Perfidious

  P. T. MCKENZIE

  Copyright © P.T. McKenzie

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN 978-1-7366184-0-0

  Created with Vellum

  To Zac

  Beloved and Never Forgotten

  1250 – 1350 AD

  * * *

  Monsters once roamed the Earth, doing as they pleased, and humans feared the prowling beasts.

  But in 1257, a knight decided he would conquer one such monster, a dragon. He cornered the dragon while it was sleeping and pierced it through the heart, hence by killing the monster. His actions taught the humans it was possible to fight against the creatures that hunted them.

  By 1311, the number of monsters had dwindled at the hands of man. A human king named Scholet offered rewards of gold and jewels, encouraging the killing of multitudes of remaining monsters. His movement caused the monsters to hide within the world of man. Many creatures—dragons, gargoyles, shapeshifters, elves, fairies—learned how to appear human to escape being hunted.

  But not all monsters were content with such an existence. In 1348, a once wild dragon known as Pierce rejected the falsehood to appear human. He rallied a variety of monsters to attack a human village known for housing numerous hunters. Many died on both sides. That battle, known as Pierce’s Battle, was the first of many.

  The Human Wars officially began on December 30th, 1348.

  An excerpt from The King’s Legacy:

  A Complete History of Perfidious

  1

  As I stepped out of my bedroom window onto the dew-covered grass, I zipped up my sweater against the cool morning air. My head still felt groggy from crying myself to sleep the night before, but I faced the vast forest surrounding my house and headed down the familiar dirt path to the gate of Perfidious.

  Being half-elf allowed me to see better than most humans, even with the pre-dawn woods being so dark. I walked under two maple trees whose branches entwined to form an arch—the southeastern gate of Perfidious. Being within its boundaries felt different compared to being outside of the gates. It was probably a placebo effect, but I felt more at home, like I could be myself. At first glance, there really wasn’t a difference—same trees, same plants, same air. But the villages with pureblood monsters and half-breeds that existed further inside made Perfidious special.

  The residents of Perfidious had established six main villages for half-breeds, some located in the flatlands to the east, others in the forest nearby. I half jogged toward my second home on the outskirts of one of those forest villages, Coalfell. Birds chirped above in welcome. Without the sun, the cold clung to my skin, but I powered through, determined to finish my mission before school.

  I smiled, reaching a familiar tall oak. During one of my first expeditions into Perfidious, I had found the old tree five minutes outside of Coalfell. The roots grew too large and spread out for much to survive near it, so it stood alone. An opening underneath had been almost large enough for me to walk around in, so I dug a little deeper and reinforced with dirt and wood to make walls and a ceiling. I added a trap door at the base of the tree, turning it into a hideaway that only few knew about. If someone passed by, they wouldn’t even notice my little root cellar beneath.

  I scanned my surroundings to make sure no one was watching before opening the door and jumping down into the darkness. A twin bed sat against one wall with my dresser a couple of feet away. In the bottom drawer, I had everything I wanted to keep hidden from my parents, including a small box. I grabbed a wire with a glow-in-the-dark star attached from the dozen in the box and made my way out of my hideout, back into the early morning light.

  As I walked, I kept an eye out for anything that moved. Even though I was near a half-breed village, I still wasn’t safe from the creatures that stalked the shadows. Few monsters wanted to venture into Coalfell due to its close proximity to humans, making it the safest place for half-breeds. However, it was safer to be on guard than be something’s breakfast.

  The forest was quiet except for the occasional breeze through the leaves. My eyes scanned the underbrush for signs of movement.

  A shadow darted through the trees in front of me.

  I bolted, running opposite of the creature, veering from the path as quickly as my legs would carry me. Footsteps crushed leaves behind me as I ran.

  It was gaining on me.

  Rays of sun bloomed in front of me from the clearing ahead. I hurried to it, whipping around in the open to confront the thing in pursuit. In a fighting stance, I scanned the area, looking for something I could use as a weapon, but it was too late.

