Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

I flexed my hands at my sides, trying to keep my anger at bay. “Just because something is different doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong here,” I answered evenly. “The Goddess of the Stars gave us a magic tower that exploded, creating the world, the gods, the animals. Just because the Veil didn’t appear until Aurora Fairshield started messing around with Forbidden Magic doesn’t mean that it didn’t come from the Goddess too.”

The Obelisk they had called it. The beginning of everything. A symbol of new life. I had drawn my own depictions of what it might have looked like, but no one truly knew, not even the gods. A mystery no one in the world, alive or dead, could solve save for the Goddess of the Stars herself.

“How do you know about that?” Cole asked, trying to catch my eye.

I rolled my head, trying to stretch out my neck a little. “I’m not in the mood to answer,” I replied, tossing a look in the direction the verlacs had run. They had lost so much today when they shouldn’t have. I hated it. I should be trying to help them not Cole Lorily.

“I want them anyway,” he pushed. “I want to know how you know enough about the Nephilim and Fallen to recognize me. Why you smell so different.”

I sneered. “Stop smelling me. It’s an invasion of privacy.”

“Can’t help it, you smell good. Like…citrus and stories.”

I couldn’t help but look over at that, studying him. Big, dried blood cracking on his neck, around his mouth, dirt creased into the lines around his eyes when he smiled. I wondered how old he actually was. He currently looked around 30. “Stories?”

He nodded. “As in writer. You write, don’t you?Citrus, parchment, ink, and something else I can’t quite put my finger on.” After a moment of consideration, he shrugged. “I’ll figure it out eventually, Talons.”

I frowned and turned back to the path. “Come on, I just want to get you healed up and on your way. I have stuff I need to do.” Like maybe have a moment to myself in the bath where I could release some of this tension, some of the energy from being hunted and then saving the demons.

Even at the thought, I rubbed my hands on my thighs. I was fucked in the head, but I still needed it.

“Human remedies won’t…” his words trailed off as my pace quickened. “You know that already.”

I tossed a look back. “I know a lot of things. We’re almost there.”

~~~

Cole

Curious. Why advocate for the demons? Why help me?

The humans hated the Fallen. They hated all Nightwalkers. They tortured and killed them on display for all to see, I had seen it. Seen the guts of the magic-folk slipping from their rotting bodies, pinned to those crosses.

I met all kinds of humans. The corrupt politicians, the liars, cheaters, thieves. The torturers. The children. But never a kind human. One that cared about other species’.

She was beautiful, from what I could see of her, at least. Bruised, working hands, nimble fingers, beautiful curves, thick. I preferred women a little bit thinner, but she did have something about her thatdrew me in. She was also athletic, it would seem, from how easily she moved among the demons, how easily she stayed ahead of me without trying.

I followed her through the Forest of Malice, remaining behind her because she clearly didn’t want to be around me. Or doing this, yet she was doing it anyway. Another curiosity about her that intrigued me.

“You live in these woods?” I finally asked, tired of the silence.

There shouldn’t have been anyone living in these woods, but Trick hadn’t prepared me for coming here anyway. It had been a last minute drunken decision. Trick never drank, but last night? He had held firm to his decisions this morning though. Why he had suddenly taken an interest in the demons was beyond me, but who was I to argue with such a prestigious High King? High King of Dicks.

“In a cottage,” she answered, her voice unemotional. “We found it years ago.”

We. She had a partner. Perhaps she saved me because she had thought I was that partner, and now she was stuck with the consequences. “And you both thought it’d be a good idea to move in?”

She glanced up to the graying skies. “Yes,” she answered simply.

Not one for many words.

I followed her gaze up through the branches, studying the little bits of sky I could see though the leafless branches. “Winter?” I asked, turning back to her. “You aren’t moved in yet,” I realized. “You’re trying to get it ready before winter, aren’t you?”

She inhaled deeply as if it were the last thing she wanted to discuss with me. “It’s just around the bend,” she replied flatly.

No, Trick hadn’t mentioned anyone living here, but even if he had known, this woman was trying to be kind. Alone in this forest, it almost surprised me that she still held a shred of kindness. If I had run into a stranger in the woods, I would have killed him on the spot. Maybe she felt like she had no choice.

Maybe she was working with the High King of Terigard and had other plans for me.