CHAPTER TWELVE
Dean
The Fae had Aaron pinned under the magic dome he'd created, and nothing was getting through, not bullets, not fire, not even Zak's hellhounds. And the thing that the Fae had pulled out of Zak was on the ground looking like shit.
"Everyone stop!" Zak bellowed behind me. "Lord of Great Knowledge, First Master of Druids, we yield!"
I whipped around to see our Druid friend on one knee, gasping for breath with his hands up in surrender. He looked about as good as the Fae that had been pulled out of him, but more conscious.
"Drop your weapons!" He shouted again.
"What?" I yelled back, gun still cocked and aimed at the Fae's head. He was only two feet away, if we could get the dome to drop, he'd be dead.
Zak's eyes narrowed and slid from me then back to the Fae. "We will negotiate." He stated calmly and, with a grimacey cough, pushed himself up to standing.
Sam looked at me, then to Zak, who nodded. Still looking confused Sam held up his hands and shoved the gun into the back of his jeans. I looked to my right at Kai who sheathed his katana, put his hands up and backed up a few steps so that he was standing a foot or so away from Zak's right.
His foot still firmly planted between Aaron's shoulder blades, the Fae turned to me, his amber eyes steely.
"Dean." I looked to my left at Sam, who was watching the Dagda. "Dean, drop it."
Scowling, I held up my hands and holstered my gun. Slowly, the bastard took his foot off Aaron's back and the fire resistant vines dissolved. Aaron pushed up to his knees and, then…THEN he extended his hand to help him up. Aaron just knelt there for a second; eyes wide, not knowing how to react, he slid his eyes to Zak, who looked just as clueless, then hesitantly took the offered hand. I looked to Sam, "What the hell?" I mouthed. Eyes wide, Sam shrugged, and shook his head.
While everyone was still gawking at the, apparently, abnormal scene taking place, I crossed the short distance to Zak, who had managed to maintain his poker face and look confused at the same time. "What the hell man?" I hissed. "We were supposed to be killing this thing and now you want to negotiate with it? What gives?"
A muscle in Zak's jaw twitched as he death glared me, "He ripped Ryker from my chest, Dean. And I am NOT suicidal." He pressed his lips into a hard line, crossed his arms and put his focus back on the Fae, excuse me, the Dagda. I rolled my eyes and huffed a few curses under my breath before turning back to the Dagda too.
"Very sorry about all… this." Dagda said, gesturing to the whole area. "But," he canted his head and smiled, "now that we are all friends and allies,"
"Friends and allies?" I ground out as I side eyed Zak.
"and you," he gave a lazy smile to Zak, "are no longer a consort, we can negotiate civilly." He inclined his head at Zak, adjusted his harp sling and straightened.
"Why do you have such a dislike for consorts?" Ryker, Zak's fae, or whatever, asked hoarsely, as he dusted off his blue tunic. "They are mutually beneficial."
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Dagda asked, sounding annoyed.
"I'm the…"
"Excuse me," I was losing patience with this thing, "but can we skip the introductions and get back to the fact that added to your killing spree, you just tried to kill all of us, and now you want to negotiate?"
"Hmmph…" Dagda sneered and looked to me with an oh so
shit eating grin, "death is a hazard of The Job though, isn't it Dean Winchester?"
Three pairs of eyes turned to look at Sam and me, and they were all a little more than slightly suspicious about why a Fae like The Dagda would know me by name.
"You, uh, know about us?" Sammy asked, nervously rubbing his thumb and forefinger over the cuffs of his jacket.
"Know about what?" Kai asked, eyes fixed on Sam.
"Please," Dagda rolled his eyes and gripped his harp's sling with both hands, "you two are all those foul creatures your world calls demons are talking about."
"You worked with demons?" Sam asked, and stepped closer to the circle.
"What was I supposed to do?" The 'working with demons' thing was definitely a sore spot because his tone changed from snooty aristocrat to very angry general, as he whipped his head to look at Sammy again. "Those winged, self-righteous assholes refused to help me, and kept trying to kill me!" He snapped. "My strength was wiped out! I had almost no magic! I needed a way to protect myself." He mumbled, sounding embarrassed at that last part.
