by A W Hartoin
I turned to the huge fairies. “Save them, you fools!”
The big idiots actually obeyed. I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t have listened to me. The one with Iris shoved her away and unsheathed his sword. They dove toward the battle, disappearing into the melee before I could blink. I mouthed to Iris. Find Lrag and Bentha. She dashed away toward the tourist entrance. With any luck, she’d find Marie and company quickly.
Back on the wall, the phalanx had all popped up and were shouting at each other, including Camille. I stared at them for a second. What the heck! They looked so confused. Everyone shouted conflicting orders. That’s right. No one’s in charge. One of them actually called for vote. You don’t vote during a battle. At this rate, I’d never get Camille alone.
“Shut up!” I screamed.
Every single face stopped and looked at me.
That’s right. Listen to your prisoner. You morons.
“Take off your shells!”
They did, but held them as shields instead of weapons. I slapped my forehead.
“Sharp side out!”
They flipped over their shells and looked at me. That’s when it dawned on me. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t realize it earlier. These phalanx were completely untrained. They wanted a revolution, but they had no clue how to fight it.
“Those are your people! Form your diamond and save them!”
That got them moving. They charged down the wall and hit the ground at a full-out run. Unfortunately, Camille was right at the center. I flew above him, wishing I could wipe him out with a well-placed fireball, but everyone could see. Camille looked up and saw me above him. He smiled and then the smile changed to an openmouthed gasp. I rolled in the air. Above us was a formation of the king’s guard in a battle V, clubs raised, and in a nosedive straight for us. I didn’t hear them. Damn my stupid ears!
“Shields!” I screamed.
The phalanx flipped their shells over and I darted under one just as its owner got it into place. The guards hit in quick succession, one after another, driving the phalanx to their knees. One particularly hard hit knocked a shell into my temple, slitting it open. I lost my balance on my good foot and put all my weight on my bad one. I fell to the ground with a scream of pain. Camille looked down at me in the dim light under the shells.
“What now?”
The hits on the diamond stopped. I had to make a decision.
“They’re coming around for another strike.” I pushed Camille back and looked up between two shells. The guards had reformed and were starting another dive.
“Stay in diamond! When I say, flip your shells! Flip them fast and shove them up!” I screamed.
The guards were completely in their V.
“Now?” yelled Camille.
“Wait!”
They arrowed down and their edges became blurred.
“Now?” The whole of the phalanx was screaming.
“Three, two, one. Now! Up!”
They flipped, maybe not as smoothly as the commander’s troops would’ve, but their sharp sides were up and much higher when the guards hit. They couldn’t correct fast enough at such speed. They hit the razor edges and were cut to pieces. Instead of the tremendous blows on the shields, bodies hit them. Sprays of blood made it through the gaps in the formation and the phalanx slipped, falling to their knees under the crush.
“Scatter!” I pushed at Camille’s shell. His eyes were unfocused. “Camille!”
His eyes snapped to meet mine.
“Push!”
Together we pushed his shell up and to the side. A body tumbled off and fell at my feet. Covered with a thousand cuts, I doubt his mother would’ve recognized him. Camille popped on his shell and pulled out a dagger. We looked up. Above us brown-winged fairies engaged more guards. None of them noticed us. The phalanx emerged from under their shells and ran in all directions.
“Marionnettiste!” screamed Camille.
I don’t know if any of the phalanx heard him. The battle was raging. I’d been in battles before, but none like that. Combatants were everywhere, air and ground. They fought on the pastry cart and the tops of humans shoes. The revolutionaries had the numbers, but one glance told me they were on the losing end. Most of them had only small daggers or twigs they found on the ground. The guards were decimating them and they didn’t discriminate. A female troll ran through the crowd, jumping over bodies. She had a baby in one arm and was dragging a small boy behind her. A trio of guards were overwhelming what had to be her husband. They beat him down into the concrete. Another trio circled around and headed her off. One struck a glancing blow to her head and knocked her to her knees. She got up and kept running, but they were faster.
