Disclaimer: Lost Girl belongs to Showcase or SYFY and I am only playing in their universe.
A/N: Huge thanks to all the reviewers, readers, favs and followers of this story. You are simply the best! Your kind words and insights mean a lot to me.
He vomited for the second time, with a rash scolding of himself he thought, "You are the Lead Council pull yourself together!" The harsh self-talk did nothing to easy the massive amounts of pain coursing through his body. Refusing to look at the mangled remains of his hands, the Lead Council had tucked them into his body as he ran. When he came to, after the succubus's attack, he had seen the damage before he felt the pain. The power that had been forced through his body was more than his flesh could handle and the intense blast of energy had seared away or blown off whatever got in the way.
Unable to defend himself he ran away in panic not fully regaining his senses for some time. The pain had hit when he had a moment to relax. It was as if the fear settled and then other sensations could emerge. He had often scoffed as his victims cried from the pain he inflected. Fire was his nature and their weakness to his power had turned his stomach. Now with that power turned against him he found he was no better than any other fae and it infuriated him. A massive throb of pain hit him as the remains of his hands experienced an echo of the power release and shot small painful spurts of pyro energy out the blackened remains. The Lead Council could not help it he retched as he fell to his knees once again.
Wiping his face as best he could after pulling himself together, the Lead Council staggered to his feet again. It was fully dark now and he needed shelter, looking forward he saw some small hills that might provide some cover until he figured out what he was going to do. Moving forward slowly, he did not know that two pairs of eyes had him in their sites.
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The screeching retreat of the vampires was a shock to everyone, the remains of the crew and Trollgres alike. Cursing heavily in Russian, Kenzi watched the two motorcycles drive off at crazy speeds and then the charge of the blood suckers behind them. She felt a hand on her shoulder and almost shrugged it off. A part of her was angry, she was the vampire hunter, this was her quest and her prey was all moving away where she would not be part of their end. The last year of her existence had been based on killing those creatures and now…what?" she thought. "Had she done enough to avenge Massimo's death to allow herself to move on?"
"Kenzi," Gunner's gruff voice finally broke in and grabbed her attention. "Kenzi, we need to help the rest of the crew. We are not out of danger yet. There are others that need you now." The hand left her shoulder and then she felt the press of a new magazine for her gun against her hand. Turning she gave Gunner a nod and then took the refill and loaded up. There it was as easy as that, with Gunner's words Kenzi realized that she was more than her quest. There were others that needed her now and that was how she would make herself move on.
Lila, Cappy and Cook moved to the front wall and faced the now regrouping Trollgres. They each had their powers to reach for but none of them would say they were up for a large scale battle anymore. Cook was only able to call his stone battle armor; there was nothing left in the tank for anything else. Cappy was limited as well, he had held so many wards during the battle there was nothing left for anything but hand to hand combat. Lila was armed with her bows but as good as she was there was little one archer could do to stop all the remaining threats.
The Colonel moved around the shop after seeing the others off and ran towards his remaining group. The sight that met his eyes caused pride to swell in his chest. This little band had faced so much and yet here they stood again, tired and facing terrible odds, but willing to fight to the end. The gremlin lord smiled and then let his power roll. As leader he had played more of the role of battle manager if you will but now it was time to earn his keep. He called for his glamour ability and reached for all the metal and weapons around him. Yes, now was his time to step up.
The Trollgres had been put through a major test. It was a battle for the ages, fae and vampires and yet they still stood ready for more. Well some of them still stood, their ranks were down considerably. It was nothing to them; the others of their group had gone down swinging but with them gone the bounty would be bigger for those that remained. It was time to gather their prize and be done with it. The ten remaining fae bounty hunters formed up ranks in a diamond pattern. There was a snarling call and then they charged the wall.
With a shout Gunner moved to open fire but Kenzi slammed his gun away as the Colonel jumped into the line of fire. "What the hell?" yelled the young man in surprise and then shot Kenzi a look of thanks. There was nothing the two could do but watch.
