by JK Cooper
He coated his side of the portal with entropy magic that would disrupt molecular bonds, even though Theo wasn’t sure demons existed. Bedtime stories to scare young Fae halflings into subservience. He’d guarded this gate for a hundred years and had never seen a demon. “I’m bored. Do you think we could get Netflix down here?”
His companion guard grunted in annoyance. Alecsion had been born without a sense of humor and with an intense loyalty to the fairer half of his race. Despite being his twin brother, Alec was Theo’s opposite in every way, other than appearance.
Theo ran a finger over the pointed tip of one ear. Sometimes he wished he had qualified for the Changeling Program, but infants placed in human homes had to appear entirely human. Can’t glamour as a baby. My eyes and ears gave me away. With a thought, the point rounded, feeling human beneath his fingertip as the magic took hold, warm against his skin. He’d learned to control illusions when he was thirteen, two years before his brother.
Not that that means much. I’m still a halfling in a Fae world, stuck guarding a gateway we should have abandoned two centuries ago. “Hey, Alec, do you think there are any left over there? Or did we kill them all as they tried to come through one by one? Are we guarding what amounts to an empty hole?”
His twin stood at attention on the far side, a fuzzy mirror image of himself through the shimmering light. He didn’t answer, just stared intently ahead, focused on the endless mission.
“We’re like bookends or one weird sandwich, with a magical gateway to nowhere as the bologna in the middle.” Theo poked at the portal with the titanium tip of an arrow, setting off blood-red sparks. “There’s seriously some good things on Netflix right now, brother. What say you?”
But Alec didn’t get a chance to answer as a massive hand shot out of the portal to grasp Theo’s arrow. Instinct and decades of training kicked in.
Theo dropped the arrow, took a step back, pulled another arrow from his quiver, and sent it flying in one smooth motion. Titanium sunk through the middle of the hand. The first arrow clattered to the stone ground as the hand retreated behind the shimmering portal.
“Did you see that? My magic did nothing to stop it.”
Alec nodded, his own bow at the ready with an arrow nocked. “It will try again.”
Theo’s heart raced. “I don’t know. I think I taught it a less—”
But a twisted face forced its way through the portal on Alec’s side while three hands emerged on Theo’s, one still impaled by his arrow. More Fae arrows flew, the metal, wood, and fletching treated with magic to make them true and lethal. The arrowheads themselves were forged in the sentient fires of Mount Estorathi, giving the titanium an ability to intuit Theo’s will as he fired, but the bony black spines that dotted the thick crimson skin of the demons sent half of Theo’s arrows bouncing off the emerging arms like rocks skipping across water.
Through the fuzzy light of the portal, Theo could see Alec fared better. One small demon, the size of a well-fed cat, fell dead at his feet.
The face that followed would haunt Theo’s nightmares for as long as his half-immortal life would last. He took another step back and nocked another arrow, speaking the words he had been taught in the guttural tongue.
“Hesska thrughahuta nes tofkaa fesk net!” He’d been told it was a warning in the demon tongue to return to its own world or face death. Theo wasn’t sure if he’d pronounced it right or if the demon just didn’t care. It grinned with black teeth that oozed a green liquid and slid farther into Earth’s plane of existence, then stopped as three bulky shoulders nudged the edges of the portal, blocking Theo’s view of his brother.
Theo laughed and let his arrow dip. “You’re too fat. Did someone eat too much nasty green honey before trying to invade another dimension? Who’s a chubby wittle devil? You are!”
“Don’t taunt the demon,” Alec scolded him as more of his arrows whistled into the breach on his side.
“What? It’s not like it understands me.”
The demon growled a thunderous noise that shattered irreplaceable stalactites, pelting Theo with bits of stone.
“Sounds like it does,” Alec yelled.
Theo grimaced and began shooting arrows at the beast’s eyes, trying to end this while the creature remained trapped by its own girth. He learned the hard way that demon eyes are made of some kind of stone. His arrows chipped one, but the demon simply rolled the damage away to fix perfectly smooth smoldering black crystals on him once more.
