by J. P. Rice
My ears detected a swarm of bees until I saw another pack of faeries rushing up the mountainside and over the peak. This nebulous oval of tiny fliers had a golden glow. They zoomed past me and came to a stop in front of Kovana.
A pale ray of moonlight struck the faeries and a golden object came into focus. The Sphinx pointed at a crescent shaped item, then at me and said, “Give it to him.”
The group of faeries hovered in place and turned around toward me. As they started to move, I recognized the object. The Dragon Horn. The tiny creatures worked as a team to hold the Horn in mid-air, right in front of me.
I snatched the object from them and stared at it in awe. The faeries had done a masterful job in record time. My chest heaved in and out in relief because this more than made up for the Rosendales and Red Cap. No offense to them, but I’d take dragons any day of the week.
A flood of worries hit me. Would the dragons respond to the Horn in Sleepy Willow? Was this the same Dragon Horn? It looked exactly the same, but it could just be a perfect replica.
No.
I pushed those thoughts aside. Negativity wasn’t going to help anything right now. The dragons were going to show up when I called on them. I just had to believe.
“Thank you,” I exclaimed to the faeries, who raced back over to Kovana.
Before my smile had a chance to melt, another group of faeries came up over the mountain top and hovered in front of the Sphinx. One of the faeries flew into Kovana’s ear to report on the reconnaissance and her lips curled up.
The Sphinx turned to me and nodded confidently. About thirty seconds later, the faerie flew out of her ear. Kovana said, “They know where Queen Al is being held and they can tell us the entire layout of the castle. They also searched the perimeter of the castle and can tell us which places to avoid.”
“Perfect.” The plan was coming together. Even if the Red Cap or Rosendales didn’t show up, I had full confidence that our small group could pull it off. If we could incapacitate the sidhe army, the rest could be smooth sailing.
Anything could pop up out of the blue. I’d be silly not to add that to the equation. But not having to worry about an army of screaming banshees was a major plus. We moved inland, away from the little nook near the precipice and tried to get some rest before the big day. The next day, we planned to oust the tyrannical King of Sleepy Willow.
*****
I crouched behind a water well in the east yard of the castle. The sun showered its golden light down on the dew-covered blades of grass. I had been hoping for a little cloud cover on this secret mission as I shielded the bright light from my eyes and opened my ears. The sidhe warriors on the south end of the castle were either sleeping or dead.
I hadn’t heard a peep from their camping grounds and didn’t see smoke in the sky indicating a breakfast fire. It appeared that the iron in the wine barrels trick had worked successfully. The castle was virtually unprotected save for a few disinterested archers walking along the parapet.
I turned and inclined my head to look up at a tiny speck of gold and ivory on the top of Mount Royal. The Sphinx was waiting for me on the overhang so that she could see my signal. Then she could cause a distraction that would allow me to sneak inside. I was antsy to get inside the castle, but I didn’t want to put Kovana in harm’s way.
I pulled the Dragon Horn out of the satchel on my hip. Seeing it gave me the courage to run to the next checkpoint and get closer to the castle. I drew in a deep breath, steeled my nerves and darted toward a mangonel that was lying on its side. The big siege weapon with cracks and openings gave me a perfect view of the castle. I still didn’t see anyone who would pose a serious threat.
Satisfied with my research and not wanting to waste any time, I scurried back over to the well. I needed to get out in the open to send the signal to the Sphinx so that she could distract the archers. As I scanned the area again, a strange rumble began under my feet as if the disturbance had started in the belly of the earth.
I ripped the Dragon Horn out of the satchel and peered up at the sky. The black dragons hadn’t arrived yet, but that rumble seemed like a precursor of evil. Without any time to waste, I ran out in the open and waved my hands above my head, sending the signal to the Sphinx.
A lightning bolt rippled in the cloudless sky and a peal of thunder soon followed. The earth shook again, this time accompanied by the wild screaming of men. The banshees.
