by Kate Keir
“Finlay, enough,” Lyall snapped as he approached the boundary line warily.”
“No, Lyall,” Finlay hissed. “Pen deserves better than this. He’s gone too far this time.”
“Have I, traitor?” Sluag’s voice rang across the border. “What exactly do you propose to do about it?”
“Give her back, Sluag?” I levelled my cool gaze on his scaly, grey features.
“I might, once she’s been entirely drained of blood, Little Dreamer.” He spoke matter-of-factly.
Finlay took a step closer to the Endwood. “I’m going to kill you for this, Sluag.”
A slow grin stretched across Sluag’s hideous face as he raised an arm and crooked his index finger in Finlay’s direction. “Well come on then, traitor. Have at it.”
With a roar of complete rage, Finlay launched himself across the boundary toward Sluag, and with a cold stab of fear, I realised I was too far away to intervene.
Suddenly, a black shadow appeared from nowhere and leapt across the border to crash into Finlay, sending him reeling back into the Everwood.
My relief at Lyall’s intervention was short-lived as I realised my wolf was still inside the Endwood, and two Supers were rapidly closing the distance between him and them.
“Lyall, run,” I screamed as he turned a full circle and leapt for the safety of the border.
The first Super leaned out and grabbed hold of Lyall’s back paw, bringing him crashing to the ground halfway across the border. The second Draugur caught up seconds later and slipped a knife from its wide sleeve.
“No,” I shouted as I ran toward them.
“No,” Sluag’s voice boomed, and the Supers both became as still as statues. The one holding Lyall’s paw, released its grip, enabling Lyall to scramble to his feet and drag himself across the boundary, back into the Everwood. He was panting heavily but unharmed.
I looked at Sluag questioningly, and whether it was because of our supposed “bond” or whether he just understood what I was asking, he answered me.
“I don’t want Lyall dead, Flora. You know I would much prefer to have him sit at my right hand.” Sluag lifted his right hand up and pretended to study it.
Never going to happen. Lyall’s voice growled inside my head.
Without thinking, I reached down and gently touched my hand to the top of the great wolf’s head. He reached out with his huge tongue and licked me.
I nodded to Lyall and crossed the grass until I was standing next to Finlay—he was standing and glaring at Sluag, unmoving.
I wrapped my arm through his and whispered in his ear. “I need you alive, Finlay. You can’t take risks like that again.”
Sluag clearly had superb hearing. “That abomination, on the other hand.” He pointed to Finlay as he spoke. “I would kill him in a heartbeat.”
I felt Finlay tense beneath my hand, and my own anger sparked again. “Abomination? He’s only become what you’ve made him, Sluag.”
Sluag snorted. “I didn’t make Finlay what he is, you did, Flora. You swap him from body to body for your own selfish gain. Did you ever stop to ask what Finlay wanted?”
I shot a guilt-ridden glance at my best friend, trapped inside the body of a man twice his own age. Finlay’s eyes had a haunted look. He had lost everything in the fight to stop Sluag, including the woman he considered a mother. It was no wonder he was such a mess.
“I’m sorry it has to be this way,” I whispered.
Finlay shifted slightly, pulling his arm out of mine. I tensed, expecting him to attack Sluag again. Instead, I felt him twine his fingers through mine and take a deep breath.
Facing Sluag, Finlay spoke calmly. “I’m not sorry, Flora. Not if it means that when the end comes, I will be a part of finishing this abomination”—he spat the word back at Sluag—“forever. Once he’s inside that box, then I can move on, and I’ll be happy to do it.”
Sluag mockingly placed a hand over where his heart would have been—if he actually had one.
“Ah, so very touching, Finlay. Doesn’t bring Penthesilea back, though, does it?”
Next to me, Finlay flinched as though he had been slapped. I narrowed my eyes at Sluag but tried to speak calmly through my rage.
“Okay, I get that you’re not going to give Pen back until you have what you want. But, once you have her blood, there’s nothing stopping you from letting us have her back to be buried.”
