by Alexia Purdy
He moved away without looking back. I felt his power recede as he disappeared around the corner, leaving me with my breath stuck in my throat.
The guy was hiding something. Was there another reason he’d suggested me for the Teleen throne? He was right that there were few of us left who were capable of taking command of our home, but why would he think I’d be ready for such a role? And those words he’d said before he left… he hadn’t infused them with hatred or anger. In fact, it made me wonder if whatever he was hiding really did have something to do with Shade’s feelings for me.
I shook it off as Nautilus returned to fetch me for our journey. I followed him to a cavern that rose up high above my head, ascending up the interior of mountain, where we found Dylan already assembling the soldiers. I hoped we would find Zena at the sacred feather place. If we didn’t, there was no knowing where else the bounty hunter may have taken her.
There were soldiers from the Teleen joining us, including Nautilus. Their assistance was welcomed, but I doubted it was going to be much help. If Dylan was still angry at me, it didn’t show. He waved me over, and without another word, he held out the harnesses we all were to wear while climbing the walls. We may be faeries, but most of us couldn’t fly. Well, most of the Teleen faeries couldn’t. We had servants, demi-fey who were the size of my fist and hovered about us, tending to the straps and tightening them while others zoomed up the cliff-side and made sure the anchors held.
Cave climbing was the last thing on my list of things to do before I died. I peered up at the slick, steep walls and swallowed hard. I’d grown up in the caverns and had climbed smaller walls, but I never had to attempt to climb this particular one. It was horrifying to say the least.
“Soap.” Dylan held out the rope I’d be using to anchor myself. “It helps if you don’t look up too much, and definitely don’t look down. For goodness sake, if you have to pick one, don’t look down.”
I focused on Dylan as he secured his own rope, and I knew from the look of concern in his eyes that he was worried about me.
How thoughtful of him.
“Dude, have you even looked up? This wall is impossible.” I shook my head before scanning the ranks and finding Benton two men down from me. I wondered what the hell he was thinking. From the looks of it, he was having a grand old time, cracking jokes with the soldiers and swatting the demi-fey away as they fussed over him.
“Careful, Benton, the demi-fey take such violent offenses personally,” Dylan called out to Shade’s little brother. “One might loosen your rope if you piss it off enough. But they’d be wise not to, because Queen Shade would be mighty angry and punish the culprit if anything were to happen to her little brother.”
He said it loud enough for all the demi-fey to hear, and a collective gasp rang out amongst the flying gnats. Dylan had just made sure none of them got the idea to loosen a knot or two or tamper with anything of Benton’s. No one wanted to suffer the wrath of Queen Gretel or Queen Shade.
“The wall angles inward slightly, doesn’t it?” I asked nervously, more to myself than anyone. “We’ll be climbing at an angle the whole time. Might as well be climbing across the ceiling.”
Dylan laughed, wrapping the last of the rope in a loop and tying it to his hip. He was wearing black climbing gloves, and his dark hair was snuggly secured against the nape of his neck.
“Yeah, it’ll be a challenge.” He laid a hand on my shoulder, and I turned toward him. It reminded me to ask him later what he’d meant when he’d said I didn’t know a lot of things. “Look, there’ll be plenty of time to discuss things later, all right? No hard feelings between us. I promise not to toss of you off the side of the mountain, and you promise not to freeze up, all right? I’ll be right ahead of you. Don’t look down, and don’t panic. Got it?”
I nodded, chuckling at his straightforwardness, like we were old friends. It wasn’t comforting at all. In fact, my stomach made an unpleasant roll as I took a pair of gloves from a hovering demi-fey and slipped them on, yanking the Velcro straps tight and flexing my fingers.
We used a lot of human-made things in Faerie. Some, like the gloves, were obviously better than the faery alternative of bare hands and twine rope. Good thing, too. I glared up at the cliff looming over me like a monster ready to strike. Up above us awaited a crevice we’d have to navigate through, but this was definitely the worst part, from what I could see.
