The Druid's Guise: The Complete Trilogy (The Druid's Guise Trilogy)

by Michael J Sanford

  “I did not!” Wyatt yelled.

  “No?” the Bad Man asked. “You can’t truly believe that. Even you, Wyatt, aren’t that dense.”

  “I know what happened,” Wyatt shouted. “It was an accident. A car crash. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

  The Bad Man began laughing again.

  “Stop laughing,” Wyatt said angrily.

  The Bad Man obeyed at once, but its smile remained, tearing its head in two. “And what do you remember, Lucy?”

  Wyatt turned to his sister and saw her on her knees at Ms. Abagail’s side. She was tugging on a strand of hair, eyes jumping around, unfocused and glazed.

  “Lucy,” Wyatt said. “Say that you remember and that it wasn’t my fault.”

  Lucy looked at him and then glanced at the Bad Man. She shook her head, and the Bad Man laughed maliciously.

  “Lucy…” Wyatt said, crawling to her side.

  Ms. Abagail had an arm around her shoulders and kept shooting a glance at the misty figure nearby. “You tell that thing what you know, Lucy,” Ms. Abagail whispered. “If that’s how we get out of this…”

  “Lucy,” Wyatt added. “You said yourself that the Bad Man’s just bad memories meant to scare us. And all we have to do is remember what he’s hiding from us. Then we win. Right?”

  “I don’t remember the accident,” Lucy shouted, pulling away from Ms. Abagail. She fought her shaking limbs and stood.

  “And there it is,” the Bad Man said.

  “Lucy?” Wyatt asked. “What are you talking about?”

  She grabbed at her temples. “I don’t remember the accident. You told me it happened, but I don’t remember it.”

  “What do you remember?” Wyatt asked.

  Lucy looked up at the Bad Man. It nodded. “Go on, Lucy, my dear; tell your darling brother what you remember. No need for secrets anymore.”

  Lucy shook her head.

  “Tell him!” the Bad Man shouted.

  Lucy started, nearly fell, gathered herself, and turned to look at Wyatt. “I…I remember what you did. You…killed Dad…”

  “Lucy, no,” Wyatt said. He stood and made to go to her, but the Bad Man glided toward him and held Wyatt in place, breathing its cold breath on Wyatt’s neck.

  Ms. Abagail began to shout something, but her words turned into a grunt as Wyatt heard her body slam into the ground. He couldn’t turn to see if she was all right.

  “You’re going to want to hear this,” the Bad Man said, curling an ethereal hand over Wyatt’s mouth.

  Tears ran down Lucy’s face, and she let her arms fall to her sides, hands clenched into fists. “You killed them, Wyatt. I saw you. First you killed Dad and he screamed. Then you…you killed Mom. I remember. I wanted to forget. I tried to put it in the magic world, but it didn’t work. It doesn’t work anymore. And I remember. It was your fault. I… I remember…” Lucy, looking every bit like she wanted to attack Wyatt, melted into a heap on the ground and clutched at her ears. “They’re screaming! I can hear them screaming!”

  “Isn’t this fun?” the Bad Man asked, releasing Wyatt with an added push.

  Wyatt collided with Lucy and sent her sprawling. He immediately reached to help her up, but she slapped his hands and scuttled away from him.

  “I wanted to forget,” she said. “You’re my brother and I wanted to forget. But I don’t want to forget you. But you killed them. I know you did.” Her back hit the far bank of snow and she stopped fleeing. “Why, Wyatt?”

  Wyatt’s heart skipped a beat. His mother’s words coming from Lucy’s mouth. “It was just an accident,” he said. “Whatever the Bad Man told you or whatever he showed you wasn’t real. He can change our memories into nightmares. He twists things. Remember what he did to Ms. Abagail’s mom? It wasn’t real.”

  “What is real and what isn’t?” the Bad Man said. The creature of mist and hatred had moved to Wyatt’s left and was lounging against the snow. “Does it matter? Is there even a difference?”

  “Yes!” Wyatt shouted.

  “Wyatt?” Ms. Abagail said as she appeared at his side. She was shaking her head and swaying slightly.

  He gave her only the most cursory glance before fixing his eyes back on the Bad Man. “Why are you doing this? What do you want with us? If you want to kill us, then just do it. You must have the power.”

  “Kill you? Oh, I couldn’t do that. And I’m not the one doing this. Whatever this is. Again, what does it matter? You’re a killer and your sweet sister is…well, whatever she is—you made her.”

