by Blythe Baker
I slammed a fist into my palm, and clenched my jaw.
“I can’t promise this battle is going to be easy, but I can promise you that I won’t abandon you,” I said. “I will fight until I can’t anymore. I will not let this monster take Faerywood Falls from us.”
“I’m with you to the end, Marianne,” Lucan said.
“We’re with you, too,” Alessa said.
“As are we,” Cain said from the other side of the clearing.
“We gave you our word,” Lady Yurl said. “We will stand with you.”
“I’m all for taking this monster out,” Dante said.
“Then let’s do this,” I said. “Let’s let this monster see our might when we’re standing together.”
“Might, is it?”
A chilling voice echoed through the clearing.
“Is that what you call this show of defiance?”
14
I whirled around, my heart pounding in my chest…
And found myself staring at the hulking form of the monster, bearing down on us all.
A pair of glowing, white eyes were staring down at me, and two limbs reached out from the middle of the dark, blurred mass. Long, silver claws glinted at the ends, the only part of the monster clearly visible.
“Your efforts are for naught, little faery,” the monster said in his booming voice. “Don’t you see that you’ve made my task so much easier by gathering everyone here who has any semblance of power? Well done.”
Fear coursed through my veins, hot and fresh.
It had caught us off guard.
I wasn’t the only one who didn’t seem to know what to do.
Lady Yurl’s eyes were fixed on the creature, but she didn’t move.
Alessa’s mouth hung open, and she was clinging to Gian’s sleeve with white-knuckled hands.
Lucan’s gaze hardened. He was the first to move.
He stepped between the creature and me. “You will not have her,” Lucan said. “I will make sure of it.”
The creature laughed, a harsh sound that echoed through the trees like a storm force gust of wind. “You’ve gone and got yourself a guard dog, hmm?” it asked, not even bothering to look at Lucan. “How quaint.”
I pulled the wand from my sleeve where I’d tucked it away, and held it out in front of me. “I won’t lose to you. You’ve tormented this town long enough.”
I pointed the wand squarely up at the monster, hoping with every ounce of my strength that everyone was ready.
“Noren!”
A jet of green electricity shot out of the end of my wand, striking the creature in the face.
It let out a howl of disgust, grabbing at its face with its clawed hands.
That seemed to be the signal that everyone needed.
All at once, everything changed. The shape shifters changed, the spell weavers had their wands out and began to cast spells, and the vampires were using their incredible speed and strength to attempt to distract the monster. Even Dante was loosing arrows into the air, their silver tips gleaming in the moonlight as they sailed toward the monster.
My heart surged with hope. We were going to do this!
I shifted into a fox myself, hoping to be able to draw near to the monster. I knew it was really only watching me; everyone else there would be nothing more than a distraction.
I used that to my advantage though, as Athena darted toward me, and together we ran toward the monster.
I wasn’t nearly as fast as Athena was, but we were able to chase each other in circles around the monster. It was fast, though, almost as fast as we were. The monster’s claws narrowly missed my head, filling the air with a loud zing!
I doubled back on myself. Come on, Athena! This way!
I ran as fast as my little legs would carry me, darting in and around the legs of some of the spell weavers. I noticed Lucan off to the side, fighting…the monster?
I skidded to a stop, my paws sliding in the snowy dirt, and stared around.
The monster was everywhere. Each person in the clearing was fighting it.
I blinked, shaking my head, and looked again.
It seemed to be everywhere at once – including right over the top of me!
“Hello there, little Light…” it said, and then slammed its fist into the ground beside me.
I yelped, the force of the blow knocking me over onto my side. I scrambled back to my feet and took off.
Athena! I cried in my mind. What’s going on?
I don’t know! She called back. It’s chasing me, but I can’t get away!
I snarled, realizing that all of us were somehow stuck fighting it.
And it was strong enough to take any of us out with one well placed strike of its claws.
It’s able to duplicate itself somehow, I said, the fear returning in waves. Or it moves so fast that it can be in more than one place at once…
Regardless, using the shape shifting ability was not an advantage right now. I had to try something else.
I stopped on the spot and focused as hard as I could, forcing the magic deep inside me to turn me back into a human.
Just as I opened my eyes, the claws appeared in front of my face, and slammed into me.
A white hot, searing pain shot up my left arm. I staggered backward, clutching my elbow, colliding with a tree behind me. When I pulled my hand away, I saw scarlet, wet and hot, dripping from my fingers.
I gritted my teeth and glared up at the monster that stood in front of me as calmly as if it were just waiting for me to die.
I pulled out my wand and pointed it directly in its face. “Hinatosa – ”
The monster knocked the wand from my hand easily, almost without thought, like an annoying fly buzzing around its head.
“When will you realize that you aren’t going to win this fight?” the monster asked. “All your friends here are going to die for no reason. Surely you understand this?”
