Eric Linnaeus | Book 3 | Chapter 24 - Greatness Can’t Be Helped (Patreon)

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𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 ℂ𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝔹𝕖 ℍ𝕖𝕝𝕡𝕖𝕕ᴋᴀʀʏɴᴀ ᴇᴋʟᴜɴᴅ: ᴍᴀʏ, 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟶. ʀᴇᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: ᴍᴀʏ, 𝟷𝟿𝟸𝟿.

─── .✦········· ───

“-and you just let him go?” Hrafn growled, slamming his hands on the table as he stood abruptly. His face scrunched into a sneer and his eyes were pinpoints of rage.

“What was I supposed to do! He’s marked by the Fae, and I was alone in their territory. Do I look stupid?!” I glared back, indignant. I didn’t care how mad he was, I wasn’t about to break the Fae boundary spell to drag our argr little cousin over it.

“You should have taken me with you,” he continued sourly.

“If you weren’t too busy sulking, maybe I would have.”

“He killed my sister!”

“Don’t talk to me about Brigetta!” I shouted, my lip curling in distaste; how dare he. “You didn’t have to do what she asked! You should have just said no! She would have given him up eventually!”

Even as I spoke the words I knew it wasn’t true, she would never have given up Eiríkr. Moreover, Raven had been punished for killing Brigetta and he had the scars on his arms and throat to prove it.

“Enough,” Silvius, Hrafn’s father, silenced us.

There were only four of us present at the time. Silvius had just returned from the north. He sat at the head of the table with his arms folded as the black markings on his skin slowly faded. He was still wearing our traditional armor; metal plating over the shoulders and upper chest lined with furs for warmth and comfort.

There’s no need to protect our throats or abdomens; we give our enemies plenty of room to strike. Personally, I love the moment someone kills me. The surprise when I revenant is unmatched, and it’s needed to activate our magic.

Most of our family are tall, like Raven. My uncle is a big man, easily 6’4” and broad. His long hair is dusted gray with age, and his beard was stained with blood, but it’s not his size that makes him intimidating. It’s what we all know he’s capable of that does that, and none of us dared speak out of turn.

“You say he is marked, were you able to read the contract?” he continued in a low tone.

“Not well…” I admitted reluctantly.

“Did you see who he belongs to?”

“…No.”

My uncle’s eyes reflected in the candlelight as he looked up, and I knew he wasn’t pleased. “At least you were able to find him,” he spoke in a controlled manner, “Now, did you happen to determine anything of use, or were you just playing games?”

I grit my teeth; I had been toying with Eiríkr, but it’s not like I was useless. “He wears Brigetta’s necklace and has some kind of attachment to a cursed human. He also goes by his common name, and I got the impression that the Fae aren’t aware what he is.”

The majority of us remained in the north while we had returned to the south after catching word of an article about the Fae. It mentioned a child that sounded too alike to Eiríkr for it to be a coincidence, and we simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity. No one leaves this family, and he is no exception.

Silvius was quiet and I knew from the look on his face that he didn’t care for anything I had just said. I was probably lucky I was his favorite, even above his own children. After a long delay he sat back, “What makes you think they don’t know?”

“For two reasons, to begin, our ‘Eric’ is masking his aura. And secondly, I paid a visit to the little human who wrote the article. She left out some details, changed a few names in the final piece… the rest of it was very interesting. She had a good amount of information on the Fae.”

“And what of the Fae boundaries, you were able to cross the barrier spell with ease?”

“Not exactly, I tested the limits from their northernmost points downward. The shining castle is bigger, but the responses were sluggish. When I neared their dark castle the spells changed. The barrier is different, it’s as if they have two separated territories.”

“But you got through all the same?”

I smiled, “Of course, Uncle. I can get through anything. The barrier is designed for living creatures, humans and fae. It was a simple matter to die at the barrier, and revenant on the other side.”

“That’s very clever, Karyna,” he commented, and I sat up a little straighter. This was why I was the favorite. After a moment, he stood. “You’ve given me much to consider, and I need to bathe. We will meet again shortly. Don’t go far.”

