by J. S. Malcom
The horses come to a stop, rearing up as a group, and then settling to the ground again. The soldiers draw their swords. The crowd is trapped within this bottleneck section of the street and we're penned in with them.
“Quick,” Cade says. “Get back to the tunnel!”
But it's already too late. The crowd has filled in behind us, a wall of bodies blocking our way. Firelight flickers across the faces of men and women, their eyes wide in both fury and fear. Some try to fall back, hoping not to be seen, while others yell out angry curses at the Seelie incursion. Above us, fireballs streak through the sky as they plummet down in the distance.
I'm jostled against Cade as the crowd continues closing in around us. Beside me, a man speaks to the woman with him, his voice a growl of derision. “They're scared is what they are.” He points to the sky as another fireball falls. “See that? That's their magic burning.”
“And ours along with it,” the woman says.
Suddenly, a blast of light shoots toward the sky. It's Vintain again, the torch emanating from his hand, and this time projecting an image into the night. I gasp at what I see above the crowd. It’s my face, behind me the misty forms of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Somehow, Vintain captured my image when I went there with him as Grayson.
Vintain’s voice roars out to the crowd. “Take a good look at that face! I want you to memorize it!”
The crowd grows quiet and stops shifting. Everyone looks up.
“Has anyone here seen this woman?”
Cade grabs onto my shoulders and spins me around. He keeps one hand on the amulet while waving the other in front of my face. My cheeks start to tingle, and then burn as the heat of magic spreads.
Vintain’s voice rings out again. “As I'm sure you can see, that woman is not of this realm.”
A woman behind us says, “Must be a half-blood. Look how small her points are.”
I can't help but glance up, thinking she must be wrong. I stifle another gasp. Within the projected image, my ears do show slight points. Is it something I've never noticed before, or something that's just recently changed about me? Involuntarily, I reach up to touch my ears and I could swear they feel different.
“She is not of this realm, and yet she has been here,” Vintain calls out. “She may be here still. So, I ask again. Has anyone seen this woman? Because if one of you has been harboring her—”
“Death to the Seelie!” The man's voice rings out behind me, a cry of desperate rage. I'm jostled again as he shoves his way forward to hurl a flaming bottle into the air.
The moment hangs frozen, the crowd staring as this gesture of defiance traces a burning arc through the darkness. The bottle lands, and an explosion blooms in a blinding flash of white and orange, flame spreading as fire licks up whatever that bottle held.
Then all hell breaks loose. The Seelie charge forward, Vintain thrusting out his hand to launch a lightning strike of magic. The man falls. People scream in fear as they try to run. It's pandemonium, the crowd pinned with no way to disperse. Those at the back may escape through alleys or adjoining streets, but those of us toward the front are held within the roiling terrified mass.
I'm jostled again, then shoved and pushed. I'm caught by a wave as the crowd splits before the Seelie charge. As if in a nightmare, I see Cade's face on the other side of that gulf. He reaches out to me, his mouth stretched as he calls out. I reach for him too, but it's pointless. We’ve both been swept up in the stampede. Within seconds, he's swallowed up and gone. It's all I can do to remain on my feet as the crowd keeps pushing against me, taking me with it. Fighting back against the flow would mean getting trampled.
Behind me, another explosion booms against the night. I run with the crowd, turning back to see another building go up in flames. From within it voices cry out and people scream. No one is trying to fight back now or make their anger known. It's down to escape or die trying. I keep working my way toward the outside of the crowd, sliding through gaps whenever I get the chance. Those chances are few and far between, and I don't know how many blocks I'm pushed along with the panicked flow before I manage to get free.
I stand gasping and coughing before an empty storefront. A cloud of dust raised by the stampede swirls through the air. The pane of glass before me suddenly flickers with the light of another falling fireball, and I look up to see my own reflection. An old woman stares back, and I spin around to face her directly. Which makes no sense, I realize, since I saw just one reflection. Of course. Cade’s magic. Even now my face tingles. Only in this moment do I realize what he was doing. Casting a glamour, the magic of the fae and half-fae. I turn back to stare at the wizened, gray-haired version of myself that's already starting to fade. I don't know if it's because Cade’s now too far away, or if it’s due to the Seelie magical stranglehold, but the magic isn't holding. Apparently, I made it this far disguised, but now I watch my own young face emerge from beneath the mask of age.
Behind me, people keep running as the Seelie soldiers advance, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. I look around for Cade, but see instead two women looking back at me. One of them is young, the other middle-aged. They look like mother and daughter. The younger one points and she cries, “There! I see her!” The older woman cuffs the back of her head, presumably for attempting to help the Seelie. But it's already too late. Heads turn in my direction, and I take off running again, hoping none of the soldiers heard that girl call out.
I’m breathing hard, sweat running down my face, as I keep trying to jostle my way forward. Behind me, another explosion sounds and people stop. They turn back to look, which gives me the break I’ve been hoping for. I slip through to where the crowd grows more sparse. I see the end of the block now, which means I can at least get off this street. But who can say how many people I’ll yet encounter, and if any of them will recognize me?
Shit, Cade, where are you?