  “You’re a liar,” Wyatt said, his thoughts becoming less and less cohesive.

  “Hey,” Ms. Abagail said, taking a step forward, seeming to have gained her senses. “Maybe we don’t know what you really are, but like you said, what does it matter? We’re not backing down, and if you want one of us, then you get all of us.”

  “Amusing,” the Bad Man said, his tone indicating that he was anything but amused. It pushed off the snow and sauntered over to Lucy.

  Ms. Abagail launched herself at the shade. It looked as if she meant to tackle the thing, but being incorporeal, Ms. Abagail ended up diving headfirst into the snow as the Bad Man continued unabated. Wyatt knew better than to try to physically interfere.

  “You like showing us things, right?” Wyatt asked.

  The Bad Man stopped and looked at him. Wyatt could feel its eyes on him though he couldn’t see them.

  “Whatever you are,” Wyatt challenged. “You like scaring us by making us remember bad things, right? That’s what Lucy said.”

  “Don’t tell me you forgot our play session, short as it was,” the Bad Man said as it crouched at Lucy’s side. “You know what I can do.”

  Ms. Abagail recovered, but stayed where she had hit the snow, looking uneasily at the Bad Man and then at Wyatt. She must have realized what Wyatt already knew. They were powerless to stop the creature.

  Wyatt began to say something else, but forgot the words as a strong odor of gasoline seared the insides of his nostrils. He flinched and felt a hot sweat break out all over his body. Steam curled up from his arms, and despite the swirling snow he felt as if he were burning alive.

  The Bad Man grinned and turned back to Lucy. Ms. Abagail rushed to Wyatt’s side, but recoiled as she touched his arm. “You’re burning up,” she said.

  Wyatt couldn’t respond, and he hardly heard the words. Something like a forgotten dream was rising from the depths of his mind. It was just fragments at first—the scent of gasoline, the stifling heat—but more came as he stared at the Bad Man whispering into Lucy’s ear. Wyatt wanted to know what it was saying, but all he could hear was the snap and crackle of a thousand fires. And he remembered. Perhaps not what he needed to, and not enough to solve anything, but Wyatt remembered the Bad Man holding him against the wall in Greenwood the night he and Lucy had sneaked out to find his amulet. He remembered the Bad Man’s icy touch, and he could feel the same horror he felt then return. And as the Bad Man left Lucy lying on the snow and approached him, Wyatt remembered what the Bad Man had shown him that night.

  Ms. Abagail put herself in front of Wyatt, attempting to shield him, but the Bad Man thrust his ethereal body through hers and let his face paint the back of her head in inky black mist. It smiled.

  “Why…” Wyatt managed to say as the heat faded and the sound of his mother condemning him retreated to the shadows.

  “Because you deserve it,” the Bad Man said. “Every painful moment.”

  Arms grabbed at Wyatt and pulled him away from the taunting shade. He stumbled, but Ms. Abagail held him fast.

  “Leave us,” Ms. Abagail shouted. “Unless you have the stones to kill us.”

  The Bad Man bowed deeply. “Forgive me, Abby Mae. You are right, I’ve overstayed my welcome. And if my darling Lucy minds me this time, this could be our last encounter, sad as that may be. But do not despair, I have let our mutual friends know where you are, so you will have plenty to concern yourself with.” It straightened
and held a smoky finger in the air. “Ah, there they are now.”

  The Bad Man blew a kiss, smiled wide enough that the top of its head completely vanished, and then the rest of it did the same—fleeing like a fog before the morning sun.

  The ground trembled and the air filled with the thrum of leathery wings underneath the blare of a war horn.

  * * *

  Wyatt stood on his toes and peeked over the edge of crusty snow. The echoing sounds told him what he’d see, but he couldn’t believe it.

  “There’s an entire army coming for us, isn’t there?” Ms. Abagail asked.

  Wyatt turned from exactly that and knelt with Ms. Abagail at Lucy’s side. The small girl had her knees pulled to her chest. She was rocking slightly and her eyes looked to be made of glass. Or ice.

  “Looks like the whole army is coming our way,” Wyatt said.

  “Seems like overkill,” Ms. Abagail said. “They must really want you. Or us.”

  “If they wanted me dead, they could have killed me long before now. It’s a twisted game to the Lord Regent. It’s like he just wants to torture me. And us.”

