The Diamond Sphinx (The Lost Ancients Book 6)

by Marie Andreas

  The horses were ready and we were packed in record time. Still, Leaf and three other faeries who had stayed behind with her were about to drive me crazy with buzzing by us, yelling hurry, then flying up into the trees.

  Once everyone was on their horses, Leaf flew to Alric, landed on his horse, and pointed. “That way.”

  We couldn’t go quickly through the trees, as, of course, Leaf was just taking us the most direct route, and their ways of travel rarely involved paths or roads. After about thirty minutes of dodging low branches—Padraig had gotten the clearthin glows up, but they could only light so much—we came to a clearing with a familiar cottage in it. Padraig’s army of glows flew over the cottage.

  At least twelve boy faeries were hovering over and around it. The cottage was intact, but they were taking turns bashing against the shield of magic Mathilda had raised around it. Garbage and the rest of the faeries who hadn’t come to get us were inside the shield. Crusty, Bunky, Irving, and their crew were nowhere in sight, and neither was Mathilda.

  “Garbage! Where is Mathilda?”

  Leaf and the three who had come with us flew up and started dive-bombing the boy faeries.

  “We make her stay inside. Not good.”

  I got my answer when the door opened and Mathilda came out. She was listing as if she was drunk, and was watching the boy faeries oddly.

  “My friends! Do come in, we shall dance!” She didn’t even look at us; she was looking at the boy faeries.

  “They love spelled her,” Alric said and got off his horse. “They shouldn’t be able to, since like the other faeries, they are magic, but they don’t cast spells.”

  “So someone gave them a spell to cast on her.” I watched as Garbage and the rest of the faeries inside the bubble flapped and pushed to get Mathilda back into the cottage. I got down off my horse as well and we walked to the boy faeries. At first they ignored us, then, as one, they turned and released some familiar nasty purple flower creatures. Gloughstrikes.

  They were far faster than before, and struck everyone before we could respond. My friends crumbled to the ground as they were attacked by the gloughstrikes. I knew they were only unconscious, but who knew what would happen if I couldn’t get them awake soon. I got hit twice, but felt nothing but a slight tingle. A cold tingle that came from my cheek as the manticore slapped them down with a shot of frigid air. I smashed the two that hit me. Somewhere deep inside I felt a change begin.

  No. I was not going to turn into a monster again. Not for some damn flowers and overlarge faeries. I fought it down; focusing on not changing into whatever my body was trying to change me into. Once the feeling had passed, I reached out with a spell, two levels actually, a modification I’d made while on the run. First was a slowdown spell, then I smacked them with push. It took three rounds, but the gloughstrikes and the boy faeries finally vanished.

  Leaf and her three faeries landed on each of my friends, one at a time, and they stirred. I walked up to the spell bubble around the cottage. “Mathilda? It’s okay now. They’re gone.” I put one hand near the bubble. The magic bit back at me. Alric had once said that taking down another magic user’s spell bubble was almost impossible if the spell caster was still alive.

  “We here!” Crusty shouted as she, the constructs, and the rest of the faeries came into the clearing. From the opposite direction that we’d come. She spun around. Even our flighty one noticed something was missing. “Where they go?”

  Leaf and her troop had just gotten everyone up and she flew up to Crusty. “You miss. She fix.” She pointed to me as if my fixing it was the worst thing that could happen.

  “Oh. Got lost.” Crusty shrugged and flew right into the spell bubble, got zapped, then flung backwards. “Boom!”

  “Lorcan, is there any way to get around that bubble?” I grabbed Crusty as I spoke; she was getting ready for another run. All these years I thought it had been the ale that had addled her brain; maybe it was just her love of being shocked senseless.

  He shook his head and walked closer to it. “We have to get her to come out and take it down.”

  “Wouldn’t the spell on her vanish when those faeries did?” Covey came forward a few steps but stayed a healthy distance from the bubble.

