Shining Armor

by Halle Dean

  "You are impressive, for sure," Marcus noted. "But you're slowing. You can't hold out against our magic forever."

  Both Warners knew that Marcus was right. Warner had slices and bruises all over him. It was only a matter of time before a more fatal spell made its way to him. He wished for a sword fight rather than a magic battle. The old magicians would hardly have a chance.

  She's coming! other Warner thought suddenly.

  Who? Warner asked.

  Ella! other Warner growled inwardly. She was upstairs, sleeping. Now she's awake and coming down!

  Warner could hear small footsteps and feel the magic energy from the stairwell. The magic guard didn't seem to notice. They were still focusing all of their energy on attacking. But Warner had stopped focusing so much on defending. A fatigue spell hit him square in the chest and he stumbled backward. As he did, Ella appeared at the bottom of the staircase on the opposite side of the room.

  "No!" she shouted, her little face twisted with anger. "No more!" She stomped her foot as everyone looked around. All the casting stopped. Warner felt strange for a moment as he fell to his knees, and then he felt clear again. He found he could control his body. "Daddy!" Ella cried, running past the confused magic guard and to her father.

  "Ella," he said, taking her into his arms. "How did you do that?"

  "You're bleeding!" she exclaimed, pulling back. "Momma will fix you."

  The members of the magic guard seemed to come to their senses. They all drew swords and surrounded Warner and Ella. Warner tried to pull his sword out of The Void, but he couldn't. Ella had suppressed magic in the room; he was completely defenseless. He was sure he could acquire one of the magic guard member's swords, but he would have to leave Ella unprotected.

  "Your daughter doesn't have much in the way of intelligence, does she?" Marcus asked. Ella stuck her tongue out at him. "No matter. We don't need her any longer." He turned to the rest of the men. "Kill them both."

  Warner tried his best to cover Ella, though he knew it was pointless. As soon as he was dead, so was she.

  "No!" Sophie's voice cried out from behind them.

  The magic guard looked over to the doorway, but Warner took his chance. He snatched one of the swords out of the hands of a magic guard member and used it to cut the man down. Then, he quickly grabbed Ella and pulled her through the gap he'd made in the circle surrounding them. As the rest of the magic guard seemed to realize what had happened, they turned back to Warner.

  "Go with Momma," Warner said, pushing Ella behind him.

  "You killed that magic man," Ella said in an astonished tone.

  "It's all right," he said. "Go with Momma."

  "Come here, Ella," Sophie said. "Daddy is busy."

  Warner glanced over at Sophie and felt a twinge of pain in his heart when he saw her injured shoulder. He looked away and refocused his attention on the magic guard. They didn't seem to care much about their fallen member, simply stepping over his body. There were still eight left and they wielded their swords with more skill than he expected of them. He was still confident he could beat them though.

  "Go find all the knights and get somewhere safe," Warner instructed Sophie. "I'll be there soon." The magic guard advanced and Warner felt the effects of the fatigue spell still slowing him down. He looked at Sophie out of the corner of his eye to see she wasn't moving. "Sophie, go," he insisted.

  "You must come back," she said.

  Before Warner could respond, she picked up Ella and run off. Warner looked back to the magic guard just in time to block the first attack. Sparks flew as the two swords collided. The man who attacked had poor form. He left himself wide open for a counterattack, which Warner used to take him down.

  Seven to go, he thought.

  The men seemed to realize that attacking him one on one was not working. They all stepped forward at once, but Warner saw it coming. He made a preemptive attack, slicing through three of the closest men. They were dying very easily, which Warner found a bit strange, but he didn't have time to consider why. It seemed that, the more men that went down, the faster and more skilled the remaining ones became. Still, it only took a few moments to cut down all but one.

  "You're growing tired," Marcus said.

  He was right. Warner was exhausted and Marcus seemed in perfect form. As far as Warner could tell, the man hadn't made a single move during the entire fight so far. Something about that made Warner uneasy. Marcus grinned and raised his sword. Looking around at the fallen men, it dawned on Warner what had been happening the whole time.