“These things are tough.”
“And so many. I’m running out of arrows.”
“What?” Theo took a fraction of a second to glance below the portal. The view was blocked by half a dozen tiny red bodies. A swarm of demons. “I’ll come help. Mine’s still stuck.”
Alec grunted in agreement, which concerned Theo who had expected his twin to command him to remain at his post. He planned to ignore that command anyway, so he began sidestepping around the gate, an arrow trained on the fat demon.
The demon grinned again, put its three hands on the sparking edge of the portal, and pushed with a bellow that cracked more precious stone. The portal widened.
“Living fire!” Theo swore.
“Language.”
“Sorry, but my help will have to wait. You good?”
A positive grunt.
Theo slipped back around to his side of the Blood Gate as the demon forced its way into their world—rhino thick skin, black boney protrusions, impossible muscles, and all. He sent arrow after arrow into the same spot on the demon’s chest, hoping an actual heart was beating beneath its well-armored rib cage. Titanium bounced off with sparks, wood splintered, but a few slipped through.
The demon screamed.
Theo had to put his hands over his ears at the sound, the rumble shaking the floor and messing with his footing. He staggered to a wall, leaned against it, and managed to nock another arrow. He trained his aim on a hole that belched spurts of fire where his last arrow had found its way through.
“Please,” he whispered, sending his desires into the sentient arrowhead. When he could see nothing else but the target he desired, he let the arrow fly. Titanium slipped through flames. Something detonated inside the demon. Light burned through arteries and veins, illuminating crimson skin in streaks of orange. The monster collapsed, its head cracking the stone floor as it slammed onto the ground. Ugh, the stench the thing released as it died made him dry heave. Theo ran forward, collecting as many undamaged arrows as he could from the floor as he made his way around to the other side. For a brief moment, he wondered how he could sell this epic battle to Fortnite. It would make for a great season of the video game.
Alec waded in a nightmare of roiling bodies, some dying, some clawing their way over the corpses of the fallen. Claws, twisted faces, shredded black wings, and snarling tusks.
“Living fire! I thought mine was ugly.”
Alec chuckled, which wasn’t a great sign. He only did that when he was nervous or scared. Theo let loose a string of arrows as he eyed his twin. Orange blood mingled with the black and crimson viscera that clung to his body. He’s hurt.
Theo sprinted along the edge of demon bodies, putting an arrow through anything that moved. He jumped over a stack of demon corpses to land next to Alec.
Theo pulled one of his last arrows and sent it flying at the silver bell high above them. It chimed and a string of chimes followed throughout the tunnels of Underhill. “Help is on its way, Brother.”
Alec eyed the piles of demons. “I think . . .” His voice was weak. “I think that’s all of them.” His bow sagged, and he leaned into Theo, revealing the gash on his neck where one of the creatures had bitten through muscle, tendon, and major arteries. The veins had gone black around the wound.
Theo clutched his brother. “How are you still standing?”
Alec grunted. “Duty.” More orange blood pumped out at the movement of his vocal cords. He slumped.
Theo helped him lay down, resting h
is head on the bloated and deformed body of a demon. “Shhh, don’t talk.” He tore a strip of silken cloth from his sleeve and pushed it against the wound.
Alec’s eyes shot around violently. He coughed, splattering Theo with orange. His hand scrambled blindly for his bow. “Another. Duty.”
Theo looked up. Sure enough, one demon pushed its way out of a pile, injured but not dead. It dragged itself toward a wall where water dribbled down gray stone, streaking bubbled lumps of sparkling material. “I don’t care.”
“Duty.” Alec coughed again. His hand found an arrow, its fletching torn on one side. He lifted it to Theo.
Theo shook his head. “No. I’m not leaving you.”
Alec pressed the arrow into Theo’s hand. “Now.”
Theo swore as he let go of his brother, slid the notch in the arrow against string, and pulled. The bowstring felt taut against his cheek and nose as he sighted in the escaping demon. “You and your stupid duty.”
