by Sarina Dorie
“There are people below. Derrick cast a spell on him. They need our help.”
“Merlin’s balls.” Thatch stared out at the horizon. “The Raven Court is almost here. Let those pirates reap their just reward.”
“They aren’t pirates. They’re good people. They were just pretending to be pirates.”
The unicorn pegasus passed gas loudly, rainbows floating out his rear end. This had to be Clyde, the only unicorn with that particular talent.
He hooved the deck anxiously. “Sorry guys. Sometimes that happens when I’m nervous.”
“Can you do anything to stop them?” I asked him. Clyde was a magical being from another realm, after all.
“Sure,” he said. “Just bring anyone hexed up here. I’ll touch them with my horn-o-magic, and they will rise from their enchanted slumber. Easy peasy.”
Thatch rolled his eyes. We didn’t have time for that.
He held his hand out to me.
I didn’t take it. “Isn’t there a spell you can do?”
“Did it cross your mind to wonder why I am riding this in the first place?” He waved a hand at his beast of burden. The expression on his face told me he’d prefer to be elsewhere rather than on a unicorn’s back. “If I had the magic for divination and a transportation spell, I would have used it. But I used up my magic fighting off the Raven Court. I haven’t had time to gather up a new reserve of energy.”
Crappity-crap. I turned to stare at the impending formation coming closer.
“You don’t have the energy, but you have skill,” I said.
Thatch looked like he was about to protest, but I went on. “I don’t have skill, but I have magic.” I could still feel it thriving inside me. I never had contained such a reserve before.
I’d never had so much potential.
“I can give you my magic, can’t I?” I asked. “You can wake everyone up from their enchanted slumber. It isn’t a Fae curse without a cure. It’s a Witchkin spell.”
Thatch’s brow furrowed. He gazed at the approaching flock again.
“The crew has defenses to fight the Raven Court. We just have to wake them.” I pointed to the cannons. “How are we supposed to get away if we’re being chased by harpies?” I looked to Clyde. “Can you outfly them?”
He scraped a hoof against the wooden floor. “Um, the wings take up magic, and I’m kind of tired at this point.”
Thatch dismounted. “Give me your hand.” His face was an unreadable mask.
I prayed I was making the right decision, that I wasn’t going to give him my magic, only for him to transport us away and leave all these other people to die in the process.
I rushed to his side. “Promise me you’ll help them.”
“I make no promises. I will see what I can do.” He took my hands in his. “Don’t try to push your magic into me. Let me take it slowly.”
The power inside me wicked away. It was exactly opposite of the sensation of drinking it in. I felt weak and vulnerable as he did it. He closed his eyes, writing runes in the air as he chanted. I wasn’t sure if this was part of the transference of magic or it was how he was breaking the sleep spell. He kept one hand on me as he spoke. My stomach churned with queasiness, and my legs wobbled.
Thatch sank to his knees and released my hand. “It’s done. The spell is gone. Where are those reinforcements you spoke of?”
He had taken from me, but not enough to permanently drain me or exhaust me. As with all things, he was a professional. I ran across the deck, rushed down the stairs, and pounded on the door to the captain’s room. “We’re about to be attacked.” I beat the door.
Captain Ermington appeared in his nightshirt. “Blimey! Did I oversleep?”
I pointed to the window where we could see the approaching swarm. His eyes went wide. He rushed past me. I returned to the upper deck, halting before one of the crew slumped onto a coil of rope. I shook him. He stirred.
“Get up. You have to wake everyone,” I said. “The Raven Court is about to—”
My sentence was cut off by the resonant tone of a gong. It vibrated through my body.
The captain’s voice reverberated through my ears, into my head, and shook my entire body. “All hands on deck!”
It felt as though he was speaking inside my head, the sound radiating outward rather than coming from where he stood at the helm.
His hat and jacket were now in place, though he still wore his nightshirt. Crew came pouring onto the deck like ants out of a hill. Some of them were attired in uniform, others not.