I looked around. Lucan was nursing one of his back paws, even though he still fought with his teeth bared and his ears flat against his head. Cain had a cut along his jaw, and was yelling at one of his vampires to get back. Lady Delilah was blasting the duplicate of the monster she fought with brilliant red blasts of magic, a determined look on her face.
The fight was not going in our favor, and I didn’t know what to do to stop it.
I opened my mouth to attempt a spell song, but the words wouldn’t come to mind. Not even the tune.
I was too frightened.
Panic started to well up within me. My vision began to tunnel, and my knees became weak.
This was where I was going to die. Right here, in the forest where my mother died. This monster was going to be the literal death of me, and there was nothing I could do.
In the end, I wasn’t strong enough. None of it mattered.
A loud bark jostled me out of my musings.
I looked up and saw Lucan staring at me. He barked again.
He wants you to focus! Athena said to me. I couldn’t see her, but I could sense she was nearby. He is trying to get you to snap out of it!
You’re right, I said. That was stupid.
We aren’t finished yet, Athena said. You still have some tricks up your sleeve.
I did. All hope wasn’t lost yet. She was right.
“What’s this?” the monster asked. “Still have some fighting spirit left in you?”
“I do,” I said.
Just like I had many times before, I reached far down inside myself. I made my way through my heart and soul, finding the magic that lay beyond it all. I reached within it, touched each of the different ebbs and flows, before I found the one I was looking for.
“This fight isn’t over yet,” I said.
I lifted my hands into the air and released the power that was swelling within me.
A brilliant white light burst from the palms of my hands, forming an orb in the air above me. The orb grew and grew in size, so rapidly it was difficult to keep track of.
The hope within me grew stronger.
The magical barrier, the shield that Mr. Terrance had given me, continued to expand, enveloping all the others around; the wolves, the vampires, the spell weavers…all the while pushing the monster back, further and further toward the tree line.
Some of the shape shifters cheered as they transformed back into their human forms, while some of the spell weavers lowered their wands, seemingly exhausted.
I continued to let the magic flood through me, fueling the shield, making it grow larger and stronger.
The monster let out a howl, and began slamming its claws into the glowing, white wall that pushed it further across the clearing, tree branches snapping as it struck them.
“You’ve got it, Marianne,” Lucan said. I realized he was back to his human form. “Just keep holding on. You’re doing great.”
Hearing his voice gave me another boost of strength I needed to shove the monster back into another ancient tree with a satisfying slam.
The monster suddenly stopped pushing and let out a snarl so loud that I had to cover my ears. It was bone rattling, and it sent tremors all down my legs and into the ground at my feet. It was as if an earthquake was sweeping through the clearing.
Claws struck the shield again, and my heart skipped. It felt like something was tearing, like the magic was weakening.
It struck out twice, three more times. Each scrape of its claws against the surface was causing me physical pain, as if it were striking me, and not the shield.
“I – I can’t hold it,” I said, wincing as the monster shoved all of its weight against the shield. “It’s breaking through.”
“Come on, just keep it together,” Delilah called. “We keep hearing that faeries are so powerful or whatever. You better not prove those people wrong!”
I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not, but I tried to hold on all the same.
Marianne, it’s no use, Athena said from somewhere near my feet. If you keep this up, the monster is going to drain all your magic. And then you’ll be totally defenseless.
But what am I supposed to do? I asked her, my jaw clenched, my forehead beading with sweat.
What only you can do, Athena said. You’re a faery. What’s something only you can do?
I thought hard for a long moment.
And then it hit me.
With a pained cry, I dropped the spell, and the barrier faded.
I turned and faced the forest behind me, my arms spread wide, hoping the others behind me would protect me long enough for me to say what I needed to.
Fear threatened to take over again, though, as I heard the monster’s duplicate forms snarling and gnashing their teeth somewhere behind me, along with the sounds of fighting again. Wolves barked and spells ricocheted off the trees and tore off into the night.
This had to end. And it had to end now.
“I, Marianne Huffler, Light of the forest, call on the forest of Faerywood Falls for help!” I cried as loud as I could. “You have given me your protection, and I ask for it now! Help me to destroy this monster and end this fight, once and for all!”
I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but it wasn’t the immediate green glow that could be seen all throughout the forest. Every tree had a glittering halo. Branches creaked and the ground shook.
Trees began to uproot themselves from the earth, shaking their branches and staggering forward toward the monster.
Fireflies appeared from the depths of the trees and began to circle around us, like a shield around each one of the people gathered there.
The monster seemed surprised by this. “No!” it cried. “You were meant to obey me! Why are you turning your back on me? I’ve resided here for thousands of years, and this is how you repay me?”
“They pledged their allegiance to me,” I said. “A long, long time ago.”
The trees, so ancient and strong, began to slash away with their branches at the duplicated monster. Even though the monster was as big as it was, the trees were bigger, and the branches were making quick work of them.
