Destroying the Fallen Read online

  ENCHANTING THE FEY BOOK 3

  REBECCA BOSEVSKI

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  EPILOGUE

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  BOOKS BY REBECCA BOSEVSKI

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  COPYRIGHT

  1

  AVA SWIRLED HER ARM around and the portal to the outer reaches opened with barely a quiver in the integrity of the gateway.

  “You’re really getting the hang of this,” I said, and she blushed a perfect rosy pink. I turned to face the firebirds behind us. “You are all welcome to live in the outer reaches. The heat from the lake of fire will nurture your young without the risk of falling into a pool of lava.”

  The birds fluttered their wings in anticipation, and the smallest of them, a light grey, fuzzy chick, no bigger than a basketball, hopped around its mother’s feet, chirping.

  “When you’re ready, you can make your way through.”

  “Mum,” Ava began, and I spun, fearing something was wrong with the portal. But it was as large and strong as any she had ever created.

  “What’s up?”

  “Well, the firebirds live in nests, right?”

  I nodded raising a nervous brow.

  “Well, the trees in the outer reaches aren’t exactly big enough for one nest, let alone a whole species of firebirds.”

  They might be smaller in number now, but given time there will be thousands of them.

  She was right, but I had thought of that already, and I pulled from my back pocket a small vial and a scrap of rolled parchment.

  “I have a spell to fix that, and you are going to help me cast it.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Really, Mum, we are going to do a cast together?”

  Since returning, I hadn’t let Ava out of my sight. But I also wouldn’t let her cast any magic either. Except for the portalling, and I only let her do that because I sucked at it. She had no idea what she was capable of, and neither did I.

  I found a cast that increased the growth of a millennial tree to its full size in a matter of minutes. According to the texts, millennial trees grew to mountainous heights, the trunks hollowed as it grew higher, but no strength was lost. The branches would be thick, and would reach out twice the height of the tree. I hoped the alteration I made to the cast would work in creating a dark barked version, that could withstand the heat and environment of the outer reaches. Dark barking was what happened to plants in the outer reaches. They grew a black coating over the surface like a heatproof layer.

  “May we enter now, fairy queen?” one of the firebirds asked as it stepped towards the portal.

  “I keep telling you, I’m not a queen.”

  “You lead the fey, yes?”

  “There is a council, I am on the council. They... we lead the fey.”

  The bird’s gazed between Ava and I then settled on the portal. “I no longer care. Can we go?”

  I laughed. “Go ahead. The sooner, the better.”

  He took a few steps then stretched his wings out. The silver feathers rustling as he pumped his wings to lift from the ground. He soared through the portal and into the sky of the outer reaches.

  The other birds all followed the first through. Most chose to fly, but the mothers with young walked past slowly, all the while trying to herd the young ones in the right direction. They flitted around their parents’ legs, chirping and bouncing on their toes, trying to flap their fuzzy feathered wings in failed attempts to fly.

  After the last of the birds were in the outer reaches, Ava and I followed them. The heat billowing off the lake of fire felt stronger now the firebirds had returned to the power stolen from their red world.

  “Mum, can we do the cast?” Ava asked, clapping excitedly beside me.

  “First we have to find where to do it,” I said, walking along the edge of the lake. I needed somewhere the dark barked plants already grew, a solid tree already taken root would be best.

  “What about over there?” Ava pointed to a large stump on the far-right side of the lake.

  “That might work,” I said, holding out the paper to Ava. “Take this, I’ll handle the vial. After I sprinkle this around the stump, we will need to say the cast. You might want to change too; our magic is strongest whenever we are in our fey form.”

  Ava smiled wide as she closed her eyes. Raising her chin a little, she transforming into her incredible fey form, complete with glistening angelic feathered wings. She spun in a circle, raising her wings high into the sky and as she turned I caught a glimpse of the red veins I had seen during our visit to the banshee’s kingdom.

  She has so much magic inside her. How can someone so little, hold so much?

  “Mum, are you ready?”

  I shook my head clear of worries and joined my daughter in fairy form. My glistening white wings billowed behind me in the warm wind that swept around us.

  I smirked, biting my lip, and then pumped my wings to send me high into the sky of the outer reaches.

  “No fair, you got a head start,” Ava called as she flew after me. For a few days now, we had been racing every chance we got. I was still faster, but not by much.

  I landed heavy footed, beside the stump she had pointed out, and she landed far more gracefully a moment later.

  “You will be faster than me soon enough.”

  “Maybe, but Mum, I think you are getting faster too.”

  She was lying, I gave it two weeks and she would by flying circles around me.

  “Okay, so let’s look at this tree.”

  “Do you think it will work? I mean it looks dead.”

  “Everything in the outer reaches looks dead, but it’s extremely alive. I think it will work, there is enough space between it and the lake to create a large enough tree for the firebirds. Are you ready?”

