by Morgan Blade
Bingo!
I ran past the grindylow, to the edge of the water, and stared. The drop-off was sudden. Out from the bank, on the bottom, I saw a pale dome of ice that trapped air under the water. The ice had to be Kellyn’s work. She and Colt had to be in there with guards to threaten Colt’s life, or Kellyn could not have been so easily controlled.
Outside the dome, I counted three pooka. The blue water horses kept watch. Only the grindylow had left his post.
I picked up my radio and thumbed the transmit button. “Izumi, Kellyn and Colt are in the water, on the bottom under an ice dome, under heavy guard. Send in a team of my demons, those with water magic. Have them swim in using the water for cover.”
“I’m on it. When you see them arrive, provide a distraction so no one is watching the rescue.”
“Happy to.” I stood there, counting seconds, watching the water, my senses on high alert, pulling in details from all around. A sweep of excitement agitated the Hunt. The beasts craned their necks looking up. I stared up. There, a massive ghost, the Red Moon hung like an ill omen in the sky, a promise of death.
I now knew where Selene was, and what she was up to. She’d brought her powerbase, her world, into the fey dimension. If Colt died, there would be a literal collision of worlds. The Red Moon would die, taking all of Fairy with it. Unless Selene did the work directly.
This reminded me of a great, old truth: Things are never so bad, they can’t get worse. Ridiculously worse.
As if to illustrate this point, the mouth of the cave behind the waterfall blew out. A thunder burst gusted the falling water out from the rock face which exploded, spraying boulders away as well. The pocket of rock became much bigger. A hail of massive stones peppered the gathered animals. The creatures hit directly were pulped. Some were only clipped, wounded, bitch-smacked to earth by grazes as the boulders hit, bounced, and rolled like the dice of gods.
So much for me providing a distraction. If I had to guess what had happened, I’d say that the movements of spider lady had drawn the interest of Grace and Tukka. I’d been on the receiving end of his sonic bellow before. It never grows old. I imagined that amid the spraying rock and water, there had been pieces of spider lady as well.
Now, if only Selene would hold off dropping her moon on us… I was depending on her future self knowing we’d save Colt, that she just needed to be patient.
I returned my stare to the water, and the ice dome underneath. Shadows in the water, my water-demons were here. The pooka were dead on their hooves, their blood a dark mist in the currents. There were several small explosions. C-4 detonations that fractured the ice dome, giving access. Churning bubbles broke the surface.
I spoke into my radio. “All troops, come in with killing force. No mercy. Targets are safe.”
I hope.
I added that last to put Izumi’s heart at ease.
I suddenly found myself beside the rock on which the child-killing grindylow perched. My left hand sent its handgun back to my armory so it could seize the thin neck of the amphibian. I squeezed. Hard. His eyes bulged. Inside my stealth spell, he was as invisible as I was. Mute, he choked, eyes seeing me, seeing his own death. His tentacles left the rock and plastered themselves to me, counter-squeezing, trying to crush my ribs. His arms were shorter than mine, but he flailed anyway, targeting my left arm, battering the elbow joint, trying to force his freedom.
But pain is pleasant in the midst of vengeance. I didn’t mind his blows. I smiled my scariest smile and continued to crush his throat with the inhuman strength of my DNA.
His blows weakened. Thy stopped. He shuddered in my grip and died. Still, I squeezed to be sure. After a minute, I lifted my hand high overhead and brought it down swiftly. I drove the creature’s bulbous head into the boulder, whipping it repeatedly until the skull fractured, pulverized, and the flesh shredded. I flung the corpse away at the feet of a stag-fox.
It leaped backward, staring in horror as my gift materialized.
I let go of my stealth spell, wanting them all to see my smile, the coldness in my gaze and heart. I wanted their fear.
My appearance triggered a wave of stillness among the Hunt, and the appearance of Tukka beside the green shades. Grace popped in next to me, a sword of darkness in her hand. Her antennae bobbed. Her little wings whup-whupped. And her twin fox tails flicked, drawing the attention of the stag-fox I’d startled. If I’d scared the fox, Grace put terror into him.
