Jhudora's Revenge: Part Four

     "That's alright," Lady Tenebrae assured me. "No faerie is every completely ready to face those beasts and you are the first faerie-in-training to have faced one of those creatures."

     I winced as Lady Tenebrae coated the wound on my wing with a foul-smelling ointment. "What were those creatures?" I asked.

     Lady Tenebrae gave a tired sigh and started, "Those beasts were the result of a dark faerie spell gone wrong. Years ago, a group of terribly misguided dark faeries attempted to open a portal between Neopia and the Shadow Plane. Fortunately, their spell failed, but a few of those beasts from the Great Evil managed to escape into Neopia. I have been trying to eliminate as many of them as possible, but their numbers do not seem to have decreased at all."

     In a voice full of steely resolution, she continued, "No matter, I will continue to hunt those foul beasts and atone for the mistakes that our kind has made."

     ***

     "Come back tomorrow and I will see if I have another quest for you," I thanked the yellow Kau and watched her trot away with a Gnome Shroom between her teeth.

     It had been a few years since I graduated from the Faerie Academy with top honours. As a reward for my stellar performance, Queen Fyora granted permission for Neopets to approach me for quests instead of my approaching them. This arrangement gave me more free time to pursue my interest in potion-brewing since I need not source for the ingredients myself. Occasionally, an absent-minded Neopet would come back with the ingredients only hours later, ruining my brew, but it was a price that I was willing to pay for the convenience.

     I had not heard from Lady Tenebrae for some time, owning to her involvement in the Altadorian council, so I was pleasantly surprised when I received a neomail from her out of the blue. After the yellow Kau had left, I tore open the letter and read.

      "Dear Jhudora, please destroy this neomail after reading so that it would not fall into the wrong hands. I have dedicated the last few decades of my life to bringing peace to Altador by ridding the city of the bothersome beasts. While I have been putting them down by the thousands, I don't seem to have made a significant dent in their numbers.

     I have tried to convince the council that Altador needs to be ruled by the faeries in order for there to be peace. King Altador, Jerdana and the other Neopets are not powerful enough to drive all the monsters away and even then, I doubt they would be able to keep the monsters away for good. Jhudora, you have fought the beasts alongside me and you are aware that it would be extremely difficult to slay even one of those beasts with faerie magic. The magic which Neopets possess simply would not suffice. The only weakness of the beasts is their fear of faerie magic and I see no other alternatives other than the rule of the faeries.

     I have voiced my concern to the council regarding the change in leadership and recommended that Altador came under the direct governance of Faerieland. I had expected opposition from Siyana but what I did not expect was for both Jerdana and King Altador to disapprove of my recommendations. It seems that power and prestige has gotten to their heads and they have forgotten their duty to serve the citizens of Altador.

     They have left me with no choice. The night when Kreludor is the brightest in the Neopian skies is where we dark faeries are at our strongest and that is when I will take over Altador. It is with much reluctance that I am writing to you, so I beg for your forgiveness for implicating you, Jhudora.

     Should I fail in my attempt to transfer Altador to the control of the faeries, I require you to free me from whatever seal that they have me under but only doing so after a thousand years have passed. I have cast a powerful spell on myself and it would enable me to regain my powers in the event that I do get defeated and it would only work after a thousand years has passed.

     Should you ever feel in need of ancient wisdom, my staff will be there to guide you."

     My hands were trembling by the time I had finished reading the neomail. I threw the letter into the flame and sat down, trying to calm myself. The full moon was due that very night and there was little that I could do even if I had wanted to help her. Lady Tenebrae must have ensured that the neomail would only reach me on the day of the takeover itself so that I would not send her any aid and risk getting into trouble with the council.

     I thought about how lonely it must have been for her to single-handedly ensure the safety of Altador and my heart went out to her. Dark faeries have often been labelled as the evil ones, but it was King Altador and the other members of the council who were the greedy ones. They have been blinded by their power and failed to see that Lady Tenebrae's plan for Altador is the only way to bring peace to the city.