But it’s not Cade who returns my silent call for help. It’s Julia.
Cassie? Are you here? Be careful!
It’s that strange connection between us again, Julia somehow knowing I’m in peril. She’s never been wrong, not once, even if I’ve denied it.
I project my thoughts to her, hoping that somehow my message gets through. I’m coming for you. I’m going to get you out of here.
I wait to hear her again, but like last time her voice within me falls silent. Again, I think it must have something to do with the gaps in the Seelie stranglehold. Most of the time she’s blocked, her psychic abilities muted, but every so often a signal gets through.
The crowd starts moving again and I don’t want to lose the advantage I’ve gained. I’ve managed getting to the outer rim and sure as hell don’t want to become part of the stampede again. All it will take for that to happen is one more act of resistance, or a sudden surge by the Seelie soldiers.
I dash toward the street corner while I still can, having no idea where I’ll find myself. My heart pounds in my ears, my breaths coming in short gasps. Questions flood my mind. Why are the Seelie doing this? Do they really think I hold within me that thing they seek? Can’t they see the destruction they’re doing to themselves? But I know the answer to that, don’t I? Of course they do, and that man was right. They are scared. They’re losing their grip on magical power in this realm, and they’re running out of time. But another realm awaits them, one within which they were gods. All they need is the key to get back there again.
The crowd is thinner on the next street. It’s also dark, with no light coming from the nearby buildings. Around me, I see shadowy figures, people walking fast and some still running. I hear a man say, “It’s only a matter of time now. I can feel it.”
As if to emphasize his point, another fireball streaks down above. Then the ground starts to tremble, the vibration continuing to grow until it feels like the entire world is shaking. In the distance, I hear Vintain call out, “Which of you has seen her! The one who tells us the truth will be rewarded!” But even his voice is just one more
element of the nightmare surrounding me. I lurch forward, trying to keep from falling or grabbing onto someone. The tremors intensify until it’s impossible to keep moving forward. People stagger, some pitching over sideways. I take that moment to drop to one knee, peering around as I try to spot Cade. Still, I don’t see him. Is he okay? Did he go looking for me in some other direction? Or is he further down the road, waiting for me to catch up? There’s just no way to know, and nothing to be done until the earthquake stops.
It might just be minutes, but it feels like hours as the ground continues to shake. I hear shouts in the distance and what sound like shots. Another explosion rocks the ground, a blast of light flaring up toward the sky where my own image has finally disappeared. Could the Unseelie have started defending themselves? If so, with what? I remember Cade telling me that the Seelie swords were mostly for show, a vestige from when wars were fought that way. Now they fight using magic, as they have for hundreds of years. So, is what I’m hearing the sound of magic coming back to the Unseelie during yet another magical brownout? I want it to be true, but the weak trickle of magic coursing through me suggests it’s not likely. What I’m hearing is probably just more Seelie intimidation.
Finally, the earthquake stops and I get to my feet. Others around me do the same, those who decided it was safer to stay put than to keep trying to run. I trudge alongside others, feeling numb, my ears still ringing and my heart pounding. Fighting continues in the distance, sounding like it moved onto another block as the Seelie keep searching. Something tells me it’s going to be a long night for them. The feeling I get is that the ley line hasn’t yet been reined into place. It too keeps fighting back, and I can’t forget what I felt before when I discovered the alcove. The magic of this world is alive, conscious, and she’s looking for a way out. Why now after so long, I don’t know, but I feel sure that what my gut tells me is true. A door has opened and the Seelie can’t seem to quite close it again.
I’m forced to stop as my path is blocked. I try to make my way around those dark forms. Then another fireball lights up the sky and I see their faces. I’ve seen these men before, in an alley behind the Gilded Gargoyle.
“Well, hello again,” one of them growls. “It would seem you’re much more valuable than we thought.”
I reach down and unsheathe my athame. I thrust the blade out, pointed directly at his throat. “Come one step closer,” I say. “Seriously, do it.”
But his words were an attempted distraction to keep me from noticing the one who’s crept in beside me. He tries to grab me, and I lash out. He reels back, cursing as blood drips down his face from where I just slashed him. “You’re going to pay for that ten times over, bitch,” he says.
I back up but I’m surrounded. I keep spinning around and thrusting my blade out. There are four of them, like last time. Their eyes gleam, as do their grins. This is a game to them, one they enjoy. If I had my magic, I could send them flying across the asphalt. If they were vampires in my realm, I could turn them to ash. But I’m not in my realm. Nor do I have the magic I’ve felt coursing through me here before. A power unlike anything I’ve known.
Come on, come on, come on! I grit my teeth and reach into my core, willing that power to find me. It doesn’t come, even though I could swear I feel it trying.
One of them comes at me again, this time with a blade of his own. I cry out as he slashes my forearm, my own blood spraying against my face. I spin around again, parrying, my pain and fear met with laughter.
“Oh, sweetheart,” the leader says. “Do you really think that toy knife is going to stop us?”
“Yeah? Fuck you!” There’s no doubt that I’m going down, so I’m taking this asshole with me. That’s my entire plan as I charge to plunge my dagger into his stomach. He blocks me, but not before my blade pierces his flesh. He bellows in both rage and pain, having expected me to fold.