“Myers, assemble the cannons,” the captain bellowed, his voice magically amplified. “Bell, arm the crew. Where is Anderson?”
“Griggs, get the coal burning. Johnson, we need steam,” an officer shouted.
I jumped out of the path of a young man carrying wood. I felt out of place and in the way. Clyde backed up into me, sending me staggering into Thatch. Ever the rock, Thatch held his ground—and kept me from falling over too.
Cannons boomed. Clyde reared up, screeching.
“What in the hell is a bloody pegasus doing on my deck?” the captain roared. “Get him off.”
“For the record, I’m a unicorn pegasus, emphasis on the unicorn,” Clyde said. “Stupid chimera mongers.”
The ravens broke formation above as a cannon ball launched into their ranks. It was no ordinary cannon ball. Blue flames danced around it, and it exploded into stars as it hit them. Dark shapes fell from the sky.
“We need to hide you. They know you’re here,” Thatch said.
He seized me around the waist and hauled me into the captain’s cabin.
Clyde leapt from the top deck and landed beside us. He ducked through the door, folding his wings onto his back. He got stuck in the door. “Guys, do not leave me out there. I can’t see any blood. If I do, I’ll puke.”
Black wings fluttered by the wall of windows at the back of the cabin. They swarmed, mouths open, screeching. Something about the moment reminded me of flying monkeys about to get Dorothy.
Only, I was the witch in this story.
The harpy shrieks were like nails on a chalkboard multiplied by a hundred. It made me dizzy, and I swayed on my feet. Thatch clamped his hands over my ears. Through the eardrum-shredding screams, his voice caressed my ears. The melody was warm and protective. It wasn’t so much that he stopped the sound like earplugs might, but his voice blocked out the vigor of their cries. I still heard the thunder of feet trampling overhead, rifles going off, and cannons booming.
Another harpy shrieked. It was more annoying than bewitching. They swarmed outside, their formations in chaos. One passed by the windows more closely than I would have liked.
“Elfing donkule fornicators,” Clyde roared. “That harpy racket is worse than punk rock. They’re going to damage my eardrums with their singing.”
One of Thatch’s ears was bleeding. Probably from the harpy’s cries. I placed my hands over his ears, wanting him to take my magic again. He closed his hands over mine and chanted the same soothing mantra.
“Guys. Not good,” Clyde said from where he was stuck.
I turned just in time to see the black blur of feathers headed toward the windows. I twisted away, covering my head with my arms. Thatch pushed me down and fell on top of me, shielding me from glass and debris. Small bits of glass cut through my shirt and into my arms.
Three figures tumbled in. One crashed into the wall. Another somersaulted head over heels across the floor. The third drifted in at a leisurely pace. A woman with a bird beak landed on the bed in front of us. She held a sword. Black fire danced over the blade.
Blue fire on a sword would put one to sleep. I didn’t know what black fire did.
Thatch lifted himself up and pushed me behind him. I thought of Baba’s prophecy. My true love would sacrifice himself for me. But it wouldn’t work.
“No!” I screamed. I hurled myself forward, grabbing onto Thatch’s arm.
<
br /> The bird woman flapped her wings, hovering just before us. “Well, well. What do we have here? The infamous traitor and his bride. Won’t this please our queen.”
“She isn’t my queen,” Thatch said.
She launched herself forward. He had nothing, not even magic. I raised my hands and aimed past him. Lightning shot out of my fingertips at her. She screeched and writhed, falling to the floor singed and smoking. By that point, the other two intruders had risen, launching themselves at us. I aimed at both of them, white arcs lashing like whips to meet them before sputtering out.
They rolled to the floor. One twitched. The other remained still.
Thatch snatched up the sword. He grabbed onto me with his other hand, pulling me toward the door, still blocked by Clyde.
“Out of the way. We need to get below,” Thatch shouted to be heard over the screams and thudding above.
“I can’t. I’m stuck.” Clyde thrashed his head, grunting and groaning. “It’s because I ate too many apples at the wedding. Carbs always go straight to my hips.”
