by Jamie Davis
“Gemma. Oh, no, they’re here. Quick, Sylvie, we have to wake up the girls and Tadpole. We have to hide everyone.”
“Eeeep.”
Sylvie took off down the passage before Miranda could begin moving. She was a ghost, however, capable of moving at the speed of thought. She raced after the speeding dragon, passing it with ease as she wove through the passages. She zoomed into the hallway where the girls were staying.
Miranda stopped outside the first of the rooms. Sylvie zoomed down the hallway behind her.
“Eeeep?”
“You go wake up Tadpole.”
The dragon headed for his room while Miranda passed through the closed door and into the first of the girls’ rooms. This was where Brea and Kami stayed. Both were sound asleep. She didn’t think they would be happy to awaken to a ghost hovering over their beds. There was no choice, however.
“Brea, wake up. Quickly. There’s trouble coming.”
The girl’s eyes fluttered open. “Wha…”
“Wake up. Wake the others. Gemma, the demon-kinder, and the dark Fae are coming for us.”
Brea sat up, her eyes wide. It wasn’t fear, though. She had a look of grim determination as she turned and stared at Kami for a few seconds. The youngest of the group also sat up, suddenly wide awake.
She looked at Brea. “I heard. We must prepare.”
It was a strange thing to say, but Miranda was just happy they were both up. Before she could tell them what to do, the two ran into the hallway in their pajamas.
Miranda floated after them. She turned to wake up the next set of girls, but there was no need. The other four already stood in the hallway, eyes turned to Brea.
Suko said, “They are close. I can sense them. We must not let them use us to open the portal.”
The other five nodded in reply.
“Wait, ‘use you?’” Miranda asked. “How would they use you?”
The six girls didn’t respond. They all ran toward the training room at the end of the hall. Miranda followed, still trying to understand what was happening.
When they reached the training room, Tadpole stumbled out of his room at that end of the hall. Sylvie perched on his shoulder. Her head bobbed toward Miranda and the girls. “Eeeep.”
“What’s going on, Miranda? Why did Sylvie wake me up?”
“Trouble, I’m afraid. We have to hide the girls. Gemma and the two princesses are here. They plan to use the power inherent in this place to open the portal to the netherworld.”
The orc warrior’s eyes narrowed. “They want to hurt the girls?”
“Yes, Tadpole, and hurt you. We must hide until Quinn and the others get back.”
Shouting echoed up the passage behind Miranda. “Oh, no, it’s too late. They’re here. We’ve got to hide the girls.”
Kami said, “Hide and seek. I remember the best hiding place. Don’t you, Tadpole?”
All six girls nodded and turned to the big orc. He grinned and pointed at the armory.
“Go. You know how to open the wall. Go inside and wait. I will stay and protect you.”
The girls ran into the armory.
Tadpole grabbed the gold spear from the rack by the room’s entrance. “Go with them, Miranda. I’ll slow them down.”
“Tadpole, they are too powerful. You cannot defeat them. Come, hide with us.”
“No, Quinn would want me to fight.”
Miranda tried pleading with him again, but it was already too late. Four demon-kinder Hunter women charged into the practice chamber.
Tadpole bellowed a challenge and brandished his spear. Arcs of gold lightning ran up the shaft to crackle from the spearhead. He charged the women on the other side of the room.
The lightning shot from the end of the spear, striking the lead demon-kinder. The blast lifted her from her feet and slammed her into the wall.
Tadpole bellowed a challenge at the remaining three, slashing and stabbing at them to keep them at bay.
They spread out to divide his attention, but he was too quick for them. In a blur of motion, Tadpole slammed the butt of the spear into the gut of the attacker behind him.
The woman doubled over, dropping her sword as she vomited black ichor from her crushed internal organs.
Tadpole reversed his move, skewering another demon-kinder on the leaf-shaped gold spear blade. Magical energy arced from her open mouth and eyes as the orc warrior pulled the blade free, leaving a smoking husk of a person behind.
The final demon-kinder backed toward the exit. Tadpole shifted his grip and threw the spear, pinning the woman to the stone wall with the force of his blow.
Dead, her body sagged on the shaft pinning her in place.
“Miranda, go with the girls. I’ll take the fight to the enemy.” Tadpole yanked the magic spear free, dropping the woman from the wall.
“You can’t win, Tadpole. Come with me. Hide.”
“No, Quinn needs time to come back. I must fight to give her that time. Go to the girls. They are preparing themselves for what they must do.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Go and see,” he replied, giving her a fierce grin that showed all his teeth.
More shouts came down the hallway. Tadpole ran toward them in surprising silence for his size.
Miranda floated into the armory. A section of the wall had opened, revealing a hidden room beyond with more weapons and armor. The girls were inside. Brea stood by the open panel, waiting.
Miranda appeared again. “Go inside. Close the wall. I’m right behind you.”
“What about Tadpole?”
“He fights to give you time to hide. Don’t waste it. Close the panel.”
Tears streamed down the oldest girl’s face, but she pulled the panel shut until it clicked closed. A single overhead bulb lit the hidden room. Sylvie flitted around and settled on a rack by the panel. All six girls pulled on the armor Tadpole had found for them.
