by Jaymin Eve
A shimmery visage caught my attention then, and it was odd enough that I faltered slightly in my full on sprint. What was that? I knew it wasn’t safe to investigate strange things in Faerie. This was a land of weird and dangerous shit, but the shimmer had caught my wolf’s attention. She wanted to move closer. So we did. My wolf and I were the same but there were also times where her curiosities had more control than my caution.
The ground pursuers were still some distance away, so I had enough time to change directions and dart between two thorny bushes which led toward the strange vision. I halted, my head tilting to the side as we tried to determine what this was. Some sort of portal is what I would guess. The sparkling depths could lead to anywhere, and for a second I wondered if there was anywhere worse I could end up than back in the clutches of the dragon king.
Behind me, rocks were shifting, feet pounding toward me, and I knew my time had run out. I could no longer hear the roar of the dragon from above, so Larky was probably also on the ground now.
Shit. I made the split second decision and dived into the shimmer. Wherever it led, I’d deal with it when I got there. My snout was first to enter, but by the time the rest of me followed, my feet were already off the ground and I was spinning in arcs and swirls across what felt like time and space. The inside of my head was spinning too, and even as a wolf I had to close my eyes against this nausea-inducing travel.
It wasn’t hot or cold. No breeze. No scents. I had thought for sure that this was just a portal or step through, so what was with all the swirling? Someone was totally messing with me and I was going to rip their freaking heads off when I finally got off this ride.
The tendrils of air around me started to ease, the pressure which encased the wolf dying away, and I hoped that meant we were almost done in here. In a blink I was back on my feet and the world was again the right way around. And in that split second my nostrils registered the familiar scents around me.
No! No! No! For the love of my freaking sanity! No!
I was back in the castle. Back in that first goddamned room I’d destroyed. The swirling portal was gone now and there was no visible means of escape. How the hell had he set that up? How had he known my wolf would be enticed by that sparkling portal?
Looked like I was the winner of dumbass-of-the-day award. Angry with myself, I gathered energy and in a rush of red-hot rage shifted back to human. I picked up the bag which had fallen from my wolf’s snout and yanked the strings open to look inside. Pushing past the purple dress, I was relieved to see jeans and a tank, not to mention new underwear. Rose was a regular genie of the castle. Too bad our plan hadn’t worked.
Once I was dressed, I wasted no time hoovering down every morsel of food which had also been tucked into the satchel. Just a sub roll and a bottle of water, all of which tasted like double-dipped chocolate cake to my empty stomach. I needed the energy. Larky was going to be so far up my ass now, there’d be no easy escape again.
Muffled noises could be heard outside of my room, and before the magic door was even open, I managed to yank up a sharp stick, broken off from the bed. The door slid across; tingles of magic coated my tongue. I was one of those shifters very attuned to magic. I could always sense it being used. I leaned into my fight pose, letting my energy seep through me as I rose to the balls of my feet. I was prepared to leap, to fight. But it wasn’t the expected blond dickwad who entered.
It was Rose.
I relaxed slightly, before dropping my stick and launching myself across the room to the fey-human. “What are you doing here?” I said, grabbing her arm and pretty much lifting her slight form up and back out the door. “Larky’s going to kill your ass if he finds you helping me again.”
A smile bled across her elfin features. “I love that you call him Larky … he would hate that nickname.” Yes! I knew it. “And he hasn’t returned to the castle yet. There was a disturbance within the walls and he’s very occupied.”
I focused closely on her, eyes narrowing into slits. “How did you know I was back here?”
Things weren’t adding up with Rose. She was human and yet not at the same time. She was a maid but could still sense when I returned to the castle. I mean, how strong was the shining ones’ blood in her?
She didn’t answer immediately, choosing instead to start ushering me forward. We were out in the hall, our steps picking up to a sprint before she answered me.
“I have lived within the walls of this enchanted castle for a thousand years. The king did not quite realize how much of the control and power would bleed into me. He tied himself to me, and therefore I became the mistress of the castle. I don’t have complete control or anything, but nothing goes on in here that I don’t know about.”
Oh man, Larky was a dumbass, the sort of high-level-dumbass who would probably engineer his own downfall. That’s what happened when you got so arrogant and powerful you forgot about the people around you. Tyrants often create the adversaries strong enough to fight them. Larky didn’t realize what a weapon Rose was, but I did, and I would be taking full advantage of that.
As we hoofed it along the now-familiar stone passage, I remembered what she’d said before.
“What disturbance is Larky dealing with?”
A stillness crossed her face, like she’d just shut down on me. “Nothing you have to worry about. There are intruders in the courtyard, and their timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I’m going to make sure you’re far away this time, out of his territory with all of its traps.”
Intruders!
The tugging sensation which had been rocketing across my spine since I entered that damn whirly portal increased; my pulse picked up speed. I’d felt this type of pull before. It felt like the partial mating bond. Were my boys here?
I yanked back on Rose’s grip. She was surprisingly strong, but in the end I was stronger. “Who is it? Is it my pack, the quads?”
