One last dance

by Eva Fairwald

information and killing wasn’t the way. From the corner of his eye, he saw the other shadows making the unconscious creatures levitate out of the windows, but he couldn’t take care of it right away… he could only hope that Kara wasn’t one of them.

  “You mean a bunch of commoners arguing on everything, with no notion of how to rule the most rebellious folk ever?” Axel answered, sensing the vigor dilate his fay lines. He decided to provoke him and make him discharge his strength.

  “You’re a fool, just like all the other aristocrats!”

  “Be ready,” Axel ordered to the soldiers, “I want them alive.”

  The stranger closed his arms and launched a carmine thunderbolt with both hands. Two guards jumped to protect Axel, but he eluded their valor and captured the electricity in his palm. He felt it twisting like a trapped snake, biting and hissing, trying to penetrate his thick shell of inner power. It sizzled around his fingers and created a dark fog; the sparks enlightening the mist disappeared as he waved his fist. He wished that a simple demonstration of his skills would be enough to scare them.

  “You don’t stand a chance against me,” Axel said. “Go tell your master that Faerie will be in safe hands and stop this madness!”

  “There is no master, we breathe as many but we will rule as one!”

  “Then you’ll also die as one!”

  “So will you and your little title!”

  Fifteen other foes quickly joined forces with the one who had spoken, creating a circle and holding hands.

  “For the Republic!” they cried crazed.

  A colossal lightning took shape among them like an expanding atomic mushroom cloud, developing white hot and throbbing as if it had been alive… draining those who had produced it. Axel stepped back welcoming the protection of the shields and prepared to endure the hit. Purple fibers of magic crept from his body to the guards and the palisade, linking everyone and everything like tentacles. He was pushing his fay lines to the limit, but his superior knowledge enabled him to master magic in ways still unknown to the others. It was time to show what he was capable of and it was only thanks to Kara, if he had gained access to such a technique. He used the last second before the impact to turn around: she observed him, still lying, as one of the shadows harvesting the bodies advanced. His heart skipped a beat, undecided between duty and the urge to save her; then his brain reclaimed full control over him to survive the fight, kicking love out of his mind.

  Kara had reached for the dagger secured to her inner thigh as soon as Axel had left her. The ivory hilt had embraced the touch of her long nails, sliding between the fingers and welcoming the secure grip of her hand. She heard the footsteps of one person coming nearer. There were no other bodies around her, the glass shower had been milder in that portion of the hall and all the guests had run away. She knew she was the designated prey, however she had been in risky situations before and was sure she was going to find a way out. Her thoughts were clear and her senses heightened by the adrenaline rush. She trusted her own skills and confided in the enchanted steel forged by her ancestors. Kara tried to inhale and exhale as slowly as possible and her warm breath condensed in tiny beads of humidity on the floor: not ideal for a corpse. Also the pounding disaster in her chest wasn’t the perfect companion for dead woman.

  “I know you’re alive,” the fay said crouching next to her, his voice sounded very young.

  Kara stiffened and raised her head to look at him; his uniform wasn’t that thick around the neck, she had a real chance there.

  “I’m just a human… a prostitute for the after party,” she murmured to confuse him with her puppy face, “I don’t even know anybody here, I’ve never…”

  “I won’t take you anywhere,” his teal eyes shone against the black paint full of ingenuity, “if you just swear fealty to the Republic.”

