Rise of the Fomori: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Adventure (Faerie Warriors Book 2)

by J. A. Curtis

  FAERIES DIDN’T FIGHT well after being crushed by trees.

  Palon’s aim was almost as good as mine, and because of his strength, he chucked full-grown trees farther than my golem. We had four of the eleven enemy faeries pinned, to various degrees, under large trees within a few minutes of our initial onslaught. Of course, they’d have to use their faerie guardians to help them out from under the downed tree, which left them vulnerable to attack. Jorgeral’s troll and Palon’s centaur rushed in to take down the weakened faerie guardians, but the guardians of the uninjured faeries came to the aid of their downed comrades.

  Palon’s faerie guardian pulled back, but Jorgeral’s kept going, slamming into a jackalope and taking it down with a couple of hacks of his ax. A werewolf attacked it from behind, but the troll was—just barely—able to throw it off.

  “Jorgeral, pull back, you're too far in,” I shouted.

  But it was too late. Even the faerie guardians of some injured faeries piled onto the troll. I sent my golem rushing forward, using the trees to bat a couple creatures aside. Palon flung trees at the unhurt faeries and their guardians while his centaur protected him from any direct attacks. An ogre got ahold of the troll’s ax, and with a slice to the head, the troll vanished, and Jorgeral dropped lifeless to the grass.

  I averted my eyes from his unmoving form, trying not to think about all the times Jorgeral and I had sparred or of his loyalty or trustworthiness. Like Nuada, I pushed the pain aside. He wasn’t the only faerie I needed to fight for today.

  I yanked my golem back onto my arm before directly releasing it again. It ripped up more trees, flinging them at the five uninjured faeries. It took three more faeries getting pinned under trees before the last two realized I didn’t miss. Even when they ran, my golem threw them with enough force that they’d hit the ground and bounce at least once, branches snapping, knocking the faeries to the ground before the trunk barreled onto its target.

  If the first one rolled too far, which it rarely did, I’d follow it up with a quick second, landing it right where I aimed.

  The last two faeries pulled their faerie guardians close and used them to shield their escape.

  “Palon!” I shouted, pointing toward the fleeing faeries.

  “On it.” He jumped on his centaur’s back, and it took off. As they ran, Palon ripped up two trees and pointed them like javelins at the fleeing faeries.

  I went after the pinned faeries’ guardians. Some were in worse shape than others, depending on how badly the falling trees had hurt the faerie controlling it.

  My golem ripped up more trees and swung them wide, knocking down the ogre and a basilisk before my golem fell on them, pounding them out of existence. A giant and hydra tried to team up, but I ran forward, slicing my sword across the back of their calves and dropping them to the ground. I backed off, allowing my golem to finish them as well.

  The last two faerie guardians, a sigbin and a myrmidon, had gotten the trees off their faeries and were transporting their injured owners away from me, away from the enemy base and into the trees.

  They were injured, and I didn’t want to waste any more time giving chase in the wrong direction.

  “Sir!” Raedia was there, blurring from the trees. “Our faeries are past the enemy headquarters, heading toward human civilization. What’s left of them.”

  “What’s left?”

  Raedia looked down. “I counted six?”

  I stared at her. Dear Goddess. Six? “What about the enemy behind us?”

  “They’ve disengaged,” she said. “I don’t get it. They’re headed away from us. You’ve held off all those that might have tried to pursue us.” She looked over the fallen enemy faeries with wide eyes.

  The Haven. They must have figured they’d taken enough of us out, or that the faeries Palon and I had fought were strong enough to take the rest of us down. The main force was now headed to the Haven to ensure the queen’s death.

  Palon came riding back on his centaur. “I took out one, sir, but the other was too fast. However, by the way he was moving, I don’t think they’ll be coming back this way any time soon.”

  I nodded. “Raedia, Palon, get the faeries to safety. We’ll meet up where we usually stop for supply runs.”

  “Yes, sir,” Both Raedia and Palon said. Raedia bowed and sped off into the trees.

