by R. A. Rock
Chapter 26
Tessa examined the approaching Char while the crowd in the arena cheered, anticipating her and Finn’s deaths. Her supper from earlier roiled in her stomach, and she wished she hadn’t eaten. Ransetta sat on her throne, a self-congratulatory smile on her face. Tessa wondered if she was rooting for Tessa or for the Char.
“So, Tess,” Finn said, getting her attention. He had his blades out and was bouncing a little on the balls of his feet, ready for a fight. “Exactly what can this thing do?”
Tessa raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You’ve never heard of a Char before?”
“I have. But only the stories. What can they really do?”
Tessa looked away from Finn toward the monster coming at them. “A Char’s most fearsome power is that it burns from the inside out. If it touches you, your skin will burn on contact.”
“Lovely,” Finn said.
“And it wants to burn you because that’s how it feeds. The more it burns you, the stronger it gets. So, make sure it doesn’t touch you.”
“Ugh,” Finn said, disgusted.
“It can also make itself insubstantial at will and is very hard to actually hit in a fight.”
“Okay,” he said, drawing the word out.
“One good thing for us is that it’s blind,” she pointed out.
“Blind? Good for us.”
“Right. But to make up for it, it has almost perfect hearing, and it uses echoes to easily track its prey.”
“Perfect hearing. Hmm, not good for us.”
“Finn,” Tessa said, turning to face him as she felt a sudden and fierce regret that her life was going to end like this. “I have no idea if we’re going to survive.”
“Tess, don’t.”
Tessa didn’t stop speaking.
“But in case we die, I want you to know that I—” She stopped, pressing her lips together. “I—you—well, I want you to know that you mean a lot to me.”
“You mean a lot to me, too, Tessa,” he said, his eyes worried. “But we are getting out of this alive. I know it.”
“From your lips, to the Stars’ hearts,” Tessa murmured, turning to face the monster again.
The Char was tall and thin. It had long arms with two joints instead of just one elbow. This enabled it to trap its victims more easily. There were no eyes where they would usually be located, but only smooth forehead all the way to its nose. And she couldn’t see any external ears, but she didn’t doubt that the thing had excellent hearing because Finn was pacing slightly to the left, Tessa was keeping pace with him, and the Char was tracking their movements easily.
Also, the fearsome creature seemed to be glowing, its flesh like a live coal. And Tessa knew from the one other time she’d had contact with a Char that the burns were the most painful you could experience. She didn’t mention that to Finn. They were condemned to death as it was. It wouldn’t help him to know the agony that was in store for him.
Tessa readied herself as the Char got close enough to attack. It suddenly lunged at her, and she jumped back, feeling the heat as its hand swung past her. She slashed with a straight arm at its head. Her blade passed through nothing as the Char disappeared. It reappeared directly behind Finn, and Tessa shouted a warning.
Finn tucked into a roll as the Char’s red-hot hands clapped together, thankfully missing him entirely. He jumped up a few feet away, watching the creature carefully.
It suddenly roared—a terrifying sound—and flew at them, half running, half floating on the heat waves it was giving off. Tessa took off running for the far side of the arena with Finn beside her.
“Don’t let it separate us,” he yelled.
The Char chased them until it had them pinned against the boards. They turned and ran along the edge, getting away from it until it suddenly appeared directly in front of them.
Tessa couldn’t stop her forward momentum, but Finn grabbed her arm and dug in his heels, pulling her to a stop inches from the Char. They stumbled hastily backward as the thing came at them again.
“There’s got to be a way to get an advantage,” he said to Tessa.
But she knew there wasn’t.
It was simply a matter of how long the monster would play with his supper.
“There’s two of us and only one of it,” Finn said as they dodged it. The Char had changed its tactics and was reaching out its long arm and poking at them at random intervals. It had grazed Finn, and he had a bright-red burn on his upper arm, but so far, that was the only injury either of them had sustained. They were keeping away from it for now, but they would eventually get tired and make a mistake, and then it would kill them. The roaring of the onlookers had faded into the background as he focused on the monster before them.
“We have to go on the attack instead of just defending,” he said, twisting to the side as the Char poked at him again.
“What do you suggest?” Tessa asked. “I’m open to anything that will get us out of this.”
“We have to hit it when its substantial. And I’ve noticed that if it disappears, it always reappears beside or behind the other person so that it can gain an advantage.”
“Right,” Tessa said, weaving to the right and then the left as the Char swiped at her.
“So what if I attacked it and forced it to go insubstantial, and then when it shows up next to you, you can surprise it and stab it?”
“Sounds good,” Tessa said, and he admired how unafraid she was. “Let’s do it.”
Finn attacked the Char, swiping at it repeatedly. It backed up but eventually went insubstantial. It reappeared as expected behind Tessa, and she whipped around as fast as she could, slicing for its face. Her blade hit flesh, and the metal heated up so fast that she almost dropped her blade. It went insubstantial almost immediately, but when it popped up again beside Finn, he could see the that monster had a gash in its cheek.
“Yes!” he shouted. “Tess, you did it.” He felt elated. Maybe they might scrape out of this with their lives.
