Kirog: Fire Lily, #3

By Judy Lunsford

Kirog is back! And Bezbell need rescuing, fast!
As Lily's life unravels, Bezbell's is about to get turned upside down.
Bezbell finds out the truth about herself and her parents. And what she finds shocks everyone.

Welcome to book 3 of the Fire Lily trilogy, where the Grand Seelie and Unseelie Courts are revealed, favorite characters come back, and there be dragons!
Join Lily and Bezbell back in the swamp in this fantastical, magical, and draconic conclusion to the Fire Lily fantasy trilogy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Judy Lunsford
• Release date: Oct 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393477693

Judy Lunsford

Born and raised in California, Judy now lives in Arizona with her husband and Giant Schnoodle. Judy writes with dyslexia and a chronic illness & is a breast cancer survivor. She writes mostly fantasy, but delves into suspense, horror, romance, and poetry. She has written books and short stories for all ages. You can find her books and short stories at your favorite online retailers.

Book preview

Chapter 1

D on’t worry, Bez. I won’t let you die.

The water rushed over my head. I had just enough time before being submerged to catch a deep breath and hold it. 

I feared it would be my last, no matter what my brother had just said.

Promises were made to be broken.

The water was cold, and my lower half was still trapped in the earth. The solid ground held me tight, trapping me in place under the rushing tide.

I couldn’t see in the murky water. Even though I knew the surface couldn’t be too far above me, I was blinded by the darkened swamp water.

I could hear a roar coming from whatever it was that had risen from the swamp.

Whatever it was had risen from the swamp.

Those words sounded so familiar for some reason. Important even.

I tried to remember when I heard them. Anything to distract myself from the realization that soon, my lungs would force me to take a breath. And when they did, it would only be water that I would suck into my lungs. 

I suddenly wondered if fairy lords could drown.

What magic could I summon to save myself?

I couldn’t think of anything useful.

Something hit me in the face.

I couldn’t see what it was, but I tried to bat it away. I didn’t want something forcing me to take a breath sooner than I had to.

Something hit me again.

My chest was starting to feel like it was going to explode. I was fighting the urge to take a breath.

I grabbed whatever it was and tried to pull it away from me. I thought it was just debris caught in the tide. But when I grabbed it, I could hear Shandoah’s voice.

Breathe, she said. Through the reed. Breathe.

I placed my mouth around the stick and let out my breath to see if the reed was clear. It was. I inhaled fresh air.

My chest relaxed and I no longer felt the crushing weight of stale air in my lungs. I continued to breathe through the reed and wondered what was happening in the swamp above me.

I couldn’t decide which I was angrier about. The fact that Lily had trapped me in the ground, or the fact that I was missing out on whatever was happening above me.

But neither one mattered.

All that mattered was that I could breathe.

Chapter 2

Kirog stood with swamp water dripping down his body. It took him a moment to get his bearings and clear his vision.

He stood twice as tall as he had before. He stopped for a brief moment to admire the view.

It had been a long time since he had seen the swamp.

His home. 

His family.

Arrose stood at his feet, still finishing her summoning spell. 

He could feel new magic coursing through his veins. Magic that he had never felt before.

Earth. Erdbeben.

Air. Zefier.

Fire. Kenna.

Water. Arrose.

And some sort of magic he couldn’t identify. Bezbell

He could hear them speaking to him. Whispering their magic into his ears. Although Bezbell, Kenna, and Arrose were much louder than his other old friends.

He had known them all. In one way or another.

And now he was imbued with their power.

Kirog flexed his muscles, which felt stiff and sore from lack of use.

He stretched his limbs and adjusted his eyes to the light. The first daylight he had seen in a while. He tried to remember how long. But time had never mattered to him.

He looked out across the swamp and saw Alastar, Shandoah, and a human boy desperately searching the water for something.

For someone.

Kirog? an amazed voice said.

He looked up to the source of the sound. A voice so familiar. So familiar.

Ragwort? his voice boomed across the swamp, causing waves in the water and knocking down some of the smaller trees near the water line.

Lily’s hands went to her ears. 

Too loud.

Is that you, Ragwort? he said, much more softly this time.

The child he had raised was hovering high in the air. Her face was filled with shock and recognition.

It’s me, she whispered.

He took a closer look at her.

What have you done? he asked. That magic, not yours.

Lily’s eyes filled with tears.

You’re home, she said.

But you’re not, he shook his head. You not my little Ragwort.

No, Kirog, she flew towards him. It is me. I’ve just-

Changed, he cut her off. You changed.

I’ve grown, she said.

You stole magic, Kirog said. Magic not yours.

Lily gasped and stared at him with wide eyes.

