by J. P. Rice
An alien feeling snaked through my body, making me feel as light as a feather. I’d helped people many times, but only if I had a stake in the outcome, never out of the goodness of my heart. A fuzzy feeling surrounded my chest, then extended to the rest of my body, eventually making it to my extremities. It was better than being drunk. What was this?
Just committing to the idea of helping others nearly overwhelmed my systems. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to liberate the potential victims living in Sleepy Willow. My body could explode if this was any precursor.
It was as if the pure blood inside me was finally fighting against the darkness. Fueling me to be a better person. I liked it.
We went back to the tunnel in case we needed a quick escape, and I realized this mission could take a lot longer than expected. We still didn’t know where the talking dagger was, and I’d committed to killing the Goblin Queen. I hoped both plans would converge into one since we probably needed to take out the queen to get Gareth.
The sun began to set, thrusting the woods into further darkness and leaving a sharp chill in the air. We couldn’t make a fire because that would blow our cover.
Luckily, we had reserves of beef jerky and sun-dried fruit chews to fill our stomachs. I could conjure many things. Mostly weapons and survival items. Food, unfortunately, wasn’t on the list.
I swallowed some jerky and turned to Titania. “What do you think about going into the castle and trying to find out where they’re hiding the knife?”
Her voice cracked, “Anything for the team.”
She was nervous, and I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to fly into a hornet’s nest. But her size created the best hope of obtaining any info.
“Are you sure?” I asked. Titania had immediately chased after Dolphus without hesitation, but this was a different beast.
“I’ll just stay near the ceilings where nobody can reach me. What do you want me to do exactly?” Titania asked, staring toward the castle.
I replied, “At this point, find out anything. Like where the dagger is, but also listen to see what they are plotting and if we find an opening, we can exploit it. Just gather as much information as you can.”
“Will do, buckaroo,” she said and took a few shuddering breaths to steel her nerves. Then her four wings began beating and she zoomed away, heading straight for the dark castle in the middle of the deadly swamp.
Chapter 15
“Are all the stories about you true?” Justinian asked the Morrigan, as Titania disappeared from my vision.
She tittered. “Depends on what you read or heard.”
“Why don’t you tell it in your own words,” he said.
In typical fashion, the Morrigan shrugged her shoulders and turned away shyly, embarrassed to talk about herself. Her rising body temperature caused her cloak to shrink and tighten, hugging her thick curves. “I don’t know. How do you explain yourself? I’ve been a God for as long as I can remember. Been dealing with death even longer. I’m married to the bore known as the Dagda. Despite the hype, I’m not that cool.”
“You’re not so bad,” I said, trying to cheer up the Goddess of Death. Whoa, that sounded weird. The Morrigan was honest. She really wasn’t that cool. In fact, she could be a real pain in the ass.
Mo continued, “I know I’m not the life of the party. Don’t care. I spend most of my time with the dead. Escorting confused souls to where they need to go. Studies have shown that you absorb the characteristics of the people you spend the most time with. Maybe that’s why I have the personality of a dead body.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. I can state honestly that you are quite unique,” Justinian said.
The Morrigan leaned back against a tree. She lifted her right leg and rested the sole of her boot against the trunk. “Most people don’t understand my job is just as important as creation. I perform a taboo task that no one else wants to deal with. And I’m damn good at it if I do say so myself. That’s why it chaps my ass that someone is messing with the natural order.”
“Chaps my ass. See, you can be funny,” I said.
“That’s funny?” she said and narrowed her eyes in confusion.
Justinian asked, “If you weren’t a Goddess, what do you think you would be doing?”
She took a deep breath and said, “If I ever get sick of this, I think I might be a professional poker player. And I’ve always wanted to open a butcher shop.”
“Animals, right?” I joked.
“Yes, obviously,” the Morrigan confirmed with a little smirk.
“Where?” Justinian asked.
