Almost against her will, Lacy went back to watching the battle, seeing Solomon pause in the midst of it and stand swaying. “He’s exhausted,” she thought. “It’s too much. The sword is drawing too much energy from him.”
There was a strange sound behind her, like the noise it made when you put a steak on a hot grill, and a sharp intake of breath. She and Luke both spun around, only to see Jediah, rising with the lantern held by its handle. Smoke was rising from his hand and his face was contorted with pain.
“I know what this is,” he gasped. “I remember reading about it…”
He smiled at them, a truly ghastly sight, and then turned to Willow. “He’ll need you when this is done. Find him quickly.”
Ignoring the Healers protests, he turned and staggered away, toward the battle, staying hidden as much as possible among the trees as he went. A Soul Gaunt saw him and swept in, but Willow ran next to him and it veered away with a shriek. Jediah looked at her in gratitude and kept going.
From where Lacy was, it looked like Jediah almost started to glow as he reached the edge of the battle. He stood among the dead, and held the lantern up as high as he could. A white light flared around him, making him look like the negative of a photograph, and Lacy realized that some of the light was glowing from inside him, and that wisps of smoke were rising from his body.
There was a loud rushing noise, like a cyclone was tearing through the forest.
Out on the battlefield, Solomon suddenly stopped and held Justice straight up into the air. It erupted with fire much greater than any she had seen so far. It shot out from the sword, up into the sky, illuminating everything in a brilliant column of white light.
The Soul Gaunts screamed, a horrible ear-piercing shriek that almost drowned out the roar from the fire.
The flame twisted in the air above Solomon, growing larger. With a roar, it slashed across the sky and down into Jediah. His body stiffened as the fire flowed into him, the lantern still held high. The flames crawled across him, up his arm and into the lantern. It looked like he was being held up by the fire alone. Lacy saw Jediah reach up with a trembling hand and turn the lens.
The white fire streaked out from the lantern, forking into a hundred tongues, each one lashing out and finding a Soul Gaunt. They shrieked, and jerked like fish on the ends of lines as their robes caught fire. Even as they burned they were drawn up into the sky, their struggles becoming weaker.
With a boom, the Soul Gaunts exploded, showering the ground below with sparks. Nearby, the fire snapped back into the lantern, while out on the field Justice stopped spewing it into the sky. Lacy’s head turned back and forth, trying to watch everything as both Jediah and Solomon collapsed into heaps.
She couldn’t see Solomon from here, but Jediah’s body was smoking, and she knew he needed help, if he was even still alive. She took off running, Willow by her side. She was vaguely aware of Luke cursing, and then running off as well, as best as he could.
Only while she ran toward the Head of House Towering Oaks, Luke ran straight for the battlefield.
CHAPTER 61
The battle seemed hopeless. The Soul Gaunts simply stayed away from Solomon, but everywhere else that Shireen looked she saw them killing her friends and comrades. Every now and then, someone would score a hit on one of the creatures, but they shrugged it off and continued the attack, overwhelming their opponents.
She and Orlando stayed near Solomon, trying to protect him, but there was no need. If a Soul Gaunt did get near, he dispatched it with no apparent effort. But the majority of them stayed out of reach, which meant they were out of her reach also. She moved off, Orlando with her, seeking adversaries who would stand their ground.
There wasn’t much time left. The Towering Oaks forces were starting to wear down, with more and more of them dropping their weapons and succumbing to despair. If the innate fear generated by the Soul Gaunts didn’t do it, the sight of so many of their own dying horrible deaths did. Soon, there wouldn’t be enough left to make a difference.
“Hold!” she yelled, trying to rally support. “Keep fighting! Give Solomon time!”
But it was no use. The Soul Gaunts were too smart, and not only avoided the white flames of Solomon’s sword, but began killing in the most horrible ways imaginable, letting their victims stay alive to scream and plead for death. The din was horrible.