“Camille!” I screamed as I blasted past him. Sparks erupted under my hands and wrapped around my sword grip. I couldn’t stop them.
A guard saw my fire just as I beheaded him. He looked so shocked as his head tumbled from his shoulders. For a split second I wondered if it was the shock of being killed by a fourteen-year-old girl or the flames snaking up my blade. No matter. Another faced me. I stood in front of the family, my sword ready. I couldn’t stop the flames. Everyone would know. He charged me, but before our weapons met Camille was there. He sliced the guard and overwhelmed him. Another spray of blood hit me. I slipped and fell in a pool of the sticky stuff. Liquid. It didn’t matter what kind. It was wet. I dropped my sword and plunged my flaming hands into the pool. My flames extinguished in a flash. Camille turned back to me.
“Get your sword!” he yelled.
I grabbed it and spun around. The troll was standing there staring with her mouth open. She wasn’t looking at me exactly or not me. She saw everything all at once and it was too much. She’d done as much as she was capable.
I darted to her and snatched up her boy. “You have to get out of here!”
She didn’t understand me and I couldn’t remember a single word of the French that Tess and I had learned. I pointed to a break in the mob. She didn’t move. I seized her free hand and tried to drag her away, but my hand was too slick with blood. I couldn’t get a grip. I flew around behind her and pushed. She took a step. Camille screamed something at her and then she ran through the opening. I passed over her head and dropped down ahead of her. I slashed at anyone who got in our way. I don’t know who they were. I didn’t care. She was getting out, even if no one else did. I was dimly aware that my thrusts weren’t terribly effective and Bentha wouldn’t have been happy if he’d seen my clumsy efforts. But it was good enough. We made it to a stand of trees beyond the battlefield. I stopped and shoved the boy at her. The baby was screaming. I couldn’t hear the battle behind her, but I could hear that baby and it would stay with me no matter how many times I tried to banish the memory.
“Run!” I yelled at her. “Run and don’t stop!”
This time she understood or maybe not. But she ran and disappeared into the foliage. I flew back to the male troll. He was dead. New fighters were stepping on him and sliding in the red pool that surrounded his body. I spun around. I had to keep fighting or Camille might kill Iris. But all the women and children were gone. I’d have to pick a side, not just defend the defenseless. I looked for a target. Picking a side would be harder than I thought. The battle was all mixed up. The guards weren’t the only ones fighting with the red caps. There were other fairies now and they were attacking the revolutionaries. Fairies with golden feathers in their hair attacked the guards. Who the heck were they?
Iris darted in front of me. “Matilda!”
“Get away! You’ll get hurt!”
“Where’s Camille?”
I didn’t know where he was, but he was alive. The red line still glowed brightly on Iris’s neck and it made me feel sicker than all the carnage below my feet.
“I don’t know. Find Lrag and Bentha.”
“I did!”
She pointed to the cathedral steps. Lrag and Bentha were plowing their way through the battle. Behind them, Marie, Tess, and Judd stood wa
tching the fighting. Judd saw me first. He jumped off the stairs before Marie could stop him, and charged into the fray. He kicked fairies out of the way, but I think he stepped on a few.
“Where is he, Matilda?” Judd yelled, batting away a guard that tried to slash his face.
“I don’t know.”
Judd bent over and began searching.
“Go to Marie, Iris!” I yelled.
“No. I’m staying with you.”
I couldn’t make her go and I couldn’t afford to wait. I engaged a guard and drove him into a fairy with a gold feather, who attacked him with a scythe. I turned away from them and flew through the crowd with Iris right behind me. Where was Camille? If he reformed with the other phalanx, I’d never get him alone.
Iris tugged on my foot. “Look.”
