Faery Revenge

by Donna Joy Usher

  ‘Archers.’ Rako voice was steady. ‘Ready your arrows.’

  Dragons sprung into the air, spiralling away to allow room for others to lift off. My heart was in my mouth as I measured the growing white dots and waited for the dragons to become airborne.

  Emerald and Lance were up, and I held my breath, feeling useless as I watched them strike out towards the enemy. Every nerve in me cried out that it was wrong. Wrong for her to be up there without me. I knew the couple of Millenium flying with her should be enough to protect her back, but that should have been my job. She was my dragon, and I was her rider.

  I was useless. Earth bound. Trapped.

  Turos’s hand clamped down on my arm and I swivelled to look up at him. His eyes were wide and he breathed slowly through his nose as if warding off panic.

  ‘It’s okay,’ I said. ‘They will be okay.’

  Okay? Just okay? Emerald sniffed inside my head.

  The white spots got close enough to be visible as eagles. I squinted into the sky, watching Emerald as she played chicken with a Vulpine. At the last second, she twisted into a barrel roll, reaching out with flexed talons to tear at the eagle. Feathers exploded as she hooked the soft body towards her, biting down on its head. She tossed the rest of the body away and I tracked its fall, watching the Bedouin rider pulling at the bridle as he tried to get the dead bird to fly.

  The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as the second barrier slammed into place above us.

  I had my back to the enemy, staring up into the sky like a newbie. But worse, I had put my back to Santanas. I spun around, scanning the enemy force for him, but he was gone.

  You know you can get a bird’s eye view of the fight if you want.

  I could tell by the look on Turos’s face that even though he wasn’t with Lance in body, he was in spirit. But I couldn’t share the feeling that this was just a distraction. Yet another trap. If they brought down the barrier while we had our backs to them it would mean death to hundreds before we got ourselves organised again.

  I need to keep an eye on Santanas, I said.

  That’s probably for the best. He’s as cunning as he is mad.

  It was easy for me to forget that Emerald had spent decades bonded to him. She didn’t think about it at all.

  And besides, she added, I think they may be about to try and bring down the barrier.

  What makes you think…Oh.

  The giants at the front pulled to the sides giving me a view of the six holding a battering ram.

  ‘Brace yourselves,’ Wolfgang’s voice rang out. ‘We practiced for this.’

  The giants started forwards in a shuffling run, each holding a metal ring that protruded from the side of the gigantic log. I didn’t know trees grew that tall.

  ‘Is that cherry wood?’ How did they get a piece of cherry wood that big?

  Turos looked down at me, a perplexed look on his face. ‘How would I know?’

  ‘Well, you’re a man. Men know stuff about wood and metal and things.’

  ‘Izzy,’ he moved into a fighting stance as the giants neared the wall, ‘I grew up on an island that had a total of six types of trees.’

  Leather creaked and metal clanged as the men around me readied themselves. I gritted my teeth, cringing as the gigantic ram slammed into the barrier with a BOOM that almost blew me off my feet. But it held. The barrier held.

  A surge of viscous triumph flowed into me from above. I could see Emerald, glittering like the stone I had named her after, as she wove through the sky. She left death and destruction in her wake. The battle waged above me, dragons snapping at eagles like dogs at a swarm of flies.

  BOOM.

  I flinched and pulled my attention back to the battle in front of me. The might of the giants against the resilience of the witches.

  I wanted to help. I wanted to help so badly it was a burning yearning inside me. But Wolfgang was right, I’d only make things worse if I tried.

  ‘You should see the look on your face.’

  ‘What?’ I looked up at Turos’s amused smile.

  ‘You look like the kid that didn’t get picked for the sports team.’

  ‘I do not.’ I looked down to find that I had managed to cross my arms without cutting myself on my swords.

  ‘You’re sulking.’

  ‘I’m not.’ I stamped my foot, immediately feeling ridiculous. He was right. Dark Sky damn him.

  ‘You’ll get your turn, don’t worry.’

  I poked my tongue out at him and turned back to the barrier. The giants were making their third run. I could feel the wall of power humming in front of me.

