Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2015 18:33:59 +0400
From: Nell Bas <helledon12@gmail.com>
Subject: the last feres/ the feri circle 18

Happy reading!

				The Feri Circle
				  Chapter 18

   Helledon was taller in person. His silvery eyes were his most prominent
features. Cat-like, they swirled and gleamed as they caught the light from all angles.

   He flippantly scratched his small bald head as he stared at each member of our
little group.

   'It's nice to see you out Elle,' he said with a leveled voice and tone, 'although,
daddy doesn't approve of your new friends. Why don't you run along now and go
back to your room where you will be safe.'

   Elle clung to Nickolas and shook her head no. Helledon grinned and shook his
own head when Nick shoved Elle behind him.

   Helledon raised a brow at his adopted daughter.

   He then switched his gaze onto Nick and frowned. 'You should know, little
warlock, my daughter is all I have in this world and I won't share her with
anybody.' He lifted a hand and pointed it at Nick. 'There's only one man in Ellie's
heart and he is me.'

   Jets of lightning came out of his hand and sped towards Nick who stood his
ground. Helen gave out a cry as Nickolas raised his hands to parry the lightning
bolts. They never reached him. Amegra had jumped in front of him and redirected
the lightning bolts back to Helledon.

   Helledon opened his arms and absorbed the lightning back into his body
without even flinching.

   He gave out an exuberant laugh.

   'Meg,' he said, faking surprise. 'I almost didn't recognize you there. What has it
been seventeen ... eighteen years?'

   'More like twenty,' Amegra replied.

   Helledon laughed. 'Come now, Meg. No need to be so cold. We are after all
rooting for the same team.'

   Same team... what's he talking about?

   Wren looked at his mom expectantly. The question mark of his face was hard
to miss.

   Amegra noticed. 'I'll handle this,' she said walking towards the Keeper of
Sandridon.

   Helledon laughed again. 'By all means do, Meg. Show them how mean and
ugly I am rather than tell the boy the truth.'

   Amegra halted halfway to him and Helledon gave another laugh.

   'What's he talking about mother?' Wren tersely asked.

   'Do not listen to the raving of a mad man,' Amegra said to Wren. Something
in her voice made me doubt her words. She then turned back to her rival and said,
'and you, bastard. You're not going to tear down the bond I have with my son.'

   Helledon laughed even louder.

   'Ahh... how ironic to hear you speak of your maternal bond when you spent
your entire life running away from him.'

   Instinctively we all looked at Amegra. She was shivering with rage. Helledon
was getting under her skin.

   'Don't listen to him. He's lying. He's trying to turn us against each other,'
Helen said.

    'Let's kill the bastard and get it over with,' Cole said from beside her.
   Helledon smirked. 'Yes, let's do that.' He clicked his fingers and a horde of
deformed looking men appeared all around us. They pointed their weapons at us.
Some of them were actually growling like rabid dogs.

   The heat coming from Cole told me that he was gearing up for battle. The
others were just as eager.

   I suddenly didn't hear the noise beyond the hill where I know the others were
fighting off Xell's army. I wondered what happened. If anyone noticed it too, they
didn't show it.

   'I have enough of this,' Amegra blasted Helledon with her power and he
crashed into a pillar.

   A surreal feeling coursed through me as everyone jumped into action. Like a
dragon, Cole spat fire onto the deformed warrior closest to him. Taking his cue,
Helen engaged the one closest to her.

   Wren shifted. He made a dash for his mom but was stopped short when three
warriors wielding swords barred his path. He growled as they closed in on him.
Fearing for his life I flailed my arms and sent one soaring three feet off the ground
before crashing down into a heap not far off.

   Truth be told, I regretted doing that. Honestly, I shouldn't have done it
because that simple action cost me more energy than what I gained. Wobbly on
my feet, I felt myself falling.

   Nick and Elle reached me in time to steady me.

   'Rye, are you ok?' Nick asked.  I nodded yes even though I was barely able to
stand.

   I didn't understand. I thought I was getting better.

   'Stay here with him,' Nick said to Elle, 'and don't let him out of your sight.'

   Ignoring my protest he rushed and engaged one of the remaining enemies in
front of Wren.

   The warriors were fierce. They attacked with such brute force. Nick buckled in
parrying the warrior's sword with his bare hands. Meanwhile Wren was grazed by
his opponent.

   'Take it easy,' Elle said, sensing my eagerness to join in the fray. 'They're doing
fine on their own.'

   I didn't answer her. I just concentrated on the feri energy all around me. I tried
absorbing as much of it as I could but it wasn't fast enough to bring me back to
full strength.

   Elle spoke to me. Again, I didn't respond. My focus was on Wren. He was
having a hard time bringing down the warrior in front of him.

   A cry from Amegra drew my attention to her. Helledon had absorbed her
energy blast only to return it to her tenfold. She writhed in agony on the ground.

   Helledon grinned and wiped a spatter of blood from his cheek. His hands
sparked with lightning as he swaggered towards the last member of his circle.

   'Now you die Meg,' he said. 'Too bad though. I liked you best of all our
brothers and sisters.'

   He raised his hand. My heart sank as it came down hard and sparkled electricity
through Amegra. Her cries deafened me. Helpless, I closed my eyes and prayed for
a miracle.

   Suddenly she stopped yelling. At first I thought she'd died but then I opened
my eyes to see Helledon in flames. Cole attacked him as Wren, finally rid of his
burden, pulled his mom off the paved temple floor and into the grassy field.

   He cradled her with tenderness as she clung to him. They were too far for me
to hear what she was saying but it looked like she was saying her goodbyes.

