Armageddon's Ward

by T J Kelly

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” my uncle said airily, waving his hand. “Just avoid the dress shops, and you’ll have plenty of time.”

  Peony drew herself upright and gasped. I slid down further into my chair, wondering if Armageddon had some kind of a death wish.

  “I’m not going to go dress shopping! Honestly, Ged, what’s gotten into you? Do you even know who I am?” My aunt stormed out of the dining room, ranting to herself the entire way down the hall and into the sitting room where the sound of a slamming door cut off her tirade.

  Armageddon sighed. He turned back to me and opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.

  “Don’t look at me, Uncle Ged. I can’t believe Aunt Peony has put up being married to a chauvinist pig for as long as she has. You ought to thank your lucky stars that she didn’t haul off and smack you. Dress shopping? Really?”

  I was still annoyed about my uncle’s harsh words regarding Chas, and the disastrous results of my temper tantrum kept me from shaking it off like I usually did. Besides, something about their spat brought out the darkness inside of me and pricked my temper.

  Armageddon stood frozen, his mouth slightly open. He hadn’t expected me to attack him like that. But really? Who accuses one of the fiercest magicians on the planet of being too distracted by shopping to take care of her own niece’s safety?

  An idiot, that’s who.

  “It isn’t like that. Your aunt knows you need to dress appropriately for the ceremonial supper. The Council always schedules it after the first round and attendance is required whether you win or not. The whole thing is going to be broadcast worldwide. I convinced the stylist to come to us tomorrow afternoon to create an appropriate gown.”

  I wanted to be understanding, but he basically accused my aunt of being flighty. That was unacceptable.

  “That’s great,” I said sarcastically. “But if she knows the stylist is coming, then why did you accuse her of being some demented shopaholic? Do you really think she’s that irresponsible?”

  “No. I was angry. People say stupid things when they’re angry.”

  “You mean people say what they really mean when they’re angry. You should probably leave Aunt Peony alone for a while. Have a nice evening.”

  I brushed past my uncle and headed upstairs to change. Maybe I wasn’t being fair to him, but my anger was barely controllable. It was like the darkness was squeezing my insides. I wanted to get out of the castle before I did something stupid.

  Chas was taking me for an evening ride. I hadn’t had an opportunity to go horseback riding in months. My parents and I had spent so much time searching for a way to tap into my magic that we had no time for fun. I hoped the ride would lighten the heaviness I carried since the incident with the birds.

  The image of Chas smiling down at me flashed through my mind and the darkness lifted. I ran up the stairs two at a time, excited to be going out and spending time with him. The trials were only a few days away, but I was sick of worrying about them. I couldn’t wait to let loose and race across the fields with my boyfriend by my side. It was cold, but maybe we could find a sheltered spot to spend a little time alone together anyway.

  Grinning, I quickly pulled myself together, fixing my hair and applying a light coat of lip gloss that tasted like strawberries. I yanked my jacket off the hook inside of the closet and then raced downstairs to meet Chas.

  ◆◆◆

  “Lia, wait up! We’re going too far,” Chas called from behind me. His horse was pounding the earth furiously, trying to catch up with me.

  He was right, but I didn’t care. I was tired of being pent up and working myself half to death. The sweet taste of freedom urged me on. I pulled the elastic band out of my hair and let the wind blow it behind me as I raced across the field towards a low wall made of stone.

  I felt a jolt at the top of the jump. I pulled on the reigns to slow down as soon as we landed, wondering what had just happened.

  My skin prickled and the horse shied sideways. I studied the trees in the distance. The area was fairly open, making it difficult for a person to hide from us. Except for one dip in the hillside. I turned my horse and quickly headed back towards the stone wall. Before I got there, I passed near the dip. And sure enough, all the warning signs were correct - three men lay in wait, also on horseback. It was too dark to see their faces clearly, so I had no hope of discerning their clan or what magical element they used. I could, however, tell by their outlines that they were large and that was threat enough.

