by S A Archer
If they were shaking the building, they were getting pissed. If it was about the wards, or the locked exits, London wasn’t sure. “Let’s give them something to be really angry about.” She touched the door handle. “Unseal.”
Peyton shoved through first, snapping off shots.
Bursts of semi-automatic fire responded. London ducked away, pushing Malcolm back. “Unseen.” London didn’t feel different or look different to herself, but she knew the magic of her gloves would make her harder to notice. When Malcolm blinked at her, eyebrows raised, she asked, “Can you see me?”
“Yeah, but all shimmery like.”
She gave a quick nod, and then flipped the grip on her handgun. As she pressed it into his palm, she asked, “Know how to use this?”
The Sidhe glanced down at the weapon. “Yes.”
“Good.” She flattened him against the concrete wall outside the doorway. “Stay back.”
Leaving her gun with Malcolm felt counter-intuitive, but her directive to keep him safe wouldn’t allow her to leave him with anything less.
As the next burst of gunfire peppered off the floor and walls, London drew out the fifteen centimeter blade from inside her vest and a loop of galvanized steel wire.
With the next break in the fire, she rushed inside. London dove and skid for cover, but no one took the shot of opportunity. Her gloves should make her unnoticeable by human eyes, but she couldn’t be certain that held true with the infrared or night vision on the Tactical Team’s helmets. So far, so good.
From the trunks she’d taken cover behind, she could see Peyton pinned down inside of a bathroom doorway. The two Tac guys by the elevator doors, in their body armor and with riot shields, moved in on his position with their automatic weapons raised.
They hadn’t noticed her.
The layout on this floor was similar to the one where Malcolm had been held. A clear glass wall barricaded the rest of the floor. Only a wide entry way that circled the elevator and extended to the opposite stairwell was accessible on this side of the glass. Beyond it, extending the length and width of the rest of the building, was the housing for the fey prisoners. The cages within were stacked three and four high and arranged in rows for easy access by the wizards who would mutilate them to steal their magic. Without the ward against teleportation, she’d have thought at least some of them would have had the strength to break free.
Chancing being seen, London slipped out from behind the trunks and tiptoed towards the elevators. Out in the open, with nothing but the magic and her secondary weapons, London’s heart thundered with fear.
It didn’t stop her though. Not when her patron’s orders burned within her flesh.
End the wizards.
And she would do just that.
The Tac guys moved right past her like she wasn’t there, as they closed in on Peyton. When he leaned out and snapped off a couple shots, London ducked. He wouldn’t be able to see her to miss her.
Had to make this quick.
Rounding in behind the first one, London jumped on his back, hooked her hand under his chin and angled his head back enough to plant her blade in the hollow of his neck. As he fell, she spun off him. His partner turned and London hooked her wire over his head and jammed her foot in the middle of his back, pulling on the end of the wires so that the gloves kept her hands from getting cut.
He dropped, reaching back to try and fight her off.
Peyton took his advantage and burst out of the bathroom. He lifted his weapon towards her.
“Seen!” She shouted, but not before he could get off a shot.
Malcolm burst in from the stairwell just in time to knock Peyton’s arm aside and make the shot go wide of her.
“Get out of the way!” Peyton shouted at London, now that he could see her.
London snapped open the strap on the guard’s helmet, and then dropped and dodged to the side, ripping it away.
Peyton’s next shot caught the last Tac guy in the face and exploded out the back where she’d been a moment before.
“That was close,” He exhaled, glancing back at Malcolm who’d diverted his shot.
“You aren’t kidding.” London started up.
Malcolm reached out a hand to her and shouted, “Look out!”
But she didn’t get the chance. A bolt of lightning slammed into her back and knocked her to the ground with white-hot pain. Rolling to her side, she saw three wizards emerging from a veil of magic, armed with wands.
Chapter Sixty
Lugh fixed the defenders of the portal with his serious gaze. Four dwarves. Two humans. Two Sidhe.
The goblin bodies strewn about proved that the Changelings had reveled in their attack upon the Isle. Goblins despised almost every race of fey, save a few despicable exceptions, like the Changelings. To unleash them upon the Isle was a singular act of hatred on their part. A single goblin was easy to kill. A hoard of them could overwhelm and murder even a Sidhe.
Those beastling fey were the reason Lugh wore armored greaves over his leather britches to protect his lower extremities. This time though, with his magic at his command, they wouldn’t have found him so vulnerable. With a sword by his side, one he hoped not to pull, he stepped forth to take in the carnage of goblins.
King Manannan strode out and around Lugh, taking in the portal and the aftermath of the first wave of attack. Unlike Lugh, who’d at least donned the leathers for war, Manannan dressed for court, in bright blue and purple velvet and silk. This was the first time the Seelie king set foot on the Isle of Fey, and he’d been forced to rely on Lugh to bring him. After this moment, he could teleport here any time he desired. That fact wasn’t lost on Lugh.
And he wasn’t done yet. Lugh would see Manannan through that portal and into the new realm of fey. No one would stop him. No moral imperative would deny him that. Killing a fey, killing a Sidhe, was never the desire of his heart. With the exception of one Sidhe. And that man would be destroyed this day.