  Ms. Abagail rubbed Lucy’s back and looked uneasily at the sky. “The Bad Man, too. Whatever he is.”

  “I don’t even know anymore,” Wyatt admitted. He could still smell the faint scent of gasoline, and his skin still crawled with the memory of the memory he’d been forced to witness in Greenwood.

  “He said things he shouldn’t have known,” Ms. Abagail said softly.

  Wyatt didn’t have an answer for her. And the urgency of their position negated the need to give one.

  “Lucy,” Ms. Abagail said as the sound of the distant army became less distant with each breath.

  Lucy didn’t respond.

  “The Bad Man’s been latched on to her for way longer than I’ve known it even existed,” Wyatt said. “At least in talking form, anyway.”

  “Well, I hate to state the obvious, but we need to get out of here. We can worry about the Bad Man later,” Ms. Abagail said.

  Wyatt cast a glance at the sky, expecting it to be filled with the fire-braided Draygans, but it was still clear. For now. “It may take a while for the Regents to get to us, but that won’t matter if they send their Draygans ahead first.”

  “Suggestions?” Ms. Abagail asked.

  “Nothing any of us are going to like,” he said, turning his attention to his sister. He took a breath and grabbed her shoulders. He shook her as hard as he dared. “Lucy!” he bellowed.

  The girl snapped from her trance and locked eyes with Wyatt. He didn’t let up. The time for subtlety had passed, and she already hated him and blamed him. What was one more grievance?

  “You need to get us out of here, right now,” he said forcefully, still gripping her tightly by the shoulders.

  Lucy shook her head. “I can’t.”

  “It doesn’t matter where you take us, but you need to use your magic and get us out of here.”

  “I can’t,” she repeated, shaking her head.

  Wyatt shook her harder and brought his face close to hers. “If you don’t, we are going to die. Or worse. The Lord Regent and all of his monsters are coming for us. For you. We need your magic and we need it now.”

  “The Bad Man said I can’t play with magic and memories anymore,” Lucy said, crying.

  Wyatt faltered for a bit. He had feared what the Bad Man had said to her at the end. He had thought it was more blame against himself, but now he saw it was far worse than that.

  “You have to,” Wyatt said.

  “The Bad Man said he would leave us all alone if I didn’t go into any more memories.”

  “Uh, Wyatt…” Ms. Abagail said.

  Wyatt knew they were running out of time.

  “Lucy,” he said. “The Bad Man is a liar. Everything it told you—has ever told you—is a lie. It doesn’t want any of us to remember. It just wants to torture us. Scare us.”

  “I am scared,” Lucy said. “But if I don’t do it again, we’ll be safe. I want to be safe.”

  Ms. Abagail said something, but Wyatt didn’t hear it. A deep anger was brewing at his core.

  “Lucy!” he shouted as loud as he could. Lucy flinched and squeezed her eyes shut. Even in the moment, Wyatt hated what he was doing to her. “The Lord Regent is coming. And when he does, we lose. Everyone loses. Ms. Abagail, you, me, Rozen, Athena—”

  “I don’t care about them,” Lucy blurted. Her eyes opened, the blue of them like hard ice. “You care about Athena more than you care about me. I’m your sister.”

  It was Wyatt’s turn to flinch. “I do care about you,” he said.

  “No, you don’t,” Lucy shouted. Somehow, she got her legs beneath her and lunged upward and outward from the shelf of snow, bowling Wyatt over. “Liar! You never cared about me. You killed Mom and Dad and left me. You left me! And now all you want is dumb, stupid Athena. You left me alone!”

  “That’s not true,” Wyatt said. Ms. Abagail grabbed his arm and helped him stand.

  “The Bad Man was right. You’re the monster. And if you want Athena so bad then go get her,” Lucy said. Her face was red, coated in a mix of tears and sweat. She took a step toward Wyatt.

  Wyatt opened his mouth to further plead with her, but then he caught a glint of green in the middle of her chest, obscured by her shirt, but still visible.

  “That’s right,” he said as sternly as he could. Lucy froze. Wyatt didn’t let her recover. He stepped forward, saying, “I do only care about Athena. She’s a real friend, unlike you. The Bad Man is a liar, but I guess you’re just too stupid to realize it. Athena wouldn’t be so gullible. She’d fight.”

