by Leia Stone
Trying to keep my heartrate down, I walked slowly over to where Liam stood. Out of the corner of my eye, a black rope lashed out and wrapped around my ankle.
Shit.
Elle and Liam screamed at the same time as I was yanked to the ground. A bone-chilling cold wrapped around my leg and seeped into my soul.
Princess must not restore Faerie. This time, the voice was inside my head, which scared the living shit out of me. With my other foot, I kicked the snake-like blackness to try to dislodge it, but it didn’t work.
“Use the light magic!” Elle shouted, standing over me. Her arms were outstretched like she wanted to grab it and yank it off me but had thought better of it.
Light magic. I needed to stop forgetting I had that! I reached up to bring my hands around the snake, but before I could, Liam stepped over me and brought the Sword of Night down in one big arc. He plunged it into the thickest part of the creature—avoiding cutting off my foot, thankfully—and an unseen force slammed into the wall beside me, cracking the stone.
Pain sliced up my thigh as the black snake hissed and slithered slowly off of me, retreating to the corner of the room. I pulled warm sunlight magic through my palms and blasted it in the corner for good measure. The oily snake blob was incinerated by my light, and Elle offered me her hand.
“That was close. Thanks, guys.” I stood and noticed Liam was still staring at the far wall, holding his sword.
“Li—”
“I’m fine!” he snapped, and sheathed the sword, spinning away from me and tearing out of the room.
Elle and I shared a wide-eyed look. I picked up the pace, running after him and out into the frigid cold. Wind slapped against my face as I slid across the ice before slamming into his back.
“Stop!” I yelled, and spun him around.
His eyes were like a blue ocean with threads of blackness weaving through, and I could see that the darkness had him.
“Liam, you’ve had this sword five minutes, and it’s already affecting you. How are you going to carry it three hours home?”
His chest heaved as his lips pulled into a frown. “I’m fine…it’s just bringing up…dark memories. Things I’ve done that I regret now.” He looked so scared and sad. It pinched my heart.
“Liam, let me carry it. I don’t have that many dark memories. I can handle it.”
If this thing was playing on all the bad shit he’d done, then maybe it was better that I carry it. Other than witnessing my mother’s death, there wasn’t much it could do to taunt me.
He shrank away. “No. You’re too pure.”
He’d said this before, and the way that he said it made me sad…like he didn’t see us as equals. “Liam, I want to help you.” I reached out and cupped his face.
He didn’t meet my eyes. “You do help me. You just being you is…you’re amazing.” He cleared his throat. “Let’s just get back. I’ll be fine.”
He took my hand in his, and we walked to meet up with the others.
I didn’t want him carrying that thing for three freaking hours. Even standing near him and holding his hand while he had it was making me feel sick. We could fly to the Spring Court in one hour.
“Liam and I will fly back and meet you all there,” I told the group.
Trissa frowned. “I’ll go, too.”
I shook my head, “No, stay and protect the others. I have the sunlight magic, remember? We’ll be fine.”
Not to mention Liam could freeze anything and now had this crazy-ass sword at his disposal.
Elle and Trissa looked disappointed, but I didn’t care. I wanted Liam back in the Spring Court and that sword away from him as soon as possible.
I didn’t bother looking at Liam to see his reaction. He was flying back with me right now, whether he liked it or not.
After nearly an hour of hardcore, fast flying in which we barely spoke to each other and Liam became increasingly sullen, the riverbanks of the Spring Court appeared in the distance.
“Almost there,” I told him with a small smile.
He gave me a side glare but said nothing, and I worried that the sword was worse than Jasper or any of us had imagined. I worried it had taken hold of him.
I was just about to suggest for the hundredth time that he let me hold the sword for a while when a great cracking noise echoed throughout the valley.
A gasp died in my throat as I saw the earth move in a rolling wave, water from the river sloshing upon the shore and the trees shaking and falling over.
Earthquake.
