Prologue

It had been another long day for the Lower Elements Police. The LEP had work to do, that was for sure. After everything Commander Julius Root (or Beetroot, as named by his loving subordinates) had taken so long to set up, his death had brought along the most ignorant, self-centered guy—or should I say gnome—for the job, Ark Sool. Under his 'guidance', the LEP had become a warehouse for the jerkiest of all jerks. Sool had even set up a special sector named after himself: The Sool Surfs.

"They monitor all ocean activity," Sool had explained.

Luckily, Sool had been drummed out of the service, much to the delight of the centaur Foaly, kleptomaniac dwarf Mulch Diggums, Holly Short, and pretty much everyone else under the world.

Except for three people.

The first was an elf by the name of Briar Cudgeon. He had been classified dead by over thirty agencies in the fairy government, which is saying a lot since there are only twenty-nine.

But Cudgeon was not dead. Far from it, actually.

For in all he had done in the Bwa'Kell uprising (which became known as the First Opal Deception), he had a backup plan. He knew that something was bound to go wrong and although that something was quite a bit larger and more important than he had expected, his plan worked anyway.

You see, Briar Cudgeon had a brother. A twin, in fact. Briar had promised his twin the entire world if he did what Briar told him. His twin had not been convinced, so Briar…persuaded…him otherwise.

"No! I won't do it. Bri, you're crazy. It won't happen. Never," his brother had said.

"But Kyle, I need you on this one. I promise. Anything you want."
Kyle turned around to say something, and that's when Briar nailed him with the mesmer. The exact mesmer that was never allowed to be used on another fairy.

"Kyle, do what I tell you. Everything. Without question."

Kyle blinked. "Um…I think I'll do what you tell me, Briar. Everything. Without question."

And so, with the help of a little surgery (and five billion US dollars), Kyle had Briar's DNA grafted into him and essentially became Briar Cudgeon while the real one waited it out on an island in the Pacific just west of Guatemala.

The second person was Opal Koboi, who had been taken into custody by the LEP after the Second Opal Deception. She had been held in solitary confinement in a specially designed, state-of-the-art prison. It had five-foot thick, steel walls on every side, going five-hundred feet down and up, so no one could tunnel their way through without their brain being blasted to bits. It had cameras resistant to any type of harm, including chemical corrosives. It was equipped with a twenty digit access code that only a few people knew. Foaly had boasted that nothing could get in or out except the commander himself.

Which was pretty much got this entire mess started anyways.

The third person was the most widely heard-of man in all of the Lower Elements, Nicolas Hireem. He was tall by most fairy's standards, reaching four feet tall. He was incredibly handsome, with blazing, electric blue eyes and crisp black hair. Odd for a fairy. He was an actor, singer, and most of all, a politician. He was extremely charismatic, charming, and anything else that can possibly describe great character traits for a politician. But he was a new breed of politician. First, he was kind. Second, he was well-liked by the people. All similarities prior would come to a screeching stop there. Nicolas believed that the goblins should be dealt with accordingly, that trolls should be put into protection centers where they would be watched-over and guarded and would not be allowed to maul people. He believed in rooting out the last bit of every crime. Hireem was a pacifist, which struck well with all fairies, particularly pixies. Some feared he may one day arise in a human nation, perhaps the United States, and attempt to create some kind of world-wide disarmament movement there. All in all, he was the perfect fairy.

Back to Ark Sool. You see, apparently after being booted out of the LEP, Sool became depressed, drunk, and finally killed himself. He was officially declared dead the day after his body was found in an alley behind Spud's Spud Emporium.

But it was not really his body.

Sool had had it cloned over three years earlier, then kept in a freezer when it grew to be his height. Its original purpose was to make all fairies think he was a god by cloning himself, but its new purpose was far more reasonable and useful.

After Sool had been fired from the police, he had come up with a plan. A plan for revenge. One that was not original, but would work: Kill all who spurned me.

So, Sool had faked depression, released his clone, and technically killed himself.

Of course, as former commander, he had the access code to the cell Opal Koboi was currently residing in. Foaly hadn't bothered to change it. After all, why worry? A dead man couldn't release her, could he? The craziness of some people!

When Opal Koboi heard of Sool's alleged death, she sent for him via a spy in the LEP, planted by herself. She knew Sool was not dead; no one gave up that easily, not even a gnome. So she sent for him. And in the dead of night, gnome Ark Sool broke Opal Koboi out of prison, leaving the new commander of the LEP to blame—Trouble Kelp.

Once news of Opal's escape reached the LEPrecon headquarters and Major Holly Short, Trouble Kelp had been arrested for treason and was currently being interrogated in a secret military base.

Briar Cudgeon also heard the news, but much before Opal Kobi had. An entire four days before, in fact. And to think, he wasn't even underground! His…correspondent, so to speak, was doing his job very well.

And so, three fairies' lives began to count down towards collision in a revenge unlike any other. One that would change the face of the earth forever.