They fought like mad men as they struggled to reach me. Aethan screamed my name as he slashed and hacked, pieces of goblin flying with every strike. Mia jumped from goblin to goblin, gouging their eyes with her needle-like talons.
The black mist swirled around me, cold moisture licking my skin. Evil oozed, stroking me tenderly. I closed my mouth and shut my eyes and prayed to the Dark Sky.
Just as suddenly, it was gone. I re-opened my eyes and saw it swirling over Orion and I realised what it was doing. It was looking for its donor. I had to do something. I had to stop it, but pain owned me. Each movement sent fresh spasms travelling through me.
I heard Isla calling my name. Saw her jump into the air and leap from goblin-to-goblin, using them like giant stepping stones. She fired arrows downwards as she jumped, spearing them through the shoulder and into their hearts.
The black mist split into three individual streams. They hovered over Orion’s head, spinning like mini-cyclones. If I were going to do something, it had to be now.
And then a small, white demon attacked Galanta. Scruffy’s growl was savage as he tore at the back of her calf. She shrieked and turned toward him and with a scream of rage and pain and defiance, I tore myself from her grip. My hand hung limp from my cut wrist but I didn’t need my hand as I slammed into Orion’s body.
I clambered up him, spreading myself over him, trying to protect him. Galanta’s voice wavered but the spell continued, wailing out of her as she fought off Scruffy.
Isla was nearly there. A path of dead goblins littered her wake. She roared with fury when she saw Orion lying there. Confusion clouded her face for only the briefest of moments. The clues fell into place more quickly for her than they had for me.
Legas had never been there. Orion was the one who had been taken. And Galanta, the shape-shifter, had replaced him. They’d orchestrated the near strangling to give a reason for her voice to be different.
If the situation hadn’t been so dire, I would have been impressed. Instead, I looked up at the spinning cyclones and I screamed as they descended like spears.
Lancing pain burnt into my back as the mist struck. Once, twice, three times I felt the evil pierce me. It burrowed deep as it made its way towards Orion. It violated as it dug, and yet, a small piece of me recognised it, acknowledged it.
A small piece of me welcomed it.
I recoiled in horror, lifting myself off Orion as I screamed. I wasn’t sure which was worse: the pain of the intrusion or the pain in my soul. Was this what I was? Was this what I was made of?
This evil, this sin, this filth?
For a second the burrowing stopped, the mist deciding it was home. I shook my head from side-to-side and resisted the icy tendrils as they spread out through my body. I pushed at it with all my might, forcing it out of me. Forcing it through me, and then suddenly the burrowing continued.
Three black blades emerged from my chest, flowing out and down to Orion. I rolled away from him but it was too late. He jerked as they slammed into him, one stream in each nostril and the other into his mouth. Three great snakes, they slithered out of me and into him.
‘No.’ My shriek cut through the air as Galanta’s spell stopped.
Orion’s body jerked and shuddered, like a bag full of fish. His head flopped from side-to-side as he fought the invasion.
‘No.’ Isla’s scream echoed my own. ‘Orion.’ She flung herself down beside me and pressed her hands to his heart. ‘Fight it,’ she commanded. ‘You can beat this. You’re strong enough.’
Galanta’s triumphant laugh belied Isla’s words. ‘Master,’ she yelled. ‘I have found you a body. Take him. Make it your own.’
I coughed weakly and rolled to my side, blood flowing out of my mouth.
‘You.’ Isla climbed to her feet and turned towards Galanta. ‘You will die for this.’
‘Perhaps,’ Galanta said. ‘But it won’t be today.’
Orion’s body rose jerkily into the air, pulling him up onto his feet. Isla gasped and reached a hand out. Higher and higher he rose, floating above us as he started to spin. Faster and faster he turned, till he was a blur, not a man. And then as suddenly as the spinning started, it stopped, and a bolt of light shot out of him. Another one followed and then another, until it seemed that a strand of light shone from each pore.
I stared as he floated back to earth. Had Orion won? Is that what the light had been?