People started screaming, running all over the village, but I couldn’t make much out from that far away. They just looked like little flecks through the clear protection dome.
Something was gravely wrong.
On instinct, I pushed my wings faster, flying closer to Spring. Liam flew next to me at great speed. I was about to descend into the forest to reach the dome and open it when a huge crack ran the length of the dome and splintered out into multiple tiny spiderwebs.
“No!” I screamed.
The entire thing shattered and fell in huge chunks before disintegrating into nothing. Shock ripped through me, causing me to halt in midair and watch the total destruction of my village’s protection. For almost twenty years, it had stood as a symbol of our separation from the outside world, from the darkness that had taken our brethren.
Now it was gone.
The clean part of the river mixed with the black, and our safe little part of Faerie ended in that moment.
What could cause the dome to fall?
It hit me in that moment.
“No!” I screamed, flying for the Elders’ house. Liam was right behind me. “Check on your brothers!” I shouted at him.
He nodded and took off for the mud camp.
I neared the village, and my throat tightened with emotion. Fae were flying everywhere, screaming and taking to the skies. Some held crying babies, their piercing wails filling the space. It was chaos.
Using my Seeker ability, I tapped into the crystals and…
Oh, gods.
No, no, no.
Pivoting in midair, I nearly slammed a fellow fae. I didn’t even stop to apologize—I just flew madly through the air, over the village and toward the entrance of the cave that held the enchanted shell.
My Seeker ability was telling me that all of Faerie’s crystals were being moved. The fucking Winter King was here, and he’d taken them.
Dropping to the ground, I skidded my bare feet in the sand bank of the river. I was where the edge of the dome should be, near the blue lagoon where the enchanted shell was, but now…the dome was gone, and a sickly black smoke wafted into the air.
The problem was that the enchanted shell was in a cave that could only be reached by swimming in the river and under a rock shelf. So, psycho fish or not, I was going.
Holding the bottom of my shirt over my mouth and nose so that I didn’t breathe in the black smoke, I ran in and leapt into the once-blue waters. The dark, murky liquid surrounded me as I swam through the river. I held my breath, slipped underneath the rock shelf, and pumped my legs, kicking hard so that when I popped up I would enter the cave and not bonk my head on the stone wall.
When I broke the surface of the water, my stomach dropped at the sight of the Winter King and his witch, Chrys, emerging into the cave. Bags hung around their necks, heavy from the weight of what I assumed where the crystals of Faerie. What was that black smoke, and if they left with these crystals, would it engulf us all and kill us? My mind raced with unanswered questions.
I couldn’t let that happen.
“Stop!” I shouted, thrusting my hand out and aiming a beam of light at one of the bags they were carrying. The fabric tore, and a crystal tumbled out onto the ground.
The Winter King grabbed the bottom of the torn bag to keep it from releasing more and lunged for the enchanted shell, Chrys right after him.
“No!” I roared as their fingers touched the shell, and then…
T
hey were gone.
They had come like thieves in the night and stolen everything we had. Why the hell hadn’t I thought of the enchanted shell? Of course the king would know where it was. We should have had a guard on it—hell, it shouldn’t even exist anymore. Not with so many enemies of Faerie.
Trying to force my sobs down, I stood upon the shore with shaky legs and looked at the beautiful bluish crystal.
One. I’d saved one.
How could the Winter King touch them if Indra couldn’t? Maybe he was a Seeker, too. Maybe all royals were. Hell, I couldn’t trust anything I’d been told anymore.
Reaching down to pick up the crystal, I gripped it firmly in my hands, then brought it down hard and fast, smashing the shell portal to pieces. A shockwave of power blasted outward, throwing me back. My wings pumped hard to keep me from slamming into the wall, and quickly, the invisible force that had thrown me was gone.
I couldn’t go after them alone. Not up against those two. They were too powerful. Best to cut off their entrance into Faerie while we still had one crystal to hopefully save the place. I’d deal with everything else later.