But then the Char shrieked hideously again and went for Tessa, doing its strange floating run. She took off for the other side of the arena, running full out. It appeared in front of her, and she dodged. It disappeared and popped up again in front of her. She dived under it, rolled over, and then was straight back onto her feet. She spun to face it, blades swinging.
Finn ran toward her as fast as he could. The Char was furious because she had cut it, and it was bent on revenge. She was going to need backup.
The thing appeared behind her. She turned. It disappeared and reappeared at her back again. Over and over. Every time she turned, it materialized behind her. She seemed to be getting dizzy. And she couldn’t get away.
Finally, she stumbled, and the Char’s long thin arm shot out and grabbed her by the neck with unnatural strength. Tessa screamed as it burned and continued to burn her flesh. She struggled, but the Char wouldn’t let her go.
Finn approached carefully, not sure how to get her out of this. But he had to. He couldn’t let Tessa die. She was still screaming in pain. He sliced at the Char, but it merely made its arm insubstantial in that one spot, never letting go of Tessa.
Shadows take the creature.
Finn moved in closer to try and cut the part of the arm that it was holding Tessa with. Because either it would let her go or Finn would cut it. Either way, it was a win.
But as he got close enough to attack it, he wasn’t expecting the Char to grab his neck with its other hand. Finn yelled. The pain was excruciating. He couldn’t think.
Now they were both going to die.
And it was his fault.
The pain was all of her. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. All she could do was scream in agony. Soon, the Char would burn down to her jugular. Then it would all be over. And she would be glad to die.
But from far away, she heard Finn’s cry of pain, and she felt her every nerve go on the alert.
No. Not Finn.
She didn’t have the strength
to save herself. But maybe she had the strength to save Finn. But how?
She opened her eyes.
The Char was holding each of them, one on either side of him. Finn was staring at her with so much suffering in his eyes that she could hardly stand it. The smell of burning flesh was horrible. He lifted his hand and reached out for her. She blinked and lifted her own hand.
If she could just touch him one last time, then maybe she could die in peace. It put unbearable pressure on her neck to reach out like that, but she did it anyway.
The moment seemed endless, but then Finn grasped her hand so tightly it almost hurt. She didn’t care. She could feel him, and the pain dimmed a little. Now she could let go and return to Starlight. She was done with this painful life.
Then a thought occurred to her.
If she could feel his Starlight, he could feel hers.
And…
She willed her magic to merge with his and saw his eyes widen when he felt what she was doing. He began trying to unite, too. But it wasn’t working.
Finn’s eyebrows drew together, and he reached out with his other hand. Tessa lifted her hand, too, brushing the Char’s side. She groaned in pain as a fresh burn bloomed on her arm, but they clasped hands, feeling their palms come firmly into contact.
Instantly, they united, and the ecstasy nearly blocked out the pain.
“Tess,” Finn gasped, barely able to speak. “A field of Light magic… would… kill it.”
The Char seemed to realize that something was going on, and it began kicking at them and bumping them with its double elbows, all the time never letting go of their necks. This caused fresh burns to come out all over their bare skin, but neither of them wavered. The bliss was blocking some of the pain.
Tessa gave herself completely to the uniting. She felt the Light magic flowing through her body. That was when she realized that she needed to stop the flow. Let the magic pile up. So she willed the magic to stay in the circle of their arms, building up more and more pressure.
The raucous crowd seemed far away. She kept her eyes on Finn’s as the Light magic grew stronger and stronger.
The Char suddenly noticed the danger, and it tried to get away, letting go of them. But it was too late. The field of Light magic was too strong, and it was caught.
Tessa let the pressure build and build, until finally with a nod from Finn, she released it and the Char exploded in a blast of magic. Rainbow colors of energy flew everywhere, and a shockwave spread out from them, knocking out everyone in the arena and shattering all the glass in the entire place.
It was very quiet with the Char gone and everyone unconscious. Tessa noticed that she and Finn had been healed from the Light magic. They stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment, and then Finn pulled her into his embrace.
Tessa felt tears coming to her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. They clung to each other, holding on tightly, unaware of the rest of the world. Tessa drew in a shaky breath.
They were alive.
They had done it.
They had survived.
Together.
And Tessa knew that in spite of her warnings to herself, she did care about Finn. Deeply. And there was no way this could end well, so she was looking at a horribly shattered heart when it all came crashing down.
But at this point.
In his arms.
She honestly didn’t care.
Chapter 27
When Tessa was brought before the queen in one of her receiving rooms, tired and sweaty, she honestly didn’t know what to expect. And Finn’s words still rang in her ears.
“We’re partners, Tessa. You shouldn’t go and see her alone. Especially after the stunt we just pulled.”
Tessa had explained to him that you didn’t go against the queen’s orders unless you had a death wish. If she wanted to see Tessa alone, then Finn definitely shouldn’t come with her. It didn’t stop Tessa from wishing he was there, though.
The ancient Fae studied her for a long time. Tessa knew that this was one of her tactics to terrify whoever came before her. Tessa wasn’t terrified, but it was unnerving nonetheless. Because she did have a healthy respect for the havoc the dark queen could wreak and the power that she had over Tessa’s own life.
