Lost Soul

by E. A. Copen

  “Archers,” Mask called.

  Dammit, he was about to screw everything up by putting an arrow in Haru before he could ever get up the tower.

  “Go!” I shouted, although I had no idea how we were going to stop him. We’d need a miracle.

  A low, loud horn sounded, echoing through the castle. I’d heard that horn before…

  I looked up just as the clouds parted, and a giant, rotting ghost ship appeared inside a huge, swirling portal. The Flying Dutchman broke through into the sky with dawn at its back. The anchor dangled from the side with none other than Jean Lafitte holding onto the ghostly chain. Six cannons shifted, pointed straight at the castle walls.

  “New plan!” I shouted to the ghosts. “Get all these kids out of the courtyard! Haru—”

  He was bleeding and bruised, but he still stood up straight when I said his name. “I’m on it,” he said and turned to limp up the stairs.

  Cannon fire erupted in the next breath, and the castle walls exploded as the Dutchman’s cannonballs slammed through it. Bits of stone rained down on the courtyard as the other ghosts and I forced the children we’d possessed to flee into the cover of the keep. As soon as the boy I was in was safe, I abandoned his body and flew back to the courtyard to grab another.

  The once quiet courtyard had turned into sheer chaos. Some of our troops had already started to take advantage of the holes the Dutchman had blown in the wall. They flowed through one or two at a time, swords swinging. There was no time to waste. I jumped into another kid and ran for the safety of the keep all over again.

  A monster the size of a wolfhound leaped off the castle wall to block my path. It reached for me with its tentacled arms. I ducked under one only to find another wrapping around me, squeezing the little body I was in so hard that bones groaned.

  Hooves thundered and a black stallion leaped through a hole in the wall, steel flashing in the red morning light. Khaleda’s sword severed the tentacle that held me, and three sharpened spears immediately pierced the tentacled monster before someone else shot it with a flaming arrow.

  I ran for the keep where I jumped out of the poor, terrified kid. He might be scared, but he was safer in there than out in the courtyard.

  When I returned to the courtyard, the Dutchman had lowered ropes. Skeletons were busy shimmying down them to drop on the castle and join the fight. Swords clashed everywhere while more cannonballs bombarded the walls. My ghost brigade had finished evacuating what children we could, and I ordered them to start pushing Mask out of whatever fae they could. It wouldn’t be easy, but maybe with him under attack on multiple fronts, he’d cut his losses and just let his troops do most of the fighting.

  With all the fighting and debris, it was hard to tell, but it still looked like we were outnumbered three to one. Our troops couldn’t get through the walls fast enough to change that, not until the drawbridge came down.

  I spun around, searching for the stone stairs. Why hadn’t Haru let the drawbridge down? Maybe he needed help.

  Bodies were strewn on the stairs, lying in a trickling waterfall of blood. Another tentacled monster had been cut in two near the top. I carefully floated over both twitching halves and a handful of armored fae that Haru must’ve cut down on his way. The higher I went, the fewer bodies I found, but the bloodstains on the floor seemed to increase. Haru was bleeding, badly.

  I found him sitting next to a giant wheel, both hands clenched over a bloody wound in his side, the same one he’d gotten patched up after the battle earlier. Haru had always been pale, but now he was a sickly shade of white. The blood pool around him had trickled into the grout to form a small river.

  “Haru!” I rushed over to him, but there wasn’t anything I could do. After everything, I was still just a disembodied spirit.

  He gritted his teeth and let out a shaky breath. “I tried, but with this hole in me… One of those little bastards downstairs opened it right back up. Tore it right open. Damn, I’m glad I never got to know my kids. Assholes, all of ‘em.” He moved his leg and more blood spurted out like a geyser.

  “I’ll get help.”

  Haru shook his head. “There’s no help for this, and I don’t want to die being carried away from a fight.”

  “You’re not going to die here, Haru.”

  “Shut up and listen, you idiot.” He grimaced and clenched his wound tighter. “To open the gate, you need to rotate the wheel. I know you can’t. You’re just a stupid disembodied spirit. And I can’t do it without collapsing from blood loss and pain. But if you control my body, even if I black out, we can give this stupid door what for. What do you say?”

