by J. A. Curtis
“Deal,” he said. “But Nuada must agree to this, too.”
I had thought about this snag when I was forming my back-up plan on my flight over to my parent’s home. If I got Arius on board, which had seemed like a long shot—though not so much anymore—how could I convince Nuada to share decision-making when she already held all the power?
“What if she doesn’t?” I asked. “Will you lock me up again?”
He shook his head. “I think you have proven a prison cell cannot hold you.”
I fought back a smile. I liked that he thought me uncontainable. Too bad he didn’t know what really happened, that my actual escape could be attributed to the very spirits who ran his home. “So, what will you do?”
He sighed. “The best I can do is promise you that if Nuada refuses, you will have one more chance at freedom. If you don’t take it....” He shrugged.
“Agreed,” I said. I pushed off the car, walked to the passenger door and pulled it open. “We should get going. I’ll be riding with you. The other car lacks a certain hospitality.”
As I got in the passenger seat, Arius walked over to the other car to deliver orders before returning and putting the car in gear.
THE PLAN WAS TENTATIVE. My real plan was to get Arius on my side and go against Nuada. But that would take time, and I needed a way back to the Haven that didn’t involve getting locked up in a dungeon cell. Phase one of getting Arius sort of on my side worked better than I thought. Next came the harder part—convincing Nuada to share power. Arius’s promise to free me if she refused gave me some leverage, and it was clear that Nuada wanted me at the Haven. But I also knew she was willing to play by harsh rules, and that made me nervous.
We drove for a while and then parked in an old rickety garage. I suspected we didn’t just drive up to the manor because the smaller cars wouldn’t do as well on the bumpy, unpaved mountain trails.
Arius surprised me by pulling a silver stymphalian bird from behind my seat. The bird had been so quiet, I had never even noticed its presence.
“I promised Nuada I’d check in,” he said. He retrieved a small notepad and a pen from the glove compartment and wrote a note. Folding it, he stuffed it into the small tube attached to the bird’s leg. He left the car to set it loose.
After Arius returned, we all rested for a while and then hiked up into the mountains as the sun rose. I made sure Thaya never walked behind me.
“Why isn’t she tied up?” Thaya grumbled.
“The point was to get her back to the Haven,” Arius said. “She’s coming back willingly.”
“Plus, what if we run into humans?” I put my wrists together and smiled a little too sweetly at Thaya. “Kind of hard to explain.”
The day was bright and shiny, and we did run into a few humans already up in the hills. We hiked and ate rowan berries to give us energy. I was glad they had brought some with them. I had finished my own stash of berries before visiting Kris, dumping the cloth bag into a random garbage receptacle.
As the sun began to set, Arius scouted the area and said we were safe to fly. Nerime and Jorgeral flew with Thaya. Arius rode with me.
As we landed, Caelm and Veran came running out of the manor and across the lawn.
“Sir! The dark faeries are attacking!” Veran said.
“They’re attacking now?” Arius said, “How many? How close are they?”
“It appears to be all of them, sir, at least all who have faerie guardians. Dramian has yet to make an appearance. We have called out all our soldiers with faerie guardians. They are engaging now.”
“Is Nuada here?” Arius asked.
“She is in the manor. She said she would like to see you before you joined the battle. She thinks they could be after Mina,” Caelm said.
Arius nodded. “Mina and Veran will come with me. Thaya, you will take Jorgeral and Nerime and reinforce Palon and the others. Caelm, go with them but hang back and look for opportunities to heal. I don’t want you engaging unless you absolutely have to. Oh, and Thaya,” he said. “Call out the birds.”
The faeries bowed, and Thaya, Jorgeral, Nerime, and Caelm rushed off to go join the battle. Arius turned toward the manor, and Veran followed behind. I watched Thaya head toward the forest, a feeling of deep foreboding twisting in my gut.
I hurried to catch up with Arius, matching his quick strides.
“Something’s not right,” I said.
