by Alexia Purdy
She groaned as her breath was knocked out of her, but she had done what she’d intended. The dark faery landed on its back but jumped right back up, narrowing its gaze at her. Smiling maliciously, it ran toward her, aiming the spear at her chest.
But Shade was already expecting it and swung her sword to smack the spear out of its hand before sending a fireball right into its chest. The deafening screech it let out as the fire consumed it made her skin crawl. It collapsed to the ground, already still and unmoving. Shade turned to find another replacing its fallen comrade and began sparring with the creature, hitting it hard with the sword, causing black blood to squirt into the air but not damaging the creature enough to bring it down.
What the hell was it? It looked like a combination of a goblin and salamander. Its black blood streaked across her armor as she slashed at it. With one final stab, she caught it in the neck, and it quivered right before falling lifelessly to the ground.
“Shade!” Dylan fought his way toward her and turned to cover her back. “Nyol’s army is gaining ground but taking heavy casualties!” he yelled as he decapitated another dark faerie who had plunged through the line of sluagh and had targeted them.
“What can I do?” She kicked at an Orc which had stomped over, swinging its mallet in her direction. It was slow and easy to dodge, making it a swift job to maneuver around its swinging arms and stab it in the throat. Dark red blood gushed from the wound as she pulled her sword back out. It made the hilt slippery, but she didn’t have time to think about it, for another and another Unseelie warrior pounced on her with unrelenting force.
Dylan yanked one off her back, sending it crashing into a group of four others. But he had his own battles to fight, and she continued hacking through the sluagh crowding around her.
They kept coming, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to last forever, considering she was a mortal, and they were most likely all immortals.
Great.
The fight became a blur of dark, black-red blood and filth. Shade barely felt the slashes across her arms and legs, barely registered the fall of NicScren soldiers around her. She had lost sight of Dylan, her mother and Benton and saw nothing but her own need for blood vengeance. It filled her with an exuberance she’d never felt before. It was dangerous to feel this way, but right now, it was all she needed.
A wall of NicScren soldiers pushed the Unseelie army back and she found herself picking off the few that made it through the line. Breathing hard and beginning to feel the exhaustion from the constant fighting, she glanced around, one sight catching her eyes like a stiff, sharp pain. It sent a burning sensation into her chest as she ran through the field of bodies of the fallen, almost tripping over them as she stumbled forward.
On the ground, her neck twisted at an odd angle, was her mother. Blood was spattered across her stomach, and her sword was still gripped in her lifeless hand.
No.
“No, no, no….” Shade dropped her own sword as she scooped up her mother, clutching her to her chest and checking her thoroughly for any sign of life. Closing her eyes, she sent her healing magic deep into mother’s body, searching for any spark of life to grip onto and brighten once more.
But there was none. The tendrils of her power could find nothing to heal.
“No, Mom. Come on, Mom.” She shook her mother’s body, unaware of the tears and sobs that filled her choked breath. Her blood mixed with that of the dark army’s remains smudged across both their armors and skin. Shade’s body trembled as she cried, screaming for her mother to awaken and make everything all right once more. But she didn’t move. Her skin was pale, free of the blush of life. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a braid, now matted with drying blood and bits of gore. Shade pushed a few strands of hair away from her mother’s face. She was afraid to let go, afraid to accept that this was all real and not some godforsaken nightmare.
Slowly pulling away from her mother’s body, she scanned around, blinking away the blur of tears as she searched for the ones she loved. Dylan was not too far away, still fighting back a group of sluagh and taking hard hits to his side from one particular troll. Benton was nowhere in sight, but from the fiery pillars of smoke coming from the west side of the battlefield, she knew he was having a time frying the enemy. She stepped forward, finding a breach in Nyol’s line of soldiers where an outpouring of Unseelie made their way toward her.
“You won’t win,” Shade whispered under her breath. She closed her eyes and reaching her power out toward the earth and the wind. She set free her magic, which had lived in her all this time without release, and sent its fingers crashing through the dirt, upheaving the land into a wave of mud and rock, pummeling the rushing sluagh into the ground. The ones behind them paused momentarily before continuing to pour in through the breach.
