Faery Revenge

by Donna Joy Usher

  I wished I was able to be so light-hearted about what we were doing, but I’d never found trying to save the world a laughing matter. Maybe in a hundred years or so I’d be able to be a bit more blasé about the whole thing.

  ‘Ahhh Izzy.’ Aethan’s voice held a trace of awe.

  I turned to look at him. ‘What?’

  He looked back up into the sky. ‘Were you planning on closing the veil?’

  ‘Oh, right.’ I flashed an embarrassed smile as I reached out to where I had opened the veil and let the two sides slide back together.

  He shook his head. ‘It would take at least four faeries to open a split that big, and you forgot you were doing it. You don’t realise how powerful you are.’ He raised a hand and laid his palm on my cheek. ‘Be careful today.’

  My breath caught as his eyes blazed into mine. I nodded my head, watching mutely as he slid off Emerald’s neck.

  I watched as he trotted toward where Rako was issuing orders, then I slipped off Emerald and walked around to the front. She bowed her head till our eyes were level. I rested a hand on her snout and leant in till my forehead was pressed against it.

  Be safe today, I urged her.

  She puffed out a breath of warm air. It curled around me, swirling my braid up behind me. You too little one.

  We stayed like that for a few more seconds before she let out a second snort.

  I smiled as I backed away. I could feel her impatience to get back into the air. Not yet, I said. We don’t want them seeing us until it is absolutely necessary.

  And if the Vulpine come?

  I nodded in concession. Then all bets are off.

  Guard, Millenium, witches and humans hurried past us, following Aethan and Rako into the Valley. It was a few hundred metres to the constriction where we would set up our defence.

  The dragons spread out onto the plain behind the valley. Some settled down to wait, while others pawed at the ground and shook their heads, impatient, like Emerald and Lance, to be off. But they all stayed where they were, so I knew Emerald had passed on the word.

  ‘Come on.’ Turos touched me on the shoulder and I looked up into his ice-blue eyes.

  Fire inevitably started to curl in the pit of my stomach. It was a nice change to the butterflies, but just as counter-productive. I needed my head in the game, not in the bedroom.

  Wrenching my eyes away from his, I started walking into the valley. It could all be so easy, if only I’d let it be, but the feel of Aethan’s fingers still lingered on my skin.

  ‘Izzy.’

  I spun around at the familiar, unwanted voice. ‘Ebony. What are you doing here?’ It was the first time I had seen her wearing anything other than a skirt. The leather pants hugged her curves before pinching into her tiny waist.

  ‘I came to fight with Aethan.’ Her sea-green top perfectly matched the colour of her almond-shaped eyes, and her long hair was pulled back in a braid identical to mine.

  I was pretty sure, though, that she looked far better than I did. Damn the woman. How did she do it?

  ‘But….’ I was momentarily speechless. She wanted to fight? She would be killed in the first rush of enemy.

  She lifted her chin as her eyes took on a defiant look. ‘I’ve had lessons.’ She patted the hilts of the swords strapped to her back.

  ‘Lessons are a totally different thing to real combat.’ I wasn’t sure why I was trying to dissuade her. If a goblin sword was to slice into her soft skin well then…no, as much as I disliked her, I didn’t want that. She was annoying, and had something that, until very recently, I had considered mine, but that didn’t warrant a death sentence.

  ‘He’s up the front.’ I waved a hand in the direction we were heading. Let Aethan talk her out of fighting.

  She sashayed off through the crowd, her hips swinging in an erotic way that drew the eye of every man she passed. I let out a sigh. It wasn’t like I wanted to be looked at like that, but it might be nice to have the choice.

  I looked up at Turos to see if he was also admiring the view. He had a smile on his face but he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking down at me.

  I sucked in a breath at the look on his face. Oh, yes, it could all be so easy.

  ‘That will be an interesting conversation.’

  I let out a yelp at Isla’s voice in my ear.

  Her laugh was a tinkle. ‘For a War Faery, you sure are easy to scare.’

  ‘Yes, but I think we have already ascertained that I’m not a very good War Faery.’