  BOOM.

  The hair on the back of my head stood on end. I drove the tip of a sword into the earth and clutched at Turos’s arm, my nails digging into his flesh as I fought the nausea that threatened me. A metallic taste coated my tongue.

  Filth. Black, putrid filth.

  Waves of it rolled over me.

  ‘Izzy?’

  ‘Shhhhhh.’ I fought back the darkness and felt for the source. It was coming from the other side of the barrier.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I think the goblins are weaving a spell.’

  It was the only thing it could be. The pressure built, expanding inside me, reaching up towards the sky, spinning as it grew. They were going to try and blow out the shield.

  I reached towards it. There…behind the giants…hidden behind a line of goblin warriors.

  Many practitioners working together, wove the body of the spell. It must have been a circle, the same as we were using. All of them contributing their power for a single user to wield.

  Closer still, till the power hummed an inch away. A familiar presence brushed the edge of my mind and I pulled back before she felt me. At least now I knew where Galanta was. She was the one wielding the dark magic.

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  I could feel my smile pulling my face tight. ‘I’m going to help them.’

  BOOM.

  Inky blackness coated me as I surged into the spell, joining my unpredictable power to theirs. The spell swelled, mushrooming out of control. I felt Galanta struggle to control it, a juggler throwing too many balls. For a terrifying second I thought she had managed, but then the magic overflowed.

  I snapped my awareness back as the spell exploded. A visible shock-wave of energy ripped outwards from the centre of the circle. It tore through the goblin warriors, shredding flesh from limbs. A tsunami of air tumbled into the giants at knee height. Muscles tore and joints snapped as the giants roared in confusion.

  They fell like a mighty forest under the death warrant of a developer. Tremors shook the earth, and I squatted with a hand on the ground to maintain my balance.

  The force of the failed spell roared towards us, smacking into the barrier. I felt the wall bulge towards us, quivering for a few seconds before it firmed again. I let out a sigh of relief. I hadn’t been one hundred percent sure it was going to hold.

  In the space of a moment it was over. Goblins and orcs lay groaning on the ground, blood flowing from their eyes and noses. The giants clutched at their useless legs. Blood splattered the barrier like a gory, stained-glass window.

  ‘Damn woman.’ Turos’s eyes were wide, his body frozen as he surveyed the damage. ‘Remind me not to ask your help for anything.’

  One figure stood in the centre of the remains of her circle. Galanta. She let out a howl of rage as she spun on the spot. I hadn’t destroyed their whole army, but I had taken out a chunk of it. But more importantly, I had decimated their ability to use magic. I had bought us some time.

  ‘You,’ she shrieked. ‘You, you, you….’ She pulled a dagger from the sheath at her hip and strode towards me. ‘You.’ Spittle flew out of her mouth and joined the sticky, red that oozed down the shield. ‘You…stupid…little…witch.’

  ‘That’s the best you can come up with?’ I stalked towards her so there were only a few inches separating us.

&
nbsp; She jammed her forehead on the barrier, blood smudging her skin. ‘I will make you pay for that.’ She spoke through clenched teeth. ‘I will drain your blood and bathe in it. I will hunt down your loved ones and remove their intestines through their noses.’ Veins bulged in her neck as her face turned purple. ‘I will strip your skin from you in tiny little pieces and then I will eat the flesh from your body while you are still alive.’

  This was the being who had killed Orion, stolen Aethan’s memories, killed thousands of my people, and brought a madman back to life. Her threats, filled with ominous vehemence, should have invoked terror, but instead, they kindled my own snarling anger.

  I slammed up against the other side of the barrier, wishing I could get my hands around her throat. Red filled my vision as my lips pulled back in a snarl. ‘Bring it on, bitch,’ I said.

  ‘Ahh, Izzy.’

  I ignored the familiar voice. She was right where I wanted her. I shoved at the barrier, wishing it was gone.

  ‘Ahhh, Isadora.’ It was Wolfgang. Part of me knew I should be listening, but I wanted this too much.

  She shoved back, her pointed teeth gnashing together as if she were trying to rip out my throat.