Rose still wore that poker face, which told me so much more than her words. She was totally hiding shit from me, and there could only be one thing this important. I pushed in close to her, making sure to let the wolf bleed into my eyes. Rumbling growls rocked my chest. I was struggling to stop my body from partially shifting.
“Take me to them right now. I like you, Rose. You seem like a good person who got dealt a shit hand, but if you attempt to keep me from my pack, I will destroy you.”
I was not kidding either.
Slithers of color flashed across her eyes, like small fireworks. She swallowed audibly. “You have to understand, they’re keeping the guards occupied, and they can more than hold their own. This is your one chance to escape. I can send you on a direct path to the isle of the shining ones … the fey gods. Like I said before, this is the only place I can think of to find answers. They’ll know how to defeat Larkspur. Your pack will find you there. They sensed you the moment you were outside the castle walls.”
I huffed. I was growl-yelling at her now: “If they can find me, Larky can find me, so there’s no point running from him now. Let’s go downstairs and kick his ass.”
She didn’t shift away from me, although those sparks were really zooming across her eyes. “If you make it to the Isle of the Gods, then you will be safe from Larkspur. The king’s not welcome there. He has issues with the shining ones and he’ll not risk waking the shadows when he doesn’t have what they want.”
I was reminded of what Louis – all powerful sorcerer and big brother figure – had said to me the last time we were in Faerie. Something about lucky they did not wake. Was he talking about these shadow ones?
My heart and soul were aching to knock Rose down and take off. My pack was here and I needed to go to them.
“Please, Jessa. I promise you there’s no other path. No one can defeat the king without first breaking his ties to the marked.”
As I opened my mouth to argue again she did something odd. Her eyes slammed shut and an energy zipped across her skin. I was about to yell or shake her when my vision went fuzzy.
Shit! What was this bitch doing to me?
Then the first image shuttered across my mind, like an old school projector. It was a little dull and out of focus, but there was no mistaking what it was. A battlefield.
The images continued to shoot at me, one after the other, and all of them depicting the same thing. A field of death. I was blind now to the outside world, but there was no masking my cry of anguish as the cold, unmoving faces of countless members of the supernatural races buffeted my mind. Why was Rose showing me this? What the hell was this supposed to prove?
By the time the male stepped onto the scene, I was starting to understand. Tall, and deadly, he made a slow progression through the field of death. Larky. The dragon shifter looked different, wild, dressed in battle armor, chain mail, sword and head piece. He spared no notice to the dead, kicking through them with ease. He had no issues splashing across the rivulets of blood coating the ground, not surprising since he was well spattered already. Ahead of him, a vampire, who was crushed under a pile of other supes, lifted a hand and tried to scrape himself free. The dragon king noticed the movement, and even though I knew this was many years in the past, I wanted to shout at the vampire to be still, to play dead, even if it went against his predator instincts.
Larky moved with speed, his sword slicing through the supes neck, severing the head, and leaving another victim behind. I could hear screaming, and for a moment thought it was my voice, but it was actually Rose. Old-time Rose, dressed in a shift style dress of muted tones, with multiple layers of material. She also had a silky looking scarf wrapped around her hair. She was being held on the edge of this field by a bunch of gray-haired males. The king’s mystics stood in a group, watching as the king continued to search out every single survivor. One by one he murdered helpless supernaturals, Rose’s screams the background soundtrack. I focused long enough to hear words in her bellows.
“Why? They surrendered.”
The king finally reached his advisors, and took a casual step forward before backhanding Rose, hitting her with the hilt of his sword. She collapsed into the arms of the closest gray, and only then did Larky answer.
“I gave them one chance, and they chose to fight my rule. No matter if they surrendered later, I expect total loyalty.”
I was shaking now, and wasn’t sure I could see one more dead face and keep the contents of my stomach. We had learned of these battles in history class, the dragon king had been involved in some of the bloodiest of all, but seeing it in graphic detail like this was stomach churning. Not to mention that Rose had actually been there, so these were memories tinged with her emotions. It almost felt as if I was standing on the battlefield too.
I wasn’t sure if Rose let me go, or if I finally managed to pull myself free. We were both breathing heavily, and I fought hard to slow the trembles of my muscles.
“Now do you understand?” Her voice was low. “We have waited a long time for the one who could defeat him, you cannot stray from this path.”
I understood, I really did, but I was also stronger with my boys. “You know that the quads have a calling, they can defeat the king.”
She gave a huge sigh and my hand twitched. I almost bitch-slapped her. Typical of me: freaked-out to psycho in 2.3 seconds.
“They have the power to hold him off, nothing more. He cannot be killed. Their calling will be useful after you find a way to break the marked ties.”
I was sort of stalling on the hope that the decision would be taken from me. Unfortunately, even though more noises were filtering up from other parts of the castle, no one approached us in the corridor. Rose reached out then and grasped my elbow, and before I knew it we were moving again.
My gut wasn’t saying much at the moment. Usually it was a great indicator of what I should do but after seeing that field of death, my mind, at least, knew Rose was right.
“So you’re sure they’ll be able to find and follow me, and king-dick will not?”
Rose flicked around to shoot me an exasperated face.
“Explain it to me like I’m an idiot,” I said. “I know nothing about Faerie.”