At the edge of the concrete were hundreds of royal guards in three rows, but this time they were armed with bows and arrows. The first row notched an arrow and pointed it into the battle, each taking aim. Lrag and Bentha were in there. I cornered and put on every ounce of speed I had. It wasn’t enough. The guard loosed their arrows. They zinged through the crowd, swerving and going around guards the way arrows aren’t supposed to. They only hit revolutionaries and dropped them where they stood. Two hit Lrag, both in his beefy shoulder, and one hit Bentha. It struck him in the chest and knocked him three steps back. He looked down at the thing and then sank to his knees beside Lrag. The guard who he’d been fighting raised his sword for a death blow and Lrag punched him in the face, knocking his head clean off. Lrag turned to the archers. His sides rippled and bellowed out. He became almost round like a child’s red rubber ball. Then he opened his mouth and shock waves came out. Visible ones that cut a swath towards the archers and me and Iris.
CHAPTER NINE
I SPUN AROUND and grabbed Iris. We shot straight up, but not quite fast enough. The shock hit our legs and we tumbled through the air, head over heels. I collided with Iris and took a foot to the head as I spun past her. My wings went as wide as I stopped just short of hitting a tree branch, directly above the archers. Their neat rows were gone and they stumbled around, clutching their ears with thin lines of blood running down their arms.
Iris hovered over the concrete above at least a hundred fairies from both sides. All of them screamed and held their bloody ears.
“Iris!” I yelled.
She didn’t respond and I darted over.
“Are you okay?”
Iris kept looking down. She rubbed her ears, but there wasn’t any blood. I flew in front of her and waved. She jerked back, startled.
“What happened?” Her mouth opened wide with the question as if she were shouting.
“Lrag burst their eardrums. It’s supposed to be one of his gifts, but I’ve never seen him do it before,” I said.
Iris cupped a hand behind her ear. “What? I can barely hear you.”
The main blast had missed us, but Iris got her ears pummeled anyway. That was just great. Mom was going to kill me. That Lrag. If you can’t focus your power, you shouldn’t use it. A electric zing went through me.
“We have to get back to Lrag and Bentha!” I yelled at Iris.
“What?”
I threw my hands up and looked at the spot where Lrag and Bentha had been hit. They weren’t there anymore. Those fairies that hadn’t been hit by Lrag’s blast were picking through the wounded and helping them away. I expected the guards to make arrests, but they’d tossed away their clubs and swords and were ripping up their white uniforms for bandages. Lrag knew how to end a massacre.
“Do you see Marie?” I asked Iris with a yell.
She stared at me and shrugged.
Fantastic. We were quite a pair. Neither of us hearing and Iris couldn’t even read lips. How could I make her understand? We had to find Lrag and Bentha. I held up my hand and then motioned to the two of us. I made my body ramrod straight and acted like I was unsheathing a sword. I waggled my eyebrows and assumed a rakish expression.
“Bentha!” Iris screamed. “Where are they?”
Yes!
I put my hand over my eyes and scanned the wounded. They weren’t there. Iris flew in front of my face and pointed. Judd waved frantically by the pastry cart. His face was bright red. He’d been yelling like crazy at us. The nearby human had backed away from him. A couple of them were on cell phones, probably describing him to the police. Iris and I careened over. Our balance was all off. I could barely stay level and flying in a straight line wasn’t going to happen.
When we finally reached Judd, he had his head cocked to the side and eyed us like we were covered in snot.
“What happened to you guys?” he asked.
“Lrag got us in the overspray. Our ears are all funky.”
“Your ears are always funky.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” I said with a sneer. “Where are Lrag and Bentha?”
“I don’t know, but here are some phalanx under the cart. Show me which one is Camille. I’ll squash him.”
“Later. Lrag and Bentha are hit.”
“With what?”
“Arrows, you dufus.”
Judd peered at the wounded dragging themselves off the battlefield. “Is that what those are? They’re so tiny.”
“Not to us, they’re not. Bentha was hit in the chest.”
“I bet Miss Marie got them. She doesn’t miss anything.” He went up on his toes and looked at the human crowd that stared back at him uneasily.
“You better tone it down,” I said. “The humans think you’re crazy.”
“I don’t care. This is an emergency.”