  ‘Stop.’

  A hand clamped onto my shoulder, dragging me back from her. I shoved it off and leapt at her, my arms extended to rip out her throat.

  ‘You’re going to bring down the….’

  Instead of the frigid hardness of the shield, cool air met my fingertips, and then the soft flesh of her neck was within my grasp. Her eyes flared wide with surprise and then the weight of my assault carried her to the ground. I landed on top of her, making sure my knee wedged into her stomach, and then I clenched my fist and pounded it into her face.

  A roar went up around me and then black-garbed legs were flicking past as the Millenium warriors raced to meet the enemy.

  Galanta stabbed the dagger up towards my face. I grabbed her wrist and slammed it onto the ground, throwing my weight onto my knee and grinding it into her as I shook the dagger free from her grasp.

  The unmistakeable sound of metal clashing with metal echoed through the valley.

  She jerked her back upwards, throwing me sideways as she rolled. I grasped her dreadlocks with both hands and pulled. She shrieked and reached for my braid, slapping me in the face with her spare hand as she tugged on it.

  Men yelled battle screams around me and dragons trumpeted their rage overhead.

  A scream of white-hot anger erupted from my throat. A quick death with a blade wasn’t enough. I needed to feel my fists pummelling her flesh, my nails tearing at her skin, my fingers digging into her eyes. I needed to brutalise her and beat her into submission. I needed to dominate her to regain the control she had stolen from my life.

  ‘Daughter.’ A figure draped in a swirling cloak stood beside us. ‘I need my lieutenant. You may not kill her.’

  I grabbed an ear and pulled on it as hard as I could. Galanta shrieked and let go of my braid to stab a finger at my eye. I jerked my head to the side and pain lanced as her nail tore my cheek.

  The patient voice let out a sigh and then knelt beside us. We froze, both of us reacting to the figure in different ways. Galanta let out a mewl, while I shrieked and threw myself backwards, scuttling away on my hands and feet like an upside-down crab.

  Clarity swooped down on me and I looked around at what I had done.

  Oh crap. I had brought down the shield. I had done their job for them.

  Giants crawled across the valley as the Guard and Millenium dodged their grasp, darting in to slice open necks. A black line of Millenium danced at the new front line, the speed and grace of their movement hard to track with a normal eye.

  I wrenched my gaze back to Santanas. His eyes glittered at me from under his hood.

  ‘Never fear,’ he said. ‘I’ll not end this now. There’s still too much fun to be had.’ He stood and held a hand down to Galanta.

  She rose to her knees and let him haul her to her feet, a satisfied smirk on her face. She pursed her lips and spat at me, saliva flicking across my arms.

  ‘Oh gross.’ I jumped to my feet and backed up till I found my swords sticking out of the earth. I grasped them and pulled them free, feeling instantly better with their weight in my hands. ‘And I didn’t bring any alcohol wipes with me.’ My voice didn’t tremble nearly half as much as it should have.

  ‘Till we meet again.’ Santanas gave me a mocking salute. They turned together, took three steps, and disappeared from view.

  ‘Damn.’ How had he done that? Feeling like a fool I surveyed the damage I had wrought.

  ‘I tried to warn you.’ Wolfgang stood behind me.

  ‘I just saw her there and I snapped.’ I scuffed at the ground with the toe of my boot. ‘I’m sorry.’ It was a lame-arse apology.

  He shook his head. ‘Considering you took down the forward giant attack first I’m inclined to forgive you, but I’m sure Rako will have some things to say about it.’ He let out a sigh as he tugged on his beard. ‘However, from a strategic point of view, it was a good time to launch an attack, the enemy beyond the reach of that force field you unleashed was still stunned.’

  I could see the healers’ helpers carrying wounded back from the front line.

  ‘Your grandmother is a little annoyed though.’ His lips twitched into a smile. ‘She was crafting a spell to bind up the giants’ knees. You ruined all her fun.’

  No doubt I wouldn’t hear the last of that. ‘I’d better go….’ I nodded my head toward the battle.

  He nodded and turned, stepping briskly as he headed back to the circles of witches.

