Emerald- Good and Evil Read online

  I was afraid that by keeping the stones Morgorth painted a target on his back. Granted, most didn’t know for a fact he had them, and the powerful enchantments around his home were formidable, but what if he himself succumbed to their temptation? I did not doubt his strength, but though he wasn’t a villain anymore, he was still a dark mage. His past had dark pockets I only learned about recently.

  “The strange thing is,” Morgorth’s voice broke through my thoughts, “ever since my time travel experience, I’ve been thinking about my family. I’ve been considering going back and maybe, finally, putting that part of my life to rest.”

  “You didn’t tell me.”

  “I hadn’t made a decision yet. Then that letter came.”

  I held both of his hands between my own. “Why did you want to go back there? To all that pain and sorrow?”

  “Your family.”

  I jerked in shock. “What?”

  He gave me a strained smile. “I got to know your family, and it made me think too much about my own. And your father....”

  “My father?” I prompted when he stopped.

  “I...I told you he gave me consent to be your mate. But he also had some things to say about my family.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He...” Morgorth suddenly laid his head on our joined hands, his voice growing quieter. “He said that if my family couldn’t appreciate me, then they were a family of fools. And my father was the king of them all. Then he hugged me. He hugged me, Aishe, as a father would a son. As I’m sure he hugged you many times.”

  Even as grief, perhaps not fresh or new but still potent, stirred my gut, I understood what my mate was saying. “You were shown what a family is supposed to be. You want answers.”

  “Damn right.” He raised his head and my gut tightened again. His eyes were dry but dark, filled with old grief, an old wound rubbed raw. “Your family welcomed me, accepted me. I became a part of your tribe. I need to know why I wasn’t given the same from my own. I need the entire story, because I know there is more to my father’s motivations, to his schemes. There has to be more.”

  I nodded. “It would seem you’ve already made your decision.”

  He rubbed his eyes before meeting mine again. “Baby, I would’ve consulted you. My mind wasn’t made up yet.”

  I believed him. “I’m going with you, Morgorth. Don’t you dare argue.”

  He smiled. It was small but genuine and full of the warmth I’d become accustomed to from him. “I would argue, Aishe, if I thought I didn’t need you. But...” he paused. It was still hard for him to express his emotions, his needs; to reveal any vulnerability. “But in this journey I know I will need you more than anything. I never wanted you to meet any of my family, but I don’t have a choice. I, um....”

  “Tell me everything, Morgorth. Just speak.”

  He suddenly cupped my face, looking me dead in the eye, and what I saw in his nearly broke my heart. He’d always told me there was a darkness inside him, and I accepted that. But there was also a sadness, a heavy misery in him I couldn’t accept and did everything I could to alleviate.

  “Aishe, I don’t know how well I will come out of this one. I’m going to need you to hold me together. To hold me back or push me forward. I trust you to know what is needed. If my father has a stone of power, I will kill him.”

  My eyes widened but I said nothing.

  “I need answers, Aishe. Please help me find them, and restrain me if I’m about to kill without gaining them. I’m so sorry to ask but...can you do this for me?”

  More weight settled upon my shoulders, and I accepted it as the price to pay to have such a mate. A mate who was the seventh son of a seventh son; a mate who had a destiny filled with darkness and blood. I’d accepted it many years ago when he first came into my life and pursued him when my tribe had been taken away from me in blood and fire. He was all I had, he was all I wanted.

  I kissed him, hard enough and long enough to have us panting. Then I pulled back and pressed our foreheads together. “I can do anything for you, my love. Ask what you will, and I will give it to you.”

  Morgorth shuddered out a breath before wrapping his arms around me and crushing me to his chest. He held me so tightly I could barely breathe, but I said nothing.

  “You’re my reason,” he said softly.

  I smiled, my entire being devoted to loving him. “And you are mine.”

  Chapter Two

  Morgorth

  We packed quickly. I had no idea how long we would be gone, and I informed Grekel, my wichtln lieutenant, and Grendela, the boygle matriarch, they were not to allow any visitors passage through Vorgoroth. They were to kill on sight. The only exceptions were Enfernlo, my payshtha friend, though I highly doubted he would visit again so soon; and Master Ulezander, my mentor.

  I wanted to leave that day. I feared I would lose my nerve if we waited any longer. I’d already wasted a week. But I couldn’t leave my home without taking a moment to detour to where I imprisoned the stones of power in my possession. I deactivated the magick on the doors to the hidden room, and soon stood in the small, simple area without decorations or windows, the walls and floor a deep purple. The room was empty except for a purple crystal pedestal set in the center; a pedestal that held several glittering gemstones of various sizes and colors. They were the Pferun Dulleriin, or Stones of Power. They gave magick to their possessor, no matter what creature happened to find them. No discipline or training was necessary to activate the power inside each stone. In fact, they wanted to be used. They had a sort of sentient mind and faint voices that crooned with promises and dreams. They were beautiful, tempting, and treacherous; and had caused me more than one headache over the years.

