by D. N. Hoxa
Julian raised his arm and pointed his finger west. That’s when I saw the castle.
It was straight out of a painting, the most beautiful building I’d ever seen. Its white walls and grey, pointy rooftops made me feel like I was in a Disney movie, and the Prince was just about to come out and save me from the big bad beast.
A sad smile touched my lips. Mine was not that kind of a story. I’d save myself from the big bad beast with the Prince right beside me.
I took a quick look around to see that everybody was fine. The witches who’d joined us looked extremely pale, but none of them had thrown up. Maybe they’d done this before? Because it made no sense that I was the only one to throw up after using that portal opener.
“We’ve got company,” Bender said, nodding towards the castle.
He was right. Walking in a perfect formation, Galladar’s fairy guards were coming from both sides of the castle, weapons drawn. I couldn’t see them all—that’s how many there were. Shit. How the hell was I going to get through them all in time?
“Is there a way around back?” I asked Julian.
“No other way inside,” he said, drawing out his own sword. I thought so, but it was worth the question. I drew out my gun and my knife, and I conjured my shield. There was no need to fight the fairies. All I had to do was get through them. It wasn’t that hard.
“We’ll handle them,” Marva said, nodding at her friends, who moved in perfect rhythm into half a circle. “Others are on their way.”
“Others?”
“From the Tombs,” Julian explained.
The guards drew closer and closer, and I took in a deep breath. “We got this. We just need to get to the other side. Easy peasy.”
“Keep behind me,” Julian said. “I’ll make the way.”
“Ready!” Marva called, and her friends fell on one knee and drew out their bows and arrows. I turned to Bender and the others.
“Try to not get killed,” I said, and wished them luck with all my heart.
“Just kill that asshole,” Bender said.
“Yes, sir.”
Julian moved forward and I followed. I had high hopes because I’d already fought Galladar’s fairies before. We were going to be just fine.
I truly believed that, right until a screeching sound hit my ears and made me cringe. I stopped moving. Was I hearing things?
When everybody turned their heads to the sky, I did the same. No, I wasn’t hearing things. I was hearing dragons.
Every part of my skin raised in goose bumps. Holy spell, dragons! I’d always wanted to see one, really badly, and now that they were flying to us, all twelve of them, at full speed, I just could shake the awe away.
They were much bigger than I’d imagined them. Their wings were large, their heads larger, and though the sky was full of dark clouds, the blue color of their scales and the red that decorated all their ridges and pointy bits lit it up. Their tails were long and red at the tip, too—an extremely sharp tip. Mesmerized, I almost reached out a hand at the first one diving towards us, folding his wings back as he did. He was majestic, more much more beautiful than words can say.
And then he opened his mouth.
I was pulled to the side and down just as the first spark of fire lit up the dragon’s throat. He’d been so close to me, I could smell the sulfur. The wind caused by the dragon flapping his wings when he took off to the sky again pushed my body into the mud. That was a very disgusting wakeup call.
What the hell was I doing, admiring dragons? They were there to eat us!
I jumped to my feet, completely covered in mud, and used the back of my hands to get it off my face as much as I could. “If you get in the castle, they might not follow,” Julian said, his eyes on the sky, just like mine. Galladar’s fairies had stopped walking. They just stood there and watches us as the twelve dragons flew in circles above our heads, roaring so loud, my ears whistled.
“Might?” I asked halfheartedly. But I shouldn’t have bothered, because with them there and Galladar’s fairies blocking the entrance, I was going nowhere.
“Don’t try to fight them,” Julian said.
“But they’re going to burn us.”
Just as I said the words, a dragon flew toward us, opened his mouth and I saw the fire coming out of his throat. I’d never seen anything like it before. My whole body froze.
I saw the flames coming toward me, yet all I could do was watch. Even my mind couldn’t find a thought to hold onto. I was just…shocked.
And I was going to die.
Somehow, someway, when the fire reached me, I didn’t feel the heat. It was right there, burning in front of my eyes, but it wouldn’t reach me.