I spun to my left and my eyes filled with horror. An army of screaming men, some on horseback, most on foot, charged toward me with reckless abandon. The men stumbled, crashing into each other and running in an uneven line. Several of the cavalry fell from their horses and got stomped on by the following infantry.
It seemed as if the iron had only succeeded in throwing them into a permanent state of heavy intoxication. However, the width of the wall of humanity coming at me didn’t leave me anywhere to go. My only option was to run in the opposite direction.
I turned north, took two steps and stopped dead in my tracks. A cavalry of dullahans with dwarves and sidhe behind them were charging south, directly toward me. I’d dug my own grave. It was my Jon Snow moment, except this wasn’t a fucking T.V. show. Nobody was going to yell, “Cut.” I was about to be hacked to pieces.
Chapter 29
As the two forces closed in on me, I contemplated where to go or what to do. A squawking sound that made the T-Rex from Jurassic Park sound like a whistling songbird pierced the early morning air. I turned to the sky and my eyes bulged at the vision of obsidian dragons streaking through the early morning air.
My hand naturally dug into the hip satchel and plucked out the Dragon Horn. I blew into the Horn and it released a sour tune like it had every time before. A drizzle of enchantment in the form of glittery orange specks rushed out of the opening of the Dragon Horn. The sparkling orange dust raced toward the sun, streaking across the blue backdrop and disintegrating into the fiery circle in the sky.
With death charging at me from both sides, I thought about Burn and our child. I thought about Dante. What could have been. Would I have been a good father? Would she and the children be all right? Had I left enough money for them?
But the one thing that kept coming front and center was fear. I’d never really feared death up until this point. I knew it was a part of the business I had involved myself in. But that was before I’d visited hell and almost died from getting shot. I’d been deemed worthy of the lowest rungs of hell. I’d been judged as a despicable human.
Where was I headed after death? I’d always imagined that the Celtic Gods would take care of me after death. What if the Morrigan lost my Death Card in a poker game? Moving on to the next life never seemed scarier than at that exact moment.
The screaming and stomping that had dominated the battle field became distorted until it finally ceased. Silence and contemplation drowned it out. The only thing I could hear was my heart beating out of control. It was beating in my ears. My head jerked frantically from left to right. I assessed the speed of the two forces and it appeared they would collide at the exact time they reached me.
The silver blades of the sidhes’ long swords reflected the sunlight back to the heavens, sending a signal to the Gods that fresh souls were on the way. Soon the blades would be covered in dripping red life, leaving bodies behind for the Gods of Death to sort out.
And one of the blades would be dripping with my blood. Even though the sidhe were extremely inebriated, it would only take one lucky swing to end my life. The numbers were too large for me to expect to survive.
My only solace lay in the hope that the noble dragons would show up and the rest of my side would figure out a way to rescue Alayna. A faint buzzing overtook the sounds of my heartbeat and grew louder by the second.
The buzzing led my eyes to the right where I saw a nebulous cloud of swirling colors. The cloud separated into several pieces, and as the different parts surrounded me, I realized it was the faeries. The tiny creatures started pinching and p
ulling at every inch of my body.
I wondered why they were attacking me as the two sides were about to collide, smashing all of us in the process. As the gleam of a silver sword blade flashed in my eyes, my feet were lifted off the ground. I wobbled unevenly, threatening to topple over.
The faeries righted me and lifted me higher into the air. Working together, the pixies used all their collective strength, their stressed wings buzzing like crazy. We still weren’t high enough to avoid being smashed when the sounds of battle returned.
Horses’ hooves steadily pounded the soft grass, like the drumbeat for a death march. The riders were screaming and yelling nonsensically in an effort to intimidate their opponents. The worst sounds were yet to come. Steel clanging against steel, then inevitably that steel finding flesh and bone. And the screaming that followed, which gave the hardest of men nightmares.