Try as he might, Clyde didn’t budge an inch.
“Stop stomping around,” Thatch said. “Let Clarissa crawl under you so you can shield her.”
Clyde stopped moving. I crawled between his hooves and crouched under his belly.
More harpies flew through the broken windows. Sinister smiles stretched across their faces. A creature with the body of a bird and the face of a beautiful woman opened her mouth and screamed. It didn’t make me fall over dead like I suspected it was supposed to. She wasn’t the only one coming forward, though. Creatures that looked like they were made of shadows poured in.
Thatch slashed at them with the sword.
I could already tell this would be a losing battle. I needed more magic. If only I could call it forth whenever I needed to, but I hadn’t progressed to that in my studies.
Flying figures swarmed outside. The sky was black with their silhouettes.
I prayed this wasn’t the moment Thatch would die. I touched the amulet at my throat. If I used it, I would lose my soul. I was supposed to save it for an emergency. It seemed like this was an emergency.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Quoth the Raven
A burst of new bodies crashed through the windows. Thatch raised his arms. I turned away and shielded myself, though the glass was too far to reach me. The warrior ravens in the room shuddered as glass assaulted them. Two harpies rushed to meet the new attackers.
Three figures clad in armor that appeared to be made of gold and silver light glided into the room. Their wings were made of fire, and they resembled seraphim with golden fire dancing over their swords. They lashed out with the speed and skill of trained mercenaries.
I stared in wonder.
I recognized the signature of silver magic and the swirling patterns inlaid into their armor. These were guards from the Silver Court. I hadn’t called them, had I? I’d only been thinking about it. I patted the amulet, still intact around my neck. I hadn’t bartered away the last of my soul.
More ravens came, but the three men provided a barricade between us and the incoming harpies. A rallying cry came from outside, the voices sounding more human and less magical than those of the harpies we’d heard before.
Past the windows, I saw not all the figures flying in the air were ravens. Some were silvery and bright like stars. They chased the shadows away and hacked them down in midair. The clatter and screech of metal and pounding on the decks slowly died away.
A man in a helmet turned to face us. I couldn’t tell who it was, only that he had silver hair. I wasn’t able to see whether it was Elric, one of his brothers, or the king. If King Viridios had come to save me, I’d be in his debt, whether I used the amulet or not.
King Viridios was only a small step up from being snatched by the Raven Queen.
For a long moment, the man looked to Thatch, who still had his sword raised protectively. Thatch lowered his sword.
The warrior removed his helmet. Some of his luminescence lessened. Silver hair cascaded down his back. Sideburns adorned his face. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Errol, the captain of Elric’s guard. He hated me. Every time Elric asked him to protect me, he complained about it because I was a mere Witchkin.
Yet for some reason, he was here now instead of at the side of his master. I crawled out from under Clyde’s belly.
“Where’s Elric?” I asked. “Is he all right?”
Thatch bowed to the man.
“Prince Elric is in good health.” Errol raised his hand, palm placed toward me.
I halted where I stood.
“His Highness asked me to convey a message. There’s no need to thank anyone.” He smiled, obviously amused by the joke. “We were simply doing our duty, reinforcements sent to aid the royal navy.”
He inclined his head to me and departed.
Clyde farted loudly. Rainbows wafted toward me. I was lucky these smelled like rainbows and apples.
“Hey! I’m unstuck,” he said. “Perfect timing too. I’m hungry. Do you think they have any carrots?”
Errol and his men remained stationed in the captain’s cabin, fighting off warriors from the Raven Court to protect us. The battle only lasted for another few minutes as the Silver Court killed and drove off our attackers.
The toll among the crew was high. Many were injured or slain. After the fighting had ceased, the ship landed to bury the dead and gather supplies to treat the injured.
Lieutenant Commander Anderson was found dead. Not in battle but drained in her quarters. The news shook me, cold settling over me like a morning frost. Several crew members had been dead for hours. Possibly Derrick had done so to fuel his sleep spell. Or perhaps for the sheer pleasure of it.
