by J. A. Curtis
“Are you saying I can’t control myself?”
“I know you can. But I outrank you, Margus, and I have made up my mind,” Nuada said.
“In what world do you outrank me?” Margus blustered. “You and the Fomori wouldn’t have even made it this far without me.”
Nuada held up a hand and looked over at me. Margus stopped talking and followed her gaze. I felt like a child caught eavesdropping on parents arguing. So, everything was not well in paradise.
I glanced over at Arius one more time. Margus kept a hold on the back of his armor to keep him steady. I focused out into the night but had the strange feeling I missed something. I looked back at Margus and Arius. They looked the same, Margus straddling the wyvern and Arius slumped over its back. But then I noticed the pointer and middle finger on Arius’s right hand were crossed. It was so casual and loose that anybody looking would have thought nothing of it, but I remembered the time I taught him and the other faeries the Signs game. Could Arius be awake? But how?
It didn’t matter. If Arius was awake, I needed to think of a way to play this to our advantage.
The night was clear as we soared over trees and skirted large towns. Still, we passed over the occasional cabin or homestead tucked deep within the trees. It really was a miracle the faeries had gone undetected for so long.
“I don’t understand how you can act so uncaring about Arius’s life. Isn’t he like a son to you?” I asked.
“Arius was a means to an end. He always was that. Now, was he a loyal servant, and did I come to admire his determination and ability? Yes. But I knew this day would come. I will not let my feelings for Arius, for anybody, stand in my way,” Nuada said.
Ouch. If Arius was awake, I hoped he kept his emotions in check.
“Yeah, but threatening to kill him? That’s pretty heartless. Especially considering how he was willing to go to the ends of the earth to defend you when I was doubting whether you were worth my loyalty.”
“As long as you lead us to the faerie queen, then Arius will not be hurt. I do not wish any harm to come to him. But finding the faerie queen is more important than any one life.”
“You betrayed us, both you and Margus. You are the reason we all fell during the last battle.”
“You have seen quite a bit, haven’t you?”
“I’ve seen what happened, but I don’t understand why.”
Nuada exchanged a glance with Margus. “We both have our reasons.”
“I know your real name isn’t even Nuada.”
A strange smile crossed her face. “The name of our very first king. He too ended up with a silver arm. Seemed appropriate as an alias.”
“I don’t get how you could lie about that all these years.”
“Is the name Mina a lie because your name is really Jazrael? If everybody calls you something, doesn’t that become your name?”
“Okay, but you called Margus and Dramian dark when you knew they weren’t.”
“Names, Mina. Everybody has a bit of darkness in them. Light, dark. As long as I believe it’s all relative, I can call them whatever I want.”
She was good.
“But you told the faeries a whole storyline that was false.”
“Careful planning. I had years while the faeries were young to teach them, to imply and allude. To make statements out of context, with the implication—they made a cohesive story. But you were older and already suspicious. I couldn’t do the same with you. So I let Arius explain things to you. He believed it all. To him, everything he spoke was the truth.”
I wanted to see if Arius was reacting to any of this, but I forced my gaze to remain on Nuada.
“I see,” I said. “What will you do when you find the faerie queen?”
“That is none of your business,” Nuada said, her voice growing hard. “You just focus on keeping your precious Arius alive, and everything will be fine.”
“Of course.” I would be foolish to press her for more. I risked a glance over at Arius. His fingers were no longer crossed. Had it only been a coincidence? Or had he heard everything? I wasn’t sure. For now, I assumed I was on my own.
“The park closed at sundown, so it should be empty. There is a grove of trees that we can drop down in that will keep us hidden,” I said.
The park had a large soccer field but also a dense grove of trees in the north corner. We flew in from the forests to the north after taking the time to skirt around the more populated parts of town. We dropped into a cluster of trees and dismounted.
“It may take a while for us to find the house,” I said to Margus, standing right next to Arius. “Please don’t do anything hasty.”