All sounds of battle stopped as his feet touched the ground. He rolled his shoulders and flexed his head from side-to-side, and then he opened his eyes.
Where Orion’s eyes had held warmth and laughter, these held only madness.
The goblins let out shouts of triumph and surrounded the members of the Guard that were still standing. They pulled swords from hands limp with shock. We had failed.
I crawled backwards like an injured crab, my damaged arm cradling the wound in my side. Isla grabbed my good arm and dragged me away as Santanas viewed the battleground.
‘This is a fine welcome.’ He threw back his head and laughed. ‘Blood and death everywhere I look. I always said you should start as you mean to go on.’
Scruffy whimpered and grasped my leather shirt with his teeth, helping Isla haul me backwards off the stone platform.
Santanas flexed Orion’s body as if trying it on for size. ‘You have done well,’ he said to Galanta. ‘Everything seems to be in working order.’
‘The wards my Lord?’
‘Are exactly as they were. None may kill me except those who love me.’ His eyes took on a dangerous glint. ‘Do you love me Galanta?’
She bowed her head. ‘No my Lord.’
He held his hand out and a dagger sprang from the hand of a dead goblin and soared through the air till it smacked into his palm. He trailed the edge of the dagger around Galanta’s throat as he walked around her. ‘Are you sure about that?’
‘I respect and revere you, but I do not love you.’ The words came out in a choking gasp.
‘Very good,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘We do not need little complications like that getting between us.’
He spun away from her and looked out over the battlefield. ‘And where is my daughter? Why isn’t she here to greet me?’ Santanas’s head turned till he pierced me with those eyes. ‘Ahh, there she is. Daughter come.’ He held his hand out and I felt his compulsion press against my mind. I shook my head and growled and Isla dragged me faster.
‘She is dying Great Lord,’ Galanta said.
Dying? That was no surprise.
‘Kill them now Lord and you cut the head off the snake.’
I let out a low moan as Isla dragged me over a rock.
‘Ahh Galanta,’ Santanas strode towards her, ‘now where would be the fun in that?’
‘Rako, my Lord, and Aethan, the elite of the Guard, I brought them all here for you.’
‘Patience, patience. We have plenty of time.’ He turned and looked out toward the Guard. ‘I want them to bow down in fear. I want them to grovel at my feet.’ His hands twisted into fists and his voice rose to a shriek. ‘I want to eat their hearts and dance on their graves. But first,’ he said, turning toward me, ‘I would thank my daughter.’ He held a hand out and my body lifted into the air, my arm stretched like a kite string as Isla maintained her grip.
He flicked his other hand at Isla and she let out a shriek as she slammed backwards into one of the upright pillars of rock. Let free of her grasp, I floated through the air and down to the ground at his feet.
Santanas stared down at me and shook his head. ‘Galanta.’ His voice was that of a disappointed teacher with a wayward student. ‘I told you we only needed a drop of her blood.’
She bowed her head, but there was a smile in her voice when she said, ‘Forgive me, Lord.’
He turned his attention back to me way too quickly. ‘Daughter, will you join me?’
I tried to spit at him, but too much blood was pooling in my throat and breathing was becoming difficult.
&nb
sp; ‘Ahhhhh,’ he said. ‘It seems I must heal you first.’ Light flowed from his outstretched hand. It cascaded over me, cocooning me from head-to-foot. I braced for the pain I knew was coming. Instead though, warmth infused me. I groaned with relief as it spread through me, wiping away my pain in its wake. When it was finished, I was whole.
I climbed unsteadily to my feet and wiped the last of the blood away from my mouth. ‘Father.’ I inclined my head. There was no need for him to know about Mum.
‘Daughter. Are you well?’ From the tone of his voice I half expected him to offer me a nice cup of tea.
‘Yes, thank you.’ This was all very polite and totally surreal.
‘Will you join me daughter?’
‘I’m sorry father,’ I said, ‘but I can’t.’
The look on his face changed to one that I’m sure before that moment, Orion’s face had never worn. Twin thunderclouds gathered under lowered eyebrows.
‘It seems I may need to use some… gentle persuasion.’ He chuckled softly.