  Ulandes voice sounded in my head, ‘You are exactly the right type of War Faery to get the job done.’

  I let out another yelp and whipped around, looking for the slight figure of the Goddess. It sounded like she had been right beside me.

  ‘Looking for someone?’ Isla’s eyes looked totally innocent.

  ‘Yes, I mean no.’ I looked around one more time. Had I actually heard her? I shook my head to clear it of miscellaneous thoughts. It was no time to start hearing voices. ‘Sorry, what were you saying?’

  Isla gestured in the direction Ebony had gone. ‘She was meant to stay behind to be there when the night faeries arrived.’

  ‘Do you think it will be a problem?’

  ‘No.’ She broke out into a huge grin. ‘It was just Aethan’s way of keeping her under control. I bet she’s better with those swords than she’s letting on.’

  We fell into step with the crowd heading into the valley.

  ‘Do you think?’ Turos wrapped his big hand around mine as we walked.

  ‘I think there’s a lot more going on in her head than that vapid smile lets on.’

  She and Turos locked eyes for a moment, before he nodded. ‘I’ll take your word on that spymaster.’

  She let out a dainty laugh and skipped ahead of us.

  ‘Aren’t you staying with Arthur for the fight?’ I called after her.

  ‘Oh yes.’ Her voice sailed back to me. ‘But I really want to hear this conversation first.’

  I smiled. I wouldn’t mind hearing it either, but there was also a chance I might have to witness Aethan admiring her form in those figure-hugging pants, and that was not something I was keen to do. Colour me yellow and call me a coward.

  ‘This way.’ Turos tugged on my hand, leading me to where the rest of the Millenium were gathered.

  I nodded my head as I stared up the valley. There was no sign of Santanas’s force yet. I plucked open a tiny gap in the veil and peered through it. It was like looking at two almost-identical paintings. The valley’s walls were perfectly mirrored in each plain of existence, but where the one in Isilvitania was full of boulders, grass and wild flowers, the one in my world had a four lane highway.

  ‘What’s to stop them popping back through the veil?’

  It was a throw away question from one Millenium fighter to another. I looked at Turos. He had both eyebrows raised as he waited for me to answer.

  ‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘I’d better go talk to Aethan and Rako.’ There were no more natural defences between here and London. Plenty of towns and villages, but it would be better if we could stop them without causing too much destruction of private property. This valley was our best bet.

  I trotted towards the front, guessing that they would be on the one outcrop which offered a viewing platform. The forest flowed down the mountains, but stopped short in this area, the ground too rocky to offer any real purchase for the roots of the large oaks.

  I heard Aethan before I saw him. ‘You are not fighting. It’s madness.’

  ‘I’m touched you’re so worried about my safety, but I am perfectly able to use these things.’

  ‘Those things are going to get you killed.’

  I could see Rako up on the platform. He had his back to Aethan and Ebony, his shoulders tight as he pretended to study the layout of the valley. Isla had no such compunction. There was a broad smile on her face as she watched Aethan and Ebony.

  ‘Tell him Isla. Tell him I can look after myself.’ />
  One delicate eyebrow arched up, but the smile didn’t move. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘This is between the two of you.’

  Ebony stomped one foot and turned back to Aethan. She stared at him for a moment, her eyebrows pulling together as she chewed at her bottom lip. Then her expression cleared and a small smile hovered on her lips.

  ‘Love.’ She breathed the word out. ‘I’ll go crazy with worry if I’m not there with you.’ Her hips swayed as she moved towards him, reaching up to twine her arms behind his head. My blood pressure increased as she pressed her breasts into him and laid her head against his shoulder. ‘Please.’

  I finished the climb up to the platform and made my way to Rako.

  Isla turned away from Aethan and Ebony and slung an arm around me. Her voice was a whisper in my ear as she said, ‘Funny how she didn’t seem to be crazy with worry yesterday.’

  ‘We weren’t outnumbered yesterday, and they weren’t there.’ I knew saying Santanas and Galanta’s names out loud didn’t give them any power but I still couldn’t bring myself to do it.