  “You’re going after her, aren’t you, sir?” Palon asked.

  I nodded. I wouldn’t leave her behind again. “I’m going to get Mina, and we’re going after the queen.”

  By the time we returned to the Haven, it would most likely be too late. But I wasn’t leaving without Mina.

  “I can go with you, sir,” Palon offered.

  At first, I was going to refuse, but then thought better of it. “Watch the rear, make sure we are not attacked from behind.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Gritty dirt coated my fingertips as I climbed up my golem’s arm to its shoulder. My golem reached down and picked up Palon. He settled onto the other shoulder, watching behind us. I directed my gaze to the four-story building. A glint of light off a dragon-headed sword handle cracked through the curtains of a room on the second floor. Mina’s sword.

  I’d start my search there.

  Cement cracked under pounding steps as the golem charged forward up the drive. Trees burned and smoke drifted into the sky.

  Glass rained down as the golem’s fist smashed through the glass of the second-story window. The curtains partially obscured my vision. My golem ripped them out as its fist retracted. The rod dropped onto the drive below with a loud clatter.

  A man stood in the room, back against the wall, face pale. Mina’s sword lay on the desk among hundreds of shards of broken glass.

  “I’m looking for someone,” I said to the man.

  “I’m here.” The sound of Mina’s voice from inside the room caused a wave of relief to course through me. Glass crinkled under her feet as she stepped into view. She looked perfect, whole. I took a step down my golem’s arm, wanting nothing more than to take her in my arms.

  That was when I noticed the bright swelling red mark along her jawline. A rage like I’d never known slashed through me, and my golem’s arm jerked back almost of its own accord, ready to smash the man in the room out the other side of the building.

  The man held something in his hands. An armband of stones. He swiped his hand over the pink one and said, “May the Mother Goddess Danu grant the protection I require.” He swung his hand toward the window, and for a moment, the entire room glowed pink.

  My golem’s fist was rebuffed at the open window like it had hit an invisible, yet solid barrier. Rage and fear slashed through me, and I sent my golem’s fist again, but the invisible barrier didn’t give.

  I couldn’t get to Mina.

  “Nice try, lover boy.” The man sneered.

  Mina lunged for the desk, gathering her sword and the green emerald ring on a chain off the desk. She retreated, her back hitting against a bookcase as she spun to face the man with the dark unicorn on his arm.

  “Bres,” Mina said. “Let me go, and we won’t make you fall.”

  Bres laughed, drawing his own sword. “We? Put your sword away, little general, and I will consider keeping the deal we just made. I can wait you out. Sooner or later, the rest of the Fomori will return. You are no match for me. Especially without your faerie guardian.”

  Mina looked uncertain, like she thought he might be right. Then her head dipped. Books and small figurines lay scattered among the glass shards, having fallen from the bookshelves when my golem punched through. The base of a half-shattered glass ball, similar to the one we had at the Haven, sat on the ground, the blue stone no longer suspended in the middle but among the fragments of glass. A white mist curled up from it, twisting toward Mina.

  Mina’s eyes drifted shut. “No,” she whispered. “That stone caused all this.”

  I stared. What was going on?

  The mist swirled around her body. Surprise
and alarm shone on Bres’s face. He stepped forward. “Don’t—”

  Mina bent over, and her hand closed around the stone.

  The emerald around her neck glowed as if awakened from a long sleep. The white mist curled thicker around Mina, and she breathed it in.

  And changed.

  She became taller, her hair lengthening, pulled back in a long braid. Her body filled out her armor better. Her face transformed, aging in an instant.

  Wonder and shock coursed through me. It was Jazrael, as I had seen her before in Mina’s vision.

  She took a step toward Bres, sword in one hand, the shard of stone in the other. “You should have taken Mina’s deal, Bres. Now you have me to answer to.”

  Bres had gone pale, but he scowled. “You palace faeries always think way too much of your abilities.” And with that, he lunged forward.