“What are you doing?”
Brea wiped her tears away. “They will find us, Miranda. Gemma will not give up now that she’s here. We have to fight her. We can’t let them take us and use our power for their ritual.”
“But you’re just little girls. You’ll die if you fight them.”
Suko said, “They plan to kill us in the ritual anyway. They can’t afford to let us die before then. They will strive to take us alive, and we will make them pay.”
The clash of steel reached them, though it was muffled. They could also hear Tadpole’s defiant roars and screams from dying demon-kinder and Fae. Then a flurry of gunshots was followed by two explosions. The blasts shook the room in which they hid.
The fighting outside stopped. Tears flowed anew as realization dawned on the young ones what had happened outside.
Gemma’s voice just outside their hiding place said, “There’s no sign of the girls. Search the tunnels. They’re here somewhere. Bring the injured orc. We’ll use him to boost our sacrificial rites.”
The voices trailed off and disappeared, leaving them in silence.
Sylvie let out a low, sorrowful “Eeeep?”
“Yes, Sylvie. I fear you are right. At least the girls are safe for now. That is something.”
Miranda stared at the closed secret panel. She feared Brea was right. They would eventually find the group in the hidden room. She wondered how long it would take Quinn to arrive with the others and rescue them.
The crying stopped, replaced by quiet discussion.
Miranda looked around to see the three oldest girls huddled together, talking about something.
“What are you up to?”
Brea lifted her head. “We must prepare to fight.”
“What? No, stay here and hide. Quinn and the others will be back soon. They’ll come and take care of the intruders.”
All six girls shook their heads in unison as Brea said, “They won’t come in time to help Tadpole. If he is to be saved, it must be us.”
“Girls, I know you want to help, but this is not what Tadp
ole would want you to do. I know him.”
“We know how to fight. He selected the best weapons for each of us, and armor, too. Why do that unless he expected us to fight for him and ourselves?”
“Look, I know how you feel,” Miranda began.
Ola said, “No, you don’t. You’re already dead. We have to help ourselves. If they come for us, you cannot do anything.”
Miranda started to speak but stopped. The six children checked the fit of their armor, tightening straps and buckles. A minute later, they all stood in front of her, armed to the teeth. Each girl wore tight-fitting leather armor covered with small rectangular metal plates. The fierce expressions on their faces would have been inspiring if they weren’t so young.
Brea said, “Miranda, we will be more likely to succeed if you help us. We will leave and attack either way, but we would rather have your help.”
Miranda’s thoughts swirled. She couldn’t stop them from leaving if they wanted to. They’d made up their minds, and she could not change their decision.
“What do you want me to do?”
“It’s simple,” Brea said. She outlined the plan for the ghost, giving her a simple task: Distract and delay.
Chapter Thirty
Miranda floated down the corridor, remaining invisible for the moment. Chanting voices ahead alerted her that the ritual had started. She had to hurry. If she could distract the casters and guards, it might be enough to force them to start over from the beginning. That would buy them time.
She lifted her shoulders and held her head high as she flew through the entry to the ceremonial chamber to the center of the room.
Twenty women lined the walls. The negative energy emanating from them was easy for her ghostly self to read. They were demon-kinder, the last of the women Gemma had trained for tonight's attack and ritual. The center of the room held five Fae, three women and two men. All knelt, rocking back and forth in a circle facing each other. Their chanting filled the room with eerie voices.
She could hear other voices murmuring in side corridors. A glance down one showed a four-person Fae assault team in black body armor, armed with swords and pistols. There were likely others around.
She turned her attention back to the five Fae spellcasters at the center of the room. Miranda didn’t speak Old Fae, but she recognized enough to realize that was the language they spoke.
To the side stood Gemma, Princess Filippa, and Princess Aurora. All three stared at the spell circle with intense fascination. At their feet lay Taylor and Tadpole. They were bound with thick ropes even though they both were injured and unconscious.
Miranda flew to the center of the circle and revealed herself, floating above the spellcasters. The evil magic emanating from their chants gave even her insubstantial body a chill.
“Stop!” She drew upon her limited spiritual energy, glowing with a white nimbus so she was no longer transparent.
The chanting faltered and then stopped as the Fae casters looked up at the woman in their midst.
“Ignore her,” Filippa shouted. “She’s a spirit, already dead. Continue the spell before the energy dissipates.”
The chanting began again, but it lacked the intensity it had before. Miranda smiled. “I warn you, this is a holy place. Not only will your spell fail, but the Hunter protections here will curse you and your eternal souls.”
The chanting faltered again. Several glanced over their shoulders at the princesses.
Filippa snarled, “Get back to it, you fools.”
Miranda continued, “You will all die. Nothing will save you from what is coming.”
The chanting continued this time.
Gemma asked. “What is coming, ghost witch? We know your vaunted Huntress is elsewhere. It will take her far too long to return.”
Miranda smiled. They didn’t know she could return via the VR system. Besides, the immediate threat to them came from the six tiny armored figures sneaking down the corridor behind them.
Spreading her arms wide, Miranda spent the rest of her energy to let loose a burst of blinding white light that filled the room. Everyone blinked and shielded their eyes from the glare.
