Dark Fae

by Shannon Mayer

  “I tried to stop them, Quinn. But I wasn’t strong enough on my own.” Bres’ voice broke on the last word.

  I didn’t bother to hide the tears that slid down my cheeks. He’d tried to protect her, even from me, and I couldn’t fault him for that, much as I wanted to. His actions towards me didn’t mean he didn’t love Ashling. Taking a deep breath, I nodded acknowledgement.

  With the Banshees following in a loose semi-circle, we made our way back into the bower. Chaos had pulled back from the mirror. Hand on her hips, she tapped her foot while glowering at Fianna. “Answer me Banshee.”

  Fianna lifted her head, but it was me who spoke first. “Ashling! If you’re still in there, you’ve got to fight with everything you have, you’ve got to fight!” I wanted to lay my hands on the mirror and pull her through, shake her ‘till Chaos was thrown out.

  Adrenaline raced through me but there was nothing physical I could do. I couldn’t fight this part for her. I couldn’t even try to rescue her; I had no idea if it was even possible. “Ash, please, try.” I whispered. She was stronger than me, fearless in everything she did. I hoped that it would be enough, that the strength of Ashling’s heart would help her fight off Chaos.

  Nothing happened. There was no change in Chaos’ eye, no glimmer of the little sister I’d tried to protect at all costs. I’d hoped that Bres had been right, that there was some small piece of Ashling left, that we could help her be free of the evil that had taken over her body.

  Chaos threw back her head and laughed, the sound ripping through the air with a force that caused me to stumble to one knee. “You think to call your little sister? Ha, she buckled under me in minutes. But go ahead, call her.” She winked at me. I shook my head. There was nothing I could do or say to bring Ashling back, and it killed me to admit that even to myself. I dug my hands into the mossy ground, the cold damp earth grounding me.

  It is all you can do, Quinn. You must let her go. Her soul will move on, when she finally gives up fighting Chaos. Cora’s words didn’t exactly soothe me.

  Chaos snorted and waved at us. “Kill them or die yourself. If you do not do as I ask, I will sink this island, just like the last place that defied me, Queen.” She snarled the last word.

  Fianna drew herself up. “I do not believe that you will honour what you say you will do. So, I will stand by the one who was chosen to defeat you long ago.” Relief coursed through me. At least we hadn’t lost our one ally.

  Fianna clapped her hands and the mirror began to shrink. Chaos flipped her head back and bared her teeth at us. “So be it.” She paused and her eyes narrowed, but it was me she stared down, not Fianna. “You will regret this moment; I will make you wish the Banshees had finished you off.”

  In a blinding flash of light the mirror exploded, shards flying every which way. Bres tackled me to the ground, a Barrier springing up around us. The ringing of glass bouncing off the Barrier would have been almost pretty if it weren’t for the fact that it was interspersed with the cries of the Banshees around us.

  I made a move to get up, but Bres held me to the ground. “Let the last of ta shards fall.”

  My face was buried in his neck, his hair tickling my nose and I made a mistake of taking a deep breath. Our bodies were flush against each other, held down by the Barrier, but that deep breath pushed us even closer together. My eyes flew to his as the violet irises disappeared under the instant flush of heat, his pupils dilating with desire. I tried to focus on what Luke had told me. Bres had used his Charm on me, which was why I was feeling this way. Knowing that didn’t really help as much as I’d hoped.

  “Off,” I said, scrambling to push him off. “Get off me.”All I succeeded in was tangling our limbs more as I rolled us so that I was on top. Nope, that was not better. “Bres, let the Barrier down!”

  His Adams apple dipped, and he gave a nod. The Barrier dropped, and I leapt off him. Everywhere he’d touched me was as if I’d been scorched, my skin tingled, the intensity of that brief contact cutting straight through me.

  “Damn it,” I muttered to myself.

  Shake it off, Quinn. It was only a moment.

  The last thing I need right now, Cora, is to have you make comments about awkward moments, I thought back at her.

  That wasn’t awkward. That was unresolved passion.