“I don’t know.” She thought for a few moments, staring off into the dark forest and tapping her chin. “Paris, perhaps. Somewhere where they respect food. When an animal gives its life and we use it as sustenance, we should honor that animal’s sacrifice. And not be wasteful with any part of the animal. That is how you respect the dead.”
“That doesn’t extend to people, right? I mean, the goblins didn’t waste any of that dwarf,” Justinian said.
“No.,” the Morrigan replied, shaking her head in disgust. “There isn’t an established custom for cannibalism. At least not in Clara Spiritus. Here seems to be a different story.”
“My stomach is still churning from that,” Titania commented.
“A wise man once said, ‘I know it’s pretty gross to eat people, padre.’ Or something like that.” I waited to see if they got my Sin City reference, but from the confused looks on their faces, it appeared they’d never heard of Marv. “Never mind. And the Morrigan is selling herself short. She’s saved my life several times.” I planted the seed.
“You’re just lucky it wasn’t your time,” she said, void of emotion.
I poured water on the planted seed. “And I’d bet if I told her that I planned to kill the Goblin Queen and liberate the citizens of Sleepy Willow from her disgusting blood hunts, she would back me up.”
“Whaaaat?” she asked, stretching out the word. “No. We’re here for Gareth. Once he’s in our possession, we need to get out of here. There are too many goblins to deal with. You need to stop with that soft heart shit. It’s like butter. Once it gets soft, it’s only a slight misstep away from melting everywhere.”
I said, “I appreciate your culinary reference, but I’ve made up my mind. If you want to take off with the dagger, I’ll stay and fight on my own.”
“Just saying you’re losing your fire. Look at your hair,” the Morrigan said, pointing to my ginger locks.
“What are you talking about?” I asked and grabbed a handful of my hair.
“You’re going black in some spots.” She poked my head with her stiff finger as she spoke, “There. And there. And there.”
“Just stop all right.” I slapped her hand away and knew exactly what she was talking about. Ever since I’d shifted to look like Tyr’s girlfriend, my hair had gone dark in some spots. “And don’t worry, I’ll go to battle alone.”
“I’ll fight with you,” Justinian announced, proudly, apparently eager to help me become a better person.
A trail of blue and burgundy jetted by, stopped and backed up. Sucking wind, Titania announced, “We got good news and bad news.”
“Why don’t you go with the good first?” the Morrigan suggested, which surprised the shit out of me. Her specialty was delivering bad news.
Titania’s silver eyes were always reflective, but now they were glowing with an argent shine that sliced through the dark of night. She seemed to enjoy the danger of the mission. “I saw the dagger. It’s on the main assistant’s right hip, tucked away in a leather sheath.”
“And what’s the bad news?” I asked.
“Welp,” Titania said and paused. “The bad news is the good news. How are we going to get it from him?”
The Morrigan replied, “That’s not as difficult as it may seem. Did you find out anything else? Where does that branch lead to?”
“Oh yeah,” Titania said, shaking her big head. “It lea
ds to the balcony outside the queen’s changing room. It’s full of elegant dresses or gowns. For what I’m not quite sure. This doesn’t strike me as a prime location for high-brow events.”
“And where was her top guard?” Justinian asked.
Titania responded, “They call him Ezzeki and he was standing watch outside the queen’s quarters, which is separate from her changing room. I couldn’t get into her room, but I assume Ezzeki doesn’t stray far from her. If we find out when he sleeps, I could sneak in and snag the dagger without him knowing.”
“Goblins only sleep a few hours a day, and since this place doesn’t allow much sunlight, they could do it day or night,” I said.
The Morrigan cracked her knuckles. “Patience and waiting are not my strong suits. I’m ready to wreck this castle and root through the rubble for the knife.”
“If that’s an option, then I vote for that,” Justinian said, raising his hand.
I sat down, looking for the flattest spot for sleeping. “Unless you want to pick up five thousand-pound blocks of stone, you may want to lower your hand. We need to use deadly finesse on this one. But if it comes down to it, we can always go with the Morrigan’s plan of utter destruction.”