She ran at a Soul Gaunt who was busy torturing a soldier that it had down on the ground and caught it a ferocious blow across the back of its head. It screeched and pitched forward and she plunged the point of her sword into its back, pinning it to the ground. Orlando rushed up and hacked at it, swinging like a lumberjack cutting into a log with an axe, until it stopped moving entirely.
But it was only one. The Soul Gaunts were all over the place, and for every one they killed, it seemed like another simply took its place.
She looked at Orlando, his face pale and chest heaving. “I love you,” she said, and he smiled back at her. If today was to be her last day, at least she was here with him.
She pulled her sword free of the Soul Gaunt’s body and was turning to find another target, when there was a sound like the rush of a powerful wind, but there was no sign of the treetops moving. Then, a loud roar answered it, and she spun around to see what it was.
Solomon stood, his face contorted into a mask of pain as he held Justice straight up into the air. White fire exploded from the sword, pouring into the sky, forming a raging column of flame that lit up the battlefield like it was high noon. Soul Gaunts screamed, abandoned the things they had been doing to their victims and tried to flee.
But the flame began to twist and spin in the air, bending through the sky until it touched down on the far side of the battle. Shireen couldn’t see where it hit, but suddenly, there was an answer. The fire bounced back, split into a myriad of smaller ropes that each reached out and snagged a fleeing Soul Gaunt.
They were all lifted into the air, fighting and screeching the whole way. The horrible chuckling noise that they made was gone, as was the sense of dread. Instead, they screamed for their lives and Shireen laughed out loud at the sound of it.
They exploded, almost as one, the sound a deafening boom that rang through the Greenweald and sparks showered the air. By the time they had descended to the ground they had cooled and dissipated, the Soul Gaunts utterly gone, leaving behind only death and devastation.
The column of fire sprang back straight into the air and with a rush disappeared back into Justice. Solomon’s body convulsed as it did, his eye closed, and he collapsed to the ground.
“Solomon!” she shouted, her voice the only sound ringing out in the suddenly silent night.
There was no movement. Time stopped as she looked at Orlando, relieved that he was still alive and mostly unharmed. She turned back to Solomon, took a step forward, but then froze as the horns rang out behind her, shattering the illusion of peace.
She wasn’t sure which way to turn. Solomon needed help, but the attack from Glittering Birch was coming, and she needed to be with her troops. She wasn’t exactly sure when she had started thinking of them as “her” troops, but the fact was that she did.
She hesitated for another moment, and then the human, Luke, ran by her, shouting something as he headed for Solomon. Her instinct was to rush over with him and protect her friend, but she had a greater duty now. She would have to trust the human, whether she liked it or not.
“Come on,” she said to Orlando, and started toward the Glittering Birch lines, where they were still waiting.
Just because his main weapon had been destroyed didn’t mean that Jamshir had given up the attack. All around Shireen lay bodies, most in the gray uniforms of House Towering Oaks. What Glittering Birch hadn’t been able to accomplish, the Soul Gaunts had. Towering Oaks had been cut to ribbons, and now Jamshir was coming to mop up the pieces.
CHAPTER 62
Luke didn’t have much time to reach Solomon before the battle began once more. When the Soul
Gaunts had been destroyed, he had turned his attention to Jamshir and saw the rage on his face. Luke had seen the number of soldiers, some perfectly fine, some wounded, lined up in a neat formation, waiting. There was no doubt what the intention was. Let the Soul Gaunts do the dirty work, and move in after.
Now, it was after. Now, they would come. Luke wasn’t a soldier, or a fighter, but there were others who could handle that, and take the fight to Glittering Birch. Lacy and Willow were headed for Jediah, who was close by, although to Luke, it looked like he was already gone.
But the battle was about to be joined again, and Solomon lay unconscious on the ground, his sword beneath him. While almost everyone else was staring open-mouthed into the sky, unable to believe that the Soul Gaunts were truly gone, Luke was on his way, unsure of why he was doing it, but feeling like he was repaying a debt, or at least a small part of it.
He passed Shireen as the horns blew from the Glittering Birch lines.
