Chapter 25: Chapter 24

Hi Clovers, sorry it's late.

As always, thank you for your support by voting and commenting. I just realize we reached two hundred pages and I am not even halfway with the story. I'm probably going to finish with around six hundred pages. Yikes. Lol.

Enjoy~

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Meredith

"Meredith Tesifa Pierce." The dark fay breathed my name. "Finally, we meet."

My heart thudded. He knew my name. He knew my middle name that my mother gave in honor of our ethiopian lineage; It meant hope in amharic.

He was tall–maybe even taller than me–he stood at about six feet or more. His muscular frame were adorned in a black tank, goth pants with chains across his belt loops and topped with a pair of black combat boots. He had rune like tattoos that covered both of his arms. This was the first time I was seeing him.

Something moved on the ground. I gasped as my heart thudded. The body of the dark fay gave one last shudder before distengerating to dark ashes. The clothes and shoes fell to the ground along with the long sword. The wind blew and the ashes disappeared into the dark woods. I blinked at the empty ground where a dark stain tainted the soil with an echo of death. Tears blurred my vision. I just watched someone died in front of me. With a swift of a blade and just like that–he was gone. Gone forever. I didn't even know this fay but his name–Ash. Ash was born, held by a mother, had a childhood, laughed with friends, fell in love and now... It's all gone. He was gone.

The dark fay that rid Ash was smiling at me that it seemed so nihilistic–wrong and out of place. The ground tilted under my feet and a ringing begun in my head. This can't be happening. This doesn't happen to people. People don't just witnessed someone get beheaded by an ax. They just don't. I stare at the disgruntled pile of clothes and the stain of blood, the only proof that an Ash had ever walked this earth.

I ran to a nearby bush and rid the content of my stomach, as if attempting to rid the slaughter I witnessed. I breathed heavily once finished; I felt empty and numb. I stood up and found that Bodhi had moved with me; still standing with her back to me, protecting from the dark fay, and not once letting her guard down. I whispered out loud, "'Where did he go?" I rubbed my arm, scrubbing death and chill from my skin.

The alive dark fay smirked, "Nowhere, he's dead." He hoisted his ax to rest the handle on his shoulder and cocked his hips with amusement. "Ah, I forget. You humans don't witness deaths often anymore. Now he can't kill you, Meredith Tesifa Pierce."

I jerked at my name, at the intimate way he lilted on the vowels of my name. Through my muddle confusion I managed to ask him, "Who are you and how do you know my name?" He kept saying my name as if he waited a long time to do so. My skin pricked at that. I don't like it; a killer saying my name.

Bodhi raised her daggers, "Speak or you'll join your brethren."

The dark fay chuckled as he dropped his ax to the ground and Bodhi stiffened. He leaned on the metal handle like how Willy Wonk would lean on his cane–without a care in the world. "That bastard is not my brethren."

"Don't lie, dark fay." Bodhi hissed.

He raised a brow but he stopped. He leaned toward Bodhi and took a deep inhale. "Ah... mer. I thought I smelled something fishy." He chuckled at his own joke.

"Answer, dark fay. Who are you?" Bodhi asked.

He tsked. "And a rude mer at that. Not one for pleasantries, huh?"

Bohdi snorted. "It's hard to be nice to someone who just hacked someone's head off."

He let out a velvet laughter. "Understandable," He looked to where the body used to be and scuffed the blood stain, covering it with dirt with his black boots. "I did just save your lives though."

I finally found my voice. "Why?" I asked. "Why did you kill another dark fay?"

His eyes dart to mine and he grinned. "Well, Meredith," I jolted at the causality of him using my name. "See this?" He toed the abandoned long sword. "I don't know if you noticed but this is a pointy sword. It had looked like he was going to kill you with it."

My stomach clenched. He spoke like killing was something easy to do. A shot of courage and anger surged through my tongue. "Oh, I noticed. But what would your fellow soldiers say?"