“Use your magic, Winter! Block it!” Julian called.
That’s when I realized that he was shielding us. Blinking fast, I ordered my body to stop shaking, and I conjured my spell. It took three tries to do it properly, because I still couldn’t get enough of the red and blue creatures—though their chest and stomach was completely white—flying over us. Bender and the other witches were squatting down while two of Julian’s friends stood next to them with their arms up to the sky, probably shielding them with their magic. Thank God.
“How the hell are we going to get through them?” I shouted. They were above us, so they could see us perfectly. They’d know if we took a single step towards the castle.
“We have to wait until they’re convinced we’re not a threat,” Julian said.
“Are you kidding? Galladar is going to heal!”
“Winter, if they so much as suspect—”
“We can’t wait, Julian. We have to get to him, now!” I said, and when the last word left my mouth, another dragon spit flames our way. I had my shield up, so I was a tiny bit less afraid this time, but when I got thrown back like I’d stepped into a fucking mine, I almost peed myself.
I fell on the mud on my arm and I almost broke it. When I sat up, I saw Julian and the others doing the same—twenty feet away from me. Holy shit! How far had that blast of fire thrown us?
No time to think, because a dragon was coming right at me. “Shit, shit, shit,” I hissed and nearly dropped my gun when I tried to stand up. I conjured my shield, but the last time, that hadn’t helped. If they flew around me enough, I wasn’t going to be able to stand up soon.
But the dragon didn’t care. He was right in front of me, wings drawn until his chest almost touched the ground, and then he opened them. He roared. I turned around and ran.
Even in my worst nightmares, I’d never imagined being chased by a dragon in the fairy realm. My muscles burned as I ran without direction, and the dragon behind me roared again. Heat filled my backside as if to let me know that he was throwing his flames at me.
When I decided to stop running, I knew it was a bad decision. Julian said not to fight the dragons for a reason, but my legs were growing too weak. I couldn’t keep this up any longer, so taking in a deep breath, I jumped forward, spun on air and fell on the muddy ground on my back, my gun pointing at the sky.
A breath later, the dragon was right above me.
“Shoot, shoot, shoot!” I shouted as I pulled the trigger and emptied all of my bullets in his chest and stomach.
The dragon roared again. I could no longer see him.
I jumped to my feet. Had I killed him? Was he dead?
A look behind me told me all I needed to know. The dragon was most definitely not dead. No, he was angry. His green eyes shone as he flew toward me, almost touching the ground again. Conjuring my shield, I turned around and began to run again, right where I’d come from. I knew it wasn’t going to get me anywhere. The creature had wings, not to mention he was the size of fifty of me. I could only barely make out Julian’s face, his wide eyes filled with terror, his head shaking as if to tell me I blew it.
Shit. I was taking the dragon right back to them, because the others flying above us were not attacking anyone yet.
I had to stop. If that dragon killed me, maybe he’d
stop going after the others. But if I took him all the way there, and he spit his fire on us, how long would the magic of the fairies hold?
It wasn’t even a decision. I stopped running and jumped around. The dragon roared, barely five feet away from me. I put my arms in front of my face, squeezing my eyes shut because I didn’t want to see what the inside of a dragon’s mouth looked like while he chewed me. Instinct took over, and my magic spread all over my body, desperate to be released.
I pushed it forward—all of it, with everything in me. It was all I had.
The magic left me just as heat blasted my body. I released all of it anyway, focusing on the bright light inside my chest, hoping against hope that it was going to be as bright on the outside, too.
My feet shook, and I began to slide backwards. Holding my breath, I prepared for what was coming next. I prepared for the roar and then the fire, and then probably large teeth all over my body.
But none of it came, and I stopped sliding backwards.
Silence.
Had I already died? I’d take it, if it meant I wouldn’t feel the fire or the teeth. My whole body shook, my magic settling back into a low burning fire inside me. My chest was moving, so I was still breathing. I was alive.
