Arcane Rising: The Darkland Druids - Book One, R Nicole [suggested reading TXT] 📗

thought it was—and I was more drawn to it the closer I looked.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a female voice asked.

My heart leapt and my gaze locked on a pair of iridescent blue irises. The woman before us was petite, but her presence was overwhelming. Silver strands threaded through her black locks, and the lines around her eyes gave me a glimpse at her true age, though she seemed timeless.

I was half expecting for her to wear flowing robes like a pagan priestess, but she looked more like a bohemian art teacher. She wore black jeans with a loose-fitting cream- and blue-patterned shirt and a matching long blue crocheted vest over the top. Multiple necklaces with crystal points and silver charms jangled as she reached out her hands in greeting.

Delicate lines of light marked her exposed arms and I realised they were runes. I wondered what they were for.

Rory nudged me forwards. “Elspeth, this is Delilah Odhweine, Elder of the Darkland Druids.”

This was Delilah? I stared at her in awe instead of the ceiling.

She laughed and took my hands in hers, her welcome a lot warmer than Vanora’s had been.

“Elspeth, welcome to the Warren.”

“Uh, I… Thank you,” I managed to reply.

“I see my latest creation has taken a liking to you,” she said with a chuckle.

Ignis meowed and strolled across the library, where he leapt into an empty space in one of the bookshelves and curled up and went to sleep. The cat was so stealthy, I had forgotten he was here.

“She named him Ignis,” Rory said.

“Ignis?” Her gaze searched mine. “Interesting.”

“It uh… It just came to me and he seemed to like it,” I said lamely.

“We hear you’ve had quite the adventure,” Delilah said to me. “It all must be confusing to say the least.”

I nodded. “You can say that again.”

“Come, let me introduce you to the other Elders.” She lifted her hand and shooed Rory away, her silver rings glinting in the crystal light. “We have much to talk about.”

Delilah led me through the library to where a man and a woman sat at a large oak table.

Gesturing to the man, she said, “This is Shor Elinian.”

He nodded once, his impassive gaze never leaving me. Even though he was seated, I could tell he was tall and proud from the way he held his shoulders. He had short-cropped greying hair and wore a simple black collared shirt with the top button undone.

“And here is Rowen Ariennir,” Delilah added.

Rowen was much like Delilah with her grace and poise, though her hair was a brilliant burnt orange colour with threads of iridescent silver. Her gaze was equally as unreadable, and my nerves began to reach an uncomfortable level in my bowels.

Delilah urged me to take a seat at the table, then took her place beside the other Elders. Suddenly, I felt like I was on a job interview and they were about to ask what I thought constituted as good customer service.

Shor was the first to speak. “Rory explained to us that you didn’t know about your heritage.”

I looked between them, wondering if I was on trial. “I had no idea… If I had, then I wouldn’t have put Rory in danger like that. I—”

“Hush, child,” Rowen said. “We don’t blame you for your near miss with the Chimera. We can’t judge those who act without knowledge fairly.”

I blinked. Did she just call me stupid?

“The other Druids said some things,” I began. “That I’m half something else…”

“It’s true,” Shor said. “You are half Fae. Now that we see you, the threads are clear within your Colours.”

I looked to Delilah, my eyes widening. Were they saying I was the enemy here? Were they going to kick me out and make me fend for myself?

“Don’t worry, Elspeth,” she said. “We won’t seek to turn you away.”

“It’s clear your Druid blood dominates your Fae,” Rowen mused. “Rory said it was your Colour that saved you both from the Chimera.”

I nodded.

“You were lucky,” Shor stated. “It could have ended badly.”

The explosion was already dangerous if I took Rory’s account as face value. ‘Going supernova’ seemed pretty serious.

“Why didn’t I know what I was before now?” I asked. “If I was born with this, wouldn’t I have been able to do things?”

Delilah smiled. “Your abilities were blocked, likely in order to hide you from the Chimera.”

“And us,” Shor declared.

“But, I…” I took a deep breath. “Why would my father hide me?”

“A child who is both Druid and Fae comes with many unknowns. If you aligned with the Chimera, they could use your abilities for their own ends. If you aligned with us…”

I snorted and curled my lip. “You could use me as a weapon against the Chimera.”

“There is no doubt that it is a dangerous precedent being sent here,” Rowen noted. “One we haven’t foreseen.”

So, half Fae Druids weren’t common. If I was to believe the troubled expressions on the Elders’ faces, it was likely I was the first and only who had ever existed.

“How about letting me make up my own mind?” I declared. “Maybe I don’t want to be a weapon? Maybe I just want to be a normal woman.”

“The Chimera have caused us a great deal of harm, Elspeth,” Rowan explained. “The distinction between Light and Dark is not as simple as it seems.” It never was.

“Then who was my father?” I looked between the Elders. If they were the oldest and wisest of the Druids, then they had to know. “Who was he really?”

“Your father…” Delilah began. “He was a Druid and his loss…his final loss, will be mourned greatly.”

My heart leapt. “Did you know him?”

“It’s a long tale, child,” Rowen said.

“And my mother?”

The Elders fell silent and I knew they didn’t know anything about her—anything they were willing to admit anyway.

Why were they stonewalling me? Maybe they didn’t trust me yet. Apparently, my allegiance could go either way and I could go full Fae apocalypse on them.

I stilled. Was that it? Was it more than just having Fae blood?

“We don’t have to