by R. A. Rock
“Wow,” he breathed. “This is amazing.”
“It is,” Tessa said, with a contented smile. “This way.”
She stopped before what seemed to be more rock that looked exactly the same as all the rock they had passed before.
The wind blew her curls out from the braid she had confined them to, and her cheeks were pink from the brisk morning air. He gazed into her lovely blue eyes and wished that this was already over.
“You sure?” he asked, doubtfully.
“I’m sure.”
She closed her eyes and then felt around until she found what she was looking for. She pressed it, and suddenly, the rocks began to move. Finn and Tessa stepped back onto the path they had arrived on, watching the spectacle. Golden rays of magic shone from the cracks in the mountain. Some rocks moved back and down, and some moved up. The rocks kept sliding—dropping and raising and readjusting themselves for another minute until everything was still again.
Finn glanced around in awe. There was a large round platform extending in a semi-circle out from the mountainside. The stone was white and smooth—as opposed to the rough grey granite that the rest of the mountain seemed to be formed from. The platform had ornate symbols carved into each tile. In the middle of the half-circle was a pedestal at waist height that had risen out of the rock and was made of some sort of white marble with green twists through it. The golden magic light had abated, but the rock was so pure and bright that wherever the morning sun hit it, it seemed to still glow from within.
“Wow,” Finn whispered.
“Agreed,” Tessa said. “It’s quite impressive. The Keeper had probably planned for having spectators at an event as important as this. No doubt, he had expected the King and the Dark Queen to have been here for when the Severance ended. Nobody was expecting it to turn out the way it did.”
The two of them approached the pedestal, and Finn saw that there was a round spot in the flat top of the pedestal. Tessa pulled the amulet from under her clothes and took it off, preparing to fit it into the stone.
“Tess,” Finn said, suddenly worried.
She turned to face him, tucking her brown curls behind her ears to keep them from blowing into her face. He stepped in close because the wind seemed to be getting stronger and louder.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Finn asked, glancing at the amulet-sized space.
“No, not at all,” she said, and a tiny corner of her mouth curved up. “It’s a terrible plan.”
“Definitely,” he said, taking her hand.
“You worried about me, Finn?”
“Yes,” he said, not holding back. “You and I haven’t had very much luck with magic since we met.”
She laughed. “That’s true, Finn,” she said. “I guess we just have to hope for the best?”
“Tessa…”
“I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. “The Keeper has never taken the Scroll out since he put it in here.”
“So, if it’s so dangerous, are you sure you should do it?” he asked, unable to explain how anxious he felt about her doing this.
“Finn,” she said without fear. “I have to. This is what my whole life has been leading up to. It’s all I have.”
Finn gazed at her, searching her eyes.
“It’s not all you have,” he said. “You have me.”
Tessa smiled. “And I’m glad of it,” she said, putting her hand on his cheek. “But I have to do this. No one else can. It’s keyed to the Keeper’s Starlight, and I’m the one who has that now.”
“But, Tess…”
Her smile broadened. “I like when you call me that.”
“Please be careful, Tess,” he said, making her give that sweet half-smile again. And he wanted to kiss her so badly, he ached. But he knew it wasn’t the time. He would have to content himself with that lovely smile and hope she came through this like she had come through everything else.
But Finn had a gloomy feeling that the magic guarding the Scroll was like nothing they had ever seen before. And that it would be more dangerous than any spell anywhere else in Esper.
Tessa let go of his hand and once more stepped up to the pedestal. She took a deep breath and blew it out. She glanced at Finn. He felt serious but no longer worried. Whatever would happen, would happen. There was no turning back and nothing they could do about the future.
She lifted the amulet without taking it off and carefully positioned it above the space in the stone where it would fit exactly. She obviously wasn’t going to chance it falling. Then Tessa took another big breath and slowly began to lower it into the space. A little more and she would release it.
At that moment, there was a shimmer of magic, and suddenly, the ledge and platform were crowded with fearsome soldiers. And every one of them had an X on their collarbone above the heart.
“What… how…?” Finn sputtered. “If this place is warded against portals, how can they just appear like that?”
Tessa felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“It’s the Keeper’s quarters that are warded. Nothing else.” She grimaced. “We’re in trouble, Finn.”
“Yep, as usual.” He gave her a saucy grin. “At least we know we can make portals.”
“Yeah, well, looks like we might need one.”
Chapter 38
Without warning, more than twenty warriors had appeared on the platform and the path leading to it. They were dressed in leather armor with breastplates and wrist coverings made of steel. And they were fully armed with swords and knives—ready for battle.
One of them threw a ball at Finn, and he batted it away. But the ball exploded when he hit it, and white dust showered all over them.
“Shadows take me,” Finn said, coughing. “The Dark Court’s anti-shifting dust. They used it on me when I was caught by the Skransser.”
“I know of it,” Tessa said, feeling wretched. “It’s Dark Court protocol to treat prisoners with it, so they can’t escape. That means we can’t change into our small forms. We’re trapped up here.”
“And if there was any doubt that the Dark Queen was the one behind the attacks…” Finn trailed off and inspected their opponents.
