girl. I have already coated the soils of the riverbank with sugar and dapperling mushrooms. The combination of the two is fatal, making it nearly impossible for the creature to live. Either way, I'll be there with Ferrum if needed.

Aubrette's mortal friend had departed her home hours before. The sky was settling into sable and there hadn't even been a cricket that noised. Tonight was chillingly silent. My parky to touch metal timer indicated that I had mere hours to execute the girl.

I sat up at the sight of her. Now outside of her porch, the girl held a leash made of rope attached to the small dog I had seen her with previously. She continued down the steps and paused to a halt every few minutes to let the animal sniff around the bushes. I watched as she leaned down to pet the dog, even in distance I could see the admiration in her eyes. The animal began to whine at something, and Aubrette leaned further to get a closer look.

"What did you replace?" Her voice was sweet although far. In her hands she picked up a what seemed to be an injured bird,"I think it needs our help."

Aubrette returned to her steps where she laid the bird down and sat herself. She tied the dog to the nearby wooden barrier. From here, I could not tell what was wrong with the bird, I could only wonder what she intended to do to help. I watched as she gently parted the peak of the animal and began to retrieve something white in colour. It seemed to be a piece of plastic.

The bird was choking.

Both the dog and I watched in fascination as she rescued the poor helpless creature. It rose to its feet and bid Aubrette goodbye with a flutter of its wings. Shorty after, the bird soared through the sky and out of sight.

"We did it," Aubrette celebrated with the dog.

She disappeared back inside. I could not help but think what would have happened had this been a true faerie.

She would have plucked its feathers, one by one until the bird was stripped bare. She would not have killed it, rather tormented it for mere merriment.

It must have been close to midnight, leaving me with just over an hour remaining. I knew that my decision to kill the half-girl was not yet made. It would be an unfinished tale that I was eager to explore. Who is Aubrette Evergreen? Who were her parents and what does she have that the folk want so bad? Part of me wished that I'd killed that rotten trow and used his remains to pose as Aubrette's until I had bought enough time to solace my father. I had the sudden idea to voyage to Sequoia Forest. Littered in the never-ending trees and nested in soils and tree trunks were wicked little creatures of the folk that belonged to neither the Seelie nor Unseelie Courts. They kept to themselves, hidden from sight and rarely ever crossed into the city fore they knew if caught, they shall be slaughtered.

I drove about forty minutes to get to Sequoia Forest and almost as soon as I was out of the car and on foot, I caught sight of a little light that floated just under the moon. A spirit.

Too small, I thought to myself, a spirit will make a teaspoon of faerie dust. I need something bigger.

I remained as silent as I could, scavenging between the damp forest and moving vines. In the distance I could have sworn I seen a moving tree, trunks formed into thick legs dashing across the soil.

"Rootmen," I mumbled to myself. I took a look around and examined every tree trunk nearby. This forest was rumoured to have a few of them, giant sequoia trees that belonged to the folk. When darkness is amongst, the faerie trees would move. I realized quickly that almost all of the trees shared the same split trunk that forged as legs. This entire forest was of Rootmen.

Quite possibly the most dangerous of the folk, these creatures had the ability to kill with just a lift of a foot or a wave of a branch. Resistant to all faerie weaknesses, there was no salt nor sugar that could kill these trees. The only way to kill one would be to destroy the root from which it was born and since these trees travel, that was close to impossible.

I had to get out of here quickly, before they are too startled.

I moved through them until I heard the echoes of something crying. I neared a swamp where I caught sight of a tongue slither out of mthe water and into the remains of a baby fox. The animal was still alive, but hardly, sobbing as the creature from the pond ate what was left of it. I drew Ferrum and drove it into the head of the fox. It was beyond saving, a quick painless kill would be the only benignant outcome. The attackers long tongue began to withdraw but I had enough time to reach into my pockets and scatter some sugar on top.

Through calm waves emerged a white haired Asrai. A water pixie that only ever came out when the sun was down. Asrai's melt when exposed to sunlight and were known to haunt fishermen who fed on their food and scared them into strokes and often death. The creature gazed at me with big black hungry eyes. Asrai's were often unable to survive in the faerie world and resembled the face of a toddler girl. Her hair floated behind her as she stood from her pond and peered closer. Her hands cupped in front of her.

"More, please."

"Come closer," I ordered and she obeyed. Her glistening skin resembled scales. They reflected off the moonlight and onto the water. The scene would have been beautiful in another tale.

I reached into my pockets to retrieve more of her drug but I was not quick enough. Already, the trance had faded.