This only made her angrier. She curled her fingers into her palms, cutting into her skin and feeling her blood drip softly into the earth. Her face hardened into a grimace as she breathed in slowly, letting her heart beat calmly as she pulled in more energy from the earth. Fire burned inside, begging for release as she let her breath out.
Let the Unseelie burn.
She held out her arms and splayed her fingers apart as she called forth her fire, and it balled up inside her palms, growing in intensity.
The little fireballs multiplied in size and power, spreading out before her until a wall of fireballs stood readied in front of her as more sluagh made their way toward her. Nyol was now nearby, watching in fascinated horror as she gathered more and more fire until it was a funneling firestorm around her. Just before the enemy made it to her, she sent the flames toward them, igniting the line of Unseelie.
Their screeches echoed across the battlefield, bringing all eyes of the NicScren toward the inferno consuming the Unseelie army, rapidly spreading from warrior to warrior and miraculously avoiding the NicScren and Shade’s loved ones. Everyone stood still, the horror of the power jumping from soldier to soldier, consuming them until nothing but ashes remained.
The ring of fire extinguished as she exhausted her power. She stumbled back toward Jade’s body and sank to her knees, sobbing. Tears were still slipping down her dirty cheeks as she scanned the land around her once more.
The NicScren soldiers had pushed the remaining Unseelie back even farther, but were still fighting the vast horde. Where was Dylan? And Benton? She prayed they were okay, that this insanity had not taken them from her, too. How could she find them in such chaos?
She fingered the blue orb dangling from her necklace, another gift from Dylan, who had given it to her on the dark, desolate beach of her recovery. Those days on the beach, healing with Soap and Dylan, seemed decades ago as she sat in a puddle of blood next to her mother’s body. The summoning orb reminded her of loyalties broken, but somehow she knew that one loyalty wasn’t really broken. Camulus had given the orb to Dylan to give to her. In a way, he must’ve done it to make sure she knew he’d always be there for her. That assumption felt right. He had left them at The Great Divide, to her dismay, but it was at Ursad’s command, who couldn’t disobey Corb. She knew that now. Lana’s voice echoed in her head, reassuring her that her feelings were correct, that the elven-pixie would come if she summoned him, and he would take her wherever she needed to go.
She held the orb to her lips, softly rubbing her fingers over it as it pulsated and turned milky white. “Camulus, help us.”
A moment later, a bend in the air and a jolting whoosh brought the green-skinned, orange-eyed teleporter next to her. He kneeled to bow before her and searching her for affirmation and forgiveness.
“Shade, I’ll take you wherever you need to go. Tell me, quickly.” His eyes darted toward the fighting faeries nearby. The wall of warriors, Seelie and Unseelie alike, was closing in, and Shade had to get Jade’s body out of there now.
Gripping onto her mother’s hand, she held the other out toward Camulus who gripped it and held onto Jade’s other flaccid hand. “Take me to the Scren Palace
foyer, now!” Shade hollered over the screams of the dying. The jaunt shook the air around them, and they landed back inside the Scren Palace.
“Benton, Dylan and Soap are out there! Find them, please!” She begged Camulus before letting go of his smooth, green hand. He nodded and immediately disappeared.
She prayed he was successful. She prayed for so many things at this moment.
Still clutching her mother, whom she’d cradled in her embrace, feeling numb and lost, she waited as Camulus reappeared and disappeared, dropping off Dylan, Soap and then finally Benton.
“Shade?” Anna entered the foyer, having impatiently paced the palace as she waited for them to return. She collapsed next to her and their mother, looking at Shade in disbelief. “What’s wrong with Mom? Shade?”
Shade couldn’t answer. Her voice had been swallowed by her throat and remained there. Anna shook their mother, wailing and screaming as Benton rushed to their sides, soot and blood streaked across his face.