  I didn’t know what to say. The minute I saw him, I knew he wasn’t walking away, but I didn’t want to admit that. Haru was War, the only other remaining Horseman. More than that, he was a friend. I didn’t want him to die. But we needed that door open, or the few forces that’d managed to get through would all be slaughtered.

  I swallowed and nodded.

  “One thing, though.” Haru tightened his hold on his wound. “Don’t leave me here in Faerie. Bring Min something back to bury, would you?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Somehow, despite all odds, he pulled his feet under him and stood. “And don’t make this weird, ok? Maybe don’t tell anyone I died with you inside my body. Well? What’re you waiting for?”

  I closed my eyes and pushed into Haru. Controlling him was a little easier than the kid because he didn’t fight, but his body was awkward. Bending didn’t work right and something in his shoulder was wrong, although I couldn’t tell what. Somewhere distant, as I walked us over to grip the giant wooden wheel, I registered that he had a few broken ribs and a serious concussion, which explained why looking through his eyes felt like being on a ship in the ocean. The amount of pain he had to be in… And somehow he’d still stood back up.

  We pushed the wheel with everything we had. It moved a few inches.

  Harder, Haru insisted.

  I pushed harder. Haru’s side tore open. He bled enough that the floor became slippery and I almost fell as I forced us to walk with the turning wheel, moving it.

  After a few rotations, the wheel spun the rest of the way on its own. We fell, and I jumped out of Haru’s body as fast as I could.

  Haru lay on his side in blood and smiled. “You didn’t tell me it was so beautiful.”

  A cheer rose from our armies as they rushed down the drawbridge, but I don’t think Haru heard. He was already gone.

  Chapter Sixteen

  With the battle still raging, I set a small company of ghosts to watch over Haru so that no one would disturb his body without me knowing, and went to do what I could. Flying above the palace courtyard, I spotted Khaleda on a small rise, rallying her troops and the High Court’s knights. Everleigh’s white horse wandered riderless around the courtyard, and I couldn’t spot her either. Jean’s skeleton forces had been sent to focus on the Nightclaws. They couldn’t kill them, but if the skeletons kept the Nightclaws from killing everyone else, that was still a victory.

  Where was Finn? There was so much chaos going on below, I couldn’t pick him out. At least that meant Mask couldn’t either. I hoped.

  I flew lower and through an open door. The narrow hallways of the keep were full of fighting, but no sign of Finn.

  I broke through to the garden and spotted him on a path with fires burning on either side. Malphas swung his flaming sword and deflected an arrow from his place in the rear guard while another one of Khaleda’s Fallen sliced through a tentacle that whipped out at them. Finn cracked a whip made of shadow and yanked an archer down from the wall. They were moving, but slowly.

  A Nightclaw suddenly roared and climbed into the garden with them. Finn let go of the whip and picked up a sword from one of the fallen fae. He drew the blade over his palm, leaving behind a streak of red and thrust the sword at the Nightclaw as it approached. The monster batted it from his hand with razor-sharp claws.

  Malphas turned as the Nig
htclaw reared to attack Finn. His fist closed around the creature’s bladed arm, letting it bite into the meat of his hand. It screeched and swung its other arm at him. He caught it too and held it, arms trembling. Then, with a smirk, he wrenched the Nightclaw’s arms to one side, snapping them in half. Finn picked up the sword he’d just dropped and drove it into the Nightclaw’s stomach. It screeched and exploded into shadowy confetti.

  And here I thought those bastards were almost unkillable. Turns out, Finn’s blood was enough to make a weapon useful against them.

  Finn and his escorts raced the rest of the way across the garden and found the doors to the tallest tower. “It’s locked!” Finn yelled after yanking on both handles.

  I dove into the garden. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  The doors were barred with a heavy wooden plank from the other side. I looked around for someone to possess and came up empty. Mask didn’t even have guards in the hall. Guess I’m just going to have to move it. I pushed up my spectral sleeves and concentrated on what I wanted to do, just like Jean had taught me. My fingers still sank through the wood. Dammit, what was I doing wrong?