He crouched, belly scraping the ground, eyes wide, wild. Three words fell from his fey lips: “The shadow fox!”
I growled at Grace. “You’re stealing my thunder.”
She smiled at me. “Sorry.”
It didn’t sound like it to me.
“Where’s Colt?” she asked.
“They’ve been keeping him on ice, on the bottom of the pool.”
Her stare went to the grindylow I’d killed. A growl ripped out of her throat. No, that was three separate growls. The sound pierced, grabbing attention. And then she launched herself into the menagerie, shadow sword slicing, biting. Her growl became a scream of a soul in pain. Tears brimmed her eyes.
It occurred to me that I hadn’t really told her Colt was still alive.
My bad.
The stag-fox was no fool; he hauled tail to get clear of the battlefield, running all out, a reddish blur low to the ground. I wished him well. Someone needed to survive among the Hunt to spread the story of what was going to happen here.
I strolled forward, my gun extended, squeezing off shots, while my left arm burned with summoned dragon fire.
THIRTY-TWO
“The killing field in my heart
always keeps me warm.”
—Caine Deathwalker
Rockets sped in, exploding the animals on the perimeter, the booms a punctuation of death. Parrots and cockatoos flapped for the sky, screeching. Gunfire stitched the beasts on the ground with armor-piercing rounds.
Winds howled in. The earth trembled. Dragon heads made of water lifted from the pool, baring toothy maws. Low cloud cover rolled toward us, blue-white lightning jagging in the air. My guys were hitting hard with elemental magic. Soon, the fey armies loyal to me would be pouring in as well.
A fall of thorny tendrils floated over the falls. A wall of tangle wood and thorns covered the falls and the cliff face. Still unseen, the Thorn Queen had arrived. Soon those growths would be seeking living things to squeeze and pierce.
The dark green shades sank into the ground, withdrawing. The ladies of the Land probably weren’t in any danger if they stayed immaterial, but this wasn’t something they’d want to see.
Tukka roared.
The Captain and the lead warriors with him were lifted and slammed away. Not in the direct line of attack, others were deafened and crowded aside. Losing the Captain irritated me; I’d been cutting my way through the Hunt, heading for him. Now, he’d been blown well out of reach. I had to console myself that he wasn’t going to enjoy landing in the thorns.
My focus narrowed to delivering death to those in range. I emptied my handgun, then let it go, vanishing back to my armory on Earth. Joining hands, I transferring dragon fire to my right arm. Both hands and arms now ablaze, I blasted hell ahead of me as I advanced. All living things fear fire. This was a direct attack, as well as psychological warfare; two for the price of one.
Such a deal.
Incandescent, burning like ignited magnesium, the firebirds swooped at me. They must have thought they were immune to my dragon fire. I never got to test that out. The dragon heads of water, on their long necks, shot from the lagoon and intercepted the threat; my people were looking out for me. The dragon jaws clomped shut on the firebirds, drenching them in water, cutting off their air. They continued to burn, fireballs bubbling the water, but after a few moments, they died, and dimmed their magic failing.
A dark red shape plunged at me, dodging another water-made dragon head. I caught an impression of a bat winged lion with a scorpion tail. The human h
ead had calm blue eyes at odds with a hateful snarl. The manticore was easily five times my size. But I had wings of my own. I snapped them out and leaped with full strength to plunge over its head.
Tukka lunged in from the side. He T-boned the manticore, head-butting the monster’s side. I heard the crunch of breaking rib, then not much else as Tukka bellowed again. His sonic scream deafened me, plunging the world into surreal silence while fire raged, guns fired, and swordsmen appeared lead by Orin.
I flew over his head. He seemed to be laughing, hard to know for sure, as his blade found the heart of a minotaur, taking the man-bull down.
