Through the Eyes of a Fae
Chapter 23

Kora held Ludis’s note in her hand and frowned. It was not normal for her to ask to meet in such an odd place. Normally, she would be in her study or the library. The outer towers were part of the original Castle, and no one really went there anymore. Malik had talked to Kora about them a few weeks ago, mentioning repair construction for next spring. She looked up at the sky and sniffed. Rain was coming. And it would be freezing rain. Winter was fast approaching. As she stopped between the tower and the outer wall, she turned and looked for Ludis, feeling stupid. What if this was a trap? No, she was inside the castle walls, and if there was anything that she should be on the lookout for, surely, they would have told her. Malik had eyes and ears everywhere, suspicious activity of any sort should not be missed. Was that why Ludis had asked to meet her in such a location? To avoid eavesdroppers and give her a warning? Still. She could not shake the unease. She felt the air turning cold and she knew. This was a trap. She heard Ben, still hundreds of yards away, roar a warning. She turned, catching the enemy’s sword with a raised barrier of rock in a quick move of pure instinct. Ben was running towards them, but they had already engaged. Kora twisted away, her rock barrier crumbling. There were three Men of the Grey. Fury roiled in her stomach, and she hissed, an animal-like sound rising from her throat.

“You have come for me after all?” Kora pulled power from the earth, and the Grey Men moved quickly to try and subdue her. She could feel the tainted power from them, and she blew, causing a blast of air to knock them onto their backs. She heard Ben’s approach, but she was done. Fury had taken over. Her eyes began to glow, and her hair floated of its own accord, though no breeze was present. Her braid coming undone, it surrounded her like vines. The ground began to move and dissolve under the men of the gray, and they struggled, causing their hoods to fall back. Their skin had turned to patchy scales, dry and peeling. The sickly gray tone of their skin and their eyes black. They howled at Kora as vines thick with spikes began to shoot from the moving ground. Within a few seconds, the men were trapped, and the vines began to push themselves into the men’s fingernails, ears, and other orifices. Their angry howls quickly turned to screams, and then became muffled. She left their eyes, so she could look into them. The rain began to fall, and the men cried tears of blood. Moving her hand, the rain began to form a shape in her hand. Soon a sword, made of ice, was held at the Grey Man in the center.

“Know this. I have harbored my fury for over a thousand years. Each Man of the Grey will pay for what you did to me, to the last of the Fae. Did you seriously think I was stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice?” The screams slowly stopped, and a vine popped one of the men’s eyes out, growing skyward. She took her ice sword and rammed it into the heart of each Grey Men, screaming her fury as they died too soon. As footsteps approached, Ben turned to see Malik, Ludis, and Stella looking at the scene in horror. It turns out, there were countless things someone could do with plants when it came to killing people. Kora was not as defenseless as Ben had so stupidly thought. Her creativity and cruelty reminded all of them that Kora wasn’t human and could destroy everything if she wished. Kora looked at each of them, before turning back to the gray men. She raised her hands, and the sword disappeared. Fire began to gather in its place. Dripping from her fingertips, the Men of the Grey were disintegrated to ashes.