He had the same look on his face that he used to get when he told me that he loved me. Searching, intense, admiring. Like he was drinking in the sight of me and storing the memory for later.
I met his stare. Trapped by the depths of his midnight-blue eyes, I could feel him stripping my soul. But then he blinked and turned away. Without telling me that he loved me. Not that I had expected him to, but the absence of it was a painful reminder of what I had lost.
I took a deep, shuddering breath and looked back at Wolfgang. Isla still held his hand but now she watched me. Her head was cocked to the side like she was trying to understand something.
‘Can you heal him?’ She nodded her head down at Wolfgang.
‘Oh, no… I’ve never healed before.’ Heaven forbid I try and blow him up instead. I could imagine trying to explain that one to Rako.
Wolfgang opened his eyes again. ‘I could lead you,’ he said in a weak voice. ‘Show you.’
I shook my head. ‘I could hurt you.’
He barked out a dry laugh and then closed his eyes again, tensing at the pain from his leg. When the moment had passed he looked at me again. ‘You will at least try? For me?’
Did he know what he was asking? What he was risking? I was like a loaded gun in the hands of a group of blind children. Anything could happen.
‘I’ll think about it,’ I whispered. It was the most I could give him.
6
The Rat Is In The Trap
I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep for the rest of the ride back to the camp. But instead of sleeping, I worried. I worried about Grams, I worried about Emerald and I worried about killing Wolfgang. And when I had finished worrying about them I moved on to Galanta and Santanas.
Where was the Goblin Queen? What was she planning? I ached to be off after her, but I knew our mission was a vital piece in the big picture. If, Dark Sky forbid, we didn’t stop her in time, we would need the night faeries as allies.
That of course brought me back to Wolfgang. Without him our chance of success dramatically decreased.
Tiny stopped walking and lowered us to the ground. ‘We’re here,’ he said, lifting up the flap.
Isla let go of Wolfgang’s hand and bounded out the top. ‘You were wonderful,’ she said, looking up at Tiny.
I followed her and threw my arms around his ankle. ‘You’re our hero.’
The gentle giant’s face erupted into a blush. He clasped his hands behind his back and hung his head while dragging the tip of one shoe through the grass.
Aethan and Luke emerged, stepping backwards as they pulled the end of Wolfgang’s mattress. Wolfgang seemed to have passed out again. His colour looked even worse than when we had first found them. And it was up to me to heal him.
Eeeekkk.
Luke put down his end of the mattress and turned to Tiny. ‘I am forever in your debt.’
Brent bowed low and said, ‘We will tell stories of Tiny the Brave.’
If possible, Tiny’s face went even redder.
‘You’re the man.’ Wilfred punched the side of Tiny’s leg.
‘You are certainly as brave as your mother.’ Wolfgang tried to sit up. Isla rushed back to him and helped him into an upright position.
‘Mother?’ One of Tiny’s eyes pivoted to Wolfgang. ‘You knew mother?’
‘If I am not mistaken you are Berdina Flatfoot’s son.’
Tiny nodded, then his face crumpled. ‘Mother left cause Tiny ugly.’
‘Is that what they told you? Dear boy. Your mother loved you very much.’
The sudden hope on Tiny’s face was painful to witness.
‘She came to us in the Dark Years with crucial information. Then she stayed to help us fight.’
‘Mother help?’
Wolfgang nodded. ‘More than you could ever know.’
‘She never came home.’ A huge tear trickled down Tiny’s cheek.
‘She died in battle.’ Wolfgang shook his head. ‘She died a hero.’
‘I’m sorry Tiny.’ I wrapped my arms around his ankle again.
Tiny sniffled and a tear narrowly missed my head. ‘A hero. Mother was a hero.’ He sniffled again and, as if trying the words on for size, said, ‘She loved me.’
‘Will you be all right?’ I asked. ‘I mean with the other giants?’
He nodded his head and let out a snort. ‘Tiny too dumb to save you.’ He laughed again.
