by Amy Sumida
Everyone looked at me blankly.
“He's dead, Princess,” Alexis said softly. “You don't need to check.”
“Son of a bitch,” I hissed, stood, and directed my gaze up the wall.
Vicious sounds were coming from the top. No doubt Uisdean was using our distraction to make some headway into the hedge. But if he had done this to a dragon king, I really didn't want to send a few hunters and extinguishers up after him. Especially when the extinguishers with us were more accustomed to fighting mentally than physically.
“We can each take one person up,” Trevyn, the hunter, said. “And you can work the air on your own. Correct, Princess?”
“Sweet,” Killian stepped forward. “Let's do this. That bastard is going down harder than the dragon.”
“Wait,” I was still staring up at the top. “No. I'm going alone.”
“The hell you are,” Killian growled and then poked at his chest. “Shield, remember?”
“He just killed a dragon,” I snapped, finally drawing my gaze back down to Killian.
“With the club,” Alexis had her hand on Zhayu. “He struck King Zhayu with Dagda's club and it killed the dragon instantly.”
“Then I'm going to have to get that club away from him,” I said resolutely as I started to hover.
I wasn't the best at air magic, but I'd been practicing, and I'd be able to get myself up there. Getting down should be even easier. Especially if it simply entailed falling. But Killian grabbed my wrist and held me back.
“Let go of me, Killian,” I snapped.
“I'm going with you,” he insisted.
“It doesn't matter!” Trevyn shouted and pointed to the hedge. It was withering. “He's already inside.”
“Damn him,” I ran forward, sweeping a hand out to push the dying vines out of my way. “Lucas! Felipe!” I really didn't want anymore deaths on my hands. “Uisdean, you fucking asshole, don't you dare hurt those men!”
I ran up the wide, wood veranda of the sprawling ranch house, and sped through the front door. The house was abandoned. I ran past empty room after empty room. Of course it was deserted. Uisdean was heading for the rath. Which was exactly where Lucas and his father would be. Defending it, as proper rath guardians were meant to.
“Just let him pass!” I shouted to Lucas as I made it through the back door.
I could see them now, but I'd never reach them in time. The rath had been hidden in the forest, but it looked like Uisdean had blasted his way through the obstacles. Shattered tree limbs and scattered leaves laid around the yard like fallen soldiers. Lucas and Felipe would be joining the debris if they got in Uisdean's way, just another obstacle to blast through.
I saw the father and son team, standing before a slight mound of earth with a gold door set into it. Upon the gold was an image of a silver castle and forest. Above the castle was a silver star. A door to Twilight.
I could not allow my uncle to rampage through Twilight with his club of death.
Uisdean was advancing on the men as he held Dagda's club aloft. Sunlight flashed over the club, flaring across the rath guardians. Lucas and Felipe both had hair in shades of red, one much brighter than the other. Their skin was tanned, but not as dark as most of the locals, and their builds were slim. They were also short, one of them was perhaps five foot six, and the other was four foot at best. The smaller one had feet facing the wrong direction. Definitely Felipe. They looked so insignificant when faced with Uisdean and that club. But they didn't cower. In fact, it appeared that they had every intention of disobeying my order.
“Stand down!” I shouted again. “I order you to let him through!”
“You heard the Princess,” Uisdean snarled. “Let me pass.”
The men reluctantly stepped aside, glaring furiously at Uisdean as he swept past them. I kept running, and when I reached them, I didn't bother to stop and explain myself. I just kept going through the open door of the rath. In Twilight, I would be stronger. Sure, Uisdean would be stronger too, but at least we wouldn't have so much collateral damage.
The door at the other end of the rath was open as well, shining golden light over the path within the fairy mound. It took me mere moments to reach the door and run through it. Uisdean had a head start, and I figured he'd be at least twenty feet into the Twilight Forest by now. He wasn't. Uisdean was fighting the soldiers my father had sent to guard the rath. They had him surrounded, a circle of archers with arrows all pointing steadily at Uisdean. It seemed that they'd been warned of the club, and knew better than to get within striking distance.
