Page 25 of A Deception of Courts

“Why though?” I asked. My voice filled the cavernous room and echoed back at me.

“I’m prepared to answer any question you have, but you will need to be more specific,” Rafaela replied. She stood from her chair, her wings twitching with unspent energy. Even folded, I could recognise the pure strength and span of her feathered limbs. If she were to extend them here, they would likely break out on either side of the cabin’s wooden walls.

“Why do we not know of you?” I extended my question, following her as she skirted the table toward us.

“You may expect a story of jealously, conflict of power or perhaps hate. But I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you with the answer. The Creator simply did not require us in Durmain. After the great divide, it was agreed the fey would linger in Wychwood and the humans in Durmain. Our job, of ensuring peace, was not required.”

“The humans are safe from us.” Althea shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “It would seem it is the other way around now.”

“Indeed,” Rafaela nodded. “The Creator’s word we had been entrusted to spread, had already spread like wildfire across the humans. Our purpose had been met.”

“So, the Creator filed you away like ancient books in a long-lost library, ready to call upon you when the world finally forgot about him?” Althea suggested.

Rafaela shook her head, braids of deep brown hair twisting around her shoulders. “Not quite, Althea Cedarfall. The Creator does not wish to force his presence on humans. Faith must be found, not forced. If it was not for the threat of the Defiler’s return, we might never have sailed across the seas to find this land again. Some of us even feel disappointed in our return, but we have a purpose.”

“To spread his word?” I asked, but felt as though I already knew the answer.

“To protect them from our shared enemy,” the other woman said. Her voice was light with youth. I could tell from her sharp tongue I had offended her with my suggestion. “Unlike the Nephilim of the past, our purpose this time is very different. Aldrick wishes to bring forth a threat that will annihilate the human race. We’ve come to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“And what of the threat to the fey,” I added, tension unravelling in my gut. “Do you care for us?”

“Of course we do, however, that is your responsibility, is it not? Powerful kings and queens, you already have the magic to protect the fey. We are but two sides of the same coin, wanting the same outcome.”

“To spread his word?” Seraphine snapped. “Seems like a rather relaxed way of protecting humans.”

“Did you miss the second task he bestowed upon us?” the younger Nephilim said, tilting her head to the left.

“ProtectHisword. What little of the faith remains, it is our duty to ensure it does not dwindle,” Rafaela said.

“So, let me get this straight. You show up now because of Duwar?” Seraphine asked, brows furrowed and teeth bared.

Rafaela nodded, grimacing as the name of the banished god seemed to fill every quivering shadow of the cabin. “The demon god is coming. For the sake of us all, we must ensure the gate to its dimension is left untouched, secured and closed. Duwar’s return will affect us all, no matter what lands we live upon. It just so happened that you found yourselves in the crossfire of our visit to meet with the Defiler’s chosen subject. And for that, again, I apologise.”

“Then you might like to know that you are late,” I added. “Aldrick left Lockinge in search of the keys. If you were hoping to catch up with him, we better end this conversation and let you go.”

“You know of the keys?” There was no disguising the worry in the younger girl’s voice. I looked at her face, seeing how the emotion across it betrayed her. Her hair was golden, as though the sun itself laid its presence upon her head and gifted her with a head of its own light. Piercing blue eyes set nestled upon her face like jewels. Unlike Rafaela’s wings, hers were a dark brown. Among their feathers, I could see other beige tones that reminded me of an owl. And her wide eyes only added to her appearance of wisdom.

“I knowofthem, but not what they are or where,” I replied. “Aldrick enjoyed boasting about his plans but giving only enough away that still kept him steps ahead.”

“He is blind in his search,” she replied. As though reading my mind, she quickly answered my thought. “My name is Gabrial, and I am the Creator’s script. Memory of his word in flesh.”

“What an introduction,” Seraphine mumbled beneath her breath. “Do you all have fancy titles?”

“Gabrial,” Althea added in hopes of burying Seraphine’s distrust, quickly drawing the young girl’s attention from the assassin back to her. “Do you believe Aldrick doesn’t know where to look for the keys that will unbind Duwar from his imprisonment?”

“Considering Aldrick had one key in his very possession and let it slip carelessly through his fingers, all without knowing, it would suggest he doesn’t,” Rafaela said. “I know Aldrickthinkshe knows where to search, for the Defiler will whisper many lies in his ear. However, they are both as lost and blind as a lamb without its mother. But he knows they will be within Wychwood, so that is where he will start looking. And usually, when you look for something, you end up finding it. We are here to stop him before he does.”

I stood without realising, mind focused on only one thing Rafaela had just let slip. “He had one?”

Gabrial smiled knowingly, tracing her bright stare from the crown upon my head to the polished toe of my boot. “Once he recognises a key for what it truly is, the rest of them will easily lay themselves before him for the claim. It is our duty to ensure he never discovers them.”

“Then we must get to them before he does,” I spluttered. “Destroy them so neither Aldrick nor anyone else weak enough to allow a demon to fill their minds can attempt this again.”

Gabrial looked to Rafaela, who shared the worried expression. Without uttering a word, Rafaela seemed to communicate something to the girl.

“Destroying the keys is not an option,” the third Nephilim said. It was the first time he had spoken, his deep voice a low rumble, like the distant song of thunder before a storm. As he laid his eyes on me, I sensed a mistrust in his stare that didn’t waver.

“We would all be liars if we did not admit that destroying the keys would be the easier route to stopping Aldrick from freeing the Defiler,” Rafaela added, drawing the focus back to her. “However, doing so would simply unlock further problems that even we do not have the power to stop. I’m the Creator’s hammer. Enforcer of His word. And if I can recognise that destruction is not the way out of this, then know it for truth.”

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