There was no time to waste. I dove into the murky water and kicked wildly, swimming under the cave opening and surfacing back outside. When I popped up for air, I took in a huge lungful of black smoke and was thrown into a coughing fit. It burned the back of my throat.
The river water shook as another earthquake rocked the land, and I burst from the water, flying right for the Tree of Life.
I passed fae openly weeping, clutching their chests and coughing. Movement pulled my gaze to the other side of the river. Harpies, demon stags, and various other creatures stood there, eyeing Faerie greedily. I had to stop this before our entire race fell into darkness and was wiped out. With no more protection dome, we would be screwed.
People shouted my name, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t even look their way. I just flew, the fastest I’d ever flown in my life, and crash-landed before the Elders’ front door. It was wide open, and when I stepped inside, a sob lodged in my throat.
Indra and Rose hung over Maple’s bloodied, lifeless body. Kira knelt before her open abdomen, weeping. Aubin was hunched in the corner, holding a bleeding wound on his stomach, and books and papers were trashed around the room.
“Lily,” Rose croaked, and Indra looked up.
Upon seeing the single crystal in my hands, she gasped. “Oh, good girl! You saved one.”
“The queen?”
“She’s fine,” Kira told me before Indra could speak. She knew I would only trust her.
Without wasting any more precious seconds, I ran to the tree, ignoring everything in my body that hurt. I didn’t know if it was shock and grief or the black smoke or what, but all my muscles ached.
When I knelt to look at the twelve empty discs and the tips of the tree’s branches turning to ash, tears trickled down my cheeks. A tree was such a simple yet astoundingly beautiful thing. This one was linked to our queen, to our people, to our land. And it was dying.
“I’m sorry I failed you,” I told it, placing the crystal at its base. A beam of blue light shot from the golden disc and up to the trunk, and the earth shook again beneath me.
My gaze ran the length of the trunk, then to the leaves, but they still turned to black ash. The crystal wasn’t stopping whatever was causing it to die.
“You must bind your soul to the tree,” said Indra from behind me.
I turned to face her and noticed that Liam and two dozen other fae from the village had gathered inside the home. They looked from Maple to me at the base of the tree.
“We should evacuate the people to Earth!” Liam shouted at Indra, his eyes blazing with the dark sword at his hip.
She whipped her head in his direction. “Your royal lineage holds no power here, Halfling. You don’t make the rules. Lily must bind her soul to the tree. As a Seeker, she can keep it alive until you get the other crystals back.”
I was about to open my mouth and ask if my royal linage held any merit here when Liam looked at me and shook his head. “If it can be any Seeker, then let it be me,” he said, stepping forward.
The fae behind him gasped, apparently shocked that he would offer such a thing. I could see the respect in their gazes.
Indra’s lips thinned to a tight line. “It must be a Seeker of the Spring Court, as this tree is connected to Spring Court lands.”
Or it must be a royal of the Spring Court. But I didn’t want to argue that; my secret was my power for now. I held the cards.
“I’ll do it. I’ll bind my soul to the tree.” I bowed my head. “I would do anything for Faerie and my people.”
When I brought my head back up, I gazed upon nearly every person in the room. They all had one fist over their chests, heads bowed deeply in respect.
“Come on, child. We don’t have time.” Indra rushed me to the tree and ordered privacy. Maple’s body was carried outside with the other fae, but Liam refused to leave me.
“Are your brothers okay?” I asked him as I sat at the base of the tree, waiting for Indra.
He nodded. “They’re fine. My dad did this, didn’t he?” Dark threads of black glowed in his eyes, and I frowned. I could see by the way his face pinched in anger that he wanted revenge.
“We’ll figure it out,” I told him. “Why don’t you go lay the sword down at my house and come back? Take a break.”
He ran a shaky hand through his blond hair and shook his head fiercely. “No. I need to protect you. I don’t like this soul binding thing, what if—”
“We’re ready,” Indra called out, and Liam snapped his mouth shut. Aubin and Indra carried a smoking bundle of dried hinderleaves. Their sharp, earthy scent wafted through the air and danced over to me.