So my father hadn't forgotten about Dagda's club after all.
But Uisdean was smiling. No, smirking. I narrowed my eyes on him as I strode closer.
“You shouldn't have let me through the rath so easily, Seren,” Uisdean chided me. “Not only do I have more magic here, but so does Dagda's club.”
“He's not a king anymore,” I told the archers. “You can attack him. Just try and leave me the kill.”
“Princess,” one of the archers said, without taking his eyes off Uisdean, “we have already tried. He is too swift.”
I looked down and saw a circle of broken arrows around Uisdean's feet.
“Try again,” I growled, and the archers immediately let their arrows fly.
There was a flash of silver as Uisdean swung the club in a circle, and all of the arrows shattered, dropping harmlessly to the ground, over the bodies of their fellows. Uisdean gave me another grin. He held the club aloft and the silver winked at me. The carvings along its length began to glow, and I realized it must be unsatisfied with its dragon appetizer. Sea dragon energy was significant, but no matter how big he was, Zhayu was still only one fairy. The club had been cheated out of eight kills.
“Get back, all of you!” I shouted to the archers.
The archers obeyed immediately, back peddling into the surrounding trees, while keeping their newly notched arrows sighted on Uisdean.
“Twilight!”
At first I thought it was another fairy, shouting our battle cry to encourage me. Then I recognized the voice. I turned to look over my shoulder in horror. Killian froze just a few feet outside of the rath. His whole body tensed, and he began to scream. The witch dropped to the ground, rolling in agony, until he finally just passed out from the pain.
“Fuck,” I whispered. “Damn it, Killian.”
The barest breath of air warned me of my uncle's approach, and I had just enough time to drop to the ground. A flash of silver streaked above me. I rolled, the sun in my eyes, and jumped to my feet as I blinked through the blindness. As soon as my vision cleared, and I spotted Uisdean, I flung out my firethorns. They encased him completely and began to burn him alive.
Uisdean screamed and rolled, smashing out at the offending vines with Dagda's club. As soon as the partially charged weapon hit my firethorns, the vines burst apart into millions of lavender sparks. Uisdean stared around him in surprise, then looked over to me with glee. He was about to get up, when a gust of wind blew him back down again, holding him in place. As he flailed about, lightning struck him, making his whole body jerk and twitch.
I looked toward the rath and saw the fairy hunters from my team, standing before Killian with their hands outstretched towards Uisdean. Okay, so maybe they weren't collateral damage after all. But when I watched Alex and Alexis come through the rath, I wanted to scream in frustration. I hadn't thought that everyone would follow me. But they had. They were soldiers, each and every last one of them. Of course they followed me. Lucas and Felipe emerged, right on the twin's heels. I grimaced. We were just giving Uisdean fuel for the hungry club.
Even as I thought it, Uisdean sucked up the lightning with the club and dispersed the air-magic restraints. He then sent his own magic surging back at the hunters. True, they were trained fairy soldiers, but Uisdean had been a fairy king. You don't get to be king in Fairy by being a weakling. Uisdean's thorns burst from the skin of the hunters, sending them shrieking to the ground
. Thick, glossy, black barbs, the size of my thumb, protruded all over their bodies. Blood flowed from their wounds, drenching the grass in scarlet. Uisdean started to stride towards them, going for the easy kill.
Arrows flew at Uisdean. The archers had seen an opportunity and took it. But Uisdean sensed the attack, and flung the club back at the very last second, smashing the arrows like they were nothing but twigs. The archers tossed their bows aside, and started launching their own magical attacks against Uisdean. Vines shot up around his feet, a mini tornado swept around him, and ice crusted his skin. But Uisdean waved them all away as easily as he had my firethorns... using the club.
Alex pulled an iron dagger from his belt, and flung it at Uisdean. It hit my uncle right in the chest, but missed his heart. That didn't matter though, the iron immediately went to work on Uisdean's fairy cells. He dropped to his knees screaming, and yanked the dagger free. Uisdean threw the iron weapon away from him, as if it had burned his hand, and then fell forward onto his fists.