No one, not even these stouthearted defenders, would stop him.
Manannan smiled at the defenders, seeing them as no challenge to him. Not with the magic of the ley lines at his command. Perhaps not quite as total as he’d believed, but significant enough to conquer a realm.
Recognizing the human who choked on Manannan’s name, Lugh glanced at Riley. The human was enchanted by Manannan. He’d been there at the igniting of the spark that brought the Mounds to Collapse.
And Manannan laughed to see his druid there. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he said, “Riley, remove these obstacles.”
The tears welled up in Riley’s eyes as he cast a pleading look to Kieran. “Stop me,” he begged. And then he swung around with fury. Striking the human next to him hard in the throat and knocking him down.
The dwarves rushed at him, and Riley fought them off with the skill in unarmed combat that would have impressed even the assassins of the Elite. In seconds he had them all down.
Lugh stalked in a wide circle, fixing his attention on the two Sidhe. The dwarves would have been no more than a minor challenge, but it apparently amused Manannan to see them fall to his bound human druid.
The human on the ground struggled with the blow to the throat, but he managed to roll to his side. Lugh watched him, knowing what he meant to do, but didn’t try to stop him. He shot Riley with a dart from his rifle. The druid slumped down, unconscious before he even hit the ground.
Manannan only laughed.
Now he would expect his Champion to clear his way. With a wave of Lugh’s hand, the rifle the injured human raised blazed white-hot at the tip, which flared down the length of the barrel. The human tossed the melting weapon aside before it could singe the flesh from his hands.
Lugh glared down at the Unseelie Sidhe. “Step aside.” He ord
ered, knowing they wouldn’t obey.
Bryce bounced on the balls of his feet, the flames around him building. Lugh had once shown him how to better control his fire. He’d a long way to go before he could challenge Lugh, and the young man knew it. But the determination in the furrowing of his brow and the clenching of his jaw proved that he wouldn’t run from this fight.
Sliding his focus to Kieran, the Unseelie with a past that intertwined with Lugh’s druidess, he considered this young man. The air around him vibrated with his rising magic.
Neither meant to give them clear passage.
“So be it,” Lugh whispered with equal measures of acceptance and regret. He flared a blinding light at them. Bryce shielded his face, but Kieran teleported.
Lugh knew that move and spun. Swinging around hard, the back of his fist slammed into Kieran’s jaw just as he reappeared, knocking him to the ground and sending him rolling.
Knowing his fire couldn’t hurt Lugh, Bryce flung out a stream of flame towards Manannan.
The king didn’t even flinch, expecting Lugh to defend him. And failing that, surely the magic of the flame couldn’t have reached the self-proclaimed ‘god of magic’. Not when the ley lines bent to his will.
Lugh curved the stream of fire, casting it into a circle around the clearing and blocking off any other would-be defenders without the power to penetrate it.
Flipping out a knife, Bryce blocked the path to the portal with his body.
Kieran rolled up to his knee. Shoving his hands down to the ground, he cried out with the effort of his magic. The quake ripped through the soil and stones, wrenching open the ground beneath Lugh.
He flipped to the side, getting clear of the force of destruction and bringing him within striking range to Bryce.
The fire Sidhe drove the blade at him, but Lugh blocked his wrist with his fist, breaking his grip on the handle of the knife. He swept his feet and knocked Bryce down to his back. Lugh planted his foot high on his sternum and collar bones, pinning him.
As Lugh cast a glance back at Kieran, he saw Rhiannon appear behind him. She gripped Kieran’s hair and twisted his face around to her. The black light of her moon madness flared as she bent to kiss him. Kieran arched back out of the way, avoiding the Touch of her power. Leaving them to grapple, Lugh glanced down at Bryce. “Close your eyes.”
The Unseelie’s eyes went wide, and then he sucked in a breath and shielded his face with his hands just as the incinerating force of Lugh’s flame flooded from his open palm. It wouldn’t injure the fire Sidhe, but the lad didn’t understand that, instead relying on his own command of fire to combat the heat and flames. The ploy would keep him immobilized, but only until he realized the ruse.
Rhiannon and Kieran traded blows, each struggling for the advantage over the other.
Glaring at Manannan, Lugh shouted. “Go through the portal and claim your destiny! We’ll finish this!”
Manannan lifted his grinning face from the struggling Unseelie, and fixed with greed upon the portal.
Lugh thought he might waste time savoring this moment, but the Seelie king finally strode forth.
As he disappeared into the portal, a rolling thunder shook the Isle. The ley lines, whose power Lugh had rarely witnessed with his own eyes, curved up from the ground like a great river of light. It flooded through the portal, following Manannan into the new realm. The force of the magic pummeled the air and pitched the ground with an earthquake.
Overhead, the sky darkened. A blackening storm gathered, rumbling and flashing. Pelting drops rained down, splashing up as it hit the ground with force before soaking everything and transforming the earth into a slick mud.
A body impacted Lugh in the back, driving him aside. As Lugh rolled to recover, the man tumbled with him. The face he saw before the fist bashed into his eye had been Kieran’s. “You traitor!”
