Page 11 of Veil of Monsters

The air goddess smiles and I meet her eyes again with a little fear in my chest. This time, her eyes don’t hit me like they did before. Instead, I see how the blue sparkles like a thousand tornadoes are swirling within them. There’s such a sense around her of pure power, and as I look into her eyes, I feel like I’m stuck in time, watching nothing but her eyes for a long while as she searches my chest, digging for my soul. If the sea god used mortal death to keep himself young and alive, how is she doing it?

“You may call me Air, Calli, and as for your internal thoughts, which you are all but shouting my way, I do not need death to keep me alive. I have frozen my body in time, a power of my own. I am not my brother and his ill care for mortals.”

She comes over to me and picks up my hands, her touch like ice. She kisses them both once. “You have my gratitude. Come sit by the fire, both of you. It’s freezing in here. I do like the cold, but most living creatures do not.”

We all go sit down on the small chairs that face the fire, and I’m thankful for the heat. I look around at the archways that lead off this room, no doubt going into bedrooms or various places. I’m wondering how she got the chairs in here in the first place, or did she make them? “Did you come just to see your mother, or did you want something more from me, daughter?”

Posy sighs. “You might have noticed there’s some tension in the world at the moment. Even trapped in here, you once told me you can feel the world.”

“Yes, I might be locked in here, but I can feel changes. I can see images my element brings to me.” Her voice is quiet. “I’ve heard both your names. Much is centered around you, Calliophe Sprite. He is looking for you.”

My blood runs cold as she looks away from me. “You have found your mate, my daughter. How splendid. I could sense him on you, even if you have not completed the bond.”

Posy chokes on thin air. “He claims to be my mate, but I do not believe it nor want it.”

She smiles at her daughter. “So young you are to make a choice like that. Unless he is a cruel bastard, perhaps try looking at him in a different light. I did not believe in mates until a mortal fell through the mountain and landed in front of me, near death. But here you are, the very proof of my mating to a mortal.” Sorrow leaks through her words, and maybe it’s her powers, but I feel it like it’s my own. She blinks, and the sorrow fades, almost like an old memory that sinks to the back of your mind. ‘’Do you need my help, daughter?”

Posy leans forward, clasping her hands together. “Yes. Your brother’s deal was wrong, and asking him to take it back would be pointless. He’d only ask for something worse.”

Air only sighs. “Why make a deal with him at all? He is known for making unfair deals. The bastard has been doing it since he was a boy.”

Posy continues. “The sea was going to kill us all and Calli was dying, so she was forced to make a deal. She didn’t know that he was going to take all the memories from the Wyerns that knew us.” I look down. “Her mate, the king of the Wyerns, doesn’t know who she is anymore, and the mate bond seems to be blocked.”

“Terrible, tricky, and strong magic,” Air muses out loud, looking between us. “My brother always wove his spells so very well through the waters. Feeding off your heartbreak would be exactly what he’d like. The mate bond is still there, I can see it, but it is hidden in the web of my brother’s magic that I see wrapped around you both.”

“Can you help us? Please, mother.”

“For you, my only child,” she begins, and for the first time since we left the sea, hope pushes my heart into beating fast. “Lucky for you, I have the power to restore his memories. We were all blessed with our powers at the same time, and to make sure we were fair to each other, we were given the ability to undo each other’s work. It won’t be easy. It will take a lot of my power and push you to the edge of life.” Her smile is catlike. “And I want something in exchange.”

“Why do you gods always want something in exchange?” Posy grumbles. “I’m your daughter. Can’t you just make an exception?”

She laughs. “We’re immortal and we get bored. What else are we meant to do with our time than make tasks for mortals and our children? I know nothing of parenting, but I believe giving you everything you ask for is a bad way to start our bonding.” She turns to me. “I would ask for something like your soul after your death or your firstborn child, if it weren’t for the fact you saved my daughter. So, instead, I want a demigod.”

“Me?” Posy asks with a frown.

Air leans back. “No, there is one other in this world. The gods have been unlucky in finding their mates. Mine was killed, and therefore I only had one child. The water god… well, he doesn’t deserve to find his mate with his obsession he had with another female. The earth god recently took a mate. A fae female. The fae ran away, discovering that she was pregnant later on, and my brother was unable to get to them, as he is trapped like me. His home is no place for a child to grow up, and the child’s mother died in childbirth. Sad story. The boy was born in Junepit City. I believe he still resides there, but my air messages are not finding him. His own magic must be protecting him from me. I want him brought here where it is safe before the witches can find him or the creatures from the Rift. He is my nephew, after all.”

Air rises to her feet. “This terrible war is coming for this world, and I want my nephew and daughter here, safe. You both will only be safe here. We will keep our family together.”

Posy looks at me. “I won’t be staying here, mother.”

She whips her head to Posy. “Yes, you will. The last time I let you leave with your father, you suffered for years and nearly died where I could not save you. I could not even sense you in your bat form, and it killed me. It destroyed me. I cut all my hair off, I didn’t eat for years, and I almost thought about killing myself to be with you. Now you expect me to send you back out there?”

“Mother,” Posy begins, rising to her feet. “I swore to protect Calliophe with my life, and she’s in great danger. Once the war is over and we are safe, I will come here for you. I want to spend more time with you, and we will have that. The world needs someone like Calli on the throne, with her mate. They are good people.”

Air looks at me before looking back at her daughter. “I wish for that too, my child. If I must let you go, then so be it. You are as free as the wind in the sky, and you have my powers. They should fear you.”

Posy grins. “Oh, they will.”

The air goddess lifts her chin. “So, there is the deal, Calli. Bring me the child of earth. In exchange, I will return the lost memories of your mate and friends.”

“How do we know how to find him? Do you have any idea what he looks like? Junepit is a massive city.”

“You have my daughter. She can sense him when he is near. They have a bond,” she explains. “He will have hair the color of the forests, and he won’t look like a normal fae. If only I weren’t trapped here, an eternity of watching the world tick by.” She stops.

I have to ask. “Why are you trapped? Do you know anything about the dragon goddess? Was it her that trapped you like the water god told me?”

“Yes.” The air goddess looks away. “She was one of us, but not the same. We resided here for thousands of years, watching the stars spread over the sky, guiding the fae, the mortal, the Snake Kind, the Wyern, the Angelic Children and everyone alike.” She looks lost in the past.

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