  Their blades clashed in a flash of metal. Jazrael’s sword moved with a skill and tenacity I knew Mina was not yet capable of. The emerald at her neck still glowed and the white mist still curled up her hand and arm. She pushed Bres back with her greater skill, slamming him into the door.

  Bres released his faerie guardian. It filled the room, and Jazrael dove away, flinging herself back over the desk with such force that she slid over it and rammed into the barrier where Palon and I stood, watching through the broken window. If the barrier hadn’t been there, Jazrael would have tumbled two stories to the ground.

  The dark unicorn bucked and rammed the desk. Jazrael got her feet under her in time to jerk out of the way. She brought both hands to the hilt of her sword and leapt, bringing the sword down in the small space, slicing across the dark unicorn’s horn. Bres cried out, stumbling. The dark unicorn reared, and Jazrael pulled back from its flashing hooves, her eyes calculating, waiting for the next opening.

  Bres raised his hand and swiped the pink stone of the armband in his hand. “May the Mother Goddess Danu, release this protective enchantment.”

  He jerked the door open while pulling his faerie guardian onto his arm.

  The ting of an arrow being loosed reached my ears, and a small arrow lodged into Bres’s right hand, causing him to drop the armband. Bres gripped his bleeding hand and dodged through the doorway out of sight.

  My gaze flashed over to Palon, who stood with his crossbow at the ready. “Good aim, Palon.”

  “He was moving too much. It was the only thing I could draw a bead on in the little time we had, sir.”

  I turned back to the room. Jazrael stood at the window, looking at me.

  “We do not have time to give chase, the queen is in mortal peril, we must get there as soon as possible. I have used the last bits of power in this stone. It is all but gone. I must change back,” Jazrael said.

  I nodded. “Thank you for saving her.”

  Jazrael’s fist opened, and the stone fell to the floor. The glow in the emerald died, and the white mist twisting around her dispersed into nothing as Jazrael became Mina.

  She climbed onto my golem’s arm. I held out my hand, and without hesitation, she took it, and I pulled her onto the golem’s shoulder with me.

  “Take the metal disc off. I can’t access my faerie guardian until you do,” she said.

  I pressed the metal disc and the cords attaching it to Mina’s arm retracted. Mina flexed her arm. Relief flashed across her face before the serious grimness returned. She met my eyes, her gaze intense.

  “It’s not just the queen in danger.”

  Dread stole through me. So the younger children were in danger.

  She released her faerie guardian, and a pure white horse with a short-cropped mane, large feathered wings, and a long flowing tail appeared on the ground below us. It flapped its wings in a restless manner, reflecting the restlessness inside Mina.

  “Get on. Keep the disc. It could come in handy,” she said.

  I turned to Palon. “Go meet up with the other faeries. We will come get you when all this is over.”

  “Yes, sir,” Palon said.

  My golem lowered us to the ground, and I returned it to my arm as we climbed onto the pegasus. Palon released his centaur and rode off to join the other faeries.

  “Margus is already at the Haven, and a larger force is on its way. They have quite a head start,” I said.

  “I know,” Mina said. “Hold on tight.”

  Grateful for the excuse to hold her close, I locked my arms around her body. The pegasus took a few cantering steps across the cement before rocketing into the sky.

  35

  Race to the Haven

  Mina

  “You’re going to make mistakes. You’re only human.”—Nana

  WE FLEW ABOVE THE CLOUDS. The sun dipped below the horizon, filling the sky with deep reds and oranges. The colors and the chilled air filled me with a deep hollow feeling. A shiver ran through my body.

  “What happened to the rest of the troops?” I asked.

  “We got who we could to retreat toward human civilization.”

  Who we could. I slumped forward. “This is my fault.”

  “Let’s focus on getting back to the Haven.”

  I felt like the tremendous weight on my shoulders had finally crushed me. “We might be too late.”

  “If we can beat the main force there, we may have a chance,” Arius said.

  “Margus is already there.”

  Docina and Arzon. Chances were they had all fallen. Chels was probably dead. And Kris. She couldn’t fall. What would Margus do to her? I shoved the thought to the back of my mind. If I dwelled on the answer to that question, I’d turn into a nonfunctional mess.