I knew that look. He was thinking—I had given him an idea. For the past few decades, our family had focused on expanding to the north, facing Selkies all along the icy shorelines. Raven’s uncle, Hákon, and siblings Valerium and Valeria were still up there. We were winning, of course, even outnumbered our abilities gave us an advantage. It’s very hard to win a war against an enemy that won’t die.

We planned on facing the South in another century or so. That was Mercury’s will; Fae are tricky, better organized than Selkies and their borders are well maintained. It would take some time to defeat them, still moving up our timeline was tantalizing. With them out of the way, we could eliminate all other species in a matter of years. Then we would bend the humans to our will, and they would worship us again as they should, as is our birthright.

As we left the table Raven stormed off and I went with my brother, “Kári~” I called his attention.

“What now?” he sighed begrudgingly.

“You were very quiet at the meeting?”

“I didn’t have anything to say.”

“We both know that’s not true,” I laughed, and as we walked, I wrapped my arms around his waist so that he would have to drag me along.

“Would you knock it off?”

“Can’t, fertility trait needs physical contact~”

“Okay, well, my trait needs physical space.”

Still, he made no actual effort to push me away, so I remained steadfastly attached to him. I love my brother. He acts like he doesn’t care about anything, but he’s probably the most sensitive one of us.

When we got back home, my sons ran up to greet him, and he lifted Aloisius into his arms. Their father was away and Kári was so good with them. He listened without any real interest as the boys chattered away. I’d only lost one of my four children to the early revenant process, but that wasn’t something I often thought about. That child was weak, like Eiríkr.

Eventually, he settled the kids into bed, and I waited in the doorway as Kári cleaned up the dishes. He had his hair tied back in a small ponytail and his sleeves rolled up. “Raven is in such a mood,” I commented casually.

My brother shrugged, “What did you expect, he wanted to find Eiríkr first.”

“He looks just like Raven you know, but smaller.”

“Everyone is smaller than Raven, the man hits his head on door frames,” he joked dryly, and I stared back with a blank expression.

“No, but I mean, they look exactly alike.”

“I don’t really care.”

“Fine,” I huffed, folding my arms. A moment of silence passed before Kári spoke again.

“You can see what Silvius is thinking right?” he asked, and I hesitated.

“No? Why? Do you?”

“It’s obvious; I suppose that’s why you don’t get it,” he teased, and I glared back with a scowl.

“Whatever, just tell me what you think he’s thinking.”

He smirked bemused, “Well, Silvius wants the Fae territory, and we had to find Eiríkr anyway. So, finding him in Fae territory, living among them is better than we could have ever hoped. If we can get to him then we have him, and all the information we could ever want about the Fae. If it works out, we could take over both castles in a matter of months, then return to secure the north.”

My heart was starting to race, Kári was right, it was perfect. “If you’re right, I bet Silvius will declare war on Lazarus.”

Kári shrugged, “It only works if we can get Eiríkr, and make him talk.”

I thought about that for a moment, “I know a way to get the Fae to hand him over. But making him talk is the fun part,” I mused.

“And how’s that?”

I pulled the necklace from my shirt. “If they don’t know what he is, and we can prove he is one of us, I’m sure they would gladly hand him over, just like the last time.” My brother was quiet for a moment, and I frowned as I stepped closer to see his face, “Kári, look at me.”

“What do you want?” he groaned, looking over at me blankly. To anyone else it might have looked like he was bored or didn’t care for the conversation anymore, but I knew better.

“…You don’t want to find him, do you?”

“Can we talk about something else?”

“Kári, you know what he did to this family,” I told him firmly.

“…He didn’t do anything, he just ran away,” he grumbled.

“He killed Brigetta,” I growled, there wasn’t any better way to piss me off.

“Hrafn did that.”

“Because he had to! If he didn’t, then I would have had to! You know Mercury would have tortured her!”

“Whatever, arguing with you about this is pointless.”

“You’re lucky Silvius isn’t here.”

“I wouldn’t say it if he was here, now would I?” he snapped back.

Kári had tried to run away as well, once. Not all that long after Brigetta died, but I brought him back before anyone noticed. If anyone ever knew that he would be punished, no one leaves this family. At least not alive anyway.

