Faery Revenge

by Donna Joy Usher

  I took the pieces of dried meat that Isla handed me and began the tiresome job of chewing.

  ‘She had the most beautiful smile. Just like yours,’ Grams added, patting Tiny on the leg.

  I wiggled further down Tiny’s leg till I was lying with my back against him. The warmth from the fire settled onto my skin.

  ‘She told me all about you. About how you started whittling wood when you were only three years old. She said that the first animal you ever carved was so lifelike that she thought it was going to get up and walk around.’

  I felt my eyelids flutter shut. It had been too long since I had had a good night’s sleep. Here, within the calm of my mind, there was nothing left to prevent that. No worries, no fears.

  ‘She loved you more than life itself. And what she did, she did to keep you safe.’

  Something moved beneath my head and I opened my eyes far enough to see Isla standing back up. ‘Sleep well Izzy,’ she whispered.

  And I did.

  13

  The Trap

  I awoke to the cold predawn light. Sabby lay on her side next to me. Thomas had one arm flung over her as he curved protectively around her. My heart clenched and tears pricked my eyes at the view.

  Aethan squatted beside me as he leant over the remnants of the fire and blew onto some glowing embers. He fed leaves and twigs into it, gently coaxing it back to life, then he placed a pot on top and sat back on his haunches. Everybody else lay motionless around us.

  I had come out of my trance while I slept, but peace still draped me like a heavy blanket as I watched his silhouette. It had been so long since I’d watched him like this. Alone in his thoughts while he carried out a mundane duty. I squashed a pang of loss. Things had been so simple once.

  ‘How are you feeling?’ His voice was low, designed to reach my ears only.

  ‘I feel good,’ I whispered back.

  I reached out and placed my fingertips on the back of his hand and he turned it over so that our fingers entwined. He let out a low sigh and sat back till he was leaning against Tiny’s leg beside me.

  ‘I feel….’ He stopped and turned to meet my eyes. ‘I feel like we’ve done this before. By ourselves.’ His eyes flicked down to our hands. ‘Am I right?’

  Memories of nights we’d spent in Trillania beside fires flooded me.

  I wanted to tell him, but if Rako was right, there was a chance he may never regain those memories if I did. I looked at our fingers, feeling the warmth of his companionship flowing into me through the contact. He had done it for me, back before I could remember. He had kept our secrets safe so that when the time came, the memories were still mine. I could do the same for him.

  I shifted, wiggling up so that I sat beside him. ‘Somewhere in here,’ I reached out and touched the fingers of my free hand to his head, ‘and in here,’ I laid my palm against his chest, ‘lives the memories of a friendship deep and true.’ I refused to believe it wasn’t in there somewhere.

  ‘Just a friendship?’ His voice was almost too low for me to hear it.

  I shook my head. ‘Never just a friendship.’ From the first time I had laid eyes on him, friendship alone had been an impossibility. Even if it had been one-sided, love would have been involved. ‘But I think that that is what I miss the most.’ I shook my head, struggling to explain what I meant. ‘You see our love, it grew from that friendship.’

  He was silent for a few moments. ‘So what you’re saying,’ he finally said, ‘is that our relationship had substance. It wasn’t a superficial affair.’ His eyes flickered to where Turos lay further down the clearing next to Arthur and Isla.

  I traced my free hand down the side of his face, pulling his eyes back to mine. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘That’s exactly what I’m saying.’

  He leant towards me, an intent look on his face. I moved my hand so that my fingers were splayed across his face, smiling as I pushed his face away.

  ‘I know. The treaty.’ A mischievous glint sparked in his eyes as one side of his mouth pulled up into my favourite, lopsided smile. ‘Can’t blame a guy for trying.’

  ‘What’s for breakfast?’ Grams sat up and ruffled up her hair with her hands.

  Lionel stretched his arms above his head, ‘My first choice would be bacon and eggs on pancakes with maple syrup.’

  ‘What’s your second choice?’ Grams rustled around in the bag lying next to her.

  ‘Dried meat.’

  ‘Oh look.’ She pulled some jerky out and held it out to him. ‘You’re in luck.’

