by CC Solomon
I knew we could control various aspects of life, including plants and elements that made up life forms. Iron, being a large part of the earth’s core as well as a part of various plants and vegetables, was one of those elements.
My new and improved iron sword wouldn’t do much for swinging and attacking quickly, but if it touched a fairy it would do all it needed to do. This would especially come in handy, since Faith’s life-draining magic was ultimately impractical for me. A sword could reach a lot farther than my arm. The fire, in the meantime, was disguising the transformation so the fairy wouldn’t know what hit her.
One-armed Fairy rose back up off the ground and walked over to me. Mercy shot at her again but the fairy moved on, ignoring the bullets as if they were only minor annoyances. She withdrew what appeared to be an actual wand from her pants pocket. It was thin and black, with a tiny blue light, like you’d find on a keychain or cell phone, emanating from the tip.
I was pretty sure she wasn’t going to turn my old jeans and T-shirt into a pretty, blue dress with that. I didn’t want her turning me into a mouse or anything either. She pointed the wand at me and I waved the heavy sword in front of me, blocking whatever magic she sent my way.
I’m not sure I can work well with this sword. The iron is too heavy. I thought to myself and, perhaps my friends.
I got your back, mama. Felix called in my head.
The sword suddenly felt as light as a plastic toy as I channeled Felix’s strength.
However, I still couldn’t move. If the cold reached my heart it’d be game over. Right now, it was mostly focused on my knees and thighs.
The fairy, probably realizing I wasn’t able to go anywhere, walked closer to me. She disappeared then reappeared; toying with me. I just needed her to move a little closer so that I could tap her with the iron sword.
She disappeared again then reappeared on the side I wasn’t holding the sword on. The giant woman towered over me. “Now I take your soul,” she said in a low, deep voice.
“No, ma’am,” I shouted and swung the sword with all my might at her, twisting my body to the left.
She threw out her arm to block the sword and the fire died, leaving the iron to connect with her skin.
She screamed as the iron burned her arm and I swung again, this time impaling her in the stomach. The blue light in her wand died and she dropped it as she backed away, looking down at the sword. Her arms hovered over it as she tried to pull it out but her hands were burned each time she tried to touch it.
The cold in my body stopped spreading and dissipated as her magic broke. The fairy tried to disappear but only went translucent; unable to teleport.
Another fairy, a purple-haired male, came at me screaming but Mercy shot him in the head, killing him instantly. She then retrieved a butcher knife from her sheath and ran, screaming, in warrior mode, to the purple fairy in case he could come back. She brought the knife down on his neck. She then began the work of decapitating the fairy like a mad woman. Blood squirted up and splashed over her. Mercy seemed unfazed at the gore as she hacked at him with amazing speed.
When she finally stopped, she looked up at me. “Fun,” she said, giving me wild eyes and a teeth-baring grin beneath the mask of blood.
I gave her a curt nod; slightly terrified. This crazy human was saving my ass today.
I looked back to the green-haired fairy, who was now yanking at the sword in her stomach and screaming as her hands burned and smoke seeped beneath her fingers.
“Oh, hell no,” I shouted. My legs were now thawed out and I moved to the fairy and pushed out magic. The sword sank deeper into her stomach, appearing to melt.
She coughed, her eyes wide. Green tears streamed down her yellow face and dark-black liquid poured from her mouth. Iron.
The fairy bent forward as the iron melted into her stomach and poisoned her system.
The green tears soon turned to thick, black liquid, which was now also pouring from her nose. She dropped to her knees and hands, vomiting liquid iron.
She was suffering and I didn’t care to draw it out any longer. “Mercy!” I shouted, not looking behind me as I stood over the dying fairy.
Mercy reached my side in a second.
“End it,” I ordered.
Mercy shot the fairy in the head and the fairy dropped sideways to the ground. I moved my hand in a come-hither motion and the sword slid out of the fairy’s dead body, no longer iron coated. It hovered in the air above the body.