     I wrung my hands in anxiety and prayed for her safety. I hoped that the power of the full moon would be enough for her to overcome any opposition that the council might put up. As the moon peeked across the horizon, I stood at the edge of my cloud, hoping that somehow Lady Tenebrae would be able to sense my presence and draw strength from my support.

     "Lady Tenebrae is one of the most powerful faeries in the history of Neopia," I kept assuring myself. "She will be more than a match for those Neopets. Altador will be peaceful once she has established control and driven the beasts away."

     That was the longest night of my life.

     ***

     "Darkest Faerie Betrays her Council!" the headlines in the Neopian Times screamed.

     "The Sleeper, henceforth known as The Betrayer, turned against the Altadorian council in an attempt to overthrow King Altador and claim the city of Altador for herself. Against the advice of his council, King Altador invited Tenebrae into his Council of Protectors. It proved to be the greatest folly in the history of Neopia, as Tenebrae laid waste to the city of Altador two nights ago.

     Having somehow acquired the powers of the other elemental faeries, the fall of Altador seemed imminent. King Altador's army was no match for the deadly onslaught of the Darkest

     Faerie and could only watch helplessly as she razed the city.

     In the hour of greatest need. Lady Siyana flew into battle with an army of faeries, bearing the emblem of Queen Fyora. The tide of the battle turned in the defenders' favour as no evil could withstand the assault of a hundred faeries.

     To prevent further bloodshed, our great Lady Siyana took out an orb of immense power and cast a great spell, a spell so powerful that the Darkest Faerie could do nothing but stare helplessly as she was slowly sealed in stone. The foul beasts of the shadows were too consumed by the power of the great orb.

     Peace reigns once again, thanks to the efforts of Lady Siyana and the faeries."

     My blood boiled when I saw that the power-hungry Council were portrayed as the rightful rulers of Altador when Lady Tenebrae was the one only one who truly cared about the fate of Altador. I will help Lady Tenebrae regain what was meant to be hers. Enjoy the peace while it lasts, Siyana.

     ***

     I had delved deep into the history of magic, ransacking thousands of ancient scrolls from all corners of Neopia in search of a way to undo Siyana's enchantment. There was no mention of the enchantment anywhere in the Faerieland library. The scheming Siyana must have destroyed all knowledge of it. I knew that I had to extend my search to other lands yet untouched by Siyana.

     Over the next few decades, I scoured the libraries and archives of Lost Desert, Mystery Island and Tyrannia. I had to be extra cautious about covering my tracks as I could not afford to arouse suspicion. It was at Terror Mountain that I finally found what I was looking for. Tucked into a crevice on the inside of the Snowager's Cave was an ancient scroll written in the old tongue of the faeries. Few remembered the language and even fewer spoke the language.

     "It's no use," I thought despairingly. "I don't have any knowledge of the ancient tongue."

     Suddenly, Lady Tenebrae's last words drifted across the haze of my memories. "Could it be?" I thought to myself.

     I rushed back to my cloud and removed the bronze chest from under my bed. Lady Tenebrae's staff was nestled within it, covered in a layer of dust as it laid forgotten through the decades. I examined the staff closely, unsure of what I was supposed to be looking for. I held her staff up to the light and I saw it. Something was wedged in the inside of the staff.

     Unwilling to break the orb, i carefully performed an extraction spell and removed the foreign object from within the staff. It was a scroll unravelling the mystery of the ancient tongue!

     Armed with that knowledge, I translated the spell into the modern faerie language and devoted the next few centuries practising the spell and procuring the ingredients which I needed. To cover up the fact that I had been sourcing for spell ingredients, I handed the requests out as part of my quests.

     After all this time, the moment had finally arrived.

     ***

     I hovered above the Maraquan Sea, above the very spot where Lady Tenebrae had been resting for the past thousand years. Even across that great distance, I could feel her power rushing upwards towards me in waves as the spell that she had cast on herself so many years ago finally worked its magic.

     A dark whirlpool began to form on the surface of the water. The whirlpool began to grow in size, creating a black void that not even the moonlight could escape from. I raised my wand and a dark form began to rise to the surface.

      Your slumber is finally over, My Lady.

The End