  Footsteps sounded behind me. Armor clinked, and soon the hall filled with troops in icy blue armor. A tall, beautiful fae strolled down the stairs almost lazily, tugging on a pair of white gloves. She wore white armor from head to toe in big, bulky plates. On her head, she wore a crown made of ice. The Winter Queen, Noelle. At least she couldn’t see me. I guess Remy’s spell to make me visible had worn off just in time.

  The doors jerked as someone pounded on it. I flinched and flew backward.

  “Steady,” urged the Winter Queen. “Death waits on the other side of that door. What waits for us once they break through that door is not an army of fae, but demons. Ghosts. The restless undead. They’ve come for conquest and glory.” She held out her hand, and a big sword made of ice constructed itself from nothing. “Let’s send them back to Hell to chill out.”

  Both doors bowed inward with the next strike. Had they found a battering ram somewhere?

  More Winter soldiers poured into the room by the second. I had to get the door open before they were completely ready to engage, but that meant somehow lifting a heavy beam when I couldn’t even move a piece of paper if I wanted.

  I closed my eyes and tried to remember exactly what Jean had said to do. Something about spatial differences and empty space. It wasn’t coming back to me. Maybe I should just wing it. That’s always worked for me in the past. Let’s see, if I were a ghost and not just a disembodied spirit, how would I move something heavy?

  I studied the plank as Finn’s group continued to pound on it from the outside. It was too heavy for me to move, even if I’d been in my body. The thing probably weighed a couple of hundred pounds. If I were me, and I wanted to break in, the best way would be to remove the bolts and hinges. That was basically all that kept even the biggest doors in place. Take those out, and they’d fall, no matter what they were made of.

  I floated over to the first set of hinges. They were decorative but deceptively simple to dismantle. A big metal pin shoved in a metal hole was all I’d need to remove. There were three of them on each side. Six pins in all and the doors would come down.

  I tried to grab one of the pins, but my finger went through and got stuck there. With a curse, I jerked my hand up to try again, but the pin came with my fingers. Well, it works, I thought and moved onto the next one. Since I already had a pin stuck in my hand, I couldn’t grab it with that hand. I wound up using my left hand for that one and then struggling to use two alternate fingers. I was going to have some serious trouble when I got to the other side, but I’d figure it out when I got there.

  Whatever they were using outside to batter the doors struck again, and the door on the left popped free of the frame, taking the wooden beam with it as it flew inward. It crashed into the wall right beside Noelle.

  “Holy shit!” I backed away from the opening I’d just helped create as a huge demon with curling horns charged through. The door pins stuck in my hand suddenly clattered to the stone floor.

  Behind him came Finn, three Fallen, Nate, Emma, and Khaleda, who seemed to have caught up with Finn. They all halted when they saw the Winter troops lined up, ready to engage.

  Khaleda put a hand on the huge demon’s back. “Get him to the top of the tower, Malphas. I’ve got a score to settle here.”

  That hulking tank of a demon was Malphas? Guess he hadn’t been lying when he’d said his real form was terrifying.

  He stood. “I’ll clear a path.”

  The Winter soldiers slammed their shields together in a shield wall blocking the stairs. Malphas lowered his head and ran at them like an angry bull. Metal creaked and bent. With his giant fists, he crushed heads and caved in rib cages with a single blow. His horns gored any fae stupid enough to get close. Malphas didn’t clear a path, he laid down a road of bloody slaughter. Even when five fae at once jumped onto his back and stabbed at him, he didn’t go down. He grabbed one off his back with a roar and pulled the poor fae in half.

  “Come on!” Emma lowered her guns, one in each hand, and fired hot lead at anything she thought she had a clear shot at. Bullets ricocheted off of helmets and breastplates, but some found their mark as she and Nate escorted Finn through the path Malphas had cleared.

  The three Fallen fell in behind them, keeping the bulk of Winter’s forces off their backs.