“The land of Faerie is divided into four quadrants. There’s the Isle of the Gods, the Land of the Dying, the Land of Sea and Forest–” Been there. “And right now we’re in the Land of Illusion and Bespelling. All four lands are joined at the center of Faerie. This path I’m sending you on takes you to the center. He’ll be able to reach you on the path, which is why we need to hurry, but once you’re on the Isle of the Gods, you’ll be safe from him.”
It was annoying to know so little about this world, and it seemed the one thing I thought I knew – that Faerie was dying – was not even true. Why then had all the fey fled to Earth?
“So Larky has this entire castle rigged as some sort of illusion?”
I’d guessed as much from my short trip to the ground, but had also wondered if maybe it had been a large step through which had caught me when I jumped from the castle.
Rose was facing forward again, her grip still firm on my elbow as she continued dragging me down the spiral stairs. “Yes, it’s a security system. Not many would have faith to jump from the sky. You’ve already proven your bravery.”
Or stupidity.
We finally finished our descent and stepped out into a dark, narrow space. It had an underground, dank smell, and immediately my wolf wanted out. She wanted fresh air and freedom to run. My dragon didn’t mind so much; her breed could easily adapt to caves and cold.
“These run beneath the castle. They’re an old system that were used for smuggling.”
“Smuggling of what?”
Rose shrugged. “Lots of things. Money, treasure, people. You’ll be able to escape from here. This journey is not going to be easy, and once you enter the labyrinth you cannot leave until you reach your destination.”
Okay, when had the path suddenly turned into a labyrinth. Shit.
“A labyrinth? As in a really long, complicated maze?” This was not going to be the easy journey Rose was spouting before.
“It’s a path really. We call it the labyrinth because it has the ability to change its way … throw up obstacles.”
Great, it was totally going to be filled with lots of Faerie inspired dangers. I sucked in a deep breath, closing my eyes briefly to center myself. What the hell, might as well get going. Wasn’t like I had anything else to be doing right now.
The tunnel widened more and we were able to walk side by side. Rose was paying close attention to the walls and I could hear her counting under her breath. Great, we were lost in the freaking tunnel before the labyrinth. Lucky she wasn’t going to be my tour guide for much more of this little Faerie journey. Girl’s sense of direction was whacked.
I heard her murmur eighty-seven, then she pulled me to a stop. It was difficult to track her every movement in the dim light, even with shifter vision, but it kind of looked like she was pressing both hands into the brick. Before I had a second to think on this, she yanked us right through.
I braced myself, expecting to hit brick, but we just stepped out to the other side. Magic … even though I’d grown up with it, sometimes still took me by surprise.
We were outside. It was warm here, a garden again, but with less flowers and more hedge-type bushes.
“I’m guessing this is the beginning of the labyrinth,” I said.
It looked like a secret garden, all sunshine and chirping birds. I had expected it to be dark and spooky, but I’m sure that horror would pop up later.
“This is the path that will lead you directly to the center of Faerie. Once you enter, there is no turning back. You must not be distracted by anything you see. Go directly to the island. Keep your wits about you. The shining ones do not encourage visitors. I’ve never been there, but I imagine there will be many traps and misdirections along the way. Do not lose focus, it could cost you everything.”
I was listening to her, but the way she spoke in the ridiculous half-riddles of fortune tellers was reall
y shitting me off. I hated those confusing bastards. Just say what you mean, straight up, no more damn mumbo jumbo crap.
This time I left with only the clothes on my back. The moment I crossed the threshold into the secret garden, I was surrounded by a plethora of new scents. The air was dry and sweet, like summer when flowers were in full bloom. I detected nothing out of the ordinary, nothing which was screaming dangerous. Still, just after I took my first step into the labyrinth, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. The hedges looked different on this side, like they were closer and much taller. I risked one glance back to the entrance, but Rose was already gone.
Great, I was on my own, and I wasn’t supposed to turn back. I shook my head a few times, almost stumbling as the realization slammed into me – Braxton had been back there. My Braxton. And I had let Rose lead me into this fucking path. What the hell was wrong with me? Okay, sure, she’d shown me the images of that battle, the horror of Larky, which had spurred me forward. But she’d also done something with her touch afterwards, calmed me down, laid some Zen over my emotions, and I’d blindly followed like a pet wolf. Hell to the no! She was totally going down.
I turned back at a run, uncaring that I wasn’t supposed to leave. Rules were for bitches. As I tried to burst out from between the hedges, my nose smashed straight into a barrier and I yelped, flung back to land heavily on the ground. Okay then, so when Rose said you weren’t allowed to leave, she had meant it very literally. You could not actually leave.
My wolf and dragon both snarled. They wanted their mate. They wanted their pack. All three of us did. Looked like the only way I was going to end this crap was to get through this maze – get to the isle of the shining ones and ask them for help, or hope they had a weapon to cut the ties between Larky and the marked.
I wondered, for a moment, why I had never heard king dick in my head. He was supposed to be able to communicate, possibly even control us marked as a mass of minions, but so far … nothing. Maybe his Jedi powers didn’t work in Faerie. There was an awful lot of magic in the air here, and it could definitely interfere with the mind-connection.