  Ava held up the paper in her hand and nodded. I sprinkled the vial around the base, the flakes of silver in it caught the light from the lake of fire and mirrored it back at me. With the vial empty, I joined Ava beside the stump and we recited the words of the cast.

  “Kal ergo sil o, kal ergo is heo,” Ava and I said together. Roughly translated, it calls for the tree to grow tall, grow strong. The ground rumbled. Ava and I repeated the cast.

  The tree began to shake. Ava and I repeated the cast again. New shoots sprung from the top of the stump as the base of the trunk began to swell outwards. We stepped back a few paces, but that wasn’t far enough. The tree kept growing.

  “Um, Mum is it supposed to grow this fast?”

  “I don’t know, I’ve never cast this spell before,” I said, turning to look at Ava. “What is that on your wings?”

  The edges of Ava’s feathers glistened as if dipped in liquid silver.

  “I don’t know, but they feel kind of funny too, like they are pulling me closer to the tree.”

  “Let’s get more distance, you might just be too close to the magic.” I kept my tone even, trying not to freak her out. I really had no fricken clue what was happening with her wings but getting distance between us and the still growing tree was not a bad idea. We lifted up into the sky and watched from above as the tree continued to grow. It rose up towards us, higher and higher.

 
“Kal ergo fila!” Ava called as her wings fanned outward.

  “Ava, what are you doing?”

  She didn’t look at me, she was watching the tree as it spread its branches across the space beneath us.

  Her wings folded in front of her to create a gust of air towards the tree. But it wasn’t just air. The silver on the tips of her wings released and rained down on the branches.

  I rushed through the air to her side, placing my hands on her arms. “Ava, are you okay, what happened?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, shaking her head and bringing her left hand up to rub her temple. “We called the cast out, didn’t we?” As she lowered her hand from her head, we looked down between us to the tree. It had stopped growing. But more importantly, the silver Ava’s wings had rained down over the otherwise bare branches had formed thousands of glistening silver leaves.

  “Ava, how did you do that?”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “Ava, you did a cast to make those leaves. The leaves were never a part of the cast. Leaves don’t survive out here.”

  She began to descend and I quickly moved to follow her. “Ava, it’s okay. I mean it’s better than okay. The leaves are beautiful.”

  She slipped through the tree top and landed on a top branch, reaching out her delicate fingers she ran the tips over a large silver leaf. “Did I really do this?”

  I landed beside her, then wobbled and spun my arms around at my sides. Ava grabbed me, helping me to steady myself.

  “Mum, you’re a total clutz.”

  “Thank you, Ava, I’m well aware.”

  She continued to stroke the leaves and I held on to a branch for stability. The power coming from the tree now was immense. The firebirds began to rustle the leaves as they made their way into the tree’s canopy to create their nests. To take over their new home.

  “Ava, did you read that cast somewhere maybe?”

  “No, I’m not allowed to read the scrolls yet. I’m learning and they say I’m learning really fast, but I’m still in freshling class.”

  “Maybe in my book then?” I don’t remember anything like it though.

  Ava shook her head. “I don’t know how I did it, Mum.”

  “It’s okay, Ava. We will figure it all out. Come on, now they have their tree we can go home. Besides I have a meeting to attend.”

  “Oh, will grandpa be there? Can I come?”

  “Yes, and no.”

  “But, Mum...” Ava whined, trying her best attempt at puppy dog eyes.

  “Still no. Seriously that will never work on me. Come on, time to go.”

  “Fine.”

  “Do not give me sass or I won’t let you go with your grandfather to Elfland next time.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Really? I can go to the Elf Kingdom?”

  I pulled her in for a hug and lost my balance, sending us falling together towards the ground. She laughed and spun her wings to fling her out from the branches and back up into the sky. I twisted my wings around me like a cocoon, then, a moment before hitting the ground, they branched out, swept up, and lowered me onto my feet.

  Ava landed beside me, the smile still etched on her face.

  “Come on, Mum, let’s go home.” She swung her arm and opened a portal to the kitchen in Landown. I could make out Maylea’s back as she fiddled with something on the stove.

  “She is not going to like this,” I whispered to Ava as I took her hand and we both stepped through.

  Maylea spun the second we stepped foot on the tile, an eyebrow raised and a knife in her hand.

  Crap, she felt us coming. The portals were pretty much silent, but they gave off a slight buzz around them, and if you knew what to feel for, you could sense when one was about to open.

  “What have I said about magic in my kitchen, Desmoree?”

  “It was Ava,” I explained, phasing back to my regular form.

  Maylea raised the knife and widened her eyes.

  “Okay, so I could have stopped her, but...”

  “No buts, Desmoree. You are the parent. Be the parent.”

  Ava released my hand and moved towards a stool under the counter, mouthing a sorry as she sat. Maylea turned to busy herself in the fridge.

  A spark appeared in front of me. Crap. Someone is sending a flame note, Maylea isn’t going to like this, either.

  I reached up and as soon as the green flame appeared creating the parchment, I snatched it from the air. Maylea turned and eyed me with a crooked brow.