“Mom!” he pressed his fingers into Jade’s neck, feeling for a pulse but finding none. “Oh no, no, no!” He stood up and smashed his hands into a statue of a horse decorating the hall. It flew across the marble floor and shattered into a million tiny pieces.
Shade refused to move from the spot, only coming to when Dylan knelt down before her, embracing her softly, and rocking her in his arms. “Come on, love,” he whispered into her ear, pulling her back to the present. “Come back to me, Shade.”
Turning toward the Teleen guard, her wet, red eyes focused on his grey ones. The love in them made her suck in a breath and sent her glancing around and pulling herself together. She couldn’t fall apart. Her family needed her. How could she disappear at a time like this?
She scuffled to her feet, spinning around, still feeling like she couldn’t breathe or speak. Gulping back the knot of pain in her throat, she scanned the faces of the ones she loved, the ones that mattered.
“I have to get Kilara. This needs to end now!” She paced the floor, pondering how to contact the Summer Seelie Ancient. She’d have to do it soon; they could no longer wait for Kilara to come willingly. Shade had to wake her now.
She stopped, watching as Benton settled on the floor next to Jade, picking her up to take her to a nearby bedroom. He threw her a quick nod, telling her to do what she had to do. Brisa had finally joined them and was hugging Anna as they sat clutching each other and crying on the floor. Soap, also covered in blood and dirt, hunched down and helped them to their feet.
“I have to go, soon. Camulus, get Ilarial. I need her to induce a sleep so I can contact Kilara with my spirit guides.” Camulus bowed and immediately disappeared. Shade began pacing once more but almost lost her balance. The fatigue and blood loss was taking a toll on her, leaving her weak and dizzy. Dylan caught her before she stumbled again.
“Come on, Shade. Let’s get cleaned up and wait for Ilarial. You have to heal, or you won’t be of any use.”
She nodded as he stared intently at her and let him lead her away from her mourning family, down the hall to her room. “What about the Unseelie outside the gates?” she asked.
Nyol appeared next to her, taking her arm and pulling it around his neck so that he and Dylan were both supporting her. “They can’t enter,” he said. “Our troops have pushed them back, and most have retreated since you put on that fire show.”
She could barely walk, so letting them carry her along was mortifying, but she had no energy to fight it.
“Are you sure they can’t enter the palace?” Shade inquired. She hoped he was right. They needed to buy time to get Kilara back here before the Unseelie army breached the gates.
“Yes, I’m very sure. Ariana may have been insane, but she was extremely paranoid and efficient. She had some of the most powerful witches in the world ward the gates of the Scorching Scren Palace. Nothing can enter without permission of the queen. It would take more witches than Aveta has at her disposal. So we have time to find this Kilara you speak of.” They reached her room, and Nyol withdrew while Dylan helped her out of her filthy armor.
Leading her to the bathroom, he ran a bath for both of them and peeled the last remnants of the torn clothes clinging to their frames. He led her into the warm, soothing water and held her, letting her cry and shake in his arms until the tears ran out and she let the numbness encircle her aching head. She felt safe in his arms and hoped that the smoke clouds beyond the horizon would stay far, far away, along with Aveta’s horde.
Long after they had cleaned up and donned soft, clean clothes, Shade lay in her bed, barely noticing when Ilarial entered the room and helping her to heal and sending her into a deep, dreamless sleep. She remembered Dylan next to her, whispering sweet words to lull her into a calmer state so that when she awakened, she could do what she needed to do.
The sun set over the horizon, and Dylan pulled the curtains, enveloping the room in a cocoon of darkness. Shade finally drifted back into the sleep she very much needed.
Kilara, where are you?
Epilogue
“WE CAN’T RETREAT now!” Aveta fidgeted on her black kelpie horse, which huffed in protest of her movements. “We’re so close now. How can you ask me to pull the army back now?” she hissed, pushing her long, black hair back, away from her face.
Arthas, the Unseelie Ancient King, snarled at her, snapping at her to shut up. As he turned back toward the scene of the battle, he grinned at the unholy soldiers retreating from the Scren Palace.