“There are a lot of things not right at the moment.” We rushed up the steps of the manor.
“Why are they attacking?” I asked, “This feels almost staged...”
Arius opened the doors, and we hurried inside with Veran following close behind. He pushed the doors shut behind him and flipped the lock.
“First rule of staging an attack, take your enemy by surprise. Of course it feels staged. Now would be the perfect moment. It’s all part of their plan.”
That wasn’t what I had meant. How had Margus known we were gone? How had he known we were on the verge of returning? Who could have informed him in time to organize his troops to stage a coordinated attack? In my mind, the answer was pointing conspicuously toward one person. Nuada.
Arius walked past the staircase, toward the back of the manor. Veran followed without question.
“Nuada’s upstairs,” I said. “Why are we going back here?”
“You need a sword,” he said. He stopped in front of the door to the armory, pulled out his keys, and unlocked the door.
He pulled the heavy door open and motioned for me to enter. I flipped the light switch at the top of the narrow staircase. I descended seven steps before I realized Arius hadn’t followed me into the stairwell. With a click, the lights above me went dark. I turned back toward the door in time to hear it bang shut. The key turned in the lock. I raced back up the steps and pounded on the large dull door.
“Arius!” I shouted.
“Keep quiet, Mina. The point is not to lead Dramian right to you.”
“Let me out!” I yelled, banging some more.
“We will continue our deal when this is over, you have my word. But for now, I need you to stay here and be as quiet as possible.”
“I want to see Nuada. Something is not right. I need to talk to her, Arius!”
“Later, after this is over,” he said.
“I veto that. I need to see her now!”
I heard him giving instructions to Veran. “Stand watch at the end of the hall.”
“Arius! Open up!” I pounded the door, but this time, no answer came. After giving the door a few more jolts with my fist with no response, I gave up and slumped onto the top stair with a growl. I should have seen this coming. Arius didn’t want me in the way in an emergency. He wanted me safely hidden away where nobody could find me, both so Dramian and the others wouldn’t whisk me away and so I wouldn’t cause trouble. This was not the time to be questioning his or Nuada’s authority, let alone their decisions.
My back pressed up against the door. I wondered how many faeries would fall this evening. If Arius hadn’t locked me down in this stupid armory, could I have been able to stop it? After saving Iris, Dramian owed me. He would have to at least talk to me if I requested it, maybe even halt the battle long enough to figure things out. But then again, maybe not. Dramian hadn’t been with his troops.
I flipped the light back on and descended the stairs and entered the armory. Arius had locked me in here because the dungeons would be an obvious place to look. Then again, if someone was after me, they might think the heavy armory door was the way to the dungeon just as well.
My eyes fell on the swords in the far left corner of the room, and I headed there first but then paused. I turned and walked over to the trunk with the general’s coat of arms. I had never opened this trunk. I pulled the lid back. On top lay the general’s leather cuirass with the coat of arms etched in the leather. I ran my hand over the four symbols—sword, heart, hammer, star—bravery, sacrifice, skill, persistence.
I exchanged it f
or the one I wore. Back in the trunk lay a sword, its handle in the shape of a dragon head. On the blade was inscribed The High Ones. I hoped I could live up to the general’s legacy.
I walked back up the stairs, sat on the top steps, and waited in the dark.
“Why did you not heed our warning?” came a low, hollow voice through the darkness. “Why did you not stay away?”
I sucked in a breath but was used to the creepiness of the domovye by now. “Kudava?” It would be nice to put a face with the hollow voice, but there was no real way to tell if the bodiless voice really belonged to her.
“You have brought contention here. Contention always leads to dire circumstances.” The emptiness in the voice took root down inside me and echoed up through me.
“I had to come back,” I said, fighting the emptiness. “Nuada has tricked the faeries. They need to know the truth.”
“You... should have stayed away.” The voice began to fill with a cold certain pain, “Tonight,” it rattled, “you must face the consequence of refusing to heed our warning.”
