Chapter 14
My name is Triktapic. I was King of the Elven race long, long ago. I walked away; I deserted my people to become a killer. The time has come for me to be the King my people need me to be, but to be that King I must be the killer I have become. I must be as ruthless as my advisary; for if I am not, the world as the human race knows it will be gone. Cassie will be gone and that is not acceptable. I am Triktapic, King of the Elfin. My wrath is great and though I once was tolerant of the evil ways that some in my race chose, that tolerance has been burned away by the light of the Forest Lords. I am Triktapic and I am coming.
Cassie wandered through the garden located at the front of the light elves’ castle. It had been several weeks since she had been brought there by the Queen and King. She was beginning to become stir crazy. Syndra kept telling her how unsafe it was for her to go back to her realm but she was ready to take that risk, if for no other reason than to feel human again.
Elora had gone back because she had to go to school and keep the rumors that Cassie had fallen off the face of the earth at bay, not to mention keep Cassie’s mother from freaking out. Cassie was able to call her every day and had gone home one time to keep up the appearance that she was only at Elora’s house, helping Elora get through the difficult time of dealing with memories of her father. Yeah, it was a pretty lame excuse but Sylvia Tate was a very compassionate person and so she was very willing to allow Cassie to be there for her friend as long as her grades didn’t suffer. Elora was bringing her the homework so that she could stay up with her classes but even that wasn’t enough. Cassie wanted to go back. She was in constant pain from being separated from Trik and her heart hurt over the fact that he hadn’t tried to contact her. She had decided that he must not have felt the way she felt. He had never told her that he loved her and maybe he didn’t.
Cassie felt her back pocket vibrate and pulled her phone out. Elora had texted her.
E: Coffee?
C: Def.
E: Come there?
C: Nope, I need out of here. I’m coming to you. Meet you at the coffee shop.
E: See you there. Bye
Cassie stared at her phone in shock. Elora had said bye. That was completely out of character. For a heartbeat she paused, her gut telling her that something wasn’t right, but then what was right? Cassie was living in a castle in a world not of her own. Things were stressful and maybe Elora was feeling sentimental; yeah and that man in hell who wanted ice water had finally gotten it. Cassie pushed the apprehension from her mind and went in search of a mirror to take her back to her own realm, her own life.
Cassie smiled at the chime as she walked into the coffee shop. She took in a deep breath of the rich aroma and closed her eyes. Familiar, that’s what she was feeling, and it was a pleasant break from all the unfamiliar things in her life. She opened her eyes and looked around for Elora. She found her sitting at the back of the coffee shop. Once again, Cassie was assaulted with the apprehension that something wasn’t right. She pushed it away again and headed towards her best friend.
“Hey,” she smiled as she pulled out a chair across from her.
“Hey,” Elora mimicked.
“It feels so good to be back in the land of the humans,” Cassie joked lightly. She felt a familiar wave of pain pulsing through her veins and took slow breaths, attempting to get through it without cringing.
“How are things at school?” She asked trying to distract herself from the pain.
Elora shrugged. “You know, same old, same old.”
Cassie noticed that Elora seemed uncharacteristically restless. Usually her friend was unflappable, steady, and completely subdued.
“Everything okay?” She asked her.
Elora shrugged again. “I don’t know. Let’s get out of here.”
“Oh, um, okay.” Cassie’s eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Elora stand and begin to walk off, not bothering to wait for her. That was more like her friend so she followed, deciding that maybe she was just having an off day. Everyone had off days…right?
“Elora, where are you going?” Cassie hollered as she watched Elora disappear around the corner of the shop. She quickened her pace and just as she rounded the edge of the building she felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck and then blackness engulfed her.