Eiríkr had only managed to evade us for so long because he got lucky. When Brigetta crossed into Lazarus’s territory we were reluctant to follow, especially since her crossing didn’t go unnoticed. Fae started showing up all over the place, and when she was at last returned to us, Eiríkr wasn’t with her.

We made an agreement with the Fae that we would take her and discipline her for the breach of treaty laws. That’s why I was sure they would hand Eiríkr over as well, since they had been willing to do as much in the past. I had gone with some of my family for the handover.

The exchange happened in the buffer zone between boundaries, no man’s land, I suppose you could call it, and that was the first time I had seen a fae. They all looked too alike for me to tell them apart; all had white hair and bright eyes.

Brigetta was restrained with a thick chain; dried blood streaked her skin and stained her clothes. The markings on her face were active, but her energy had run out, I couldn’t imagine how many times they’d tried to kill her.

“I believe this belongs to you?” It was an older man with long white hair and green eyes that spoke; Lazarus, as I would come to find out.

Beside him stood a surprising amount of Fae, most were guards, but a few stood out as something else. There were also human women among them, standing silent and emotionless, I had heard they were interbreeding with them.

Fae were once little more than humans themselves, granted unnaturally long lives by the foods they ate, until some Vanir bred with them. Still, we are stronger, and they are nothing. Their power, no matter how direct the lineage, could never compare to us.

Lazarus pushed Brigetta forward, and she stumbled, sinking to the ground as her legs gave way. Rage burned in her eyes, but she remained silent. I wanted to go to her; I hated seeing her hurt.

“Looks like you’ve taken good care of her,” Katla spoke. Black energy swirled around her, and the nearby trees withered as her aura killed everything around. I could even feel it draining the life from me.

“She crossed into Fae territory. The penalty for that is death,” a man with yellow eyes and shoulder-length hair stated calmly.

“She’s only alive because everything we tried she recovered from,” the only Fae woman among them spoke up. I could sense her infertility even from a distance. She would never have children. That was the price they paid for an excess of magic their bodies weren’t supposed to have.

─── .✦········· ───

Katla tortured Brigetta for weeks, but she never did say a word about Eiríkr. Instead, she insisted that he had died, and we couldn’t tell whether she was lying or not. It seemed unlikely a child would survive on its own under ordinary circumstances, let alone in enemy territory. If he had been discovered I’m sure they would have killed him. Children are easier to kill permanently than adults.

“Please, Brigetta… just give him up,” I begged her softly.

She was tied to a chair in a bland room. Katla had left for a brief time, and I slipped in to see her.

Her breaths were labored and her skin was dull, crusted with blood and colored by bruises. We can only heal if our injuries kill us, otherwise we’re stuck healing them the slow way, and Brigetta wouldn’t be allowed to sleep or die.

“There’s nothing for me to give up, he’s dead…” she lied slowly through dry lips.

“Brigetta…” I murmured; it broke my heart to see her this way; I couldn’t stand it. I hugged her gently, allowing my charm to wash over her and bring her comfort. If nothing else, I could make her feel at peace, safe and protected.

“I’m okay,” she assured before continuing with a weak smile, “I never thought I would miss feeling your charm.”

“They’ll let you go if you tell us where you left him…”

“I already told you, he’s dead…”

“You’re lying…”

“…Forget about Eiríkr…” she murmured, before adding more softly, “Can you kiss me?”

I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly; I don’t think she’d ever asked before and I hesitated. Was my charm making her ask?

“Please?” she insisted quietly.

How could I refuse? I held her face and kissed her tenderly. She tasted like blood, and tears rolled down my cheeks. That was the last time I had seen her before Hrafn ended her life. I know he saved her a worse fate; Mercury was deadly and cruel in ways that one can’t imagine, but I resented Hrafn for it nonetheless.

Brigetta was the love of my life; she mattered more to me than the world itself.

─── .✦········· ───

It’s been so long since then, since our family was together, and I still wish Eiríkr had never been born. If he hadn’t, Brigetta would still be with us, with me, she would still be alive and well. It was his fault that she wasn’t, and I couldn’t wait to make him suffer.