Lugh flipped him away and twisted around to face him. Kieran had moved just as quickly, catching a sickle from a fallen goblin in the process. Swinging it around, Kieran dove for Lugh again, screaming, “I’m gonna kill you!”
It was Rhia’s scream that distracted his focus from his attacker. As Lugh snapped around, Rhiannon suddenly jerked forward, her back arching as a spear of metal burst through her stomach just below her ribs. It punched completely through, leaving shredded fabric and flesh which quickly slicked with blood.
Her pained scream tore through the storm, and tore through Lugh. “No!”
She stumbled forward a step. And another.
In that moment of shock, Lugh missed his own peril. Kieran sliced through Lugh’s side, cutting deep into his gut.
Gripping closed the gash, Lugh jumped back away from the next blow. The blood gushed between his fingers, spilling down his muddy hip and leg from the potentially fatal wound. Lugh knew shock and determination would buy him a few minutes, but then he’d succumb to the injury. Backing away in leaps, Lugh dodged the furious swipes.
Tiernan rose up behind Rhia, proving that it was by his magnetic power that she’d been struck down. He swung his hand out towards Lugh.
Leaping into the air, Lugh spun out of the way of the deadly debris storm. It whirled into a tornado and circled back around as Lugh dove for Rhia. He rolled through the air over her, and snatched her from the mud. Coming up, with her limp body against his chest, Lugh flung out a shield wall of plasma so hot it vaporized the metal.
Tiernan’s furious yell promised to gather more of the dangerous projectiles, so Lugh didn’t linger to test his resolve.
Instead, he teleported from where he was right to the horizon of the portal and instantly passed through it. The ley lines filled the passage. As Lugh plunged through the rushing power to cross into the new realm, the river of magic burned him like no flame ever had. He gave himself over to the shredding agony of his scream. For one moment, he thought the force of the ley lines’ power would destroy him.
Until, drenched and muddy, he stumbled into the darkening powers of the new realm. Every nerve tore with the pain. And when it finally subsided, the gash in his side renewed its outcry. Lugh stumbled, knowing how closely death loomed. Rhiannon’s figure slipped from his weakening grip to slump on the ground.
Before him, on the hill rising from the valley that shielded the portal. Manannan reached his hands into the air, as infused with magic as the land and the fey. It roiled into a vortex of a hurricane that consumed the sky. The ground trembled and cracked as Manannan drew upon the ley lines of the earth realm and his own mastery of magic. “Jhaer!” Manannan called out the Creator by his assassin’s name.
Lugh dropped to his knees. He’d seen Manannan in the center of the new realm. His task was done.
Pushing past the agony, Lugh slumped down and wrapped his arm carefully around Rhiannon, his lover. He’d brought her to the realm, too. Just as he’d promised. As his eyes dropped closed, he embraced her closer. Her cold, still body didn’t respond.
Chapter Sixty-One
Kieran raised his hand against the raging flood of magic tearing up from the ground and gushing into the portal. “How do we stop it?”
Tiernan and Bryce rushed up next to him. Willem, who’d managed to stay hidden even through the goblin attack, finally popped out from behind cover. Joe, still rubbing at his neck, managed to get to his feet beside them.
“We can’t close the portal. I don’t think we could reopen it.” Tiernan reached a hand into the flow of the ley lines, and then jerked it back with a scream. He shook out his hand. “Can’t get through.”
“Lugh went through!” Kieran shifted on his feet, looking past the rushing magic and into the portal. “Donovan would make sure we survived it.”
“Kieran!” Bryce grabbed for him, knowing what he meant to do.
But Kieran jumped before he could grab onto him. The second
his body entered the path of the ley lines the force of them flared like an explosion of pain surging through his magic. It slammed Kieran through the portal and pitched him into the new realm. Spinning as he dropped from the river of magic, Kieran landed on his feet in a crouch, one hand pressed to the ground to keep him balanced against the ringing in his ears. With effort, he managed to push himself up to stand.
On the ground beside him, Lugh spooned up against Rhiannon’s back. His arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her tucked up against his body. Both of them were covered in blood, and either unconscious or dead. Kieran snarled down at Lugh, the realm’s betrayer, but seeing him defeated and bloody at his feet, Kieran only stepped over him.
A crack of thunder that rolled and echoed drew his attention upwards. The black and roiling clouds twisted into a funnel that consumed the sky. The realm itself shivered as the influx of magic through the portal rushed through it like a tsunami.
On the rise ahead of him, Manannan cried out with a victorious laugh. The winds whipped around him like his magic caused them to gust. His hands reached to the sky. “Jhaer!”
Kieran staggered the first few steps, but forced himself into a jog, and then into a run.
“Face me!” Manannan yelled over the thunder that cracked the ground.
The shaking nearly knocked Kieran from his feet. He struggled forward until he was several strides away, but then the fury of the wind about the Seelie made it impossible to press himself any closer.
Kieran knew Manannan had been the one who’d crushed the Mounds. And he seemed hell bent on doing the same to the new realm.