  Aethan squeezed my hand before letting it go. He reached into a bag sitting next to the fire and sprinkled a handful of tea leaves into the boiling water.

  ‘And look,’ Grams pointed at Aethan, ‘we’ve even got room service. I’ll have mine black, thank you kind Sir.’

  We continued the jovial bantering throughout breakfast, not speaking about the dark cloud that hung over our heads. Sometime today, we would be joined in war with Santanas’s army.

  I didn’t want to think about it; was trying not to think about the screams of war, or a battlefield covered with broken bodies. I should have been pleased I could review those things with the cold logic that distance bequeathed me. But I knew that as soon as I drew my sword and threw myself into the battle, I would be filled with a fierce exhilaration and an unquenchable thirst for my enemies’ blood. I didn’t like what that said about me.

  But what I was really trying not to think about was what would happen the next time Santanas and I went toe-to-toe. Even with my improved ability to control my powers I knew I was no match for him. And where did that leave the rest of the army?

  I felt a tree trunk push me in the back and turned to see one of Tiny’s fingers lingering there. ‘Tiny see Izzy again?’ Tears were collecting in the corners of his eyes.

  I wrapped my arms around his finger. ‘I will see you tonight.’ I hoped. I was trying not to think about him going up against his brethren. I’d seen him stomping on goblins as if they were annoying insects, but this was different. Did he even know how to fight?

  He nodded solemnly, the tears mercifully staying intact in his eyes, and then he leant forwards to push himself up off the ground.

  ‘Whoa, big boy.’ Aethan spread his legs to balance on the trembling ground. ‘Why don’t you wait till we’re a little further away?’

  Tiny smiled sheepishly as he froze in place.

  ‘Stay safe,’ I said as I pulled Isla into a hug.

  ‘I’d say the same to you, but safe is boring.’ She pulled a face at me and then laughed as she pulled herself up onto Arthur’s neck.

  I wanted to ask her to stay with us. To fight with us. But my reasons were entirely selfish. I felt as if my heart were being torn into tiny pieces, each piece attaching itself to those that I loved. Grams, Lionel, Sabby, Will, Isla, Aethan, Turos, my friends in the Guard and the Millenium. There were too many of them. Too many for me to keep safe. It was possible some bits of my heart wouldn’t return to me that night, and that knowledge was almost too much to bear.

  I had to work out how to defeat them. How to defeat him.

  Isla waved as she and Arthur took off. I knew Emerald and Lance were already aloft with another half score of dragons. They would fly over the Pass and see if the rubble from my landslide still protected us from attack.

  ‘Might go see where Athol wants the witches.’ Grams pulled me into a quick hug then she and Lionel trotted out of the camp.

  ‘I’d better go find the healers,’ Sabby said.

  ‘See you later.’ I said it as casually as I could manage, but my voice still caught on the last syllable.

  ‘Of course.’ She pulled a face at me, her mouth smiling a smile that didn’t chase the clouds from her eyes. Then she crossed to Thomas and took his hands with hers. They stared into each other’s faces with such intensity that I cleared my throat and turned away.

  More pain blossomed in my heart. Their love was so new, so fragile. All it would take was a mistimed stroke
or an errant arrow and all of it, all that hope, all that joy, all that promise, would be turned to ash. My throat thickened at the thought of them having to live without each other.

  ‘I’m going to fight with Turos.’ Thomas said the words and then darted a glance at Turos, the crease between his eyebrows telling me he wasn’t sure if Turos would want him or not.

  ‘It would be my pleasure to share the enemy with you.’ Turos flashed him a bright white smile. There was no doubt in his eyes. His muscles flexed as he thought about the battle that would begin sometime that day.

  I tore my eyes away from the sight of Turos’s biceps flexing and looked over at Aethan. ‘How far away do you think the night faeries are?’ I hated the fact that we needed their help.

  ‘Today. They’ll arrive sometime today.’ His mouth pulled back into a grimace and I could tell he liked the thought of their help even less than I did.

  It didn’t surprise me, but it did make me smile.

  They’re gone. All gone.