"Wolf," she hissed, forked tongue retrieving back into her mouth slowly after each word.

It suddenly shot at me with blinding speed, wrapping around my throat. I felt my skin begin to bleed as thousands of thorns pricked at it. I struggled to breath and even more so, struggled to make use of my hands. The faerie was close enough to search my pockets for the remainder of the sugar. Tongue still hosteling me in a choke hold I felt her hands digging deeper and deeper into my suit. The sugar was in a hidden pocket closest to where I grasped hold of Ferrum. I could not lift my hands much but I could attempt to stab the faerie girl in the abdomen. Her tongue unwinded from my throat and she took a few steps back into the water. I could finally breath. I choked on the new found air but I did not hesitate, even when her tongue lashed back at me. Ferrum was now held vertical in front of my throat. It aligned perfectly with the center of her forked tongue and split it further down. She cried out with a voice that sounded like glass being rubbed together. Taking this split second as my final window, I kicked the creature back into the water in an attempt to buy myself some time.

I lifted a packet of sugar from my back pocket and coated Ferrum with it.

I dangled the sword above her and watched as her wounded tongue wrapped around the metal. Without warning, I drew it back and dug it into her brain. Her lifeless body thudded against the water. Behind her, I noticed a few more of her kind. They rushed to disperse.

"I only need one," I thought out loud.

After retrieving the corpse out of the water, I lit it on fire and waited for the ashes to eventually become faerie dust. The light must have caught the attention of the nearby Rootmen because I suddenly felt the whooshing wind of a grand branch that swooped past my face and missed me by an inch. I hurried to collect the dust into a plastic bag. I had gotten almost all when another branch came close to taking my head off. I heard the sound of something emerge from soil and turned to discover roots abandoning their home in the ground and beginning a brisk walk towards me.

I was out of time.

I buried whatever dust I had collected into the pocket of my suit and hurried for the exit but I was now surrounded by awakened trees, all moving and all making their way towards me. I leaped into the air and landed atop one of the trees as a wolf, using its long arms to balance myself from one tree to another. The creatures of the night bent their bodies to rid of me. I slipped off a branch and landed back on the ground. When I looked up, I could see the base of trunk as if in the sky coming down at me with full speed. I dodged the attack and ran across the swamp, past the dozens of Aslais seeking vengeance for their murdered comrade. I slashed at their reaching arms with rendered fangs and kicked at their grip that attempted to drown me further.

I dashed back up on soil, wet fur now slowing me down. I ran as fast as I could past the Rootmen who's goal was to crush me flat. The biggest one I had seen thus far halted in front of me. I looked up to examine its massive frame. Little spirits lit the way for the monstrous tree, guiding its path to an easy kill. The giant sequoia kneeled as if to get a closer look at my wolf. A second later, it stood at full height and threw a wave of branches that sent me soaring across the woods.

Damn it!

I felt blood began to leak out of open wounds that I had no time to locate. The earth thudded below me, strong enough to summon an earthquake. Meters away were three more Rootmen. I got to my feet and decided to face them head on. I ran towards them at the same speed and when we collided, I threw up my front paws to climb their trunks. I made it half way up the widest tree and I could see the edge of the forest where they would not dare step. I leaped into the air, knowing that I could either land gracefully and finally make it out or as a pile of broken bones.

When I hit the ground, I didn't dwell on how stunned I was that I was alive. I was a couple feet from the edge of the woods. Behind me, I felt new trees begin to stir awake. I gathered up my wounded body and rushed out of there. I shifted mid way and raced the car as far as I could from Sequoia Forest.

This was the second time I had risked my life for the half faerie girl named Aubrette Evergreen. I wondered how many more times.

When I got home, I marched past the pack messenger and to my fathers study. I was soaked in blood and smelled of swamp water. On the other side of the door I heard his commanding voice.

"Come in."

Inside, the man was clutching to a letter made of thick parchment paper. I released the bag of faerie dust from my grip and atop the tinder table.

Father peered at his watch and back up at me.

"You have never cut it this close with your timing before son. Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine," I replied blankly," looking forward to a new assignment."

Father examined the glittering bag.

"This is the girl from Deadwood Creek?"

I nodded.

"Expect a reward, for us both."

"What kind of reward?" I had never been rewarded before," what rendered this task different?"

"You shall soon know all, Kade. Go clean up, you did well."

On the way up to my room, I could not help but further wonder about the half girl and how soon it would take my father to discover that those ashes were not hers.