He cocked a tufted grey brow at me. “So, calm and rational, Little Dreamer. It is almost as though I were talking with Penthesilea herself.”
I took a step forward, not taking my own eyes off the burning pits of Sluag’s.
“Please, Sluag. Treat her with the honour and respect that she deserves.”
He was silent for a very long time. He looked first at me and then to Finlay, who stood pale and silent beside me. Finally, his gaze shifted to Lyall, who stood a few feet away from us, still in wolf form.
Lyall’s lips peeled back in the tiniest hint of a snarl as Sluag studied him.
Lyall, I warned inside my head. He stopped instantly, instead simply levelling his amber glare on Sluag’s face.
After what felt like an eternity, Sluag spoke.
“No,” was all he said.
My eyes widened with anger. “What? Why?”
Sluag slowly shook his hideous head from side to side. “Because, I’m the bad guy in this story, Flora. I have no idea as to what would make you think I would show any kindness to a Soul Keeper or one of her Dion. Especially the Soul Keeper who is predicted to be my downfall.”
I raised a brow at that. So, he knew I was destined to finish him.
He was still speaking. “I’m quite certain that my Draugur will have finished exsanguinating Penthesilea’s body by now, and once I am certain that we have every drop we can take, I will burn her into ashes.”
He turned his back on us and started to walk away, deeper in to the Endwood.
“No, Flora. Once I am finished, there will be nothing left of your precious Penthesilea and now that I have her blood, in a matter of days, I will have a whole new army of Super Draugur. I don’t think that veil will be up for very much longer, do you?”
The three of us stood and stared at the retreating figure of Sluag. We didn’t move until he had completely disappeared amongst the blackened trees.
Once we could no longer see the tall, grey spectre of him, we slowly turned and started to make our way back through the Everwood to the terminal. None of us spoke. I was sure that each of us was wondering just how we were going to tell the others that we would never be able to lay Pen to rest.
Chapter Twenty-Five
All three of us had bowed heads when we arrived back at the terminal. Lyall slunk off to shift back in to human form, and Finlay and I sat down to tell the others what had happened.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lost it like that,” Finlay said quietly.
“No one can blame you, Finlay. You were the closest to Pen out of all of us,” Freya said softly.
“I hate to shift the focus from Pen right now, but we have a matter of days until the veil falls apart and the world starts to end.” Artair frowned.
“He’s right,” Lyall said as he walked back into the room and sat down next to me. “In fact, we might only have hours.”
“What do you mean?” Enid’s eyes were wide with worry.
Lyall rested his elbows on the rickety table as he continued. “The veil is fragile. None of us, not even Sluag, know how many more Supers it’s going to take to bring it down. He might only need to create one more, and you can bet your ass he’s got people working on it as we speak.”
Bear spoke up. “So, we still can’t kill a Super, and we’re gonna be overrun with them in a few days. Do you guys not think that perhaps we’re completely screwed?”
“Shut up,” Freya hissed.
“Is there any way Flora can eject the Supers’ souls, like she did with the pet’s for Finlay?” Enid asked.
Lyall spoke
gently, as he always did with Enid. He still thought of her as so much younger than she was. “The problem is, Flora had mine and Finlay’s help to do that, and it still nearly killed her. We can’t do it for all of the Supers Sluag has lined up.”
“If we get Sluag’s soul in the box, then maybe the Supers will stop following his orders anyway?” Artair shrugged.
“I don’t think we should be relying on maybes.” Finlay frowned.
“Problem is, maybe might be all we have. We’re on the clock now, and at some point soon, we’re gonna have to react, no matter how prepared we are,” Lyall said calmly.
Enid said what we were all thinking. “What if we lose?”
“I don’t expect we’ll know all that much about it. We’ll be dead,” Freya was as tactful as ever as she lounged back in her chair like she didn’t have a care in the world.
“Losing isn’t an option. I’m not giving the mortal world to Sluag.” I spoke firmly.
“Then we need a plan and it needs to work,” Artair said.
