10. Arim Guardian of Storm

First Aerolus disappeared. Now Cadmus was missing.

The bar where Cadmus worked, Outpour, had yielded no answers except the possibility I might see Lexa. I… didn't want that. So I sought the one other person I had under suspicion.

Trudy Warner stared at me from her doorway, but she was wrong.

I just knew the woman had played some part in my nephews' disappearances. Today, something about the woman felt off. She gave me no hint of the desire she'd professed yesterday, and she didn't act timid at all. Instead, today Dr. Trudy Warner was all icy bitchiness.

That faint glow around her said it all.

I didn't think she'd been shining the last time I'd seen her. But now I couldn't be sure of anything. If the Aellei were involved, I might have met with an imposter yesterday, one that at least had the sense to mask herself better than she was now.

Studying the luminescent glow around the taller but still stout woman, I noted the abrupt way she stood, her legs splayed slightly wider than a woman's stance. Her archaic dialogue was a definite tell. And the way she looked at me… "She" was most likely a "he."

Who the hell had taught this whelp to transform?

"Well, Mr. Arim? I suspect you'd best take your leave before I call upon the appropriate authorities." Trudy crossed her arms over her chest and glared.

I sighed. "I can kill you, or you can tell me what's really going on. I'm feeling generous, so it's your choice."

Trudy stammered. "I-I don't know what possessed you to say such a thing, but if you take one more step I'll call —"

"The appropriate authorities. I know." The thin tether on my patience drew taut. "Your speech is pathetic. I thought your kind visited this plane rather frequently."

Trudy blanched and looked beyond me, giving me just enough notice to narrowly avoid a blast of green fire from my immediate left. Stabbing my fingers at the source of the attack, I retaliated and heard a muffled cry before the figure turned to stone.

I had Trudy by the collar between one breath and the next. She dangled, her feet no longer touching the ground. Yet she felt much heavier than she should.

"Change back now," I ordered, not playing.

The young Aellei — as I'd thought — shimmered back into his original shape. Long, light-brown hair glittered around a sensual, androgynous face. Like my kind, the Aellei appeared just different enough in looks to not quite pass for human.

He had height and a slenderness that spoke of grace. His feet now reached the floor, and his eyes were a pale blue. But his bright white skin really put him apart.

I shook him. "No more nonsense. You know who I am."

The young male nodded and trembled like a leaf in heavy wind. While part of me was glad to get to the truth of the matter, another felt weary, that my reputation as a sorcerer and Killer of Shadow was as strong in Aelle as it had been hundreds of years ago.

Unfortunately, I'd earned that reputation. It had taken the Dark Tribes centuries to truly divide, and I'd had little choice to either accept death at the hands of Darkness or fight back with the Light.

"What should I do with you now?"

My words caused him to shiver. Then I noticed his companion, peeking out around the kitchen doorway.

The Aellei followed my gaze then whipped his head back. "I-I wish, I mean, I, ah, don't know what —"

"Tell me why you're here, or your death will be long in the making."

"We're just here to get one of our lost."

"A lost Aellei?"

Nodding furiously, he explained, "Our people thrive on change. Several times a year, mostly during festival season, we travel to other places to play for fun."

"But this mundane realm was declared off-limits centuries ago when the humans started seeing strange things. Puck and his under-appreciated sense of humor." That particular fae had opened the door to a bunch of other magir — those magically attuned beings — from other realms that no long remembered where they'd come from.

Now many of them thought they belonged here and continued to live in secret among the humans. Which reminded me to have a chat with Aerolus about a rogue vampire that had tried to steal blood at Outpour. Or maybe I should talk to Cadmus… Well, when I could find him.

The Aellei shrugged. "Right, well. So we're — I'm here to gather one of our lost ones back before the queen has to explain why we broke the boundary again."

Hmm. Something about the youngster felt wrong. Altering my perception, I saw what he'd been hiding. The Aellei and their stupid games.

I swore and threw him so hard he broke through the wall.

"Enough, young one. I tire of these games." My mood darkened as he and his friend in the kitchen snickered. "Tell me what I want to know, or I'll feed you to the Light, one piece at a time." I balled my hand, suddenly encased in fire.