  "It's only you," he murmured.

  "Yes, you did manage to dispatch my comrades, but—"

  "No, not comrades," Warner said. "Only you. You're all of them."

  Marcus' smirk fell. "I was warned about you," he sneered.

  "You were warned about Warner?" Warner chuckled. He was feeling a bit woozy. The blood loss wasn't as bad as before, but the fatigue spell made it feel worse. "So, how did you do it without magic?" he asked. "The spell lingered? That's why they were so weak; you couldn't control them without access to your magic energy."

  "Silence," Marcus said.

  "I wondered how Edric found nine people that agreed with him," Warner mused. "Honestly, I'm still surprised he got one idiot on his side." Marcus was glaring, but not advancing. Warner was exhausted and quickly losing the energy he needed to fight. "You must be a special sort of fool."

  Warner had to lean to the side to dodge a clumsy attack. Marcus was no longer composed. It seemed that he got upset fairly easily. That would work out well for Warner—he was particularly skilled in upsetting people.

  "You brat," Marcus snarled.

  "You'd be surprised how often I have that word thrown at me," Warner said, laughing. He did his best to act like he was still in perfect condition. It appeared to make Marcus even angrier.

  "You'll not have to hear it much longer," Marcus said, gripping his sword hilt tightly.

  "Because you're going to kill me?" Warner asked, raising his eyebrows and smirking. "I'd like to see you try. I've taken down men far more powerful than you."

  Marcus leapt forward with a loud yell and Warner raised his sword to block. Marcus had a considerable amount of force behind his attack and Warner had to step back. Sparks flew as the swords slid against each other. Warner ducked and swung his leg out, toppling Marcus.

  Before Marcus had the chance to get back to his feet, Warner snatched the sword from his hand. Marcus didn't look remorseful, or apologetic, or even afraid. All Warner could see in his expression was hatred and anger.

  "Do it," Marcus said through his teeth.

  "You're quick to give in," Warner said. "Long life full of regrets?"

  "The only thing I regret is that I won't be there when you finally come to your end," Marcus snarled, sitting up.

  Warner wasn't sorry to see him go.

  "Holding onto regrets isn't good for you," Warner remarked. He crossed the swords, placing them at Marcus' neck. "I should know."

  Forty Two

  Useless

  Melody spent several hours scouring the forest below where the building had been. She was convinced Lane would be there somewhere. When she couldn't find any trace of him, she became angry. She picked up small rocks and branches, hurling them at the empty space where the house had been above her. She kicked a boulder very hard and, when it hurt her toe, she blew it to pieces using magic.

  "It's not fair!" she shouted, falling to her knees with tears in her eyes. "Haven't I been through enough now? Haven't I—" She slumped over sideways, lying on the ground. "Can I do nothing?! Can I not bring him back? I'll do anything! I'll die instead!" Her tears were flowing freely, but she didn't try to stop them. "It would be... better that way," she sniffed. "I can't handle any more pain. I can't..."

  She curled up and hugged her knees, sobbing. No one could see her, so she had no reason to look dignified. Even if someone was there, she didn't care anymore. After awhile, she fell asleep, remaining in th
e center of the clearing.

  * * *

  When she awoke, her tears were dry. She used magic to regain enough energy to get to her feet. She was in desperate need of water and found her way to a small stream. After that, she trudged through the forest, thinking of nothing because it hurt less that way. Eventually, she made it out of the trees, near Petunia's house.

  Warner's little house was still nearby. He hadn't vanished it into The Void because he had been conserving his magic. He had put a protection spell on Lane though. He had tried to help and Melody had left him. She had taken with her their way of reaching Coriander.

  "I must help them," she said. "Or everyone else will die too."

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She would have to make The Void take her to them, but that was far more difficult than trying to go to a specific place. She entered The Void and hoped she could make it work. She focused on Warner, but remained in The Void, holding her breath. She shut her eyes and tried to imagine he was standing beside her. Finally, she felt air surrounding her again and opened her eyes. She was in the castle, which confused her for a moment, but then Warner ran right past her. He skidded to a stop and turned to look at her.