“Well played, Callahan, well played,” the queen said, a smile finally breaking over her face. “No one has surprised me in a long, long time. That was very inventive.”
She waited for the queen to lose it on her. Often, Ransetta started her worst screaming rants by being complimentary to her victim. But the rant never came, so Tessa didn’t say a word.
“I must say, I didn’t expect so much of you, Tessa. You’re good—I know—but I didn’t think you were that good. You return early with the blades and having mastered them in less time than you were given. It is quite impressive.”
Tessa tried not to look sour at the backhanded comment. “Thank you, your grace.”
“Are you two addicted?”
“Your majesty?”
“Are you addicted to uniting?”
“No, your grace, I can explain…” Tessa said, but the queen held up her hand and she stopped speaking.
“No need to explain. If you’re not addicted, then I won’t have any trouble from you if I decide I want him.”
Tessa clenched her jaw.
“I’m still hoping to have him in my bed,” Ransetta said, staring off into space, no doubt imagining what she’d do to Finn. Tessa felt sick that such a thing might happen to Finn. She also felt something else. Something that was a lot like jealousy boiling in the pit of her stomach.
But that was ridiculous. There was nothing like that between her and Finn.
“He’s nice eye candy,” Ransetta said. “We can keep him around a while longer.”
“Respectfully, your grace, Finn is more than just a pretty face. He’s the one with the inventive ideas. Maybe we should consider promoting him.” Tessa kept her face blank and stoic, as if she didn’t care one way or the other. As if she was just providing her opinion as Captain of the Guard.
“Maybe,” the queen said thoughtfully. Then she dismissed the topic with a wave of her hand. “Now, about those blades. Tell me everything about how you got them so that we can begin arming our people.”
Tessa took a deep breath, sure this was not going to go well. “The thing is, your majesty, I almost died getting them. And I had to give away the thing I wanted most in the world.”
“What?” Ransetta asked, completely taken aback. “What are you talking about, Tessa?”
“The story about Perdira’s Mire is true. We had to go there. I had to promise Perdira, herself, that I would give up the thing I wanted most. And then she threw a bunch of magic at me that nearly killed me. She gave me the blades in the end, but she made me promise I would not give them to you.”
“Did she?” the queen asked, her eyes once again staring into space. Tessa had a feeling that she was now lost in the past, not the future.
“Yes, Finn agreed to get me an Otherworld sheath like he has for his blades. It was the only way that Perdira would agree to grant my wish.”
“Perdira,” the queen said, a funny look on her face. “My old friend. I had thought she was dead long ago. And that the rumors about her being in that swamp were just that. Rumors.”
“She is still there, your grace,” Tessa said, glad to be on firm ground about this at least.
“Well, if that’s how you got the blades, we certainly can’t outfit our army of weaklings that way. Thank you for your effort. The blades will have to be recompense enough for what you gave up to get them.”
“Yes, your majesty.” Tessa bowed, intensely grateful that the queen was looking at the situation that way. “Was there anything else you wanted?”
The queen glanced around at the empty room, and then she touched one of the many rings on her fingers, swept her arm around—probably activating the anti-eavesdropping spell she always used for blocking sound when she didn’t w
ant anyone to overhear a conversation.
“There’s just one more thing. Your first mission with the new blades.”
“Yes, my queen?”
Ransetta didn’t speak for a long time, and when she finally did, Tessa was stunned by her words.
“I want you to find the Keeper of the Scroll,” Ransetta said, still not looking at Tessa. “And I want you to get the Scroll of Severance from him and bring it to me. Kill anyone who gets in your way, including Nyall of the Light Court, who has been sent to find the Keeper as well. If you can’t get the Scroll, then bring the Keeper to me.”
It was a good thing that the queen wasn’t looking at her at that moment, because Tessa couldn’t help her shocked reaction at being ordered to find a practically mythical magical object.
Oh, and also to kill her oldest friend if he got in her way.
The near-silent hum of the anti-eavesdropping spell hung in the somber air of the receiving room after the queen told Tessa that she was going to have to kill her friend. Of course, the queen didn’t know that he was her friend because the Dark Queen didn’t know that Tessa was a spy sent to undermine everything the Dark Court did.
The order was a surprise in more ways than one. First of all, it was her friend, which seemed like perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence. Second, it wasn’t like Tessa was some menial assassin. She was the Captain of the Guard, and she had assassins who usually did this kind of killing for her. It wasn’t that she hadn’t killed anyone—many soldiers had died by her hand in battle—but she had never murdered someone in cold blood.
It was completely inappropriate for the queen to ask this of her. And yet, for some reason, the queen was giving this mission to her. Then it came back to her that the queen had said she was testing Tessa’s loyalty to the Dark Court.
This must be the third test.
Tessa’s bruises and cuts were pulsing with her rapid heartbeat. The sweat on her body had dried, leaving her chilled in her skimpy fighting outfit. She was terribly uncomfortable physically, but the worst discomfort was internal. She didn’t know how to respond to Ransetta’s surprising pronouncement at all. And that worried her.