The dark fay's eyes lit with my rebuttal, amused. "Oh, they're not gonna say anything."

"Why is that?" I questioned.

"Because I'm not their damn fellow soldier." He said.

Bodhi stopped. "What?"

I asked. "What do you mean by that?"

The dark fay smiled cooly and raised his left palm to us, revealing a burn mark on his wrist. "I left the dark court a long time ago." He dropped his hand. "I'm rogue."

Bodhi inhaled sharply. "You removed your dark mark."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

The rogue dark fay answered, "All fays are marked at birth, a tattoo to reveal where the fays' allegiance lies in which court. The mark itself has power, forever tying you and your loyalty to your court–a glorified manacle." He chuckled darkly. "I didn't want to be part of the dark court, so I left to be free." He shrugged as if he wasn't speaking about him running away from everything he's ever known.

"Why?" Bodhi asked in disbelief.

His face twisted with remembrance. "I hated living there. I was revolted of their cruel ways." I stared at how he seemed so utterly disgusted at the mere memory of living at the dark court and how he called the dark court cruel. If he could easily behead one of his own, then just what cruelty did he witnessed to call it so. The dark court must be truly hellish to live in.

"And how did you escape the dark court alive?" Bodhi asked in awe.

"Barely," He snorted, 'It took years of planning and I did it. I came here to settle here in this nice, quiet town, but the damn dark fays had to come here and build that aquarium to stuff the mers in. Now, I can't exactly get up and escape the city without being found," He gestured to where the glamour is. "And I'm not keen on sitting around, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the dark fays to find me and drag me back to court to... well, possibly punish me then end me. Now, I don't know about you, but I like keeping my blood under my skin." He patted his chest as if to further his point, "And then you came along," He grinned at me. "Meredith, a human immune to all glamours." His gaze trailed down to Bodhi. "And who are you, mer?"

"My name is I don't trust you," Bodhi narrowed her eyes, "How do you know, Red?"

"Red?" His dark gaze snatched to me then he tilted his head, a mischievous feline. "Meredith... Redith... Red. I like that."

I ordered, "Answer her," My nerves were fried and I wanted answers.

His dark eyes shone, causing me to step back. "My, my, Red... aren't you a fiery one?"

My jaw clenched, he kept using my name as if he such rights to. I stayed silent and waited.

He lifted his ax–Bodhi stiffened–and he grunted, "Damn, that bastard dirtied my blade." He sighed as he strolled to the fallen log to sit. He took out a towel and began cleaning his ax's blade as if there wasn't a mer intent on killing him, standing in front of him. My forehead wrinkled. He was not threatened by us and he didn't give a damn about Bodhi's daggers. He was either cocky or just plain stupid. He glanced up, "Well, Red and I don't trust you, take a seat. I'm sure all that excitement has left you tired." He continued cleaning his blade and he began to hum. Humming. This bastard was humming. Who the hell is he?

A giggle bubbled out of me. This has to be a dream. Maybe I was still passed out under the tree from exhaustion. That must be it. The dark fay paused in his cleaning and had the gall to stare at me like I was crazy–me!

"Red." Bodhi warned, "This isn't the time to lose it. Cut it out."

I laughed even harder. "Look at this dark fay!" I gestured to him, "He's cleaning his ax and humming. Humming!" I continued to laugh.

He frowned, apparently insulted, "I told you, I'm not a dark fay, but rogue."

That was what insulted him? I giggled. What typical villian's trope! I could easily see him being the type of villain who gives a long winded speech before killing the hero. This has to be a dream. It has to be since this can't happen in real life and dreams can't hurt you, right? I marched over to the dark fay, dodging Bodhi's attempt to stop me and I snatched his ax out his hands, holding it away from him. "Now answer me. Who. Are. You?" I stared him down. My arm shook with the weight of his weapon. Damn, the ax is heavy.

Bodhi cursed, "Are you crazy?"

