Phoenix (Tuatha De Danann Book 1)

by Vanessa Skye

  With the cries of fae behind me, I realize Nuadha must have followed me after all, and I turn to see him taking on ten men at once, his flaming sword arcing, swiping, and slashing with ease. It’s as if the men he fights carry nothing more dangerous than butter knives.

  I continue yanking the enemy out of shattered windows and off the still-barricaded door, running them through until none are left.

  The fierce fighting separated Nuadha and I, and as I race to help him with the last of those surrounding him, I hear laughter.

  I turn and find a tall elderly man with long white hair, a white beard, and dressed in gray robes and holding a torch over his head. He’s watching me from the landing of a neighboring tree with an odd smirk on his face.

  His voice sounds gnarled and raspy when he speaks. “Truly, you are magnificent, Alys, just as I anticipated.”

  I frown. “Who are you?”

  “No one. Just a simple observer of the games.”

  His uncaring attitude enrages me. “These are not games.” I take one step closer. “This is unnecessary murder!”

  “That is where you are wrong, Alys. This is all necessary. And in time, I must believe you will come to grasp that.”

  Nuadha takes on several enemies alone, his sword moves so fast I can barely see it, while other fae lock in various scuffles a short distance away. As the sounds of battle grown louder and more intense, I watch the king as he works on those in front of him and see three men sneaking up behind him. One of the three holds a wickedly sharp dagger he clearly means to thrust into Nuadha’s undefended back.

  “Choose, Alys. Which will it be? You cannot save everyone,” the old man says as he launches his fiery torch into the air.

  I watch it spin and flip, heading straight for the thatched roof of the building where the fae children are hiding.

  I sprint, but I know in my heart that I can’t reach Nuadha before the knife plunges home and stop the flames from spreading across the dry rooftop and burning innocents alive.

  I drop my weapons and raise both my hands. I throw my power around Nuadha while imagining my fist closing and extinguishing the flaming torch just as it about to land on the roof. Smoke trails up from the rooftop, and my shield stops the deadly dagger blow mere inches from the king’s bare neck.

  Drawing on the endless reserves of power within, I form six fireballs and release them aimed directly at the men surrounding the king.

  Their screams are agonizing as the blue flame consumes them from the inside. As they fall, one reaches for me with the strangest look in his eyes.

  “My queen!” he chokes before collapsing.

  Nuadha gasps.

  All fighting stops, the remaining enemy and stunned king watching as I form one fireball and then another. The power flows from within me as if gleeful to be released. I can barely contain it.

  The fae drop their weapons and flee into the trees with Aiden and his men in close pursuit while several armed enemies too slow to get out of range burn alive.

  I form another fireball and whirl around, only to see the elderly fae has disappeared. The shield around Nuadha blinks out, as does my fire.

  He shakes his golden head and gazes at the bodies around us and stalks toward me. “I did not require your help, faeling,” the king mutters as sheathes his sword.

  My mouth pops opens, but I quickly shut it and cross my arms. “You’re welcome!”

  “I did not thank you, child.” He checks the fallen are indeed dead.

  “I noticed! If you’re not going to be polite and acknowledge I saved your royal ass, the least you can do is stop calling me a child, or faeling. I killed more than twenty-five Talentless fae today. I believe this makes me an adult, and I’ll thank you to treat me like one!”

  He peers at me through narrowed eyes as fae embrace their children in the distance, then as they spy the king, fall to their knees one by one, uttering gratitude for their lives. Nuadha waves a hand in their direction but never breaks his scowling stare.

  With the glare of the king still burning into me, I reach for my sword and dagger and freeze. There is blood on my hands. There is blood all over me—my hair, face, and clothing—and I wipe at it desperately.

  The sound of an eerie scream stands the hair on the back of my neck on end, and it takes me a few seconds to realize it’s coming from me.