“Because you don’t understand how things must play. I’ve seen it already in my visions, and this is all we need to do for now.”
“But Shade’s in there. I have her in the palm of my hand, and you want to let her slip through my fingers, just like that?”
“She hasn’t slipped through my fingers. I have her just where I need her to be.”
Aveta’s confused look made him laugh, his dark eyes twinkling with amusement. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“If you must know, dear, dear Granddaughter, I need her to find Kilara, the Summer Ancient. I want each and every one of the other Ancients to pay for what they did to me. They dared seal me in an eternal slumber against my wishes, and they think they got away with it? They don’t even know I’m awake. I won’t let them know I’m here until it’s too late. For now, let her find them for me. Once the other Ancients are awake, I can take my vengeance.”
Aveta shuddered at his determination. She wondered if awakening him had been a good decision. She’d had some satisfaction in seeing the wards of the boundaries of Faerie fall until the witches they had employed had used up all their magic and withered to death. But now the land was going up in flames, and her goal of taking over the four realms and ruling as supreme queen seemed to be slipping from her grasp.
She bit her lip as Arthas turned his horse around and galloped away, joining the retreating army. She suddenly wished she hadn’t awoken him. She wished she’d never discovered that, being a descendant of Arthas, she was able to awaken him herself after stumbling upon the spell from one of the elder faeries she’d imprisoned and tortured for the information.
Stanis had been hard to break, but he had caved in after endless hours of tortuous pain clasped in iron cuffs. He’d given up Shade’s plans and the information on how to find the Unseelie Ancient, Arthas. It had been a simple blood summoning, since Aveta was his direct descendant. She had managed to do it successfully, awakening him and bringing him to the Withering Palace, her home. Such a simple act, yet the consequences of it had altered her plans so drastically, there was no turning back now.
Or was there?
She jerked at the reins of her kelpie, urging it to follow Arthas back into the Unseelie camp. She was exhausted, but she had schemes on her mind, including how to rid herself of not only Shade but of Arthas as well.
Acknowledgements
I want to thank all the awesome readers and fans out there without whom I would not be here doing this. I love you, and know that I think of you wi
th every word that I write.
Special thanks to the following awesomesauce peeps who make this world rock!
Jasmin Petricola, Alicia Batista, Amy Conley, Anna Dase, Lori Parker, Michael K. Rose, JT Lewis, Jacquie Talento, Terri Dion, Christina Condy, Emily Walker, Nikki Archer, Shona Lawrence, Lavinia Urban, and all my readers. Thank you for your endless support and love.
(A Dark Faerie Tale #3.5)
The Cursed (A Dark Faerie Tale #3.5)
Awakening
A RAGGED BREATH and the world tumbled, rushing back into his mind until darkness surrounded the entirety of the world as he blinked. Arthas scanned the nothing around him, letting his eyes roll around in the darkness, hoping he wasn’t dreaming. Flexing his fingers, he reached up, knocking them into a hardened surface surrounding him. A quick feel of the shell he now laid in sent a memory of the ones who had done this to him.
Chains clinked as he shifted. They wound around his wrists and squeezed his torso. He wondered just how long he’d been sleeping. His body ached and the chains had dug into his back deeply enough he was sure they’d left bruises. Closing his eyes, which made no difference in the blackness of the sarcophagus he’d found himself in, he smirked. Asleep, this had held him prisoner. Awake, this was nothing less than a nuisance.
Sucking in a breath, he pulled together his magic, feeling it tingle out of his chest and down to his fingertips and toes. It felt good, like stretching a cramped muscle. He paused as he gathered it into a massive energy ball before he let it blast the top of the sarcophagus, sending it flying across the room and shattering into a thousand shards of stone against the surrounding walls. Sitting up, he did the same to the chains digging into his flesh. Imbedded with trace iron, the chains burned, charring his skin where it touched past his clothes. It was a cruel and constant reminder of the intentions of his wardens. The melted apart and clattered all around him as he stretched his limbs.