I braced, ready for whatever he threw at me. I was expecting pain, I was expecting agony. All I knew was that I was not going over to the dark side.
‘She loves the faery Prince,’ Galanta said.
‘Does she?’ He let out a wild laugh. ‘How convenient.’
He chuckled as he gestured. Aethan’s eyes met mine as two goblins grabbed his arms and dragged him towards us.
‘I’m sorry,’ I mouthed. If I had been quicker, if I had been smarter, then none of this would have happened.
The goblin forced Aethan into a kneeling position beside me. I knelt beside him and he reached out and took my hand.
‘No matter what,’ he said, ‘you say no.’ Mia, almost invisible as she snuggled against the edge of his fur vest, hissed softly. I wasn’t sure how much she understood but she had been in this position herself; forced into servitude through love.
‘I can’t lose you,’ I whispered. Not now. Not after finding him again and again.
‘You say yes and you will be lost to me.’
‘Let’s make this even more interesting,’ Santanas said.
I heard some muttered curses and a yelp as Rako and Isla were dragged towards us. A goblin ripped at Isla’s braid as he shoved her onto her knees beside me. Tears ran freely, cascading down her face, but I knew she wasn’t crying for herself. She stared up at Santanas and mumbled, ‘Orion, oh Orion.’
Rako struggled upwards, shoving against his goblin handler as he tried to pull a dagger.
‘Enough.’ Santanas’s hand cut through the air in time with his word and suddenly movement became impossible. My diaphragm laboured to move my chest enough to draw in air.
‘Now,’ Santanas said, ’which one of you wants to go first?’
Aethan’s eyes bulged as he struggled to move, his face pulling into a grotesque mask. Hate emanated from every pore of his body as he glared up at the man who wore his brother’s body.
I found myself wishing Wolfgang were there, but even with him I suspected we would still be in the same predicament. But without him we had only me. Only me to combat the magic of the mad War Faery. We were so screwed.
‘Don’t be shy. Speak up.’ Santanas put his hand behind his ear and swivelled his head from side-to-side. ‘Oh silly me.’ He waved his hand and suddenly I could move my head.
‘You… evil… bastard,’ Isla spat in his direction.
‘Yes.’ Santanas stroked his chin. ‘This is much more interesting.’
‘Izzy,’ Aethan whispered. ‘Do something.’
‘I can’t,’ I whispered back. What could I do against the might of Santanas. I was just a failed faery.
‘Maybe I’ll start with you.’ Santanas grabbed Isla’s braid and pulled her head back. Sweat and tears mingled on her face as he stroked the edge of his dagger up-and-down her throat. ‘Would you like that?’
‘You can,’ Aethan whispered.
‘He’s too powerful.’
‘Not for you.’ He turned and looked me right in the eye. ‘That’s what your Grandmother was trying to tell us.’
‘Or maybe I’ll start with you.’ Santanas let go of Isla’s hair and moved to Aethan. ‘You seem like a chatty fellow. Perhaps you’d like to tell me which part of you I should cut off first.’
I struggled against the invisible bonds as Santanas laid his dagger against Aethan’s throat. What had Grams been telling them? She’s mentioned a total eclipse and animals. A foretelling of sorts. But foretelling what?
And then I remembered the words Ulandes had whispered into the quiet of my mind. Never before have there been two. Only one can live, the other must die.
Two what?
‘Should I start here?’ Santanas’s voice was like a lover’s caress as he sliced the blade gently down Aethan’s cheek. Blood welled and ran in its wake.
‘Izzy.’ Aethan’s whole body shook with his efforts to fight back.
‘Or here?’ Santanas pulled his arm back and put the tip of the dagger to the side of Aethan’s throat.
Never before have there been two. Never before have there been two.
The tip of the dagger penetrated Aethan’s skin and I went berserk.
I took all my will, all my anger, all my love and I slashed at the bonds holding us in place. They parted like butter before a hot knife and I had my answer.
I was a War Faery. The second War Faery.
Only one of us could live.
