The Aqcarians act less out of animosity than feral need. Their mindset is far from that of either humans or humanistic Fae. They can dissolve land-based creatures into a jellyfish-like puddle with prolonged touch, absorbing the salt out of living creatures as they do so. They need the salt to sustain life if they’re out of their saltwater element.
They follow an ancient goddess—Jorgununda, a massive serpent who lives in the depths of the ocean. Her goal is to return the Earth to a watery state, destroying all land-based creatures. It appears that the priestesses of Jorgununda have found a way to interbreed with the Kelpie, and we believe they have been secretly doing this, though for what reason, we have not yet determined.
Unfortunately, Jorgununda can control weather associated with water—hurricanes, rainstorms, gales, cyclones. We believe some of her priestesses can harness this power as well.
We have also noticed an increase in visitations from the Aqcarians in various coastal towns and cities over the past year or two. These visitations are always accompanied by six deaths, all taking place within a week, after which the visitations stop until the next series of visitations in the next city. We have no idea what this might indicate or why this happens, but each time, the victims are male, and all the cases go cold.
“Crap,” I said. “We’re at five victims. One more, and they’ll disappear, and we’ll lose the trail. What else does it say?”
Yutani shrugged. “Not much about the Aqcarians, but it talks about the Elemental Fae.
Regarding the Elemental Fae:
Most of the Elemental Fae shy away from their Light and Dark cousins. The Elemental Courts usually avoid contact with any outsiders, but we’ve reason to believe they may be coming forward before long. We believe that the Elemental Courts know that exposure of their kind will happen, given the way the world is changing, so they’re gearing up to announce their existence.
The Elemental Fae Court consists of seven divisions, and each of the major seven divisions includes several distinct variants: the Waterborn Fae, the Earthbound Fae, the Aevian Fae, the Sparkborn Fae, and the Crystal Fae.
Be aware, the commonly-known Fae, like the Leannan Sidhe, kobolds, gnomes, house sprites, sylphs, etc., are not considered members of the Elemental Court. Most of the known Fae belong to either the Light or Dark Courts. The Elemental Fae refuse to recognize those courts. Névé and Saílle never speak of the Elemental Fae, and we’re not sure whether they recognize them as legitimate, or if they even believe in the existence of the Elemental Fae. It could be that the Elemental Fae are entirely different in biology from the known Fae races, and perhaps they don’t share the same lineage. Not enough is known to speculate.
He stopped. “It ends there. Where did you get this? It reads like an encyclopedia.”
“I know where she got it,” Ember said, glancing at me. “But leave that question alone for now. We’ll respect their anonymity.”
“One murder left. We know what we’re looking for, but how the hell do we—” Herne paused as his phone rang. “Excuse me.”
As he went to answer it, I leaned forward. “I’ve never heard of the Elemental Courts. As one of the Ante-Fae, you’d think I’d know. We’re the ancestors of the Light and Dark Fae. I wonder if the Elemental Fae are part of the Ante-Fae line as well?”
Ember frowned. “I don’t know, but my alarms are going off. I should ask Morgana about this. Herne can ask Cernunnos.”
“I’ll jump on researching all this right away,” Yutani said. “There has to be something out there about the Elemental Fae. I’ll check the Dark Web, too.”
Ember stared at the table. “I have a feeling something’s about to happen. I’m nervous in a way I haven’t been since I had all the dreams I used to have.”
Herne returned at that moment. “The sixth body was found this morning. I told them to send us the information. Given they aren’t even investigating—and yes, Yutani told me everything that happened, so I know—there’s no use in us going down there.”
“What do we do now?” I asked. “We can’t just let this go.” And then I had a thought. “Ashera. We can get in touch with Ashera and ask her to check out Puget Sound for us. She’s a water dragon. I’m sure she’d help us.”
Ashera belonged to the Celestial Wanderers. The blue dragons of the waters, the silver dragons born of stardust, and the golden dragons who embodied the energy of the sun generally steered clear of dealing with humankind, but they always came in on the side of humans up against the Luminous Warriors.
She was on our side when the dragons attacked, and she had helped save my life when Pandora had imprisoned me. I was positive she’d help us again.
“Now that’s an idea,” Ember said. “Do you still have her number?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I think so, unless she’s changed it.”
“Can you call her and talk to her? Ask her to come in?” Herne asked. “She saved you. That forges a bond between people. Well…a person and a dragon. One of the Ante-Fae and a dragon.” He chuckled. “Words can be so tricky.”
“By the way, what’s going on with the dragons? We’ve been out of the loop,” Kipa asked.
“Well, they were invited to join the United Coalition—only the Star Dragonni and the Mountain Dreamers, of course. At the same time, the UC banned the Luminous Warriors from this world. So, there are still pockets of Dragonni living in the world, although they’re precluded from holding more than ten acres per family. And so far, they’ve been the voice of reason in the political realm.” Herne snorted. “What can I say? Politics as usual. The vamps have retaken the catacombs and the Luminous Warriors are public enemy number one, still. Things are relatively back to normal.”
“What about the Fae Courts?” I asked.
“Saílle and Névé are still bitch-slapping each other. They’re furious that I became a goddess and, though they don’t dare refuse to meet with me, they have made it clear that nobody from their courts better worship me. I have gathered a following, though. The tralaeths who have been in hiding all these years are coming out of hiding, banding together in my name.” She smiled, and I recognized that look.
Ember was born of both Light and Dark Fae blood, which both courts despised. They tried to pretend that no half-breeds, or tralaeths, as they called them, existed. But Ember, through her work with the Wild Hunt and with the goddess Morgana, had forced them to do an about-face. Now, it sounded like they were doing what they could to push back.
“Well, good for you. You really should set up a temple—give them a place to gather. Put your official stamp on their existence,” I said.