  “It would have been a free-standing spell, not connected to the boy faeries.” Padraig stayed back, and studied the bubble. The clearthin glows moved around the cottage as he looked for a gap.

  “Garbage, go wake up Mathilda.” I would have thought that would be obvious, but even generals have off days.

  The faeries inside the bubble had been arguing about something in native faery, but Garbage cut them off and gave me a nod. “Do.” She turned around and led her troop to the door. I expected them to do their trick of going through the door, but their tricks seemed to come and go—this time they just pounded on the door.

  Mathilda slowly opened it and blinked at us. “Why are you here in the middle of the night? And why is there a bubble around my cottage?” She shook her head but looked like she had been asleep for hours.

  “You put the bubble up. You had been spelled, and a bunch of boy faeries were trying to get inside,” I said. “I chased off the faeries and their weaponized flowers, and you don’t seem spelled any more. You can drop the bubble.”

  Mathilda flicked her wrist and the bubble dropped. “I don’t remember setting it up, nor a bunch of boy faeries. What kind of spell did they use?”

  “A love spell was what it felt like, and you did look very much in love with the winged gentlemen callers.” Lorcan came to her first and held one hand over her head. “Just making sure all vestiges are gone.”

  Mathilda shook her head and stepped back. “You can leave the horses tied up out back, then come inside. It’ll be cozy, but no reason we can’t all fit.” She waved to Bunky and Irving. “You two as well. I think Lorcan and I can set up enough wards to keep us aware of any more intruders tonight.” She turned to me as Alric took my horse. “And flowers as weapons? I believe some tea might be in order.”

  Lorcan and Covey came in as well, as Padraig and Alric took the reins of their horses.

  “They fired gloughstrikes at us.” I sat down and had a cup of tea in front of me almost immediately.

  “Are you certain?” Mathilda had two more teacups out but sloshed a bit as she poured.

  “They got all of us, far faster than they should’ve been able to move too,” Covey said. “Well, I assume not Taryn since she saved us.”

  “How did they miss you?” Mathilda asked.

  I rubbed the side of my face. “I think the manticore held them off. Then I used a spell to disburse the faeries and the gloughstrikes.”

  “Push?” Alric came into the cottage. “There are more spells than that one, you know.” He sat down on the sofa with a smile.

  “I know, and I do use others, sometimes…but this one was modified.” I took a long sip of my tea. “It took three tries to get rid of them. They really wanted to get in here.”

  “But why?” Mathilda looked a little less disheveled than she did before but was still a bit out of it. Must be a bit disconcerting to be asleep and find out you were actually awake and trying to join a bunch of male faeries.

  “Did you bring your nectar with you?” I turned to the others. “The faeries had been trying to steal her nectar before.”

  “I did, but that seems a bit extreme.”

  Padraig nodded. “I agree that wouldn’t have motivated anyone except perhaps those boy faeries. But if someone else was using them to get to you? They could have played off what they wanted. And someone certainly gave them access to those gloughstrikes.”

  “Like someone who wants to stay near Beccia but keep us thrown off,” Alric said.

  The faeries had come in with us, along with Bunky and Irving, but all of them sat up suddenly and looked toward the door. “We go.” Garbage flew to the door with her fleet behind her. “Being called.”

  “Who is calling you?” I had never seen the
m so focused, but something was definitely reaching into their tiny heads. Maybe the same someone’s who sent the boy faeries after Mathilda?

  “We go.” Now all of the faeries were hovering next to the door, but none were going through it. Which was a good thing if whoever was calling them was bad.

  Mathilda came to the door and stood in front of it. “Who is calling you?” She folded her arms and glared at the faeries as if they’d forgotten their manners.

  Garbage nodded and whispered, “Queen Mungoosey.” Of course, her whisper was loud enough to be heard by people in the next county. “They stay.” She pointed to Bunky and Irving who had already flown to the rafters.