Derrick might not have tried to kill me or treated me badly, but the Raven Queen had tainted his soul. He’d been secretive about these deeds so that I wouldn’t know he’d been killing and draining his friends and shipmates.
The officers expressed shock and renewed remorse when one of the crew found Derrick’s body under a dead harpy in the forest not far from where we landed and brought him back onto the deck.
Captain Ermington fell to his knees and cried when he came upon Derrick’s body laid among the others. Derrick’s beautiful face was unblemished. No traces of magic marred his visage from the lightning. The only indication of injury was that his chest was blackened with burns. The place where his heart should have been was sunken in.
“How is this possible?” an officer asked. “I thought Clarissa Lawrence killed him. She pushed him overboard last night.” The man aimed a finger at me.
“How could she kill a wind affinity by pushing him like that? The commander could walk on clouds and fly in the wind,” someone argued.
My lips felt like wood as I forced my mouth to speak. “He faked his death. He wanted me to believe he was dead so I would stop—” I forced the sob down my throat. “So I would stop loving him and move on. But then he changed his mind and came back and confessed it had been a . . . trick.” It was a slight embellishment, but close enough to the truth that it didn’t require me explaining how he’d turned evil.
I didn’t have to admit that I hadn’t been able to resist touching him. I had reactivated his curse.
Thatch placed a hand on my shoulder, the warmth that blazed there reassuring.
“That was my boy, the clever trickster.” The captain clutched Derrick to his chest. “I loved him like my own son.”
My throat tightened in shame and sorrow. I had done this. If only I had stayed away from him, he could have kept on living this happy life.
I wanted to say something to help ease Captain Ermington’s pain. I wanted someone to ease my pain. Nothing I could do or say would help. If I told them Derrick had turned evil or that he had killed his own friends and crew members hours earlier, it would sully his name and all the fondness they had for him. It was better to let them rememb
er him as good and noble.
That was how I wanted to remember him.
“Hey!” Clyde clomped closer, shoving me out of the way with his rear end. “Isn’t that the guy Clarissa—”
Thatch clamped a hand over the unicorn’s muzzle. “Hay is for horses. Not unicorns.” He looked to me. “I believe it’s time we take our leave.”
It was easier for Clyde to trot than fly since the wings were magic and used up more energy. There also was more room on the unicorn’s back when his wings receded.
I sat in front of Thatch. We sat so close I was practically on his lap. I was uncomfortably aware of how much of myself was in contact with him. It felt wrong for him to wrap an arm around me and squeeze me to his chest, for hints of desire to rise in me at his touch when hours before I had lain in Derrick’s arms. I had been unfaithful to a man I’d been about to marry. Or were we married? That was even worse, if we were.
I didn’t know whom I was betraying more, Thatch for sleeping with Derrick or Derrick for loving Thatch. When Thatch kissed my head or cheek as we rode, it took everything in me not to squirm away. I could still taste Derrick’s lips. I couldn’t kiss Thatch with this mouth.
“I’m relieved I found you alive and safe,” Thatch said.
Yeah, real safe. I was in the arms of a cursed hex-boyfriend who would have handed me over to the Raven Queen without realizing what he’d done.
Thatch turned my chin to look at him. “I love you.”
I wondered if he would still love me after he learned what I’d done.
He leaned in to kiss me.
“Oh, barf!” Clyde halted, his head turned to the side so that he stared at us with one eye. “Are you kissing? The next thing I know, you’ll be fornicating. If you start any of that, I am bucking you both off and heading home alone.”
I patted Clyde’s mane. “No kissing. We promise.”
“I don’t promise,” Thatch muttered.
Now that the tumultuous events of the day had faded, I had the time and presence of mind to question why a unicorn would be willing to ferry Thatch to come rescue me. For one thing, unicorns were notoriously picky about whom they allowed to ride them. They only liked virgins.