Running across the top of the water, kicking up spray, the unicorns tried to escape. They’d have made it if they hadn’t headed straight for an ice floe in the middle of the lagoon—where Kellyn stood wrapped in a blizzard. Apparently, it wasn’t enough that she was free. She wanted vengeance for those that had thrust the indignity of capture upon her. Spikes of ice, like javelins, formed in the snow flurries and buried themselves in the unicorns’ torsos. Bloody, they stumbled, fell, and slid on the floe to Kellyn’s feet. They struggled weakly, briefly, beautiful creatures no longer so beautiful. And died.
My flight took me higher. I used the opportunity for an overview of the battle. Grace had morphed into a fox-shaped shadow the size of an elephant. Other creatures tried to come to grips with her, but her shadow couldn’t be held. Though when she whirled upon an animal, biting and clawing, they had no problem bleeding. She’d learned to blend kitsune and shadow man power, and had grown much fiercer than I remembered from years ago. I wouldn’t have thought her meeting Colt just once would have inspired this passion.
People can be so sentimental over other people’s children.
“Dad!”
Ah, my hearing was back. I looked up. Dropping from the sky, Colt reached me, his body wet, hair plastered down.
So small. Vulnerable…
I caught him in my arms, a move that surprised us both.
“Dad, can’t breathe.”
I let him go.
“Don’t go getting captured again,” I said. “Your mother worries.”
The world went red as bolts of lightning fell into the battle. Booms followed.
I smiled. “See?”
Miles away, coming on fast, she had to know Colt was out of his enchanted sleep, that she was free to act.
We could all die.
I looked up at the storm, through a gap where the Red Moon hung. It’s scarred, cratered face suggested Selene’s face. And there she was, a falling star framed by her own moon. More lightning flashed from her, jags of crimson that swelled as they approached, hitting the jungle indiscriminately. But this wasn’t common lightning; it didn’t cut off. The constant stream of power had an incorporeal quality. It didn’t so much hit the ground as soak in and spread like magic, the way my own shadow power could. The ground, the grass, the rocks, the combatants: everything went monochromatic red, becoming immobile—a still-life waiting to be destroyed. Only then did the crimson jags snap off, without even a thunderclap to follow.
“What’s happening?” Colt asked.
“Your mother.”
I thought she’d gone out of control, but she might still be capable of surgical precision. I hoped. I didn’t want to think that both sides in the battle were going to be targeted. I wanted to think that she’d suspended motion so that only the bad guys could be taken out.
Weapons raised or thrust into enemy bodies, my demons and Orin’s soldiers were mixed into the frozen tableau. Bodies littered the ground and more of them were frozen in the process off falling. Gravity wasn’t exactly suspended, but the effect seemed countered by the cohesion of the energy Selene had unleashed.
Flowing darkness caught my eyes. The shadow-fox was still free. She weaved around the paralyzed forms, inspecting everything. Maybe looking for Tukka.
She’s uncommonly attached to that hound.
Her fox-head lifted. Her gaze hit us. Then she froze.
I pointed at her. “Go tell Grace you’re fine. She’s been busy avenging you. Apparently, she cares.”
“That’s Grace?” Colt stared, fascinated. “That’s so cool.”
He left me, dropping in a diagonal slide toward her. As he landed at her front paws, her head lowered. She loomed over him—and then the shadow peeled away and Grace dropped to the crimson ground. Bending forward, she hugged him, crushing his face into ample cleavage.
Poor guy. That looks like hell, but in years to come, it will probably become a cherished memory.
I looked up again. Selene was much closer.
Man, she’s traveling! She’d better slow down soon, or there’s going to be a meteor strike, and maybe a nuclear winter. We’ll lose more than dinosaurs this time.
Did I want to take a chance she was still rational, and risk everything?
Not really.
Did I want to intercept her and get my ass handed to me?
Again, not really.
Still, I had a sinking feeling that was going to happen.
I beat my wings furiously, climbing toward her, going for height. My barrier spell shadow-pattern was already formed on my body and warmed with golden magic. I fed it even more power, triggering its activation. I’d never tested my defensive spell against Selene. I had no guarantee the shell would hold up for long. Or at all.