  I froze, my mind reaching towards Emerald. A vision filled my head. The enormous basin opening off the Pass of Bones, empty except for the dragons that soared over it. We flew into the narrow opening, dropping in behind Lance as we navigated the tight bends. The avalanche rubble hadn’t been touched. The stretch beyond it deserted. Through the pass and out into the other side. Here there were signs of occupation. Trampled grass and still-smoking fire pits. But the entire area was empty of foe.

  Cold ice walked down my spine. I clutched at Aethan’s arm as my knees started to tremble.

  ‘Izzy.’ He shook my shoulder. ‘What is it?’

  ‘They’re gone.’ My voice came out in a whisper.

  I looked over at Turos. His face held the shock I felt. ‘Where?’ he asked. ‘Where could they be?’

  ‘Izzy.’ Aethan’s voice held an edge of command.

  I looked up into his face. ‘They’re all gone,’ I said.

  ‘Hidden by a shield?’

  I shook my head. ‘There’s no sign of their passage this end of the pass.’

  Surely they hadn’t doubled back because of a little landslide. Their giants could have dealt with that. The next quickest route around to where we were was a week’s hard march.

  I walked to the other side of our little camp while I turned it over-and-over in my head. It didn’t make sense.

  ‘What are they up to?’ Aethan scrubbed a hand through his hair.

  Unless…unless they weren’t making their way around to us. I mean…why would they? We had come to stop them. They had come to conquer. They were playing by a different set of rules.

  ‘Oh no.’ I could feel the blood flowing out of my head. ‘Oh no.’ My voice trembled with the fear my certainty had brought.

  ‘What is it?’ Both Turos and Aethan took a step towards me. Thomas left off his contemplation of Sabby’s retreating form and turned back to watch me.

  ‘They haven’t gone the other way.’ My voice came out on ragged breaths. ‘They’ve gone through us. They’re not going to engage us. They’re marching on the capital. They’re heading for London.’

  Turos tilted his head to the side while he contemplated my words. ‘But…’

  ‘They went through the veil.’ Aethan got there first. ‘They went through the veil and are already beyond us.’ His hands clenched into fists by his side.

  Turos let out a long low whistle. ‘It was a decoy. The fight last night, just a decoy.’

  ‘Wait,’ Aethan said. ‘We need to make sure that this is not the trap.’

  Hide behind a shield until half our number left and then attack. I nodded. Yes. We needed to make sure that was not the plan.

  I held my hands up in front of me and pinched the veil with my fingertips. I pulled my hands apart, opening a peep hole from Isilvitania through to my world. I felt a flash of pride that something that had once taken up so much of my concentration now was as natural as breathing, and then I looked through my hole.

  What was a grassy valley in this world, housed a sealed tarmac road in mine. I sucked in a breath. The road was no longer one smooth piece. Crevices snaked through it, breaking it up into chunks which tilted at crazy angles. Stepping stones for giants.

  A four wheel drive lay on its side. The windows smashed in. Blood smeared the driver’s door and lay in a pool around the body that had been dragged from it.

  I sucked in a breath. This man was dead because of us. Because of our lack of foresight. While we had slept soundly he had been murdered.

  I let go of the veil and pressed a hand to my stomach. ‘We need to get ahead of them.’ Mum, Scruffy, Radismus. I had sent them to London to keep them safe. They were there with all the fae court. All of the non-fighters. All of our familiars. The politicians, the royals, the general populace. Totally undefended except for a token Guard left to keep watch.

  Aethan nodded his head. ‘We need to tell Tamsonite.’

  ‘I’ll gather our fighters and call in the dragons.’ Turos’s face told me he was already talking to Lance.

  ‘We’ll need to send word to the dark faeries as well,’ I said, trotting by Aethan’s side towards the command tent.

  He nodded but didn’t say anything. I could tell by the way his jaw muscles tensed that he had his teeth clenched.

  I couldn’t believe it. They had outsmarted us again. ‘I hate this.’ I spat the words out.

  Aethan looked sideways at me but still didn’t say anything.

  ‘I hate that we’re always reacting to them.’

  This time he nodded.

  ‘It’s like they had this whole thing planned out before we even knew any of it was going to happen.’

  ‘They probably did.’