The struggling faeries found a burst of strength and we shot up about five feet higher just as the two sides smashed into each other. The land quaked under the pressure of the two armies and the impact even jolted the faeries. We listed to the side, almost falling down and directly into the jaws of the battle. The aerial team reacted instantly, and the pinching got even worse as we moved higher into the sky.
I looked down over the battlefield as both infantries arrived, merging with their respective cavalry and providing ground support. Hovering above the battle, I heard the men grunting and growling. It was soon replaced by horrifying shrieks of pain.
Those desperate, feral calls for someone—anyone—to save them from the inevitable. The kind of bone chilling pleas that tore at your soul, ripping away at your moral fiber, shred by shred, and weaving it into a big knot so that you never the same again. You were just left trying to unravel the knot, trying to un-see the horrors, trying to understand why men still behaved in this way.
I’d heard the symphony of dying far too often. One man dropped, then another. Sword against sword, man versus man. A true test of one’s battle abilities. But due to my new situation in life, I saw beyond that. A father, not just a random man, lay dead on the field. And with him, his family would suffer. His wife. His children. His friends.
And what would become of the child growing up without a father? I’d started to see the bigger picture. That life was about more than just me. And now my life had a ripple effect on those around me. I had a family that was dependent on me. A family that I had to protect with every breath in my body.
I wanted to take a step back from this job, but I owed it to my new family to make Pittsburgh safe for them. Even if that put my life in danger. As I watched four arrows land squarely in one of the dullahan’s chest, felling him from his ebony war horse, I realized that I needed to free the citizens of Sleepy Willow from the tyranny of their king.
The faeries carried me toward a balcony on the west side of the castle. The archers lining the parapet launched missiles at us. The arrows missed us narrowly and landed on the battle field below. A flash of gold and ‘angel wing white’ appeared out of my peripheral and zipped along the wall of the castle, veering sharply to the right and knocking over the archers.
The flying mass turned toward us and exposed the rosy red face of the normally pale Sphinx. Kovana rose in the air and circled the bloody battle. A group of shadowy clouds started to move in the sky. At a second glance, it was a formation of dragons moving in from a distance and descending on the castle.
In a flash, the dragons surrounded the Sphinx. She dodged their fiery expulsions, dipping left and right to avoid the flames. My heart snapped in two, and without thinking, my hand dug into my body suit. I immediately went and grabbed the return potion.
It was a hard decision, but I had to do it. It was the only chance at survival. I made sure the lid was on tight and conjured a ball of concentrated energy in my left hand. A neon blue spheroid formed, about the size of a baseball.
I instructed the faeries, “I need you all to hold me steady, so I can rescue the Sphinx.”
Kovana was living on borrowed time as the dragons drew nearer, the flames nearly kissing her golden mane and setting her body ablaze. I took a deep breath to steady my hand and tightened my grip on the return potion. The faeries kept me as still as the sword in the stone before Arthur arrived.
I drew back my arm and gently tossed the potion straight ahead, aiming for about five feet above the Sphinx. As soon as I released the glass vial, I transferred the mass of energy into my right hand and wound up to throw it. I kept my arm back and waited for the perfect moment.
A few milliseconds that seemed like an hour went by and I launched the ball of energy at the vial. The blue spheroid with pulsing green sparks of energy traced through the air. My heart sank as the ball seemed to travel in slow motion. The glass vial was losing momentum and starting to fall.
My heart beat in my throat, threatening to strangle me as I watched the mass of energy gain more speed. The blue ball smashed into the vial, shattering the glass and causing the potion to rain down from the sky.
A plume of fire raced toward the Sphinx, and as she dodged to the left, another streak of flames from a dragon’s mouth sped toward her. She was about to be burned severely when her body disappeared. The two blasts of flames collided, but when the dragons realized the Sphinx was gone, they stopped the attack.
The two dragons began to blur before fading away right before my eyes. What the hell? The only thing that made sense was that their flames had hit the return potion and sent them back to Pittsburgh. That was not intended. My family—that I promised to protect just a minute ago—was directly in danger of dragons. Oh, fuck me sideways.