  I crumple to my knees on the planked deck as the haunted cry grows louder and louder, filling the air. I killed, at least, twenty-five fae…breathing, moving, living creatures only a few hours ago. They had families, maybe even children, who will never see them again. Tears stream down my face, dripping salty pink drops onto my scuffed boots as I hug my knees to my chest. I’m a high school student. I should be taking pop quizzes and being bullied during lunch. I should not have a sword, I should not have fire, and I shouldn’t be killing people like it’s nothing!

  Rocking back and forth, I stare at my bloodied hands while I hear several of the gathering crowd of fae ask if I am well.

  I will never be well again.

  A few reach out, but before they can touch me, Nuadha’s barking voice sounds off, and the hands disappear.

  The next thing I know, I am gazing at Nuadha’s bloody breastplate as his strong arms wrap tightly around me.

  “Hush, Alys,” he whispers as I sob. “It will be all right.”

  “Is she wounded?” a voice from far away asks.

  I hear Baird yell and then rushing footsteps.

  “Is she…”

  “She is well of body. Her mind has been injured. It was her first battle, and she is tired and distraught. Have you lodgings for her?” Nuadha asks.

  “Of course, anything. Please follow me,” a fae I think is Leith replies.

  Nuadha carries me away from the dead as my sobs fade into soft hiccups against his chest.

  I hear a door open and feel soft coolness give underneath me.

  “See that she bathes and eats,” Nuadha says.

  The king is standing over me. I watch as his hands descend and feel their rough warmth as he cups my wet face.

  “You will be well come morning, Alys,” he whispers.

  Then, he is gone, yelling about cleaning up the dead and pursuing the remaining enemy until they are driven from the forest completely.

  I curl up and let unconsciousness take me.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I sense someone standing over me, and I automatically reach for my dagger before I remember I left it, and my sword, behind, utterly pleased to be rid of both.

  I had gratefully collapsed into bed and slept many hours, keen to escape the constant memories of battle in unconsciousness. Instead, I was assaulted by visions of death, the screams of dying fae, and the cries of terrified children for many hours.

  The room floods with a lantern’s glow, and I see Aiden dressed for the cold and no longer smeared in blood.

  “It’s just me, Alys,” he whispers.

  I sit up, exhausted by my relentless nightmares. “More fighting?”

  “No, the area is quiet, and our relief troops arrived to give the others a break. I actually came to see how you fare.” He places the lantern next to my bed.

  “I’m okay.” The lie floats off my tongue with ease, and I reroute the conversation. “How is Baird? Your men?”

  “Baird is wounded, but he lives. My men are also alive, although a couple may not make it through the night.” He sighs and scrubs a hand through his hair. “We burned the bodies of eighty-seven of the Talentless tonight, Alys, most of them untrained rabble. What could have prompted them to undertake such a suicide mission?”

  Numb from memories, I shake my head. “Are you sure they were Talentless fae?”

  He nods and whispers, “I believe you are responsible for a good many of them.”

  I wince, and a silent tear runs down my face.

  “’Tis no small thing, taking so many lives. You did what you needed to do this day, but you don’t have to like it, Alys.”

 
I look at him, sympathy written all over his face, and come undone. Sobs wrench free, and the tears come thick and fast.

  “Come,” he says, pulling me out of bed by my hands. “Don your clothing quickly. I need to take you somewhere.”

  He seems so eager that I don’t argue but grab the clean clothes left for me. I copy his outfit and pull on my warm coat. As much as I don’t want to, I sigh and see my sword and dagger by my bed, no doubt thanks to some helpful fae. I strap them back around my waist.

  Carrying the lantern in one hand, Aiden grabs my hand with the other. He leads me out of my room and across several bridges.

  “Wait!” I whisper, pulling back on Aiden’s hand.

  “What is it?” Aiden crouches and looks around for the enemy.

  “Something…strange.” I close my eyes and concentrate.

  There’s a low hum emitting from the houses. But underneath the hum, a musical note holds steady, hovering in the air around me. It seems to be coming from the trees, the sky, even in the planks beneath my feet.