  Isla let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes.

  ‘What?’ I knew that look. She thought I was being particularly slow.

  ‘Nothing love.’ She pinched my cheek like I was a babe, dancing out of reach before I could retaliate.

  ‘Rako.’

  The stocky Guard cast me a sideways look. ‘Have they finished yet?’

  I looked back over my shoulder. Aethan had managed to get Ebony’s arms from around his head. He held both her delicate wrists with one of his hands as he leant and whispered in her ear. I didn’t want to know what he was saying.

  ‘I think so.’ I shifted so I was standing next to him staring out over the valley. ‘It occurred to me they may use the veil to bypass us again.’

  He ran his fingers down the right side of his face. I knew he was feeling the knotted scar tissue that ran in a rope there. ‘They were still on this side when we flew over, but it is possible.’ He let out a sigh. ‘I’ll send scouts out on both sides to check.’

  ‘Arthur and I can do it,’ Isla said. ‘I can open a way big enough for him.’

  ‘What about the Vulpines?’ I didn’t like the thought of her going up against them by herself.

  She shrugged one shoulder. ‘They can’t open the veil.’

  Rako let out a harrumph and nodded. His fingers continued their stroking while he considered her words.

  ‘It’s the fastest, easiest and safest way to see what they are up to.’

  ‘No engaging the enemy,’ Rako said.

  ‘Only to defend myself.’ She danced up and down on the spot.

  ‘You find them and report straight back.’

  ‘Of course. I’ll follow on the opposite side of wherever they are, making sure they don’t switch. Scouts honour.’ She held three fingers in the air, kissed them and then laid them against her heart.

  Aethan let out a snort. ‘You’re not a scout.’

  She gave him an impish grin and then whirled and took off down the rocky path, cat-like as she leapt from boulder-to-boulder. I followed at a more sedate pace. I really didn’t want to sprain my ankle.

  ‘Izzy.’

  I looked back up to Rako.

  ‘Can you gather the leaders? It’s time to talk strategy.’

  Arthur lifted into the air before I had made it back to Turos. Isla leant forwards, both her arms wrapped around his neck. Arthur matched her look of excitement, his lips pulled back to expose his teeth in a dragon’s grin.

  Emerald’s unhappiness seeped into me through our bond. I sent back a pulse of reassurance. It was the best I could offer her.

  Turos was easy to spot. He towered over his men, his white-blond hair glowing in the sunshine. I tried not to admire his form as I strode towards him. ‘Rako wants to discuss tactics. Take your squadron leaders with you.’

  He nodded and turned back to his men. ‘Andres, Liam, Raul, Taro, Delvin and Saul, come with me. Everyone else, get some rest.’

  The men Turos had called threaded their way towards him, while the rest of the warriors slid downwards into a cross-legged position. I turned and headed for the Guard.

  It took me another ten minutes to rally the leaders of the witches and humans and to find Wolfgang, and another five minutes to wind my way back to the platform where the others were gathering.

  Ebony sat at the rear of the group, pulling at the end of the braid with her fingernails. It took me a moment to realise she was looking for split ends.

  She looked up as I neared her, patting the bit of rock next to where she sat. ‘Did you want to sit with me? These meetings get so boring.’

  ‘Urrrr, thanks,’ I said. ‘But I need to hear this.’

  She flashed me a smile and turned her attention from her hair to her nails. I was hoping Aethan had banned her from the frontline. She would only get in the way.

  A thought bubble wobbled its way down the valley, floating down to hover in front of Rako. He closed his eyes as it flowed over his head, opening his eyes a few moments later as it popped.

  ‘Princess Isla reports that the enemy is still on this side of the veil. She estimates at the pace they are travelling that they will be upon us in approximately an hour. Our forces are three hours behind them but having to travel more slowly. They are leaving behind ambush parties.’

  We had to hold them for at least three hours. Probably more like four. I looked down at the narrowing in the valley we would be guarding. With the help of the witches it was entirely do-able. Of course, I said that without knowing what sort of magic they would throw at us. What Santanas would throw at us.