  Hand to hand combat it was. I raised my fists as a shadow approached the edge of the trees. A boy with black hair and fiery eyes slowly stepped into the sunlight.

  My adrenaline dropped.

  “Kalvin!” My heart raced, and I put my hands on my knees, trying not to melt from relief.

  “Hey Elisia. Did I scare you or something?” His amused grin made me want to punch him.

  “No, you didn’t,” I said, a little winded from the run. “What are you doing out here anyway? You’re not exactly a morning person.”

  He snorted. “That’s the truth. I’m on my way to my mom’s. I saw you and figured ya’d want company?”

  “Sure. I’m just heading to the Mourning Willow.” I started walking back to the path.

  Kalvin followed me, making almost no noise. We walked in silence, but I couldn’t help looking over at him. His black hair hung just above his golden-orange eyes. Kalvin was an amazing fighter, extremely muscular—not the kind that looked weird, but enough that you could tell he’d win a fight.

  Kalvin smirked as he glanced at me. “You like what you see?”

  Heat rose to my cheeks, and I punched him. “Shut up.”

  He snickered but didn’t say anything else. Kalvin always made flirty comments to me and every other girl, but it wasn’t like he was serious. Someone watching us might think that we were dating or something, but even with all his talk, we’d only ever been just best friends. Nothing more.

  We approached the willow in a small clearing at the end of the path. I ducked under its droopy branches and into the hidden beauty underneath. The Elders had turned the willow into a memorial for the half-breeds killed by purebloods within Perfidious, calling it the Mourning Willow. Hundreds of little trinkets hung from the branches, most of which had names on them for the half-breed they represented. I searched and found a bundle of new ornaments with “Dylan” on them. Reaching for the wired star in my back pocket, I threw myself up and fastened it around a thin branch.

  Since the age of ten, I had hung a star for every half-breed who died in Coalfell, even if I didn’t know them. And I didn’t know Dylan very well, but I still honored his life, knowing his death would never find justice.

  After making sure my star was secure, I turned back to Kalvin. His back was to me, his Anchor peeking out from his cut-off shirt.

  Every half-breed has a mark on their left shoulder called an Anchor that almost looks like a tattoo but with a defining shimmer. No one knows why we have them. Some rumors claim they are brands caused by the mix of human and monster blood, marking us as less than purebloods. Kalvin’s Anchor always reminded me of a fireplace, the bottom line only going halfway across and a squiggly line darting through the center of the box like a little flame.

  “You’re not taking a bag. Does that mean you’re coming back tonight?” I jumped down from the tree.

  “Yup.” He turned to face me. “My mom didn’t want me coming at all, not since Dylan…” Kalvin stopped and cleared his throat. “Anyway, she has something I need. I should be done by the time you get out of that human school. Wanna spar later?”

  “Sure. We can meet at my root cellar. What does she have?”
>
  He winked. “It’s a secret. You’ll find out later.”

  Kalvin walked me back to the edge of the forest by my house before he headed to the west side of Perfidious. Though the half-breeds stayed on the east side of Perfidious, most of our pureblood parents lived on the west side near the mountains. However, visiting was dangerous; many purebloods would not hesitate to kill a half-breed.

  Whenever I heard news of one of us being murdered, it scared me. I couldn’t imagine losing Kalvin, the only person I could talk to about both my elf and human problems. Few humans knew about Perfidious, so it's not like I could tell anyone at school.

  I don’t know what I would do without him.

  I entered the light blue house through my bedroom window, hoping I could make it to school without getting yelled at for sneaking out. However, before I swung my second leg over the windowsill, my father opened the door. He leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, and stared at me with his bright blue eyes, the same color as mine.

  “It’s not what you think,” I told him. I didn’t want him thinking I stayed in Perfidious all night. They would ground me for sure. “I left early this morning.”

