The Master and the Fake

The Fairy marched forward determinedly. The leopards parted to let him through but continued their protective circle.

"Reyan, you don't have to." Aurora saw the fire in her friend's eyes and her words died on her lips. 'Please don't do anything foolish!'

"Who dares approach the Forbidden Tower? Don't you know it is..." the figure hesitated, "forbidden?" 

"You know what should be forbidden? Letting someone think you are dead for years while hiding out like a coward!" Reyan's voice raised to such a pitch that it became almost inaudible. 

Aurora's eyes opened wide. 

"Does Reyan know your Master?" She asked Osis.

Osis twitched his whiskers in irritation. "That is not my Master."

"I'll say he is not your Master. The only thing he is a Master of is lies. This is no powerful being. He is a FRAUD!" Reyan took another step forward, and the being unconsciously stepped back into the doorway. 

Waving his hand in the air, the cloaked figure began a sequence to shut the large metal door.

But he was not fast enough in his retreat. 

"Oh no you don't!" Reyan's wings burst from his back and he flew up the small flight of stairs. Grabbing the white cloak, the fairy pulled the figure onto the outside landing. The door shut silently, leaving the fraud nowhere to escape. 

Reyan pulled back the white hood and guffawed. "I knew it. Zeru! How could you?!"

"I can explain!" Zeru squeaked as he squirmed out of Reyan's grasp. 

'Zeru?' Aurora felt like she had heard the name many months before. 

"Who is Zeru?" Aurora raised an eyebrow. 

"A fairy," Osis hissed. The words seemed distasteful to him, or he had something caught in his throat. 

The two men began to scuffle on the icy steps. No one was sure what to do.

"Your Majesty," Nurlan nudged his bear forward. "Do you have any idea what is happening?" 

"That one," Aurora pointed, "Is apparently a fairy named Zeru. He threatened to end my life when I said that we would not leave, but then Reyan attacked him and called him a fraud."

"Ow! You bit me!" Zeru screamed.

"You are just getting what you deserve, you filthy liar," Reyan responded as he tried to lock the other fairy in a chokehold. 

Aurora looked back at the General and said in human-speak, "I think they must know each other."

"Should we…stop them? I can't imagine this will do us any good toward our goal." Zan pushed back his hood, confused by the scene.

"Boys! That is quite enough! Stop this foolishness." Aurora's voice was drowned out by the fairies' bickering.

Gandr glared at the unruly males. "Stop!" He sent a burst of wind.

It was not enough to separate the fighting frenzy, but it did knock both combatants down to the icy floor of the landing. 

The fall knocked some sense in the pair. Reyan leapt to his feet with his fists raised. "You could have told me you were alive! I spoke at your funeral. Even said a few nice words among all my complaints!"

"Who is this person?" Brinn wrinkled her nose. She had never seen the fairy so worked up except over who ate the last sweet roll.

"Who is this!? I thought he was my best friend in the world, but then he up and disappeared on me for one hundred seventy-five years. Well, guess what? I have a new best friend. I don't need you anymore." Reyan motioned toward the Empress. 

She held up her hands, wanting no part of that honor just now. "Can we back up to where you said he was your best friend?" 

"This is the foolish fairy we lost because he flew too close to the Seed," Reyan glared at Zeru. "We assumed he was dead. Why did you let me believe that all this time?" 

"I wanted to tell you. I always looked for you come wintertime. I didn't see you for the first couple of years, and then I got too ashamed to admit I was down here. It was never my intention to stay, but I no longer have the ability to leave." Zeru was suddenly sheepish.

A lot of the fight drained out of Reyan. "Explain."

"I didn't mean to get so close to the Seed. I was avoiding one of the leopards when my wing got clipped slightly. I went down. The world spun and I hit the tower. I grabbed hold of it to right myself. That was a mistake. The jolt I got from doing so only sent me plummeting farther toward the ground. When I awoke, I was abandoned and powerless." Zeru lowered his head in shame. 

Reyan's bushy eyebrows shot upwards. "Powerless? You mean you cannot..." 

"I can fly, but I cannot portal. I had no way to make it out of the storm, and even if I did, the cold here is too much for me flying at normal speed. I am stranded." Zeru let out his wings. They looked beautiful but unspeakably fragile. Years of limited use had caused them to atrophy. "I can barely fly at all now." 

Blowing out his cheek, Reyan placed his hands behind his back. "Well...you still should have told me..." 

"I should have," Zeru looked at his feet. 

Aurora was happy that the two fairies seemed to have come to an amicable conclusion. Part of her wondered if that suddenly ended friendship was what had turned Reyan into the angry old fairy she knew.

Reyan had softened in the time that she knew him. Maybe he would become kinder knowing the truth. 

'Unlikely...but maybe,' Aurora concluded. 

"If you aren't the Master of the Forbidden Tower," the Empress called from the back of Isbora. "Then may we speak with him?" 

Frowning, Zeru shook his head. "I don't think you want to do that. He is not friendly. The Master threatened to kill me for the first couple of years I was here. Only by showing that I can help maintain the power did he finally stop contemplating my death."

"Did he send you out here to deal with us?" Aurora looked up at the tower. It had no windows, but a powerful being would be able to see in other ways. 

Zeru averted his gaze. "It is better that you leave. I do not want anything to happen to you."

"You were about to kill the Empress!" Reyan bopped his friend on the head. 

Zeru blocked the hit with his hand. "I was just going to threaten so you would leave. I had no idea she was the Empress. I assumed she was another fake." 

"Another?" Aurora was confused by his words. "How many have made it through the storm?"

"The storm was made to stop seekers of power from making it to the tower. But that has not prevented everyone who has come in search of what you seek. Some tried to take it by force, and others by trickery. None succeeded. You shall not either." Zeru crossed his arms. "If you try, you will meet your end." 

"You cannot know that," Aurora slid off of Isbora's back and began to limp forward. "Only the Master of the tower can decide that. Come out! I, Empress Aurora, have come to speak to the Master, not his servants. If you mean to end my life, at least have the courtesy to hear what I have to say." 

"The Master is quite busy. I doubt he can hear you," Zeru said hurriedly. Cold sweat appeared on his brow. "Maybe I could try to set up an appointment for you to come back?" 

"The magic is dying, Zeru. What could possibly take your boss's attention enough that this would not be a priority?" Reyan looked at the metal door. He lifted his fist to knock on it only to have Zeru tackle him. 

"Don't touch it! It will shock you terribly and you will end up like me. I cannot touch the walls of the tower. I have to use his magic to open and shut the doors. The Forbidden Tower was made for only one inhabitant. I am simply a guest in his house." 

"Then if that inhabitant does not want an uninvited army, he better come out and speak at once," Aurora felt unsteady on her feet before Brinn came to her side to hold her up. 

"You heard the lady. Get your boss or we are storming the castle!" The elf grinned fiercely. 

"I don't think you know what you are saying..." Zeru tried once more. 

"Enough!" a voice boomed over the company. 

The leopards instinctively bowed their front legs and Zeru fell on his face against the ice. 

"You want to speak with me? Have your way. Do not blame me for your choices." 

Even with the leopards' protection, the air suddenly got colder. 

Before them, the metal door started to move. 

A new figure came forward. Aurora gasped.