Ryker cleared his throat, "Why did you not just kill a weaker Fae? Or ask a Druid for help?"
"You don't think that wasn't the first thing I tried to do? Their world has no Druids!" He gestured dramatically at Sam and me. "The humans killed them all!" He snarled at Ryker, "The Fae demnse is practically a dead zone. There is nothing there but pixies and sylphs! And even those were rare!"
"Wait." Zak, canted his head and eyed Dagda curiously, "Why didn't you just rest? Build up your power over time?"
"Do you think I'm stupid, boy?" Dagda sneered, reeling on Zak. "And do you actually believe that I wanted to kill all those Mythics? Especially the ones from their world, where there are so few left?" He snapped, and pointed at Sam and me again.
"Well…" I started.
"No." Zak interrupted sharply and gave me a warning glare. Then straightened a bit taller and stood at a parade rest. His arms crossed behind his back, left hand clasped around his right wrist, "No, of course not. My apologies." He inclined his head in a small bow toward the Dagda.
The Dagda arched an eyebrow at Zak's response and when he replied, his tone was a bit softer. "Of course I tried to build my strength over time." But their world lacks natural magic; I had almost nothing to work with." He gave a heavy sigh, looked at his feet and shook his head, almost as if he felt sorry. "It relies heavily on blood and souls."
"So that's when you called the demons." Sammy stated.
"Yes. The demons taught me how to use the blood magic of your world. " He kept his eyes on his feet, a pained look still on his face, "But," he exhaled slowly, "the magic didn't last long and the price for their help was high." His lips thinned and he looked up again eyes roaming over all of us, almost apologetically. And I almost felt sorry for the guy… Almost.
"That's how you lost your stuff? The magic saucepan and stick thing?" I asked.
"Staff." Zak corrected from behind.
"What-ever." Christ, it's like having two Sams, I thought, and rolled my eyes. "Staff." I air quoted, "You traded it to learn how to use the blood magic."
Dagda, rolled his eyes and looked at me like I was an idiot. "Yes. That's how I lost my 'magic stick'. And it's not a saucepan it's a cauldron." He sneered and bobbed his head left and right.
"Oh, right, sorry, 'cauldron.'"
"Honestly, why you two were chosen is beyond me." His eyes narrowed as he gave me a dirty look then scanned the group. And Sam and me got another round of questioning looks from everyone. "Look, I don't want to kill anymore Mythics… Or endanger anyone else." Dagda stated, fingers splaying up and open on his sling. "That's why I need your help." He looked at all of us hopefully.
"Hah! You. You need our help?" I pointed at myself then to the guys.
"With what? How could we possibly help you?" Sam asked, brows pinched and seeming to not believe what he was hearing.
"Look man," He looked at Sam, "Like you, I just. Want. To go home"
"You want to go home?" Zak asked, his eyebrows rose in surprise and cocked his head as if he hadn't heard correctly, then shot a suspicious look at Rikr. "So it IS a real place?"
"Wait," I held up my hand to try and stop the conversation, "what's a real place?"
" Of course it is." Dagda scoffed, completely ignoring me. "But I don't have the strength to open the gate." He shook his head, sounding frustrated. "And to do that I have to kill the bitch that banished me in the first place." He hissed, while he gripped his harp sling so hard that his knuckles were white. "And, to answer your question," he looked to the Fae, that had previously been riding Zak, "whoever you are,"
"Ryker."
"Ryker." He waved his hand dismissively, "I don't like consorts on principle. That skank killed two of my best Druids to gain enough power to banish me." He growled and tightened his grip on his sling.
I looked back at Zak again and for just a second, he dropped his Vulcan face… His jaw dropped and his eyes looked like they were gonna pop out. Apparently, Fae didn't cuss often.
"Why come back now though? You had centuries in our world," Sam asked. "You must have been there during the plague…"
"Yeah, what's a few more dead bodies? Probably would have been easier to hide." Aaron piped in.
He gave Aaron a disapproving look, "There wasn't enough natural energy to power the spell. I had to wait millennia for the right time."