I paused at that. Even dream Bodhi is calling me crazy? That's funny.

The dark–oh excuse me–rogue fay eyes widened with his brows raised. "Did you just–" He stood up, "–take my ax from me?" He chuckled darkly, "You're lucky it's me or," He walked over till his chest less than an inch away from mine as he stared me down, "You would've been dead."

"Step away from the dark fay." Bodhi said thinly.

My eyes rounded. A strong masculine smell that smelled of spice and earth, wafted from him as he as the corner of his mouth tugged. Warmth radiated from him as he waited. My heart raced with fear and my limbs turned to stone. Oh, fuck. This isn't a dream. What have I done? I stumbled back, dropping the ax to the ground with a thud and I stood behind Bodhi who hasn't let her guard down.

He shook his head after me with disappointment in his eyes. "Pity," He bent down to pick up his ax and dusted if off, he slid his ax to his back where a holster must be since a dark, leather strap sat across his broad chest. The rogue fay returned to the log to sit. He lounged back with his legs spread out and tilted his handsome face to the sun, soaking up the light with his eyes closed. "My name is Obsidian and you may use it." He sighed contentedly before he returned his attention to us. "I saved you, Red, because you are going to save me soon."

"I am?" I asked skeptically.

Obsidian beamed. "Yep. With your ability and In return, I'll protect you from the dark court."

Bodhi said cooly, "Sorry, but that job is taken."

He raised a brow, "You would've been dead had I not shown up."

Bodhi growled, "Wanna test that?" She stepped closer, challenging him.

"Bodhi," I warned, then I cut to him. "How do you know about my immunity?"

"Hmm," He twisted his lips, as if he forget how he learned such vital information. "Let's see... One day I was doing recon of the aquarium to find out why the dark fays came here and why in the hell they were capturing mers, breaking our treaty with them? It was hard to believe that they would throw their centuries worth of "peace" and yet, cast this glamour around." He scowled to where the glamour is. "But then you came along. A mere human, waltzing through the glamour untouched. In all my two hundred years, I've never seen anything like it. You bent the glamour around you. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a glitch at first–a one time occurrence. But you kept returning and kept bending the glamour, remaining untouched and keeping your memory attached it seems." He pushed his dreads from his face. "That kinda thing can drive a fay insane with curiosity. Thus, I did some research on you." He shrugged as if he didn't just admit his invasion of my privacy.

"You what?" I blinked.

Bodhi growled and stepped forward, but I grabbed her. "What did you find?" I asked. I was curious too; why did I have this ability? Maybe this mysterious rogue fay named Obsidian found the answers.

"Nothing," Obsidian sighed in defeat, "Absolutely nothing. You were born here and grew up here all you life. You get decent grades, not involved in sports and have several art awards–nothing out of the ordinary. I even went further and researched your parents. Nothing checked as well. Your parents are one hundred percent nongifted pair of humans." He stepped forward and stuck his nose to my curls and inhaled, then he withdrew. "You don't smell of a clover nor sidhe. You are truly an ordinary human with an extraordinary ability."

"Did you just sniff me?" I asked, baffled.

He laughed, "Out of all the things I told you, that shocked you?"

Bodhi, no longer held up her daggers. The knife gleamed at Bodhi's side; her hand was tight on the hilt. "Are you sure? I knew she was human when I sniffed her but I was hoping she would be mix or her mother is clover of some sort."

"Wha–" I stuttered. "When did you sniff me?"

"When you were asleep, of course." Bodhi snorted. "Duh,"

Obsidian covered his laugh with a cough.

"What the–" I stopped to sigh in defeat. It didn't matter. "You guys can smell if one is human or clover?"

"Yeah," Bodhi and Obsidian both answered. Bodhi frowned at that. Obsidian smiled and tapped his noses, "Sidhes' noses are far superior. Fays are particular better than mers."

"Do you wanna fight? 'Cause we can go, like, right now?" Bodhi asked pointedly.