The arrow flew, but it curved to the left, bouncing off the stone curtain. The demon dodged right, its body vibrating as it lifted a talon to the wall. Theo cursed and found another arrow. In a flash, he poured his fury and will into the titanium forged arrowhead, nocked, pulled the string back until he heard the yew wood splinter slightly, and loosed the arrow. It flew true but slammed into the wall, lodging deep into the stone. Theo felt his forehead scrunch as he stared at where his target had only been seconds ago. The demon had vibrated through the stone to escape.
“Diffuser!” He gritted his teeth. “Fires, I should have known.” Theo’s hands shook as he lowered to his haunches, his sweaty head in the bloody palm of his hand. “I missed, Brother.”
But Alec didn’t answer, not even a grunt. Theo turned toward him, knowing what he would see before he saw it. His brother’s eyes stared where the demon had vanished, but they saw nothing. Alec was gone.
Theophinus walked on a lush carpet of hand-stitched gold and scarlet leaves beneath an impossibly ornate roof, the illuminated paintings nearly lost in shadows several hundred feet above the living molten lights embedded in delicate pillars that didn’t appear like they could support the air above them.
Theo always thought they resembled frozen spider silk or the finest lace. They even flowed and shifted in the gentle air currents of the room, but they also held the weight of an entire city, as the entropy that would have sent stone and earth crashing down, was shifted elsewhere. That’s how much of Fae magic worked, increasing or decreasing entropy, but it had a cost in reverse somewhere else in the world. Consequence, the bane of magic. Somewhere a bridge is eroding away faster than any engineer predicted, just to keep up our pretenses, Theo sneered the thought.
He took the last few steps toward the queen of Seely Court, letting the sneer turn into a smile. Even with the bonds on his wrists he could still manage some mischief. Theo lifted his hands to his face and pulled a thread on his forearm, releasing the tiny moths and butterflies that made up his formal silver and green slacks, crisp shirt, and jacket. At the same time, he sent a new glamour over his skin, enjoying the tingling warmth of his magic taking hold.
His outfit dissolved, sending a cloud of tiny insects into the crowd, while jeans and a t-shirt with a human expletive implied in the emoji graphics took its place. Those Fae who weren’t batting away butterflies gasped at the audacity of his attire, murmuring and swearing amongst themselves. He waved with his bound hands as the morning glory vines of his restraints kissed his wrists with soft, dewy, lazy petals.
I’ve never been all that popular anyway, especially with these snobs. Might as well give them what they expect. A ripple went through his last cloud of winged insects. The butterflies and moths lined up into a dazzling geometric pattern in the air, shimmering like a flag caught in sunlight. That didn’t last as long as I hoped.
Queen Silphinaera stood next to her crystalline throne atop its golden dais with one slender hand held out. Did her every pose have to appear so sickeningly graceful? The living butterfly banner floated to the ceiling, broke into smaller, well-ordered groups and flew off to distant corners.
The room fell silent at this small display of her power. At least a hundred of upper-crust Fae bowed slightly toward the dais in deference as their queen sat with an effortless grace few Fae could mimic, and even fewer humans. Theo did not bow. Instead, he created an eyebrow piercing and a facial tattoo of morning glories to match his shackles, adding these to the illusion coating his body, his glamour.
Each Fae family was represented by a flower. Every nobleman and noblewoman in the room had some form of that flower on or near their person. Intricately stitched flowers graced silken pennants that hung from silver poles held by servants. Expensive recreations of flowers done in rare gemstones hung from silver threads around thin necks. A few of the actual flowers were braided into hair.
Theo tried to make note of the last ones. He liked the elegant simplicity. Maybe they aren’t all snobs. One of those few was the queen herself, a morning glory peeking out of her hair above one pointed alabaster ear.
He placed a finger on his cheek, pulling down on the illusionary facial tattoo as he confronted the queen about the not-so-subtle use of their family flower as his handcuffs. “Is this really necessary?”
