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“She really liked daggers and the staff. She was very good at it too. Did a lot of the training with the new soldiers.” He grabbed the staff and held it out to me. It’s a light colored wood, light in weight too. I can see dents and dings all over it. I give it a test swing and jab it out. “Now, I’m not great at the staff but I will show you the basic moves. If you find it’s something you would like to get better at I will have Ferrick or Pharoah teach you.”
“We have to make sure he is okay. I need to see if he still has those veins on him.” Kreed nods.
“I’ll have Greer take him a letter to meet us here when he has a chance. But for now,” he picks up a staff. “Let’s start.”
Kreed wasn’t kidding. We have been at this for hours and I am exhausted. I push through though. Something about the feeling of my muscles burning makes me feel invigorated. Tired but invigorated. Also, I am very hungry. The sun is starting to fall in the sky which tells me it's definitely lunch time.
“I need food.” I say state. Planting both my feet in the dirt, leaning onto my staff. “Water too.” I have so much sweat down my back it’s unreal. “Also, a shower.” Kreed walks up and grabs my staff and places mine and his back on the rack. He turns back to me and holds his hand out.
“Come, S’rella. Let's get some food and a shower.” We walk hand in hand back into the house and straight to the kitchen. “Sit.” He nods to a couple of stools on one side of the gigantic island. I pull a stool out and Kreed gets us both a glass of water. He places one in front of me. “What would you like to eat? I can make a sandwich or I can make some eggs. There may be some sausages or…bacon. It’s from a pig-like animal here.”
“Way to sell it.” I laugh. “A sandwich will be fine. We can do something more exciting for dinner.” He nods and turns to his fridge. He grabs sliced meat and some condiments.
“Picky?” I shake my head.
“Make it however you would.” I sit back and sip my water and watch him make the sandwiches. “So tell me about the last war.” Kreed pauses for a moment and looks over to me. He looks back down at the sandwiches.
“The last war was about fifty years ago. Your mother fought with me and my company. The Dreggars are a foul creature. They look like those creatures from your Lord of the Rings movies. They don’t live by a code and they definitely don’t fight fair. They are however highly intelligent contrary to that movie. They came here claiming to want trade. Their government sent many of their kind over. Over the course of a year or so. We all knew they were planning something. They just have this horrid aura to them. We kept them at a distance but still negotiated trades, as to keep an eye on them.
We were trying to figure out their motive. They said they found us by accident. I found that hard to believe. I still do. It’s not easy to just accidentally land on an occupied world. It also seemed like they knew about us. The way they talked and seemingly knew their way around.” Kreed hands me my sandwich and I take a bite out of it immediately.
“Anyways, we woke up one morning to warning bells sounding from everywhere, birds were dropping letters on us. Pecking me and my men awake. We sounded the alarm and got everyone moving. The ones who could fly went to the farthest villages and those on foot ran to the closest. We found hundreds of the Dreggars pulling women and children out of their homes. Men took up any weapon they could find; hoes, kitchen knives, brooms. Some have the ability to materialize weapons like me. Not many though.
We won, but barely. Bathaile decided she had enough blood being spilt on her and she took the reins and swallowed the Dreggars up. Their weapons had been tainted with something that halted our healing. Many of the Fae died. Many more were in hospitals for months.” He takes a few moments to scarf his sandwich down. He swipes the crumbs into his hand and tosses them into the trash under the sink.
“We took many prisoners, trying to figure out their reasons and what they used to stop our healing. Nothing much came of it. They just said it was ‘the beginning’ and refused to tell us anything. Eventually they were killed.” Kreed leans against the counter crossing his arms facing me.
“Did you ever figure out what they meant by ‘the beginning’? Did something else happen?”
“No. We haven't heard from them since. It’s been fifty years of peace. No one has ‘dropped’ onto our lands. All the islands have pulled together to make sure nothing goes unnoticed. Which is why I’m sure Furden has informed the other islands and countries about the domes.” I nod finishing up my sandwich. I gather my thoughts for a moment.
“Do you think the Dreggars are what is behind the domes? Or something else?”
“Something else. The Dreggars made no show of magical abilities. They had weapons and excellent fighters. Made even better by whatever the hell it was that stopped our healing. No, this is something new. I wonder if we will see who is behind the domes since you broke one. They may be signaled and they may come check it out.” His eyes shoot to mine quickly and pushes off the counter, stalking out of the kitchen. I jumped off the stool to catch up with him. He heads straight for his office. He shoves the door open and pulls out a sheet of paper.
“Whistle for Greer would you S’rella.” He points to the window. I rush over and open it up. Kreed scribbles on the paper while I whistle for Greer. She must have been close because in seconds she was diving into the window. I quickly shuffled to the side letting her through. I walk over to the desk trying to see what Kreed is writing. Before I can he rolls it up and summons Greer closer. She holds her little clawed foot out to him and allows him to clip the metal tube to her leg.
“Quickly Greer to Furden.” Greer shoots out of the window like a rocket. “You stay here. Do not come out of this house until–”
“Excuse me?”
“I have to go watch where you took the dome down. I have to leave now. I asked for Ferrick to stay with you.” He kisses the top of my head. I nod in understanding.
“I’ll stay.” It’s not like I would be helpful. I can’t fight if it comes down to it. I can only see things others can not. Kreed rushes out the door. I wander to the window and look around. The sun is low in the sky and slowly sinking towards the horizon. I watch the birds flit around and find their way home.
I can’t just sit here. I need to do something. Literally anything. The windows. I can watch from the windows from the hall. I can see if there is anything unusual. With my mind made up I stalk down the hall and look at the carvings. They are beautiful. It’s a depiction of a meadow and some animals and lots of flowers. Fairies bathing in a small pond.
I try to lift the panel but it’s ungodly heavy. I try several times more but I can barely budge it. Not wanting to break or damage it I decide to see if I can watch from my room. I push the door open and grab a chair. I pull it as far back and close to the windows. I look out and I can see a bit of the area we were in but it would be a much better vantage point from the hallway.
I sat there for a while watching intently. So intently I don’t notice someone has entered the house until they are in my room. I scream when someone makes their presence known.
“Fuckin a’ cotton!” I scream and jump up and swing my fist. I connect with a face.
“Gods damn woman!” Ferrick holds his chin.
“Oh shit, Ferrick. I’m sorry. You scared the shit out of me and I’m on edge.”
“At least we know you have a mean right hook.”