  One of the men pulled his horse forward a few steps and addressed me. “Well, well, it’s our lucky night. What are you doing out here alone, little bite? Here to meet your lover?” They were still a good distance away from me, and he had to shout for me to hear him clearly.

  I drew my horse up, coming to a halt. They had blocked my access to the stone wall. It must have been a borderline for my uncle’s land, which meant I had foolishly left his security spells behind me in my mad dash towards freedom. I frantically tried to picture different scenarios where I could shield myself from them and push my way over to the wall.

  “Cat got your tongue?” another man asked. “Why don’t you come on over here? I can help with that.”

  I couldn’t hear Chas’s horse. He hadn’t been that far behind me, so I hoped he could see what was going on and was preparing to help. I was sure the men were there for me. It was unlikely anyone would be that close to my uncle’s land lying in wait for just any random person coming out of the castle.

  Not like there weren’t plenty of creeps in the world. There were. But that would have been too much of a coincidence.

  I tried to shift my horse closer to the wall, but they weren’t letting me. The first man turned towards the second and said, “Quite a rude little girl, isn’t she? I think one of us should teach her a lesson. Do you want her first, or should I go?”

  My heart pounded, and all the images and thoughts in my head slipped away. What did they want from me? What were they going to do?

  Shifting in the saddle, I tried to back away or edge to the side, but they moved forward and spread out so I couldn’t go around them. I was too scared to wait for their next move, so I kicked my heels into my horse’s sides and galloped straight at them. I wanted to take them off guard, maybe use a shield spell to push them out of my way. It was the only thing I could think to do.

  To my horror, the man who had remained silent raised his arm, and a ball of fire burst into existence in his hand. The flames cast enough light that I could see his face clearly. My stomach dropped. I had seen him before. Chas had identified him after the attack near the Chocolate Lilies. It was his cousin, Tanner Taine.

  Chas had warned us his older brothers usually partnered with Tanner. That meant the other two men were probably Kory and Bradley. More enemies I had inherited along with my family name. And they had me cornered.

  In a burst of sound, Chas’s horse jumped over the hedges nearby. A streak of light followed him, distracting the men as dirt flew up from the ground, making a wall between them and us. The fireball flew from Tanner’s hand, aimed directly at Chas. I screamed, knowing the wall of earth wasn’t thick enough to stop it. It streaked by Chas’s face, barely missing him. His jacket caught on fire near his shoulder, and his voice cut off as he slapped his sleeve to extinguish the flames.

  The three men didn’t hesitate. They raised their arms, a fireball each, and threw them right at us. I ducked, but my horse reared, and I fell as she bolted. I groaned, but adrenaline and panic gave me the ability to rise in spite of the pain.

  Chas was engaged in fighting Tanner and one of his brothers. Light from the fireballs identified him as Bradley, which meant the third man, the quieter one, was Kory. He galloped straight at me. I copied Chas and pictured a wall of earth rising in front of me, pushing my magic in an attempt to grow it tall enough to block his way.

  My foe raised his arm, but I saw no fire. Kory’s hand appeared to be empty until he thrust it tow
ards me, and I realized what he actually held when the knife slammed solidly into my left shoulder. I screamed and fell backward onto the ground, carried by the force of the blow.

  Chas’s head jerked in my direction. Tanner got in a solid hit, knocking Chas from his horse.

  It didn’t look good. I could barely think. My shoulder felt like it was on fire. I hurt. Badly. The wall of earth I created was continuing to rise from the ground, but my personal antagonist jumped over it before it was high enough to block him.

  I used my right hand to push myself up to my knees. Keeping my left arm pressed against my side, I tried not to aggravate the wound while I struggled to my feet. Tears blurred my vision. I couldn’t see where Kory had gone, but he had to be close.

  A muffled roar rose in the distance. Shouts and the sound of galloping horses filled the night.

  Kory grabbed my arm and ripped me off of the ground, setting me on my feet. He swung me around, grabbing the front of my jacket and yanking me close to him, staring down into my face.