Great.
“Come on, now. The mountain isn’t going to get any tinier with you staring up at it with your mouth hanging open. You’re more apt to catch flies.”
Dylan laughed as he pulled his body up, bending his legs at the knees and flexing like a spider. I was going to sorely regret this climb in the morning, and my whole body protested as I took one step forward, gripped the wall and began my ascent.
It went well for about ten feet before my foot slipped, and I found myself dangling by one arm.
“Shite!” I cursed.
“Come on, Soap! Clean that mouth out with… soap. Use your legs, buddy!” Dylan paused above me, waiting patiently. I knew this climb was going to go slowly, and he was obviously far more adept at climbing than I was. One advantage of being captain of the guard was that he’d been force to hone his body, and he’d done it by climbing the cavern walls, among other things. Damn, how I wished I had paid more attention to such things.
“Got it!” I called out, placing my free hand back against the stone and finding a crack for my foot to slip into. Breathing in and out slowly, I followed Dylan’s advice and refused to look down or up. I had to concentrate on the rock in front of me. Grunting, I shot my arm up toward the next handhold. Grasping the sharp edges, I heaved my body up, pushing off with my legs. Once I had a good rhythm going, it got easier.
One rock at a time, that was how everything should be. Soon enough, I was near the outcropping at the top.
“Awesome job, Soap.”
Dylan held his hand out toward me and smiled as he pulled me up over the edge. The rest of the Teleen soldiers cheered each other and patted one another on the backs as each huffed their bodies over the precipice.
Leaning over and peering just past the edge, I heaved my breath in and out, catching it as I let the burn of exertion in my muscles fade away. It’d been no easy feat; the height was that of a thirty story building. I was glad it was over and hoped I’d never have to do that again.
“That was not on my bucket list, but I think no one is going to mind if I add it and then check it right off again.”
I laughed and turned toward Dylan. The exhilaration pasted on his face mirrored my own. He nodded before joining the line of soldiers already working their way off the ledge and through an outlet in the wall formed from a small trickle of water. It had worn away a crevasse the size of a man, and we had to squeeze through one by one. I followed behind Dylan, shimmying my way through the crack and following the blue glow of Teleen as each one shed their glamour and lit the small pathway with their glow.
I decided to do the same. It’d been so long since I’d transformed into my Teleen self that I’d almost forgotten how it felt to feel the blue fire and electrical currents running along my skin. I was half Teleen, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t prance around while aflame.
When we reached the end of the passageway, we made our way to the outside, emerging behind a waterfall. Now I knew where the water that had eaten away at the rock had come from. The water roared as it pummeled the rocks and sent a spray over the line of soldiers. I could see Nautilus up ahead, reaching out toward the cool mountain water and letting it run down his arm. The spray was enough to make me shiver, even with my fire burning. Most of the soldiers donned their humanlike glamour when the water began steaming off their fiery bodies. I transformed back as well and let the fine mist send gooseflesh flaring up along my arms. I welcomed it as it refreshed my aching body.
Up ahead, the new captain of the guard, who had accompanied us on this mission, motioned for us to stop and be quiet. I
listened to my surroundings, and through the churning of the water, I could just barely make out a distant scream.
Zena. It had to be her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Benton
I heard her screaming before I made it out of the falls, but I didn’t waste any time. I cursed under my breath. She’d been so close while I slumbered in the caverns below. I shoved past the other soldiers despite their protests and Nautilus snapping at me to stand down.
I gave chase. I wasn’t built to follow orders. It was petty stuff that just got in my way.
Empyrean blade in hand, I was already leaving a trail of broken branches and smoldering bushes in my wake after exiting the waterfall. The path was overgrown with shrubbery, but I slashed it away until the screaming stopped. I paused to listen for Zena’s location. She was so near; I could feel her presence. I hoped I hadn’t made my own presence known.