“I’ve got him,” he yelled as he sped by, not taking the time to see if she heard him.
A moment later he was at Solomon’s side. Solomon lay face down, but Luke rolled him over, put his own face near the unconscious man’s, and felt a faint breeze on his cheek. Solomon was still alive. Luke heard Shireen shouting for the Towering Oaks soldiers to stand ready, to pick up their swords. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried to think of what the best thing to do would be.
Already, near where Glittering Birch had waited, the sounds of fighting resumed. The screams of the wounded and the clash of weapons ringing out. All around him, soldiers were running toward the battle.
Luke picked up Justice, intending to slide it into the sheath at Solomon’s side, but paused. He could feel the strength of the sword flowing into him. Maybe not as much as Solomon, but then again, who would? No one could compare with the mighty savior of the Folk, right? Although…. maybe Luke could.
He could see himself, striding across the battlefield, striking down any soldier in purple and silver who dared to come against him. He’d wade through them like a farmer cutting grain, until he reached Jamshir himself. Without hesitation, he’d cut him down, ending this whole stupid little war.
Wouldn’t that be something? For him to be the hero, rather than Solomon. To have Lacy look at him with something other than sadness and pity, as he had seen in her eyes far too often these last several weeks. She’d gaze at him in adoration and love.
All he needed to do was take the sword and walk away.
Then, he saw a little further. He saw Solomon, left there helpless, to possibly be trampled or even die from the wounds he had suffered. The wounds that had started on that other earth, on Luke’s earth, when Solomon had done all he could to help save a man he didn’t even know. He looked down at the unconscious man and his hand come up, almost without him even realizing it, and touched the skin around his empty eye-socket, remembering how badly it had hurt when the Soul Gaunt had taken his eye.
The same thing had happened to Solomon, when he was fighting for Luke’s life and freedom, and Solomon had never said a word to him about it.
Suddenly, the vision of him striding through the battle, cutting into others, changed. It wasn’t a glorious thing, it was nauseating. The sound the sword would make as it cleaved into someone, the pain it would cause, the sight and smell of the blood. It was all Luke could do to hold down his gorge.
He reached down, grabbed the scabbard at Solomon’s side and slide Justice home.
Standing, he took a deep breath, and shook his head.
He felt like he had been standing there, imagining his triumph and then studying Solomon, forever, but he saw that it was mere moments. Most Towering Oaks soldiers were still running toward the battle, while a few others were still shaking off the effects of the Soul Gaunts attack.
But the noise of the fight was coming closer. Glittering Birch was pushing forward, cutting their way through the Towering Oaks forces. He saw Shireen, Orlando at her side as always, rallying her comrades and pushing back against Jamshir’s army, and for a brief moment felt an unexpected pang of gratitude that she had trusted him to take care of Solomon, after all.
He grabbed Solomon under the arms and lifted, grunting with the effort. How could someone so thin be so heavy? Panting and cursing, he dragged Solomon away, not stopping no matter how his arms burned or his breath labored. Not until he was out of the battle, behind a tree that would shelter them from the worst of it.
He lay Solomon back down gently and collapsed next to him. It had taken everything he had to get him here, and he needed a moment to recover. But there was no time, really. The noise of the battle was growing, which meant it was coming this way still.
He peeked around the tree and confirmed his fear. The Glittering Birch soldiers were having the best of it, pushing the Towering Oaks forces back toward their own compound. Although Luke was no soldier, even he could see that it wouldn’t be long now. He needed to get up and get moving again, take Solomon somewhere safer until he could recover.
More horns sounded. This was it then.
But then, Luke noticed some of the Glittering Birch soldiers start to turn, looks of surprise on those faces that he could see. They began to run, heading back in the direction they had come from. A horse charged into view, a soldier dressed in dark green on it, hacking down with a sword at the Glittering Birch soldiers.
Dark green? Who had worn dark green?
Thaddeus. And Florian. And all the rest of the Folk he had seen at the Whispering Pines compound. They had come at last.