None of us had wanted to leave him behind in the first place, but it was what needed to be done. For the good of the family, weakness had to be eliminated, and he was weak. I understood that, his parents understood it. Why couldn’t Brigetta just have left him—

The fae beneath my boot struggled and I pressed my foot down harder, pushing his face into the mud. “Ah-uh, what did I tell you?” I mused as my thoughts returned to the present.

He winced, hissing in pain. His white hair was tainted with dirt and blood, he was just a guard, though the armor he wore did little to help him against us.

“Karyna,” Raven called for me, he sounded pissed.

“Right here,” I called back cheerfully.

When we began this little mission, Hrafn had activated immediately. His aura swirled around him, pitch black like charcoal, and the blackened lines on his forehead and cheeks showed no signs of fading.

“I told you to kill it,” he scolded me.

“I’m getting there, this one was a lot of fun.”

“I don’t care, hurry up. Where’s your brother?”

“He’s with the humans, last I saw anyway,” I shrugged.

“He needs to begin his revenant now. The other faelings will arrive soon. Let’s not be underprepared on their territory.”

I rolled my eyes, Raven was always so serious, as if the Fae stood any chance. Besides, there wasn’t much we could do until they arrived. So far we had taken out the small garrison of Fae guards and prepared the witnesses. We had attacked a summer camp, maybe only twenty of the little humans survived, but that was plenty.

They sat huddled together, silently. I’d already taken care of the screamers and criers. Nothing annoyed me more than humans making stupid sounds. I greatly preferred it when they were quiet, and those that remained were. For their cooperation, they would be released, when the time was right.

Being in Fae territory meant they would be the ones responsible for secrecy, and if even one witness escaped them, an enforcer would be paying the faelings a visit. Of course, we weren’t doing it for any reason other than for our own entertainment. My brother arrived as Raven was chastising me. He was tying his hair, holding two hair pins in his mouth as he did.

“Are you ready to revenant?” I mused.

Kári delayed a moment as he fixed the pins into his hair, not that it helped anything. His dark shoulder-length hair had a slight untamable wave to it. He didn’t want it any longer but refused to cut it, so this was a daily struggle for him.

“Let me get my hair out the way.”

“You should just cut it~” I teased.

“It gets too curly if it’s any shorter.”

“Whatever-”

“Enough,” Silvius interrupted, “They’re coming.”

“Guess I’ll just have to revenant when one of them kills me then,” Kári commented.

Our eldest cousin didn’t look happy, but Silvius didn’t seem to care. Hrafn and I were the only ones who had revenanted so far.

“Just make sure you don’t take too long,” Raven muttered.

“I’ll do my best,” Kári answered with lackluster. It usually took him a little longer than us to revenant and nothing excited him. He was my dreary little brother, but that was fine; I had more than enough energy for the both of us.

There was Fae magic in the air, they were close now and my heart was starting to race. I was sure Eiríkr would be with them. Although I had agreed, if he was, that Raven could have him. ‘Eric’ would pay for all the time we wasted searching for him, for killing Brigetta and abandoning our family. His suffering would never end.

The Fae arrived through the trees. There were five of them, and to my disappointment, Eiríkr was not among them. In the moonlight, their icy hair was blue-hued. Leading them was a fae about Kári’s age, mid-20s, with bright green eyes. He must have been one of Lazarus’s sons. They looked similar enough, and from the brief look of confusion he had at seeing Raven, I guessed he knew Eric.

To one side, he was followed by a tall, broad man with a scythe and a small woman. The girl was human, I realized after a moment; her dull brown eyes gave that much away. On the other side was an older fae with long hair and a younger one who swore the moment he saw us.

The Fae are a delicate species. Often slender with slight builds, they have an ethereal grace about them. They wear neat clothes, with ironed shirts and elegant coats decorated with fine chain and unnecessary buttons. The weapons they carry are forged of layered metal, beveled and polished with inscriptions that light up when magic is channeled through them.

Despite their arrogant nature, they are not built for war. Their species established territories long ago and haven’t moved or expanded in centuries. I could tell this was going to be fun; not one of these diaphanous little creatures looked like a challenge, and I looked forward to peeling the skin off their bones.

“What the fuck are they?” the youngest of them swore under his breath as he took a step back. He looked the most nervous of them all, there was some kind of recognition in his eyes.

“We are Gods,” I replied with a smile.

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