“We will be back in two hours to check in,” Nuada corrected. “If we have not returned in that time, then Arius’s life is forfeit.”
A time limit. That worked, too. Margus unloaded Arius off the wyvern and laid him on the ground.
“We should have a signal,” I said. “In case something happens, and it’s time for action? How about this?” I cupped my hands over my mouth and made a high-pitched bird-like call.
“Quit it. What are you trying to do?” Nuada said, taking me by the arm.
“Look,” I said, “you guys don’t know what it is like living among humans. I do. I’m telling you, we have to be careful.”
“Watch her,” Margus said. “She wants to get caught.”
“And get Arius killed?” I snapped.
“And save your glorious queen,” Margus sneered.
“Enough,” Nuada said. “You know what’s at stake. Do you think if we are willing to take faerie lives, that we would think twice about taking human lives? If you cause a commotion, their blood as well as the blood of your lover boy will be on your hands.”
Her grip on my arm tightened before she released it, shoving me forward.
“Get going. We have a long night ahead of us,” she said.
We left the grove of trees with me leading the way. I chose a street, and we started our search. The homes in this part of the neighborhood were nice, large, well-established houses. The yards were well kept, and the paved sidewalks ran along each side of the street.
“What are we looking for?” Nuada asked.
“The house I saw is a light blue, two-story home with a large front porch,” I said.
“That could be almost any home,” Nuada said.
“But I’ve seen where the bushes are placed, where the driveway is, and how large and where the windows should be,” I said. I started walking slower until I was behind Nuada as I tried to make it look convincing that I was examining each home.
“Get in front of me,” Nuada said, and I hurried to obey. Fine then, I would walk in front of her. “How do I know you are leading me to the faerie queen and not some random girl’s house?”
I kept my back to her as I spoke. “You think I’d lead you to some helpless human and try to pass her off as the faerie queen?” I asked, angry. I wasn’t the one who had taken another’s life.
“To save your queen? Absolutely.”
“I guess you could always chuck her off of Dead Man’s Cliff and see if she impales herself at the bottom.”
“And if she wasn’t, we would kill both Dramian and Arius,” Nuada said, “and leave you locked away to go insane with guilt.”
“You wouldn’t find the faerie queen or your little scepter,” I shot back.
“Do you think we would trust anything you say if you are deceiving even now? No, Mina, this is your one and only chance. Don’t blow it.”
She was right. I had one chance to save Arius and Dramian.
Yeah, Mina, don’t blow it. The manticore depicted on her good arm, its wings splayed, tail whipped up was a constant reminder of the consequences if I failed. The emerald ring, currently missing from her finger, had allowed her to keep it hidden for fifteen years. Had she been afraid that, similar to the reason she changed her appearance and name, I might recognize her through her faerie guardian?
“I thou
ght you had lost your connection to your faerie guardian when my dragon, you know, ripped off your arm.” Now that Arius was out of range, I wanted to get back at her anyway I could.
Her eyes drew into slits. “Yes, I lost my arm that night. But my faerie guardian is not attached to one arm of the other. It is bonded with me.” Her metal arm bent, the fingers drawing into a fist. “Tell me more about this house. I want specifics.”
So I gave her specifics as we walked, searching for the right home. Each time she started focusing on something besides houses, I mentioned some new feature. An occasional lone car passed us on the road, but we stayed on the well-maintained sidewalk. I hoped someone might notice the sword strapped to Nuada’s waist and think something was weird enough to stop and ask questions, but no such luck. None of the drivers even gave us a second glance.
After an hour of walking, we rounded a corner on another street, and I stopped.
“Do you see it?” Nuada asked.
I nodded and raised my right arm to point at the house I had been describing. Nuada grabbed the back of my neck with her cold metal hand and pinched painfully.
“Let’s go,” she said.
We walked up to the house, Nuada controlling my movements with her death grip on my neck.
“Which window is hers?” she demanded. Anticipation poured off her.
