Dawning Skye

Maevis looked at Shasta a final time, and smiled at her. The amount of growth she had seen the surly cat woman go through since immersing herself in the company of humans was awe-inspiring to her. As they readied to divide and conquer their tasks, the old Fae began to reminisce..

She remembered chasing Shasta threw the Fae Nation forest with Aero, and watching her sail away. When Maevis had finally seen her again after going to the palace with Skye, it was quite shocking. But Maevis found the most mind-boggling thing to be how she treated the orphans.

Guilt tugged at her heartstrings for judging Shasta so harshly. Most Fae weren’t like humans; born to a family. Some were created from gathered human energy caused by intense emotions, or situations. Others were born from other Fae, or created by the various deities that influenced their world.

Maevis knew of Shasta’s origin, but not in detail until she’d opened up to Skye. The old Fae understood that she was more akin to a bystander the night that she told them about her beginning..

‘Skye was the one who brought her defenses down.. We became good friends in her absence, but Skye’s the one who helped her heal.. That lass really is something..’

As the thought passed, Maevis locked eyes with Shasta as she whispered; “Try not to die if you can help it. Your family isn’t the only ones who will miss you, ya know..”

Shasta grinned at Maevis as her tail tried to stick out from under her cloak. After adjusting it to stop it from happening again, she whispers back; “I’ll try, Mae. You still owe me two pints for that card game you lost two weeks ago.”

As the Brownies divided and motioned to them to move it along, Maevis quickly replied; “If you make it back, I’ll buy you an entire gallon of whole milk!”

.....

“Deal!” Shasta mouthed enthusiastically with her thumb up, then disappeared around the corner.

As she and the two Brownies quickly darted from one side hall to the next, Maevis silently prayed to the universe that Shasta would not only be successful, but survive.. ‘If she surrenders after killing him, they might hold her judgement off until Tidas and Skye return.. Please, PLEASE let her live..’

************

Shasta’s heart was pounding hard, but steadily in her chest as they slowly made their way down the hall. The two Brownies escorting her were several of the side hallways ahead, and behind her. Making sure that they had plenty of warning of anyone coming their way.

It was a slow pace, but proved to be worth it about ten minutes after they had started to move. Draco and Sheri had come up from behind them, and would’ve seen Shasta if the Brownie towards the back hadn’t ran out in front of them, then took off. All Brownies had been advised to avoid Draco and Benzo because they were Tank mages, but the young Fae knew that he had no choice.

All of the Brownies understood what it meant if they were caught.. To either be killed outright, or experimented on by Stein until they died. Knowing their possibilities, all Brownie spies carried a drop of belladonna extract with them. With the poison clutched in his hand, the Brownie spy led Draco and Sheri on a race through the palace..

The small group had been signaling each other with a light double-tap on the marble floor that ran throughout the palace. When Shasta didn’t hear the tap coming from behind her anymore, she signaled to speed up the older one in front. As they neared Magnus’ quarters, Shasta heard three taps: signaling that he was about to distract the two guards stationed outside of the doors.

Shasta took a deep breath, then counted to ten. She could hear the guards yelling as they went after the old Brownie, and silently thanked him for his help. Coming around the side of the hall, Shasta reached for the door handle, and opened it.

To her relief, there weren’t any other guards on the other side. After she shut the hall door, Shasta immediately heightened her Tank trait to listen for Marco. Hearing several footsteps coming from the parlor, she went straight over to the door, and flung it open..

The first thing Shasta saw was a surprised Norvis standing relatively close, like he had dodged the door being opened. Benzo was standing closer to the King’s desk, where Marco was. He stood on the other side with a fistful of papers in his hand, looking a bit surprised for once.

Before anyone in the room could react, Shasta dashed forward, and sent Norvis flying with one hit. Benzo scrunched his face and ran at her while trying to pull his sword out. Shasta had ripped the tie for her cloak when she had hit Norvis, and was now tossing it at the unsuspecting Benzo.

As he ripped it off of his face, Shasta had ran over to his side while staying low. When he’d finally gotten the cloak off of his face, it was just in time to see Shasta’s fist connect with his stomach. As he bent forward; Shasta pulled back her arm while taking a shallow step backwards, lifted her leg, then kicked Benzo face-first into the floor.

As his head bounced, Shasta extended her claws, and jumped for Marco. The shock from before had subsided, and he dodged her much faster than he should’ve for someone without a Tank trait.. But Shasta still countered it. She was used to fighting other Tank mages, and her experience overrode her mind’s lack of understanding.

As she traded a couple of blows with Marco and realized he had another trait, Shasta knew that she needed to end it right then..

Leaving herself open for a possibly fatal hit, Shasta lunged at Marco with abandon. Her claws were less than an inch from his throat when Shasta felt her entire body get violently yanked backwards. In an instant, the world turned upside down as she was slammed into the hard floor.

