by Talia Jager
I nodded, thankful that she was able to alert them to where we were. Maybe they’d get here before Satine killed us.
I’ve got this, I told Kallan. Satine was smart, but she didn’t know everything. It was obvious she didn’t understand the full extent of my abilities. Get ready to fight.
Using air pressure I began choking the guard behind Kallan. The guard dropped the knife and his hands flew up to his neck. Kallan grabbed his dagger and thrust it backward into the guard. I focused on the other guards and did the same thing. Satine glared at me. I felt pressure on my head and knew she was trying to control me. I pushed her back mentally. I wasn’t letting her take over my mind. I watched her eyes widen as I kept pushing. Maybe I could take over her mind?
I could feel my power inching into her brain, but then she pushed back and took off running breaking the hold she had on us.
“Damn it,” I swore, standing up and running after her. She was nowhere to be found, but the dark army stood motionless in the distance. Trolls and other hideous-looking creatures surrounded the beautiful faeries. I hurried back over the hill to where Kallan, Drake, and the horses were.
“Satine’s army is here.”
“So is ours.” Kallan motioned behind us. The trees were full of piskies who were ready for the battle. They no longer looked happy and free. The dwarves were ready to move out behind the light faeries and flying horses. I swallowed hard. The battle was happening…now.
Use invisibility, Rylie. You’re too important to be killed.
And you’re not?
I’m not the Aurorian.
But…
Plus, you’re not feeling good.
I rolled my eyes even though he was right. My head was pounding now and I felt weaker than I had five minutes ago. Fine. I put the shield of invisibility on me and Abrax. “You stay quiet, boy.”
He nudged me.
Be careful, Kallan. I can’t lose you.
I will.
Kallan and Drake turned to the army, shouted a few words, and they took off up the hill. A roar came from the dark army as they charged toward ours.
“Come on, Abrax,” I whispered and stayed to the side of the beautiful meadow the battle was taking place in.
Piskies flew toward the enemy. Once they reached the outliers, they flew in circles around their heads, disorienting them. Then they led them toward the forests where some of our army was waiting to take them out.
The amount of powers I could feel was overwhelming. I came to the conclusion the blocker who had been killed was the only one they had. I wasn’t being blocked at all. I felt tremendous power and energy flowing through me.
Kallan hurtled through the air, collided with a faery on Satine’s side, and delivered a fatal blow with his sword. He jumped over the dark faery and strode toward another. Kallan raised the sword in his right hand and struck the enemy sending him to the ground.
I looked in the direction of the swords clanging and thought about the powers available to me. I could send a tree falling to the ground and landing on top of the army, but knowing the things I knew about nature, I wouldn’t hurt a tree like that. The element of fire wouldn’t do much good because it would destroy too much of the earth. I could create an earthquake. The sonic boom type thing would knock everybody down, not just the enemy.
Using Kallan’s mind control, I made one dark faery attacker turn around and march away from the battle until he was far out of sight. Then I made two more stop fighting our army and fight each other. With Drake’s talent, I paralyzed a handful of dark fey.
A spark caught my eye. Kyro had created a fireball and tossed it as far as he could in back of our people. He quickly did it again, throwing that one to the side. When he aimed a third one to the other side, I realized he was trying to block us in.
Water. I glanced up at the sky and wiggled my fingers like rain. The cloud above began pouring water down directly on top of the fireball, but it wasn’t enough to put the fire out.
Kyro flung it to the side, hitting a tree. The flames spread up the tree and the air felt like it was being sucked out of me. I clutched my chest and fell back onto the ground. The intense pain gripped my body.
Kallan!
Rylie? You okay?
Something’s wrong…
Where are you?
Southwest of you.
I watched as he fought his way over toward where I was. When he was near, I turned visible again. Kallan knelt next to me. “What’s wrong? Are you hit?”
“No…can’t…breathe…so…much…pain…”
Kallan examined me. “Lena is hidden back here. Hang on.” He took off before I could beg him to stay. Tears streamed down my face as a great sadness set in.
Kallan was back with Lena. “She’s not hurt anywhere.”
Lena placed her hands on me and closed her eyes. “She’s feeling the pain from the earth. The fires. The tree.”
“We’re all connected to the earth, why don’t we feel it?” Kallan wondered.
“Her connection is much deeper.”
“Why didn’t she have these feelings when other parts of our forest were destroyed?”
“My guess would be the closer she is when it happens, the greater the pain.”
“Fix…it…” I pleaded.
“To do that, we need to put the fires out.”
Using his mind control, Kallan made one of the faeries plunge her dagger into the enemy’s heart, killing him before turning toward the fire. She opened her arms up to the sky and water poured down on the three fires. As the flames went out, the pain faded until I was left with a deep ache.
“Better?” Lena asked.
“Yes, thank you both.” I took deep breaths. “I can’t allow them to do that again. If the pain was overwhelming to me, I can’t imagine how the trees felt.”