“Silence!” An officer of the court, a stiff elven woman in crisp fall colors sporting a sneezeweed on her collar, called him to order. She touched a bit of glass that dangled from her own wrist, and his bonds tightened.
The queen leaned forward on her crystalline throne as Will-o’-the-Wisps danced around her. She was a perfect nymph, all angular beauty, flawless skin, and green eyes two times larger than any human. She blinked at him. “You allowed a demon entry into this world when it was your duty to prevent just such occurrences.”
All the rebellious bravado drained from Theo. “My brother was injured. I had to help him.”
She nodded, a hint of loss in her eyes. “Was it your duty to help him?”
Fae rarely sweat, but the back of Theo’s neck prickled with the idea of it. Fae were all about rules, even if the rules made no sense. “No.”
“Did tending to his wounds aid in dispelling any demons?”
“No.”
“Did he die anyway?”
Theo swallowed. “Yes.”
“So, you neglected your duties to attempt something fruitless that put the world in danger?”
Theo swallowed his budding anger. “Yes.”
“What do you have to say for your defense?”
“It was a small demon. And injured.”
One edge of her lips quirked up, but one of her sons was dead. It wasn’t the time for jokes.
Theo apologized. “Forgive me the levity. It is how I handle grief.”
She waved a hand. “Forgiven.” But she locked a hard look on him. “For the levity only, mind you. Show us your crime.” One of her wisps floated toward him, the fuzzy blue light hovering in front of his face with inhuman patience, a fragment of sentient fire from a world long lost.
He had feared she might do this, make him relive it. He resisted.
The officer touched the glass charm at her wrist again, without a verbal warning this time. The morning glory vines sprouted thorns as they tightened, magically enhanced to sear Fae skin.
Theo grunted, gave the woman from Sneezeweed a glare, and took hold of the wisp, grasping it between his bound hands and pulling it close like one would a lover before a kiss. He whispered the words that would give it access to his memories and let go. The room exploded in a flash of dazzling light.
The wisp played out the scene for all to see, projecting the cavern and all that transpired there into the air above their heads. Theo didn’t watch, just listened to the court’s reactions, gasping at his disrespect of the portal. Gasping louder when the demons appeared. Gasping loudest when he said he did not care about the escaping demon.
There was silence as the wisp drew back in the display and hovered to the queen’s side. Theo hung his he
ad in resignation.
The queen took a long breath before she continued. “Your crimes are many. Do you really not care about your duties or our laws?”
Theo lifted his bound hands and rubbed between his eyes with one. “Well . . . I do care most of the time, even though you change the laws often to integrate human vices or to suit your mood.”
She nodded, a hint of pride in her eyes at his understanding of the law. “And have I changed these laws? Have I altered your duties?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter.” Again gasps. “I’d do it again.” Theo tried hard not to roll his eyes as more gasps rolled through the crowd. This is why I spend all my free time in the human world. The Fae are so over-the-top. But he had to spend part of his life in Underhill, serving his duty guarding the gate and renewing his mark. All Fae had a birthmark in the shape of their house flower that faded each day away from their homeland on Earth. They had to touch Underhill soil or risk unpleasant consequences. Nothing like a little madness, physical deformities, and pain to keep your subjects in line. “My brother deserved someone with him in the end.”
“So, you admit your neglect?” The queen’s question sounded sad.
He shrugged. “I guess so. What will the punishment be this time, Mom?”
The officer shoved a silverwood staff into his gut. “There is no familiarity in the court!”
Theo fell to his knees as the wind rushed out of him. What did I ever do to the Sneezeweeds?
“You are only half Fae, so the punishment will be half as strict.” The queen cocked her head to the side in an unnatural way. “Banishment.”
Theo gasped with the rest of the court this time as he staggered back to his feet. That was not a normal punishment for any crime. “You call that half as strict?”
She gave a single, slow nod. “It is death to neglect duty. You know this. Did you think my blood in your veins could prevent that?”
Theo shook his head, even though he had thought exactly that. The Fae hadn’t put anyone to death in his lifetime.