Finlay spoke up. “I’ve just had a thought. Would it be possible for me to try and help you push Sluag’s soul out of his body, Flor?”
“You mean the same way we kicked the Super out of its body for you?” Lyall asked.
“Yeah.” Finlay nodded.
I frowned. “That means you’ll have to leave your current body.”
Finlay smiled ruefully and held up his arm. As the sleeve fell back to expose the damaged and twisted skin underneath it, the others gasped in shock.
“It’s not like this body’s gonna let me stay too much longer anyway, Flor.”
“The more help we have with this, the better chance we have of getting Sluag in that box, love,” Lyall said gently, as though he were speaking to a child and it infuriated me.
I shook my head. “And after it’s done, then what happens?”
Finlay gave me a sad smile. “Then you help me to move on, Flor.”
Bear’s voice broke through the tide of sadness that washed over me. “That still doesn’t help us decide what to do with the Supers.”
“More Draugur, loyal to Flora, showed up through the night. We now have maybe two hundred of them. Could they each take a Super hostage for us once Sluag is boxed?” Freya suggested.
“It might work, although I imagine Supers are stronger than ordinary Draugur.” Artair looked to Lyall for agreement, and I felt a rush of warmth at how my Dion followed his lead so easily.
“They might buy us enough time to get the Supers into spelled cells. We’re going to need bigger cells than the ones at Castle Dion to hold them all, though.” Lyall looked thoughtful.
“I can contact Eric at the library and find out the exact details of the spell so we can create new holding cells,” Enid offered.
“Thank you, Enid, that would be helpful.” I smiled gratefully at her.
“I guess we just need to iron out the finer points now then, huh?” Finlay grinned. He was trying to be brave, and it made me both sad and angry in equal parts.
“Realistically, it would make sense to take the fight to Sluag before the veil falls.” Bear was surprisingly serious tonight.
I raised a brow. “Fight him in the Endwood?”
“There’s logic in that, love. What’s the point in waiting for him to create more Draugur and break down the veil?” Lyall nodded his approval at Bear.
“Makes sense to me. The sooner we put that dog down, the better,” Finlay agreed.
“Hey, less of the dog,” Lyall growled jokingly.
“Wait a minute.” I stood up as I spoke.
Everyone looked to me, sensing I wasn’t about to agree with the plan.
“Finlay, if you leave your body in the Endwood, then your soul will be trapped there, forever.” My voice trembled.
He lowered his eyes to the tabletop as he replied. “What other choice do we have, Flor? If the veil comes down, hundreds of innocent people could die, maybe more. This is a much better way.”
“Better for who?” My voice had increased in pitch.
“Better for all of the people who won’t die, Flora.” Finlay stared at me through unfamiliar eyes, set within a stranger’s face.
“No. We won’t take the fight to Sluag in the Endwood. I won’t let you give up the chance to come back to the mortal world again, Finlay.” I folded my arms over my chest in defiance.
“Then perhaps we need to have a vote on it, Flor.” Finlay gazed around the room at the others as he spoke.
I bit my lip as I tried to weigh up how the others would decide to vote. “All right,” I managed.
Finlay nodded and stood up. “All those in favour of waiting for the veil to fall?”
I put up my hand alongside Enid. Two of us. Only two?
“All those in favour of taking the fight to the Endwood?” Finlay raised his own hand as he spoke.
Four other hands went up alongside Finlay’s. When I met Lyall’s gaze and looked to his raised hand, I shook my head in despair.
“He’s already given up too much,” I whispered.
“It’s a Dion’s job, love. Don’t you remember what we told you when you first arrived. We will do anything to protect you and the mortals in your care. If that includes dying, then so be it,” Lyall said reverently.
“He’s already dead, Lyall. He’s going to give his soul to the Endwood.” I turned my attention to Finlay. “You once told me you would go mad if you had to spend eternity as a soul. Now you’re volunteering to do exactly that but in hell.”
Finlay shrugged. “I’d do anything for you, Flor, including saving the world.”
