‘No.’ She shook her head, her smile telling me she knew she was driving him crazy.
‘But….’ He stopped and shook his head. He knew Isla too well to play along with her game.
‘What are you doing here?’ I said. ‘It’s dangerous. There’s going to be a war.’
Tiny’s misshaped face screwed up, the tip of his tongue popping out between his teeth as he nodded his head. ‘Tiny knows. Tiny came to help.’
Turos, Grams and Lionel stepped out of the trees. The rest of the Millenium hung back, spreading out in a protective fan around us.
‘Blimey,’ Grams said, ‘that’s the biggest giant I’ve ever seen.’ She peered up at him. ‘If I’m not mistaken, you must be Berdina Flatfoot’s son.’
‘You knew Mummy?’ Tiny leant forwards and the small shift in his body threw us to our knees. ‘Oops. Sorry.’ He patted us roughly, each stroke forcing my head further onto my spine, and then turned his attention back to Grams.
‘She was a dear friend of mine,’ Grams said. ‘I am so sorry. I heard about her death. She was a true hero.’
Tears welled up in Tiny’s eyes and I scampered down the side of his pants onto the ground. I knew all too well what happened when Tiny started to cry and I didn’t feel like dodging basketball-sized tears. Isla and Aethan landed beside me.
‘I don’t really remember her,’ he said.
‘My dear fellow.’ Grams marched forwards and patted him on the leg. ‘Would you like me to tell you some stories?’
Tiny nodded his head, and tears flew out in an arc, smacking into the ground around us like water bombs.
‘Well,’ Grams held a hand out to him, ‘why don’t you follow us back to camp and I’ll tell you all about it?’
The ground trembled as Tiny placed his hands on the ground and pushed himself up. I widened my stance, relaxing my knees to ride it.
‘May I suggest you let us get airborne first?’ Lionel looked up from his position on all fours.
‘Ooooopps.’ A sheepish smile tugged at Tiny’s lips.
He waited till we were all back on dragon back before he stood up.
‘Tell Turos we’ll head back and warn the army we’ve got a giant with us. I should also brief Tamsonite on the success of our mission as soon as possible.’
I nodded my head at Aethan’s words and opened my mind to Emerald. A few seconds later I saw Turos nod his head and lift a hand in farewell. Emerald circled the odd group once before we shot off towards the army. I could tell she was uncomfortable leaving Arthur behind with a giant.
He won’t hurt him, I reassured her.
It’s just that he’s bigger than Arthur. What if he accidentally swipes him from the air?
I didn’t point out that he was bigger than her and Lance as well. He won’t. I hoped.
She let out a small puff of smoke and kept the rest of her worries to herself.
A few minutes later we landed at the front of our troops. I watched as Tamsonite came to meet us. Rako, King Arwyn and another man accompanied him. I was guessing by the General’s stripes the last man wore, that he was the human General.
‘General Robertson,’ Aethan said, nodding his head at the man. ‘Father.’ He clasped forearms with Arwyn and then pulled him into a hug. They slapped each other on the back before releasing each other again. ‘Rako, Wolfgang, good to see you.’
I waved from my place next to Emerald and Wolfgang waved back. Rako wasn’t the wavy type, he dipped his head in a nod instead.
‘Well met, well met,’ General Tamsonite said. ‘How did you fare?’
‘The mission was a success, Sir,’ Aethan said. ‘Except for one thing. A few thousand of them had already made it through the pass. If they keep moving at the same pace, they’ll be here by nightfall.’
Tamsonite muttered an oath. ‘Oh well. It will give the new recruits something to cut their teeth on.’
‘There’s a chance they may realise they’ve been cut off from the rest of the army and wait,’ Aethan continued.
Tamsonite nodded. ‘Well at least with aerial surveillance we will have some warning. Did you get a look at the rest of the army?’
Aethan shook his head. ‘We couldn’t see the crater from where we were.’
‘We’ve had word from King Arracon,’ King Arwyn said. ‘They are a day away.’
‘How is that possible?’ Aethan asked what I am sure we were all wondering.
