We cut a path across and up the road, trying to manoeuvre around the roadblock.
The route took us out into an area of wide-open fields. They appeared clear, for the moment.
Thorn paused, sniffing the air.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“The Queen. I think she is closer than we think. Maybe we should turn back.”
“Why? We came here to take her on, let’s finish this,” I said. I wasn’t running, if I could finish this here and now, then I had to take the chance.
We crossed the field, on high alert. We were far from the road, there was no way one of the trucks could follow us, so the beacon wouldn’t have been any use anyway.
When we hit the halfway point, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, something moving low to the ground amongst the weeds.
I reached out to stop the others and pointed in the direction of the movement. Enzo readied his gun.
“Don’t!” Thorn said. “You’ll alert them all if you fire that thing.”
I indicated that I would take a look. Moving slowly forward, I wondered if it was just an animal.
I searched the ground, but I couldn’t see anything. I turned back to the others, only to see a group of people heading our way. And they were people, not Fae.
Damn, that didn’t take long. They had caught up to us already.
I waved toward them and Thorn and Enzo turned to look. The General was leading the way, along with Mom, Roxy and the soldiers. The truck must be back on the road. I could just about make out the noise from the beacon.
“Great, now I’m in trouble,” I muttered, as I saw the angry look on Mom’s face.
I trudged toward them, ready to face the music.
They all stopped and starting gesturing to something behind us. I turned to find a line of Fae behind us.
“Where the hell did they come from?” I cried. It was like they just materialized.
There was no time to figure it out as they charged us, wielding weapons of their own.
A troll swung a short sword at me. I managed to jump back out of the blade’s reach. With no weapon of my own, I threw my hands out, sending balls of fire at the troll’s head.
It screamed as it caught on fire, running back and forth.
Mom and the others caught up to us, and the fight intensified as everyone clashed. It was hard to keep an eye on the others as I dodged blows and fought to stop them from impaling me.
Then something shifted in the air. I felt the hairs stand up on my neck as I saw a figure moving toward us. It was her. I recognized her instantly – Asteria.
Her long red hair was the color of blood and she was dressed in a long ivory colored gown. A large gold crown rested on her head. She was ethereal, otherworldly, and fixated on me.
Her purple eyes found mine and she smiled. A chill ran through me.
Come to me, child. Her voice was inside my mind, compelling me forward. The Fae seemed to sense what she wanted, stepping out of my way.
When I reached her, she placed a bony hand around my throat. “Child of Oberon? He bred with a human?” The thought seemed to infuriate her.
I broke out of my trance, raising my hands. Then I blasted her. I threw fireball after fireball at her, but they seemed to be absorbed by her body, causing no damage at all.
She laughed wickedly. “Did you think your pathetic power would harm me? I control fire too.” She held up her index finger and a flame erupted from it.
I did not think of that. I just assumed that if I hit her enough it would kill her.
“I think its time you joined your father.”
She reached for me, but I was shoved aside by someone, causing me to stumble. I turned in time to see Mom throw something into Asteria’s face. A green colored liquid from a glass jar.
Asteria shrieked in pain, her hands clawing at her face. I watched in horror as the skin began to melt to reveal gray bone underneath.
The Fae heard her cries and all stopped to look.
Shaking her head wildly, wings erupted from her back. They were made of bone and leathery skin, nothing like mine.
She turned and started running. At the end of the field, she launched up into the air, still shrieking. As she flew over some trees, she lost momentum and dropped like a stone. I couldn’t see where she landed, but I knew what it looked like.
“Is she dead?” I asked.
“Yes,” Mom said. “The poison destroys Fae DNA.”
All the Fae turned to face us.
Now we’re dead.
Chapter 24
I stared at the Fae, wondering what they would do. Their own Queen had been killed in front of them by Mom. I stepped in front of her to shield her if they attacked.
Thorn stepped forward. “Bow before your new Queen!” he commanded.
There was silence. Then, shockingly, several of them did. Several more turned and fled, leaving us to face what was left. Still too many of them.
Weapons at the ready, they were going to charge us.
“Nova, do something. Show them that you are worthy of being a Queen,” Thorn said.
How the hell do I do that?
One charged me and I blasted him with a fireball. He instantly turned to ash like he was made of kindling.
I blasted two more. When the Fae saw what I did to their brethren, they all dropped to their knees, pressing their foreheads to the ground.
“It worked,” I said. “They’re listening to me.”
“They respect the power you have. This is it, Nova. Take charge,” Thorn said.
I nodded.
“What are you going to do?” Mom asked.
I faced her and the others. “I think you all should leave.”
“What? What are you talking about?” Mom said.
“If they are going to listen to me, I need them to respect me. I can’t have you all trying to kill each other. Go back to the boat. You’ll be safe there.”
“For how long?” Roxy asked. There was a cut across her forehead.
I looked at Thorn. There was no turning back, I had to follow through with this. “For good. I got what I wanted, I don’t need any of you anymore.”
Roxy looked hurt. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do. I’m not like any of you, not anymore. Just go.” It was the best thing for all of us.
Mom stepped forward, I could see anger in her eyes. “Nova this is not the answer. You need to come back with us. We can sit down and discuss this.”
She just didn’t get it. The decision was already made, and I wasn’t backing down.
“Thorn?” I said.