I didn’t answer, and she dug her hard, silver fingers into my skin. “Which one, Mina?”
I raised my right hand and pointed toward the lone open second-story window on the side of the house. A large oak tree grew next to the window, its large branches reaching to the window’s ledge, and no screen barred the entrance to the window.
“Perfect,” Nuada said. Her faerie guardian attached to her free arm came to life, its long claws out in front of it. The manticore was at least double our height.
“I thought this was only reconnaissance. You’ll give us away,” I said.
“Silence,” Nuada commanded. Her fingers dug so deep, I worried she would snap my neck.
The manticore flapped its bat wings and rose to the window, pushed the branches of the tree aside, and peered inside.
“I see her,” Nuada said, excited. She smiled. The manticore flipped its tail underneath its body and through the open window.
“What are you doing?” I shrieked. I twisted despite Nuada’s grip, struggling to get out of her grasp.
Nuada released my neck and slid her metal arm across my throat, while the other pulled my struggling body back against her.
“Relax, Mina. In a moment, we will both be free,” she said.
I heard the manticore projecting its spikes.
“No,” I gasped and stopped struggling.
The manticore landed on the ground. Nuada released her hold, stepped back, grabbed my left arm, and pulled me over to the manticore.
“But you said you only wanted to see where she lives. You never said you were going to kill her,” I said as I dragged my feet.
“I told Margus that to keep him calm,” Nuada said. “And I led you to believe the same. You would have thought twice about bringing me or would have tried some ill-conceived attempt to rescue her if I had told you.”
“But how will you know if she really is the faerie queen now that she’s dead?”
Nuada tapped the side of her temple with her free hand. “Dream seer, remember? If I can no longer behold her dreams, I will know she is dead. Get on,” she said, referring to the manticore. She tugged on my arm and then paused, taking in the smooth bare skin of my arm. She turned her eyes to my other arm, which was blank as well. “Where is your faerie guardian?”
I couldn’t help it. I smiled.
“Where?” She shook me.
I looked up toward the bedroom window, and Nuada followed my gaze. A girl climbed out of the window and onto a large branch of the tree. She had three manticore quills protruding from her left shoulder blade. The girl wore a tank top and shorts but other than that, her short, cropped hair, thin frame, and brown eyes matched mine exactly.
My doppelganger dropped from the branch, changing in mid-air. She sprouted huge wings, her front legs extending to massive claws and back legs into the strong back paws of a lion. Her head transformed into an eagle’s head, and it let out a long bird-like call. Its wings flapped, catching itself in the air and angling right for the manticore.
Nuada was so shocked, I yanked my arm out of her grip and threw myself back out of the way. My griffin plowed into the manticore from the side, flipping it onto its back and rolling the giant beast right over Nuada.
I didn’t have time to wait. Any second, people might look out their window and see two giant monsters going at it. My griffin held the manticore on its back and drove its sharp talons into the belly of the manticore. Nuada lay on her back, not moving.
“Arius is dead,” she rasped.
She so needed to fall. My griffin bit into the manticore’s throat, and the manticore flashed out of existence. Nuada lay motionless, eyes closed. I called my griffin back.
“Mina!”
Kris stood on the front porch of her family’s home. The same home that my faerie guardian had exited. Her mouth hung open, and she gestured wildly from me to the air and back to me, speechless. I ran up to Nuada’s still body and undid the belt holding the sword at her waist. I pulled it off and clutched it to my chest as I stood, wondering if Kris thought I had killed Nuada.
“I’ll explain later,” I said. “I have to go.”
I ran away from Kris’s home. I had to extract Arius from Margus without getting either of us killed. If I was lucky, I would have the element of surprise, and against someone as experienced as Margus, I’d need it.
A deep earthy roar rent the night. Arius. Maybe surprise wouldn’t be necessary. But I had to hurry. He‘d need my help against Margus. I cut into an alleyway that led between Kris’s home and the park. A shortcut I’d had my faerie guardian take when we had entered the neighborhood to beat Nuada and me to Kris’s home.