  Mathilda watched her for a moment more and when Garbage held fast under the scrutiny, she opened the door and they flew out. A quick glance outside and she shut it again. “I know you said their relationship with their queen had deteriorated after they broke the prophecy to save you, but hopefully this is a good sign.”

  I agreed, but I was also worried. The last time they had a talk with their queen, they spent the next few days getting knock-down drunk. I really didn’t want to be on the road with a bunch of seriously drunk faeries.

  “Back to why you were targeted, does anyone else know you have these?” Lorcan had been looking around Mathilda’s bookshelves and tapped on three old books right in the middle.

  “They shouldn’t; most people can’t even see them. And anyone questionable wouldn’t be in my house.”

  “Aren’t they just books?” I knew that was a loaded question with this academically minded bunch, but they looked normal.

  “Ah, you can see them,” Mathilda said. “To most people it would appear that Lorcan just tapped on part of the bookcase. They are books, yes, but they have great significance.” She turned back to Lorcan. “You really think they were after these? How did they even know about them?”

  “Did any of the boy faeries get into your house? Before, when you were on the other side of Beccia and they were looking for nectar,” I said.

  “No…well, yes. That night I found you, the faerie I had chased off had been in my house. Just for a short bit, but I’d left the door partially open so I could hear my teakettle. I caught him inside.”

  “What are they?” Alric walked over to the bookcase but didn’t touch the books.

  “All I see is a shelf,” Covey said. “I assume that only magic users can see these books at the moment?”

  Covey was closer to her, so Mathilda nodded to her first. “Yes, the spell is a simple one, but I hadn’t thought about the faeries being made of magic. I might not have added that to my spell. As for what they are, they are some of the only known historical references about when the elves first moved into the area. My homeland was the birthplace of elven kind; the migration to here was much later.”

  “So those might discuss the Ancients? And early elven migration?” Covey was on her feet and almost drooling. I was afraid that even if she couldn’t see the books she was going to find a way to grab them.

  “They most likely do cover those topics, and sadly, I think the spell on them might make them illegible for you, at least for now.” She turned to us. “Actually, none of us can read them now. Siabiane and I found them when we first came here. At that time, only she and I could see them; even other magic users couldn’t.” She looked pointedly at Lorcan.

  “You mean Siabiane had these? While in the enclave, before the Breaking?”

  I’d known Lorcan for a few months and I’d never seen him so shocked and disturbed. Not even when he became a ghost at his brother’s hand.

  “Yes, she did. She had them sent to me a few months prior to the Breaking. After the battles, you locked yourselves up and I went on my travels. But over the past thousand or so years the spells keeping them hidden have worn thin, so more people can see them.”

  I looked around as they focused on the books with the same look a miner would have with a massive new find of gold. Even Covey, who couldn’t see them, was drooling. “How can you all be this excited about these books if no one has been able to open them and read them since they were found? They could have a bunch of recipes, or be blank.”

  The looks I got ranged from compassion to crazy.

  “These books are mentioned in other books, and their supposed secrets well known,” Lorcan said with a shake of his head. “I was that close to them and never knew.”

  Alric turned away from the books. “Given what you have here, I’d assume that’s what triggered the male faery invasion. But who sent them? They wouldn’t have known what the books were, nor been able to control gloughstrikes like that.”

  Padraig pulled himself away from the books and sat with his cup of tea. “We’re back to the question: Are there two groups against us right now, or just the one? Working with the gloughstrikes sounds more like Nivinal…if he’s not dead.”

  Mathilda looked over to the books, then reached into a pocket and pulled out a faery bag as she walked closer to the books. “I know we’ve been using these a lot as of late, but I think, given the situation, the books should go in one of these bags.”

  The moment she touched one of the books a spark of lightning slammed her across the room.

  We ran to her, but she was knocked out cold.

  “Damn it, that’s what they were waiting for. She needed to break the seal.” Alric ran to the books when two male faeries appeared. They grabbed the book that Mathilda had touched, and then vanished.