Holy spell, maybe I had killed the dragon?
My eyes popped open, and I almost peed my pants.
Two large eyes made of the greenest forests were staring at me. Two large dragon eyes.
My God, his face was right in front of me, as big as my whole body. I didn’t dare blink. I didn’t dare breathe. My muscles gave, and my arms fell limp to my sides. I was going to feel it. The fire and the teeth. Goddamn it.
The dragon opened his mouth and roared. A terrible smell filled my nostrils. The strength of the roar threw me back half a step. His nose—two large holes the size of my fists on his dark blue scales—nearly touched my chest. Why have I not passed out yet?
He sniffed me. Three times. My heart almost stopped beating. The vertical slits in his eyes reflected my face—pale as a ghost.
And then he stepped back.
What?
He turned his head to the sky and roared so loudly, I was tempted to put my hands on my ears. His wings stretched. I couldn’t even see the end of them. They were grey and looked extremely thick. I doubted any sword or even bullet could pierce through them. When they moved, they looked smooth as satin, too. Before I knew it, the dragon was airborne and close enough to me so that I could see the claws on his front legs. Fucking hell, those things were going to be the main star in my nightmares from now on.
The dragon joined his friends, roaring loudly and without stop for a good long minute.
I might’ve already been dead and just imagining a perfect scenario, but not long after, he and his dragon friends began to fly away to wherever they’d come from.
It made no sense. I’d been right there, in front of his face. Why the hell hadn’t he eaten me?
I looked back at the others. They were much closer to me than I thought. And all of them as shocked as I was.
“I don’t…” I started to say, shaking my head, but I had no idea how to finish that sentence.
Good thing I didn’t have to. With a loud shout, Galladar’s fairies began to run towards us.
Thirty two
My gun was useless. I’d spent all of my bullets on the dragon, and they had probably not even scratched him. I threw the gun away and took two knives in my hands. My body was still shaking. I still couldn’t believe I was standing there. Julian’s fairies ran in front of us, got down to one knee, and at Marva’s order, they shot arrows at the oncoming fairies.
“Stay behind me,” Julian said, and he pulled me down by my arm. As soon as Galladar’s fairies made first contact with us, he stood up and shot forward. With his elbows, he moved two of his friends to the side and put his sword inside a fairy neck. I followed him, just like he asked, and conjured my shield to make sure nobody from our sides caught me unprepared.
But the line of Galladar’s fairies was long. Not two minutes later, I had to put down my shield to throw spells on all sides of me, and use my knives to cut through fairy flesh. My muscles ached. Swords cut through me like I was made of butter.
Julian got pulled to the side. I wanted to stay with him, but forward was my way, so that’s where I went.
Blood everywhere. Screams and shouts, the sound of metal on metal, of bodies dropping everywhere. Soon, my magic was all I had against the fairies because my arms refused to cooperate. Too many wounds. Too much tired.
But my mind was alert. My magic was wild. And when I could see the castle again among the fairy heads, it gave me the energy boost I needed so much.
When I blasted the fairy in front of me—the last one between me and my destination—I breathed a sigh of relief. That’s until I saw the other fairy.
I raised my arm to throw one of my knives because he was too far away, but then I realized, he wasn’t wearing grey like Galladar’s fairies. He was wearing a black hooded mantle, and so were his many friends. He looked at me like he didn’t know what to think, whether he should attack me or let me through.
“Winter, go!” someone shouted right next to my ear. It was Julian.
With his hand between my shoulder blades, he pushed me forward. I ran and the hooded fairies made way for me to pass. I was relieved that they were there—Julian’s other friends.
The castle stood upon a yellow rock, a step above the muddy ground. Nothing was around it but pieces of rock, not even a single bush. I ran to the large double doors, begging my body to hold on for just a little longer. Soon, this will all be over. Soon, we’ll be home.
