Fairy Wars: Spies Among Us: Fairy Wars

By L.L. Bower

Calen's adventures continue with his escape from prison and his recapture by Galdo, the evil sorcerer. After his rescue, more dark creatures pursue him, and he loses a close friend along the way. He embarks on a periilous journey through a dead and dark forest to the fairy king's village. He's then sent on a dangerous quest by the fairy king that could bring lasting peace to Fairyland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: L.L. Bower
• Release date: Mar 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781537684000

L.L. Bower

After two careers, one in business and one in academia, Laurel retired from teaching college literature, humanities and writing in 2015 to pursue her lifelong passion for writing. While she's been published in other genres, fantasy has always been her favorite. She wanted to write the kind of fantasy she likes to read, with twists and turns and lots of quirky, mythological characters and amazing magic. Fairy Wars: The First Battles (A Prequel) joins the Fairy Wars trilogy (Book 1: The Dark Ones, Book 2: Spies Among Us and Book 3: Fairy Wars: The Final Battles). L.L. Bower has two grown children and four grandchildren. She and her husband Steve live in Meridian, Idaho with a cinnamon miniature named Winnie the “poo”dle.

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Dedication

To my wonderful husband, Steve, a marvelous proofreader, my best friend, my co-journeyer through life for 46 years now, and my true love.

Prologue

I n the more than eighty years I’ve lived and the numerous battles I’ve led, I’ve learned that war accomplishes very little. When one side finally declares a victory, the cessation of fighting only brings a brief lull between battles, for the root cause of the conflict—hatred—is never resolved. Still, we fight to deter evil in all its forms and maintain our liberty and principles. I’ve often wished for another way to bring peace to Fairyland.

General Pholas Eneas, Centaurian Commander of NextGen, leader of the Fairyland Centaur Armed Forces, and son of Lionel

Synopsis of Book 1 – Fairy Wars: The Dark Ones

Dear Readers: If you’ve read the first book, feel free to skip to the preface.

In Book One, Calen Bartholomew Ambrose, a young, solitary clock repairman, accidentally stepped on a fairy prince and was given a rare opportunity to view a world invisible to humans—Fairyland. As a result, he learned about numinals, or supernatural creatures, that inhabit the woods of Mansentia, where he resides.

He met dozens of delightful light creatures there, including brownies, fairies, gnomes, pixies and many others. Along the way, he also encountered the dark enemies of these benevolent Fairyland residents—like trolls, ogres and wraith-like bogles. For centuries, these dark beings have sought to conquer their mystical world by dominating and even killing the beings that walk in the light.

When Calen (pronounced with a long A) stumbled over the royal fairy, he was drawn into this conflict as a champion. According to the light ones of Fairyland, this designation is pre-ordained by their deity (the Creator) and bestowed upon those the Creator deems worthy. Along with this title, Calen was granted enhanced senses and the ability to heal quickly from almost any wound.

The only weapon that can kill Calen must be made of pure silver and must be plunged into his heart. After an unsuccessful attack by an ogre with a silver dagger, Calen decided to adopt a dog as added protection to warn him of intruders. In town one day, he came upon a strange little man named Zamir who was selling a German shepherd puppy named Burt, who Calen bought and took home.

To fulfill his role as champion, Calen then began combat training with two famous centaur warriors, Pholas and Chearon. During his training, he discovered the Creator had gifted him with the ability to control the weather, and the ground gnomes gifted him with two remarkable swords, which he named Noblesse and Nobliege.

Because the dark ones wanted to attack Calen in his weaker, untrained state, he was fervently sought after and nearly killed on several occasions by members of the dark kingdom. For protection and to hide his identity, he was changed into a centaur and renamed Magnus by Crisa, a kind and powerful sorceress. She could not only cast spells, but could also talk to animals, transform into an animal or numinal (magical being) and read minds. One spell she cast changed Burt into a formidable wolf, now named Brutus, to further guard Calen’s new identity as a centaur.