I could see Lily watching us from the trees where she stood with the other horses. I was about to head over to her when Wolfgang said, ‘Isadora. It is time.’
I felt like running away. I felt like hiding. But mostly, I felt like vomiting. What if I got it wrong? What if I…
‘Hey.’ Aethan shook my shoulder gently. ‘You can do this.’
‘I don’t know if I can.’ The words came out in a rush. ‘I’ve never been able to control my magic.’
‘Well if you fail you fail. But at least you’ll know you tried.’
If only it were that easy. I shook my head. ‘I blow things up. Accidentally.’
‘Ahhhh.’ He stared into my eyes. ‘I don’t know you well, but what I know is that you are good and kind, and that you always do your best. Wolfgang obviously thinks you can do it.’
As I met his stare, the urge to blither hysterically seeped away. Instead, calm settled over me. ‘Okay,’ I said. I turned and walked to where Wolfgang lay. ‘What do you want me to do?’ I sat cross-legged beside him and took his hand.
‘Empty your mind.’
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sound of my breathing.
‘Now reach out to me.’
I pushed my mind outwards and felt Wolfgang there waiting for me. He led me back to his body. His life energy flowed over him like a gentle wave. It tingled beneath my awareness.
‘That’s right,’ he murmured. ‘Let yourself go.’
I flowed into his energy, becoming one with it as it travelled around his body. Over his head, down his chest, past his hips and… I felt it… like a sickness. A dark patch in his energy.
Shards of bone pressed through his flesh, jagged edges digging deep. Tendons twisted, ligaments torn. Muscles ripped and flesh destroyed.
I didn’t know how Wolfgang was still conscious let alone talking. Only his training could have kept the agony at bay.
Without even thinking I flowed into the wound, pulling the bits of bone together and knitting them into a strong piece. I kneaded muscles and re-attached ligaments and tendons.
I could feel him shuddering under my hands, but I ignored it.
I ordered his tissue back to its rightful position and stroked it into place with my power. When it was all as it should be I sat back and opened my eyes.
Wilfred and Aethan had a shoulder each and Brent and Luke had the legs. Wolfgang panted as he stared at me with wide eyes.
‘I’m sorry it took me so long.’ I knew from first-hand experience how painful healing could be.
‘But child,’ Wolfgang squeezed my hand. ‘It hardly took any time at all.’
‘Really?’ I felt like I had been at it for ages.
‘A few seconds,’ Wilfred said. ‘Fastest healing of a wound like that I’ve ever seen.’
‘And it didn’t hurt.’ Wolfgang sat up. ‘At all.’ He flexed his leg experimentally and then rose and put his weight on it. ‘Remarkable,’ he said. ‘Not even any after pain.’ He walked around the clearing a few times. ‘I’m curious as to how you knew where to put everything.’
I stared at him. ‘I didn’t. I let it go where it wanted to.’
He grinned. ‘Ingenious.’
I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. ‘What did you think would happen?’
‘Not sure. I figured anything was better than the pain.’
I could feel my eyes starting to bulge as I glared at him. He had thought I was going to mutilate him and he had let me do it. He had let me risk failure; or worse still, the possibility I would hurt him further.
&
nbsp; I turned and stormed off into the trees as I tried to regain control of my temper. Picking up a fallen branch, I slashed the leaves at the tree trunks as I passed.
Stupid faery.
Thwack, crack.
Had been so surprised when I’d healed him.
Swish, thump.
Wouldn’t have been so pleased if his leg had exploded.
A hand grasped my shoulder and I let out a squeal and spun, bringing the branch around like a baton. Before I could hit him, Aethan caught my wrist, locking my arm out straight. My heart raced like a playing colt as I stared into his eyes. What was it with men setting themselves up for me to hurt them?
Consciously, I slowed my breathing and let my arm relax. It dropped to my side but he didn’t let go of my hand.
‘I came to make sure you were okay,’ he said.
I had been okay. I had been happy with my anger. Now though, my heart beat fast for a different reason. Now my knees felt weak and my breath caught in my throat. All I had to do was stretch my neck and tilt my head and our lips would touch.