It took all of my strength to try to push one of the doors open, and I still couldn’t budge it. Not until Julian appeared by my side and pushed together with me. The wood groaned, and the door opened just a crack.
“Ready?” Julian asked.
No. “Yes.”
He gave me a smile then, one that warmed me all the way to my bones, better than dragon fire. I committed that smile to my memory, just in case things went badly. I wanted to remember him in the afterlife, too, if there even was such a place.
Before I could start bawling like a baby and ask to be taken home, I walked inside the castle.
It was dark, at first. The wide corridor had only one torch burning at the end of it. When we heard footsteps behind us, we both jumped and raised our weapons. But it was Bender.
He was sweating, and his face was covered in blood splatter, but he seemed to be okay.
“I’m joining the main party,” he mumbled, and without waiting for us to say a word, he walked around and headed for the torch at the end of the corridor.
There was no time to argue, though I wanted to tell him to just go hide somewhere. Bender was not someone who’d let this go without a fight, so I clamped my mouth shut and followed.
The inside of the castle was quiet, but my ears still rang with the sound from the battle outside. Torches were mounted on a wall that led us west to another hall and a set of stairs.
Julian pulled me back while he and Bender took the stairs first. I didn’t even have it in me to be annoyed, because I knew that I couldn’t handle another fight before Galladar. When they both nodded at me, I took the stairs two at a time.
The hallway in front of me was huge. The high ceiling looked to have been hand-painted with the most beautiful colors, and in the drawings, fairies fought and fairies danced, fairies smiled and fairies cried. Each part divided by a golden rod told a different story and they were all awe-inspiring.
The columns on either side of the hallway were painted in gold, too. They led the way to the end of the room, where a golden throne stood, and on it sat Galladar. My heart picked up its beat at the sight of his face. He hadn’t bothered to change his clothes, so we could still see the dried blood on his shirt sewn with golden strings, but his smile had returned to his lips.
In front of him were four fairies, bigger than the ones we fou
ght before. Much more dangerous looking. Their swords looked sharper, too.
“I have to admit, you’ve quite impressed me with your stubbornness,” Galladar said. His voiced echoed.
“When did I do that? When you ran from me like a little coward?” My voice was scratchy and not even close to dangerous, but I still spoke. “You should have saved both of us the trouble.”
“I’ll enjoy watching you die,” he said, not so keen on smiling anymore, and when the last word left his mouth, his four fairies ran forward.
“Get to him,” Julian said, and he ran towards them, too, while Bender raised his arms and began to chant.
I didn’t bother to try and help. Galladar was going to be a handful all by himself.
I started off easy, with a simple attack spell, aiming right for his chest. It didn’t reach him, but the four fairies reached Julian and Bender, and when they began to fight, I began to run.
As I passed by them, one of the fairies threw his fucking sword, and it caught me right on my left thigh. My leg gave. I flew forward and landed with my face on the marble floor. Galladar laughed. Pain sliced through me, paralyzing my entire right side for a second. Gritting my teeth, I dropped one of my knives and reached for the sword. My hands were sweating and the golden handle of it slipped from my fingers twice before I managed to hold onto it tightly. Pulling the blade out was agony. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming because I didn’t want Galladar to hear me.
My eyes begged me to close them when I threw the sword aside and attempted to stand up, but I ignored them. My job was not done yet. I made it to my knees, and then barely to my feet, before one of the fairies pulled me by my braid. It didn’t last more than a second before Bender threw him back with a spell, but the pain on the back of my head intensified.
I locked my eyes with Galladar’s, who was now standing in front of his golden throne. There was no way he could escape me now. Conjuring a spell that would give him a shot of electricity, I took the first step toward him. Running was no longer an option, so walking would have to do.
“I’m going to write my name on the walls of my castle with your filthy witch blood,” Galladar hissed and a sharp, cold burst of energy hit me on my chest. Maybe my body was too heavy to fall back, or maybe I had more strength than I realized, but as soon as his magic faded, I walked forward again and conjured another spell.