“Do you want your sword back?” I asked Mercy, still looking at the body.
“Hell, yes,” Mercy shouted, grabbing the sword and then swiftly decapitating the green fairy.
I turned around to see if there were any other scary Fae to take down. The grounds were scattered with humans fighting grotesque monsters. The humans were armed with swords, knives, guns, axes, bow and arrows, and even grenades. They couldn’t use the tower to shoot down the Fae from the vantage point because it would break the ward. However, the humans were strategic in their fighting. Several villagers would attack one fairy at once, moving fast and purposefully.
A female fairy with long, stringy, silver hair and a wide body, perhaps six hundred pounds on a six-foot frame, stood in a wide stance. Her body looked muscular and hard but smooth. Suddenly, she charged at a black SUV that was speeding towards her. For her size, she moved impossibly quickly. The car smashed into her and took her down. A male leaned sideways out of the passenger seat of the car seconds later. He held a rifle and shot the fairy monster in her head just as she was struggling to her feet. Half of the fairy’s face blew away. He shot again until the fairy was missing a head.
Effective.
I turned around to find Phillip but couldn’t see him.
“Where’s Ed and Phillip?” Mercy asked, standing beside me with sword out; ready for attack.
I closed my eyes and saw Phillip in my mind’s eye. “The back,” I announced.
Leave him be, Faith grumbled.
“If I do that and he gets hurt, then I could die,” I said aloud.
“What’s that?” Mercy asked.
I shook my head before grabbing her hand and teleporting.
At the south end of the village we found more fighting, as well as Ed and Phillip battling a fairy giant.
It, or rather, he -he was not clothed- must have been well over seven feet tall. He was hairless and blueish-gray in color, with large, bulging, muscles covering seemingly rock-hard skin. His face was still very human, only modified with lime-green eyes and a very thin, long nose. His lips were almost nonexistent and his teeth were rows of razor-sharp canines.
At the moment, Phillip was trying to electrocute it with zaps of lightning that poured from his fingers. However, the blue fairy was resistant.
I cracked the ground under the fairy and he faltered and fell to his knees but not before swiping Phillip and Ed out of the way with both of his hands. I ran up to it and poured mag—
Blue Fairy disappeared.
And then reappeared behind me, lifting me in the air by my waist, wrestling style. Mercy sliced at its back but her sword ricocheted off his stone skin.
“Shit,” I heard her cry.
The fairy monster lifted me above his head and a nightmarish vision of him cracking my back across his knee entered my mind. I tried to teleport out of his hands but couldn’t. Suddenly, my body bulked in energy. I felt muscles harden and stretch.
You won’t be hurt if you fall, Erik mentally stated. Apparently, I was taking on his were strength. I hoped that didn’t mean I was going to change into a were jackal but if it meant I survived I’d take the help.
An arrow shot out and landed in Blue Fairy Monster’s eye. I looked down and found Ed shooting. The next arrow bounced off the skin but the blue fairy was already slightly off balance and lowered me a bit from the damage to his left eye.
Phillip cracked the ground under us wide enough to sink a car. Ed shot an arrow into the fairy’s other eye, blinding him. I screamed
along with the fairy as we fell into the open earth.
The fairy let me go and tried to reach for the ground and missed, falling into the opening and a seemingly-endless pit. I reached for the edge of the open ground before I fell into the earth as well, but also had no luck. Phillip lunged over the edge of the cracked earth, touching my fingers, and we disappeared.
When I reappeared, I was lying on top of Phillip; his arms around my back and our faces less than an inch from each other’s.
“I believe there are better places for this than here, friends,” I heard Ed say above us.
I heard a distant growl in my head that I knew belonged to Erik.
Phillip opened his arms, seemingly reluctantly, a disappointed smile on his face. I quickly moved off of him and got to my feet. He got up as well and stood beside me as I surveyed our temporary battlefield.
Mercy and Ed walked over to us.
“Is it over?” I asked.