After Calen became a centaur (half human/half horse), he and Brutus went to live in the centaur village of Equis. Concurrently, Crisa, who lived nearby, taught him how to control his supernatural weather abilities.

With the aid of his new powers, Calen joined the centaurs as they confronted and killed hundreds of half-human harpy children. These half-harpies had invaded the human realm and stolen and mutated humans’ cats, as well as stealing and fouling Fairyland’s food production. They relocated the immortal harpy mothers of these hybrids to a distant island. But Calen was overcome with remorse, when he saw the hundreds of dead half-harpies on the battlefield, and wondered if a peaceful solution to Fairyland’s age-old conflict could be found.

After Equis’s annual centaur games (similar to our Olympics) where Calen placed second, an evil sorcerer and leader of the dark forces named Galdo, together with his fleet of dragons, attacked the village, searching for Calen. Galdo is the son of a very powerful wizard, Delbo, who was killed by a previous human champion, Simean. (As a side note—when Delbo suspected his end was near, he cast a prophetic spell that would banish his killer, in this case Simean, to limbo, aka the Realm of Shadows, after the wizard’s death.)

Galdo’s dragons were of five tribes, red, blue, black, purple and green, each tribe with its own specific deadly weapon. Red dragons breathe fire; blue dragons freeze things; black dragons shoot goo that blackens and withers whatever it touches, purple dragons zap objects with lightning, and green dragons spit acidic slime.

During Galdo’s invasion, the Creator told Calen to hide, while Pholas, the centaurian commander, told Galdo that Calen had left Fairyland because he didn’t have what it took to be a human champion. Even though Pholas convinced Galdo of Calen’s exit, the dragons destroyed much of the village, and the sorcerer killed the winner of the centaur games, Horatio. As a result, Calen became all the more determined to defeat Galdo and stop the continuing bloodshed.

While living in Equis, Calen learned that the dark side’s attacks were becoming more concentrated, and that oftentimes the light ones didn’t know how to fight back. He decided to travel through the kingdom and train these gentle beings to battle the dark ones.

As he headed to Crisa’s cottage to seek her aid in this quest, he happened upon a bugbear, a large dark creature named Grog. This bugbear was caught in a bear trap and would have died at the hands of other predators, if Calen hadn’t rescued him. By bugbear law, Grog was now obligated to become Calen’s bodyguard. Because Grog was a dark creature, Calen was wary of the bugbear’s sincerity. Even so, he allowed Grog to accompany him to Crisa’s house because the bugbear claimed his own kind would kill him if he didn’t fulfill their laws.

To safeguard Calen and Grog from Galdo during their training travels, Crisa changed Calen back into a human and concocted two potions. One potion made Calen look like an aged gnome to light creatures and a large bugbear to any dark ones. The other potion caused Grog to appear as a gnome boy to beings of light and his imposing bugbear self to the dark side.

Using an invisibility spell conjured by Crisa and under cover of night, Calen and Grog taught their fighting techniques and dark battle strategies, which Grog understood, throughout the kingdom. Along the way, Calen stole a dragon’s egg and hatched a beautiful green dragonette he named Jade.

Upon completion of the training, the light ones planned an all-out attack on the dark ones, some of whom Calen believed were redeemable. Hoping to negotiate with the dark side’s leaders to avoid bloodshed, he returned to Crisa’s house the day before the battle where he was captured by Galdo’s henchmen and thrown into an underground dungeon. Calen soon discovered that he was in the company of many other light creatures in that prison, all of whom were being used for evil, dark experiments.

Preface—Brutus’s (the Wolf’s) Story

It wasn’t by chance that Zamir, my supposed former owner, and I stood on a street corner that day in the village of Lambert, when Calen came shopping for a dog. By word of the head of the fairies, King Aubrey, Prince Enlil’s father and Zamir’s sovereign, the Creator commissioned me to become Calen’s protector. There I sat, wagging my tail and trying my best to look cute. I was sure to lick Calen’s cheek with my wet tongue to seal the deal. I can be very persuasive when I want to.