As the bonds melted, Aethan threw himself backwards from the blade. The look on Santanas’s face would have been comical if our situation weren’t so dire.
‘Nooooooo,’ I screamed as I climbed to my feet.
I held my hands out and twin bolts of lightning raced towards Santanas. He slashed his hand and they disappeared, sucked back into the air they had come from.
‘My Lord,’ Galanta shrieked as she threw herself in front of Santanas.
He shoved her to the side and she stumbled over a rock and fell to her knees. Isla snarled and jumped on her back, smashing her face into a rock.
Noises of battle started up again as the Guard took heart. But even though we had made a comeback, the numbers were still against us. Too many goblins still stood, too many still fought.
Vivid darkness danced around Santanas as he faced off against me. Black air crackled as he smiled a smile that reached his eyes with madness.
‘And lo,’ his voice thundered out across the earth, ‘it has come to this. Father against daughter. Blood against blood. You know you can never win.’
‘I don’t know anything of the sort.’ I was trying to stay positive but I didn’t like my odds. He had so much more experience than I did.
‘A good attitude. You sure you won’t join me? Together we could rule the world.’ Sparks leapt off his fingers as he flexed them. I had a feeling this was going to hurt.
‘Already got a nice job thanks. Pays well, and we even get holidays.’ We circled each other as we sparred verbally.
‘Don’t say I never did anything for you.’ He hurled a black ball of fire straight at my heart.
I threw my hand up and flicked it to the side with a slice of air. It slammed into a goblin and erupted over his body, coating him in black flame.
Lightning flowed from my body as bolt-after-bolt slammed into Santanas’s shield. He smiled and covered his mouth with his spare hand as if to cover a yawn. Then he wiggled a finger at a stone pillar. It rose into the air and speared towards me, straight into a shield I shaped like a wedge.
Stone shrieked as it exploded into a million tiny pieces. I flexed my shield and directed the shrapnel back at Santanas. He winced as the first fragments peppered his skin and instantly a black shield wrapped his body.
I was never going to get through that shield. He was just too good. Too experienced. Too powerful. While he looked like he’d just had a good night’s sleep, I was panting and streaked with sweat.
‘We need to pull back,’ I said to Aethan. ‘I can’t best him.’
The black shield shimmered and disappeared and Santanas smiled at me. ‘Now daughter. Is that a proper way to treat your father?’
As the words left his mouth I saw Mia scamper up onto Aethan’s shoulder. Her lips pulled back from her teeth and she launched herself into the air. Silently she soared towards Santanas.
I held his gaze and said, ‘No.’ Any second, any second now. ‘This is a much better way.’
Talons extended, teeth exposed she ripped into his face with a scream of defiance. This was the monster that had stolen her baby. This was the bastard that had sent her through to our world from Trillania. She was crazed with fury and she was going to make him pay.
It only took a second for her to gouge out his eyes. A second for her to do what I hadn’t been able to.
He screamed and ripped her from his face, and that was when I struck. As blood poured out of his empty eye sockets I slammed a lightning bolt into him. It lifted him off his feet and threw him backwards into a pillar of stone.
‘Nooooooo.’ Galanta ripped Isla’s hands off her throat and clambered towards him. ‘My Lord. My Lord.’
Santanas’s groan let us know he was still alive. His wards had protected him to a certain extent. Without either faery or witch magic he would be a while healing, but he would be back.
Only someone who loved him would be able to kill him.
Aethan scooped Mia up off the ground and cradled her in an arm. ‘Quick,’ he said. ‘We must leave while we can.’
The goblins had stopped fighting, all of them staring at the macabre scene Santanas made. I could smell his burned flesh from where I was.
I grabbed Isla’s hand and stumbled back the way we had come. It wouldn’t be long before the goblins realised we were escaping. Scruffy ran at my heels as I followed Rako and Aethan out, threading through the stupefied goblins.
‘Noooo,’ Galanta’s wail cut through the air. ‘Kill them. Kill them all.’
The goblins around me stepped back warily as I raised my hands. ‘That’s it,’ I said, my voice full of bravado. ‘There’s plenty more where that came from.’
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