  And the children. Would we even arrive in time to save any of them?

  “Dramian is there, too,” Arius said. “If he was able to team up with the faeries on guard, they might hold Margus off.”

  Dramian. I had been certain he’d betrayed us. But the problem hadn’t been with him. The problem had been with me.

  “How is Dramian there?” I asked.

  “He ditched out on the attack, too. We were going after Margus when we realized it was a trap. He went to protect the queen, while I went to warn the troops.”

  I stared at my fingers weaved into the pegasus’s mane. “Thank you, for coming.”

  He grunted. He had come for me. I’d stripped him of his rank and title. I’d tried to trick him. I had ruined everything.

  And still he had come.

  “You trust Dramian?” I asked, thinking of the scar on his side.

  The warmth of his breath brushed my ear as he spoke, and I shut my eyes. The feel of his closeness was the one comfort in all this mess. “Didn’t really have a choice,” he said.

  He looked through the clouds. “We are coming up on the enemy's primary force. There are some fliers ahead that we must get past.”

  I squinted, barely making out the forms of three faerie guardian’s flying ahead of us above the clouds. “Unless one of them has a pegasus, we’re faster.”

  “There is a gargoyle, a peryton, and a zilant.”

  I knew one out of the three creatures, and the thought of tangling with just the gargoyle while up in the air made my mouth go dry.

  We sailed upward. Some altitude between us would help.

  Figures in the distance rose as well. At least two of them did. The third stayed below.

  “They’re going to attempt to trap you,” Arius said.

  “I see it.”

  The figures formed an upside-down triangle. They were going to attack from both sides and drop me into the path of the faerie guardian waiting below.

  I made out the forms of the flying creatures. One was long and skinny with wings—like a flying snake. The other looked like a stag with wings. The one flying below was a large, gray, muscular creature that looked like it could crush my pegasus between two fists.

  “Can we go around them?” I asked Arius.

  “Yes. But it would waste time.”

  I ground my teeth. We didn’t have time to waste. “We’
re going to run them. Hold on tight.”

  I leaned forward, locking my arms around my pegasus’s neck and squeezing my legs. Arius’s arms were locked around me. I could feel the tightness in his body, his cheek pressed against mine. His warmth granted me the calmness I needed to sink down into my pegasus. I shut my eyes, and we became one.

  The wind in my mane, my tail streaming behind, and the feel of two figures hunched over my neck, who held on for dear life.

  Don’t throw them off.

  We whipped ahead, the trap set up by our enemies coming up fast. I now saw the faeries riding on the backs of their faerie guardians. A liability.

  I pressed forward. Faster. I had to go as fast as I could. My four hooves galloped beneath me, and I pushed the air against my wings, straining.

  The flying creatures in front of me reversed course, coming straight at me from opposite directions. My wings tucked, and keeping my head up, I dove. Mina and Arius’s weight bore into my neck, but I had to keep holding it up or else they would tumble off the front of me into the air.

  The gargoyle rushed to meet me, claws outstretched. I twisted at the last second, spinning us, front hooves connecting with the side of the faerie riding on the gargoyle’s back.

  The gargoyle slowed and dropped behind.

  That was all I needed. My wings spread, and I caught air, pulling us out of the twisting dive. I flapped hard, getting us back on track and rising into the sky. I shot forward.

  I returned to myself as we straightened out and sat up, releasing my pegasus’s neck. A long breath seeped out of me. We made it past, I thought, grateful for the time Arius and I had inadvertently practiced gaining our bearings while flying.

  That was one good thing I’d done today. Not that it made up for screwing everything else up.

  Arius still held me tight. “That was reckless,” he murmured breathlessly in my ear.

  I glanced back once, but we were leaving the slower fliers far behind. We really were fast. I wished I’d known about the pegasus’s speed when we had been chasing Dramian and Chels in Kris’s car. We might have been able to keep up with them then.