You see, Zamir is actually a powerful magician. He’s not as powerful as the sorceress Crisa, who can shapeshift and communicate telepathically with animals, but he’s mighty nonetheless. That day he made himself appear old and feeble and made me look like a German shepherd puppy, though that’s not my true form.

Calen may have thought himself lucky to find a puppy, right when he needed a dog for protection against the dark ones. If you know the Creator though, you know there are no coincidences, only carefully laid plans.

As you may have guessed, I’m not just doggone cute. I’m also a ferocious guardian. I told Crisa of my true identity when she first read my mind. Her response? Your secret’s safe with me.

Okay, so are you ready to hear my secret? Drum roll, please. Da—da—da, dat—da. I’m a lycanthrope or, as you may know my kind, a werewolf. That’s right, both human and animal, but Calen doesn’t know that.

Unlike the rest of Fairyland, my race is visible to humans, even without the aid of the Omniweed (a magical plant that enables humans to see Fairyland creatures). Many werewolf stories are told in your world. Those tales, I must say, are exaggerated. Silver’s not lethal to us, and a regular old bullet will kill us, just like it’ll kill you.

And we don’t change with the full moon into brutish, uncontrollable beasts. Instead we transform from wolves to humans and back again with a little concentration. We’re as gentle as they come to anyone with a kind heart. Be assured, however, I’ll use the full lethality of my teeth and claws to stop anyone who tries to harm Calen.

Because Calen and I were chased by goblins who saw my puppy form and to protect Calen’s new identity as a centaur, Crisa pretended to change me into a wolf, now known as Brutus. Actually, all she did was wave her wand and remove Zamir’s illusionary puppy spell.

Since I’m able to sniff out darkness in all its forms, I’ve protected Calen all along, without his knowledge. Unfortunately, I haven’t always been able to fulfill my duties, like the time Calen ordered me out of his house during a basilisk attack, and the time he told me to stay outside Crisa’s ransacked cottage. Being the good dog I am in canine form, I have to obey my master.

Being a rebel at heart, however, I wriggled out of my leash to follow Calen several times in his earlier Fairyland adventures. I shadowed him in hooded human form into Lambert, when he purchased training supplies.

Later, I escaped to be by his side when Galdo, that evil and powerful sorcerer, appeared in Equis, the centaur village, with his dragons. Unknown to Calen, I’ve also protected him from bogle attacks in his training journeys across the kingdom.

A bogle is an extremely dark creature, formed when a fairy commits a heinous act, like killing an innocent. That fairy then becomes a larger, evil wraith, doomed to wander the earth as neither alive nor dead. A bogle has a formidable skill set—no corporeal form, a scythe that can cut through bone and the speed of a cheetah.

To keep bogles from taking over the world, the Creator gave werewolves like me the power to kill bogles. And we’re the only numinals (or magical beings) that can. The Creator also made our barks sound like high-pitched, pain-filled squeals to their ears. I love to sink my teeth into those darklings, but I have to be speedy to do it.

Okay, so now you’re thinking, if I’m such a good bodyguard with the power to kill bogles, why didn’t I prevent Calen’s capture by Galdo?

The day of his capture we traveled to Equis and then returned to Crisa’s cottage where he commanded me to remain outside her gaping front door while he went in to investigate. Being the good dog I am, at least from Calen’s perspective, I obeyed. I thought the dark ones were long gone, as I didn’t smell them nearby, although there was a faint, lingering stench of darkness.

After about ten minutes, I decided to follow him and found Crisa’s normally immaculate cottage a disaster. I tried to avoid the broken glass from her shattered chandelier, but glass was everywhere, and it cut my pads.