  I collected the gems to keep them out of circulation. Perhaps, in some way, I also collected them to prove to myself I was above their temptation and their promises. I didn’t need them. But it wasn’t about need, it was about desire and greed. Legend said the first seven mages ever born had created them to help the Mother in a fight against creatures of the darkness called formoryans. Those primordial monsters supposedly existed before the Mother came with light and banished them to a cage on the edge of her universe called Oblivion. The beasts were always struggling to be free, and during a time in the distant past, the Mother needed help, and so the stones were created to give power to other creatures. Apparently, it worked, since we still existed. But then the stones showed their other side and lust for them grew. The seven mages hid them across Karishian where they lay buried and harmless. But not anymore. They were starting to be discovered at such a fast pace, I had to wonder if it was some design of the Mother.

  And my father had one in his possession. My knuckles popped as I clenched my hands into fists. I glared at the stones and wished I could find some way to destroy them. I thought Kayl—a weak mage and sorcerer—had been bad when he stole Rambujek, the ruby of war, from Aishe’s tribe, massacring all of them in the process. But as bad as Kayl was, my father was worse. My father would massacre town after town and laugh heartily in childlike glee. He’d destroy for the sheer pleasure of it, not just for vengeance. It would become his favorite sport.

  My magick shimmered just below the surface, ready to unleash itself on any target should I give the word. I was stronger now than I’d ever been before. Not only because I completed my second phase of training with Master Ulezander and started teaching Aishe about magick, about how to defend and survive against a mage attack, but because I had a reason to fight. I had Aishe. He was my reason for everything I did...and didn’t do.

  I didn’t doubt my magickal strength. Mages went through three phases of training, each meant to assess the strength and skill of the mage in question. Only after a mage completed his or her third phase did they leave the tutelage of their mentor and were assigned a level. There were five levels and most mages hovered between two and three. Level five indicated someone on the Council of Mages. But I knew myself to be a four already in sheer st
rength and my skill and endurance were moving up on the scale. I had to hope it would be enough.

  Magick was like any other muscle in the body—it needed to be exercised to stay strong and limber, to endure in any battle. A flabby magick muscle could spell death for a mage, especially if a large spell was required and the mage didn’t “stretch” beforehand. Never before have I been so sure of my magick. But was it enough to stand against a stone of power wielded by my father?

  One of the stone’s voices tugged me a little harder than the others. I stared at Atcoatlu, the agate of time. It allowed time travel, and I learned that firsthand a couple months ago, when I caught a ride with Draslyn the Seductress, and ended up far into the past, spending days with Aishe’s tribe, and a very young Aishe. The experience allowed me to fulfill another weave in the Mother’s pattern, to understand another piece of the puzzle that was my relationship with Aishe. He’d known about my time travel, but I hadn’t. I wasn’t been meant to. But the agate stone was strong, tempting, promising to help me change the past, to make my miseries go away. It promised to return Aishe’s tribe to him, and to let me travel into the future, and see if my destiny would truly take hold of me.

  I was the third seventh son of a seventh son to ever be born. Many thought that meant I would become the Destroyer of Karishian. Aishe didn’t think so. Master Ulezander, my mentor, thought I had choices, and that my fate wasn’t yet decided. I didn’t yet know what to think. I used to embrace my destiny and did everything I could to become a villain. Then I escaped into Geheimnis and Vorogorth and remained a hermit, far removed from the rest of the world. Then Aishe came along and showed me happiness. He was my reason to fight my destiny and to make the choices that would prevent me from becoming the Destroyer. But should he die...my pain would become the world’s pain.

  I closed my eyes and brought up Aishe’s face in my mind’s eye. Atcoatlu’s voice faded until it was only a murmur like all the rest. Just the thought of him steadied me. I took a deep breath before rolling my shoulders and turning away from the stones.

  It was time to fight. My father had forced my hand and damned if I would run away like a child. Damned if I would let him win. He had no right, no right, to have the power of a mage. He had no right to wield power like what I was inside me, power the Mother had given me at my conception. He tried to train me as a child to become a weapon of destruction, one he would control. I was to be his mindless tool and that was why he’d given me his name at birth. Lazur. But I escaped and made myself anew. Now I was to go back and face the demon that still haunted my dreams and had me waking up in cold sweat in the middle of the night. It was time to end this once and for all.

  The standoff between me and my father was over.

  ***

  It was early afternoon when we finally set out, and we stood on the landing outside Geheimnis’s front doors for a moment. I looked over my home, once again leaving it. It wasn’t a good feeling. Awful things seemed to happen when I wasn’t home. I knew my minions could handle most of the potential enemies that might come this way, they being intelligent, bloodthirsty, and loyal. I gave them a good life, they owed me. They were the beasts of nightmares, but what sort of minions would a dark mage employ?

  “Morgorth?”

  I turned to Aishe. Just look at him. Tall and lean, pale-skinned with long white hair and eyes of the most brilliant green. He wore a pale blue tunic that reached his knees and belted at the waist, and dark blue leggings encased his long legs , while his boots were short and black. He wore a dark green cloak I had the boygles make for him, thought my protective magick was woven into the fabric. I knew he had the special jerkin I’d made for him in his bag. It would keep him safe from all weapons, even magick. I planned to make him more special armor to cover his arms and legs, but I’d yet to find the time or focus. That letter had driven much out of my mind.

