Strike their souls like poison darts,
Cast strife and worry upon their heads.”
Reyaz felt a jolt of power rush through him and knew the magic had done its job. Now all he had to do was wait for a few days and let the spell settle in and begin to do its work.
He closed his eyes as he pictured the house that he had visited, Lilly’s house, and all the delectable she-wolves and a gypsy as well. He smiled slowly; his reward for his patience would be great, and Cypher and the wolves won’t even realize what has happened until it’s far too late.
Gerick stood in the armory of the mountain stronghold checking the number of weapons they had. It had been a very long time since any new weapons had been forged. Because of this, he had been in contact with Prince Thalion of the Elves, requesting help to create some new ones. Cypher was hoping to avoid an all-out battle with his brother, but he thought it better to be prepared than just to hope to not need them.
Cypher had been gone, off and on, to talk strategy with the wolves. And apparently, the fae were also involved. It seemed that desperate times continued to unite the supernatural races. Though he wished it were under different circumstances, it was good to see them all working together.
“Have you decided on what you would like my elves to make for you?” Thalion’s voice broke through his thoughts.
“Plenty of bows and arrows for a start; I imagine fighting from a distance will probably be a good thing to do with Reyaz.”
“But what will you be fighting? Will he have an army?” Thalion asked.
“Honestly, I have no idea.”
“Doesn’t that worry you?”
Gerick shook his head. “What worries me is that something about this whole thing feels wrong. Cypher is convinced that Reyaz is simply looking to hurt him or Lilly, but I think he has bigger plans than that.”
“The forest is full of his darkness.” Thalion looked at the rock wall surrounding them as if he could see through it into the forest he spoke of. “It is malevolent and a sickness is in the air.”
Gerick took a deep breath, but the air got caught in his lungs. He began to cough until he had to lean against a row of swords to keep from falling over. He felt light headed and the room swam before him.
“General, are you all right?” Thalion asked as he stepped towards him.
Gerick closed his eyes and tried to focus himself. He counted to ten and finally the feeling passed and he could breathe again.
“I’m fine, sorry,” he cleared his throat. “I don’t know what that was but I’m better now.”
Thalion watched him briefly before nodding. “I will get your bows made and some new swords as well. I will return in a week with them.”
Gerick nodded. “Thank you. Prince Thalion.”
Once the Elvin Prince was gone Gerick sat abruptly down on one of the benches that lined the walls. He didn’t know what was going on, but his heart was pounding painfully in his chest, and his head felt as though it might split open. He had been telling the truth when he said he could breathe again, but he didn’t add that now his whole body felt as though something was trying to explode out of him, like his skin was being stretched too thin against his frame.
He heard a commotion out in the hall and tried to listen to see what was going on. He didn’t have to listen long when the door that Thalion had recently exited burst open.
“Gerick you must come now.” Finbar, the mate of one of their healers, motioned for him to follow.
“What is going on?” he asked as he stood from the bench and stilled until he felt steady enough to move.
“Just hurry please,” Finbar said desperately.
He followed quickly and his skin began to crawl as he heard wailing. They entered the great hall of the mountain and Gerick’s mouth dropped open.
“What happened?” he asked as his stomach rolled at the smells of sickness that permeated the air.
Gerick watched in horror as male and female warlocks alike doubled over in pain, some grabbing their heads and others clutching around their stomachs. Sounds of retching began to fill the air and then the wails of anguish climbed up the walls of the hall into the high ceiling of the mountain. Gerick moved forward, running to the first person he could reach. It was Indigo, one of his fellow warriors, and his skin was soaked in sweat and flushed with fever. He placed his hand against Indigo’s face and felt that he was burning up. When the male turned his face up at Gerick, he watched as his eyes went from green to blazing red. Indigo took several deep breaths and then closed his eyes. Gerick took a step back and waited as he tried to tune out the cries around him. Finally, the warrior stood up straight, opened his eyes which continued to burn bright red, and let out a deep breath.
“Indigo,” Gerick said cautiously, “are you alright?”
“I am,” Indigo answered.
Gerick watched him for several seconds, but the noise around him ripped through his concern over what was happening with Indigo. He shook his head, attempting to push away the raging headache that had suddenly latched on like a vice grip and was attempting to drive him to his knees. He didn’t have time to be ill, not when his King was away and something was terribly wrong with their people.