Guess I’ll know soon.
Positioned directly in her path, beating wings in a red bubble, I waited. My dragon sight zoomed in on her, reading her clenched teeth, seeing eyes lost in a haze of crimson energy. Every muscle looked rigid, locked into hardness as she fell face-first toward me. I wasn’t sure she really saw me, or cared I was there.
I braced for impact.
At the last moment, she angled enough to just clip my sphere. It cracked as I was batted sideways, out of her path. I felt jarred, shaken, sliding inside my ball like an enclosed prize from an arcade dispenser, one shaken in a child’s hand. Looping the inside of my shell, I eventually stopped.
Beating my wings furiously, I recovered enough so I didn’t crash into the ground. Pulling myself together, I stopped only a few feet from impact.
She’d taken it easy on me. I think she could have shattered the shell entirely. As I watched, the cracks in it fused shut, mending. I let the shell go away and dropped those last few feet to the ground.
It seemed like time had stopped, and bled over everyone, except Grace, Colt, and me. Since Selene always wore red, she always looked bloody. I walked toward her.
Colt ran. As he got close, he called out. “Mom!”
The hard glare of light in her eyes paled. For a moment, her eyes became visible. Her face softened. Her tones were gentle. “I’ll be with you soon.” She gestured and a cluster of iron gargoyles appeared, catching him. They dragged him skyward, toward the Red Moon, toward home.
She doesn’t want him to see what’s coming, to see her darker side. As if he hasn’t glimpsed it before. Kids see and understand more than we know.
From the edge of sight, I saw Grace approaching as well. She seemed incomplete without Tukka by her side.
Selene ignored Grace and me, lifting her hand to grasp at something unseen. A line of dancing star-points dazzled into existence. She gripped the middle of that line and it became a staff of cuprite, a red crystal formed from oxidized copper, mined on the Red Moon.
She turned with the staff, stopped, and gripped it with both hands while leveling it out. She thrust the butt into the chest of the owl-woman. Her torso shattered like so much red glass. Chunks and shards dropped and littered the ground.
The staff darted here and there, leaving broken red crystal as she moved on. She only appeared to be targeting the Hunt, so I let her get some of the rage out of her system.
Grace charged past me. I supposed this slaughter was too relentless, too fish-in-a-barrel. The dying had no chance to fight for life.
I warned Grace, “Don’t!”
She kept going.
The red staff suddenly reversed. Its end caught Grace in the stomach, a blast of cold red light driving her back off her feet. Tiny jags of red lightning grounded off of Grace. Her scorched clothing smoked. She fell onto a pile that had once been a horned froglet.
Selene turned, marched over, and lifted the staff to hit her again.
Stunned, Grace stared up from her sprawl. It seemed like she was waiting for reason to latch onto Selene’s senses, for recognition to emerge.
Softly, I spoke to Selene. “Colt likes her. She fought for him. She cried when she thought he’d been killed.”
The staff froze. Selene paused, then swung away, looking for those that had threatened her young.
Selene is still awake in her goddess self. She’s buried, but not gone.
I followed her around. When she reached someone sworn to me, I simply said, “One of mine.” She’d move on, leaving that warrior or demon intact. She began to move slower, most of the rage drained from her face. It wasn’t like there was much of the Wild Hunt left.
I decided to try and stop her. “Selene, honey. I think that’s enough. You want a few to go so they can warn others never to mess with Colt again, right?”
She came to a stop, like some battery-powered toy out of juice. She leaned on the staff, looking down on an oversized, red-crystal bunny with six legs. She breathed a single word. “Fine.” The staff unmade itself, becoming a glimmer of lights, then nothing.
I came up behind her and carefully wrapped my arms around her. She stiffened a moment, then relaxed, sagging back into me, letting herself become weak again.
“Let the valley go,” I said.
The landscape dazzled. Redness beamed upward, dissipating, and everything became normal again. Normal for hell. Crystal bodies were now flesh and bone, broken, scattered, drenching the ground with fresh blood.
