I let my fists fly.
I smacked him across the face and again on the other side. I grabbed handfuls of his hair and yanked his head this way and that already running out of ideas now the element of surprise was gone.
He shifted up into his knees and gripped my wrists. I yelped as stabs of pain raced up my forearms.
Releasing his hair, I pulled to get away, and ended up brining my knee up into his chin in my panic.
His head snapped back, and he let me go.
The clouds above stopped churning and began to dissipate. The unnatural stillness in the air past, and the intensity in the atmosphere eased.
Cursing me, Cael rolled on the floor. His bloodied face buried in his hands.
Panting, startled my plan had worked, I used the time to focus on the shield he d erected around my magics. His vanity wouldn t keep him distracted forever.
The more I tried to figure out how to move past the buffer blocking my magic the harder it became. I screeched my frustration and yanked on the ends of my hair. My power equaled Cael s for brute force; I just had to stop being such a fool about it. Forcing myself calm, I reached out to the Source, all the while telling myself the barrier was not there, and even if something was there my magic needn t heed it.
My mental hands passed through the obstruction and magic flooded me.
I turned back to Cael with a beatific smile of triumph on my face. My eyes fluttered open, and he stood before me.
His crooked nose cracked back into place, and his eyes glowed with an unholy fire.
He gripped my arms, swung me overhead, and tossed me away from him. Curled into a ball, I landed hard on my upper back and bounced. It hurt the odd kind of pain that hurts too much to try and understand. My tail and wings squished beneath me, and my fangs sliced into my bottom lip the impact jarred so much.
I rolled to the verge, and my body mass suddenly weighed nothing as I fell off the platform face first.
I flung out my arms and legs to scramble for a hold. The edge of the platform dug into the crook of my elbow slowing my fall, and jerking me to an odd angle. It was enough.
I caught the thick lip and hung on until my other hand grabbed a hold too. My arms strained under my weight, already tired from fighting. My booted feet kicked the air uselessly. Mind blanked by shock, I screamed. Utterly pointless, but I couldn t help it. The others had fallen, and now I knew first hand how terrifying it was.
Unlike them, I couldn t fall. I had to stay.
Puling myself together, I stopped wasting my energy kicking nothing and worked out a strategy. My wings extended and my tail worked in tandem with my legs, flicking side to side in broad strokes. Swinging my body, I was easily able to hook a leg back up onto the edging and lever myself up.
Grunting, I used all my limbs to drag myself onto the platform.
Lying on my stomach, I looked down over the edge and saw the fighting carried on below. I didn t have time to seek out my friends, though I could sense all their auras were close, some closer than others. I moaned when I worked out how high I was, and what the fall would have done to me so unprepared for it.
I rolled onto my back. I gave my muscles a moment to relax in case they cramped then I really would be screwed.
The shrill trilling of magic stopped. I didn t think that was a good thing.
I looked over at Cael, genuinely wondering why he hadn t come over to finish me off.
My insides turned to ice.
He hadn t wasted anymore time on me, he d returned to his spell. He stared at me as he worked his magic, the saddest expression on his face.
None of you loved me, wanted me. I was always alone, never accepted,
he said quietly. Somehow, through the blustery currents of wind I heard him.
I was a child. Conall let them abuse and defile me because he was ashamed of what I was. He let them make me a monster. The fairy lords knew about me and they did nothing. They brought this on themselves.
I tried to remain calm, but my gaze kept being drawn to the growing column of power sucking in all the magic it could find, gorging itself on the natural energy emitted from the earth.
Its main power came from Cael. It drank magic direct from the Source through my brother, using him as a never-ending supply. It should have stripped him of his vitality, his strength, but it didn t phase him.
I crawled forward, words to console him ready on my lips, but he scuttled back, unexpectedly afraid. The weird reaction startled me, and I stood up, ready to defend myself against his latest trick.
I remained where I was watching him carefully.
Cael took a few more steps away, held up an accusatory finger, and jabbed it at me.
Don t come any closer,
he bellowed.
I want you to be one of the last. You must see the suffering you ve caused.
His eyes were wide as he took in the spectacle around us. The longer he looked the more gleeful he became, excited, and agitated.
I was at a loss what to do or say. What did Cael want from me? He clearly thought I was the only person that could give it to him or he would have killed me the first time we met as I am sure he could have done if that was his true goal.
Love your family and all will be well.
Papa Obe s voice floated through my mind as if someone had just whispered it in my ear.
Did I love Cael? Could I? Staring at him, his golden eyes narrowed in concentration and his chin jutting out stubbornly, I knew I could, if he would let me.
Look at me,
I said urgently.
The Wyld collapses around us, you re tearing our true home apart. Look at where I am. I m here, with you.
Not to help me,
he said.