  Noelle swung her sword with a shout and cleaved off one of the Fallen’s sword arms. Before she could strike again, a black knife spun through the air and bounced off Noelle’s armor. The Winter Queen turned, snarling, to Khaleda.

  Khaleda smirked and drew a dagger for her off-hand. “Remember me, bitch?”

  “I never forget a pretty face,” Noelle spat and touched her crown. The crown expanded into an icy helmet.

  I would’ve thought Khaleda was at a disadvantage. After all, Noelle was fully armored and had that huge sword. Khaleda had some armor, but she was still mostly in leather and lighter plates, plus her sword was shorter, practically a machete. Machete versus plate armor? This was bound to end badly.

  Noelle swung her sword at Khaleda’s neck but found Khaleda wasn’t there. She’d dropped to one knee and swung out at Noelle, drawing her blade over Noelle’s breastplate, right at the bottom. If the Winter Queen had been unarmored, Khaleda would’ve disemboweled her with one cut. With a growl, Noelle lifted her sword and chopped vertically, hoping to catch Khaleda as she rolled away and split her in two. She was fast, but not fast enough, and Khaleda moved behind her. Noelle turned, but it didn’t save her from the devastating diagonal slice to the back of her left leg. Blood spurted, and Noelle went down to one knee. As she did, she threw the pommel of her sword back. It slammed into the side of Khaleda’s face, and the Winter Queen twisted to land a hard punch to the back of Khaleda’s head, right at the base of the skull.

  Khaleda went face-first to the floor, and Noelle fought to turn her over and sit atop her. Her leg might not work anymore, but her fists worked just fine, and she pummeled Khaleda’s face twice before Khaleda spat a mouthful of blood in her eyes. Noelle screamed and reached to wipe her vision clear. It was all the opportunity Khaleda needed to drive the dagger into Noelle’s exposed armpit.

  The Winter Queen screamed as Khaleda hammered the knife in further with a fist. Her men rushed from the sidelines to stab at Khaleda but quickly found the three Fallen in their way. The Fallen fought the fae two and three at a time, deflecting swords with their own blades and slicing with their black wings. They pushed back shields to cut off feet at the ankle and hands at the wrist. No one who approached Khaleda lived long enough to scream.

  Noelle ripped the dagger out of her armpit and thrust it down toward Khaleda’s face. Khaleda caught her arm with one hand and held it, grimacing. Noelle gritted her teeth and pushed harder. The dagger trembled from the effort of both women and slowly sank toward Khaleda’s eye.

  Khaleda’s free hand suddenly m
oved, slashing across the inside of Noelle’s arm. The hook-like blade caught on the edge of Noelle’s armor and tore the strap, but it also ripped open the flesh of the Winter Queen’s wrist. With another slash, she hooked the delicate chorded muscle of Noelle’s throat and tore them open. The dagger fell harmlessly to the floor. Noelle gripped her bleeding throat, wide-eyed.

  The Winter Queen was conscious for a heartbeat, maybe two before she fell to one side and lay there, empty eyes fixed on the ceiling.

  Khaleda sat up and looked around. The Fallen had made short work of most of the Winter soldiers. The few that remained wouldn’t be a match. Her eyes fell on me. “Finn?”

  I took that to mean she wanted me to check on him and sped up the spiral staircase. Bodies lay propped against the stone, bullet holes in their faces or bearing deep gashes from Finn’s whip. One or two may have been missing their souls, but I couldn’t tell. Not without the Horseman mantle.

  I caught up to them just as they reached the top. Emma pointed her gun at the last fae and pulled the trigger. He fell back, gripping the side of his face where the bullet had torn through his jaw. He wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t in any shape to keep fighting either. Ahead stood a wooden ladder that would take them all to the roof where Finn was supposed to use the stones and activate the seal to kick Mask out of Faerie, once and for all.

  Finn gripped the ladder, but Nate pulled him down. “Me first. Just in case.”

  Finn nodded and stepped aside.

  Nate climbed the ladder and disappeared onto the roof. He didn’t immediately shout a warning or scream in agony, so Remy followed before gesturing for Finn to come. Emma brought up the rear, and I flew through the ceiling.