The Colonel let out a rattling battle call and had moved quickly between the remaining crew members and then jumped to the top of the nearest rock pillar. He looked back and gave a wide grin to the crew and a wink towards Lila. Cook let out a chuckle and Cappy groaned at his old friend's antics. Lila just giggled with a shake of her head and motioned rest to move to take cover. She knew the old man would never put himself in this position unless he had something in mind. He was brave and she loved him all the more for wanting to protect her family.
Reaching out to grab a set of large metal bars that had been placed between two of the rocky barriers, the Colonel used one as a spear and threw it hard. It pierced the chest of the lead Trollgre spinning him around. With a flip of his wrist, the Colonel used a bit of gremlin knowhow and activated the ends of the bar. Two iron spikes shot out taking down two of the nearest Trollgres. "And now there are seven!" yelled the green man.
The speed at which three of their members had been killed by this gremlin caused the attackers to panic and separate. They ran for the Fort and any opening they could see. The Colonel would not let them get around him that easily. Raising an eyebrow he summoned his connection with the metal cable weaved around the stones. He centered himself and then willed the cable to pull tight and the stone boundary slammed together, closing the stones to form one solid wall with no open spaces. The Colonel let out a groan, he would be feeling that one in the morning.
That move had caught the crew, Gunner and Kenzi off guard. It was a massive show of strength and had to have tapped what little reserves of power their leader had left. Lila had shown the most distress as she could no longer see what was happening to her husband. The crew ran as one towards the wall and searched for some way to see the action and offer help as needed.
The echoing sound of the rock crashing together stunned the Trollgers and they skidded and fell as they were forced to change position fast as not to collide with the hard surface. All seven spun in anger to find the gremlin lord standing nearby with a long metal staff in his hand. He raised an eyebrow and then twisted the bar and an iron spike shot out of the end. The Trollgers then let out a roar of disbelief as the man started running straight at them and within two steps disappeared before their eyes.
Gunner and Kenzi were the only ones seeing the action and had once again leveled their guns to help but right before they could fire the Colonel had disappeared and they were forced to watch, not wanting to endanger the cloaked man. There was a scream as one then another Trollgre went down both with wounds from the iron spike. The Trollgres' wails of fury sounded again as they began swinging wildly with their arms hoping to connect or block the invisible attack. With a grunt a third bounty hunter was taken down but with his last move the bounty hunter grabbed a hand full of dirt and tossed it in the direction of his attack. The Colonel was hit full on with the sandy dust, which stuck to the sweat on his body. His location was visible to the world.
"Damn it!" yelled Gunner as he could see his grandfather's outline plain as day. The old gremlin would just have to glamour the dust to cloak himself again but the remaining Trollgres were too fast and a mighty hand shot out to deliver a hard punch to the Colonel's midsection that had to crack a rib or two. The punch was followed by a savage kick that sent the gremlin tumbling along the ground and it caused the glamour to falter leaving the gremlin lord wide open. Before anything could be done the Trollgres had the Colonel.
Kenzi and Gunner fired quick bursts and two Trollgres fell fast. The last two bounty hunters pulled the Colonel in front of them but pressed their weapons into the injured man's side. "We kill him if we don't get the human doctor now. We have our orders so get her…" The two remaining fae holding the Colonel faltered and weapons dropped from their hands as they fell to the ground grabbing for their heads and then went still at the Colonel's feet. The injured man looked just as surprised as the Trollgres themselves to find them collapsed in front of him. Wincing he started righting himself looking for the new threat.
"Yeah, see about those orders, they go against a directive straight from the desk of the Ash of the Light." Hale walked out of the darkness. "And I don't like that one bit." He slowly walked up to the Colonel who was starting to lean to that side and threating to fall over, taking the older fae's arm and saying calmly. "Colonel, sir can I offer you some assistance." The two men eyed each other for a moment then each smiled and the twosome began to move towards the stone wall of the Fort. The armed forces of the Light Fae and the Ash's personal guard poured in to secure the area.
xxxXXXxxx
It took more than ten minutes for the glowing brightness of the area to die down. If there was a vampire left alive, Dyson, Bo, Tamsin and Lauren could not find them. Of course the vision of the search group was impaired and each was experiencing the beginnings of headaches as the glare was that intense. "We have to get back." said Lauren as they finished one last tour of the area. The group nodded and headed for the bikes. Looking at Dyson, Lauren smiled and said "Do you need me to lead you back to the Fort?" The wolf returned her smile as he picked up his bike.