One corner of Lena’s mouth turned upward.
“What?” I asked.
“You’ve come a long way since that scared immature girl I first met.”
“Thanks. I think.” I looked back to the battle. “Kyro needs to go.”
“Kyro is mine,” Kallan sneered, standing up. You gonna be okay?
I nodded. I had to find Satine. I watched as he ran off.
“Stay invisible, Rylie.” Lena said, turning invisible herself. “Once Kyro is gone, go find Satine.”
I hated being on the sidelines, not fighting with my people. I watched as Kallan and Kyro swung their swords at each other. I thought about using his mind control, but I knew Kallan wanted to do this himself. I had no problem jumping in if things got bad.
A few minutes later, Kallan got the upper hand and shoved the sword into Kyro then yanked it back out. Kyro fell to his knees and then flat on his face.
One of the treefolk came out of the forest behind a dark faery, picked Kyro’s limp body up, and threw him out of the meadow. He made his way toward another of Satine’s guards and scooped him up too. While many of the dark army ran from the treefolk, one faery stood his ground and the treefolk suddenly stopped moving. He must have paralyzed him.
I glanced around the meadow, tears pouring down my cheeks at the sight of so many lifeless bodies on the ground. So much death. It had to be stopped.
The clouds in the sky parted and the moon was there. Usually if the moon could be seen in the daytime it was like an afterthought in the sky, but today it was bold and bright. What’s going on?
Satine is using dark magick, Kallan replied.
Lightning struck the earth in the middle of the battle that was going on. Faeries of all colors turned and looked at the sky. The earth rumbled and I leaned on a tree to keep my balance. The second my hand touched the tree, I could feel its pain. “I know,” I whispered to it. “I’m working on it.”
How
was I supposed to stop Satine and the dark magick?
I could feel it, like I did that day Varwik and Oren fought—dark, heavy, powerful—but then I thought of the sun. It was more powerful than the moon, stronger, bigger. I fixated on the sun and her magnificent powers. My body felt light and warm, and it hummed. I opened up my arms and let the sun in. The whole meadow was engulfed in a blinding white light…but I could still feel the hurt of the land, the pull of the moon. I needed to find Satine and I needed to do it before Lena’s drink wore off.
I scanned the area looking for some sign of where she might be. Where was she? If she was using the magick of the moon, she must be somewhere in its light. “Lena, keep Abrax invisible.”
“Of course. Be careful, Rylie.”
I dashed through the forest, looking for Satine. She had to be here somewhere. And then I had a thought. If I was here and she was here and I was connected to the earth, then maybe I could find her by using my connection. I stopped, looked around, and thought about it. I placed my palms against two trees and closed my eyes. “Treefolk,” I said quietly. “I need your help. Show me where Satine is.”
It took only seconds before a tree to the north swayed in a way that was out of place. Smiling, I said, “Thank you.”
Invisible, I ran until I got closer, then I crept toward her.
Satine was kneeling in a small clearing, face to the sky, eyes closed, and chanting. A dark stone rested in her hands. I could feel the ground shudder underneath me. She was transforming the land we were on. We had to hurry or I’d lose all energy. I had to think outside the box. I couldn’t just walk up to her and take it. Fighting her would be difficult. I didn’t know if I’d win. How could I use my talent to get the stone? Blow it out of her hands? Her grip was probably too strong to do that. Couldn’t burn it out, wash it out, or rumble it out. I was running out of options.
Looking up, I saw the alan and knew exactly what to do. Softly I whistled for her and she landed on my extended arm even though I was still invisible. Smart creature. “Can you get me the stone? Bring it to my mother?”
“Yes.” She flew back through the forest, swooped down, and snatched the stone with her claws. She took off into the sky. Satine began screaming and hollering, “Find that creature! Get me my stone back!”
A laugh escaped my mouth as I watched Satine thrash around like a two-year-old. Her eyes shot over to where I stood. “Show yourself, Oleander! Don’t be a coward.”
I willed myself visible. “All right, Satine.”
“I want my stone back!” she screamed.
“It’s not yours. It belongs to all of us.”
She lunged at me and I dodged her. “I will crush you and that twit of a brother, then I’ll go after your family.”
“Your threats don’t scare me.”
Her lips pulled in a tight line. “I will destroy you.”
“Not if I destroy you first.” And with that I hit her with a blast of air that sent her flying.
She growled and leapt back on her feet. She made the roots of a nearby tree creep toward me, but I flung out my hand out and they settled back down. “I’m stronger than you, Satine.”
“I still have dark magick on my side.”
“It was never meant to be on a certain side. We were supposed to live together in harmony, complement each other, not fight each other.”
“The sun and the moon are opposites, like we are.” She charged at me again. I moved, but not in time. She grabbed my arm and flung me down. My arm landed in a puddle of water. I jumped back up and looked at my hand. Water could be turned into ice. I watched as the water froze into a shard of ice and then hurled it at her, hitting her in the shoulder.