After a few seconds, Uisdean snarled and regained his feet, shaking off the pain that must have been crippling. The iron poisoning would eventually kill him, if he didn't receive assistance. But for the moment, Uisdean could survive it. He stumbled forward.
I rushed him. This was our chance. Uisdean was weakened. One strike from my iron sword, and he would be dead. I didn't even think about my actions, just relied upon pure instinct. If I had thought it over, I probably would have sent my dreaming dust over Uisdean first, and put him to sleep before I killed him. It would have been merciful and wise. Instead, I just attacked.
My uncle looked up just as I reached him, his usual wicked smile in place.
“You took her from me,” Uisdean growled as he swung Dagda's club at me. “And now you'll bring her back.”
I saw the arcing silver come at me in slow motion, and my first thought was, “He wants her back?!”. Then I felt something smack into my chest, and I was falling backwards. Dagda's club had found its mark. My evil uncle had finally succeeded in killing me.
I heard Alex and Alexis cry out, but I couldn't see them. My eyes were filled with the clear blue of the Twilight sky. The air was sharp in my lungs and sweet on my tongue. I could feel a subtle vibration in the air, tremors of the twilight creatures. Animals bound to me through the auric crown they had once placed upon my brow. They sensed my imminent destruction, knew their princess had fallen, and were frozen in terror. I was saddened by their fear, but I would die in the land I loved, and part of me was at peace with that. I would see Ewan again, and my mother. That was good. I just wished I could have taken Uisdean down with me. Now that would have been a hell of a family reunion.
Wait. Why was I still able to think? Why was I still breathing the sweet air? Why could I still feel the grass beneath my fingers? Why wasn't I dead? I sat up and gasped.
Alexis screamed and then everything went quiet. Twilight itself seemed to take a breath. The animals relaxed and let go of our link. I felt their happiness like a tickle down my spine as they withdrew. Before me, Uisdean stood, staring at me with wide, shocked eyes. I looked down at my chest with what I'm sure must have been a similar expression. There, just over my heart, right where Uisdean had hit me, was a glowing shield. Not an actual shield, just the image of one. As if it had been painted onto my aura. It hovered a hairsbreadth over me. A golden shield with the image of a silver star emblazoned on it. It flared once, then faded away.
“Be my sword and I will be your shield,” I whispered, remembering the magic Anu had poured into me. “Even in Fairy, he protected me, just as he promised.”
“No,” Uisdean gaped at me. “Impossible. Absolutely impossible.”
He started towards me, but a rumbling came through the rath. We all stared at the closed gate with its image of Earth. Lucas and Felipe ran to help the wounded hunters move away from the door. Alex and Alexis dove for Killian, pulling him away from the rath as well. Uisdean and I just stared, frozen in place. The gate burst open and Uisdean lifted Dagda's club.
He never had a chance to wield it.
I didn't care what was coming through that door, I saw a chance to strike at Uisdean and I took it. I threw my magic at him, wrapping him in fire and thorns yet again. It probably wouldn't have lasted very long. I'm sure he could have freed himself in mere moments, if a tide of sea fairies hadn't used the opportunity to roll over him like a Zamboni over a dirty ice rink.
Queen Daiyu was at the front of the hoard, in her dragon form. She swept so close to me, I saw the fury within her eyes. Uisdean was not only a traitor now, he was a murderer. A murderer of royalty. Regicide. I stopped, blinking as the thought occurred to me. Did the Sluagh avenge the dragon kings too? If they did, it would be a mercy for Uisdean. The sea dragons would surely show him none. I turned away as my uncle began to scream.
“Princess,” Alex crept up to me. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I'm fine. Thank you,” I reassured him.
“Then you'll be wanting this,” he surreptitiously handed me Dagda's club.
I looked up at him in shock, then over to where the sea fey had Uisdean strung out. The ground was already covered in blood, and Uisdean was quickly becoming unrecognizable. The dragons were obviously too focused on him to worry about the club. I swallowed hard as they pulled back, satisfied with taking their time, now that they had Uisdean well and truly restrained.
“For Zhayu,” Daiyu hissed as she scalped Uisdean.