  I open my eyes and strain to catch the flickers. If I look hard enough, a slight shimmer pulses out of absolutely everything—like tiny cobwebs of electricity. The brightest, easiest to see webs are coming from Aiden and me.

  “Is this the veil?” I reach for a glowing strand and giggle when it sticks to my fingers before snapping back into shape. “It’s beautiful!”

  Aiden glances around. “We should not speak of it here.”

  I hold out my hands and reach for the hum coming from the sleeping fae inside their homes and watch as it streams through walls and windows toward me before I send it back to them.

  “Come.”

  Aiden grabs my hand again and leads me toward the forest floor, but not before I snag a couple of apples from a full barrel.

  Mandrake is waiting at the bottom of the stairs, as I knew he would be, and I feed him while stroking his neck gently in greeting. His white coat is clean and soft, and his horn shines in the lantern light. Even his large hoofs are clean of gore.

  Aiden calls to his horse with a low whistle.

  “Thank you. Something as simple as seeing my beast spotless makes me feel a little stronger.” I just wish I could say the same of myself.

  Aiden chuckles. “Do not thank me. We had a hell of a time getting anywhere near him. In the end, he allowed Nuadha to bathe him, and no other.”

  “The king washed my unicorn?” My eyebrows nearly shoot off my forehead as I jump on Mandrake’s back, pleased he no longer has to kneel for me, and noticing for the first time the spectacular sparkling webs surrounding him.

  Aiden nods. “He did,” he replies as we ride through the quiet forest.

  “Why?”

  “Perhaps in gratitude for your well-placed shield and fire earlier.” Aiden shrugs. “But, it is accurate to say, he has always been attached to the animal.”

  “He told you about the…the shield?” Given how big a jackass he was when I’d saved his life, I assumed he wouldn’t tell anyone. I figure he preferred having people believing he’s invincible instead.

  “He praised your bravery.” Aiden fidgets in his saddle for a moment before saying, “And your fire is all anyone for miles can talk about.”

  My stomach drops. “Oh.”

  We clear the forest, and the full moon shines overhead, making the lantern unnecessary as we ride toward a jagged outcropping of rocks.

  I gasp at the fairy tale revealed in the narrow gap in the stones—smaller trees and shrubs glitter with lights hidden deep in their whispering leaves as glowing dragonflies zoom around our heads.

  I reach out a hand, and the insects land, their mottled bodies luminescing in the twinkling starlight, before they fly off into the night.

  In the center of the sheltered cove is a radiant ever-changing rock pool. Steam rises several feet above the multi-colored water before disappearing in the cold air.

  Aiden dismounts, and I slide off Mandrake’s back, leaving him to nibble at the luxurious green carpet of grass.

  “What is this place?” I murmur.

  “This is a place of healing,” Aiden says, pulling off his jacket and tunic. “I thought you could use it. It’s been a confusing time for you, I know.”

  His thoughtfulness almost pushes me to tears again.

  Bruises and cuts from the battle cover his rippling torso, and he has a long slice along the left side of his ribs.

  I rush toward him. “Are you hurt?” I should have asked first thing!

  He pulls off his boots with a groan. “I am well, never fear. As I said, the Talentless were untrained, and I am barely scratched. I have received more dangerous injuries jesting with my men.”

  He pulls off his pants, and I quickly turn my back and listen for him to enter the water before I turn around.

  He swims to the center of the glowing pool with confident strokes. “Can you swim?”

  “Um…yes!”

  “Then come in.”

  I find a tall boulder near the edge of the pool and disappear behind it. I’ve never seen a man naked before, and no one besides my mother has seen me naked, so I am grateful for the rock and night sky hiding the intense blush spreading all the way to my chest at the glimpse of Aiden’s perfect bare flesh.

  I briefly wonder what it might be like to swim naked with Nuadha—his chiseled face and body bathed in moonlight—before the flush makes my ears burn and I shake the image out of my head.

  Aiden disappears under the water, and I take the opportunity to slip into the currently deep red pool. I groan as the heat of the water seeps into my muscles.