"No. Do you need me to pick up your bike?" he said with grin.
Lauren made a quick adjustment to her bike and then righted it with ease. "Nope." She smiled back. They each looked at each other with 'what else you got' smirks. It was an interesting exchange and both Bo and Tamsin didn't really know what to make of it.
"Okay, isn't this fun." Said Tamsin finally and then rolled her eyes and pushed Dyson as she moved towards the bike and then jumped on the back. "We will see you back at the Fort." She leaned in and wrapped herself around Dyson as he gunned the machine and headed back.
Lauren turned to call out to Bo but instead found her leaning against the bike. "So what was that about?" the succubus said with a grin. Lauren gave a small laugh and then moved to position herself in front of Bo. With a fast sure move the doctor leaned in and kissed her.
When she pulled back, Lauren said, "My relationship with Dyson is unique. Are you ready to finish this off?" Bo nodded and the couple loaded up on the bike and Lauren felt the strong arms of her lover circle her waist and pull up tight. The doctor said over her shoulder, "Think I know a short cut home that will beat Dyson by a good five minutes so hold tight." Bo giggled and Lauren gunned the bike off in a new direction.
xxxXXXxxx
The two Trollgres hit the ground at the Colonel's feet and Gunner and Kenzi where at a loss as to what had happened. Kenzi let out a squeak of alarm when she saw Hale step out of nowhere to offer the Colonel a hand. "We need to get down Gunner, we need to get down now." Gunner swung his gun around to point at the newcomer. "NO!" yelled Kenzi, "Not that type of problem. The Colonel should be okay but I need to get to Hale, the new guy okay." Gunner moved to give a shout to Cook but he found he didn't need to as the stone tower started to lower to the ground all in its own. Unfortunately it wasn't Cook's doing. A member of the Ash's guard had done the honors.
There was a groan in the rock and a doorway appeared in the barrier. Lila, Cook and Cappy all braced for this new threat with weapons at the ready. They gasp as the injured Colonel walked through with his hands out front to show things were okay. "Easy troops, back up is here." said the gremlin lord.
"Back up?" growled Cook. He watched as his stone work was manipulated by someone other than him.
Lila ran forward just as Hale followed the Colonel in to the Fort's grounds. She held up her crossbow and her eyes were flashing. "Hey there little momma," said Hale with is hands up. "I'm a good guy."
"Good guy most of the time." Clarified Kenzi who was approaching on the run, "But don't kill him Lila. He is a… friend." Hale smiled at this but then let out a startled, "Ouch," when Kenzi got close enough to hit him in the arm. "What the hell are you doing here?"
A flood of armed personnel started marching in and Hale straightened slightly. "Business I am afraid, but before anything we need to get the Colonel here patched up." He turned to Lila with a bow, "I am Hale, Ash of the Light fae, and I've come on a diplomatic mission and with an offer of assistance. You have my blood oath that I am not here to do harm." He bowed again and then held his hand out. "I have a healer with my guard if you need help."
"No need," snapped Cappy who stepped forward and took the Colonel's arm. Seeing Lila's look he added, "Thank you for the offer." The shaman led the Colonel away, Lila turned to follow but Hale motioned for her to stay.
Hale said, "I see there is a bar up front, what do you say we all go sit down and have a drink?" He started walking towards the Fort. With a nod his men fanned out and took positions around the area.