“I need to relieve myself, if you will excuse me,” Justinian said with a slight bow and trampled off into the woods.
Titania’s mission hadn’t yielded great results. Knowing the dagger was attached to a giant goblin meant that it could be anywhere at any time. Since Titania hadn’t located Ezzeki’s quarters, the dragonfly couldn’t sneak in while he slept.
With the Goblin Queen’s castle shrouded in secrecy, we hadn’t created a solid plan of attack. Trying to piece this together on the fly was proving to be quite the undertaking. It was almost as if the situation had handcuffed the Goddess of Death and her incredible magic powers were rendered inactive.
The Morrigan and I were a dangerous combination because our impatience fed off each other’s and usually ended with mass mayhem. I had to resist that and stick to the plan of finesse instead of utter destruction. But hot damn, it was hard to be this close and not go on the offensive.
I conjured two pillows and two blankets. I set a pillow and blanket next to me and wondered what was taking Justinian so long. Then again, maybe I didn’t want to know.
Titania flew down onto a fallen branch and pulled some leaves up over her thorax and abdomen. The Morrigan plopped down and cleared all the rocks and twigs away from her sleeping area. Then, she conjured a blanket and set it over the clean area.
As I waited for the werewolf to get back, crippling doubt attacked me and I wondered if we could pull off this suicide mission.
Chapter 16
“Holy shit, what is that?” Titania squeaked.
I jumped up out of my slumber, eyes glazed over with sleep. “What? Who? Why did you just yell?”
The dragonfly gestured with her head to the left. I rubbed my eyes and turned my head. Instantly, my pulse raced as I saw an alligator only a few feet away. Luckily, the Morrigan was already up and on it. In a crouched stance, she was about a foot away from the gator’s massive mouth.
The Morrigan backed up and slapped the ground, “Come on, you lil fucker. You wanna play?”
I backed up several steps to give the Morrigan enough room to operate on the slight incline. Peeking around, I didn’t see Justinian anywhere and wondered if he had gotten up early to relieve himself again. At any rate, he’d avoided this reptile that I could only imagine had escaped from the swamp.
The alligator’s jaw opened, and it hissed. No coffee necessary. My heart pumped out of control, as a mouthful of sharp, but crooked fangs lunged at the Morrigan’s outstretched hand. She yanked it back as the jaw snapped closed, missing her fingertips by only inches. I couldn’t see her face, but I was rather certain the Morrigan had a big smile on her face.
“Why don’t you just blast it with magic?” I asked.
She didn’t turn around. Feeling out the alligator, she responded, “That’s no fun. There’s a little spot right at the back of their head. It’s one of the few ways to kill them. Most do it with a gun, but I’m gonna use a knife.” She pulled a knife from a sheath on her hip and put the blade in her mouth. She bit down, freeing her hands and crouched into position again.
“Well, do you think you can keep it down, so we don’t attract all the guards?” I whispered over the hissing alligator. This crazy bitch was going to mess around and get us busted.
The Morrigan nodded with the flat of the blade stuck between her teeth and dangled her left hand in front of the alligator’s face, tempting the beast to make the first move. The gator took the bait and snapped at her hand. She jerked it back, narrowly avoiding amputation, and at the same time, she reached out with her right hand.
The gator’s jaw clapped shut, and she grabbed the side of its mouth with her thumb over the top and her fingers on the underside. My heart pounded against my ribcage as the reptile thrashed around, attempting to break loose. Face to face with the angry gator, the Goddess maintained her firm grip.
She moved in with her other hand and grabbed the other side of its mouth. The gator whipped its tail around, and it headed straight for the Morrigan’s face. She ducked at the last moment and avoided the pain. Mo chuckled, as the tail recoiled and slapped her on the upper arm. The gator scurried from side to side swinging its tail wildly.
