Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Chaykeely - Book Two ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Brighid and Fynn had been running for days. They dared only to sleep for a few hours at a time, in order to evade their pursuers as much as possible. Many times they neared a village and veered away in order to avoid being seen and possibly identified. They had no idea how long they would run or where they would go. Many times Fynn commanded Brighid to go to one of the villages and stay there, claiming that she would not be killed if she was seen, but he would. Every time she refused. Fynn shamefully admitted to himself that he was glad; he liked having her with him. He couldn’t imagine running away alone.

One night as they were running, Fynn stopped suddenly. Brighid stared at him, about to speak, but he put a finger to his lips. “Shh.” He stood completely still and so did she.

After a while he relaxed, then led her in a different direction. “Did they find us?” Brighid whispered.

“No. I sensed something else, though.”

“What?”

“A vampire.” Fynn shook his head as Brighid squeaked. “No, he was either weak or a half-breed. I could have fought him off. I just didn’t want you to have to witness it.”

“I’m sure I’ll witness much worse, Fynn,” Brighid said quietly. “And if you can fight him off, let’s find him, okay? If he’s alone and weak, maybe he’s a runaway too.”

“Actually, you may be right,” Fynn mused. “Yeah…if he attacks, I can kill him…and he might be able to help us.”

“Right!” Brighid seemed delighted at this prospect. “So let’s find him.”

“Okay.”


Nevan smelled something strange. He frowned, stopping to sniff the air. It was the scent of a human…but there was something else. He couldn’t figure it out. He gasped upon realizing that whatever it was, it was coming closer. He started to run.

Unfortunately, he was not paying attention to where he was going. Almost instantly he ran right into a tree and was knocked unconscious. When he awoke, he was staring into two faces he did not know.

“Ah, you’re awake,” the male said, smiling.

“How’s your head?” the girl, a few years younger, asked.

“Painful.” Nevan winced. “Who are you?”

“We’re…er…well, actually, you’re at our mercy, aren’t you? You’re injured and much weaker than I am,” the man said.

“I’m not weak,” Nevan said. “I’m a half vampire.”

“Ah, a half vampire. I was right. What’s your name?”

“Nevan…”

“Well, Nevan, I’m Fynn and this is Brighid. We’re refugees from our village of witches…” He watched closely as Nevan snarled at the word “Because we refused to abandon our code of ethics and kill a tribe of vampires.”

“A tribe of…?” Nevan suddenly forgot about his aching head and stood. “My father’s tribe?”

“Possibly. We’ve been traveling for days, and the tribe was close to ours, though,” Brighid told him.

“It probably was, then. I, too, have been running for days…”

“Why?” Brighid asked.

“To avoid being found by the witches who killed my father. And to protect my mother and the humans in her village.”

“Ah.” Fynn nodded. “So you are a refugee as well.”

“Yes.”

“You should join us then, shouldn’t you? We’re probably safer traveling together,” Brighid suggested.

“Well, that makes no difference. Those witches wiped out a tribe of vampires. They could easily overtake two other witches, one of whom is still a child, and a half-breed vampire with a welt on his head,” Nevan said darkly.

“Brighid’s right, though. You’re safer with us. Plus it’s better to have more people in case we run into anything less dangerous than witches, but dangerous enough to pose a threat. You know, like wolves.”

“Wolves are easy to handle.” Nevan laughed. “Alright, though. I guess I’ll go with you. But if either of you does anything suspicious…”

“Same to you,” Fynn said cheerfully. “Let’s go, then.”


Morning came and Keiran left Kael’s cottage, but not before Kael took over Keiran’s quest for him. He promised that he would warn the people in the next village. Keiran was thankful.

Overjoyed to be going home, as he had never once been outside the walls before, Keiran hummed one of the songs Hazel always sang. He reached the village wall and climbed through, ready to greet Hazel with a hug and a kiss. He stepped through the hole and froze. He closed his eyes and fell to the ground.

In that one brief instant he saw what one should never have to see: there were bodies strewn around the streets. He recognized a few, but he looked away before he saw the majority. Keiran did not want to open his eyes. He didn’t want to search for survivors, but he knew he must. Hazel, he thought to himself. Where are you?