She held the long, silky length of Uisdean's hair up like a prize as my uncle screamed pitifully, and the other sea fairies shouted in triumph. I took a shaky breath of blood-scented air. I needed to remind the dragons of our bargain before they killed Uisdean. Poor, whimpering, bleeding Uisdean. Now didn't seem like the right time though. If I spoke too soon, the sea fairies might decide to include me in their fun. So I eased over to where Alexis knelt by Killian. Lucas and his father were helping the recovering hunters limp over to the same spot. They eased the hunters down, and then approached me.
“Princess,” Lucas bowed. “I wish you had let us defend the rath as we were meant to.”
“Son,” Felipe whacked him. “Show some respect.”
“You weren't meant to defend the rath against this,” I angled my body so they could see the club I was hiding along my thigh. “You would have died for nothing, and I'm tired of losing good men for no reason.”
“Thank you, Princess,” Felipe said gravely. “Thank you for the life of my son. We would have fought against anything, even that, if you had not bid us to stand down.”
“Well, it worked out,” I cast one last look over my shoulder before kneeling beside Killian. “It's nearly over now.”
“Princess Seren,” Lucas handed me his shirt. “Wrap the club in this for now. Best to keep it out of sight, I think.”
“Thanks,” I took the shirt and wrapped the club in the cotton, then I focused on Killian again. “Killian?” I looked him over. He didn't appear to be any different than before. He could have a new pair of wings growing beneath his shirt, but beyond that, he seemed fine. “Killian, wake up.”
First there was a moan, then his body twitched. Killian frowned, his arms flailing about him, so I took hold of one of his hands.
“Killian, it's me,” I said gently. “Seren. You're in Fairy. The magic hit you and you passed out. Kill? Blair? Are you alright?”
His eyes fluttered open, and I tried not to flinch. They were a vivid, acid green now, lightened to the point that they were nearly yellow, and they had slit pupils. Dragon eyes.
“Seren,” Killian whispered.
“You must be hurt if you're calling me Seren,” I teased, but it sounded strained, even to my ears.
Killian sat up and groaned.
“Does your back ache?” I asked warily. “Like maybe you have some wings you need to release?”
“Wings?” Killian frowned, and then realized what I was alluding to. “Shit, I didn't even think about it. I just followed you here.” He yan
ked up his shirt and tried to look at his own back. “Am I winged?” He angled himself so I could see.
“Yes,” I whispered.
Spreading down the muscled plane of Killian's back was indeed a pair of wings. They looked a lot like Aodh's wings, except they were much smaller, stopping several inches from Killian's sides. Shades of peacock blue and phosphorescent green shifted over their surface. Stunningly beautiful and obviously useless. Not because of their diminutive size, but because the wings were embedded in Killian's skin. More like a tattoo than an appendage. I reached out and trailed a fingertip across one iridescent wing, feeling the slightly raised pattern of cartilage which held the wing membranes together. It was as if they had begun to emerge but then were stopped just below the surface.
“Oh fuck, I have wings?” Killian was trying to reach around and feel them for himself. “Where?”
“They're just across the surface of your skin,” I laid a hand firmly to his back. “They're purely decorative.”
“Decorative?” Killian frowned and dropped his shirt. “I have useless wings?”
“Among other things,” Alex muttered.
“What other things? Am I gross?” Killian's hands went to his face. “Do I have fish skin or something?”
“No,” I gave Alex a chiding glare before I looked back to Killian. “But I think I know which race Flame witches are descended from.”
“What? Shit, aren't useless wings bad enough? What am I, Twilight?” Killian kept feeling his face, and when he couldn't find anything wrong, he started patting his body like a cop looking for hidden weapons.
“Killian,” I took his hands. “It's your eyes.”
“My eyes!?” Killian shouted.
I glanced behind me to see if he had disturbed the dragons, and then wished I hadn't. The sea fey were still dragging out Uisdean's pain, and they looked as if they wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. I'd have to intercede, or the iron poisoning might kill Uisdean before I did. But first, I needed to take care of Killian.