‘Turns out their entire force is mounted. As are their slaves.’ Arwyn shook his head at the thought of that many horses. ‘They can cover in a day what it’s been taking us four to do.’
Aethan looked around. ‘Speaking of night faeries?’
‘She’s with the rear guard,’ Rako said. ‘It’s the safest place.’
I nudged Aethan and raised my eyebrows at him when he looked at me.
He didn’t miss a beat as he turned back to Tamsonite. ‘Sir, on our way back to camp we came across a friendly giant. He’s the son of Berdina Flatfoot. He should arrive in about thirty minutes and it would be good if our troops didn’t try to kill him.’
‘Berdina’s son, hey?’ Tamsonite nodded his head. ‘She was a fine giant. One of a kind.’ He turned to his personal aide. ‘Roger,’ he barked, ‘make your way to the rear of the army and when you see a giant coming sound the stand down call. Just don’t do it so loudly that the whole damned army hears you.’ He shook his head and turned back to us. ‘The last thing we need with a possible horde about to attack is an army taking a siesta.’
Roger saluted, turned, and ran towards a line of horses picketed to the side. He pulled the reins of a roan mare off a wooden post and jumped onto her back.
‘Can you organise an air reconnaissance?’ Tamsonite asked. ‘I’d like to know if we are expecting an imminent attack or not.’
I nodded and closed my eyes as I opened my mind towards Emerald.
‘Oh and can you see if King Bladimir is free. I think a council of war might be in order.’
I nodded again and started to close my eyes.
‘And I guess we should get Prince Turos as well. He’ll be heading the dragon riders.’
I closed them again.
‘Tell them all to meet us at the command tent.’
I opened my eyes and stared at him. ‘Is that it?’
He ignored the snippy tone in my voice. Apparently you don’t get to be the General in charge of the army by being phased by temperamental eighteen year olds. ‘For now.’
This time when I closed my eyes he was silent. Emerald sent the requests for reconnaissance, Turos and Bladimir out to the appropriate dragons.
‘All done, Sir,’ I said when she had finished. ‘They are on their way.’
‘Splendid. Shall we?’ He held his arm out in the direction of the tent and then led the way. Arwyn, Robertson and Rako fell in beside him.
We beat King Bladimir to the tent by a few minutes. Gladaline was with him, the stately way she held herself belying her visual appearance. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t had time to bathe since coming through the gateway from Millenium.
‘This is my wife, Queen Gladaline.’ King Bladimir had a firm grip on her hand. ‘Darling, this is King Arwyn, Prince Aethan, General Tamsonite, General Robertson and the head of the fae Border Guard, Rako. And of course you have already met Isadora Gabrielle.’
Gladaline tilted her head as Rako, Aethan and the Generals bowed to her. King Arwyn gave her a nod of his own.
I started with a curtsy before realising it was hard to curtsy when wearing pants. I moved into an awkward bow and finished it up with a head tilt. I’m sure it looked more like a weird dance movement than anything else but the only person who seemed to see it was Aethan. He placed his hand over his mouth and coughed as he struggled not to laugh.
‘I thought she should be here as well. She sometimes has a,’ Bladimir cleared his throat, ‘useful way of looking at things.’
‘Of course.’ Tamsonite waved a hand at the chairs that were ar
ranged around a large table and everyone sat down. I had already done a head count and realised we were one chair short. That suited me fine. Instead, I stood to the side, leaning up against one of the tent poles. I really didn’t want to be a part of the planning. In fact, I was kind of hoping they’d forget about me entirely. The last thing I wanted was a plan which involved me saving the day.
Turos’s head appeared through the tent opening. He grinned when he saw there were no seats left and came over to where I was trying to blend into the tent canvas. His shoulder touched mine as he leant up against the other side of the tent pole. I saw Aethan glance towards us and stiffen.
The tent flap moved and Wolfgang appeared in the entrance. ‘Ahhh. This is the right tent. Good. It’s so easy to get disorientated when all the tents look the same.’ He winked at me and then looked at the table.
Aethan jumped to his feet. ‘Please,’ he said, ‘have my seat.’ He moved over to stand on the other side of me.