Something approached, something I dreaded, something I would do anything to stop. A trickle of fear slowly made its way from my heart, freezing my blood. I pressed back against the door, shivering. “Stay back.”
But it came anyway. Two eyes shone in the darkness, and then I saw a face, nothing like I was used to seeing—a hairy face, flat, sunken nose, and eyes that nearly glowed. Its long pencil line mouth opened. “Tonight,” it breathed, “you are Balor, the harbinger of death.”
25
The Cost of Leadership
“You won’t be able to save everyone, Mina. Always remember that.”
I FUMBLED FOR THE LIGHT in the darkness with one hand while my other drew my sword. My shaking fingers flipped it on while brandishing my sword in front of me. The stairway was empty.
I sheathed my sword but left the light on. Stupid domovye. My life was hard enough at the moment without them going all freaky on me.
A crashing noise came from the outside, followed by a door slamming. I stood. Had I been found? As if in answer, something rammed into the large metal door, hard. A large spot near the doorknob began to glow. I reached out and grabbed the knob but jerked back. It was burning hot. A sizzling sound came next, and I jumped back, tripping down several steps right before the door burst open. A boy with tangled hair stood at the top of the stairs.
Iris.
“How did you—”
“I heard you flip the switch,” he said, expecting my question as he pulled his phoenix back onto his shoulder. “And I heard you breathing. Next time try holding your breath.”
“What are you doing here?”
“You rescued me. Thought I’d return the favor.”
I came up the stairs and followed him as we headed for the front of the manor. I noticed a side study room door was shut, the doorknob melted. Veran shouted and rattled the door. For a moment I considered letting him out but then decided against it. Arius had left him here to be a watchdog and besides, I knew for a fact he could just climb out the window if he really decided he wanted out.
“Where is Dramian?” I asked as we headed down the front steps.
“I can find him.” He paused and shut his eyes. I stopped and watched him. It was amazing what this kid could hear. Being able to sort through the cacophony of battle to pinpoint one person? That was something. “This way.” He took off so quickly, I had to run to keep up with him.
“Iris, wait, where are we going?”
“I hear Dramian over here,” Iris said, hurrying around the backside of the manor.
“But...” I looked back toward the front of the manor where the sounds of battle were raging. Compared to the commotion going on out front, the back of the manor was deathly quiet.
This was not right. I stopped. I had a strong suspicion the reason we had caught Iris outside the Haven had been because he had been passing secrets back and forth between Nuada and Margus.
Maybe I’d find Dramian or Arius on my own.
“I can hear him, Mina, this way!” Iris didn’t slow down. He continued on into the woods.
A huge, scaled winged monster landed between me and the front of the manor. At first, I thought it was a black dragon, but it had no front claws. It reminded me more of a winged T-Rex. I had seen this creature before but only in my visions.
“Margus,” I said.
A man with dark, greying hair combed back sat astride the creature’s back in his own faerie warrior leather. Like me, he had a coat of arms etched in his cuirass. I touched the etchings in my own leather. His coat of arms matched mine.
“Good evening, cousin Jazrael,” he said.
My mouth fell open.
“We’re... cousins?”
“If you are the General, then yes,” Margus said. “Our family line has been tasked with protecting the royal family for millennia.”
I blinked. There was the queen, and Relinquishment had revealed there had once been a king. I’d assumed he had been killed when the Otherworld was destroyed, since no one really talked about him. But a royal family? Killed as well with the downfall of the Otherworld? I supposed it made sense. I just hadn’t thought about it before.
“I see you don’t remember,” Margus said. “The power to see the past only gives you small glimpses into what once was. It is no comparison to actually remembering.”
He was right. Margus and Nuada had been one step ahead this whole time. They remembered everything that happened. Falling had put me, Arius, Dramian, everyone at a disadvantage.
“You and Nuada split the faeries. You have kept them fighting against each other, keeping them young so they would remain under your control,” I said.