   'Take me to them,' I said to Elle.

   She half dragged me to them.

   Just as we reached the grass a warrior appeared in our way. Without a second
thought Elle manipulated some feri energy and threw it at him. He melted away as
the energy consumed him. I was impressed but that feeling was short lived because
I was determined to reach my bond-mate.

   Finally there, Elle dropped me on the ground next to Wren. Amegra mumbled
incoherently as Wren held her close in his arms crying.

   I was consoling him when I noticed Amegra trying to grasp the tiny orb from
her necklace. Orb!

   I took it and placed it in her hand. She closed her eyes but whatever she was
trying, wasn't working.

   'What is she doing?' Elle asked.

   'She's trying to activate her orb. She's a feri child. Her orb is the only thing that
can heal her and keep her alive.'

   'Do something,' Wren said forcefully.

   I dropped my gaze in defeat. 'I don't know how it works.'

   'Let me,' Elle said removing Amegra's necklace from around her neck. The
moment she closed her palms around it, Elle's eyes became white as smoke.

   Wren and I exchanged looks. This was a familiar scene for both of us. My eyes
also do that each time I have a vision. Wren and I, even Amegra watched her.

   Forty seconds later her eyes cleared and she smiled.

   'I know what to do.'

   She ran her fingers along the middle of the orb until she found what she was
looking for. She applied pressure and the orb snapped breaking into pieces,
although, they didn't fall to the ground. They hovered between her open palms.
Extending her hands outward, the orb fragments reformed into a bigger sphere.

   When it was done, Amegra reached for it. As soon as she touched it her body
turned to smoke and sipped into the orb.

   'I did it,' Elle happily said.

   She gave the memoria to Wren. He cradled it as he tried to wipe away his tears.

   'She'll be fine now,' I told him. 'Her orb will heal her and she will be good as
new when we release her and the others from their slumber.'

   He nodded and forced a smile. He knew I spoke the truth.

   'Elle I need a boost of energy. Do to me what you did with the warrior on our
way here.'

   She actually look horrified. 'It will hurt you like it did him.'

   No it won't. Feri energy won't hurt me. In fact it will do the opposite. I didn't
say it out loud because I wasn't a hundred percent sure.

   'Don't fret. Just do as I ask.'

   She looked at Wren. And he nodded yes.

   Hesitantly, she pulled a concentration of feri energy and pushed it into me.

   My body convulsed as it coursed through my system.

   God the feeling!

   Invigorating!

   It was like the time Alex and I smoked a joint or two in his room on the night
of our eighteenth birthday. It revived every cell in my body all at once. I don't
know how long I bathed in the glow of the ecstasy before I felt Wren slapping my
cheeks.

   I opened my eyes and smiled at him. His worried expressions melted away as
he stared into my eyes.

   'Great feri,' he said. 'I thought you'd over dosed and gone into shock.'

   I laughed giddily. I was still high.

   'Is he going to be okay,' Elle asked Wren.

   'Yes, he's fine. He just had an energy rush. Here, help me get him on his feet.'

   They pulled me up and let go of me. The rush was over and I felt fine now. I
told them so.

   'Good. The others need us. Let's go help them.'

   I turned to see our friends. They had been herded in the middle of the temple
surrounded by the enemy. Helledon's pants had caught fire and he was patting it
out.

   'Looks like I have you all surrounded. And by the look of things, you're not
going anywhere. Too bad your king abandoned you. He turned out to be a bigger
coward than I thought. Too bad you won't live long enough to see his humiliation
when I catch up to him.'

   'Guess again loser,' I yelled for him to hear.

   All eyes turned to me as Wren, Elle and I emerged from the field.

   'Well, he didn't run,' he began but was unable to finish as the earth started
shaking beneath our feet.

   'Ah! Reinforcements are here,' Wren said.

   I turned to see Malik, Charlie's brother in law, standing in a large circle of fire
on the other side of the field hand outstretched.

   'Is he the one causing the earthquake,' Elle asked barely able to keep to her
feet.

   'Yeah. He's an earthmover,' Wren simply said.

   The tremors stopped. Charlie, Eric, Stryker, Nicodemus along with three dozen
warriors emerged from behind Malik. Xell was with them and Stryker had a blade
pressed against his throat. He looked rather pathetic.

   'Where did they come from? I thought we were doing this on our own.'

   Wren chuckled. 'Do you honestly think Charlie would come all the way here
with a bunch of kids knowing the power our enemy wields? By now you should
know your uncle. He thinks of everything that man. Malik is a Mageling elder. He
possesses a portal ring, one of the four Feri relics owned by the Mageling leaders.
Charlie knew it would work on the Island because of its origin. That's how they
got here.'

   I was floored by the news. 'Why wasn't I informed?'

   I noticed a few Nereii amongst the warriors. They had come onto the shore.
Meaning we'd won.

   'Well aren't you clever,' Helledon said to Charlie. Somehow he knew he was
responsible for this.

   'Thank you,' Charlie humbly said. 'Now if you please. Put down your weapons
and surrender.'

   Helledon had the audacity to laugh. 'Don't count your chickens before they
hatch my friend.' He then stared at Charlie. If looks could kill, my bodyguard
would be dead by now. 'You've won this battle but the war is far from over.'

   Blue, laced with dark smoke, swirled above his head.

   'Master, please. Do not leave me here. Please save me. Please save me,' Xell
begged.

   'Be a man and die with dignity you worthless piece of shit.' Helledon scolded
before the smoke came down on him and he vanished.

..............................

End of chapter 18