How can you-

I can see the dark magic, Kirog said. Ragwort is disappearing. Burning away to the fire Lily.

Lily stared down at Arrose who still stood at the troll’s feet.

Kirog followed her gaze and saw the water elemental at his feet.

Oh, hello, Arrose, Kirog said. You look the same.

What have you done to him? Lily yelled to Arrose.

I have resurrected him, Arrose said. With the help of the same elementals that created your power."

But why? How? Lily asked.

To stop you, Arrose said sadly. We knew that what you have become was a possibility. So, we banded together to create a new kind of elemental.

Another chaos elemental, Lily said.

No, Arrose said. You’re the only chaos elemental. And an incomplete one at that. He is a new creation. Made with no stolen magic. Only magic freely given.

But Zefier, she knew your name, Lily narrowed her eyes at Arrose.

The water elemental smiled. And I knew hers.

And the earth elemental?

She stopped by to see me before she continued on her way to the Unseelie Court, where I see that you stole her magic from her as well, Arrose said.

Killed her, Kirog shook his head sadly. My Ragwort dead.

I’m not dead! Lily screamed.

Kirog looked up at her, squinting into her black eyes.

No, no Ragwort left, he shook his head again. Only fire Lily.

Lily was fighting back tears. She felt like her whole world was collapsing around her.

No, Kirog, it’s still me, she said, choking back a sob.

Kirog just looked at her sadly.

Looks like Ragwort, under the stolen magic, he said. But no more.

Lily stared at Kirog for a moment, tears streaming down her face, and then she screamed and took off into the sky, disappearing into the clouds.

Chapter 3

Icontinued to breathe through the reed that Shandoah had given me, but she wasn’t talking to me anymore. 

Obviously, her attention was somewhere else.

It seemed like forever before the water started to rush back past me, receding back to the swamp once again. 

It felt like the current should have been strong enough to pull me loose from the earth, but it wasn’t. It just pulled me forward, stretching my body with the tide.

When the water was low enough to expose my head, Shandoah pulled her hand away. I watched through the water dripping down my face as the dryad reformed her finger back to normal. 

I had been breathing through her hand. She had made one of her fingers into a reed for me to breathe through. 

I suddenly had a new appreciation for what wonderful creatures dryads were. And the fact that I owed this one my life.

Alastar was standing in the current and when it was low enough, he crouched down beside me and pushed my wet hair from my face.

Are you alright? he asked.

I smiled at him, I have never been so happy to see you in all my life.

Same here, sis, he smiled back. "Same here.

I looked at the dryad, Thank you.

She smiled at me, Sorry we couldn’t come up with something better.

That was fine, I said. I owe you my life.

You owe me nothing, Shandoah said. Friends don’t owe one another for rescues. Besides, it was Robert’s idea.

I looked at the human boy, who smiled sheepishly and looked at the ground. 

Thank you, I said to him.

Anytime, he grinned.

Arrose appeared in front of me and looked down at my predicament.

Are you alright? she asked.

Fine, thanks to Shandoah, I said. But I’d be better if I wasn’t stuck in the mud.

Arrose laughed with relief.

How do we get her out? Robert asked.

Arrose just turned and looked behind her.

Kirog towered behind Arrose and was watching something in the sky to the south.

He looked back at us sadly and shook his head.

She is hurting, Kirog said. I can’t help.

Not now anyway, Arrose said to him. But we have someone here you can help.

Kirog looked down at me, stuck in the mud, and smiled.

How’d you do that? he asked me, putting his hands on his hips.

I looked at Arrose before hesitantly saying, Lily.

Kirog shook his head and started walking towards me. As he approached, he got smaller.

Or at least as small as he used to be. Ten feet is still pretty big compared to the rest of the creatures in the swamp.

When he got to me, he was normal sized for a troll. He looked down at me and shook his head again.

Give me hands, he reached out to me.

I reached out to the troll and he gently pulled me out of the ground.

He stared at me for a long moment as I regained my footing in the mud.

You look different too, he stared at me. 

I nodded, I was glamoured, like Lily was.

But you not use stolen magic, he said. He squinted at me harder. You look good.

Thanks? I said. 

Very muddy, he laughed. But you friend.

Thank you, Kirog, I said.

Chapter 4

Lily headed back to the Unseelie Court. Tears ran down her face as she went.

Kirog was back.

She couldn’t believe it, even when she had seen him with her own eyes. She still couldn’t believe it.

But that wasn’t what she was upset about.

It was the worst thing Lily could ever imagine.

He was disappointed with her.

She was a murderer.

She had stolen magic.

She wasn’t his Ragwort anymore.

Lily dried her eyes and went into the Unseelie Underground. She headed straight for her chambers.