  My eyes popped open wide and I couldn’t stop the gasp that slipped out past my lips.

  You can try to deny it, but it was there from the beginning. Luke loves you, of course, but...

  “Shut up!” I shouted and the world around me went still. Fianna stared at me, her eyebrows lifted, a cut dripping blood down the side of her face. The rest of the Banshees froze and I didn’t dare turn to look at Bres.

  “Quinn, do you be alright?” Bres asked, his brogue rolling over me, reminding me how good it felt to be up against his hard body.

  I ignored him; it was the only thing I could do. To Cora I added, That was Charm, nothing else! I closed her out of my thoughts and turned back to the Queen. “Fianna, you were going to take us somewhere.”

  Her eyebrows were still high, but she placed her hands together and gave me a nod. “Of course. It is deep in the forest; we will speak as we walk.”

  Raising one elegant hand, she beckoned for us, Bres and I to follow her. I jogged to catch up to her, making sure to keep Bres out of my line of vision.

  “Can we go faster?” I asked, thinking of Luke, lying there, his life slipping away from him.

  Fianna paused. “If you wish to go faster we can, but you will not be prepared to face the choice if you are taken there too swiftly.”

  Bres walked a few steps behind us, and while he hadn’t said a word, every part of me was aware of him. Damn it, this was the last thing I needed right now.

  I grit my teeth. I was meant to be with Luke, that’s what the prophecy said and so far, the bloody thing had been right. Just because I was attracted to Bres did not mean I loved him.

  I had to help Luke; there was no other choice. If I couldn’t save even a single person, how would I save the whole world? Admitting I was afraid was not an option anymore, not with the number of people who were depending on me to somehow find a way to kill Chaos. So what choice was there? I felt that Luke was needed. The prophecy said he was to be at my side, or at least one version of the prophecy said he was to be at my side. This was a side journey I had to take, no matter what anyone else thought.

  Fianna paused at the edge of a tree line I hadn’t even noticed. “Here begins the swamp. It is deep within this that we will find out if your destiny brings you here, or some foolish desire to save one who is meant to die.”

  Before I could come up with any snappy response, she continued to speak, stepping into the swamp and sinking up over her knees.

  “What you seek is the Cauldron. It is the one relic of the past that can save your Luke. Within it is the power to heal all wounds, and at one time, it could even bring back the dead.”

  I sloshed into the swamp, the tepid water and murk hiding gods only knew what. “If that’s true, why hasn’t it been found already?”

  It was Bres who answered me. “Because it is hidden, not only by conventional means, but by your own heart.”

  That didn’t make any sense. Fianna half turned to look at us. “Bres speaks truly. You must be honest within your heart for the reasons you seek out the Cauldron. A single lie and you will disappear into the fog of the gateways forever.”

  Her words didn’t really make sense, but before I could ask more, something shifted in the water ahead of us. Long, sinuous and fast. Fianna lifted her hand, and made an attempt to command the snake, but it shot past her, right at me. In the brief seconds before it attacked, all I could take in was the sheer size, and the diamond green and black pattern on the two-foot-wide head. This was not a natural predator here on the Island, not even close!

  Knee deep, I didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver. Dagger out, I met the open-fanged snake as it struck, lunging up at me, teeth dripp
ing with venom. The dagger caught the edge of its mouth and it hissed, curling back away from me its black eyes glittering. A flash of gold in its irises and I knew what I was dealing with—my brother Card. It wasn’t the first time he’d attacked me via an animal.

  “Quinn!” Bres shouted, charging forward. I didn’t have the luxury of waiting for him.

  Again the snake struck out at me, and again I managed to dodge the bite that I had no doubt would prove to be far more painful than the sting of Cora’s fangs.

  When it lifts its head to strike, the throat is exposed.

  Cora’s words distracted me, and I stumbled back, the water sloshing over my body as a coil from the snake wrapped around my legs, jerking me down and under. Even though I knew I wouldn’t drown, something kept me from opening my mouth in the darkness that closed over my head.

