I cast a detection spell to hunt for anyone who might be hiding themselves here, but found nothing to suggest that I wasn’t alone as I dropped from the sky and landed softly in the centre of the ring of stones.
I looked around at the enormous lumps of rock, wondering if an earth Elemental had cast them into existence here because there was no sign of any other stones about the place.
The charm in my fist heated further as I stood there and as I opened my hand to look at it, I found myself tugged into another vision, this one of my father as well as my mother, with Lionel and the other Celestial Councillors all standing close by and watching as the king stood in the centre of this stone circle.
“Have they destroyed the Nymphs who created this?” Seth’s mother Antonia asked and I looked to see what she was referring to, noticing the crackle in the air at the centre of the stone circle as I did so.
“The FIB are on the hunt,” King Hail replied, moving forward and placing a hand in his pocket as he scowled at the rift.
“How many of these things have you discovered?” Tiberius Rigel asked as he stepped closer to inspect the rift, the taint of dark magic coating the air surrounding it and clearly making all of them wary.
“Enough to be concerned,” the king replied. “I think we need to focus our efforts on hunting the Nymphs down and annihilating their foul race once and for all.”
“They’ve grown too good at hiding over the years,” Melinda Altair murmured. “But if you can deal with these rifts as you say then perhaps it’s not such a concern.”
“The Nymphs will always be a concern,” my mother replied.
“How would you know when you can’t even see them?” Lionel asked in a teasing tone.
“I’ve seen enough of the future to know they could cause all kinds of problems for our kind if nothing is done to stop them,” she replied.
“Perhaps we are looking at this the wrong way,” Lionel murmured, stepping into the stone circle alongside the king and reaching his hand out towards the rift, causing shadows to coil out and brush against his fingers. “If we could figure out a way to harness them then imagine the power they could provide.”
My father laughed loudly, knocking Lionel aside with his shoulder, the force enough to make him fall against one of the huge stones as he strode forward.
“Azriel, explain to Lord Acrux why that is a terrible idea,” the king said in a condescending tone which I could tell riled Lionel to no end while the other Celestial Councillors all seemed amused by his rebuke.
A man I hadn’t even noticed stepped out from behind one of the largest stones, pushing a pair of golden glasses up his nose which hummed with enough magic to let me know they were doing far more than enhancing his vision. He had dark, messy hair and a pale complexion, his clothes expensive but worn without much care like he only dressed so well to suit appearances. He seemed slightly irritated to have been drawn away from whatever he’d been studying, and I couldn’t help but feel a little amused as I noted that similarity to his son.
“The shadows aren’t a toy to play with or lay claim to,” he said, taking his glasses off and tucking them into his breast pocket. “They are a living, feeling embodiment of their realm. You could never hope to wield them the way you wield Elemental magic no matter how much effort you went to to contain them. Their power is corruptive, mighty and endless. Each shadow is connected to the next no matter how you may try to divide them, and only death would lay in the fate of anyone fool enough to try and take ownership of them for themselves.”
“You would think being among the most powerful Fae of our generation would be enough for you,” Tiberius teased and Lionel laughed along.
“Well, one can never have too much power,” he replied with a laugh.
That hungry look never left his gaze as he kept it trained on the rift, like a starving creature aching for a taste of life.
“Knowledge is power, so I can admit I agree with that,” Azriel replied and Lionel gave him an assessing look.
“You know, Azriel, I think you would benefit from a little time with your nose out of a book and some time spent in the company of a beautiful woman. I shall have to introduce you to my dear friend Stella Columba - she is a powerful Vampire and should be more than interesting enough to give you some reprieve from the monotony of all those books you love so dearly.”
“I don’t know that I’m entirely suited for marriage,” Azriel said with a nervous laugh. “Most women find they don’t like having to compete for my attention with my love of knowledge.”