by Larisa Long
I wince as the pain sears through me. I don’t have to look at the Queen to know she’s sending me a spell.
“I got you.” Zephyr puts his hand to me to protect me while I protect the dragons. There were so many in the sky. I didn’t know there were that many. Twenty-two. No. I see three more. Zephyr must have had them patrolling out of sight. Forty. Fifty. I can’t save them all.
Blist grabs my hand to steady me.
“Sixty.” My head pounds, and I know my nose is bleeding. I don’t stop to assess. I have to keep the dragons safe.
The dragons all make it down safely but can’t shift out of dragon. Another spell hits them, and they disappear. Even Zephyr. Even my guard. Without the dragons, we’re fae’d. “Where’d you send them?”
King Philock moves even closer. “To the dragon realm.”
“Why didn’t you go?” Queen Ama asks.
The wolves growl, and Harst, the alpha wolf, has to hold them back from attacking.
Some of the warlocks taunt them. Throw sticks. Try to get them to play fetch.
The King snaps his fingers, and the wolves disappear too.
“Fae it all,” Liam hisses, as he shifts into a lion and tries to circle the warlocks.
Blist tightens his grip on me. “What are they doing?”
“Trying to see if I can shift.”
“Huh.” The King smirks. “That’s what I thought.”
“You’re just a weak witch.” Queen Ama chants something.
Something hits my legs out from under me as the Penn brothers suddenly appear in front of me. Blist instantly shifts and chases them as does Vax and the bears.
Fae. I close my eyes. This was their plan. I don’t have to open my eyes to know they’ve enclosed me. Some kind of thick bubble. At least it’s not sticky goo. That’s what I would have done.
Blist allows Vax and the bears to keep chasing as he throws himself against the bubble I’m surrounded in. The dragons are gone. The wolves. The rest of the shifters are out of reach.
The warlocks taunt me. Luckily the bubble is big enough they can’t touch me.
I snap my fingers, and Dray is naked again. A few of the new warlock recruits faint. He runs away. That’s one. I chant my protection spell to the remaining shifters. I open my eyes and see a few of the warlocks and stalykes have grabbed Blist. I close my eyes again and make the protection spell around him unbreakable. Not even I would be able to undo it. It won’t last forever, but it should keep him safe temporarily.
He breaks free from his pursuers easily. With Blist and the shifters safe, I kneel to the ground and whisper to the earth. The ground rumbles as volcanic ash spews up encircling the warlocks.
The King’s eyes widen as his hand goes over his mouth. “What are you?”
Blist claws at the bubble encircling me. He’s joined by Liam, and both try to claw and dig their way to me. Interesting to see a lion and jaguar working together.
All of a sudden, I fall to my knees. The pain is unbearable.
I look up at the Queen who smiles at me. I close my eyes and send it right back at her.
She falls to her knees as well. “I’m stronger than you are,” I whisper to her. “You made me withstand everything you threw at me. Release the fae’ing spell or I swear the first curse I send your way will dissolve that glamour you parade around in.”
The spell is gone, and I can stand up. The Queen looks at me not with a glare but as if she’s frightened of me.
“You’re not even a shifter, are you?” King Philock shakes his head. “Poor Zalia. Where did we go wrong with you?”
I close my eyes and can feel the power of my dragon and wolf shifter ancestors. I’m what they call an unshifter. A shifter with the blood of several shifts within me. I can’t shift literally, but I have all of their powers mixed with my magic. It’s intoxicating.
I toss a spell at those taunting the shifters that hits them knocking them down. It won’t incapacitate, but it’ll pixie them off enough to lay off my friends.
Witch’s Fate appears, and she’s holding onto Shifter’s Fate.
He holds his hand up before I ask. “I’ll be alright.”
Witch’s Fate snaps her fingers, and the bubble surrounding me is gone.
Blist unshifts and rushes to my side. I snap my fingers to clothe both he and Liam, and I didn’t even peek. Proud of myself.
Blist grabs my hand. “I’m here. I’m right here.”
Witch’s Fate smiles. “Very good, Zalia. Channel that power.”