"And why was now the right time?" Sam pressed.
"The war that's coming to your world, of course." Dagda scoffed "War?" Aaron's eyebrows shot up as he looked at Sammy and I in disbelief.
"Yes, a war." Dagda nodded impatiently at Aaron. "An apocalypse…" His face turned harsh and he took a step to the edge of the circle, so he was standing just a foot away from Sammy, "The one you two are marked for." Through narrowed eyes he eyed Sammy up and down, seeming to judge him. Still staring at Sammy, he continued his explanation. "All the magic condensing to power either side, plus the blood magic, was just enough to bring me back here. Now," he took his eyes off Sammy, finally, then turned back to the others, "your Druid friend," he paused and looked to Zak, "I'm sorry, what's your name?"
"Zak."
The Dagda gave a small nod and smiled, "Yes, your friend Zak has already agreed to help me,"
I glanced over my shoulder, "Oh, has he now?"
"will the rest of you assist?" He looked around to all of us hopefully.
I turned so my body was angled to Zak and could look him straight on then gave him my own death glare. "Again," I asked, looking back at the Dagda, "Why the hell would we help you?"
"Well," he sighed as if the answer was obvious "you should help me because when I consume that bitch, I will still be the only one who can send you back to your realm."
"Not good enough." I shook my head and crossed my arms, "We like it here, don't we Sammy?"
"Yeah, we get paid here."
"See?" I shrugged, "So why shouldn't we just kill you?"
Dagda's nostrils flared and his upper lip twitched, "Fine." His expression turned apologetic as he looked at Zak, "If she doesn't know I'm here already, she will soon, and when she does she will try and draw me out… She knows my weakness."
"And, what, pray tell, is that?" I was losing my patience now.
"She will start killing my Druids…" His eyes flicked to his feet then back to Zak. Aaron's eyes widened and he gave a quick glance to Zak then to Kai, who was mirroring Zak's calm, yet murdery expression.
I watched as Zak slowly uncrossed his arms and stared down the Dagda, "You failed to mention that part." He said through clenched teeth.
Dagda winced, "I needed you, a skilled druid, to agree first."
"You could have just bound me." Zak growled, "Why the charade?"
Dagda scowled, "I don't take slaves."
I turned back to the Dagda and pulled my gun out; pointing it directly at his skull. "Hmmph, well, she doesn't know you're here yet so I vote we just kill you."
He stared at me in annoyance, "Bullets and fire can hurt me, but they won't kill me. And I am not a small-fae from your world or a lower Fae," he nodded to Ryker, whose eyes narrowed in anger, but he didn't correct the Dagda, "so your standard iron trick won't do anything either. It would also take you ages to figure out how to kill me." He replied arrogantly. "Trying to figure it out would be time wasted, a lot of people would die. And I don't think any of us" he nodded to the group, "want anyone else to die. Therefore," he straightened and cleared his throat, "it is in your best interest to help me accomplish my goal as soon as possible."
I looked over my shoulder to Zak who was practically vibrating with anger and had his hands clenched so tightly he was probably drawing blood through his leather gloves. The most noticeable thing though, was that he was staring, very hard, at the ground; probably running through every piece of lore he'd ever heard or read about Fae that might kill this dick.
Son of a bitch… I was still fucking pissed at him (and Aaron) for not telling us he was 'in the family way', or whatever; and while he came off as a high and mighty dick most of the time, I'd be damned if I was gonna let any of them get hurt just so some ancient Fae could hold a grudge match.
"We agree." I said before anyone else could get in a word of protest. But was quickly followed by three simultaneous 'agrees'.
"Excellent." Dagda looked skyward and gave a slow sigh of relief, "now we can--"
"Uh, det det det, not so fast dude," I holstered my gun and held up my hand, "before we get into 'serious negotiations'," I air quoted and took the few steps needed to bring me about a half a foot away from the guy.
"Dean…" Sammy hissed at my left. I held up my finger, not breaking eye contact with Dagda.
"We need to make sure that we aren't taking all the risk here. So, you are gonna swear to protect Zak and his family." I said, loud enough for the group to hear.