Obsidian chuckled. "I am only teasing, you tiny mer."

"Watch it." Bodhi warned.

I pinched my lips from smiling.

"Do her parents carry a special scent?" He asked Bodhi.

She shook her head. "Nope, just as you said, her parents are ordinary as well."

Obsidian paces, "What are you, Red?" He muttered, "Not clover, not mer, not fay nor some sort of sidhe race." Finally, he stopped to turn with a grin. "But a mystery nonetheless. One that would be fun to solve."

"Wait." Bodhi said.

Obsidian paused. "Hm?"

"Say we agree to help you, you protect Red?"

"That's the deal."

"Wouldn't you expose yourself to the dark court? That's seems kind of redundant to make such deal for your freedom."

Bodhi was right. Why would Obsidian, who is trying to not be caught by the dark court, throw himself in the middle of the crossfire to protect a human girl and risk exposing himself? That's questionable.

"Then I need to make sure that no dark fays walk away from me alive." He shrugged, "Plus, they wouldn't know I'm rogue. I could keep my lack of mark cover and they would think I am still a dark fay, since I still have my wings and powers. I left the dark court a hundred years ago, I doubt anyone would remember me."

"Wings?" I marveled.

Obsidian's brow arched. "You didn't know?"

I shook my head, "No, I didn't."

Bodhi said, "Ah, I guess I sort of assumed you knew, that all fays have wings."

I glanced over his shoulders, "Where are they?"

"It's glamoured." He let out a sly smile, "You wanna see?"

Bodhi twisted her face in disgust, "Nobody wants a strip show."

Obsidian snorted. "And I wouldn't do it for free."

"I wouldn't be able to see it if it's glamoured." I said disappointedly.

"It's not at all like that," He said, "Fays wings are as tangible as their arms and legs, while we can hide them with glamorous but anyone can see them without it."

"Just as you can see mers' tails at the aquarium." Bodhi added.

"So you can fly?" My eyes widened.

"Of course, but it's not safe now. Normally, I could render myself invisible with my glamour, but with dark fays around, I wouldn't risk it."

Wings. Obsidian–all the fays at the aquarium–had wings. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. What wouldn't I give for an ability to fly and soar among the clouds, gazing down and escaping it all for a bit. To have wings is to be free. Now, I could see why he wanted to help me help him escape from here, away from the dark fays. He just wants to be free.

Bodhi raised her hand–one dagger was gone, perhaps she put it away–and spoke, "Wait, rewind, earlier you said you still had your power. What power?" Her eyes narrowed.

Obsidian's corner if his lips tugged. "A true soldier," He glanced at Bodhi's tattooed arms. "Well, I am able to absorb negative energy."

"Obsidian, like the stone." I gave in airy ha at the irony.

Obsidian blinked in surprise then he smiled broadly, "I didn't expect a human to know."

"Uh, am I missing something?" Bodhi looked between Obsidian and I.

I answered, "Humans believed that certain crystals have certain healing properties like; citrine stone would bring you wealth and the rose quartz would bring you love."

"And obsidian does what exactly?" Bodhi raised a brow.

I think back to one of my mom's collections of books. "Uh, something about relieving stress."

"Close, obsidians are able to ease an emotional trauma or stress that has been eating one for years and can bring you clarity once cleanse."

Bodhi asked, "You can do that?"

He nodded, "Yes, I can absorb it into me."

"But if you absorb, wouldn't you suffer it too?" I frowned.

He blinked, "Yes, I would." He tilted his head, "Don't fret. It's only temporary. I can get rid of it from me as well."

"Oh, I see." I relax at that. That sounded handy but awful though. It was an extraordinary ability, able to help someone rid their distress but then you become the suffree. I can't imagine living in the dark court with that kind of ability where suffering was probably everywhere. I shuddered in thought. No wonder he left. Obsidian was still watching me with unfathomable eyes. I shifted my weight. I wondered if he can get rid of my trauma... No, that's too selfish.