She growled as she jerked it out and came at me, but it melted in her hands. She jumped and grabbed on to a tree branch, swung her legs, and kicked me in the chest, knocking me down again.
I seized her leg and yanked her to the ground. She scurried away from me as I got to my feet. I crouched, ready for her to come at me again. When she did, I took her full on and wrestled her to the ground. We rolled a few times and she ended up on top of me. She punched me in the jaw. I could taste blood in my mouth. Maybe it was the fear or the anger in me, but something inside me created a strong wind. The wind turned into a twister whirling around us.
Satine’s eyes grew wide as the twister came closer to us. She gripped my throat and said, “Make it stop.”
I smiled. I had no plans on making it stop even if it took both our lives. This needed to end. The twister inched closer again and she was just distracted enough for me to push her into the wind. She screamed as she flew up into the twister and then just as fast as it had appeared, it was gone.
I rested my head on the ground and took deep breaths.
“Rylie!” I heard my name being called and Kallan was by my side, kissing my face. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. The battle?”
“Over. What was left of Satine’s army fled when that tornado appeared.”
“Good. I’m just gonna lay here a minute.”
“Then I will too.”
Our bodies bruised and our clothes dirty, we lay next to each other. Most of the other faeries had taken off, probably standing in a line in front of Lena.
Kallan looked into my eyes and said, “I know this isn’t the most romantic way to do this, but I can’t let another moment pass. I love you, Rylie, and I want to be with you forever. Will you marry me?”
My heart leapt and my wings tried to flutter underneath me. “Yes.”
Chapter Nineteen
As soon as I felt like the world wasn’t spinning anymore, I got up and climbed on Abrax. “Hurry to Azura’s,” I told Kallan as he mounted his horse, Eton.
“I’ll race you!”
I laughed and clung to Abrax. “Let’s go home, boy.” Abrax took off toward Azura’s, landing just a second or two before Kallan’s. “Ha! Take that!” I jumped off.
“Oleander! You’re okay.” Azura ran to us.
I hugged her. “Did the alan make it here?”
“Yes. The stone is safe inside.”
I let out a sigh of relief and glanced around. There were faeries sitting all over the meadow. Lena and another healer were going around to each of them, healing them. “Wow…lot of injuries. How many died?”
“On our side, eight light and six dark if you include Olwydd. About twenty of Satine’s army,” Azura answered.
I looked away, my eyes filled with tears. I hated that so many had to lose their lives. All over this hatred between the two sides.
Once inside, Azura showed me the stone and surprisingly the alan was still there. “I stayed to make sure it got directly into your hands.”
I nodded at her. “Thank you.”
She nodded back. “You’re welcome.”
After Azura let the alan outside, she asked, “What do you think happened to Satine? Is she gone?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I won’t believe it until I see her body with my own eyes.”
“She didn’t seem like a quitter. She’ll be back,” Kallan added.
I examined the stone. It was dark, smooth on one side, jagged on the other, just like the light stone, which was hidden. “Kallan asked me to marry him,” I told Azura.
Azura’s face lit up. “I’m so happy!”
“You don’t know what my answer was.”
She looked at me and said, “Your eyes give it away.”
I looked at Kallan. “You sure you want to be stuck with me?”
“Absolutely.”
Azura was beaming. “This is wonderful! There are so many things to do. I must get busy.”
I laughed as she hurried away talking to herself.
I turned to Kallan. “We need
to wait until we take care of Satine. I can’t get married without Sierra and my parents.” I was scared out of my mind to have my loved ones here when she was probably still out there. I wanted to wait until the threat was resolved.
“I wouldn’t ask you to. We will get her soon.” A smile spread across his face. “So…um…how are you going to tell your parents?”
“They’re going to flip. I’m only seventeen.”
“Older than most girls that get married here.”
My fingers played with Kallan’s necklace still around my neck. “I know that and you know that, but they’re not going to understand.”
“I could force them—”
“Absolutely not!”
“Okay.” He put his hands up. “Just an option.”
There was a knock on the door. Kallan and I walked into the living room. Azura opened the door and the sagart stood there. “Come in,” Azura welcomed him.
“May I speak with your daughter?”
“Of course.” She moved aside, allowing him to enter.
“Oleander.”
“Good evening. What can I do for you?” I asked politely.
“I hear you were able to get both halves of the stone.”
“Yes. How do we join the stone? Just put it together?”
“No. It must be joined at dawn or dusk by a light and dark faery, in this case, you two.”
“Should we do it in the morning?”
He took both of our hands. “Am I right that you two will be getting married?”
Word traveled fast. “Yes.”
“I think you should have a sunrise wedding and we’ll join the stone then too. You two getting married will signify the unity of the dark and the light and the joining of the stone will signify the unity of the lands. Not tomorrow…” He looked up like he was deep in thought. “On the third sunrise. Until then, keep the stones well hidden.”