I look at both of them. “Will I still be me?”
She holds her hands up to block spells that are coming our way furiously.
“Destroy them,” Warlock’s Fate shrieks.
She tsks her fingers at him and sends him a spell that knocks him flying backwards. “The power won’t destroy you. You won’t let it.”
Blist tightens his grip. “Anchor yourself to me. You won’t fall.”
I close my eyes and then open them again so I only see Blist. My handsome Blist. The world around us blurs and slows as it’s just us. I can see us and our future, but his jaguar isn’t solid. He’s there but weak. “You’re risking your shift.”
His eyes don’t even change. “I know. He knows.”
I kiss Blist quickly as the air swirls around us. Suddenly, time returns to normal.
Liam tries to anchor Blist. “Channel me too.”
“Me as well,” Shifter’s Fate says.
I silently say a protection spell for Blist’s shift and also Liam’s and Shifter’s Fate. I won’t risk them. I look at Witch’s Fate. “Do I have your permission to get the witches?”
She nods. “I’ll do it. To all good witches out there.” Her eyes change colors, and her voice explodes across the Academy and explores every nook and cranny. “Witches. Witchlocks. Doubting warlocks. You chose your side now because you will be shown no mercy. I know your names, and I will send a thousand curses to hunt you down so you can face the wrath of all the fates.”
I glance at Blist. “She’s scary as hell.”
Shifter’s Fate nods. “That she is."
Dozens of witches, witchlocks, former switchlocks, even a few warlocks join us. I look at Witch’s Fate who studies them all quickly. She nods to me. “They are pure.” She looks at them and points to me. “You anchor each other. Concentrate your protection spells on Zalia and her shifters.” She nods to me.
I have to squint a bit since the other side is now concentrating all their spells on me, and fae it hurts.
Blist squeezes my hand. “I’m right here. Always.”
I nod and try to shake off some of the pain. “Liam take Blist’s hand. Shifter’s Fate, take Liam’s. Is that okay?”
Blist smiles. “So wise, Zalia.”
Shifter’s Fate nods. “That’s good. I’m good.”
I flinch as it feels like my back is crawling with a million fire ants all chomping their way through my skin. “Witches and shifters each one hand in hand to form a chain. My power will travel down the line, get to the anchor …” I look but I only see a very young witch of about six at the end.
“I’ll be the anchor,” Witch’s Fate says.
“The power will multiply and boomerang back to them. Hold on tight.” I look to make sure everyone is attached.
Blist puts his face next to mine and wipes my tears away with his forehead.
“Didn’t even know I was getting so emotional.”
He shrugs.
“Hold on with all your might. This is going to hurt like fae.”
The witches get into position, close their eyes and chant. I look around to see that Raks is even there. Huh.
I flinch as I’m thrown back a bit from the concentration of warlock spells.
I glance up at the faeries who hover over me. They have tiny little itty bitty toothpicks ready to do battle.
King Philock steps forward. “Zalia, I know you are reasonable. Stop this madness. You will get yourself killed or exiled or worse.”
I igno
re him. He’s made his choice. I look up at the faeries. “You ready?”
Rella nods. I close my eyes and say the spell the faeries taught me.
“What’s she doing now?” King Philock asks, like I’m just the most annoying thing to him right now. I hope I am.
Just then all the faeries disappear.
“Ha, her spell didn’t even work,” one of the warlocks spits.
I smile at them. “I’m allies with the most powerful beings in any realm.”
“The dragons?” Queen Ama snorts, as she looks around. “Wolves?” Her entourage laughs. “A bunch of cuddly bears and cute kitty cats?"
I shake my head. “No, faehead.” I close my eyes, and thousands upon thousands of faeries appear. Only they’re no longer super small. They’re our size now.
The warlocks flinch as their eyes widen. They definitely weren’t expecting that.
“My allies are the faeries. A thousand of them.”
The King’s lips twitch uncomfortably.
“A thousand?” Blist whispers.
I shrug. “Give or take nine hundred or so.” I notice the faerie leader. “Rella, you are beautiful.”