The Aellei sneered and shimmered into another form, this one of a much more mature male. His hair reached his hips, his eyes a bitter blue and full of deceit. "Took you long enough, Guardian. I fear rumors of your greatness have been exaggerated."

I arched a brow and turned his feet to stone.

He shrieked and swore in his common tongue while pulling frantically at his feet but could only move them a few inches at a time, as if his feet weighed several hundred pounds.

"That's Noraevian rock." I smiled. "It responds strongly to the gravitational force in this plane. Now try again, before I forget myself and leave you here to rot with your friend. And the one soon to turn to ash in the kitchen."

"I'm here for a traitor," he snapped. "It's Aellein business. Nothing to do with a Light Bringer." He stared at his feet with horror, no doubt more concerned at how he looked than at how he felt.

An odd vulnerability they had, but the Aellei clung to vanity almost like a religion.

In his upset, the Aellei's skin grew so brilliant I had to shield my eyes.

With a sigh, I allowed one of his feet to return to normal.

"The traitor?"

"She's not here, obviously." Even under my spell, he had the gall to sound arrogant and disdainful. "Look, this really isn't your business." His cocky tone dimmed when he glanced back at his feet. "I am sorry you witnessed this. I don't want any trouble. Just —"

Sensing approaching energy, I ducked and rolled behind the couch. Several more Aellei arrived to join their friend. Archaic spells, green fire, and the sudden slowing of time twisted Trudy Warner's house into sections of time.

Familiar with Aellein tactics, though I hadn't faced them in years, I cast a quick protective spell, enabling me to deal with my opponents and shatter their time enchantment.

"Shit, it's not working," one swore.

"My dark cloud isn't working either," another muttered.

"Meha! Ah ele feal rul tser."

But I knew their language. Grab him, staffs at the ready, didn't bother me.

I teleported into Trudy's kitchen and found a half dozen wary Aellei. All appeared to be seasoned warriors, their marked battle staffs and calculating expressions indicative of harnessed malevolence.

"Ah, the infamous Killer of Shadow, Tanselm's much-feared sorcerer." The tallest of them spoke, his eyes a luminescent green. "I've been wanting to do this for the longest time."

He pointed his staff at my middle. A stream of dark energy flew from the staff at my shield. Instead of being deflected away, the burst of energy melded with my defense, channeling through my rage until the shield disintegrated into a neutral layer of magic.

Once the shield fell, others began firing at will, the seething, shifting pulses of Shadow like icy burns, striving to invade and take hold of my person.

As they held me within their small circle, I remained calm, fighting the incessant clawing at my mind and magic. I defended myself with Tanselm's Light and the spells I'd been born knowing, realizing the fight with these warriors would not be as easy as defeating wraiths.

The Aellei and those who lived in Shadow were far more dangerous than they appeared. Shadow dwellers possessed characteristics both Light and Dark, making them resistant to many spells and able to penetrate energy barriers with ease.

I mentally chanted a spell. A few of the warriors blinked in discomfort. Several dropped their staffs and squirmed, the Light within them threatening to break free.

The leader cursed me and clenched his mouth shut, fighting the effects of my magic.

I stood with my back to the refrigerator, keeping myself safe on at least one front. Or so I thought.

A shimmer of power kissed my neck, and I whirled to meet the threat from behind but wasn't quick enough.

A giant ogre had taken the place of the appliance. It threw me out of the kitchen and across the living room like a javelin in one of Tanselm's summer games. I landed in a heap against Trudy's entertainment center, smashing my right arm against her large television before crumpling into a bruised heap on the floor.

I stumbled to my feet and cradled my arm that felt broken. I felt dizzy, the pain strong. I hurriedly cast a healing spell before confronting the ogre. Staring at the hideous Shadren, I wondered if I might talk my way out of this battle.

Though big and slow, ogres were quick of mind, contrary to those who thought them as dim as they were ugly. Though it had lackluster green skin full of scars, this ogre seemed surprisingly clean and dressed in fine cloth, a different type of foe from the ogres I had battled long ago.

Its eyes were enormous, black, and clear, unusually sober. Dangerous but interesting.

"If I might ask a question." I nodded in respect to the creature that trudged closer, ducking its head to fit under the ten-foot ceiling.