I raise my knife to thrust again, when a hand locks onto my wrist, bending it back. Pain sears through me and my hand springs open. My athame drops. From what feels like a mile away, I hear the steely chime of my blade hitting asphalt. This is it. I’m going to end in a very bad way.
Then the one holding me screams out in pain as, behind him, a shadowy figure swoops in. He staggers back, eyes wide and mouth gaping as a blade pierces his chest. He drops to his knees as the blade is withdrawn. Then another man drops, this one slashed across the neck. In mere seconds two men are down.
Now it’s just me and the stranger against the two who are left. I snatch up my knife, and then the stranger presses his back to mine. “Steady,” he says. “Follow my lead.”
My eyes widen at the sound of his voice. How is it possible that he’s once again come to my aid? But there's no time to ask as Esras and I now circle together, facing off against the attackers.
The leader closes in again, toward me with his sword drawn. “Maybe they’ll pay just for your head,” he says.
“Now, spin!” Esras says.
I find myself making my stand against the other. Behind me, I hear the leader’s gruff voice. “Gods help me.”
“Not likely,” Esras says.
We separate as he thrusts out. I hear a scream of pain, and then another. A body hits the ground, and I can’t help but grin. The fucker who trapped me before, and tried to again, just met his end. Still, I keep my eyes on my opponent.
He freezes suddenly, looking past me. At seeing Esras, he goes pale. That distraction is all I need. I charge at him blade first, but he’s already spinning away, tripping over himself to escape.
Finally, I can turn to face Esras. His eyes stare back into mine, his chest rising and falling. “I’ll explain later,” he says. “Come on, we need to keep moving.”
CHAPTER 7
Esras and I stride through the night, while I scan the dark street seeing only strangers. Many wander dazed, following the violence that just occurred, resulting both from the actions of the Seelie and the protesting environment itself. Even the bodies we just left in our wake are but one more thread in this nightmare tapestry.
“I assume you must be looking for your friend,” Esras says. “The half-blood thief you travel with.”
My head snaps in his direction, a sense of shock rippling through me. “You know about Cade?”
It's a stupid question. Obviously, he does. But I have no idea how to process the information. Cade is a rebel who steals from the Seelie, wanting nothing more than to see their downfall. Essentially, he's Esras’s sworn enemy.
Esras doesn't answer, since there's no reason to. He puts his hand on my arm to guide me past a pile of rubble, debris that must have toppled during the earthquake. With the contact, a rippling warmth flows through me, reminding me of when we rode together upon his horse. The same thing happened that time too. Just being near him sent a pleasant sensation through my body. What the hell is that?
“You'll never find him in this melee,” Esras says. “And it's much too dangerous to go looking.”
He's right, of course. Parting with Esras means death, or possibly something worse. I can't imagine my odds of escaping capture would be good, not when the Seelie know exactly who and what I am. Still, why is Esras helping me again? If anything, he should be furious at my return after he risked so much to help me. I hold my questions for now, as we leave the street and make our way through a series of alleys. They're a study in gloom, filth and age, reminding me that this city must be ancient, hundreds of years older than any human city. Possibly thousands. The conditions surrounding us also remind me that we're not exactly in Scintillia’s most upscale neighborhood. Very much the opposite, in fact. For me, that’s not a bad thing, but what about Esras?
I turn to him as we weave our way through yet another alley. “Aren't you worried about being seen?”
He cracks a half-grin. “Sure. Aren't you?”
Touché. “Some of us have no other option,” I say.
“What makes you think my situation is any different? Look out!”
Esr
as draws his sword and I look to see a hunched creature blocking our path. It's shaped like a rat, but at least five feet long and covered with spines. Red eyes gleam at us hungrily as it opens its mouth to reveal razor fangs.
I draw my own blade too. “What the hell is that thing?”
“Golork. They’re drawn to the smell of blood.”
I assume he means fae. “What about human blood?”
Even as I say it, I get a sinking feeling. With everything that’s happened, I’ve managed to ignore the wound I sustained in the struggle. I realize now that the hand I'm using to hold my athame is sticky and slick.
“It would appear they might be even more drawn to human blood,” Esras says.
“Great,” I say through gritted teeth. Could this night get any more messed up?
The golork advances, hissing as its spines bristle. A fireball streaks down above, its orange glow reflecting off talons I didn’t see before.
“Maybe we should use another alley.” It seems common sense to me, since there’s clearly no shortage. There has to be another way of getting to wherever we're going.
“Once a golork smells blood, it won't back off.”
“Awesome.”
Esras steps toward the thing, sword held ready. “This one seems particularly aggressive.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
The golork rears back, and then leaps toward us. Esras jumps forward, thrusting out his blade to catch the creature mid-air. The thing lets out a piercing scream, five times louder and more shrill than anything I’ve heard come out of a creature on Earth. The golork thuds to the ground, letting out several more piercing howls, each one corresponding with a thrust of Esras's sword. My ears are literally ringing against the pitch and volume, but at least the damn thing appears to be dead.