Grass overgrew the alleyway. Fences and gates of all shapes and sizes lined the edges of the alley as backyards butted up against either side. The entrance started between two homes and was obscured by bushes so only locals knew of the alley’s existence.
I needed to move fast. Give me a horse, I thought. I released my faerie guardian. A white stag stood before me, staring at me with large golden eyes. They held a familiar look in them I was beginning to trust. Not a horse, but a deer with antlers would have to do.
I strapped the sword around my waist and jumped onto the stag’s back as we started off down the alley. I clutched the stag with my knees and leaned against its neck to keep from falling off. But the animal was fast. The stag sped down the alleyway and into the park.
As we neared the grove, the fight between Margus and Arius grew louder. The trees shook as the golem towered among the trees, and the wyvern dove above the tree line and back down. I dismounted, pulled the stag back onto my arm, and crept in among the bushes.
The smaller wyvern was much more agile and versatile than Arius’s large golem. It came in at an angle and slammed into the rock monster, clawing and scraping up the stone with its sharp talons. By the time the golem attempted to sweep the wyvern off, the wyvern moved and came for another attack.
I wondered how much the claws of the wyvern could wreak against solid stone until I realized Arius was at another disadvantage. He lay bound on the ground and had his golem placed between him and Margus, whose sword was drawn. Margus wasn’t trying to take the golem down, not in this small space—he was trying to weaken and distract Arius’s faerie guardian so he could maneuver around it and get to a helpless Arius.
I had to help.
My griffin flew into the wyvern, knocking it off the golem. The wyvern twisted in midair, flapping its wings, and got on top of my griffin. Its talons locked onto the griffin's wings and forced it to the ground. The wyvern’s claws dug into the griffin’s back, raking and clawing. I cried out and fell to the earth
, a searing pain tearing into my back. So much for surprise giving me the advantage. Me and my poorly trained faerie guardian were going down fast.
Arius’s golem rushed forward and grabbed the wyvern by the tail. With a huge thrust of its arm, the golem hurled the wyvern in the opposite direction. Trees snapped and broke in half as the wyvern hit them. Margus dropped to one knee.
Only one knee? Who was this guy? If that had been me, I’d be gone, fallen. At the least in an unmovable state on the ground. That he took a hit like that and still kept moving was a bad sign. How were we going to defeat someone this strong?
Some strength returned to my limbs, and I rose to my hands and knees. Dirt and grass and dry pine needles stuck to my bare hands and knees as I crawled toward Arius.
Margus rose to his feet and came at Arius, sword in hand. When Arius’s golem had moved to attack the wyvern and save me from falling, it had to abandon the space that had blocked Margus from getting to Arius.
I tried to rise to my feet to reach Arius first, but I fell back to the ground, my body still weak. I pushed back up on my hands and knees, but it was useless. Margus would reach Arius first, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.
A huge wall of rock crashed into the ground between Margus and Arius. Dirt flew, and I raised an arm over my face to keep small dirt particles out of my eyes. Arius’s golem had dived back, reclaiming the space protecting Arius from Margus and his sword. The golem lay there like a makeshift wall that had dropped from the sky.
I made it to Arius and worked on picking the knots binding his hands.
“Hurry,” he said.
“I’m trying,” I said. I pulled the knot free as the wyvern made its way out of the trees, and Arius’s golem rose to meet it.
As soon as Arius’s hands were free, he grabbed the hilt of the sword at my waist and pushed me to the ground in one smooth motion that left me with a mouth full of dirt.
Geez, rude much? I’m only saving the guy’s life, I thought as I spit dirt from my mouth and looked up.
Arius knelt above me swinging the sword back and forth like his life depended on it, a desperate look in his eyes. He grunted, and I heard a dull clang, but it looked as if he were fighting thin air.