Our gaze seemed locked together as he shifted closer. I stretched towards him, flexing the balls of my feet to lift me up. His free hand rested lightly on my hip and I shuddered at the contact. I wanted those arms wrapped tight around me. I wanted them holding me in place as his mouth ravished mine. And all the time he stared at me, his dark eyes setting me on fire.
A branch cracked further back in the woods. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked over my shoulder. Lifting one finger to his lips he moved backwards around the trunk of an elm. He pulled me with him and pushed my back up against the trunk. If he weren’t loosening his sword in its sheath I would have thought all my fantasies were about to come true.
He leant against me and peered around the trunk. ‘Goblins,’ he whispered in my ear.
Goblins?
Buzznuckle. Here I’d been thinking all we had to worry about were giants.
‘Do you think they saw us?’ I was far too aware of the feel of his cheek brushing against mine as I whispered in his ear.
An arrow thudded into the side of the trunk an inch from Aethan’s face.
‘Think so,’ he said as he turned, dragging me back the way we had come.
We zigzagged through the trees as we ran, the sound of pursuit obvious behind us.
‘Incoming,’ Aethan yelled as we approached the others.
We burst into the clearing to find them with their weapons already drawn. Isla loosed an arrow past my shoulder. I heard a grunt and turned to see a goblin collapse not a dozen paces behind me.
Wolfgang threw out his arms and I felt two shields form. One was a half-bubble floating over the horses, the other a semi-circular shield in front of us. A half-dozen arrows thudded into it and bounced harmlessly to the ground.
Eight warriors broke from the trees, dropping bows and drawing cruel daggers. If I hadn’t fought them before I would have been quaking in my boots. Easily seven-feet tall, their teeth were filed to points and their faces filled with rage. Human bones decorated the leather supporting their loin cloths, and oil coated their dark brown skin. They roared as they charged.
The two fastest reached Wolfgang’s shield first, bouncing off it and collapsing to the ground like birds smacking into a window. If the situation hadn’t been so dire I would have laughed at the sight.
‘Go,’ Wolfgang yelled as he dropped the shield in front of us.
Isla bounded into the air, releasing two arrows into the downed goblins before she landed again. Tiny yelled as he stomped his feet, reminding me of someone trying to squash ants. The goblins dodged and weaved, but not all of them made it through.
‘Hoi,’ Wilfred yelled. ‘Leave some for the rest of us.’
Isla flashed him a smile. ‘Don’t worry, I have a feeling there will be plenty for all of us.’
As if on cue another dozen goblins emerged from the trees. These approached more warily. Of the six that were left from the original charge, four were caught up in battle and the other two had become giant road kill.
I smiled as two of the late-comers ran at me. I’d always found killing goblins a wonderful way to work off a bad mood. Not that my mood was that bad any more. Not with the feel of Aethan’s body imprinted into my mind.
I leapt into the air, turning a somersault as I swept my sword down to cut through the side of one of their necks. Blood arced out in a rhythmical spray and he was on the ground with glazed eyes before I landed. The other licked his lips and backed up.
They’d obviously targeted me for a specific purpose, and I was guessing it was because they’d thought I was an easy kill.
Really, Galanta should train her warriors better before she sent them into battle. What a pity this one wouldn’t get a chance to improve.
I ran at him and he lifted his dagger straight out like I had been sure he would. I wound my weapon around his and spun, ripping it from his grasp. Then I thrust my sword back under my right arm with both hands, feeling the sudden resistance as it speared into his chest.
My next victim was already approaching as I kicked backwards, forcing the dying goblin off my blade. This one grinned as he stalked me, tossing his dagger from hand-to-hand. He pulled a second one and wheeled the blades through his fingers, spinning them faster and faster. A blades master. Great.
I wasn’t sure if he expected me to feel fear. All I know was that I was as surprised as he when one of Tiny’s feet crushed him to the ground.
‘Not hurt my Izzy,’ Tiny yelled, grinding him into the dirt.