"Kill him, Fian," the leader demanded, rubbing at his burning eyes. "Do it before I bespell you."

The ogre stopped several feet away, ignoring the Aellei. "Question?" It grunted and motioned for me to continue.

Behind it, several Aellei burst into bright light and phased away, sent back to their homeworld under my spell. Three appeared to have overcome the Light spell and remained behind me, in addition to the leader behind the ogre.

"Why do you do that one's bidding?" I asked it.

The ogre looked over its shoulder at the leader. "Zartic not so bad. Promise 'Landra's secret 'lixir."

Zartic, the Trudy impersonator, huffed. "Fian, shut up and kill him. I'm not paying you for your conversation, you ill-mannered cretin." He gathered the remaining warriors while kicking his foot, managing to slowly free himself from my magic that had turned it into rock.

Fian turned his homely visage back to me. A thick red band of coarse hair framed his face like a lion's mane. Only this lion looked more like a rabid baboon. The ogre appeared irritated.

I could work with that.

My arm still throbbed, but it was nothing compared to the fire burning in my gut. Shadow magic didn't mix well with Light, and I hadn't yet been able to deal with the murkiness in my body. I needed a distraction, or at least help in dealing with the Aellei.

"Fian, is it?" I lowered my head but kept my gaze on the ogre. "I am Arim, a Light Bringer from Tanselm. I have no discord with you, friend ogre, but with the ones there who think so little of manners and honesty." I glared at Zartic and his cohorts. "'Landra never had the elixir, Fian. I have it, and they want it for themselves."

Fian stared hard at me. I wondered if this Landra person really did have an elixir the ogre wanted. From what I knew of their breed, ogres would do almost anything for fine, aged cinarum.

"As a matter of fact," I bluffed, subtly rubbing at the pain in my sternum. "I'll give you a barrel of the stuff right now if you dispose of those rogues for me." I waved my hand, and a barrel of royal cinarum appeared, the finest elixir in all of Tanselm.

Ravyn would have my head if she found out, but her celebrations could make do without one more barrel of the stuff.

Zartic glared at me, swore, and thrust his staff in my direction to fire a spell. Which, unfortunately for the Aellei, also hit the ogre. The Aellein warriors took their cue and turned their weapons on me as well, making it look as if they had turned traitor to their ogre.

Fian took the insult and the threat to heart. "Not like tricksters. Want payment. Want apology," it said in a clear, angry voice.

"Shit. Just kill it and the sorcerer," Zartic ordered.

But the ogre didn't fall under their steady blasts of energy. Then it was upon them, its meaty fists clobbering the first warrior it reached.

"Dammit, Zartic. Control it!" The warrior under attack sounded strangled, his throat crushed in the ogre's fist.

"Fian, stop! You're mine, I own you!"

I shook my head and worked on healing the Shadow toxins pervading my body. "For shame, Zartic. For a leader, you know precious little about those you command. Ogres are a proud race. And you Aellei know all about pride, don't you?" I added the killing blow. "If not for your sorry conceit, you might still be in Tanselm, hmm?"

Zartic cursed me, but fortunately my spell repulsed his magic. Fian continued to make a mess out of the remaining Aellei. And as Zartic bypassed him to pierce me with his staff that had turned sharp at one end, I waited for him to make contact.

The moment the staff touched me, I grabbed it and skewed its polarity.

Zartic screamed in dismay and watched helplessly as the staff burned into a pile of ash in his hands.

"Come now, before me." I enslaved Zartic with a mind spell. So easy and simple once he'd been distracted by the loss of his staff.

If only I could do that to the Royal Four. And Cadmus especially.

I said to the ogre, "The cinarum is yours, Fian. And good health to you."

Fian grunted that he'd heard and continued to smash his fists into the barely moving Aellei.

I turned on Zartic, who kneeled on the floor and rocked, staring up at me with blank eyes. "Now, unless you want to join in your brethren's fate, you'll explain why you're here. Tell me all about this traitor and, unlike Fian, I might let you leave with all your limbs intact."

Zartic gasped as one of his men screamed, the sucking sound of flesh parting from bone enticement to talk.

He spoke quickly, and what I learned made my already bad mood even worse.