  Clawing at the coils, I slashed at them with my dagger, feeling the flesh part under the tip of my blade. A hand grabbed my hair and pulled me to my feet. “Already Chaos sends death our way.” Fianna said as she steadied me on my feet.

  “Not Chaos.” I grunted. “Card!”

  A shout and the heavy thunk of blade meeting flesh spun me around. Bres stood over the now lifeless body of the massive snake. Dripping wet, he turned just his head, sword gripped in his hand. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.” That was about all I could manage. My mouth was dry, my heart pounding.

  Fianna tugged on my hand. “Hurry, the creatures here are no longer mine to command. If you are right, your brother is near, and that does not bode well for any of us.”

  Bres sloshed through the water to my side, asking the question I wanted to. “Why is it that you cannot control your own forest?”

  “Quinn destroyed my staff. It held the key to controlling the forest. Without it, I can only control my Banshees, nothing more.”

  Right, there was that minor detail. “I didn’t know that at the time. I was just trying to stay alive.” I said, feeling the need to defend myself.

  Fianna shrugged. “It is the path you walk now, taking Bres and me with you.”

  The swamp seemed to close in around us, blocking out the sun and sky, even the sounds of the birds were muted under the low hanging branches.

  “Quinn,” Bres said.

  I paused, waiting for him to catch up rather than look over my shoulder at him. I couldn’t meet his eyes; there was too much between us. For all that, we’d only known each other a short time.

  “What?” I asked when he reached my side.

  “Before we get there, I have to tell you something. I need to say it before I lose the chance,” Bres said.

  I was shaking my head before he finished speaking, still not willing to meet his eyes. “No need to confess, Luke told me that you’d Charmed me.”

  The silence lasted for a split second. “WHAT?”

  Cringing, I turned to face him. “It will wear off, right?” His eyes were wide and his jaw was hanging open. With a shiver that ran through his body, he seemed to wake up. Brushing past me, he changed the subject completely.

  “There will be a choice when we get to where ta Cauldron is. Only one of us will be able to go through at a time.”

  “Fine, then I’ll go through.” I said, letting him change the subject. I didn’t want to rub it in that I knew he’d tricked me. The swamp reluctantly let go of my foot with a slurp, as I stepped over a downed and rotting tree.

  “No, Quinn, do you not hear what Fianna is saying? You could very well die if you go through ta gateway, if that’s still what you must step through?” He aimed the question at Fianna who lifted her hand.

  We stopped, and there ahead of us was the gateway to the Cauldron. Or should I say, gateways.

  4

  Two large arbutus trees were mirror images of each other. One was the brilliant gleaming red skinned trunk that stood out even in this darkened swamp, the other, though the green leaves and twisted growth were the same. The trunk was blackened as if by a fire or bolt of lightning.

  Fianna pointed. “There is your choice, Quinn. The gateway of gleaming bright represents the fae who have only good intentions, those who seek to do what is right, the ones who will give up their lives for the greater good.” Shifting ever so slightly, she pointed to the blackened tree. “There lies the gateway for the dark fae, those who have seen that which is good and turned away, those who would murder to achieve their goals, the ones who will only do what is best for themselves, forsaking the greater good.”

  My eyes flicked back and forth between the two trees. “And I have to choose what? The one that I think the Cauldron is in?’

  “No, you have to choose the one that you believe yourself to be. If you choose correctly, the Cauldron will wait for you on the other side. If you choose incorrectly, you will die,” she said.

  Bres touched my forearm, the heat from his fingers made me jerk away from him. “That is why I should go, Quinn. I know what I am. I am one of the dark fae; there is no question.”

  I shook my head, “No, that’s not true. I know you.” Even as the words slipped past my lips, the truth of them hit me. I knew him as if I’d known him my whole life. He was no dark fae, no matter that we were at times on opposite sides. Even if the bugger did Charm me.

  Reaching out, I touched his hand, tentatively at first. “This is something I have to do. It is not on your shoulders. It isn’t your fault that Luke is hurt so badly.”