  “What are you up to?”

  “Nothing,” I said, feeling the warmth of the flame note as it sat against the palm of my hand. “Maylea, what are you making?”

  “We still do not have enough potion to protect everyone, I’m making more.”

  “Really, we still don’t have enough?” I took in the scattering of ingredients on the far side of the counter.

  “I have several others helping to build up the supply, obviously all without the key ingredient, but we can add that at the last moment if need be. Don’t you have a meeting to get to?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yes. I still don’t get why I have to run everything by them anyway. It’s my fur, I’ll use it however I want.”

  Maylea frowned at me and Ava sat happily stuffing her face with a bowl of elder berries Maylea somehow always had at the ready for her visits. “You were given that fur to seal the mouth of hell and you didn’t use it all. Now the council wants to make sure it will be used wisely. You created the council of the Feydom remember?”

  I liked that she was using the term Feydom. I hated the division of the species of fey, calling it a Feydom made it feel more united. It didn’t help anyone to keep trying to force a divide. “Maybe, but I’m using one bit before I go.”

  “Desmoree!”

  “What? They don’t know how many pieces I have left and besides, Jax deserves his magic back.”

  She took a calming breath and smiled. “My Jax is special, with or without his magic, but yes. I do agree he deserves it after all he has been through.”

  I grinned, satisfied with my small victory. Kissing Ava on the cheek, I rushed out of the room before Maylea changed her mind and tried to talk me out of it.

  I unfolded the flame note in the hallway. It was an update from the teams hunting the demons I accidently let loose in the human realm. By all reports, they were doing well. The elves had joined each team and had been sharing weapons and casts, their glamour cast was working, and together they had slayed seventy nine demons without being seen once. There were more reports of larger ones slipping away but overall, the elves were helping get this under control.

  I folded the note back up and slipped it into my pocket before heading to my room to find Jax.

  He was flicking through scrolls in our room when I walked in, but he dropped everything when he saw me. He rushed over and lifted me by the waist, spinning me in a circle.

  “Wow, someone is happy.”

  “I really am, Des,” he said slowing my spin to a stop. He leaned in and kissed me. It took every ounce of power I had to stop the kiss before it led to more.

  “And what has made you so happy this morning?”

  “The scrolls, Des. The magic has leached from them, revealing their truth. And the truth of them is so much brighter than before.”

  “Really?”

  His eyes gleamed with excitement and he beamed as he let my waist go to collect one of the scrolls from the end of the bed. “Really, Des, look.”

  I grabbed the scroll from his hands and tried to read what it said. My knowledge of the ancient fey language was poor at best, and so for a moment I just squinted at the page. Then I remembered the revealing cast, so I transformed. Jax was so used to my random transformations it didn’t faze him, instead he looked me up and down hungrily. Smirking, I whispered the cast and watched as the language transformed on the page to plain English.

  I read quickly, and Jax was right to be happy. This scroll predicted a future for the fey t
hat was both powerful and bright. But I knew already everything comes with a price. What would the price of happiness be? And would we be able to pay it?

  Jax ran a finger down my shoulder. “You know how much I love your fey form,” he whispered into my ear.

  “I do,” I moaned as his lips kissed the crease in my neck. “I have a council meeting,” I began and he was gone. The breeze chilling the slightly damp spot on my neck where his lips once were and I spun to find him.

  “Great, I’ll come with,” he called grabbing his jacket from the chair by the door.

  Jax liked the meetings—I didn’t. I had managed to avoid two already, since the debrief after the battle. That one sucked!

  I lifted the board that hid my treasures. And by treasures, I meant the things I wanted to keep hidden; like the elephant cannon, the supplies from the outer reaches, my spell book, and of course what remained of the yowie fur.

  I reached in and grabbed the little pouch. There were six strands left. I didn’t turn around for fear Jax would try to stop me. I could hear him busily packing up the scrolls. I slipped one strand from the pouch and held it between my fingers. Focusing on my magic, and the magic that was sent to me by the Tanzieth, I felt it rise. It never felt right having all their power inside me. It wasn’t mine and though gifted by them, the magic itself swam separate from my own, as if awaiting its return to the fey’s who gifted it.

  I pulled on his magic and sent it through me to the strand in my fingers. Then Jax called out, “Des, no!”

  But it was too late. His energy illuminated as his power returned, and the brilliant blue of it swam around him in an electric fog.

  “I had to, you deserve it more than most.”

  He opened his eyes, the green whirlpools gleaming. “Des you really shouldn’t have.”

  “Stop. Now here take this,” I said handing him a bottle of the potion that would secure his magic. “Now no one will be able to take it again.”

  “The council will not like this, there was so little left already and it’s the only way we know we can give it back without hurting Ava. Even if she could do it safely, going through her changes it. My parents are still freaked out about Tai.”

  “Please. Tai loves being like Ava, and besides, it was your mother’s meddling in magic that made him more, remember?”