“Zena,” I breathed out softly, huffing my breath into the crisp morning air. I could hear nothing but the soft wind, the roar of the waterfall, and the rustle of soldiers behind me. The scream had been silenced.
“Damn.”
Benton.
I straightened, hearing my name like a faltering of the breeze. When it didn’t return, I pushed forward, making my way to the sacred feather place we’d been told about. It had to be nearby. If there was any place I might find her, it would be there.
I didn’t have to trek for too long before I found the alcove. An oversized rock jutted out from the forested mountainside, hiding an indention in the descending slope. Inside was a large grotto. I slipped down into it and peered into a small pool of water formed by a trickling spring bubbling up through the rocks. It was as wide as a small private pool, and the water was crystal clear. I could see smooth, mossy stones lining the bottom. I studied the hanging ivy and vines, scanning for these legendary feathers and, of course, Zena.
Benton.
I flinched as the whisper of my name hit me like an explosion. She was calling to me, and I couldn’t find her. My frustration was making my head hurt as I spun, holding my sword out and darting my eyes around. Where was she? There were no feathers that I could see.
“Things are never what they seem in the land of Faerie,” I whispered to myself, concentrating on the grotto, focusing my magic to peel away any glamour that might be hiding the true nature of the place. I forced my magic into it to break up the lattice of illusion. It took a good infusion of power, but eventually the ground beyond the pool began to vibrate. The glamour sloughed off like old paint, revealing a fifteen-foot-wide faery circle formed of mushrooms of all sizes. Dried leaves and twigs peppered the ground. It was an unusually flat spot hidden in the cliff-side forest, but on this even terrain rested a variety of long, white feathers with thick shafts. They were scattered inside the circle, unaffected by the breeze whirling around me as if I stood at the edge a barrier meant to keep whatever was inside the circle separated from the elements. Vines swung above me and dirt flung into the air, slapping into my skin, stinging like sharp glass.
“Enough!” I yelled out into the air, sending another push of power into the circle, using my elemental magic to shift the direction of the air. The whirlwind slowly calmed down into a gentle breeze, losing its strength as my powers drained it.
The rest of the soldiers came up from behind me, observing the grotto and faery circle with curious eyes. There was nothing but the feathers within the circle from what we could all see, but I knew better. There was more magic there than most faeries or magicals could detect. A powerful, older magic most creatures of Faerie had never encountered had hidden up there in the heights of the world, undetected for centuries. I sensed the energy of something or someone who had lingered near the human realm not so long ago, someone curious and with a taste for elemental magic.
The witch of the woods.
The memories of what my uncle Brendan had written about the witch in his grimoires put me on edge. She’d been the reason he’d died, crushing his elemental magic like dust beneath her fingertips. I had to be careful.
“Dylan, Soap,” I called back to my comrades, waving them forward to join me near the edges of the unnatural circle. The wall it created warped my senses, and I held back the urge to heave my breakfast all over the forest floor. The two Teleen warriors approached me, baffled as to why I’d called them closer. “I need your help. There’s a barrier here I can’t dismantle. I need to borrow power from you guys to break through it.”
“Do what you have to do, Benton,” Dylan said, and held out his arm.
“What exactly are you going to do?” Soap stepped up and mimicked Dylan’s movement, but he looked increasingly skeptical.
“I need a drop of each of your blood.” I plucked a dagger from my belt, took Dylan’s hand, and stuck the point into his palm. I had to give it to the guy, he didn’t even flinch as I pressed my fingers down, smearing the blood onto them. I turned toward Soap and repeated the process with the opposite hand. “Now this might feel a bit strange, but don’t worry; it’s all good.”