She smiles and then frowns briefly.
“Always knew that,” I say quickly.
Her smile expands.
I concentrate my power and watch it flow down the line. I nod to the faeries who charge the warlocks. I glance back at the chain and can actually see the power as it flows through shifters and witches until it reaches Witch’s Fate and increases in both size, power and speed.
I look at Blist who is smiling at me. “I love you, Blist.”
“I know.” He closes his eyes as he has to prevent himself from shifting when the power gets closer.
I take a deep breath as the power surges towards me. I look at the faeries who are beating back the warlocks. Rella waits to give the signal. We have one shot, Rella. I won’t be able to do this again.
I know.
I flinch. Did I just hear you?
She smiles, and the faeries look to her ready to react.
I feel the energy of my ancestors helping me. Every wolf. Every dragon. Witches. A few warlocks. My royal blood. The power seeps itself through me gathering all it can. It’s overwhelming. It feels like every cell is breaking apart and them coming together. Like the spell is searching every part of me for every single drop of power. My knees start to buckle, and I feel like I’m drifting. I don’t know if I can hold on.
It’s deafening, and I don’t know why. I open my eyes, and Blist is saying something. I can’t hear him. Then I realize I’m the one screaming. It’s not going to work. It’s too powerful, and I’m not strong enough.
“It’s okay, Zalia,” Zephyr’s voice calms me.
“Where are you?”
“Dragon realm, but I can see you. We can all see you. Just hold on. I’m concentrating all the dragon’s strength and we’ll do this together. Ready?”
I nod and squeeze my eyes shut as the sounds continue. My power is starting to wane and dye out like a flickering candle. Then I hear shouts and screams and open my eyes briefly to see the witches, Witches Fate, the good warlocks, the shifters, Shifter’s Fate all holding back the line protecting me.
I can’t let them down. I close my eyes and concentrate. I see mom on the cliff again, and she’s smiling. “You can do this, Zalia. My beautiful daughter. You can do this.”
I take a deep breath as I feel the dragon’s strength reach me. I see the powers, the spell. It took a piece from everyone it touched, and now it’s being swirled with the might of all the dragons and wolves and witches past, present and future. I envision it as a ball of raw power and strength. I see it. I feel it. It’s ready. With every last ounce of stretch I have I hurl it towards the King and Queen and their followers.
The King and Queen disappear before it hits them and leave their loyal warlocks to take the brunt. It’s devastating as the spell instantly turns the ones who took a direct hit to ash.
Blist holds onto me so I don’t fall to the ground in a thud. I don’t take my eyes off the other side. The spell is like a demented ping pong ball bouncing and destroying all it touches. It surrounds the most powerful and drains their powers fast. The spell also surrounds the stalykes and incapacitates them while the faeries, who have huge weapons by the way, slice them apart.
Yikes. I look at Blist who hasn’t taken his eyes off me. “Didn’t know it’d be so gruesome.”
“Tell me you’re alright.” He feels my forehead. “You feel like you’re two hundred degrees.”
I feel weird, but I’m intact. I glance over at a few of the warlocks who are making their escape. I point to them, and Liam shifts and chases them down. He’ll have to fight alongside Vax and her bear shifters who are almost on them.
I see the Penn brothers running into one of the buildings. I notice Blist sees them as well. “It’s okay, you can go.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not leaving you. Not for a second.”
Raks puts his hand on Blist’s shoulder as he watches the Penn brothers. “I’ll go.” He jogs towards them like he has all the time in the world.
It’s sweet, but he’ll probably just buy them a sandwich or something.
“Are you alright?” Witch’s Fate touches my shoulder.
I feel alright. Don’t know how I look, but I feel normal. I mean normal for me. “Am I still me?” I look back and forth between them.
Blist gathers my hair which is swirling around me and tucks it behind me. “You’re beautiful.”
I give him a look and wait for Witch’s Fate to weigh in. She’ll be more honest. She closes her eyes and then opens them quickly. “The spell took a part of all of us but left something in you as well.”