  “If I go first, and fail, you still have a chance. You are the one ta prophecy speaks of, and if it’s right, you are ta only one who can save us from Chaos.” He brushed his fingers along my jaw, his eyes softening. “I’m doing this for you, Quinn. I’m sorry,” he said as his hand dropped. I didn’t understand what he was about, not until it was already happening. He grabbed my hand, and then spun me around. Pushing me, he sent me into the deeper water, and I tripped over a submerged log, my body getting sucked under by the swamp. Fighting to reach the surface, I pushed off the mushy bottom.

  “Bres!” I screamed, as I broke the water’s surface, already knowing that I was too late. A flash of light and the dark gateway swallowed him whole. Damn him and his heroics!

  I struggled forward, tangling once more in unseen roots under the mud slurry of water. Fianna stepped in front of me. “Give him a chance to be your hero, Quinn. It’s what all men want.”

  She came to my side and helped me to my feet. The water and muck clung to me as if it were a second skin. “I’ve yet to decide if you are twice blessed or twice cursed,” she said.

  Wiping my face, flicking the mud off my fingers I shivered. “What do you mean?”

  “To be loved by not one, but two men of strength and heart. It is a blessing to have one, but two? I’m not so sure I’d want that even for myself.” She stared at me, then cocked her head to one side, so like her little sister it gave me a chill.

  “He doesn’t love me. He Charmed me,” I said. The words sounded hollow even to my own ears.

  Fianna laughed. “Bres is many things: warrior, guide, teacher, Fomorii and Tuatha. But even I know he is not a Charmer. It is the one thing that wasn’t passed on to him by his father. Bres can’t Charm It isn’t one of his abilities.”

  I tried to tell you.

  The water dripped off the tip of my nose and chin; I was too stunned to even try to wipe it away. My brain couldn’t handle this new information. No, I wasn’t being honest. It was my heart that was struggling with it, not my mind.

  “Come, let us stand on higher ground while we wait.” Fianna led the way to a tree that was downed in some long ago windstorm, but it was not submerged as so many of the others were. Climbing up, I stood with one hand braced on a branch that jutted up to the sky.

  “The Cauldron will test him, to see if he is worthy to bring it back to the realm of the humans. It has not ventured out for many, many years,” she said.

  I glanced over at her, the white dress dry and unmarked as if we hadn’t just sloshed through miles of swamp. “You say t
hat like it’s alive.”

  Fianna didn’t look over at me, but continued to stare at the two gateways.“It is. Like all objects of power, it lives and has a will of its own. Even Excalibur carried with it consciousness. It is how Arthur did so well in battle.” She said this as if everyone knew what she was talking about.

  “How will we know if Bres . . .” I wanted to say lived or died, but I couldn’t. I had a hard enough time thinking about Luke dying. I wasn’t sure I could handle the thought of losing them both.

  “One hour. If at the end of that time he has not emerged, it will then be your choice. I would ask you for the sake of our world to not go through with this.” Now she did look at me, her brown eyes wide with her pleading. “You are our one chance at ending Chaos’ reign before it begins in earnest. In that, Bres was correct. You must believe me when I say that these two men of yours, no matter their love for you, are not worth throwing the world away for.”

  “I need Luke, I need him at my side if I’m to face down Chaos. It says so in the prophecy, and more than that, I feel it. Here.” I put my hand over my heart. “I will do whatever it takes to save him, even if that means putting my own life in danger.”

  “And if you put the world at risk?”

  I gripped a branch, the flaking bark crunching under my fingers. “If I need Luke to save the world, then I need to save him first. Period.”

  Silence reigned between us for some time after that.

  A thought had been rolling around inside my brain, ever since I’d faced down Aednat, and I broke the uneasy silence by changing the subject. “How could you face your sister knowing that you’d have to kill her?”

  She let out a sigh.

  “We were not always enemies. I loved her more than anyone —would have died for her even.”

  The words were so like my own when I spoke of Ashling I wanted to put my hands to my ears and tell her to stop, but I had to hear this. I needed to if I was going to face Ashling, even if it was just her body and no longer her heart and soul.