I watched as one tree hoisted one of the monsters off the ground and crushed it into nothingness. Another knocked one of the duplicates onto the ground before stomping on it with one of its thick roots.
Slowly, one by one, the duplicates began to fall, leaving the way to the real monster open.
And the real monster, the original that had been following me, seemed to be taking hits now as its duplicates fell.
“We need to take out the clones!” I cried. “If we can beat them, we can strike the real one!”
“Do you think these ones are acting like a shield or something?” Lucan asked me.
“That’s exactly what I think,” I said. “We take them out, then it’ll be game over.”
The trees were doing a great job attacking the monsters, but everyone else teamed up against the rest. Lucan, Alessa, and Gian cornered one, and Lucan took it down by ripping off a limb with his sharp wolf teeth. The council of eleven were split up into pairs, no longer smothered underneath the fear of fighting a monster on their own. It took them some time, but they finally found spells that seemed to work, and were felling their duplicates. Dante was sinking endless amounts of arrows into other monsters, helping the other groups defeat them.
Even Cain and his clan were having no problem ganging up on each monster, ripping it apart with their sharp teeth.
My heart was thundering against my ribs as I looked around, the numbers of the doubles of the monster dwindling. It was magnificent to watch everyone working together.
I stepped forward, my wand outstretched.
The monster was on its knees, panting, gasping for breath. Long, white streaks covered its body, showing where all the attacks on its duplicates had been.
The trees stepped aside for me, revealing the path to the monster.
“You’re finished,” I said. “You put up a good fight, but I am the Light. And the darkness will never win against it.”
I looked around, my gaze falling on Dante.
His eyes locked onto mine, and I saw surprise in their dark green depths.
“Why don’t you do the honors?” I asked him, gesturing toward the monster.
Dante gave me a skeptical look.
“I mean it,” I said. “You’re the one who has hunted this creature for so long. I think it’s only fair that you’re the one to end it.”
Dante rose to his feet. Everyone was silent as he walked toward me, his hand clasped tightly around his bow.
“Go ahead,” I said, moving away.
Lucan smiled as I made my way over to him, turning to watch Dante.
He raised his bow, an arrow knocked and ready.
To him, I knew this was too easy. Too simple. After chasing the monster for so long, would killing it in this state be gratifying to him?
I didn’t have to ask the question long, because as soon as he aimed, he loosed the arrow, which sunk right into the monster’s chest, striking it straight in the heart.
The monster writhed and moaned, its body turning to ash as it crumpled apart onto the ground. Smoke billowed from the glowing wounds, its eyes momentarily burning red before winking out into darkness.
As the body dissolved away, the trees all turned toward me.
A booming sound echoed throughout the forest, filled with thousands of voices.
“Our job is done. We have served you. May your days be filled with peace. We shall be here if you ever should need to call on us again.”
“…Thank you,” I said breathlessly.
And the trees all made their ways back to their places in the forest, slipping their roots back beneath the soil, their branches returning to their positions, facing upward toward the sky.
And then in the silence, the excited celebrations began.
The spell weavers began to clap, and th
e shape shifters cheered. Everyone began to shake hands and embrace one another, knowing the battle was finally over.
Lucan threw his arms around me and hoisted me into the air, twirling me around as we laughed together.
He set me down and gave me a firm kiss on the forehead.
“I knew you could do it,” he said, his golden eyes twinkling.
I was weak with relief, my knees like jelly. I didn’t have the same confidence in myself, so I just clung to him, grateful that he got out of the fight mostly unscathed.
Alessa’s laugh filled my ears as another weight slammed into Lucan and me. I turned my head to see Alessa with her arms wrapped around the two of us.
“We did it! We did it!” she exclaimed.
Lucan released me and embraced his cousin, Alessa chatting excitedly. Gian came over as well, wanting to shake Lucan’s hand.
Cain was hanging back, near the edge of the clearing.
He and I made eye contact for a brief moment, and I was surprised to see a small smile form on his face, just along the corner of his lips.
He then gestured to the rest of his clan, and they disappeared into the night.
I shook hands with each of the council members, thanking them for coming.
“It’s not like I had a choice,” Delilah said, folding her arms. “Pretty sure Lady Yurl would’ve dragged me here anyway.”
Then a smug smile formed on her face, and she gave me a shove in the shoulder.
“But I guess you’re not nearly as awful as I thought you were.”
My heart was full as we stood there in that clearing all together, listening to the various accounts of the battle that were sure to get blown out of proportion before the week was up.
Lucan laced his fingers through mine and pulled me closer to him.
I felt the familiar touch of Athena’s puffy tail as she brushed it against my leg and sat beside me.
Everything was going to be alright.
We had won.
Epilogue
I never thought I’d enjoy the sound of the gold and crystal clock as much as I did. Leaving it at home in my cabin was a little too strange for me, but I had no problem bringing it to the antique store for Abe. He was all too happy to have such a special piece that had once belonged to his dear friend.