  "Melody?" he asked, bewildered.

  "Hello," she said, feeling ashamed.

  She wondered if he might yell at her for leaving, but he hugged her instead.

  "I was so worried," he said. "I thought you might not come back." She felt tears again and tried to suppress them. "I'm sorry, Melody," he mumbled.

  "It's not your fault, Warner." She sighed and pushed him away. "Anyway, I came to help you get to the castle, but I see you're already here."

  "Yes, about that," he said, scratching the back of his head. "We didn't have time, so the other Warner had to bring us here."

  "And he allowed you to take control again?"

  "Not exactly." Melody took a wary step back. "Oh, no, no," he said, holding his palms forward. "He's not in control now. Ella made him go away. He's furious now that he's back, but he's not in control."

  "So, where are you going?" Melody asked.

  "I'm not sure," Warner shrugged. "I'm trying to find Sophie and Ella."

  "They're all right?"

  "They got captured by Edric's magic guard," he explained. "But I don't think they were actually harmed. Now that the magic guard is dead, we don't have much left to worry about."

  "They're dead?" Melody asked, feeling relieved. She'd met them a few times and wasn't the least bit upset to hear that she would never have to meet them again.

  "We should find Sophie," Warner said. "I don't know how other Warner managed to use The Void to get to her before, so we'll have to try to guess at which way she went."

  "Give me your hand," Melody said, reaching for him. "I'll take us to her."

  * * *

  Melody and Warner materialized in the forest, in the midst of several people. Many of them were knights, and had the reflexes to stop before colliding with them. Most drew their swords, but James stepped forward.

  "It's all right," he said. The knights looked apprehensive, even as James smiled reassuringly. He looked over his shoulder at Warner. "Isn't it?" he asked. "You're yourself again?"

  Warner nodded. "Yes. Where are Sophie and Ella?"

  "Here," Sophie said from behind Melody.

  Melody and Warner turned to see Sophie, holding Ella in her arms and smiling in relief. Layla and Jace were with her. It felt strange to see everyone together, without Lane. Melody, who had been glad to see everyone a moment before, lost her excitement. Sophie and Ella hugged Warner and then, after a moment, Sophie handed Ella to him and turned to Melody.

  "How do you fare?" Sophie asked.

  "I'm all right," Melody said, trying to force a small smile.

  "Don't lie to me," Sophie said. "I know it feels as though the world is ending at times. But don't bottle it up, or you won't ever recover."

  "I don't wish to talk about it," Melody mumbled.

  "I know," Sophie said, nodding. "I understand that. But it's important that you do talk about it. We'll speak later."

  "Very well," Melody grumbled.

  "Good. Feelings later. Escaping now," Alex said.

  "We don't have anything else to escape from," Warner said. "The magic guard is dead."

  "Dead?" Blue repeated. He was the only one of the knights that hadn't resheathed his sword.

  "All of them?" Alex asked, surprised.

  "Well, it was Marcus controlling eight body puppets, but yes."

  "Body puppets?" Robert asked, bewildered.

  "False humans with magic put into them," James explained. "He must have used a powerful spell to make them all look and sound different."

  "Yes, he did well," Warner said. "But now he's dead and we have only one person to worry about."

  "Only one?" Everyone looked up to see Taiki Moto standing on the branch of a large tree. "I am insulted," Taiki said.

  "What are you doing here?" Warner asked, pulling his sword from The Void. The other knights followed suit and Melody was perplexed.

  "Warner, what are you doing?" she asked. "That's Jace's father."

  "Jace," Taiki said, looking to his son. He said something in his own language that seemed to terrify Jace, who hid behind Sophie.

  "You leave him be!" Sophie shouted.

  Vines sprung up from the ground, wrapping around her wrists and yanking her into the air. She cried out in pain and winced. Melody noticed a wound on her shoulder and wondered where it came from.