  ‘Our job is to stop them getting through this part of the valley. Wolfgang, you and your magic makers will work with the witches to neutralise anything they throw at us. Are you happy being tucked in behind this outcrop? You should be well protected from their arrows.’

  Wolfgang stroked his beard as he considered Rako’s words. ‘It is true we won’t need to see to feel what they are brewing. Might I make a suggestion though?’ He waited for Rako to nod before continuing. ‘If you place us to the very rear we will be beyond the reach of their arrows but still able to see. We will be able to launch offensive as well as defensive strikes. The army witches are quite inventive. We will have a few surprises for the enemy.’

  Rako’s face broke out into a fierce grin. ‘Surprises are good,’ he said, ‘but stay alert to enemy fire and drop back if you need to.’

  My mind wandered as the meeting turned to a discussion on tactics. It wasn’t that I found the planning boring, more that I found the unknown unbearable. If only I knew what they were going to throw at us I might be able to plan how to combat it. Of course, the problem with that was that I knew my magic worked better when I didn’t plan. When, as Wolfgang had surmised, it was instinctive.

  If only Isla had been born the War Faery. She would have been perfect at this.

  I started as Turos’s hand fell on my shoulder. ‘Excellent plan,’ he said. ‘I particularly like the last bit. What did you think of it?’

  The look I gave him must have been as blank as my mind because he burst out laughing. ‘You know you really should pay attention more. It could save your life.’

  ‘Life, smife,’ I muttered as I followed him back down the rocky slope.

  He waited at the bottom for me. ‘Short version is that we will be at the front with the Guard and humans behind us. Our aim is to disable them and then send them back for the others to finish off.’

  ‘Sort of like a goblin processing plant.’

  His excited smile broadened. ‘I like that analogy.’

  ‘What happens when we need a rest?’

  ‘The Guard will switch us out.’

  It could work. It would have to. The speed of the Millenium fighters was our biggest asset at the moment. And we only had to hold for a couple of hours. Then the forward momentum of the enemy would slow as they defended their rear as well.

  ‘I want to
find Sabby.’ I pulled my hand from his – strange, I hadn’t even realised I had been holding it – and started making my way to the rear of our army. She would be back there with the other healers. I looked over my shoulder to see Turos following. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Looking for Thomas. He’ll be fighting with us.’

  I felt my shoulders stiffen as my feet started to thump a little harder into the earth.

  ‘He’s proved himself.’ Turos’s voice was firm. ‘He’s earned a place at the front.’

  I nodded, my throat too thick to risk talking.

  We found them five minutes later. They were together as Turos had guessed. Heads bowed, hands clasped, they spoke in low whispers. It looked like Sabby was trying not to cry.

  I hesitated, not wanting to disturb their very private, public goodbye. Turos either lacked the social grace or didn’t care.

  ‘Thomas,’ he called out. ‘You ready man? We need you at the front.’

  Sabby’s head snapped around. Her cheeks flushed red and she pulled her hands from Thomas’s, pushing some loose tendrils of hair back behind her ears.

  ‘Hey.’ I smiled at her. ‘You guys ready back here?’

  Her eyes widened. ‘They’re coming?’

  ‘ETA fifty-five minutes.’

  She tilted her head to the side and said, ‘ETA?’

  ‘Oh sorry. Estimated time of arrival.’

  ‘Oh.’ She glanced over to where Thomas now stood with Turos. ‘Well, you had better get going.’

  Thomas ducked his head and started to turn away from her, but then he stopped. He swung back around and closed the distance between them with three long strides. He swept her up and lowered his head to hers, taking her mouth with his own.

  Her surprised struggle stopped as she let out a little, ‘Oh,’ and then she was kissing him back with a desperation born of potential loss.

  I went to stand beside Turos, both of us turning our backs to give them a little privacy.

  ‘Finally,’ he said.

  ‘What?’ I looked up at him.

  ‘He finally got the balls to kiss her.’

  I glanced back over my shoulder. ‘This is their first time?’ That surprised me. I had assumed by their body language they had been doing a little more than just kissing.