  Aiden pops up and swims toward me. “Are you wounded? The healer never examined you as Nuadha forbid him to wake you.”

  I shake my head, dunking my head underwater to wash my hair free of blood and gore. “Not a scratch on me,” I say as I surface.

  The pool is now a beautiful blue, and I can feel its relaxing, healing light sinking into my bones and up the length of my spine. “Where does this water come from?”

  As Aiden and I tread the depths, it changes from blue to green to yellow before glowing orange then red again.

  “It is an ancient volcanic spring,” he says as he swims in slow circles. “The water stems from deep inside the earth. Some say this pool is bottomless.”

  Violet envelops us as we alternate between floating and swimming.

  “You exceeded all expectations today, Alys,” Aiden says then playfully glares. “Even if I am disappointed you did not follow my orders to get to safety.”

  “I’m sorry, Aiden.” I hate disappointing him, particularly because he has been so kind to me. “Although, in my defense, I didn’t get much say in the matter. My mount was not interested in, as he put it, hiding like a weasel.”

  Aiden throws his head back and laughs. “No, that beast was bred for war, no doubt about it. He is perfect for you.”

  Mandrake looks up from the bank and gives us a reproachful nicker.

  “Still…if not for you and your beast, we would have been taken by surprise today. The outcome could have been different. We might not have a king without your assistance,” Aiden says with a small smile. “So, I shall not take you to task for disobeying me. This time.”

  Blushing, I smile and look away. I can feel Aiden’s stare and wonder if he will try to kiss me. The thought sends a bolt of panic through me. I like Aiden, and he is striking with his green eyes and long black hair, but he doesn’t create the kind of heart-racing, dry-mouth giddiness Nuadha does—or the equally frustrating fury.

  He doesn’t, though. Instead, Aiden merely smiles and chuckles softly. “You are a surprising woman, Alys.”

  “Thank you?”

  He swims to the edge of the water and gets out, and I duck under one last time to give him some privacy as he dresses.

  I emerge and swim toward the tall rock where I left my clothing.

  Dressing quickly so as not to catch a chill in the cold night air, I spot Aiden sitting on a flat r
ock overlooking the pond.

  I join him, pull on my boots, and squeeze the water from my hair as best I can while noticing even the water has the strange threads of electricity.

  “So, is what I am seeing the veil?” I ask again.

  He tilts his head to one side. “Describe it to me.”

  “It’s like…a web, no, a shroud spun out of filaments of light. It covers everything—trees, animals, you, me…everything. It’s so real, so there. It feels like I can reach out and grab it.”

  He shakes his head. “The veil does not cover everything. It is more like a skin over us, like a dome. It is everywhere and nowhere all at once. It…it sounds like you are seeing magic.”

  “Oh. Can all fae see magic?”

  He shakes his head and grins. “No, I have never heard of such a thing. It sounds like it might be another unique trait of yours, Alys.”

  Oh, good! More stuff to make me stick out like a sore thumb. Freaking awesome. “Why couldn’t I see it before?”

  He shrugs. “I do not know. You used an extraordinary amount of power this afternoon to save those fae and Nuadha, so perhaps that had something to do with it. Alternatively, and more likely, your powers are growing the longer you are here in Tír na nÓg.” He grins and looks like a little boy as he watches me. “I cannot wait to see what you will do next.”

  I open my mouth to mention pulling the magic from the others, but something stops me. If other fae can’t see the magic, then they certainly can’t manipulate it. Perhaps I’ll just keep that tidbit to myself…for now, at least. Fae clearly don’t like those who are different.

  “Do you feel better?” Aiden asks after a long moment of silence.

  “I do, thank you. The pool seems to have worked on my mind as well as my body.” I never want to leave this peaceful place. Here, it’s safe—I’m safe.

  Aiden nods. “Today was your first fight, Alys, and you performed better than I ever could have anticipated, but killing isn’t easy and should never be taken lightly. It does get easier to bear, though, so it will not be as devastating for you again. Trust me.”