  As he said the last word, the pupils widened wild and the irises dulled, as if shrouded. Kara had an idea of what came next and wasn’t keen on living it. She jerked the dagger from under her body and stabbed him in the throat. The blade cut through him until the hilt, brave and voracious. The blue fay blood gurgled out of his mouth, muffled a cry and glided down the neck, joining the gush pouring out of the wound. Kara retrieved the weapon and the fay fell on his back abandoning his warm sap on her manicured hands. She looked around, fearing the others would now come for her and she was right. The closest one darted in her direction and launched a lightening bolt. Kara rolled in the gore and dodged it hiding behind her victim; the current fried the blue liquid and made the dead fay twitch with violent spasms that squeezed out even more of it. The stench made Kara’s eyes itch and the next blow came before she could avoid it. She heard the bolt cutting through the air like a rabid whistle and instinctively held the dagger in front of her. She parried, barely seeing what she was doing. The weapon heated up and shuddered shaking her arm to the shoulder; the hilt flashed and the magical blade reflected the struck, sending it back to its owner. The fay, stunned, got electrocuted and collapsed against a pillar like a pile of dirt. Kara switched hand; blood clung gluey to her dress and skin, her entire right side was sore, the grip was overly warm and the blade was smoking. She checked again her surroundings, not too sure she was capable of enduring another attack without the aid of magic. A washed out shade under the chandelier had his cracked gaze fixed on her. Kara stood up; the pressure of the moment hammered her ears and hardened her muscles. The figure lifted his hands but suddenly stopped to behold the fury of the scene in front of him.

  The group of Republicans unchained the spell. The power struck with roaring anger, overcharging the shields and jolting through the connections. Axel’s personal energy distributed the force evenly between the soldiers and the fay lines trembled under his skin and on the floor. Every fiber of his body juddered, as if taunted by a hesitant needle in search of an artery and sweat trickled along his neck like scraggy fingers. The electricity scorched him from the inside, testing his defenses. He wanted to scream the pain away but he couldn’t afford scaring the guards, so he withheld the ache of hostile magic trying to tear him apart cell per cell. Axel von Steinfeld simply stood there, filling his lungs until they almost exploded.

  The blinding post magical detonation reflection still lingered around them, the soldiers were shaken but operative.

  “Respond with a trapping vortex for each of them,” he commanded with a growl. “I’ll get the leader.”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  The aggressors moved backwards, incredulous. Axel and the others should have been injured to say the least! They had practiced that combined attack for weeks and knew that the shields couldn’t absorb the magic fast enough. The concentration of that lightning bolt had been calculated to breach even a block sustained by more than twenty fays. How had it failed? Why was that von Steinfeld so resilient?

  Axel and the guards took advantage of that moment of weakness and advanced with magic erupting from their palms. Their steps echoed in the unnatural silence, followed by the terrified screams of the intruders. Their energy levels were now too low to react and, by the time they got to their guns, the twisters were all over them. Small tornados of blue electricity enveloped each fay, spinning so close to their bodies that any movement meant burning. Only then, Axel turned around and saw Kara drenched with dark blood; the other enemies behind her incredibly stood still, instead of trying to escape.

  “Victory or Valhalla! Long live the Republic!” shouted the leader.

  Axel sprang to him but, before he could do anything, a long sword appeared above every Republican and swiftly descended through their necks into their hearts in a decisive downward thrust. The lifeless fays fell into the blazing energy with the metallic thud of the hilts against the hard surface. The fay blood flooded the white marble, painting it with a perfect sequence of von Steinfelds’ colors.

  “Call back the vortexes!” he ordered, eliminating his own.

  Axel kneeled to examine the closest one, he was about to unravel the black
fabric, when they all dissolved under his eyes, including the swords.

  “No!” he shouted, punching the floor, finally freeing his suffering. “Four of you go outside and search for clues. The others stay here, collect the survivors and identify the dead. Call some backup.”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  Axel snorted and stood up. What kind of Lord was one unable to protect his guests at a party? How was he going to…

  “It’s not your fault,” Kara said putting her arms around him.

  “Sorry I left you.”

  “I’m fine, you knew I was gonna be alright.”

  Axel nodded and held her close.

  “Who the fuck are the Republicans?” he snapped. “Who controls them? That’s a whole new level of crazy!”

  “We’ll find out.”

  “They’re all gone!”

  “Their bodies are gone. The one I killed left a lot of DNA around, on me and on my Prada dress… that lunatic had good taste.”

  “And what do we do after you have it analyzed?”

  “I’ll tell you when the results are ready,” she said kissing his cheek. “Come with me outside, let’s get some fresh air.”

  Kara took his hand and led him to the patio; the broken glass screeched under their shoes and black, red and blue blood streaked their path. At least the vampires had gone at the first sign of