  Lucy’s frown deepened and her hands twisted into small fists. Wyatt could see her whole body tense, ready to attack. But then there was a brief flash of green light and she stopped. Her entire demeanor melted away as she grabbed her amulet.

  “No!” she screamed. “No, I can’t! He said I can’t.”

  Wyatt grabbed Ms. Abagail by the arm and surged forward, eyes locked on the growing green light. He cursed himself for whatever damage he had caused to their relationship, but they had to survive. He would find a way to repair the rift.

  Suddenly, Lucy stopped shouting at the same moment the green glow of her hidden amulet winked out. Wyatt’s eyes had never left the magical stone, knowing it would be their savior, but it no longer burned with its telltale magic. Had they already crossed into a different place and time? No, that couldn’t be. Wyatt hadn’t been touching Lucy, and as far as he knew, he needed to be in contact with—

  “Lucy!” Ms. Abagail shouted, breaking from his side and snapping Wyatt from his stupor.

  Ms. Abagail caught Lucy as she fell. It was then that Wyatt saw the look in Lucy’s eyes and noticed the feathers of the arrow shaft that jutted from his sister’s shoulder. And it was then that he sensed the presence behind him.

  Wyatt didn’t bother turning to face the enemy. He knew it would accomplish nothing. He went to Lucy, falling at her side, dragged down by his leaden heart. He cradled her body along with Ms. Abagail. Lucy’s eyes danced around, unfocused, and blood was already turning her shirt red.

  “I’m sorry,” Wyatt managed to say. “Lucy, I’m sorry.”

  Chapter Nine

  WYATT HARDLY REMEMBERED the journey through the snow to the Regency’s camp. He couldn’t let his eyes or hands leave Lucy. It seemed Ms. Abagail felt the same. Together they held her as the Regents tossed them unceremoniously into the back of a wooden sled. They didn’t bother binding their hands. There would be no escape.

  “It’s not your fault,” Ms. Abagail said.

  In his periphery, Wyatt could see nothing but armed soldiers. The snow crunched beneath the sled, but he could no longer see it. He flicked his gaze to Ms. Abagail for a brief moment.

  “I shouldn’t have said those things,” he said.

  Wordlessly, he slipped his hands under Ms. Abagail’s and pressed on the flesh around the arrow that remained
buried in Lucy’s shoulder. Ms. Abagail withdrew her hands and flexed them. It seemed the bleeding had stopped, but Lucy remained unresponsive. Not unconscious, but not fully aware either. Wyatt thought it was shock, but he also wondered if she hadn’t retreated into her mind on purpose, to escape him. If she survived, Wyatt feared it wouldn’t be his sister that emerged. And he couldn’t blame her.

  “Maybe not, but I know what you were trying to do,” Ms. Abagail said. “Sometimes you have to do something…crappy…to do something good.”

  “What if she never comes back? What if she—”

  “Don’t even think that, Wyatt. She’ll be okay.”

  “How can you say that?” Wyatt asked, looking up at her. He could see pillars of smoke rising into the blue sky, and he could smell the rich scent of burning wood. It wouldn’t be long until they met whatever fate awaited them. “None of this is okay. It just keeps getting worse and worse. Lucy was right. It is my fault. Magic, no magic. Doesn’t matter. I’m a failure.”

  Ms. Abagail looked like she wanted to say something, but didn’t.

  The sled slowed to a stop and they were dragged off it. Wyatt clung to Lucy, trying to shield her from further trauma, forcing the Regents to drag them together. Ms. Abagail shoved off the Regents with a curse and walked alongside them, staying close to Wyatt and Lucy.

  The valley before Sanctuary was filled with Regents, tents, and what Wyatt thought were siege weapons in early stages of construction. The sky was littered with Draygans, further boxing them in. The ground was a mix of mud and trampled snow, but Wyatt thought little of it as the Regents dragged him through it. He fought to keep Lucy away from the muck, fearing what the filth would do to her wound. Her eyes remained unfocused, but she held a weak smile and Wyatt felt her fingers tighten around his arms.

  “I’m not getting in there,” Ms. Abagail said at some point.

  Wyatt looked at her, standing with her arms folded across her chest, looking more defiant than Wyatt could dream of being in the moment. He wanted to fight. He wanted to shout and kill. And he wanted most of all to take back the words he had said to Lucy. Twice now he had let his frustration take hold of his tongue, and neither time led to anything but further anguish.