I searched from ruined room to ruined room until I discovered an escape tunnel in the basement. I crept through it and ended up in her back yard, but didn’t see either Crisa or Calen. The recent scent of dark creatures was stronger there, but I couldn’t tell where they’d gone because I couldn’t find any footprints. I thought perhaps dragons had swept my friends away. I became frantic, certain that something terrible had happened to them. For hours I searched the surrounding area for clues until, exhausted, I had to give up.

Obviously I’m not the terrific protector the Creator thought I would be. The Creator tells me, however, he has a purpose for Calen’s capture, which makes me feel a little better.

Yet, I feel like I’ve failed both the Creator and Calen. I must make up for my blunder and, using all my wolfish senses, find Calen as soon as possible.

Chapter 1 – Calen’s Despair

I’m at the mouth of a dragon lair, Noblesse in hand and Jade, my dragon, beside me. She’s communicating telepathically with the other dragons, but, despite her message of peace, they snort and stomp their feet.

When they rush forward, she sidles in front of me to shield me. The other dragons hurl their arsenals of acid, slime, cold, fire and lightning at her. She spits green acid at them, while I look away, not willing to see what they’ve done to my dragon. Some human champion I am.

I hear a scream and wake up, my heart racing. Despite the frigidity of my cell, I’m saturated with sweat. As the echo fades away, I realize the scream has emanated from my parched throat.

The dream seemed so real. I once read, if you die in a dream, you die in real life, which is probably an urban legend. Even so, I feel like I’ve cheated death. My heart races and I gasp for breath.

I look around and realize nothing’s changed. I’m still underground in a dark twelve-by-twelve-foot prison cell with a tiny barred window, a piss pot, a pile of moldy straw to sleep on, and a rusty water pipe that drains into one corner, its continual drip, drip, drip reminding me of the ticking clocks I’ve repaired. The only other sounds, from time to time, are the distant screams of victims from whatever wicked experiments Galdo has devised.

For food each day, I receive a crust of stale bread, a mealy, wormy apple and unsatisfying sips of the metallic-tasting water. The odors of my prison, a mixture of mold, urine and excrement, haven’t changed either. I wish I could turn off my fairy-enhanced sense of smell in here.

By the cycles of what little daylight filters into my small barred window, at least three weeks have passed since my capture. I’ve given up on being rescued by my friends. This underground dungeon is so well hidden and so well guarded by dragons that, even if my friends could find me, they’d probably die trying to help me.

I’ve talked to the Creator often, and I know he hears me. But so far, no response.

So, in the last week, loneliness has shadowed my every breath. I miss Crisa, Grog, Brutus, Jade and my fishing buddy Gambole, my last link to the human world. I’ll bet he wonders what’s happened to me, why my manufactured excuse of attending a two-week horologists’ convention (I never told him where) has extended to several months, during which I completed my champion’s training and traveled through Fairyland.

If he tried to get in touch with me, he couldn’t. My phone was demolished when the dark ones ransacked my home. If he’s driven to my house, he probably thinks a storm or wild animals were responsible for the destruction. He certainly wouldn’t believe that evil, supernatural beings took great pleasure in demolishing it.

And, because Fairyland has no phones, I can’t call him. Even if I could, what would I tell him? How would I explain my extended neglect of my friend or my absence in such a way that he wouldn’t think me crazy?

My only neighbors in this prison, three ground gnomes—Pycliffe, Winston and Harmin—were taken away one by one a few days ago. Only Winston has returned.

After Winston rests from what I assume was an ordeal, he leans close to the bars that separate our cells and quietly calls me over. I feel his warm breath, even though it’s so dark I can barely see his features. He stares at me for a moment before seizing my arm and whispering, so the guards won’t hear us, It was awful. I was led into a strange-smelling bright room and strapped to a metal table. A needle was shoved into my arm. That’s when I lost consciousness. When I woke, I was in tremendous pain, like my muscles were on fire.

Winston shivers, but I’m not sure if it’s because of our damp surroundings or because of his recollection. I think Galdo plans to experiment on me again.

I lean close to him and murmur, What makes you think that?