The battle turned, and Towering Oaks pushed forward, aided by the new arrivals. As Luke watched, more and more Glittering Birch soldiers took to their heels, fleeing into the shadows of the Greenweald trees.
He smiled and sat back. It was over. He would wait here until the last bits of fighting were finished, and then find Shireen, or Willow. Whoever could take care of Solomon, and then he could find Lacy and go home.
“I suppose I should thank you before I kill you,” a cold voice said.
Luke’s head whipped around. The Advocate was standing on the other side of Solomon. “I don’t know how you managed to survive before, but I am glad you did. At least you pulled this fool out of the way. For that, I’ll make it quick. But first…”
The Advocate bent down, his hand reaching for Justice’s hilt.
“No!” Luke shouted, and without thinking about it, tackled him.
It felt like he hit a brick wall, but he did stagger the Advocate, causing him to let the sword go and stumble backward. Luke held on, his arms wrapped around the man’s waist.
“You dare?” the Advocate snarled.
There was a flare of pain on the back of Luke’s neck and the smell of something burning. He screamed, let go and fell to the ground, rolling onto his back. Above him, the Advocate sneered down, his hands glowing with a red light.
“I take it back. You can suffer.”
He bent forward, the glow and heat that was coming from his hands increasing. He reached for Luke’s face, and Luke knew what was coming. He had been here before, when the Soul Gaunt had reached down and taken his eye. He squeezed his remaining eye closed, unwilling to see the glowing fingers coming closer.
But then there was a growling noise, a thud and an outraged expletive from the Advocate. The heat was gone. Luke opened his eye to find that the Advocate was no longer standing over him. He turned his head and saw the man climbing to his feet, the arms of his black robe shredded.
In front of him, growling, hair raised all along her back, was Daisy.
CHAPTER 63
Solomon stirred, feeling like he had been run over by a truck on that other earth. Everything hurt, and he wasn’t sure where he was. The sound of the column of fire had almost deafened him, and he couldn’t make out what he was hearing now.
It sounded like a battle was still going on, somewhere in the distance, but the Soul Gaunts were all dead, weren’t they? And there was something else. Something grow
led. He didn’t know what that was.
He wasn’t at all sure that he could move. The last time he had was before Justice had pinned him to the ground, frozen his muscles in place so that he was merely a fuel source for its fire. When it was done, and the flames had disappeared back into the sword, it had let him go, and that was the last he knew.
He tried to move now, a finger at first. If he could do that, maybe his hand, and then his arm. But it was nice to lay there, eyes closed, enjoying the night air. Yes, there was a battle going on still, but let someone else worry about that.
His finger twitched. Good. That was step one. Now…his hand moved. It really wasn’t even that hard. He could open his eyes if wanted, although he’d only be able to see out of the one, of course. It was almost funny, really, now that it didn’t hurt anymore.
Open your eyes…eye. Open your eye. There was nothing above him but the leaves of a tree, dimly seen and rustling slightly in the dark. Night was a horrible time to fight a battle, wasn’t it?
That growl sounded again, and Solomon sighed. What was it?
He moved his head, another great achievement and saw a large dog confronting a tall man dressed in a black robe. Luke, (that was his name, right?), stood nearby, a heavy branch held awkwardly in his hand and an angry red burn blistering the back of his neck. Solomon smiled at that. Luke wasn’t a fighter, so it was a good thing that Daisy was there.
Wait. What was going on? He pushed himself up on his elbows. As he watched, Daisy darted in, her jaws snapping, and the Advocate, (that’s who it was!), lashed out, his hands glowing red. Daisy yelped as she was hit, a sizzle and smell of burnt hair and skin rising into the air. Luke stepped forward and brought the branch down on the Advocate’s arm. The Advocate cursed and tried to reach for him, but Daisy rushed in at his legs, causing him to jump back.
The sound of Daisy’s second whine brought Solomon out of his malaise. He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pounding in his head. Beyond the dog, the Advocate’s eyes widened in shock.
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