“You are correct,” Margus said. “And now you, me, and my wyvern here will take a little walk in the woods. After you, General.” He motioned toward the dark forest behind me. If I went in there, I probably wouldn’t be coming out. I examined the wyvern. Its sharp teeth, huge, claw-like feet, and curved horns were nasty. Could my faerie guardian take it in a fight?
Margus laughed. “Go ahead, try it. I have been bonded with my faerie guardian for over two hundred years. Not even Nuada has as much experience. You really want to take me in a fight?”
Maybe not. Even if my faerie guardian could take different forms, my control was spotty. Perhaps if I bided my time I would find an unexpected moment to attack. With surprise on my side, I might even the odds.
I turned, the wyvern’s hot breath on my neck, and walked into the woods. Margus was a two-hundred-year-old man. He looked more like he was in his mid-forties.
“If you and Nuada wanted to be in charge, why did you try to find me and the queen? Why bring us back at all to challenge your authority? Why not let us stay where we were?” I asked.
It wasn’t the most convenient time to be asking questions, but I was curious. Plus, I was trying to distract myself from the natural terror created by having a neo-dinosaur with teeth longer than steak knives at my back.
“We have our reasons,” Margus said. “Keep walking.”
The wyvern snorted, and I quickened my pace. Its giant feet crashed into the ground with each step, crunching leaves and twigs and small animals into dust behind me.
“But why even tell the younger faeries about us? You could have ruled the faeries forever. Even with my ability to see the past, my visions would have been only dreams to me if you all hadn’t shown up,” I pressed.
This time, Margus snorted. “You think ruling over a bunch of children is what we want?”
I ducked under a low branch as thick as my calf and heard it snap and break behind me as the wyvern plowed through it. I swallowed, imagining how easily the monster at my back could snap me in two.
“Okay.” My voice sounded raspy from dryness born of fear. “You can remember fine on your own, so why do you need me?”
“Memory is limited by personal experience. You are not bound by those constraints. You can see things which one d
oes not have to be present to witness.”
“You want to know what happened to the queen,” I surmised.
“Among other things.”
I bit my lip. My most important duty as general was to protect the queen—I remembered that much. If he hoped he’d intimidate me into betraying her, he could go to hell. Perhaps if I remained alert, I’d find a way to one-up him, tell Nuada and Margus what they wanted to hear, get them in a vulnerable situation—or at least give me a chance to escape and find Arius or Dramian and convince them to believe me.
The trees began thinning out, and soon we entered a small clearing. Several lanterns hung from branches of trees, giving the small glen an eerie glow in the waning twilight. Iris stood at attention to the side. In the center of the clearing stood Nuada, sword in hand. Behind her on the ground lay Arius and Dramian, on their sides, bound and unconscious. I sucked in a breath. Finding Arius and Dramian wouldn’t be a problem. I ran forward, trying to get to them, but Nuada stepped in my path, raising her sword.
“Stay where you are, Mina,” Nuada said, too calm. I stopped inches from the tip of her sword and considered attempting to dash around her, but the look in her eyes told me she was ready for me.
I backed up and looked toward Iris.
“Iris, you’re brothers,” I said.
“Leave Iris out of this, Mina. He knows he will be rewarded for his loyalty,” Nuada said.
“But, Iris, she imprisoned you. She ordered to have your ears cut off. Arius and Dramian—”
“Treat me as if I am nothing.” Iris’s face twisted. “They will now see who holds the real power.”
“Iris knows everything I did was to bring him to this moment, and he willingly participated,” Nuada said. “And tonight, Mina, the games will end, and you will give me the information I want. No more deception and half-truths.”
Nuada’s silver arm reflected the pale light of the lanterns. I glanced over at Margus. He dismounted and stood next to his wyvern, which waited at his side. Over two hundred years of training and fighting together. What was that like? Sure beats my measly three weeks. Iris stood motionless, looking out into the night, refusing to meet my gaze. Then I looked down at Dramian and Arius, and my heart ached.