The chanting stopped again. Several of the Fae mages rubbed at their eyes after staring straight at Miranda when she flashed.
The witch’s form faded to nothing. She couldn’t even speak aloud anymore. She could do nothing more but watch, listen, and pray.
The flash of ghost light was the signal. The girls rushed into the room. Brea and Ola came first, followed by the twins and then Suko and Kami. They spread out, working in teams of two, each pair taking on a different demon-kinder.
Miranda watched, fascinated by the coordination of the girls’ attacks. Two of the guards died, and they incapacitated a third before any could react to the sudden savage assault.
The paired girls moved on to fresh targets. This time, however, they had less success. The remaining seventeen demon-kinder rushed in and grappled with the armored attackers.
Two more died under the little girls’ blades, then the attacking women wrestled them to the ground, stripping the girls of their weapons and holding them in place.
The youngest, Kami, got a hand free and pulled a small knife from within her armor. She slashed up, cutting the throat of the woman holding her down.
Another of the Hunter-trained demon-kinder was dead.
Three demon-kinder kicked and beat the girl while Miranda silently wailed at them to stop.
Gemma stalked over to where the girls struggled. “Stop beating her. She’s learned her lesson, and we need her alive. We must have all six for the final spell.”
Gemma stood over them. “Hello, Brea. How nice of you and your sisters to come to us. I was just about to send a party out to search for you.”
“You cannot use us, Miss Gemma. We will not let you.”
“You will not let me?” Gemma threw her head back and laughed. “You’ve been hanging around those Huntresses too long. You forget what I’m capable of.”
Gemma glanced at the other five and said, “Bind and gag all of them. I don’t want to hear any more of their insolence.”
“Gemma,” Aurora said. “they have broken the spell. We must begin anew.”
“Very well. Let’s use the innocents’ blood to fuel our magic. We will now be able to open an even wider gateway.”
“Just get on with it,” Filippa snarled. “This has already taken too long.”
Gemma nodded a bow to the princesses and pointed at the center of the spell circle. “Drag them over there once you’ve secured them. Tie the knots tight. I don’t want them wriggling loose.”
She waited as the women dragged the six girls to the room’s center, next to Taylor and Tadpole. Gemma drew a small curved blade from her robes and followed the women who pulled the struggling girls to the room’s center. The demon-kinder used another length of rope to tie them back to back, facing outward.
Holding her dagger at her side, Gemma circled the six captive girls. “I had so many wonderful plans for you until Avery corrupted you with her enlightened ideals. Now you will serve an even darker purpose.”
She stopped in front of Brea, and before the girl could react, slashed down with the curved dagger, cutting a deep gash into her forearm. Blood dripped to the floor in a steady flow. Each drop caused a ruby flash when it hit the stone.
Gemma moved around the circle, repeating her move with each of the girls. None of them cried out, though Miranda saw a steady stream of tears running down young Kami’s face.
Miranda let out a scream of rage only she could hear as she watched the lifeblood leak from the six brave children. It formed a small pool around each of them and released pent-up energy into the room. The witch sensed that whatever made the girls so special was now feeding the magic’s intensity as the five Fae spell casters began their rocking chants again.
Unable to do anything but watch in silence, Miranda wept as everything they’d worked so hard to stop moved closer to happening.
They were running out of time, and Quinn was nowhere in sight.
Miranda hoped Sylvie had understood her instructions. It was up to the little dragon to bring help.
Chapter Thirty-One
Quinn’s eyes opened, and she sat up. A glance at the monitors told her Taylor wasn’t here waiting for her, which was odd.
“Avery, you awake?”
“Does your head hurt like this every time you return, too?” She lay staring at the ceiling, rubbing her temples with both hands.
“You get used to it. Come on. Taylor’s not here, and she should be. We need to find her and the others.”
Quinn hopped off the worktable and saw the door, or what was left of it. The splinters and wooden scraps that had been the door covered the floor by the entrance.
“Damn, I was right. They’re here.”
“I’m sorry, Quinn. That means they have Taylor, and probably the others.”
“We need help. I was counting on having a little time to mount a defense. Clark and Mom won’t be here for ten or fifteen minutes.”
“Where are we going to get help?”
Quinn walked to the door and turned toward the pub. Down the hall, the door to O’Malley’s was wide open. Inside, she could see a few of the patrons and servers cleaning up a mess. Tables had been overturned and chairs thrown around.
She ducked back into the workshop when a figure dressed in black body armor walked past the opening to the pub.
“They left guards in there. It looks like there was a fight when they arrived.”
Avery asked, “What’s the plan?”
“I’d say leave them for now, but I think we’ll need help to get down to the tunnels. Let’s dip into the shadows and sneak up on whoever they left to guard the entrance.”
Avery nodded, and the pair both engaged their shadow-hiding abilities. Quinn stepped into the lead. Avery still moved with the stiffness of someone recovering from an injury.
Glancing into the pub from the doorway, Quinn saw only two guards pacing past where she and Avery hid. She pointed at the closest one and then at Avery. Her partner nodded and brought up her katana.