I searched through the low-hanging branches for guards but found no goblins in the area. When I turned back around, the Morrigan was removing the knife from her mouth. Her powerful left hand kept the alligator’s jaw closed as she firmed her grip on the knife, moving her thumb flush against the golden guard.
She dug the heel of her boot in the dirt and slid over next to the gator. The beast whipped its long tail around and it smacked the Morrigan in the hip, sending a sonorous echo through the forest. I jerked my head left and right, searching for the inevitable guard. Maybe it was nap time for the goblins because that slap was loud.
The Morrigan absorbed the blow and let out a light groan. Then she trapped the gator’s tail between her feet. The gator tried to trash around, but the Morrigan held it steady as she lined up the kill shot. Calmly, a flash of silver struck down near the back of the gator’s head.
A spurt of dark blood fountained up over the Morrigan’s hand, covering her white knuckles. Smiling, the crazy Goddess jammed the blade in further and twisted it. The gator’s spastic movements slowed gradually, finally going completely still. She looked up at Titania and me with a proud smile and a slow nod as she rose to her knees.
“Anyone hungry? Boots? A jacket?” she asked, removing the weapon from of the gator’s head. She wiped the blade clean with her cloak, the raven feathers drinking in the dark blood greedily. It was almost as if she was feeding the cloak. Perhaps that was how it got heavier and lighter magically. She checked both sides of the blade and sheathed the knife.
Glad we hadn’t attracted any guards, I said, “Are you done playing around? You were just lecturing us last night about respecting the dead. Besides, we can’t eat that thing anyway. It probably eats those nasty bugs from the swamp. You should get away from it.”
The Morrigan rolled her eyes and sighed. “Sheesh. You’re going soft.”
I argued, “Not soft. Smart. I’m trying to keep us alive. We all know you have a different agenda in that area.”
“You’re still soft,” she said as she stood up. She punched me in the shoulder and asked, “Where’s the young wolf?”
“In all the excitement, I forgot about him. Hmm.” I looked around for a moment and uncovered the mystery. “His blanket and pillow never got used. I fell asleep before he got back. Do either of you remember him coming back last night?”
Titania and Mo looked at each other, but no one said a word.
The Morrigan buried her hand into her obsidian locks and shook it around, trying to work out her bedhead. Without her secret beauty products, her hair lost its frizzy, ‘blow dried for hours’ ef
fect. She shivered in the chilly morning air, her cloak growing thicker and longer in reaction. “I fell asleep before he came back from pissing, I think,” the Morrigan said, breaking the long silence.
“Me too,” Titania chimed in.
“So then where the fook did he go?” I looked down at the dragonfly. “Titania. You think you could take a cruise around and see if you can spot him?”
Titania yawned and beat her wings. She rose quickly and hovered in front of the Morrigan and me. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned again and said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
Titania flew higher to get a better look but remained just below the low branches for a clear view.
“So who is the God of the alligators?” I asked, staring at the fallen reptile.
“No one in our pantheon. Cecrops is half-snake and half-man. Pretty sure this is his territory if he cares to send a guide out here.”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that weirdo. I keep thinking he died at Machu Picchu,” I said.
The Morrigan hooked her forearm around her other elbow and stretched out. “Can’t blame you. More Gods died in that battle than any other time in history. Thirteen went down on the same day. I wish that ill-faced snake boy Cecrops hadn’t been put back together.”
I reminisced nostalgically about the battle in Machu Picchu. The one and only time I’d fought alongside my father. It was my proudest moment outlasting Gods and Goddesses. It was when I’d earned the true respect of most of the Gods including Zeus, but most importantly, my father, King Nuada.
The Gods had seen firsthand that I was one bad bitch and not to be taken lightly. It had also resulted in outing myself as a legitimate threat and placing a permanent bull’s eye on my back. The Morrigan had acted like a proud (mad) scientist when an experiment goes better than expected. She’d deemed her experiment of pumping me full of dark and pure magic a rousing success.