  Mathilda blinked her eyes and we helped her to her feet. She saw the missing space and ran toward the shelf. “How could I have been so blind?” She spun around the room, saying spell words so fast I couldn’t hear what they were. I probably wouldn’t recognize them even if I heard them anyway.

  Two spectral forms appeared, but they were fighting back. Twisting under her spell. A few more focused words and they became a little more solid. The male faeries had somehow been hiding in her cottage.

  “Were they using this cottage to come through to our plane?” Lorcan walked around the creatures even as they twisted in Mathilda’s spell.

  “I think so, although I don’t know how it works,” I said. Unlike the others, I stayed back. “The girls said they’re not finished so they shouldn’t be here—but they can cross through at certain focus points. Someone made your cottage a point.”

  “That one I chased out last week,” Mathilda said. She looked more like Siabiane in her fury than any other time. “I’m not sure how they got here, but unfinished things are easy to send back.”

  “But we could study…” Padraig’s comment trailed off when Mathilda glared at him. “Agreed. Send back.”

  The words Mathilda said this time were short and brutal. The unfinished male faeries vanished.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “I’d say that even though you were hiding as a wandering witch, someone knew who and what you are even before you ran into Taryn again.” Lorcan resumed his seat. “And they knew what you had.”

  Mathilda grumbled as she went to refill everyone’s tea, but her annoyance was clearly at herself. “I thought I’d been so clever. That’s why I got custody of the books, Siabiane was too well known. Those male faeries had been hanging around, raiding my nectar stores for a few weeks. I didn’t realize what they were, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have thought them to be evil.”

  “I don’t know that they are evil, or rather, that they were,” I said. “One of them saved me and the girls when I somehow crashed us into Null. The faeries weren’t too upset about being rescued by him, even though Garbage continued to remind everyone he was unfinished.”

  Lorcan nodded. “I’d say Nivinal, or someone working with him, found out about them and is luring them in from wherever they are to work for him. We assumed that they saved us against the gloughstrikes near the Spheres because of some good nature on their part. But Nivinal seemed to want Taryn at the Spheres; he might have sent them to make certain she made it.”

  “Should we put the remai
ning books in those faery bags now?” Covey stood near the books, even though she couldn’t see them. “You’ve removed the problems in here for now, right? Maybe get them hidden before more come along?”

  Mathilda shook her head. “I believe these attacks from those vile things has rattled my brains. Thank you for keeping us on track.”

  We gathered around her and she reached for the first book and quickly dropped it in the impossibly small faery bag. I found I was holding my breath as the second book was also picked up and stored. Mathilda tied the bag off and tucked it away in an inner pocket of her vest.

  We had been a bit nervous so the sudden barrage of knocks on the door made us jump. Okay, it might have just been me who actually jumped, but it did visibly startle the others.

  Mathilda went to the door, but all of us were right behind her as another volley of knocks hit. All of the magic users had one hand out, ready with a spell as she opened the door.

  And we were overwhelmed by an army of dour faeries. It was just our twenty-three, and they were more subdued than dour. But I’d rarely seen them like this. They appeared to be seriously thinking. Even Crusty.

  “Girls? What’s wrong?” I followed them into the living room as Mathilda shut and bolted the door.

  They landed on the table and politely sat. If the looks on their faces hadn’t told me something was wrong, that would have. Bunky and Irving dropped down from the rafters to land on the table as well, but they stayed a respectful distance away from the faeries.

  I quickly moved the tea pot off the table just in case this was a ruse to get some. We needed sleep right now, not twenty-three jacked-up faeries.

  “Queen Mungoosey had words. Big words. Heavy words.” Garbage nodded. “We must think.”

  “Do!” Leaf said.

  “Think first.” Garbage normally would have been yelling, but her voice was low even though she disagreed with Leaf.

  “Do?” Leaf looked cowed but was still arguing. She finally sighed. “Think.”