  “Why were you there this time?” he asked with a flat voice.

  “I wanted fresh air.”

  His eyes squeezed shut as he touched his temple. The thing about my dad is that he has a rare elf ability that I sadly didn’t inherit—he can tell when people are lying.

  He took a minute before he looked at me. “Why don’t you just tell me the truth? I will even make it easy for you. If you tell me, I won’t tell your mother.”

  My lips thinned. She would not be happy if he told her. Mom didn’t like it when I left the house without telling her.

  I groaned. “I was at the Mourning Willow.”

  “Why?” A hard smile spread across his lips as though he found it funny. He raised his voice. “You didn’t know him.”

  I bit my tongue. I couldn’t say what I wanted. We didn’t agree on anything to do with Perfidious or half-breeds.

  We never would.

  I pushed myself off the windowsill and stood firmly in front of him. He didn’t want the truth, but his elf abilities make it impossible to just tell him what he wanted.

  “Does it matter? We have this conversation every time I go there. Can’t you just accept that I’m gonna go there, and you can’t stop me?” I realized too late that I said the wrong thing. He exhaled sharply and I spoke fast. “Ugh. That’s not what I meant. I mean that going to the Mourning Willow isn’t that bad. I could be doing way worse than hanging a star on a tree. But I’m not.”

  He took a step and opened his mouth to speak but stopped. He stood there in what seemed like a mental battle. I waited to see which side would win.

  Finally, his shoulders relaxed a tad. “Were you alone?”

  “No, Kalvin was with me.”

  My father took a deep breath, and his shoulders relaxed fully. “I guess as long as you weren’t alone, then it could have been worse. But this doesn’t mean I approve. You are part of my bloodline, Elisia. So, if you get into trouble in Perfidious or are spotted somewhere you shouldn’t be, it would look bad for me. I have an important job at the castle, and it took me a long time to get it. Things you do could jeopardize my reputation. My position keeps you safe. You know this. But if you continue going to places like that willow, it won’t look good on my part.”

  “Okay…” I was a half-breed and had every right to be at the Mourning Willow. But instead of telling him that, I chose a safer approach. “I’ll try to stay out of trouble.”

  “I guess that’s better than nothing.”

  I nodded and walked past him towards the kitchen where Mom was busy cooking breakfast. I snuck up behind her and used my inhuman speed to snatch a piece of sausage, which she might not have noticed if I wasn’t playing hot potato with it.

  Mom turned around. “It would’ve cooled down if you waited for me to take it off the burner.”

  I smiled at her. “I just couldn’t help myself.” I stuck the stolen sausage into my mouth. “Plus, I have to get to school. I’m gonna be late.”

  I walked into the foyer to put my shoes on.

  "Well, if you’d gotten home from your morning excursion earlier,” she called after me, “then you wouldn’t be rushing out the door.”

  I stopped what I was doing to gape at her. She didn’t even look up—just focused on the food on the stove. I turned to my father and scrunched my nose, narrowing my eyes at him.

  He held up his hands in surrender. “It wasn’t me.”

  Mom failed to hold back a smirk. “I checked to see if you were up, but I found an empty bed and an open window. I put two and two together.”

  “Oh…” I looked down. “Well, I’m gonna go to school. Am I in trouble?”

  “We’ll see,” my mom said, dropping the subject as she grabbed two plates.

  I hugged her to gain some brownie points before I grabbed my backpack and left for school.

  On the way, I put my chestnut hair up into a ponytail. I’m thankful I inherited most of my physical traits from my mom. Only the unnatural highlights and bright blue eyes made me look slightly inhuman. Though, sometimes I wished I had pointy ears like my dad. They would have annoyed me, but at least then I wouldn’t have to go to a stupid human school.

  Perfidious didn’t exactly have anything that would compare to school. I’d take individual lessons from specialists in Coalfell with the other half-breeds. That would have been way more interesting than the classes the counselor told me I had to take.