“Finn,” Tessa said, feeling worried as she retrieved her blades from the Otherworld sheath. “Is that an X on that warrior’s collarbone?”
“It is,” Finn said, pulling his Unity Blades.
“Whatever,” Tessa said, gesturing impatiently with her own blades. “What are we going to do? There’s no way we can fight them all. And like you said before, it’s suicide to try to fight those who wear the X. Especially this many of them.”
Finn was silent, then he spoke.
“I have a lode stone that’s spelled to be much stronger than normal.”
“What does—” Tessa cut herself off as Finn drew a black stone from his satchel and threw it onto the path that led farther up the mountain. Instantly, all of the warriors’ swords and knives were drawn away from them, making a big ball of weapons around the small lode stone. A moment later, they couldn’t hold their shields anymore, and they went flying over, too, hitting the other metal objects with a loud clank. Tessa could see the fighters struggling as the lode stone pulled at their metal armor. But it wasn’t strong enough to drag a muscled fighter over to it.
“—that do,” she finished.
“A lode stone?” Finn asked, surprised. “It pulls anything with iron towards it. This small stone is spelled to have the pull of a much larger stone.”
“Why didn’t we lose our weapons?”
“Because they don’t have any iron in them. They’re made from a rare metal that only the strongest Fae can call up from the depths of Esper. No iron. No attraction to lode stone.”
“Got it,” Tessa said. “Well, it’s a little more even now.” As she spoke, the mercenaries recovered from their shock of having been relieved of all their weapons. It seemed that none of them had a wooden staff or
bow and arrows, so that was lucky.
“It is,” Finn agreed. “But we’re still going to get our asses kicked.”
The warriors had black eye paint around their eyes and those scary looking scars on their collarbones. They were unnaturally quiet as they moved toward Tessa and Finn.
“We’ll have to use every weapon at our disposal,” Finn said softly.
“You mean making a portal with the blades?”
“Portals, with an S,” Finn corrected her. “It’s our only advantage.”
“What about the cost?”
“If we don’t use them, we’ll pay with our lives. In this case, it’s justified.”
“What’s the plan then?”
“You knock them out. I dump them in a portal.”
“That’s your plan?” Tessa asked, raising her hands, blades ready, as the first warrior ran at her.
“I know,” Finn said, changing his blades so that the curve was facing downward. “But it’s all I’ve got.”
“It’ll have to do,” Tessa said, blocking a punch and jumping to avoid a foot sweep. She ducked under another jab and landed a hard punch to the guy’s knockout point.
Finn drew a line across the stones, and as the man fell, he dropped straight into the portal.
The fight got messy, and Tessa was barely holding her own. Finn sealed each portal after he had pushed a warrior into it.
“Tess, be ready to jump through this portal,” Finn said, and knowing that he must have a plan, she went with it.
He scraped a line across the stone in front of her, and she jumped through. A second later, she emerged from the other side of the portal just above the battle. She fell on two of the warriors, landing on them and smashing them to the ground. They were instantly knocked out, and Finn opened a portal, shoving them in.
“Again, again,” she said, with a grin, blocking a kick from one of the fighters and using a backhand strike to break his nose.
Finn laughed and dragged his blade in front of her. She took out warrior after warrior either with her fists, her blade, or using a portal. Finn fought beside her and opened portals for her.
“One more,” she said, but Finn already had a vertical one open. She ran straight into it and came out at the last fighter’s head level. She kicked him in the head and landed beside the body with a thump as her boots hit the stone platform.
She was breathing hard, but she and Finn had defeated the Dark Queen’s minions. Now they had only to get the Scroll and get off this mountain.
“Well, this was a triumph,” she said to Finn, feeling satisfied.
“Tess, we’re not done.”
Finn’s wary voice made her look up, and she saw immediately what he had spotted. Something that looked like a black jungle cat but had eyes like a snake. It spat, and the creature’s spittle landed next to Finn, the caustic liquid instantly burning a hole in the stone. “Tessa? What do we do now?”
Tessa thought frantically, but before she could think of anything, the creature jumped. Finn reacted to protect himself, bringing his arms up over his head. But Tessa went into motion and sliced the air in front of him.
The wild cat disappeared through the portal. Finn stared at her with wide eyes, frozen.
“Thanks,” he said, his voice faint.
Tessa gave one firm nod. “I have an idea,” she said as the next wildcat appeared above them in the rocks.
“Okay,” Finn said. “What is it?”
“You stand there. And don’t look threatening.”
“What?” Finn asked, confused. “Why?”
“Because you’re bait,” Tessa said, darting forward as another cat jumped and fell through the portal she had created. Finn scowled at her. But he stood there.
The wild cats appeared and leapt at him, since he seemed the easiest target and they could see that Tessa had claws—the blades. Every time one of them pounced on Finn, Tessa tore a hole in reality right before it landed on him, sending the cat through the portal.
“Well, I guess that’s the last set of monsters,” Tessa said when the final wildcat had been sent through a portal.