You re not here for me, you re here for them, all of them. I m alone, always have been, and I always will be.
You re right. I was here for them. I always will be, but right now, I m here for you.
He batted my words away even as pain flashed in the depths of his eyes.
Liar.
He muttered the word and then blinked, remembering I was pureblooded fairy and couldn t lie even though over the last few days I had I really, really wanted to.
The platform shook, and I wobbled, careening back and forth.
I used my wings and tail to counteract the abrupt moments unsuccessfully. I lurched to the right as I was thrown to the left. I fell hard to one knee, the fall unexpected and jarring. My palms slapped against the wood, splinters slicing into my skin. I stayed down as the tumult leveled out.
The platform to my right broke away and crumbled, falling down the levels of Clan Tree, endangering any body down there not looking up.
I slid further away from the fissures creeping from the edge of the platform, and sidled closer to the centre that looked more stable. That was also closer to Cael, but he seemed more concerned as to what the magic was doing above us.
Swirling winds were a never-ending screech that set my teeth on edge. The brightness of the lights overhead intensified. I glanced up absentmindedly before my head snapped back and I stared in horror.
Cael s magic spread down like an upturned bowl, the rest curving up, a spike embedding itself into the sky.
It ll reach past the clouds,
Cael muttered.
It ll burn a hole through the heavens and set fire to the air.
He looked more closely at the magic that was seeping downward, his expression rapt and fascinated.
Why does some return to earth? I think this place of power is so great it cannot help but be attracted.
He nodded to himself.
As he spoke, the magic that had been melting down to earth suddenly gushed like a waterfall. Its tinkles of doom were inexplicably beguiling as it smashed into the dirt at the bottom of ClanTree, cutting us, and anybody else on the inside of the magical line, off from everybody else.
The space inside the magical bubble increased in pressure and temperature, the air hot and sticky.
>
Pushing the hair from my face, ignoring the dangerous drop if the platform was to fall from under me, I focused on my brother. With all my heart, I willed him to come back to sanity.
Cael, please, look at me. You re not alone, you never were. I thought I was alone too until I realized I closed myself off from everybody around me because I was hurt. I thought I had been abandoned and that my family were worthless to me, but it was never true. All I wanted was to be loved by them, an explanation as to why they left me. Conall gave that to me, and I can give it to you if you just listen.
I clasped the hilt of the dagger Breandan had given me, the one I should have used the first time I had gotten close to Cael.
Open yourself to the possibility that people loved you, still love you, you ll see that what you re doing is unbelievably crazy and stupid. I don t think even I could screw up this badly. Cael, I m standing right here for you!
He looked up, expression guileless, and my heart took flight. Then when he simply stared I realized he looked right through me. His milky orbs focused on mine, and he smiled. Shoulders shaking he covered his reddening face with his hands.
My heart wrenched. I reached to him, anxious to soothe his tears and offer comfort, my hands coming away from the dagger, deciding it was not the way, that I could do this without spilling blood.
He giggled.
The soft and creepy sound wasn t right at all. I paused, tilting my head at him trying to gauge his mood.
He giggled again, a wicked gleam in his eye, before his creepy giggle exploded into full-blown laughter.
Weak,
he chortled.
Even now with you precious Wyld at risk you fight to save one soul.
He laughed again.
You re a fool, a weakling.
He lunged forward and grabbed the dagger. Eyes narrowed, he pursed his lips before shaking his head at me.
Ah. For all your pretty words, I think you mean to kill me, Rae.
He opened his palm and the dagger lifted, hovering in the air. Cael smirked, and the blade climbed higher.
Distracted by his advancement, and distrustful of the dagger floating overhead, I moved back warily. The platform cracked and broke away beneath my foot, unable to bear my weight. I lost balance tilting back, wings jackknifing out.
Cael grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him. He snatched the blade from the air and held the tip under my chin, pressed it into my throat.
This might have done some actual harm to me in my weakened state,
he mused as he applied more pressure. My skin punctured under the tip and burned, the fear and feel of iron almost overwhelming.
Using this much magic drains me, you see. How am I ever to trust you if the moment my back is turned you thrust a dagger into it? Tell me that dear sister mine.
Sighing disappointedly, he pushed me away from him, back into the centre of the platform, to the heart of the power. He stood at the edge, haloed in the brilliance of his destructive magics.
Pushing myself up onto all fours, I ducked my head, ashamed of what he d realized. Then I remembered my purpose, that what he was trying to do justified my extreme actions.
I angrily lifted my chin in defiance.
Gods, Cael,
I said in a pained voice.
Have you left me any other choice? Would you listen to yourself? If you were me what would you do?
His mocking laughter cut off, and the brief animation it lent his eyes died. They became icy flints voided of compassion and care.
