“Oh joy, the Elder Fae.” Delilah’s grimace spoke for us all.
The Elder Fae weren’t like us. They were unique for the most part, each possessing different powers. Most of them were scary-assed and strong. We had managed to make a truce with a few like Ivana, the Maiden of Karask, but we’d been on the bad side of more than one. The Elder Fae seldom saw reason to cooperate with anybody. They were wild and feral, primal powers of the world wrapped up into freakshow bundles of not so happy-happy joy-joy.
“How do we get there? Is there a way into the lair that isn’t beneath the water?”
Trillian frowned, tracing his finger along the coastline. “No, there doesn’t appear to be. We asked Trenyth what K’thbar is like. Turns out, not so much goodness in his soul. The world is much better off when he’s asleep.”
“Is he a fish? I remember Yannie Fin Diver all too well, and that’s one Elder Fae I don’t ever want to meet again.” I shuddered.
We had thought Yannie Fin Diver was one of the Meré, but when he leaped on land his tail had become legs and he had come after Delilah and me, intent on a midday snack.
“I do have the unicorn horn, if we need it. It’s fully charged. I haven’t used it in a while.”
“That horn could knock down a wall,” Delilah said. “But be careful if you use it. There are a lot of people—Elder Fae included—who wouldn’t mind having it.”
I laughed. “We need to create a spreadsheet to keep track of our enemies.”
“No kidding. I’ll get on that right away.” Delilah grinned at me, and the tension in the room began to diffuse.
When we were all breathing easier, I glanced at the maps. “Okay then, let’s get this show on the road. Tell us what Trenyth had to say.” The elder advisor to the Elfin throne was doing his best to help us. He had been in love with Queen Asteria and when she died, he took it hard. But he was doing his best to help Sharah and we loved him all the more for it.
“First, he said that K’thbar is powerful and big.”
“Of course he is,” Menolly said, rolling his eyes. “When aren’t they big and powerful?”
“Right,” Nerissa said. “Also, he’s water-bound. He never comes onto land. So we have to meet him in his element.”
“Handy, given none of us breathe water,” I snarked.
“I can go.” Menolly raised her hand. “Remember, I don’t breathe at all.”
“Yeah, but you can’t go down there alone and even as strong as you are, you can’t take on one of the Elder Fae by yourself,” Nerissa said.
“I know who we can ask for help. Shimmer. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” Smoky spoke slowly.
I snapped my fingers. “Of course! She could be a tremendous help.” I turned to Menolly. “Can you call Alex and ask him to have her contact us?”
“On my list.” Menolly grinned. “I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to go up against one of the Elder Fae, but hey, what are friends for?”
Shimmer was a blue dragon shifter. A water dragon, she had been sent Earthside as a punishment for some minor crime. She was soil-bound, meaning she couldn’t return to the Dragon Reaches without permission, but she was okay by us. We had helped her employer, Alex—a vampire who owned the Fly by Night Investigation Agency—rescue her when she had been charmed by one of his enemies.
“Okay, so the creature is water-bound. Does Trenyth know if he’s actively using the spirit seal?” That would make a big difference. If K’thbar was using the spirit seal, then his powers would be magnified and we’d be in real trouble.
Trillian shrugged. “Dunno. Trenyth didn’t say. He also doesn’t know whether Shadow Wing is onto the location.”
Vanzir spoke up. “Trytian and his father have been keeping Shadow Wing and his armies occupied in roust after roust. I’ll give it to the daemons. They’re tough, and they’re hitting the demons where it hurts.”
Trytian and his father were daemons, who were just as nasty but less chaotic than demons. They were on the offensive, attempting to dethrone the Demon Lord.
“I’m betting that Shadow Wing hasn’t yet recovered from losing Telazhar, who was probably the one locating the spirit seals for him,” Vanzir continued. “The current military operations should be eating up his time and focus. It’s doubtful that he’s had time to groom someone to take Telazhar’s post.”
We had managed to wound the Demon Lord on several fronts. We had taken out his best general, Telazhar. We had wiped out a number of the other sorcerers who were intent on breaking open the portals. The elves had paid dearly for it, but then the dragons had come to our aid and they were still keeping a close eye on things over in Otherworld. And we had managed to recover all the spirit seals that Shadow Wing had accumulated.