I rolled my eyes to the ceiling and muttered, ‘Men,’ under my breath.
A bugle called far off in the distance. Tiny had arrived.
‘Are we all here?’ Tamsonite looked around the table.
My mind wandered while he filled them in on the situation at the pass. I was trying not to think about any of it. It wasn’t that I was worried about facing goblins, orcs, Vulpine or dwarfs. The giants did make me pause just a little. I still hadn’t worked out the logistical best way to deal with them, but I was betting if I blew out their knee caps it would pretty much be game over for them.
No, it wasn’t any of them that had my stomach churning in knots. I was worried about something far more worrisome. I felt like I’d been chosen captain of a sports team when I wasn’t actually up to it. If only this was as simple as something that started with a coin toss and ended with a victory lap and maybe an ale at the local pub.
Instead, soon, sooner than I cared to think about, it was going to begin. And shortly afterwards I would face Santanas again on the battlefield. Things hadn’t worked out so well for us the last time that had happened. I wasn’t up to it. I knew that. And I was pretty sure everybody else did as well. And that only made me feel even sicker.
A throat cleared outside the tent.
‘Come in Roger,’ Tamsonite called.
A hand appeared pushing back the flap and Roger’s body followed his head. He looked around the circle of leaders as he threw a salute. ‘The giant has arrived, Sir. And the aerial surveillance has arrived back as well.’
‘Splendid.’ Tamsonite struck his palm down on the table. ‘Send them in.’
Isla slipped through the opening and stood in front of the table. She threw her father a smile and then turned to look at General Tamsonite and General Robertson. ‘They’re coming,’ she said. ‘I’m not even sure they realise they’ve been cut off from the rest of their group. I estimate they will come into view in about an hour.’
Robertson chuckled and rubbed his hands together. ‘Like lambs to the slaughter.’
Isla tipped her head to the side. ‘Possibly. Of course the Vulpine circling over them may make things a little more difficult.’ She smiled. ‘A couple of them thought it would be best if Arthur and I didn’t make it back.’ Her smile broadened.
Turos sucked in his breath. I felt him move and turned to see him shaking his head. I knew what he was thinking. It hadn’t been Arthur and Isla that had been sent out to scout. She must have convinced the other dragonrider to escort Tiny in instead. ‘We’re smaller. We’ll be less visible.’ I could hear her persuasive voice echoing in my head. I was pretty sure her beatific smile had just got one of the dragon riders into big trouble.
She didn’t seem concerned though. She took up a position behind her father’s chair as if acting as his guard but I knew it was really so she had a better view of the map.
‘And so it begins, again.’ Wolfgang’s voice was tinged with sadness.
I felt my spine stiffen as the full import of his words struck me. I was worrying about going up against my grandfather, a man I had never known. Wolfgang was about to go up against his son-in-law, a man he had known. Known and loved. And it wasn’t the first time he had done this.
It didn’t really matter whether or not we could win. What mattered was that we fought tooth and nail trying. What mattered the most was that we said no to a life of fear and tyranny, instead, choosing to fight for our freedom.
I took in a deep breath and let it slowly back out again. Yes, that I could do.
‘Our main threat,’ Tamsonite stated the obvious, ‘will come from aerial attacks, and any spells they throw at us.
Their voices droned on while I thought about what Ulandes has said. What had she meant by any of it? And how could the real battle be in me? What did I have to do? Did I have to do it at a certain time? If I didn’t, would we lose?’
‘Gentlemen,’ Tamsonite looked at Bladimir and Wolfgang, ‘how do we stand on those fronts?’
‘Our dragons will eat those mangy eagles for breakfast.’
‘The spellcasters stand ready to serve.’
Tamsonite smoothed down his gigantic moustache. ‘Well, I don’t think there is anything else we need to discuss. Let’s get moving. If we start marching now, we should be in place in time to deal with them before dark.’ He pushed his chair back from the table and stood.
Dark Sky. I’d day dreamed my way through the whole briefing. ‘Urrrrr,’ I said. ‘What do you want me to do?’