  “Oberon said I could have you for myself, little one. Get on up there.” He shoved me towards his horse, lifting me. I cooperated, thinking I could take off before he mounted behind me, but the pain in my shoulder kept me from moving quick enough. He wrapped his arm around me as he gripped the reins, his other hand sliding upward until he grasped the knife handle protruding from my shoulder. I cried out in agony when he twisted it.

  “That’s right, sing for me, little bird. We’re going to have fun before I destroy you.”

  My mind cleared. His words reminded me of what I had done to the birds in the field. The thought came to me that I could do the same to him. I could will him away, too.

  It terrified me, how appealing that idea was. The sudden surging desire to shove him into the swirling, raging darkness. Then I remembered the aftermath. How horrible I felt. And I couldn’t do it.

  Maybe that’s what controlling my power meant. Memories of the consequences stopping me from acting. But that also meant that I was at his mercy. It was over. My chances were all gone. There was nothing left to do.

  And all would have been lost if it weren’t for Peter.

  Chas had been knocked out by Tanner and Bradley. But hope arrived with the roaring I heard in the distance. It was a motorcycle. Peter had decided to come home early. He must have wrapped up his business in the City sooner than expected. As he approached the castle, the flames on the ridge would have been visible and led him to us.

  Peter snapped a branch off of one of the trees that had hidden him from my view. He chased off Tanner and Bradley with a few well-placed marks as he dragged the branch beside him. A small whirlwind sprang from the dirt, pulled by his use of the Air element. He couldn’t see past the dirt wall that I had created, but he could hear me screaming.

  Dirt exploded in all directions as Peter reached my side. Kory kicked his horse into a gallop, but he didn’t get far. A wall of Air blocked our path as if a small tornado had been shoved into a flat box to stop us. The horse squealed, rearing back in terror. Kory slid off, taking me with him.

  I landed on top, Kory’s arm locked around me, his hand still gripping the knife. The landing forced his arm to the side, ripping the knife from my body. I screamed as the world went crazy, wavering in front of my eyes. That was all I could seem to do. I wasn’t able to think. I couldn’t get up. I could only scream in pain.

  Kory shoved me aside, the movement pinning my left arm beneath me. Stones from the ground pressed painfully into my wound, slowing the flow of blood.

  I couldn’t see what was happening anymore, but soon all that remained was the sound of my whimpers. I felt hands on me, rolling me onto my back.

  Relief flooded through me when I saw Peter staring down at me.

  “Lia, are you okay? What’s going on? Who were those guys?” Peter tried to help me sit up, but the knife wound reminded me that my agony wasn’t over and my body crumpled over his arm.

  “My shoulder,” I managed to grind out. I couldn’t force myself to say anything more. Peter dragged his finger in the dirt by my leg, making another mark, and the entire area around us glowed in response so we could see.

  Peter touched the damp spot on my jacket. When he pulled his hand away, it was coated with my blood.

  “Damn, Lia, I need to get you help. Hold on a sec.” Peter lowered me gently to the ground. Standing, he picked up his stick and made a series of complicated movements, twirling around, almost like he was dancing.

  Flares shot up into the sky, red and throbbing, making a loud sound similar to the alarm I had heard when the castle borders were breached shortly after my arrival.

  Peter dropped to his knees again. He unzipped his jacket and tossed it aside, then pulled his sweater up. He yanked on his cotton undershirt until it ripped. “Sorry,” he murmured as he pressed the wad of fabric against my wound. Hard.

  I moaned, trying to push his hands away. I couldn’t help it. The pressure hurt so bad, all I could think about was making it stop.

  “No, Peter. That hurts.” I was crying again. I was always crying, and that thought made me cry harder.

  “I can’t stop, Lia. Hold still. Please. I don’t want to hurt you, but I need to stop the bleeding. Help will be here soon.”

  And they were. Armageddon, Mort, and several guards appeared almost directly below the starbursts in the sky. When Peter told my uncle that the Taines had run away, my uncle sent several of the guards after them and one to fetch my aunt.