He walked along the street, stepping over dead bodies along the way. He reached his house and took a deep breath, then opened the door. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the stench of death. He saw his parents, lying in a pool of blood, and closed the door quickly. He knew they were dead.

He was even more unwilling to go next door to Hazel’s house. His brain shut down and his feet kept moving. He opened the door and saw the same thing: Hazel’s parents were also dead.

Where is she? Keiran did not dare to hope that Hazel had escaped; it wasn’t possible. He continued his search. Eventually he reclaimed his voice and called out to her. “Hazel!”

He never got an answer. He saw her. She must have been on her way to tell the people in the market what he had felt, but she had never made it. He didn’t cry, however. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them, decided to do what needed to be dead. He got to work burying the bodies.

He had just started to dig the grave for Hazel when he heard someone behind him. “Keiran.”

He turned around and saw Kael standing there. Suddenly Keiran was overwhelmed. His eyes welled up with tears. He brushed them away. “It was a massacre,” he said, his voice cracking.

Kael nodded. “Here, let me help.” He reached for the shovel Keiran held, but Keiran pulled it away.

“No…not this one. You can help with the others, but…she…”

Kael nodded. “I’ll wait.”

It took a few days for Kael and Keiran to bury all of the bodies. It took longer because Keiran transformed as soon as the moon came out and Kael transformed when it rained, which happened twice during that time. At night they stayed in Kael’s cottage, but as soon as dawn broke, they went back to Keiran’s village.

On the third day, they buried the last body. Keiran and Kael stood and looked at the large cemetery that was once a village. “Are you…the last one?” Kael asked.

“I guess so.” Keiran shrugged. “Come on, let’s go. I can’t stay here anymore.”

Keiran had discovered over the last few days how big Kael’s cottage was compared to the number of people living in it, but had not come to appreciate it until now. It had five bedrooms. Keiran was amazed by this. His own house had only two, and that was just enough for him and his parents. Why did Kael need so many rooms?

Keiran decided to ask that question one day. Kael replied, “I had many siblings.”

“How many?”

“Take a guess.”

“Eight?”

Kael laughed. “Try fifteen.”

“Fifteen? And only five bedrooms?”

“Yep.” Kael laughed again. “Four kids in each room. Then my parents had the other. I was the youngest.”

“Why do you have the house, then? Doesn’t the oldest usually get it?”

“Yeah. I’d be less inclined to answer you if you didn’t just lose everything you knew.” He looked at Keiran, who bit his lip. “I don’t mean to upset you by that. I’m just telling you that I’ve been through the same thing.”

“What? You mean…?”

“Yeah, but not all of those witches. Just the leader. She was evil then, too. That must have been…eight years ago. I was about ten. It was raining, so I was a dragon. She apparently didn’t kill animals.” Kael shrugged. Like you, I had to get rid of the bodies. I didn’t bury them,” he added. “So there’s no point in searching for the graves. I just…got rid of them. Some animals probably ate the bodies. I don’t know.”

“That’s horrible!”

“I know. But that’s what they wanted. My parents told us to do that when they died. Animals have to eat. That’s what they said.”

“So now you have this huge house…”

“And until recently I lived alone. Yep. But now two of the rooms are occupied. That’s good. And this is in an area the witches are unlikely to check again. They think the house is abandoned except for a…lizard…” He grimaced upon saying it, “Who lives here.”

“So it’s pretty safe…”

“Safer than anywhere else, probably.” Kael grinned. “So you should stay a while.”


As Nevan, Brighid, and Fynn wandered on, Brighid became more powerful. Fynn taught her all of the magic he knew, and when they dared to stop by a village, Nevan offered to buy her some spell books, much to Fynn’s amazement. He had no idea at what point Nevan had become trusting enough to willingly help Brighid become more powerful, but he was glad.

The group found a good place to rest. It was very well hidden, a tiny clearing amongst a cluster of trees and bushes. Brighid sat and read from one of her books. Nevan and Fynn rested on either side of her.

Fynn rose after a while. “I’m going to go check out that village over there. Nevan, protect Brighid for me, okay?”