Because he said the experiments on me were unsuccessful, whatever that means. He asked questions after the experiments like, ‘How do you manifest your power? And how do you use it?’

Did he tell you what the purpose is of those experiments?

Water drips behind me before he answers. He didn’t say. Then he adds, But, when the sorcerer was out of the room, one goblin lab attendant told another that, despite all the deaths, they’ve harnessed the leprechaun’s teleportation ability and the pixies’ sharp eyesight and hand-eye coordination. Galdo must be extracting numinal power from each light race, and I think it’s only a matter of time before he learns how to steal them all.

I gasp.

I heard the goblins say (he draws out each word) he’s, saving, you, for, last. He takes a deep breath and then coughs. He desires your unique weather-controlling power above all others, once he’s perfected the process.

I grip the bars. Do you think your powers are still intact?

As far as I know. I still can’t burrow through this lava beneath our cells, due to whatever spell Galdo has cast over this place. If the floor is thick, I’d need a power drill anyway.

I can’t use my power here either. I sigh and lean closer, trying to peer into his eyes. Do you know what happened to your friends, Pycliffe and Harmin?

I don’t. Winston inhales deeply. I never saw them. I think there were other torture chambers besides mine because I heard muffled screams and then silence. It’s a blessing I don’t remember anything else.

From the metal creaking, I can tell he rests his head on the cell bars. Then he sobs. I fear the worst. If my friends aren’t back here soon, they’re either dead or near death. I was so weak the guards had to carry me here.

How come they let you live? I ask, suspicious of why Winston was brought back, while the others weren’t.

He swallows hard. That’s a good question, and I don’t have an answer. I wish I’d died along with them.

I’m sorry.

Me too.

How do you know they died?

I assume so, since they didn’t return with me. A moment of silence passes before he asks, Do you think your friends will rescue you?

I don’t think so. How would they find me?

I still hope someone rescues us, but I wouldn’t want them attacked by Galdo or his dragons. He’s extremely powerful and vicious.

"Not as powerful as Crisa. And if I have anything to say about it, he will answer for the pain and suffering he’s caused." I pound my fist into the bars, which must cause Winston to move back because I no longer feel his warm breath.

Do you think you can defeat Galdo? He sounds doubtful.

With the Creator’s help, I’d bet money on it. Of course, I have to escape first. Then I plan to lead the light ones’ army.

Winston leans in closer again. As wan sunlight peeks through my cell window, his bulbous gnomish nose almost touches my face. There’s an army? Made of more than ground gnomes, fairies and centaurs?

Yes, and a well-trained one at that.

He exhales, and his breath smells sweet, which surprises me. He continues, Last I heard, most of the light ones didn’t want to be involved. They’ve always been pacifists.

Yes, many were reluctant, until they witnessed Galdo’s tyranny and cruelty first-hand. And now, all the tribes have been trained to fight.

By whom?

By me, and a sympathetic and powerful dark creature who’s well versed in dark fighting techniques. Fairyland’s light army plans to use the full force of their numinal abilities against the dark ones. I believe Galdo won’t be able to stand against a united front.

"Who is this dark one who helped you?" Winston wraps the cell bars with his gnarled fingers.

I pull back. I don’t trust Winston enough to tell him about Grog, my bugbear friend. I still wonder why his friends didn’t return, yet he was spared. Shhh, the guards are coming.

The minotaur guards taunt and torture me every day. Imposing dark creatures, they have large horns that could gore someone to death, bronze rings in their wide, black noses, cloven hooves and the upright stance of a man. They tower several feet above me.

This morning, two of them enter my cell. One carries a stun rod, which they’ve used on me before. Technologically, Fairyland is behind the human world. There are no computers or cell phones here, but this stun rod is an exception. It looks like a cattle prod from the human world. I wonder if Galdo bought these electric shock weapons from somewhere, or if he designed his own by imbuing metal rods with magic.