  Armageddon crouched by my side. “Here, Lia, take my hand.”

  I did, clasping it tightly. I wasn’t mad at him anymore. The pain made it easy for me to see that none of the petty annoyances I had been holding against him mattered.

  Thunder rumbled in the distance as Armageddon’s grip grew tighter. “Hold on, now, here we go.” Warmth radiated from his hand, working its way up my right arm, across my chest, then seeped into the hole in my left shoulder. The searing, burning pain disappeared, and I almost passed out from relief. I was afraid to let go, so my face was still wet with untouched tears when Peony arrived.

  “Oh, sweetheart,” she moaned. “How do you feel? Is Ged helping?”

  “Yes,” I croaked. My voice was thick and rough. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

  “Okay, keep holding his hand, we don’t want his spell to break.” Peony gestured to the two guards carrying a stretcher. They shifted me onto it, and then lifted me into the air. Armageddon rose with me, still holding onto my hand.

  I stared up at him. His face held a look of fierce concentration. He refused to look away from my shoulder, even when one of the guards called his name.

  No wonder I had never heard of the spell he was using. It left him completely vulnerable to attack since he couldn’t look away from my injury. Nobody in their right mind would use a spell like that, especially when we were still outside of the castle boundaries. Unless things were a lot worse than I realized.

  My body trembled. Waves of cold sank into me and I couldn’t stop the shivers, couldn’t stop the shaking.

  Peter threw his coat over me as I was moved to the back of a wagon. I had no idea when the vehicle had arrived, but it was perfectly arranged to fit the stretcher, my uncle, and the two guards who lifted me aboard.

  Peony climbed on board and tugged two blankets over the top of me, but it didn’t help. I shook violently, my teeth chattering when I tried to speak. I clenched my jaw to stop the spasms from rattling my head.

  “You’re in shock,” my aunt said. “I’m going to use a heat spell on the blankets. That should help. Try to relax as you warm up, okay? We can talk later.”

  I nodded and closed my eyes. I concentrated on the feeling of warmth from my uncle’s grasp and the heat radiating down from the blankets, sinking into my bones, soothing my shaking.

  The wagon was hitched to two horses, and we drove to the castle without transferring magically. Armageddon’s gaze never wavered from my shoulder, his hand gripping mine firmly. I knew
he wouldn’t look away, no matter what.

  “Where’s Chas?” I asked as soon as I could relax my jaw enough to speak.

  “Peter and some of the other guards are with him now. He was struck on the head, but he’ll be okay. They’re bringing him to the infirmary. You can see him after we’re done with your shoulder.”

  My eyes closed against my will. The shaking had stopped, and I was finally warm. The pain was almost gone. I wanted to ask more questions, but I couldn’t seem to open my eyes again, could barely find the will to speak.

  “Thank you,” I mumbled, my voice slurring as the overwhelming desire to sleep overtook me. I didn’t fight it. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I could hear my aunt’s voice telling me she loved me.

  It made me smile.

  EIGHTEEN

  Devil’s Advocate

  It didn’t take long for Peony to stitch me back together. She used magic, again, and it was fast. It had to be - the trials were in a few days, and I couldn’t compete while wounded.

  “I’m worried about using so much healing magic on you,” Peony said. “It does strange things to a living body after heavy use. Try not to get hurt for at least another month, okay?”

  I laughed. Right.

  Everyone was there except Chas. Peony had healed his concussion, and he was upstairs sleeping it off. I wanted to go to bed, too, but first, they wanted to question me about what happened.

  “I’ll try, Aunt Peony, but you know how it goes.” I sighed, then picked up where I had left off in my story. “Kory had me mount his horse and held me there by grabbing onto the knife in my shoulder.”

  Peony shuddered. “Can you remember anything else he may have said?” Peony was handling the questioning. Armageddon and Mort were sitting across from me in the puffy armchairs. Peony sat next to my uncle. It felt like I was in an interrogation room. I pushed my discomfort aside, knowing how important it was to debrief as soon as possible.