His lips pressed into a hard line and twitched, in what I assumed was anger at being forced to deal with the lowly human that I was. Well, tough titties. I reached for the knife strapped to my thigh and flipped the handle to him. His nostrils flared as he snatched the blade from me.
"Very well. I swear by my blood," he sliced his left palm and squeezed so a few drops of blood dropped into the grass, "that I will protect to the best of my ability, Zak's kith and kin while they aid in my endeavour. This I so swear."
He took the blade and flipped the handle back to me, his eyebrows lifted expectantly. "I swear by my blood that I will help the Dagda in his endeavor." It took a lot of effort not to put 'asshole' in there, but even I knew that was a bad idea. I took the knife back and sliced my left palm then we shook our bloody hands, sealing the deal.
I smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, "Awesome. Pleasure doing business with you." I winked and did an about face, "Zak, he's all yours." And pointed my thumb over my shoulder to the still pissy looking Dagda behind me.
I smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, "Awesome. Pleasure doing business with you." I winked and did an about face, "Zak, he's all yours." And pointed my thumb over my shoulder to the still pissy looking Dagda behind me.
I took the three strides to Zak and Aaron; but before I could pass them, Zak grabbed my jacket.
He leaned in, so that his face was only a few inches from mine. "A blood oath? With a Fae? Are you insane?" he hissed.
Valid question. But a blood oath was the only thing that had come to mind to keep this Fae under control, because if either one of us broke the deal, we'd both die. "Meh," I shrugged and smiled, "its been said." Then pulled his hand off my jacket to flank his left. "Now, go get 'em tiger!" and shoved him forward. Which got me a death glare and some muttered cuss words, as he trudged to the circle's edge.
A few minutes later, Aaron, Kai and me were standing in a small grove next to the tree line that bordered the circle, close enough to be of assistance, but just out of earshot from the fancy and exclusive 'negotiations'. The three of us had been benched. Kai and Aaron because The Dagda didn't like 'lightning mages' or 'fire mages', always 'accidentally burning shit'. And me? I was benched because apparently, I'd 'shot him in the leg' and he 'just didn't like me very much.' Leaving only Zak and Sammy to talk terms.
Another 15 mins later and the three of us were waiting impatiently for the 'talks' to finish. Well, Aaron and I were getting impatient, Kai seemed fine and was chillin' on the grass, back against a tree.
"Well, this has been one for the books…" Aaron sighed as he adjusted his baldric, eyes still on Sam, Zak and Dagda.
"Yeah, this definitely is in the Top Ten." I snickered, slipping my cold hands into my jacket pockets.
"Yeah? What are the other…" He stopped and slapped my chest with the back of his hand, taking my focus off of kicking, what I hoped, was just mud, off my boot.
"What?"
He nodded at Sam, Zak and the Dagda, who were headed down the slight slope to us. Sam was smiling and talking to an equally smiley Dagda, And while Zak still looked like he was in a mild state of shock, he didn't look like he wanted to peel the Dagda's skin off anymore. Plus, whatever they were talking about must have been funny, because it even got him, to crack an actual smile.
Stopping just in front of us, Sammy clapped his hand on the Dagda's shoulder, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out Dagda stepped forward, his right hand casually gripping his harp's sling while giving me a shitty grin.
"Well, Dean Winchester, we now have an official contract…" he paused.
"Yeah, and?" This was getting annoying.
He canted his head, "Shall we seal it with a kiss, then?"
Asshole. But I didn't say that out loud. I just grit my teeth and gave the guy a death stare, while the other three guys were looking at me with confused, slightly disgusted, scowls.
Sam, looked around, gave a breathy, nervous laugh and pushed the Dagda past us. Leaving me with three guys who were looking for an explanation for the weird-ass conversation they'd just heard.
"What?" I snapped, looking around.
Aaron held up both hands, and gave a sarcastic frown, "Nothin' man. You do you."
I tried to come up with a witty comeback, but all I managed was an eye roll and an "Ugh" as I stomped past them to follow Sam and the snarky Fae back to Zak's place.
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