Finn gave her an outraged look. “You had to say it, didn’t you?”
A second later, there was a magical poof, but when they observed the environment for the threat, there seemed to be nothing. Just rocks. But the fresh, brisk air on the platform was suddenly filled with the disgusting stench of monsters.
There was danger here. Tessa could feel it.
If only they could find it before it found them.
“Tess, does that smell remind you of anything?” Finn asked, sniffing the air.
“Yes,” she said, thinking. “Isn’t it like the monsters we fought…”
“In the monster den.” Finn met her gaze and finished her sentence.
“Shadows take me,” Tessa said, whipping out her blades. Finn was beside her in an instant and had his blades out by the time the first rock stood up, revealing it was actually a monster. There was the clink of something glass falling on the stone.
“What’s that?” Tessa asked, crouching down and snagging the small bottle.
“A potion I grabbed at your aunt’s. I had it in my Otherworld sheath—grabbed it by accident. I hoped it might come in useful.”
Tessa read the label as more monsters stood and eyed them. “Eternal sleep.”
“I don’t know about you,” Finn said. “But I intend to put these monsters into the non-magical kind of eternal sleep. The kind they’ll never wake up from.”
“I’m with you,” Tessa said, pocketing the potion. “Let’s do it.”
Finn stepped forward and slashed at the first monster, cutting it. The beast became enraged and pounced on Finn, knocking him backward and pinning him. The horrible creature bit Finn, tearing a ragged gash in his forearm where he had it above his head protecting his face. Finn yelled in pain.
Tessa dispatched her beast and ran toward the one holding down Finn. She lifted her blade high and stabbed into its eye. It immediately stopped moving.
Finn dropped back in relief, and Tessa rolled the monster off of him so he could sit up. Then she swung at the next monster attacking them, forcing it back. The two of them scrambled over to the rock wall, and Finn dropped a blue crystal from his satchel on the ground in front of them.
All of a sudden, the beasts attacking them were running into a wall they couldn’t see and knocking themselves out. It was quiet inside the protection spell.
“These ones are a lot more active,” Finn said. “And more vicious than the ones in the cave.”
“Probably because those monsters in the den had only just woken up,” Tessa pointed out, holding the gaping wound closed with her hands.
“Hurry and bind it,” he said, his voice tight. “The spell won’t last long.”
Finn passed the blade of the hurt arm to his good hand and stowed it in the Otherworld sheath because he wouldn’t be able to use it anymore. He was bleeding profusely, and he and Tessa had blood—both Finn’s and the monsters’—all over them already.
“What should I wrap it with?” she asked, at a loss.
“My handkerchief,” he said, giving her a half-smile. “Remember?”
“The Keeper’s Provision spell has been more than generous to us,” Tessa murmured, pulling out the large handkerchief that the Keeper’s house spell had provided Finn with.
“Indeed.”
She wrapped his wound quickly because he was already looking pale and woozy, then pulled the cloth tight, which made him groan. When she was done, she stood and turned to face the next beast. The spell from Finn’s crystal disappeared just as the beast lunged.
Tessa fought with it, wounding it in several places. The monster scratched her with its long claws, but she saw an opening and stabbed it in the heart. It dropped before her, and she glanced at Finn.
He stood slowly, and they faced the monsters.
“Can you fight?” she asked.
Finn did not look good.
; “I’m fine,” he said, a hard look in his eye as he surveyed the beasts before them. “But I have a better idea than fighting them.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t think you’ll like it.” His eyes lit with mischief.
“Tell me,” she said, absolutely certain she wasn’t going to like it.
“We just have to jump off the cliff.”
Chapter 39
“This better work, Noble,” Tessa said as they took off running toward the edge of the platform, beyond which lay a thousand-foot drop that would shatter every bone in their bodies if they fell.
“Get ready to dive,” he said as they dodged and ran around the clumsy rock monsters, slashing at the ones who got too close. The monsters slowly took notice that their prey was running and gave chase, their footfalls thumping on the stone.
“How many times have you done this?”
“Quite a few times when my grandfather was training me,” Finn said, pulling ahead. “I only missed twice. Only broke three bones.”
“I don’t have time to practice, Finn,” she growled.
“Then you better be precise because you only get one shot.”
“Wait,” Tessa shouted as Finn reached the edge several steps in front of her. But he wasn’t listening and he wasn’t stopping. He sliced the air in front of him, tucked his arms in at his sides, and sailed through the portal. Behind her, the rock monsters were pounding after them, unaware that they were about to plunge to their deaths.
The Dark Mages really ought to make smarter monsters, Tessa thought. She brought her hands above her head like she was diving into the water and launched herself off the platform and into the portal.
In shock, Tessa realized she was heading for the stone of the platform, and she stowed her blades, instinctively tucking into a somersault. She rolled several times till she came to rest. Quickly, she got to her feet, withdrew her blades, and looked around.
The rock monsters were gone—all of them had fallen off the cliff.
Finn looked worse than before.
“Did you break something?” she asked, going to where he was standing and holding the arm with the bite. There was an odd dip where there ought to be straight bone.