“I think—watch out!” Ed shouted towards Mercy.
Phillip knocked Mercy to the ground and swung his hand outwards. “Inferno!” he shouted.
I turned to the source of his power word to see Fae lady erupt in flames. She spun around as fast as a whirlwind, putting out the fire. When she slowed to a stop, she looked totally unharmed. Whoa.
“You are good fighters but this was just a taste of what we have in store for you,” she sneered, patting a leftover spark of fire on her arm. “You are but children.” She then snapped her fingers and disappeared in a mist of what appeared to be black smoke.
I heard Phillip grunt behind me.
“Phillip!” Mercy cried.
Phillip clutched his stomach, face twisted in pain. I gasped as I saw blood surround his hand. He dropped to his knees and fell face-forward into the ground.
Chapter 19
The battle was over. We’d killed many Fae but taken no prisoners. Somehow, the humans won, but not without casualties. Looking down at Phillip in the town infirmary, I was beginning to wonder if he would be another casualty. In his effort to save Mercy, he’d sacrificed his body and gotten hit by Fae Lady’s magic. That magic sliced into his stomach and his insides looked like he’d fallen on a grenade. He would have died if he’d been a normal human. I tried to pour healing magic him as soon as he fell to the ground but the damage was too intense for a quick healing. It would take work and time to get Phillip back to health.
Pain suddenly twisted my insides as if I was having ghost pains from some nonexistent injury. I didn’t understand where it was coming from. I scrunched my face in pain as I keeled over in my chair, next to his bed. I had to continue to heal him but I could barely sit up straight. What was going on?
He would die if I didn’t use my magic. I placed a shaky hand back over his stomach and poured out my magic, ignoring my own stabbing pain. He began to heal, but very slowly and I wasn’t sure it was fast enough to prevent his death. He was starting to grow cold from blood loss and he’d passed out earlier. I was beginning to feel woozy myself.
“This would go a lot faster if you guys helped me out,” I stated to the friends in my head.
Let him die, Erik stated.
“He just risked his life for someone else and saved my life. Can we give him a pass for now?” I grimaced as another round of sharp pain twisted my insides.
Perhaps this is a gift, Faith said.
“What if I die?”
Are you hurt? Erik asked.
“I feel like something is trying to rip its way out of my stomach.”
Shit, they are connected, Charles replied. On it, sis.
You’ve got the pack’s magic, baby. Hold on, Erik stated.
I heard Felix and Faith agree.
I’ll help too, Lisa said. A tiny voice in my head. And, Amina, I am trying to get you back.
Soon after, I felt the cool power of Lisa’s fairy magic, coupled with another tingling power that I knew to be Felix’s healing gift.
We combined our magic and poured it into Phillip and myself. Moments later, I began to see Phillip heal rapidly and the gripping pain in my stomach subsided. I remained with him until he was mostly healed but he stayed asleep.
“Is he going to be okay?” Mercy asked, standing above me.
I nodded. “I think so,” I replied.
She let out a sigh. “He saved my life. He’s a good man.”
I stood up and asked Mercy to keep watch over him for a while, which she eagerly agreed to do. Phillip would have an even harder time shaking her now.
I went to the other injured townspeople and the others assisted me in healing them. Once done, I felt heavy, longing for bed. There weren’t any free spots in the repurposed cottage and I didn’t want to leave the medical house, in case I was needed, so I sat on a loveseat in the living room.
Thanks, guys, for helping me today. I still don’t know how this is all happening.
Honestly, we don’t either, Mina. Felix replied. Mae said the Power of Six would evolve with Lisa back.
We didn’t think we could tap in like this. We don’t have that kind of control yet. But, I guess, when you’re in a high level of danger, it alerts us. Erik added. It’s all hit or miss. Just like reaching you in a dream.
Do you know where I am? I can tell you I’m in— My head pounded in pain, forcing me to shut my eyes and bend forward.
Mina, don’t try to tell us. The banishment won’t allow it. Lisa stated. I’m really sorry I had to do that.