Isla was backing up towards a tree as she fended off an attacker. She flicked her blade through a flurry of motion, but was unable to break through the goblin’s attack. She was in trouble once she got to the tree. There would be nowhere for her to go.
I ran towards her, but before I could get there another goblin charged me from the side. He lifted a spear and hurled it at me. Without even thinking I flicked a hand. He and the spear flew backwards through the air. I heard a nasty crack as he slammed into a branch, his body flexing backward so that his head and feet touched. I doubted very much he would be coming back from that.
I leapt into the air and landed on the back of the goblin attacking Isla. Grasping his head, I ripped it to the side. There was another crack and his arms fell limply. I jumped clear as he collapsed.
‘Thanks,’ Isla panted. She picked up her bow and loosed a couple of arrows at a goblin attacking Wilfred. ‘How many more do you think there are?’
I looked around the clearing. Tiny was in the process of picking up some goblins that had popped out of the trees at his feet. One-by-one he threw them as far as he could back over the top of the woods.
Wolfgang was shooting fireballs into the tree line where dark shapes dodged and weaved trying to escape a fiery death. Aethan, Brent, Luke and Wilfred were fighting two goblins each, their blades flicking through complex patterns.
But like a rodent plague, as fast as we killed them, more crept out to replace them. It was only a matter of time before one of us got tired and made a mistake.
‘Cover me.’ I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind, pushing out into the woods. Darkness and evil swarmed around us, black hearts beating in anticipation of our deaths. Like homing pigeons they came.
I heard the bell-like chimes of metal striking metal; Brent crying out in pain; Wilfred laughing like a mad man as he fought; and ever closer our deaths crept. Wolfgang’s spells killed most of them before they got to us, but even that was not enough against what was coming. Galanta had prepared a surprise for us. A hundred more warriors crept through the trees. A hundred more warriors for us to kill.
It was too many. Too many by far.
I opened my eyes and stared at Isla, the horror must have shown on my face.
‘That bad?’ she whispered.
I nodded and closed my eyes again.
There had to be something I could do. There had to be.
I felt for their hearts.
&
nbsp; Thundering hearts pushing thick, black blood. Coming closer, ever closer.
I sent out tendrils of power; one for each heart, they wound through the woods. Growing like saplings, a fine net of power, woven around each heart. Then I cracked the tendrils, and a hundred whips ripped hearts from goblin chests.
I felt them fall. Like a field of wheat being harvested, they collapsed where they stood, their souls hurled into the ether. And then my vision faded, my legs betrayed me, and I sank to the ground as my mind fled to an oblivion of its own.
***
The familiar twilight of Trillania surrounded me as I lay on my back and stared at the sky. I put my hands to my ears and shook my head. The echo of a hundred screams was tattooed on the inside of my mind.
Best not to think about it.
I pushed myself up to my knees and climbed unsteadily to my feet. The others needed me, I had to go back. But try as I might, I was unable to return to my body.
Hmmmph. The only other time that had happened was when I’d been trapped by Galanta’s blood bond. I was pretty sure that wasn’t the reason this time, so I had to assume I was unconscious, not asleep.
I may as well make use of my time here.
Did I dare track Galanta?
If she were here, she would assuredly have a large force of warriors with her. It wouldn’t have bothered me so much if I knew I could leave whenever I wanted, but I couldn’t.
I sent my mind out to Emerald. Still nothing. I tried to return to my body to no effect.
A piece of hair stuck to my forehead, dangling into my eyes. I brushed it to the side while I thought my way through my problem.
If I snuck up on Galanta I might be able to see what she was up to. I didn’t need to reveal my presence. I wasn’t kidding myself enough to not admit I would kill her if I could. But the chance was slim to nothing. She would be wary. I know I would be.
Mind made up, I closed my eyes, and projected myself to near where she was. I didn’t want to appear right in front of her – although it opened up the possibility for a quick kill, I was more likely to end up with a dagger between my shoulder blades. And while she could leave for healing, I couldn’t.
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