  I felt like a pawn in a chess match, powerless as I tried to kill their King. I had to find a way to turn it around. I had to find a way to be the knight or the queen, but I was running out of time.

  ‘Tamsonite,’ Aethan’s voice sounded out in the early morning air.

  ‘Prince Aethan.’ We rounded a tent to find Tamsonite standing with his hands stretched out towards a fire. ‘Have they broken through the landslide?’

  ‘Worse. They went through the veil during the night. I’m guessing they’re marching towards London.’

  ‘The scouts.’ Tamsonite’s fingers clenched and unclenched slowly.

  Aethan shook his head. ‘They were watching the pass. Waiting for when they broke through. We never thought…’ He smacked his fist into his open palm. ‘Never even thought of them doing this. We’ve been so preoccupied with fighting them, I never considered the option they wouldn’t be doing the same.’

  Tamsonite’s eyes looked haunted as he processed the information. The corners of his eyes tightened as the horror of the truth settled over him. London.

  ‘Go,’ he said. ‘Take the Guard, take the Millenium. Get ahead of them and hold them as long as you can. We’ll come at them from behind and then as soon as the dark faeries catch up we will crush them.’

  I could feel my mouth pull back into a feral grin. I liked the idea of crushing them. I liked it a lot.

  Emerald. We’re coming.

  Here. She put a picture of a field into my head.

  ‘Supply tent.’ Aethan took off at a sprint, weaving throughout the tents. He put his fingers to his lips and let out a long whistle followed by three shorts one. The Border Guard signal to muster.

  The bugle’s call-to-arms tore through the morning air, followed by another signal I hadn’t heard before. Men, going about their morning preparations, snapped to attention. Within seconds, the camp began to dissolve around us as men pulled tent posts from the ground.

  By the time we found the supply tent, Guard were already forming up around us. I could hear others mimicking Aethan’s whistle throughout the camp.

  ‘Take as much as you can carry,’ Aethan said.

  I already had my swords crossed across my back and my daggers strapped to my biceps and thighs, but I grabbed a bow and slung two quivers of a
rrows over each shoulder. At least one hundred Guard followed us as we headed towards the field.

  Turos appeared off to my left, Millenium swarming behind him as he ran. Thomas was with them, running on Turos’s right.

  ‘Izzy.’ Grams and Lionel were waiting at the edge of the camp. ‘What is it?’

  ‘They went through the veil,’ I said. ‘We need to get ahead of them.’

  ‘You’ll need witches,’ she said.

  ‘We don’t have time.’

  ‘Make time. They’ll have their magic makers with them. You can’t do it all by yourself.’

  ‘Bella’s right,’ Aethan said. ‘You’ll be exhausted if you have to block their magic by yourself.’

  I nodded. ‘Find Wolfgang as well. And hurry. We’ll be in the field on the far side of these trees.’

  More Guard were converging on us every second. I recognised about half of them.

  ‘What’s happened?’ Bernard asked as he fell in beside Aethan.

  ‘I’ll brief you at the field.’ Aethan nodded in the direction we were running.

  I saw Emerald and Lance fluttering down to land behind the trees. Other dragons followed. I looked over my shoulder as we entered the tree line. The Guard flowed behind us. They brushed shoulders with the Millenium who followed Turos. We would have thousands of fighters, the dragons, and some witches. Thousands to stop their tens of thousands. It would have to be enough.

  The dragons were waiting for us when we emerged from the trees. Isla’s arms sparkled in the early morning sun as she strode towards us. ‘You saw?’

  I nodded.

  ‘We will stop them, Izzy.’

  I bit my lip and nodded again.

  ‘We will.’ She reached out and pushed my shoulder. ‘Say it.’ There was a desperate edge to her voice. ‘Say it.’

  I couldn’t lie. Not to her. ‘How?’ I whispered.

  ‘We will do what needs to be done.’

  ‘How am I meant to stop him?’

  Her smile was as hard as the granite in her eyes. ‘Necessity is the mother of invention Izzy. You will find a way.’

  ‘Everyone keeps saying that.’ I tried to keep the whine out of my voice. ‘Turos, Aethan, you, Ulandes.’