As Shasta literally felt her ears ringing from the impact, her vision stayed blurred for several moments. When it finally cleared and she saw who had stopped her from killing Marco, Shasta felt like a jagged knife had been stabbed, then twisted inside her heart..

“What the Fuck are you doing Zas?! Stop! Let go of me!” Shasta screamed as fear-induced panic crept up her spine.

Zas’ fur bristled as he held her down on the ground, and he yelled; “Me?! What the Fuck are you doing?! Are you trying to get killed?!”

Shasta’s fur slowly started to change color as she growled low, and said; “Let Go of me, Zas! It has to be done! And it needs to be Now! I swear I’ll explain after, but Let Me Go NOW!”

As Shasta’s fur started to fluff, and her eyes started to change color, Zas’ own fur flashed orange for a split second as he screamed; “I Can’t! You’ll Die! And so will..”

Zas looked away for a moment, then looked back at Shasta with a determination she’d only seen him have on the battlefield. The grip on her arms grew tighter as he let the rest of his weight come down on her; effectively pinning her to the floor. As Shasta’s expression shifted from completely hostile to filled with hesitation, Zas growled low..

“He has my family. All of them. If he dies, they die. I’m sorry..”

Shasta felt like time had froze as Zas’ words sunk in. Most had been present for her wedding, and the rest weren’t hard to track down. She didn’t doubt for a second that Marco was capable of it. Looking over at him, Shasta’s worst thoughts were confirmed..

Marco stood a few feet away from them: smiling like he’d won some epic prize. Taking a few steps towards them, the new King clapped his hands several times before stopping, and squatting down. After he looked back and forth between the two a few times, Marco let out a small, amused chuckle before speaking..

“That must hurt in more than one way for you.. I mean, the General here was a close friend, right? I guess we know what’s more valuable to him now: family or friends.”

“Do you have to do that?” Zas nearly snarled as he kept his grip on a struggling Shasta.

Marco shrugged; “It’s my version of fun.. Anyways, I really must thank you, Shasta. You’ve just made my day exceptionally easier..”

As Shasta’s magic started to skyrocket from her anger, she felt a sudden pain in the side of her head from someone kicking her. Even while being dazed for a moment, she had felt something heavy snap in place around her neck. A second later, she felt like she’d just run for a hundred miles.

Tilting her head up as her vision started to refocus, a clear picture of a pissed-off Benzo hung above her. As she shifted her head slightly, Shasta heard the clinking of metal on the floor. As she realized what had happened, Shasta glared at Benzo as she screamed; “Get this fucking collar Off of my neck!”

“That a sealing stone collar, bitch. You’re not getting out of it until our King wants you out,” Benzo replied snarkily as he stepped away from her to let Marco walk over.

As he stood above her head looking down, Marco smirked as he said; “The collar stays on, kitty cat. It’s the only way to keep you in check. And don’t try to act like that’s enough to hold you. I’ve seen the records from when you were a fighter. I already have a pretty pair of matching shackles waiting for you in you room....in the dungeon, of course.”

Shasta growled at Marco before she practically snarled; “Just kill me now. I’ll never do Anything you tell me to.”

Marco laughed out loud; “Oh come on! Do you hear yourself? ‘Just kill me’: how stupid would I be if I did that?! You’re Much more valuable alive, dear sister-in-law. Or should I address you as Your Royal Highness of Ruscovic..”

As Shasta’s expression fell into disparity, Marco barked a sharp laugh as he clapped his hands again, then said; “That! You get it now, don’t you? How absolutely stupid you were to come back here? While your motives might’ve been noble, you have essentially doomed my brother..”

Shasta immediately stared daggers at Marco as soon as he had mentioned her husband, then partially roared at him as she yelled; “Lawrence won’t do Shit for you! He knows what kind of a psycho you are! He’s already halfway to Ruscovic with the kids by now: you have Nothing!”

Marco scoffed; “Wow, you really are stupid. Do you honestly think I can’t get him to side with me over our little brother now?”

“He’ll Never side with you, you fucking psycho,” Shasta replied through gritted teeth as she tried to wriggle free from Zas, but to no avail.

Marco bent his knees so he was right over Shasta and Zas’ heads as he replied; “Oh, he will...because I have you. The second I threaten to hand you over to a group of degenerates, and tell them to have fun with you: my brother will fold like a piece of paper. And if he doesn’t, then I’ll just follow through. And if that Still doesn’t work, then I have a torturer that’s quite talented..”

“If you’d left with them, I’d have to find another way to get my brother to side with me. I wanted his children as a guarantee, but I know you’ll do as long as I’m generous with his Councilors. So again, my dear sister-in-law: thank you for coming back..”