  "Release her, now!" Warner demanded. Melody wasn't sure why he said it, because he just used slicing magic to sever the vines. Sophie fell and landed in the tall grass. Warner ran to her side and helped her up as more vines shot up. "Get away!" Warner yelled, cutting through many of the vines with his sword.

  "You try to overthrow Magics Society," Taiki said. "I kill you all."

  Vines, tree branches, and even grass swarmed around the group. They wrapped everyone up and disarmed the knights. Melody squirmed against the constricting plants, but they were very strong. Jace was lifted up into the air. As he was brought closer to his father, Sophie began struggling harder.

  "Leave him alone!" she screamed.

  She started to shout more, but vines muffled her voice. There were tears in her eyes as she twisted against her leafy bonds.

  "Melody, I can't cast anything," Warner said. "My arms are trapped. You must free us."

  The plants were digging into her skin, but Melody tried to ignore it. She concentrated, instead, on a disintegration spell. All the plants in the near vicinity withered and crumbled to an ash-like substance. Even the trees around them, including the one Taiki was standing in, turned to gray powder. Taiki and Jace sent puffs of plant ash up around them as they hit the ground.

  The knights searched through the ashes for their weapons. Melody saw two figures where the large tree had been, but she didn't get the chance to look closer. Taiki was wading toward her, through the ashes. Warner got in his way, glaring at him.

  "Back away," Warner growled, raising his sword.

  Taiki responded by waving his arm in an upward motion. Saplings sprung up, weaving their way around Warner as they grew into trees. Before Warner could make any move, they had joined together and enveloped him. Taiki was still headed for Melody, but again, someone barred his path.

  "No," Jace said forcefully.

  He was trembling, but his voice sounded steady. He and his father spent a short moment speaking to each other in Notatsuese. Then, to Melody's shock, Taiki struck the boy across the face. Jace fell backwards and his father kicked him in the side. Sophie ran over and pulled Jace away quickly. Taiki started to follow, but Melody recovered from her shock and grabbed his arm. He turned back to her and wrenched out her grasp.

  Before she could do more than glare, he waved his hand upward again and trees began to grow around her. She tried to get away, but it was so fast that only her arm escaped, sticking uselessly out of the side of a newly
grown tree. It was hard to breathe and the tree was still growing, pressing in on her from all sides. She didn't have the magic energy left for a second disintegration spell, so she used The Void instead. Taiki looked surprised when she appeared in front of him. It took her a moment to collect herself and get her breath back. When she was ready, so was Taiki.

  "How you escape?" he asked. He tried to trap her again, but she used The Void again and the tree grew without anyone inside. "Stand still!" Taiki demanded.

  A woman's voice called out, and Melody looked around to see Jun and Li standing nearby. They were the figures she'd seen before. Taiki had trapped his own family in a tree prison. Jun tearfully pleaded with her husband in Notatsuese, but he didn't respond kindly. She moved forward and tried to protest again, but vines grew up around her, wrapping her tightly. She cried out in pain, but the vines didn't cease.

  "You'll kill her!" Melody protested, horrified.

  She tried to stop Taiki, but he shoved her away. He clenched his fist and the vines constricted Jun even more.

  "Do not need her," Taiki said cruelly. "She not do as I say. She not live."

  The vines had enveloped Jun completely. Her screams were silenced as she was surrounded by the deathly cocoon of plant life. Li was crying. He ran to the vines, trying to pull them away. Taiki turned his attention to his youngest son. Li started screaming in Notatsuese. Taiki raised his arm to attack Li, but Jace leapt in his path, holding up Warner's sword. Melody glanced over to see that Sophie had managed to free Warner, but he was unconscious. Everyone else was trapped inside tree prisons, except for Ella, who was sitting on the ground, crying.

  "No."

  Jace looked furious. There was a gash in his cheek and tears streamed down his face. Taiki threw his head back in laughter, but Jace didn't falter. He leapt forward with a yell and brought down Warner's sword on his father with both hands. Before he could make contact, vines reached out and snagged his ankles. He hung upside-down, dropping the sword on the ground below him. Taiki picked up the sword and Melody tried to control her panic.