  Aishe was all mine. He was my rock, my center. He was a dialen, a creature of the woodlands; a warrior by training, but also a gentle healer. He’d certainly healed me over half a year ago when I first met him. He was the greatest gift the Mother could ever have bestowed upon me.

  As a result of my dependency on him, I did everything in my power to make sure he was as protected as he could be outside Geheimnis. The jerkin, and his coats—soon the rest of his clothes—impenetrable to all weapons, had been the first step. His bow and arrows were also enchanted, and he wore a small pack on his back I’d created with my own hands. The pack, though a moderate size, could hold as much as the carrier needed, without growing larger in size or weight. I had to regularly recharge the crystals woven in the threads to keep the enchantment active but it was worth it. It made traveling much easier, and Aishe had been thrilled to receive it.

  “We’ll travel by ship,” I said. “I don’t dare teleport over such a vast distance, especially since I have no recent memory of those lands. I’d rather not risk it.”

  Teleporting was tricky. It demanded a firm and detailed picture in my mind of my destination or else it either wouldn’t work—I would teleport to someplace completely different or, worse, I would become stuck in the between-world I entered when I traveled that way. Thankfully, I had magickal speed at my disposal, and that meant most of the journey would be very quick.

  “Should we not contact Master Ulezander?” Aishe asked gently. “We might need some help. We have no idea what stone your father has found.”

  “I want to understand the situation before I do anything hasty.” I also needed to handle this one on my own. “I’m not being stubborn, Aishe, but I have to get the story from Olyvre in person before I proceed. He’s our first stop once we reach my homeland.”

  “I understand. This is a journey you have to do alone.” He smiled slightly. “Well, mostly alone.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, mostly. Come.” I held out my hand. “We have one stop to make, however. A visit I should have made a long time ago.”

  Aishe took my hand, frowning. “What visit?”

  “You’ll see.”

  The magick speed made us no more than blurs. We traveled west, toward the ocean. But my first stop wasn’t very far from the borders of Vorgoroth. It was a little town but one often frequented by merchants, nomads, and shadier characters of every species. It was a town of energy and commerce...and one very nearly destroyed by Kayl. The town of Nisham was on the west side of the Kracka Mountains, right next to the only opening in that north-south mountain range. It was a popular stop for those traveling west to east. An old friend of mine, one I neglected too often, was their resident mage.

  Aishe grinned the moment he realized where we were. “I wondered how well they rebuilt after Kayl.”

  A quick scan told me what I wanted to know. “It would seem they’ve rallied quite well since last we were here.”

  He grabbed my hand and tugged me forward. “Come on.”

  The town was a hive of activity. We were barely noticed, just part of the crowd. The energy was similar to Happy Valley’s, the town within my borders, but there was less innocent cheer here. There were brawls, and I noticed that far to my left in the town center there was a hanging in progress. I looked away and read signs, hoping to find Elissya’s shop quickly.

  This town had been fireballed by Kayl but the casual observer would never notice. For myself, I could see the charred places, the spot where I challenged him. I glanced at the rebuilt roof that I’d crashed through. My hand gave a spasm in memory of the magick I channeled when Kayl had been about to shoot a small star at Aishe. My palm was charred and Aishe had healed me. I looked at Aishe again as he found Elissya’s shop and dragged me to it. She made bonnets, of all things, as well as purses, and she enjoyed mending dresses. Her prices were reasonable, though I thought she’d do better raising them. I was about to knock when the door opened and a plump, red-haired seela came into view.

  “Oh!” She clapped a hand to her chest. “You startled me. Please, pardon me.”

  I stepped aside, and she proceeded to walk down th
e street, humming tunelessly. I turned back to see Elissya, seated at a table, writing something on a long piece of parchment. I held my finger to my lips, glanced at Aishe, then walked inside. He was completely silent as he shut the door behind us. Elissya was obviously quite intent on what she was writing and didn’t hear our approach.

  I smiled at her, glad to see she looked just as young and beautiful as before. Her hair was long and red, bound behind her head in a simple braid. Her eyes were big amber orbs often filled with laughter and affection. She was petite, and while never as magickally powerful as myself, she was extremely talented and subtle in her craft. I hadn’t given her a thought in too many years to count. Only after Aishe, and my time travel experience, did I start to think of family, and how the word didn’t always mean those of shared blood.

  Elissya had been my first lover, and I hers. We’d been Master Ulezander’s apprentices together, and she was, in fact, his niece several generations removed.

  I walked over to stand next to her, and as she still didn’t notice me, I tickled the back of her neck. She jerked and made some noise that sounded like eeeep then she spun around, and stared at me. Her eyes widened comically before she shot to her feet and flung her arms around my shoulders.

  “Gack!” I said as she tried to strangle me. Aishe laughed.

  “Morgorth!” she said, and I winced as she squealed right next to my ear.

  “Good to see you too,” I managed to say.

  Then she pulled back and kissed me smack on the mouth. She beamed when she met my eyes again. “It’s exceedingly good to see you! I was wondering when you’d stop by for a visit. If for nothing else than to see what your donations have done for this town.”