The champion in me stands up with my fists in front of my face, ready to do battle, even though I know such effort is useless. I steel myself for whatever brutality they have in store for me today.

One of them pokes my ribs with the rod before I can get a punch in. As soon as the paralyzing pulse hits me, my muscles seize. I jerk backwards and collapse onto the dirt-covered stone floor, unable to defend myself.

One of them snickers.

The second minotaur jeers in a bass voice, Galdo will peel your skin like a grape, then rip out your organs, one by one. While I find the minotaur’s comments feasible, they’re strangely amusing. If my lips could move, I’d retort, I’d like to see him try. In this helpless situation, I really should give up the bravado.

While all light creatures learn English, dark creatures don’t bother because humans aren’t considered worth the effort. I’m surprised these dark ones speak English, but I’ll bet it’s a job requirement for guarding light creatures.

After repeated shocks, the last comments are, Take that, you human scum, and You aren’t so tough now, before I black out.

€  €  €

Iawake to an empty cell. Time has passed because my cell is brighter, which means the sun is higher.

Each time the guards enter my cell, I’m surprised they don’t kill me, since I’m at their mercy. Of course, they’d have to pierce my heart with a silver weapon to be successful. But I’m guessing they’re under orders not to do any permanent damage, as it sounds like Galdo has special plans for me.

While I was unconscious, Winston was apparently dragged out of his cell again because, when I call to him, he doesn’t answer. I have little hope he’ll return this time.

€  €  €

Late that night, crickets chirp outside my cell window, and I feel abandoned as I lie on my straw pile and pray. I’ve been trying to get the Creator to talk to me but haven’t heard from him, which I don’t understand because his magic is so much mightier than Galdo’s.

A small dark figure approaches my cell door with a lantern. He raises the lantern, so I can see his face.

I’m shocked to see a goblin in a white lab coat standing before me. I wonder how he got past the guards. He pinches his nose. Evidently, he caught a whiff of the stink down here.

I remember encountering a goblin pack in the forest with Pholas, and this one looks no different, except he appears unarmed. Like the ones I met before, he’s the size of a small child, only much larger than the fairy he once was before he turned dark. His face is sickly-green, like he’s molding from the inside. His ears point downward instead of up like a fairy’s, but his black eyes don’t project the hatred I saw in the eyes of those forest goblins.

I move toward the bars. Now here’s an opponent I can take on, except he stays well out of my reach. What comes out of his mouth next shocks me and dispels all thoughts of attack.

Good evening, Sir Calen. His nasal whisper is barely audible above the chirps of the crickets. Crisa sends her best regards.

I whisper back, What? What did you say? And how do you know English? Is this another trick? How’d you get in here?

The goblin clears his throat. So many questions. Quite a few goblins know English. We were once fairies, you know. And Galdo doesn’t know that the guards abandon their posts after the prisoners go to sleep. They play cards and gamble at this time of night in another part of the caves. Nobody is watching the cells right now.

The goblin elevates his posture. I am Loudon, son of Mordon, and I work for Galdo in his lab. A hummingbird messenger has told me your friends are on their way.

I shake my head and cry, No, no, no! They shouldn’t come here. It’s too dangerous.

Silence, Loudon cautions. He looks behind him for a moment and cocks an ear. When he turns around, he chides, The guards are still close enough to hear, if you shout.

I lower my voice. Sorry, but with the magic around this place and the dragons outside, I’m afraid they’ll be slaughtered.

Loudon tsks with his tongue. Perhaps you don’t know her Highness as well as you think. I believe even Galdo’s magic can’t stand up to Crisa.

But you’re a dark creature who does Galdo’s bidding. How can I trust what you say?

Loudon halfheartedly kicks at a rat as it scurries past his feet. I only appear to work for Galdo. I’m not dark at heart anymore. He chuckles. I’m what some might call a ‘double agent.’

Why did you join Galdo’s side in the first place? I ask, still skeptical.