Rako scratched at the corner of his mouth. A habit I had noticed that presented when he was trying not to smile. ‘May I?’ He looked at Tamsonite and Robertson, waiting for them to nod before he continued. ‘Izzy. You are to do whatever needs to be done. Within the limits of course.’
‘That’s it?’ I knew what he was talking about. No black magic.
He nodded. ‘That’s it.’
Huh. So much for getting direction from them. I was no closer to understanding what my part in all of this was.
I traced a finger over the map while the rest of them filed from the room. I had flown over this area, so it all looked familiar. Turos stood next to me, staring intently at the map, but I had a feeling he wasn’t concentrating on it.
‘What’s up?’ I spoke softly enough that the others wouldn’t hear.
‘Not sure.’ He traced a finger over the line of hills which currently sheltered us from view from the Pass of Bones. ‘Something’s not right though.’
‘How so?’
‘Don’t know.’ He turned to look at me. ‘But when I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know.’
‘You see it too?’ Aethan let the tent flap fall and walked back over to the table. The two of them faced each other, but for the first time there was no animosity in their stances.
Turos nodded. ‘Things aren’t what they seem.’
‘They never are.’ Aethan tilted his head as he scratched at the side of his face. ‘Tell your men to be ready to move quickly.’ He smiled at his own words.
‘Agreed.’ Turos held out his hand. ‘We work together on this.’
‘To keep her safe?’ Aethan nodded. ‘Always.’
‘What are you two talking about?’ Exasperation tinged my voice.
The tent flap pushed up and Isla pushed back through the opening. ‘They’re talking about the trap,’ Isla said.
12
The Beginning of the End
‘A trap?’ My voice rang out an octave higher than normal. How come I was the only person that didn’t know about the trap?
Aethan put a hand on my arm. ‘We don’t know for sure there’s a trap.’
Isla rolled her eyes. ‘Really? How can there not be? There’s always a trap.’
I groaned and sank back into my chair. Of course there was a trap.
‘It would be gross incompetence if this was their only plan.’ She waved a sparkly arm at the map.
I put my head on my hands. ‘We’re just puppets,’ I mumbled through my fingers. I was officia
lly the worst War Faery in the history of time.
‘The attackers always have the advantage of surprise,’ Aethan said.
‘Shouldn’t we tell someone? Rako? Tamsonite?’
‘I’m sure Rako has worked it out. The others haven’t dealt with Galanta before. They’re working on the premise that goblins are stupid.’ Aethan let out a snort. ‘Which most of them are.’
‘Come on.’ Isla grabbed my hand and pulled me up. ‘They’re waiting for us to get airborne. They don’t want the forward troops getting attacked by the Vulpine.’
I followed her to the exit, watching as she pushed open the flap and her arm emerged into the sun. Light glinted off her tattoos, the prism from one of her diamonds blinding me. I blinked and shook my head, trying to dispel the bright white light that obscured my vision.
‘Down,’ Isla screamed. She slammed into me, knocking me to my knees.
I peered up, saw the sword descending in an arc toward me, saw Isla position herself above, her arm held high to take the cut that was mine. I poured my magic out towards the attacker, toward the sword, but they were moving with the speed of light, and before I could stop them, the edge of the sword contacted Isla’s arm.
I say contacted, rather than bit into, or severed.
Sparks flew as it met her skin, and an eerie screeching sound lifted the hairs on the back of my neck. She let out a delighted laugh, as she twisted her forearm, sending the sword flying, and then slammed her other arm into the attacker’s nose.
Blood spurted and his head whipped back as if she had hit him with a baseball bat. He flew through the air with the force of it, and landed a few metres away.
I wasn’t sure if he was dead or not until Aethan bent over and put his fingers to the man’s throat.
‘Dead,’ he said, standing back up. He stared down at the attacker’s face. ‘One of yours I think.’ He looked over his shoulder at Turos who let out a low oath before nodding his head.
‘Izzy made some enemies before we came through.’ He walked over and peered down at the man. ‘What did you hit him with?’ He had been the last one out of the tent and had missed most of the action. ‘You crushed his skull.’
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