Gunner had taken a spot behind Kenzi and he whispered in her ear, "Is this okay?" Kenzi could do nothing but shrug because she just didn't know. There was the sound of an approaching engine and the whole place went on alert. Gunner stepped forward, "Your men need to stand down. It will be our people returning. They don't need to be shot for just coming home alive." Hale raised his hand and the troops took it down a notch. The motor could be heard as it made its way around the place, it idled for a moment and then there was a roar as it drove off.
"What the hell was that?" asked Hale and he motioned towards the opening and three men ran for the door. It was seconds only before all three came flying back through the opening with a crash. Bo walked in with her eyes a blaze. Hale dropped his head to his chest and shook it. This had really not gone as he had planned. He was supposed to be helping and so far his actions looked more threatening than anything.
"Call your people off Hale or someone is going to get hurt." The two-toned rumble was pronounced in the brunette's voice. She stepped forwards and all weapons turned and trained on her. Bo ignored the threat and looked to Lila. She nodded at the cupid, the motion asking for more information and checking on the situation at the same time.
"We are okay Bo. This man helped the Colonel." The older fae said with a shaky voice. "The Colonel was hurt during the last stand with the remaining Trollgres and Cappy is with him."
Bo tilted her head. "Why aren't you with him? Is he keeping you from him?" Hale swallowed hard and put his hands up like he didn't mean anything by it. Bo said sharply, "Go, be with the Colonel Lila." The cupid didn't wait she almost ran to the shop. A member of Hale's troop step forward to block her path and Bo dropped him on the spot with a massive chi attack, but she did stop before she killed him. Hale stepped in front of Bo as the tension in his troops went up about ninety-nine percent.
"Hey!" the yell came from the opening. Tamsin was standing by Dyson and they both looked more than angry. Hale let out a frustrated yell and then started walking towards the bar in silence. The rest of the group turned as one and then followed him as the guards looked on.
xxxXXXxxx
Lauren and Bo had made great time but as they approached the Fort, it was strange to find the fight over and silence on the battlefield as they pulled up. Bo let her power flow and sensed the extra fae in the compound. Jumping off the back of the bike, she motioned Lauren to wait until she could figure out what was up. Lauren had pulled off a safe distance; watching she saw Bo pause and then the uniformed men of the Light fae step out of the doorway. Bo had blasted them but she turned and motioned Lauren to take off. The only reason that Bo would do that was the Fort was not safe for her. Lauren hit the gas and headed off to the side to put some distance between herself and trouble.
Rounding to a high point on the far side of the Fort property, she pulled some binoculars from a storage area under the motorcycle seat. There was not much to see, the court yard had troops lining it but there was no urgency to the scene. She sat on the bike and watched. Dropping the glasses from her face she tried to think what to do. There was always running but that was a last resort. What if the crew was in trouble, or Bo or Kenzi? She pushed that out of her head and forced herself to calm down. Putting the binoculars up to her face again she scanned the area. With a gasp, she refocused the glasses and checked again.
"Damn it, General what the hell are you doing?" She had just caught sight of the fae beast by luck, it was on the scent of something and moving fast. Training the device in front of the dog she saw a figure moving quickly, it was hunched over and moving with a strange gait. It wasn't a Trollgre, no this was a tall thin shape. Lauren took a deep breath, thinking she could do nothing to help the members of the crew on the inside. She turned over the bikes engine and headed out to see if she could figure out what General was tracking and then get the last crew member safely home.
xxxXXXxxx
Malek saw the awkward movement of the shape that was making its way across the desert. It was heading right at his location. The flesh eater grinned and thought it would be nice to have something to take the edge off. He turned to say as much to Blood and was surprised to discover his second was motionless on the ground. He reached down and pulled the body up by the shirt. Poking at the flesh he sighed, it was not fit to eat. Blood had become nothing but a dried husk of a skin and bone. All that had sustained him seemed to be gone. There was a pang of something in Malek, it might have been loss but his hunger flared and he tossed the lifeless mass to the side without another thought. Moving to the cave opening he needed to have something to tide him over. His eyes moved to the form traveling towards him and then dove out of the opening to gather his prey.