“Then it’s agreed,” Artair said quickly.
“I’ll get the spell from Eric and cast it on some new cells for our Super Draugur.” Enid stood up quickly, eager to escape the atmosphere at the table, I suspected.
“I think we need to get a rough idea of just how many Supers Sluag has right now,” Lyall mused aloud.
“How can we find out?” Freya quizzed.
“Well, if Artair’s up for it, I reckon it’s time to go and do a little spying in the Endwood.” Lyall grinned.
“Let’s do it.” Artair returned Lyall’s smile.
Enid’s eyes widened as she placed a hand on Artair’s arm. “Be careful.”
Bear waggled his eyebrows at Freya. “Looks like me and you need to crack on with some battle training, hotness.”
Freya smiled grimly. “Hmm getting to knock you on your ass sounds like my kind of training.”
“Oh, you are welcome to keep on trying, babe.” Bear winked and smiled at her.
Lyall crossed the room and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. I tried to stay angry, but it was impossible. “Please, be careful out there.”
“I will.” He pulled back from me and stared at me with his wolf eyes. “I’m sorry it’s not how you wanted it to be, love. But, you know we made the right decision.”
“I know,” I mumbled.
Lyall lifted his head and looked around at the other Dion. “We don’t have much time. I think we probably need to attack within twenty-four hours if we have any chance of stopping the veil from falling.”
Everyone nodded their agreement, and I felt my heart turn to ice as I stared at each of them in turn. In the space of just one day, I could lose every single Dion in this room and also my own life.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Bear and Freya asked me if I wanted to join them for battle training. Finlay was going along with them too, and Enid had promised to catch them up as soon as she had spelled the underground bunker at the terminal, ready for our Super hostages.
I had tried to reason with Lyall that Freya would make a better spy, since Sluag had promised not to harm her when she was in raven form and escorting rogues to the Endwood.
Lyall had stood his ground, insisting that “all bets were now off” and that Sluag would tear Freya apart if he caught her. I had quickly realised that Lyall was right, and Sluag didn’t care about his supply of rogues any
longer. He had zero intention of staying inside the Endwood anyway.
I politely refused to train with the other Dion. There wasn’t any real point in me honing my battle skills—Lyall wouldn’t let me get near enough to the action to join in. But, apart from that, I had a responsibility to stay at the side lines and work on parting Sluag’s soul from his hideous body.
I wondered, not for the first time, why Sluag chose such a repulsive body to inhabit. I remembered back to when I had first encountered The Host of the Unforgiven Dead, and he had taken the face of my father. He could appear in any form he wanted, yet he chose to be a scaly, grey demon.
In reality, he likely wanted to appear as terrifying as he possibly could. I smiled weakly to myself; his image was a cliché, just like so many other things in my crazy, messed up, Soul Keeper’s world.
I had suddenly been overwhelmed by a desperate desire to go home, one last time. I wanted to see my little cottage—my last link to my parents and to Achilles. When I asked Lyall whether he thought it was a really stupid idea, he hadn’t been dead against it.
“I very much doubt Sluag will suspect you’re gonna go home for a visit under the circumstances, love. It’s quite possibly the safest place you could be right now. Just be careful, okay?”
I had promised I would be, so when he and Artair set off to find a discreet way to hop over the border between the Everwood and the Endwood, I had struck out for home by myself.
I slowly walked up the seventeen steps that were cut into the hillside that led to the front door of the cottage. It was a beautiful day and although the garden was now neglected and overgrown, it was still like standing in a little corner of paradise, especially after so long spent living in the darkness of the terminal.
When I got to the door, I took a deep breath and gently rested my forehead against the oak-coloured wood. My mind went back to a time when I was happy here, living with my parents and Achilles. Once upon a thousand years ago, I had been an ordinary girl, who just seemed to get recognised a lot more often than anyone should.
“I miss you so much,” I whispered aloud, not sure if I was talking to my parents or my life before all this. I turned the key in the lock and let the door swing open.