He started chanting in an Elvish tongue and a semi transparent barrier appeared between us and the humans. They quickly backed off. It spread across the field, cutting us off.
“Nova, don’t do this!” Mom cried.
“Go back to the boat. We’re done here.”
I turned my back on them. “Now, where was Asteria living?”
“A castle, Your Majesty,” one of the ogres said.
“Good. Take me there.” I didn’t look back, if I did, I would only change my mind.
They led us across several fields toward a large stone castle. It was huge. I’ve never even been inside one before.
Thorn took my hand. “You did it,” he said smiling.
I tried to return the smile, but I was too nervous.
We were led inside the castle, to the throne room where a magnificent gold throne stood, covered in carvings of suns.
“You can always redecorate,” Thorn said.
“Yeah, I don’t want anything of hers here.”
The ogre shuffled my way. “What about Oberon, Your Majesty?”
I froze. “What?”
“Oberon. What should we do with him?”
“He’s alive?”
Chapter 25
I stared at the steps leading down into the dungeon, too scared to go down them. My father was down there. My actual father.
He’s locked
in a cell. You can’t leave him down there.
Taking a shaky breath, I started walking. It was cold down here and damp. How long had she kept him down here? And where has he been all this time? Questions I needed answers too, but was I ready to hear them? What if he just disappeared and never thought about me again? What if he viewed me as an abomination too? I paused, ready to run back upstairs, but I forced myself to keep moving. I’d come this far, no turning back now.
The cell at the end was the only one occupied. A man lay on the floor, his foot chained to the wall. He had long white hair, pale skin and green eyes. He wore a dirty gray robe of some kind. His eyes were sunken, this was not a well man.
“Da…Oberon,” I said, quickly changing to his name at the last second. Calling him Dad was too weird.
He turned his head to look at me. “You came.”
“You know who I am?”
“My blood. Daughter.”
I unlocked the cell door. “Nova. My name is Nova.”
“I saw…” he started to cough violently.
I kneeled down beside him, not sure what I should do. Left down here, it was no wonder he was sick.
“Can I get you some water, or something?”
He shook his head, getting control over the coughing. “I am near my end.”
“What? No. I’ll get my Mom, she’s a doctor,” I said.
He grabbed my arm with surprising strength. “No. There’s no time for that. Asteria, is she gone?”
“Yeah, she doesn’t have a face anymore.”
“The other Fae? You’ve… are they returned to the earth?”
“No, I got rid of Asteria. I’m in charge now. I don’t need to get rid of them, I can rule over them.”
“No, Nova. I saw the final battle. I saw you suck them all back into the earth. They cannot stay here.”
“Like it or not, they are my people. And not all of them are bad. I can change things, I can make it so that both the humans and Fae live in peace.”
“The Fae will never agree to that. They are predators by nature. You have to put them back where they belong, it’s the only way.”
He was talking crazy. “I’m going to get some help.”
“No, listen to me. This is the only way. You have to see!”
He pulled me toward him, until our faces were almost touching. Then the cell and Oberon melted away and I was standing in the middle of a huge field. All around me, Fae were slaughtering each other, hacking each other to bits.
Asteria strode toward me, eyes blazing, a wicked smile on her face. She was revelling in it. All these Fae were killing each other on her orders.
“You monster,” I screamed at her, but she walked right through me like I wasn’t even there.
I’m not here. This is a memory.
Asteria made her way toward Oberon. He was chanting under his breath. I moved closer to hear what he was saying.
“You’ve lost, brother,” Asteria said.
Thunder rumbled overhead, but the noise was drowned out as Oberon’s words became louder in my mind. I could hear the spell he was reciting. More than that, I knew the spell as though I had spent weeks rehearsing it. The knowledge just popped into my head.
“Remember the words, Nova. This is your only chance.”
I snapped back into the cell and pulled away from him.
“Why did you do that?” I demanded.
“It’s the only way. Please, daughter.”
“I’ll do things my way,” I said. He tried his way before, look how that turned out.
He smiled at me. “You will change your mind. The final battle is yet to come. Be ready.”
The smile died on his lips and he became still.
“Oberon? Dad?” I shook his arm. “No, don’t do this. Not now. Help!”
Footsteps rushed down the stairs. Several Fae rushed in along with Thorn. He put his arms around me. “Are you okay?”
“No, he can’t die,” I sobbed. There had to be something they could do. “I should get my mom. She can help him.”
“It’s too late, Nova. He’s gone,” Thorn said gently.
He led me out of the cell. I came all this way and all I got with him was two lousy minutes? No! It wasn’t fair!
Breaking away from Thorn, I let out a scream of rage and threw a fireball at the wall on the other side of the dungeon. All it did was leave a scorch mark.
“Please calm down,” Thorn said.
“How am I supposed to do this? How am I supposed to be a leader? I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Thorn pulled me against him. “Ssh, everything will be okay. I’ll help you. I promise.”
I clung to him, sobbing. The other Fae were carrying Oberon’s body from the cell. He was really gone.
The final battle is yet to come. What did he mean?
Find out if Nova will survive the final battle in
Borderlines: The Dark Fae Chronicles Book 3
About the Author
S. K. Gregory writes urban fantasy, young adult and paranormal romance novels. You can find out more about her books on her website:
www.skgregory.com
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