The wendigo did not fully shift as the hunt he was on did not require such a change. Traveling fast Malek had almost made it to the form when he picked up two things. One was the smell of the fae beast and the other was the sound of a motor. "My, my but this evening is getting better and better." He rolled his head trying to stave off the hunger that was racking his body. "I must move fast." he thought and charged down to valley floor.
The Lead Council was numb now. The pain, the fear had all been replaced by anger, "Red Valley is another name for hell." He spit out as he moved forward. He never ever should have returned here. This was place of his greatest failure, the location of his undoing, the home of his greatest enemy. There was no question that he would have taken the chance to destroy this part of his past but once again he was nothing but a failure.
Pausing he looked back thinking that he caught a glimpse of something following him but at this point he could really care less. He would get to a stopping point and then he would figure something out, rest is what he needed.
"Excuse me sir." The calm voice came out of the night. The Lead Council jumped so badly he fell to the ground in his surprise. There was a soft chuckle, "Easy there. Well look at you, you've been hurt." A strong hand or was it a claw picked him off the ground. After righting the startled man, Malek stood back and waited for the fae to say something.
"Are you with the Colonel and his crew? I am the Lead Council and I …" the thin fae was spouting words fast and furious. The Malek had to push back the need to kill immediately as the silly fae's actions were tapping every one of his predator triggers with his skiddy behavior.
"No," said the Malek with a voice strong and steady. "No. I am not with the Colonel and I can't say I know what a Lead Council is." The thin fae looked into the face of the thing that had picked him up for the first time. Terror struck his heart and he started to fight to get away but the claws held him tight. "What I am is hungry and you smell delicious." There was a muted scream as the Malek grabbed the man's head and began to crank it around in quick attempt to break the fae's neck.
A roar sounded and a heavy muscular shape slammed into the Malek. Claws and teeth tore into the wendigo as General attacked. Malek swore as the dog grabbed his calf and bit down hard ripping the muscle and puncturing to the bone. The Malek roared in pain and kicked out hard. General was tossed in the air, losing his grip as the flesh pulled away. Smashing out with his fists, the Malek hit the fae beast hard and the stunned form of the large animal hit the ground with a harsh thud and lay very still. The Malek wanted to be sure the dog wouldn't survive and moved to hit him again but the roar of a motor caught his attention.
Angry that his plans were being disrupted on every level, he scrambled to find the Lead Council who was trying to run away. The wendigo ran at him and knocked the thin fae to the ground. This time there was no messing around he slammed his fist into the man's jaw and rendered him unconscious. It wasn't enough to kill him but he would not give away their position. Laying low he waited as the bike arrived on the scene and a woman jumped off. He grumbled that she was only the human from the Fort, but found it interesting that she had the smell of fae all over her. The crew and so many more scents. "General?" she called and he focused on her voice.
"General?" Lauren had been sure she had caught motion in her headlights. She looked around and then saw the still mass and ran towards the big beast. Dropping to her knees, she checked him over. The dog was completely out. There was a pulse but what had happened to him? She stood and turned to move back to her bike but let out a smothered scream as she came face to face with another being that somehow had appear right behind her.
"Good evening. They call you Lew right?" The Malek cooed, Lauren saw the madness in his eyes and then her world went black as she felt the heavy blow hit the right side of her head.
xxxXXXxxx
Cook had taken over the bartending position as all the major characters were seated in the bar portion of the Fort. Everyone had taken a seat when Bo had returned with Jinn and Trick in tow. The spots around the table were occupied and no one looked happy.
Kenzi finally said with a huff, "Okay, Hi I'm Kenzi and," the girl just didn't have the energy for it.
"Screw it," she snarled, "Will someone get on with it. I am not in the mood to play mediator tonight…or this morning or whatever time it is." This brought smiles and a few chuckles from everyone.
Hale cleared his throat, "Well, okay, I am Hale, Ash of the Light, and I was called here to provide assistance as payment for a debt I owed. It was not my intention to cause any problems but things were a bit…violent when I arrived and..."