When she got there, she saw that her servants had been busy. New furniture had been moved in to replace the old purple abominations from the wood elf that had been Queen before Zefier. 

She threw herself down on a new leather couch and let the tears flow down her cheeks.

Her sorrow grew into rage as she cried.

She thought of her friends and her parents. She thought about the fact that she had just killed Syr. Moments before Kirog had risen. She had taken yet another life.

She thought then about Bezbell, trapped in the ground under the water. She had no idea if she was still alive.

If her sister was still alive.

Lily’s head spun with all of the new information, she felt weak. As if somehow Kirog had drained her energy. 

If Bezbell was dead, who was now the Seelie Queen? Lily wondered.

And if Bezbell was dead, it wasn’t entirely her fault, was it? 

Or would it be considered another murder?

For a brief moment, Lily thought that if her sister was dead, and no one claimed her magic, it would be such a waste.

She shook her head to get that thought out of her brain.

How much had her father messed with her head?

Lily felt the agony in her chest rise.

How could she think of a death as lost magic instead of a lost life?

She sat up and looked in the mirror that one of the fae creatures had hung on the wall in her chambers. 

The black eyes that stared back at her caught her breath in her throat. She hadn’t seen herself this way before.

How much of her own life had she lost?

Chapter 5

W hat do we do now? Alastar asked.

Arrose looked over at Kirog, who was watching a butterfly flit over his head. Natash was sitting on his shoulder, whispering in his ear. The troll laughed softly as she spoke, nodding his head occasionally and shaking his head at other times.

Well, I’m sure Natash is getting Kirog all caught up, Arrose said. But we have a problem with Lily.

Big time, Robert said. How can we save her?

I sighed, We can’t always save everyone.

That’s no way to think, Robert said.

Unfortunately, she may be right, Arrose said. Lily has willfully taken lives. That is a hard thing to come back from.

But it’s possible, right? Robert asked. Bezbell did.

Technically, I didn’t kill anyone, I said. I just asked someone else to do it.

Robert stared at me for a moment before continuing.

But there must be something we can do, Robert insisted. Can’t one of you heal her somehow?

That would require her cooperation, Alastar said. Which I don’t think we will get easily.

I also don’t know to what extent her father has messed with her mind, Arrose said. Fairy lord magic to the mind and memories is a difficult thing to cure. Sometimes, it just can’t be done.

So, she’s just messed up for good? Robert was getting visibly upset. And we just leave her that way?

No, Alastar said. We can’t leave her that way. Or she’ll come back and kill us all.

Robert looked around the group, at all of our downcast faces.

No, Robert said. We have to figure something out.

He looked at me helplessly, We have to save her. 

I stared at him. The determination in his eyes matched the sorrow on his face. But he was the one fighting for Lily. Maybe humans were good at some things. Robert was good at being loyal to his friends. 

I realized in that moment; Robert had something he could teach us all. Never to quit.

I stood up and faced the group.

We can figure this out, I said. We can save Lily.

How? Alastar asked.

I don’t know, I shook my head. I looked at Robert, But we’ll figure something out.

Like what? Shandoah asked, starting to sound eager.

Like, I paused, searching my brain for any possible solution. Fairy lords.

Excuse me? Alastar said.

Fairy lords, I brightened. We can go back to the Seelie Court and ask Mother’s friends about fairy lord magic. If anyone would know how to fix mind spells, it would be them.

If they will tell us anything, Alastar said.

They have to tell me, I said. I’m their Queen.

Chapter 6

Alastar and I went alone to the Seelie Court.

Robert wanted to come, but the only way we could convince him that it wasn't a good idea for a human to encroach on the fae Court was for Shandoah and Natash to stay behind with him.

He finally agreed when Arrose introduced Kirog to Robert formally, and the troll took a liking to the boy.

That left Alastar and me alone to deal with Mother. And made it so we weren’t bringing any potential hostages with us.

I may be the Seelie Queen, but that doesn’t mean that fae don’t occasionally take matters into their own hands. Especially Mother.

We entered the garden, and this time, the flowers all bowed to me as I approached the Court. I ignored them. If I weren’t Queen, that would be a dangerous thing to do, but it was the one advantage I enjoyed as Queen. The flowers had never treated me well.

We went inside and as everyone caught sight of me, they stopped what they were doing and bowed as I passed.

I would never get used to that. It was creepy to have fae kneel or bow as I walked by.

Alastar chuckled slightly, noticing my discomfort.

I approached the throne, and where Mother and Alastar’s father were standing near it.

Mother, I greeted her, as she curtseyed to me.

Your Majesty, she smirked.

I sighed.

Alastar gave me a nudge.

I would like to speak to your friends,