I held out my arms and closed my eyes, focusing my power into the circle and pulling magic off my two comrades. Dylan kept silent, but Soap let a grunt escape his throat as I stole their power, funneling it against the barrier along with mine. It felt like an eternity until the barrier wavered beneath my assault, and even so, I took more magic than I had intended. My own stores were nearing depletion, but the barrier finally began to crumble. A deafening silence followed the disintegration of the ward, as if someone had muted the forest.
I fell to my knees and let go of my friends, holding my breath as my body shuddered from the effort. Dylan and Soap followed suit, linked to me through the spell I had cast over the circle. If I hadn’t broken through, I would have had to sever the spell or kill Dylan and Soap by completely draining them. There was no doubt I would never hurt them in any way, but seeing them tremble next to me, almost convulsing, worried all the soldiers as a medic was brought forward. But nothing looked different. The ward had fallen, but a remnant of the glamour was still holding on.
“Come on,” I mumbled, staring straight ahead.
Suddenly, the air shattered, and I was sent flying backward along with Dylan and Soap. They landed beside me, and the breath was knocked from all three of us. I felt everyone’s panic rise up like a tidal wave.
The dust blew wildly around us, blinding us, until at last a soft breeze cleared the air and revealed what had been hidden beyond the barrier. The circle of mushrooms was in shambles, and within the space now stood an old wooden house. Feathers littering the surroundings like an angel had been plucked to death.
“What is this place?” I struggled onto my feet as did Dylan and Soap, whose pallor concerned a small corner of my mind. I reached out and touched them both, sending what little healing power I could conjure deep into them.
Reading the grimoires in my family’s Pyren had done me a world of good. The healing magic spread between the three of us, still linked by my power amplification spell. Still wobbly on their feet, my friends joined me as we studied the small cottage and glanced at one another, perplexed.
There was only one way to find out if Zena was inside, and that was to enter. I threw Dylan a look telling him that I intended to go in. He gave me a tiny nod and readied to follow me. Soap joined as we approached, and Dylan signaled for the guards to keep an eye on the perimeter and wait for us there. The current captain followed to the side, ready to take down whoever was inside if something happened to us.
I really hoped that whatever was waiting for us was just Zena and information about the feathers and not some satanic witch bent on eliminating all forces approaching the house.
“Zena?” I called out, wanting nothing more than to find her alone within the cottage. Sometimes we don’t get what we want but what we need to see.
From the cottage emerged a young woman with dark brown hair extending down to her waist. She wore a long dress that reached to her ankles, tightenin
g at the waist and up into a flowing blouse. She peered at us as though she had been expecting our company and curtsied as I approached closer.
My friends were no longer by my side, and I threw a glance back toward them to find that they seemed unable to cross into the faery circle.
“Let my friends through.” I turned back toward the woman and held out my Empyrean blade.
She shook her head, grinning in amusement.
“I cannot let them through. Only humans may enter the circle.”
“What?” I turned toward my comrades, but Dylan motioned me on. I was the only one there who was human; I would be alone as I entered this woman’s domain. I turned back to her. There was nothing overtly threatening about her, but I was certain that she wasn’t there for anyone’s benefit but her own.
“Where’s Zena?” I asked.
“The red-headed girl?”
I nodded.
“She’s perfectly safe. She’s waiting for you inside.”
“Why should I believe this isn’t a trap?”
“I assure you, it is not.”
“Why would you banish faeries from your residence then? What good could come of that, and why would a human witch take up residence here anyway?”
Her eyes darkened even though her smile didn’t falter. “There is one other among you who may enter the circle. There is much beyond my door that both of you must know.”
Confused, I stared at her as a flurry of whispers erupted behind me. There was another human among us? What was she talking about? I turned to eye the group of soldiers. They were all looking at their comrades, wondering if what the witch had said was true.
“There are no other humans here,” I said.
“You’re wrong.” She lifted her arm and pointed into the crowd. “A half-blood like your sister, yet so unlike her. One who knows nothing of his past yet is burdened by his future.”
I followed her fingers to find them indicating Soap, who stared at her in disbelief.