"You didn't want to get your ass handed to you again by the vampires." mumbled Kenzi a bit too loud to be something she wanted to keep unheard. Hale was about to reply to the comment but a guard walked in, moved to Hale's side and made a quiet report in his ear. Hale shook his head in understanding; he was going to reply as quietly but caught the look of the others at the table and changed his mind.
"Don't pursue just watch. Monitor and keep me informed please." Hale said and then nodded for the guard to exit. Seeing the intensity of the eyes around him, Hale said, "A motorcycle has been seen moving away from the Fort and traveling towards the foothills area. As you have heard we are not in pursuit." He noticed the worry and concern held in the eyes did not dissipate, to the contrary thing got a little worse. Bo's eyes were still flashing and Cappy stood and motioned her to come with him to the kitchen for some more tea. No one was dumb enough to interfere with anything Bo wanted to do and nothing was said as the duo moved off.
Trick said with a harsh whisper, "Hale, the motorcycle, that's got to be…" The look the Ash shot the barkeep was blistering and Trick's voice faded. Trying again Trick said, "I just think it would be a good move for you to…" Hale groaned turned his body slightly away from the older fae.
The Colonel was watching the exchange and was confused, "Hale you said you were called in to help? Who contacted you?" The gremlin knew the answer but it would get the story moving and away from Lauren.
"Trick called me." said Hale. "He told me that he was under attack by vampires and in a location were bounty hunters had been called in to capture persons of interest to the fae." The gremlin nodded to the siren at his careful choice of words. Hale added as more of an explanation, "I was in his debt as well as I consider the man to be a friend and a good advisor." With a half-smile the young Ash continued, "Even when he is being a pain the butt." Trick shot Hale a look and the siren laughed. The Colonel got it, Trick was a father figure to this young Ash.
Gunner said quickly, "Thanks for the help but what now? The threat is gone and yet your guard is still very active." Gunner felt his family was in danger and it had his emotions running high, Kenzi put a hand on the man's arm to calm him. Hale did not miss the move and he frowned at her contact with the other man.
A grin crossed Hale's face, but it was not a friendly look. Suddenly the happy go lucky Hale was gone and the Ash was all too present. With a snap the siren said, "Is the threat gone? As I sit in this place I am looking at powerful fae who shouldn't be here. I believe this is vampire land and we are trespassing. My best advisor had been locked in a room for several hours and has a cut on his hand, which in itself, is a threat to everyone. To top off the evening the fae council had reported their leader as missing and presumed to be this area. So do I think that there is still a threat, halfling? Yes, yes I do." Gunner's eyes flashed at the man and Hale smirked, "Who is going to start talking or do I get to pick who to interrogate first?" Gunner did not flinch as Hale's focus was straight on him.
Dyson sensing the jealousy in his former partner said quickly, "Hale, I don't think you need to worry about…" Holding up a hand Hale stopped him. Dyson as a member of the Light went quiet. There was a soft coughing to the side and Trick mumbles something that no one could make out.
"Hey quiet, Trick is trying to speak." Tamsin said with a helpful smile. She knew the man was not really trying to speak up for everyone to hear but she couldn't help putting the man on the spot. Trick looked at her and she nodded an encouraging motion his way fighting not to laugh at the look on his face. Everyone turned and looked at the blood sage.
When Trick didn't say anything Hale put his hand out with an 'out with it' motion. Trick groaned, "The council has no jurisdiction in these lands. The fae of this area are not aligned with the light or dark. In the old texts they are called shadow fae. Fae forced to live on the fridges of accepted fae society due to their… unusual lifestyle choices."
"You mean make a life with humans." said Lila in a soft dangerous voice.
Trick made a point not to look at Kenzi or Gunner, the only humans in the room as he contined, "At the time, the Red Valley fae were considered allies but there was no acceptance of the offer the council made of alliance so all contact was broken off." The whole table moved at once, some standing others slamming hands on the table others making small surprised noises. Trick shifted uncomfortably and then said, "Technically this valley is their kingdom. They won this area as their land when they defeated the vampire threat five hundred years ago."