  I just hoped I wouldn’t be late. That would draw too much attention, and attention for a half-breed is never a good thing.

  2

  I walked into school and made my way to my locker, sliding past dozens of people crowding the long hall. Every locker appeared the same—yellow and worn. The gold numbers “156” marked my locker, which creaked open as I put my backpack in and pulled my math books out. I looked at the clock hanging down the hall. My heart skipped a beat.

  The bell rang.

  Crap.

  I jogged my way over to class. I hated being late, especially to math. Mrs. Walker always made a comment about tardy students. I quietly opened the back door to the classroom, hoping I could sneak in without getting busted.

  “Ah. Thank you for joining us, Ms. Meyer,” Mrs. Walker announced in front of the class. “Tardiness may cause dire consequences someday. Best to break that habit now.” She pushed her glasses up, glaring at me.

  I forced a smile and hurried to my seat in the back row. Although it comprised the older, squeaky desks that no one liked, I found it more alluring. I had the advantage of being on the outside, having everyone else in front of me, viewing everything going on without being in the middle. It meant, of course, that no one usually bothered me.

  But that time, a guy sat in the normally empty desk next to my seat. I hesitated. His head was down, his light brown hair covering his face, but I knew who he was by his varsity jacket. He looked up, his moss green eyes meeting mine.

  I sat down in my seat. “What are you doing back here, Greyson?” I whispered, trying to make it sound like I was joking instead of what I actually was—appalled. “Shouldn’t the quarterback of our football team sit near the front with the other jocks?”

  “Just thought I’d sit back here today. I wanted to see why you insist on sitting in the back row every class.”

  His explanation made little sense, but I tried to ignore it as I got my math book out. Greyson was a brilliant guy. But even though we had two classes together and had been in the same school since the 4th grade, we never really talked. The stereotypical quarterback of the football team, one of the popular kids, he was on the top, and I wasn’t exactly fond of being noticed. Everyone’s eyes were on the popular kids, and I didn’t like that much attention from humans.

  I looked over at Greyson. He was looking at me, but as soon as our eyes met, he looked away. Did he need someth
ing? He was acting strange.

  I kept expecting him to try to talk to me during class, but he sat quietly until the bell rang. I didn’t notice him much throughout the rest of the day, so I dismissed it.

  My schedule ended with gym, my favorite because I got to play sports I never would have otherwise. I rushed into the girls’ locker room to change. Though I loved the class, it presented its own unique challenges for a half-breed—my Anchor.

  I took my shirt off, and an excited gasp echoed behind me.

  I groaned inwardly as I turned to see a shorter girl with blonde hair in perfect ringlets, her eyes glued to my shoulder.

  “I love your tattoo! I don’t think I’ve seen ink like that before. Where’d you get it?” The girl bounced slightly as she spoke, but talking about my Anchor made me nervous.

  “I got it somewhere south a while ago. I don’t remember the place,” I lied, giving her my best fake smile.

  Her excitement vanished, and she left me alone to finish getting ready for gym.

  The little mark I was born with drew so much attention from humans. The slight shimmer made Anchors different from regular tattoos. Mine looked as though it was a crescent moon within a perfect circle. It wasn’t anything special, but people always asked me where I got it. And I always had to lie.

  I finished getting ready and jogged out to the gym. We had been playing floor hockey for two weeks, and I was the only girl on a team with five guys: three football players, Noah, Anthony, and Greyson; and two other boys, Ryan and Kyle.

  Greyson and I always managed to break through the opposing team’s defense for the score. His speed almost matched mine, which always made me curious. With me being half-elf, I would easily win in a race at top speed, yet it puzzled me how fast he was able to run for a human.

  “Great pass, Elisia,” Greyson complimented me after the winning goal, right before the bell rang.

  “Thanks, Greyson. You too,” I replied, turning to head to the locker room. I wanted to go back to Perfidious as soon as—