It s over, Priestess. I m simply finishing the destruction our dear mother started. It is poetic. The bastard son who was born from betrayal will be the one to end it all.
He sneered at me.
You, sister & I hope your death is
A flicker of movement behind him caught my eye
Lochlann landed in a crouch behind Cael, sword in hand. His face was drawn into a frightening warrior s scowl, and dry smears of blood slashed across his face.
I lunged forward and cried out reaching for Cael.
Without hesitation, Lochlann stood and swung his sword in an arc. It moved so fast the blade blurred into a falcate of silver. Completing the skilled move, he thrust forward with all his might, his aim exact, and his form faultless.
The deadly tip of the blade punched through Cael s chest. His torso wrenched forward suspended in a crescent of limbs.
Blood spattered across my face and neck. I roughly swiped at the hot gore, my fingers numb. It smelt like iron. Bile rose in my throat, and the bitterness prickled the tip of my tongue.
It didn t seem real. All was quiet and still, as if we stood in a vacuum devoid of any thought of feeling.
The blade pulled free, and my brother was tugged back with it, chest sinking inward. Cael swayed. Attempting to touch the ragged hole where his heart was, he keeled over.
The shock of the moment left me. I caught him under the arms and lowered down with his dead-weight, my legs weak and unsteady. We both rested on our knees, and I wrapped my arms around him to hold him close, whispering his name into his dark hair. His head drooped on my shoulder, and his limp body shook.
Hot blood spurted down my front and pooled around my knees.
Turning him gently, I maneuvered him onto his back and pillowed his head on my lap.
I dithered, hands flapping, not sure what to do. Taking a brief mental pause, I exhaled then pressed my hand down on his chest. The more I pushed the more blood flowed. He needed to heal. Would his body be able to after he had used do much of his energy fighting us then summoning his dark spell?
I focused on the magics I knew were possible for such a task, but nothing happened.
I tried to draw wasted power from the occasional geysers of magic that over spilled from the pillar of magic he d conjured, but it was all too intense, and my concentration too fractured.
We need Conall,
I mumbled.
He heals. I destroy things, he s the healer.
The red liquid flowed freely and thickly between my fingers. I pressed my other hand on top of the other. Ducking my head, I blew out a breath, my cheeks puffing out as I resisted the urge to retch. I whispered a prayer.
Please make it stop. Please. I won t ask for anything else again, I promise.
I kept up the chant, knowing it was not working, knowing his life was seeping away.
The sound of metal scraping leather jerked my head up.
Lochlann sheathed his blade behind his back.
It is done,
he said with more than an air of relief. He frowned when the magic around us continued to rage.
Tell him to stop his spell.
Wiping away tears streaking down Cael s deceptively young face, I patted him on the cheek to bring his heavy-lidded eyes up to mine. The golden irises were dulled. How could I have not looked into his face from the first and known he was kin.
Tell me how to stop this.
He coughed, a horrible wet sound that had blood spewing across his lips. His ribcage lifted, and his face contorted with pain. His chest rose jerkily and collapsed, more red oozed from the wound through his body. Already he healed naturally, keeping him with us longer, but the damage was too great for a fairy to survive.
He opened his mouth, his eyes trying to transmit something to me. I leaned down and tipped my ear to his mouth.
You,
he croaked and started to giggle again.
I jerked back, turned my head to the side to avoid showing him my pain.
I can t guess this on my own. Please,
I begged him,
tell me how to stop the spell.
I patted his cheek to keep him focused.
You can t want this. Think of your daughter. Think of Ana.
He chuckled and reached up to trace a tear as it flowed down my cheek with his bloodied hand.
You, sister. My birth sealed the destruction of our Wylds.
His eyes slid away, dimming.
Is it not apt
your death can save them? The magic needs somewhere to go. Draw the force into you, and it will stop.
The air thickened with magics, sealing his oath of truth and he smiled at me again.
I just wanted my family to love me.
The manic smile melted from his face, and the light in his eyes died.
I held my brother, only for a few seconds, no time to linger as I wanted to. I wiped the tears from his cheeks and kissed his brow. Cael was my blood and so misunderstood. I could not help him or save him, not even from himself.
The world blurred out of focus entirely as my eyes watered. I sobbed, my body bent over double, rocking back and forth.
No,
Lochlann shouted.
Pulled back from my heartache by his bellow, I went over everything Cael told me. I could end his spell by finding the eye of the magic and drawing the power into me. It could work. I would burn alive pulling that much magical energy inside me and doing nothing with it. Acting as its destination rather than its channel, as Cael had done. But if I could control it for a few seconds, possibly I would survive long enough to disperse it. I was a direct connection to the Source; it was physically possible to absorb the power even as my body broke apart. Cael was powerful enough to pull this much magic into the world, and I was the only one strong enough to send it back again. It had to be me, the power of my bloodline.
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