"What?" yelled Lila and the Colonel as one. The Colonel was the only voice that continued, "What are you talking about? A Herald from the council told us that this land was forfeit to the vampires through a treaty you wrote. There was no choice to stay or ask for help, only the command we leave our loved ones behind." The bitterness in the gremlin lord's voice was not missed by Trick. "He said if we did not give up our families and leave them to face the vampire threat alone we would be enemy of the fae. We had no choice but to pick the life of an outlaw."
Lila said with tears in her eyes, "The fae council left us to fight alone. Our children were killed, my daughter was killed, only a few of us survived." She shuttered and Cook grabbed her to steady the woman.
Dyson growled with deep disappointment in is voice, "Clarify this Trick, you are not a man to leave children to die at the hands of our enemies."
"No," shouted Trick, "No I lost my own family to war and I would never wish that on any fae." Trick frowned at the memories of this time in his life and the loss and betrayal he felt. He saw his memories matched in the eyes of those older fae around the table. "When the Herald returned from his audience with you, he told the council of your absolute refusal of our offer. According to him you refused any offer of help or alliance. At the time we did not know of his betrayal of the council's intentions towards your group. He had twisted the words on my treaty to fit his prejudices."
Jinn grunted, "Looks like he's not the only one with a warped outlook. You don't seem to be human friendly, Pops. Did it make it easier for you and the council to overlook the gaps that had to be in the dude's story? I wonder." She looked around and found all the eyes looking at Trick but Hale's. He smiled at her and nodded his head in agreement. Jinn thought it was a nice smile then quickly looked away.
Trick did not meet her eyes or anyone else's at the table but continued, "If the treaty had been rightly refused as it was written then it would have been destroyed by burning and the Herald claim that it was. The man displayed ashes as proof." Tamsin rolled her eyes at the weak evidence. Trick shifted in his seat at his increasing discomfort.
"So another proposal was written and presented to the vampires that proclaimed the land theirs. The Herald presented it to the vampire council and they signed it and we had an accord. This is the one in most of the history books." Trick swallowed, "It was later when we, well not really we, but the vampires discovered that something was amiss. First there were the devastating losses of the vampires during the war." The fae at the table rumbled in disgust at his wording and Trick hurried on.
"Later when other vampires moved to this land, they arrived and then were never heard from again. The vampires sent the treaty back calling it a trap. The land given to them was cursed and they threatened full out war if something was not done to right the wrong. Assuming it was a personal vendetta of some sort we punished the only fae that could have been responsible for misrepresenting us and the situation to the vampire council, the Herald. We cast him out of his position of power. He lost all his standing with in the fae and had to start over. This loss of face was enough to satisfy the vampires."
"Wow, you fired him. Bet that stung." said Kenzi sharply. "Something tells me the vampires didn't really buy that but other favors were traded. Let me guess, all those bullshit rules when fae and vampire battle, safety for the swarms and human hunting rights?" Trick ignored her but his silence spoke for him
"We sent representatives to look for fae survivors but found…" even Trick knew that this was nothing that would help. The feeble attempt had been nothing more than a relics hunt and there was really nothing to say that the fae would not have been killed to hide the council's representative's perceived misconduct.
"What happened?" Bo's voice sounded from the kitchen door. Trick frowned and Bo said again, "What happened Trick? Why are you here now? You and the council had to have known something was up. There has to be some reason for you to be involved now. This is too embarrassing of a situation for you normally to get involved in."
"You, that's why I am here. For you and your good name Bo." snapped Trick. "The Lead Council knew you were here and helping Lauren and…" There was a groan from Hale as he shook his head. He motioned to a guard and the man ran from the room. Bo's eyes flared but the Colonel held up a hand with a small smile on his face. Somehow this was enough to settle Bo, she was not happy but was not attacking anyone. It was something about his look that made her think that everything was going to be alright. Trick continued, "He knew you were here with Lauren and he threatened to tell the council if I didn't cover up his involvement with this place." The barkeep tossed a piece of parchment to the group.