No one should suffer from my traumatic memory.

Bodhi put her last dagger into the back of her shorts–I wondered if she had a holster in there–and she spun to Obsidian. "Okay, we'll help but how else can you help us?"

"I can provide witty jokes and a good view?" He flashed a charming smile.

Bodhi tilted her hips, "That role has been taken as well. Try again."

I rolled my eyes, trying not to giggle.

"Ah..." He waggled his finger, "I have books."

"Books?" I perked.

Bodhi scoffed, "This ain't beauty and the beast."

"Did you just call me a beast?" He asked offended, "I am not a hideous beast."

I stepped between them. This was getting nowhere. I asked exasperated, "What do you mean by books?"

He glared at Bodhi, "As I was saying, I have books that I managed to grab from the dark court's archive when I left."

Bodhi arched a brow, "You mean stole?"

He sighed, "Yes, fine, stole."

Before Bodhi could rebut and before I throttle her, I interrupted, "What kind of books?"

"Books with information of the human world and such. I also have ancient human books that I've collected from around the world as well, anything that have to do with the sidhe's world. Maybe we can find some information of Red's ability and how to use it to get us out of here."

"Ok," I nodded, consenting to the idea. "Where is it?"

"At my place, we can go tomorrow. But first," He glanced at the pile of clothes and the long sword on the ground of dried blood and dirt. "I need to get rid of the evidence. We can't have them linked to us. You can meet me here tomorrow at the same time and I'll take you to my place."

Bodhi nodded, "Fine, meet you here tomorrow."

He grunted as he walked over to the pile to pick them the clothes and shoes. He swung the sword over his shoulders to insert in his holster, opposite from his ax and began walking to the darkness of the forest. He paused before he stepped into the shadow and looked over his shoulder, "Farewell, Tesifa." And he vanished into the woods.

Hope, he called me hope. I suppose it was because I was his last hope for his freedom.

I stumbled but caught my footing as Bodhi and I made our way down the hill. Once we made it to the park's path, I asked, "Did that just happen?"

Bodhi nodded, "Yep. We fought a dark fay that got beheaded by an ax and now a rogue fay is letting us borrow his library to help us."

I just remembered something. "And we forgot to test whether if I can get you through the glamour."

She groaned, "Dammit, you wanna–"

I shook my head, my fried nerves and achy limbs cried at such thought, "We're coming back tomorrow anyway. I need a long cold bath and an even longer nap." My chest twinged at such selfish sentence. But a part of me knew that I wouldn't have been able to pass Bodhi through. I couldn't even pass a cell phone through the glamour, muchless a whole person. I am useless right now based on how exhausted I was.

"A bath. I would kill for a cold bath right now." She dragged the back of her hand across her drenched forehead. "And a sandwich–no–that burger at the dinner with a chocolate milkshake."

I groaned as my stomach rumbled in excitement. "Yes. Let's do pickup."

Bodhi squealed, "Let's get out of he–" She stopped and I blinked at the girl who suddenly stepped in front of us from the woods.

Bodhi reached for her daggers.

The teenage girl had rich auburn hair that tangled down in waves and braids and freckles splattered across her nose. She stood directly on our path to our truck, wearing a loose fitting white dress that reached her knees. "Are you the human that picked up the trash?"

I blinked. She was not human, but she didn't look like a dark fay either but what do I know. "Y–yes. I did." And how did she know that it was picked up in the first place?

She smiled warmly, "Thank you, for cleaning my home. The elder wants to speak with you. Follow me." She walked off the path and toward the creek. I noted that her feet were bare, she wore no shoes.

I whispered, "What is she?"

"A dryad," Bodhi whispered back. "We should follow her. It's not respectable to refuse an elder."

"But the food–"

"I know." She patted my arms, "I know." She followed the auburn haired girl.

I dragged my feet and trailed after the bare footed dryad.

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