“Had to?” I asked aloud, the pounding in my head subsiding.
There’s a reason I had to do this. It’ll be better if I explain to you in person. I’ll get you back.
A sleepy weariness grew over me.
I want to stay up and talk to you all but I’m feeling very tired.
It’s okay, Mina. Erik began. We’ll figure out a way to get in touch with you. Hopefully, without you having to be in danger.
“Love you guys,” I whispered before my mind went black with rest.
I heard the chorus of their voices reply that they loved me too in the darkness of my mind.
The next day, we had a mass funeral for the villagers who’d bravely fought with us but hadn’t survived. Ed gave words of hope and encouragement. He made a point of saying that those who’d died helped defend the village, and that the Fae who’d escaped would now know what kind of warriors they were. I had to admit; they were amazing fighters. They strategized and optimized their own human abilities in the face of defending themselves against magical beings.
The village tried to move forward after the battle; helping those who’d lost loved ones and backfilling certain jobs of the deceased. My mind, however, was filled with more questions. It was clear to me that the Fae were working with or controlled by whoever this big bad was that Mae feared. First the ghosts, then the strange man, and now the Fae. The big bad seemingly couldn’t get to us directly but they had no problems with finding others who could.
I still held out hope that I could return home. A week had passed since the battle and I studied everything I could on soulmate magic and the Power of Six. Needless to say, there wasn’t much on the internet about either. However, I had to get prepared for the next attack, which I was sure was eminent.
It was now November, the start of winter. The temperatures were already moving towards chilly and we were entering our six-month supernatural winter. I left the makeshift infirmary where I spent most of my days and dragged my feet on the cold walk home.
Home.
This was not my home. Not without Charles or Erik. Phillip was no substitute. Although he’d been on his best behavior, I still didn’t trust him, nor had I forgiven him for his actions in Silver Spring. I had no doubt that if we returned, he’d be his same old, sadistic self.
Before I could touch the doorknob to the cottage, the door opened. I raised an eyebrow and walked inside. Phillip was home, so I was sure he was behind the door opening magically. I walked through the entrance and the door closed behind me. No sign of Phillip.
>
The smell of marinara sauce filled my nostrils. Pasta? I walked to the left and peeked in the tiny kitchen. The gas stove was off but there were no longer any pots on the stovetop. I stepped back out of the kitchen and looked down the hall towards the dining and living rooms. Across from the living room, I could see light emanating from the sliding glass doors leading to the backyard.
I stared outside with an open mouth, sliding open the glass door.
The backyard, barren before, was now a miniature garden full of rich plant life, roses, daisies, tulips, and various vegetables and herbs. How had I missed his working in a garden all this time? I had no doubt he’d used his magic to make this garden.
I stepped out onto the cobblestone space that spanned the entrance. In the center of the garden was a grassy patch with a metal table and two seat-cushioned chairs. The spaghetti dinner I smelled in the kitchen sat on top of the table, along with a bottle of what I assumed was whiskey, and glasses. Above me, balls of fire hung in mid-air, illuminating and warming the space.
I looked to my right and found Phillip playing with an old MP3 player and speaker system sitting on top of a closed grill. He settled on what sounded like acid jazz and backed away smiling.
“What’s this all about?” I asked, voice full of suspicion.
He turned to me. “I made dinner. I owe you my life, we’ve been here almost two months, and we haven’t tried to kill each other. You pick,” he replied, waving his arm, implying I should have a seat.
I cautiously walked to the table, eyeing the food. “You put something in the food?”
I heard him sigh, walking behind me. “I’ve cooked for us many times, why would I do that now?”
I side-eyed him as I sat down. “And what’s with this romantic atmosphere? I’m just gonna make a plate and head to my room. Nice flowers, thanks for the grub.” I began to put the pasta on my plate.
“Stop!” Phillip demanded.
“That power doesn’t work on me,” I stated, continuing.
“Please,” he added, his voice softer.