The return potion would take them to the field behind my house. Even if my family wasn’t home at the time, the Sphinx would have to deal with them. As if I didn’t have enough to keep me from concentrating fully on this battle, now I had to deal with this.
As the faeries whisked me away, the battle raged on. I did a double take when I recognized the Rhyming Red Cap on the field. He had removed his cap and was spinning around using the hat as a weapon. As he rotated, the cap stretched out to about fifteen feet and acted like a swinging battering ram, knocking the sidhe opponents around like bowling pins.
I thought his whirling dervish act would make him dizzy and unstable, but he kept whipping around, his red cap smashing into anyone foolish enough to come within striking distance. The dwarves and elves were fighting ferociously against the much taller sidhe soldiers. The dullahans—with their heads in one hand and swords in the other—were brawling with the king’s cavalry.
Shade spread suddenly over the entire battlefield and my chin inclined toward the sky to check out the interference. A brigade of bright multi-colored dragons soared through the air, approaching the castle. The compact group began to spread out and form an attack pattern. The bright sun busted through the momentary obstruction, spotlighting the horrific field of battle.
As I re-focused on my main task, I noticed the faeries were guiding me onto the balcony outside Alayna’s room. I could hear the king yelling at someone inside the castle as the faeries released their grip on me. I whispered thank you to the faeries, blew them a kiss and tiptoed up to the open balcony window.
Instead of opening the door, I wanted to make an entrance that would catch the king by surprise. I planned to dive headfirst through the window into a front somersault and then spring back to my feet. I took a quick peek inside to make sure I wouldn’t dive into a stone statue or a cactus.
The flowing purple robes of the king captured my eyes and I yanked my head back from the opening. The king had his back to the window so he hadn’t seen me. I manipulated some of the air around me into a dense, clear square.
I pushed the invisible mass inside the window and off to the side, closer to the king. I scrapped the first plan and simply sneaked in through the window like a common burglar. As soon as the sole of my second shoe hit the stone floor, I leaned to my left and heaved the mass at the king.
The king spu
n on his heels and I caught a quick glimpse of Alayna behind him. The moment he turned around completely and his eyes landed on me, the heavy air blasted him in the chest. The magic lifted him off his feet and heaved him into the stone wall. He crumpled into a heap on the ground, motionless.
I ran over to Alayna and immediately noticed the lumps and bruises on her body. She was dressed in a simple gray long sleeved shirt and a pair of black pants. Her head had been shaven unevenly and her silvery-gray roots were visible under the red dye. My fragile heart snapped into a thousand pieces.
“I’m so sorry. That wasn’t really me that did this in the first place,” I rambled as I removed the gag from her mouth.
Her fiery eyes told me that she wasn’t quite ready to forgive me just yet. I understood. One piece of the fabric wouldn’t come loose until I jammed my pinky in and gave it a quick yank. The handkerchief came loose and I pried it out of her mouth.
Alayna took a few breaths through her mouth and massaged her jaw. “Glad you came back,” she said simply. I waited for her to say something else. Or even yell at me. But only four words escaped from her mouth.
I moved to the chains around her legs and found that they didn’t have protection wards set on them. It made me wonder how she hadn’t escaped. That didn’t matter now. Removing the chains around her legs only took a few seconds.
I moved up to the ties around her wrists. Instantly, I noticed that these had protection spells on them. Without time to mess around, I conjured fire to my fingertips and planned to bypass the spell. My fingernails shaded from pink to pumpkin and I felt the heat rippling just below the surface.
I positioned my hand near the underside of the chair’s arm, right next to the tie. I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t burn Alayna. After steadying my nerves, I ran my fingers along the tie. A wave of green sparks jumped from the tie and hit me with a blast of energy that launched me four feet back. I landed on the small of my back and my head whipped against the stone floor.