“What exactly does binding her soul to the tree do?” Liam asked.
Indra rolled her eyes, fanning the smoke at me as I took in small, measured breaths and tried not to cough. “The crystals keep the tree alive. The tree keeps Faerie alive. In place of the crystals, as a temporary solution, a Spring fae Seeker soul can keep the tree alive.”
Liam and I shared a look. A Spring fae Seeker or a Spring fae royal?
“Let’s do it,” I agreed. Anything to keep Faerie standing.
“Hang on, Lily. We don’t know if there are side effects. What if it weakens you? What if—”
“There is something you should know.” Indra kneeled to face me, setting the hinderleaf bundle on a stone plate. “Once you bind your soul to the tree, if the tree dies…then so do you.”
“Fuck that.” Liam stood, yanking on my arm, the sword glistening at his hip. His eyes blazed orange, and I knew the sword was affecting him too much.
The ground shook then, causing a new crack to rip right up the trunk.
“Liam.” I yanked my arm back. “I have to. Faerie needs me.”
He looked at me incredulously. “At what cost?”
“Any cost!” I shouted.
Liam gritted his teeth, making his jaw bulge. “Fine!” he screamed, and then tore out of the room. I worried that the sword was pulling him too far into the darkness, but I needed to deal with this first.
As he left, Rose slipped inside and approached us, sniffling. “Maple…she’s gone.”
Indra nodded, straightening her shoulders. “Give me your hand, Lily.”
I gulped, setting my hand in hers. She produced a piece of paper and slipped it in front of me, before slicing a knife across my hand.
I hissed at the sharp pain. Where the hell had that knife come from?
Blood droplets welled on my skin, and Indra took my palm and pressed it onto the fractured tree trunk. “Repeat the words on the page like your mother before you and save Faerie.”
Everyone held their breath as I looked at the paper, hand shaking from adrenaline. “My people and I are one.” My voice shook as the tree trunk started to vibrate. “My lands and I are one.”
A searing bright light shot from my palm and into the
trunk, causing Aubin and Rose to gasp. Indra was silent.
There was one more line. “The Tree of Life and I are one—” I groaned as pain sliced up my abdomen and into my chest. Bright light shot from my palm, and then I was blown backward.
“Oh, my gods!” Rose breathed, rushing to my aid.
I was flat on my back, looking up at the ceiling. When she pulled me upright, I saw that the tree had not only mended its trunk, but that its branches were chockful of flowers.
Aubin fell to his knees, tears filling his eyes. “It’s…never looked this healthy,” he breathed. Then he looked at me with furrowed eyebrows and a confused expression.
He was looking at me like he knew.
“Well done,” Indra chirped simply, and took the paper back.
“What was that light?” I asked Indra, staring at my hands as if it were the first time I’d seen it.
Indra waved me off, hooking her hand under my armpit. “Powerful blood magic. It was soul light, dear. All Seekers have it.”
This bitch would lie until she was blue in the face, but Aubin and Rose were giving each other a look that told me they knew what that light was. I wasn’t ready to let them know that I knew yet, though. I needed to check on Liam and his brothers and assemble the army. We were getting those fucking crystals back tonight, and news of my royalty would halt all of that with propriety and rules.
“Now, let’s hope you can get the rest of the crystals back before the creatures from the forest attack our people”—Indra booped my nose, and I planned a slow death for her in my head—“because the only one able to renew the land or fix the dome protections is the queen.”
Her curt manner and the way she dismissed me so easily grated on my nerves.
“Only the queen?” I gave her a slight grin. “Are you sure?”
Her eyes narrowed.
I cupped my bleeding palm to my chest. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go check on our people.”
As I walked out of the room, I could feel Indra’s gaze burning a hole in the back of my head.
After I bound my soul to the tree, the creepy black smoke retreated, but the bubble of protection the queen had built twenty years ago was still gone. Something else had happened, though.