Nevan frowned but nodded. He wondered vaguely why Fynn said that. He had gone off many times before, but he’d never told him to protect Brighid. It was as if he didn’t expect to come back. Nevan shrugged that thought off. He didn’t smell any other witches around, and nothing unusual had happened to cause him any alarm.

After a few hours, however, both he and Brighid became worried. “Where is he?” Brighid whimpered. It was almost morning. Nevan shook his head.

“I really don’t know. He said he was going to check out that village.”

“I know, but he should be back…”

Again Nevan wondered about the order Fynn had given him. “If he’s not back by noon, let’s go to the village and look for him. Okay?”

Brighid nodded. She looked terrified, so Nevan wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her toward him. She didn’t resist. “He’ll be fine,” he told her. He wasn’t nearly as sure as he seemed.


Fynn had not, in fact, gone to the village. He only said that to buy himself some time. He had planned on doing this from the beginning, but since he had Brighid with him, he had to protect her. Now she had Nevan and was much stronger herself. He knew it was time, and he knew that he could save her now.

He recognized the aura he sensed nearby. He called to it, then walked toward it. The energy was getting stronger as he walked. This is it. He stopped in front of Donelle and her four minions.

“Fynn.”

“Donelle.”
< br> “I found you. Our game is at an end. I win.”

“No, I found you.” Fynn smiled. “I just got tired of playing.”

Donelle laughed. “Oh? And your little…girlfriend is still playing, then?”

“No.” His face was grim. “She was eaten by wolves days ago. Surely you saw the remains. I did everything in my power to save her, but I was away too long and by the time I reached her it was too late…”

“A pity.” Donelle laughed. “Don’t be too sad, Fynn. You’re about to join her.”

“I had hoped so.”

There was a sudden flash of light and then Fynn felt nothing. He was dead before he hit the ground. “Let’s go,” Donelle ordered her minions. They followed.


“What’s next on the list, Enya?” Donelle asked with a yawn, standing with her back against a tree.

“Well, it says ‘Chaykeely,’ but I don’t see how–“

“Don’t worry about that!” Donelle laughed. We’ll just have to take a detour for a few days. But we’ll have the faerie realm shortly. Just wait. I have a plan.”

Keelty and Calder were sitting at the base of another tree, talking softly amongst themselves. They knew it was hopeless. Both had never wanted to join Donelle. Calder had been forced into it and had then begged Donelle to spare Keelty’s life.

Five years earlier, Donelle had just begun her quest to conquer the world. She had destroyed only a small number of villages, mostly human ones. She reached the water tribe and on a whim decided to destroy everyone living there. She did, sparing only one. This one was a young boy, Calder, about seven years old. He looked at her with a certain calmness in his eyes. She loved it. She took him with her to the next village, a human one, and ordered him to kill people. He refused. She threatened his life. He still refused. Angry, she gave up and killed everyone in the village herself. She still did not kill him, however. For some reason, she liked him.

She soon got the idea to attack other witch tribes, starting with the wood tribe. Again, she killed almost everything, and intended to kill a girl, about her age, but Calder screamed. Donelle stared at him, but he pulled her away from the girl. “No!” He cried. “She looks like my sister!”

Donelle would still have killed the girl if she did not realize that having minions who could control the various elements would be beneficent to her goal of conquering the world. She saved the girl, knowing that now she could threaten Keelty’s life in order to make Calder obey her. She could also threaten Calder’s life so Keelty, who also thought of Calder as her younger brother, would obey.

Next they attacked the fire tribe. One girl there seemed enthralled by all the mayhem and started gleefully burning down buildings. Donelle asked her to join her in conquering the world, and the girl agreed enthusiastically. This was Enya. Finally, they attacked the air tribe. Galvin joined them. He had heard of Donelle before and was eagerly awaiting her arrival so that he could join. As soon as Donelle reached the village, Galvin turned on the people who had raised him throughout his life.

Donelle herself had first become set on her goal when she was a young girl of Brighid’s former tribe. She had overheard some of the lessons being taught to older children, telling of a couple of witches who had destroyed half the world before being caught. She listened intently to the story, developing methods of eluding any pursuers she would have. Then one day, she left the village and decided to achieve what the witches of the past had not. She would take over the world. However, the mortal realm was not enough. She would also somehow overtake the faerie realm, Chaykeely.