I cringe. “Like a stain?”
Blist puts his hand over his mouth to hide his laughter.
“Not a stain, Zalia,” Witch’s Fate sighs.
“A bit of power?” I step back. “From you? Witch’s Fate? And Shifter’s Fate?”
She smoothes her hair and stands up straight. “I am extremely powerful, so I can afford to lose more than a little.”
“Part of Blist?”
He smiles so sweetly towards me.
“Maybe some of your wicked smarts?” I start to smile but stop myself when I remember who else was there. “Raks?”
Blist cringes. “What in the realms would you get from him?”
I don’t want to think about it. “He does have good hair though. Maybe that.”
Blist isn’t convinced. His lip is still curled. “I don’t want anything of his around anything of yours.”
I look around. “The dragons?”
Witches Fate snaps her fingers, and the dragons reappear. Zephyr rushes to me. “Are you alright?” He looks around. “Where are they? The King and Queen?”
“They disappeared when we did the spell.”
We duck as something comes rushing towards us. I don’t want to look. I think it was a head of a stalyke, but I don’t need confirmation.
Rella looks at me and nods. “Sorry.”
Liam’s lion and Vax’s bear zoom by us and grab it and play fetch with it.
Blist’s eyes shift a bit.
I close my eyes quickly so I don’t get sick. I steady my breathing. That was more than I wanted to see.
Zephyr falls to his knees in agony. The dragon shifters around him try to help him up, but he can’t move. I look up and see the Penn brothers in an upper floor window staring at us. “It’s got to be them. Fae’ing Faeheads.”
“That’s it.” Blist grabs my hand. “I have to finish this.”
I nod. “Go.”
He hesitates. “Stay with the dragons. I’ll be right back.”
I nod and watch several of the shifters and dragon shifters follow Blist. I say the protection spell again on Blist and the shifters and try to help Zephyr. He looks in my eyes, and I can’t see his dragon’s colors. “Where’s your shift?”
He shakes his head.
His loyal guard leans close to me. “We think it took all of him to heal you.”
“Heal me?” I look down at myself. “Was I injured?”
The remaining dragons look at me and are joined by a few of the faeries. Strange to see them so big. They do look exactly like I thought they’d look. Ethereal, glittery skin, graceful moves like ballet dancers.
Rella looks into my eyes. “It’s in there. Your brother’s shift.”
I grab my heart. “I have a dragon? A shift?”
Zephyr looks into my eyes.
Everyone murmurs.
“Your eyes just changed colors,” Rella says.
“Where’s Shifter’s Fate?”
A few of the dragons shift and protect us from some of the spells still being thrown by the more hardened warlocks.
Rella groans. “Back to it.” She and her faeries resume their attack on the warlocks.
Shifter’s Fate arrives. “What is it?”
I look at him, and he recognizes the situation instantly. “Yes, Zephyr’s shift now resides within you, Zalia.”
“Can you restore the shift to Zephyr?”
Zephyr grabs my hands. “Are you sure, Zalia?”
“Of course. He’s your shift. He chose you, not me.”
He nods to Shifter’s Fate.
Shifter’s Fate grabs my hand. “This, unfortunately, is going to hurt. Sorry. Nothing I can do about that. Close your eyes. Both of you.”
I hold onto Shifter’s Fate and Zephyr. Shifter’s Fate chants something. Then I wake up. All I know is there was a chant. Some kind of heat. A migraine that shamed all other migraines. Nothing else should ever be called a migraine after meeting that brain squishing monster. Then I woke up with Zephyr holding me.
By looking in his eyes which switch from blue and green to black, red and dark green, I know the switch worked. I don’t want to know the specifics. He rights me up, and I look around to see that Blist hasn’t returned yet. The faeries are still battling with some of the warlocks.
“Look again,” Shifter’s Fate says. “That’s not a battle.”
I notice the faeries have surrounded the remaining warlocks and are taunting them. “It’s a game.”
Shifter’s Fate nods. He leans closer to me. “You are very lucky you are allied to them. They can be devious and very ruthless.”