"What is that?" asked Cappy. "If you are trying to sucker us in with another agreement you can think again laddie." The group all grinned at the shaman and his reference of the Blood King as a boy.
"No, this is why the Lead Council wanted my help. I thought he meant for me to try to influence Hale more towards the council's point of view but he tossed this out and I was totally surprised. This is the original agreement offered by the council, penned by me. It was written with the same pen that I used to draw up the agreement between the light and the dark fae. Although I didn't supply new blood for the words there is some of my blood laced into the ink that wrote this document." Trick looked at them all as if this would mean something.
Dyson was the only one that had an idea of what had happened. The wolf said, "He couldn't destroy the document because it had not been presented in truth. Your blood in the ink would not allow it. He has had it in his position for all this time. He would have to either return it to you to destroy as the creator or he would have to reintroduce it reading it as written. When the bounty hunters discovered that other fae existed here the Lead Council knew that when they were brought in."
"Not likely." growled Cook."
Dyson rephrased, "When the bounty hunters attempted to bring in these fae," the Stoneling smiled and Dyson grinned, "the lie that the council covered up with his quick removal would be out in the open and his role of Lead Council would be lost. He would be in disgrace once again. It wasn't a trap for the vampires he was hiding but the sacrifice of hundreds of fae due to his views on human fae families."
"Who is this Lead Council? Is he the Herald?" Jinn asked. She looked to the others for clarification.
"Yes. The Lead Council was the Herald of the council at one time." said Trick.
The Colonel's eyes flashed. "That tall skinny son of a bitch is now lead council. I beat him within an inch of his life when he threatened my family."
Dyson and Bo whipped around at the description, Bo said quickly, "Tall and skinny. Did he use a pyro attack?" The crew and Trick nodded. "Shit." said Bo and Dyson echoed her assessment. Seeing the others faces she explained, "General brought our attention to a back door attack right before everything started tonight. We found a tall skinny fae with a couple of Trollgres, we stopped them but the Lead Council got away."
Kenzi all of a sudden felt like crap, "Where is General?" she asked. It wasn't like the dog really needed her to look out for him but still he had picked her out to watch over him. No one was able to answer. Before more discussion was held on the matter two of Hale's guard entered. They leaned over to report. Hale threw is hand out in a motion for them to just say what they needed to say.
"Sir, we tracked the motorcycle to a point some seven miles off to the west. The bike is there along with tracks." The guard looked uneasy as the group of fae at the table was starting to stand with very unhappy looks on their faces. He swallowed and continued, "The prints of one fae man, one human woman where present along with two sets of what could be shifter or animal prints. The one set of prints had the smell of fae beast the other…" the man paused looking uncomfortable.
"Out with it, for God's sake man." said Hale.
"Sir, the other smelled of rot." The guard wrinkled his nose.
Lila let out a small sound of alarm while the others were cussing up a blue streak. "Enough," yelled the Colonel. "She is seven mile out if we get the trucks…"
"With a flesh eater there will be no time," said Cappy with such pain in his voice it spoke for the looks on all their faces.
"A flesh eater, you mean a wendigo?" yelled Hale looking pale.
"Worse, if they call it a flesh eater and they smell rot," growled Dyson, "it's a Malek." We will never reach her in time. His wolf flared and he shifted to this manwolf form in anger.
Bo grabbed Tamsin by the arm, "Do you have another coin, like the one you gave me before?" there was desperation in her voice.
"I do but without an exact location they won't work." Said the valkyrie but she handed over the coin anyway. The pain in Bo's eyes was too much to refuse her anything.
Holding the coin tight Bo whispered to the metal, "Take me to Lauren Lewis." There was nothing. No movement no cold blast to say she was on the way. Bo squeezed the coin tighter and said again. "Take me to exactly two steps behind Lauren Lewis in the foothills outside of Red Valley." Nothing again, the succubus looked crushed and defeated, Kenzi rushed to her friend and through her arms around her. Kenzi was about to say something when a blast of arctic like air took her breath away, in a flash the two women were gone.