“You better care.” I pointed over his shoulder at a pair of police officers in black uniforms, walking past some tourists and scanning the crowd.
“Oh crap!” Judd glanced around for an escape route, but then did the last thing I expected. He hoisted himself up on the wheel of the pastry cart, putting himself in full view of the cops, and shouted, “Miss Marie, where are you?”
The cops spotted him. “Arrêtez!”
“Judd!” I yelled.
“I got her.” Judd jumped to the pavement and sprinted into the crowd. Iris and I followed, bumping into humans and each other.
Marie stood with Tess on the other side of the queue to get into the cathedral. Tess looked up from her cupped hands when we reached her. She had tears in her eyes.
“They’re chasing me, Miss Marie,” said Judd, breathless.
“Who?” Marie’s eyes went all dangerous. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she pulled a pistol out of her purse. She looked that nutty.
“The cops.”
“I’ll handle them.” She pointed to Tess. “Go over to that bench and look normal. Matilda, help Lrag and Bentha. Judd, you’re with me. You’re not normal. You’re diagnosed with something that makes you talk to yourself. Look the part.”
The cops squeezed through the queue and headed over with their hands on their nightsticks.
Judd crossed his arms. “I don’t want to look crazy.”
“Too late. Just go with it,” I said.
Marie and Judd went to meet the cops halfway. Iris and I followed Tess to a bench under a tree. She sat there with her hands spread in her lap. “Hurry,” she whispered.
I landed on her thumb and ran down onto her palm. Bentha lay in the center with his eyes closed. Lrag knelt beside him. One of the arrows in his shoulder dangled by the tip, but the other was planted deep in his thick flesh.
“How bad is it?” I asked, dropping to my knees.
“You tell me,” said Lrag.
I placed my hand on Bentha’s chest next to the arrow. His heart beat strong. Too strong and with an odd rhythm. It sounded slow to me, but since he was unwinged I assumed that was okay. There wasn’t a tremendous amount of blood. Internal bleeding? I didn’t know. Grandma Vi died before she taught me anything about war wounds, if she even intended to teach me about them at all. Arrows definitely weren’t in the quick reference between aphid ankl
e and barking lice. I took Bentha’s wrist and took his pulse.
Iris landed across from me. “What’ll we do?”
Lrag winced. “Why are you yelling?
“What?” she asked.
“You got her in your blast, you big meathead. What were you thinking?” I punched his thigh.
“I had to wipe out those archers. I assumed you were fast enough to get away.”
“Well, we weren’t.”
Tess bent lower and her hair fell in great curtains around us. It smelled lovely, but I couldn’t see a thing.
“Light, Tess,” I said.
“Sorry. Is he alright?”
“He’s breathing and his pulse is good. But there’s no blood. I don’t know what to think about that.”
“Where’s the blood?” yelled Iris.
Bentha’s eye opened at Iris’s shout and then popped shut again. The big faker. Lrag tapped me on the head with his horn and winked. He’d seen it, too.
“Well,” I said loudly. “There’s nothing for it, but to operate right here. I’ll just have to wrench this arrow right out of his chest. It would be nice if I had sterile instruments, but, oh well, he’s probably dying anyway.” I wrapped my hands around the shaft of the arrow. Bentha’s eyes began to open dramatically. Could they open any other way?
“Look! He’s awake! Bentha, I love you. Please be okay,” yelled Iris.
Eyes fully open, he said, “I, Bentha, shall recover. Do not worry yourselves, my ladies.”
Iris kissed his hand and I glared.
“I’m not worried. I’m mad. How could you let us think you were unconscious?”
“I was unconscious and now I am not. That is the way of the ponderosa.” A smile bent the painted bark around his mouth.
“Where is the blood?” asked Tess.
“Ponderosa aren’t much for bleeding. You have to pierce more than one heart for that,” said Bentha.
I leaned back and looked at his narrow chest. Grandma never mentioned multiple hearts in any creature. I’m sure I would’ve remembered that.
“How many hearts have you got?” I asked.