  I felt so stupid. I had let my temper get the best of me. That was a rookie’s mistake. We could have waited on the other side of that barrier until Tamsonite showed up with our forces.

  ‘Izzy.’ Aethan trotted towards me through the dying giants. ‘You okay?’ He stopped a foot from me and wiped the back of his arm over his face. Dots of blood smeared his cheeks.

  ‘Apart from an intense case of embarrassment.’

  One side of his mouth pulled up into his lopsided grin. ‘You certainly know how to put on a good show.’

  ‘Aethan.’ Ebony’s voice was faint.

  ‘Come on.’ He nodded his head back to the fight. ‘Let’s go before she takes it into her head to come up here.’

  I cleared my mind of my embarrassment, pushing it into a back corner where I could deal with it later. It wasn’t going to do any good analysing it now. ‘Good luck.’ I touched his shoulder and then turned and ran to the front.

  Turos was easily visible, a blond God of wrath, his swords hacking their way through the enemy. Emerald’s blood lust flowed into me through our bond. The Vulpines were retreating to regroup, and she and the rest of the dragons were in pursuit.

  Turos spun, his blades whipping through the air as he crossed his arms and slashed outwards. The razor sharp edges seemed to melt into the throat of the goblin he fought. He stepped to the side, kicking backwards so that the dying goblin stumbled past him and into the waiting Guard who quickly finished him off.

  Slash, parry, stab, spin. Turos seemed to dance his way through the enemy, his movements fluid and elegant. I allowed myself to admire the view for a couple more seconds, and then I took three quick steps, leaping into a swan dive over the heads of the Guard.

  A cheer went up from behind me as I flipped and landed, balancing on the shoulders of an ogre. A quick stab at an angle downwards, and I rode the dying man to the ground, stepping off to land beside Turos.

  ‘Took you long enough.’ He flashed me a grin. ‘You’re never going to catch up with my body count.’

  ‘Oh really?’ I stepped to the side and pushed an orc back towards the Guard. ‘I’m claiming all the men that spell took down.’

  He frowned as he dropped under the slash of a dagger, coming back up to shove the tip of his sword into the soft skin between the goblin’s chin and throat. The goblin’s eyes rolled back and
he dropped to his knees. Turos stepped onto his back and ball-kicked an ogre in the nose. ‘That’s not fair.’

  I barked out a laugh. ‘All’s fair in love and war.’

  ‘Move back,’ Rako shouted.

  I glanced around. We had pressed well past the narrowing in the valley and Guard were flowing in to fill the widening gaps on either side of the Millenium. If we kept this up there would be no-one to swap in when we needed a rest.

  ‘Drop back,’ I echoed his call.

  The swirling mass of goblins, orcs and ogres, pressed forwards eagerly as we backed down the valley. There were so many of them. At least twenty times our number, maybe thirty. I couldn’t be sure because I couldn’t see where they ended.

  I can help with that.

  A dragon’s eye vision of the valley filled my head. Overflowing with bodies. It was full to overflowing. The ones at the rear sat while they waited for their chance to kill us. And there were more giants there as well. Great. They had kept some in reserve.

  Four hours. We only had to hold for four hours. It had to have been nearly one already.

  A zing of energy flew over our heads and the enemy behind the line we were currently fighting froze. Their eyes twitched from side-to-side, but the rest of their body stayed exactly as it had been when the spell had hit.

  A goblin on the far-side of the spelled fighters pushed forwards in impatience and a frozen warrior toppled. It smacked into another one who flew to the side and knocked down two more. They in turn knocked down others, and suddenly, statuesque goblins and orcs were falling like dominos.

  As one, Guard, Millenium and human surged forwards, the paralysed warriors little more than sacrificial lambs as swords, already covered with blood, swept down to end their lives. We met a fresh wave of goblins in the middle and the fighting renewed in force.

  ‘Back,’ Rako yelled. ‘Back to the holding point.’

  As we fell back, the remnants of an eagle smacked into a group of ogres in an explosion of red and white feathers. I kicked an orc off my sword and spun to find the next one had the shaft of an arrow protruding from his neck.