Years ago, I thought Galdo would bring peace to Fairyland, and I joined his ranks by ... He clears his throat again. I’m too ashamed to tell you how I turned dark. He pauses. But lately, Galdo has revealed his true character, and I realize what a fool I’ve been.

Loudon’s arm must be getting tired because he lowers his lantern a little, and his shadow elongates. And I’m not the only one who’s changed his thinking. Many of us don’t expect Galdo’s benevolence to his comrades to last, once he’s obtained absolute power. I’ve heard stories of his cruelty toward us, his allies. He’s malicious and not to be trusted.

There are more of you? I scratch my head.

Oh, yes. Loudon must hear a sound because he turns and looks behind him. We spies are everywhere, some within this dungeon, and Galdo has no clue. We’ve been meeting and planning for months. When the light ones initiate their attack, we’ll fight against Galdo from within his ranks. Some of the dragons will join us too.

I shake my head. I’ve heard nothing about any of this.

He leans forward. We’ve been very careful.

Speaking of which, the light ones planned to attack a dark camp right before I was captured. Do you know anything about that?

When you disappeared, the attack was abandoned. The dark warriors have since dispersed, as if they’ve developed another agenda.

I think a moment and then shake my head. But you’re mistaken about the dragons. They try to burn and slime me every time I look outside my window.

I hear a smile in Loudon’s voice. Their fierceness is all an act. Galdo says you must not be harmed.

I rub my beard and contemplate what Loudon has just said, as I realize the crickets have grown silent. Water drips in the background. Then why do the guards ...? I don’t finish my sentence because we both hear a sound. Loudon turns his head, and his lantern quivers, causing his shadow to dance.

I have to hurry. The guards may return at any moment. But I can’t leave without giving you this. Loudon sets the lantern on the ground, aims his ears behind him to listen and then takes a slow step forward. He reaches behind his back and retrieves something shiny from his waistband.

When the lantern’s light glints off it, I jump back. I recognize what he’s holding—a sword.

He places the sword on the prison floor and kicks it under the cell door toward me. It rattles along the stone. I move forward and grasp the cold metal handle.

Loudon backs away.

I recognize the feel of my faithful sword Noblesse, a custom weapon made by the ground gnomes, inscribed with my name in Gaelic and imbued with magic. I caress her metal and test the sharpness of her blade, which draws blood on my finger.

If the magic in Noblesse were active right now, the moon on her hilt would glow to signal night, while the sun on the hilt’s other side would remain dark until dawn. The magic handle’s other intricate, three-dimensional designs, including winding vines, fairies and flowers, would also awaken with the new day.

Because of Galdo’s magic dampening over our cells, Noblesse doesn’t hum with her normal enchanted energy, but she’s still a deadly sharp sword. Even without my armor and helmet, she’ll be enough.

Loudon looks down at the ground and picks up his lantern. I’m sorry I couldn’t find your other sword. I heard about it from some guards who bragged how the champion couldn’t defend himself anymore because both of his swords were hidden in the lab.

Hesitant to believe him, I ask, What was that last thing you said? as I lean up against the bars of my cell. I didn’t quite hear you.

He puts one hand on his hip. I’m not falling for that. I’m not coming any closer. He sighs as he says, "You still don’t trust me, but please believe I risked my life to bring you that sword. I had to search the lab when no one was around.

I found it in a metal box behind some cardboard containers and hid it in my quarters until I could bring it to you. He darts a look behind him like someone is waiting to jump at him from the shadows. So far, no one has discovered it missing.

I bow my head in respect. Thank you, Loudon. I’m forever in your debt, I say as I move to the rear of my cell and slide the sword under the scratchy straw pile on which I sleep.

Don’t mention it. Just win this war, and we’ll call it even.

I walk back to Loudon. I’ll do my best.

He grins, and his teeth gleam by lamplight. I’m startled because this is the first time I’ve seen a dark creature genuinely smile, not sneer.

Loudon rubs his nose and shoots another furtive look