A Blade So Black

by L. L. McKinney

  Alice tightened her grip on the wheel. Famous last words.

  Twenty-Eight

  EYES OF FLAME

  A nearby football field was the only readily available place they could go that was open enough to face the Black Knight. It would be empty and out of the way. But Alice’s stomach still tied itself in knots as they circled the block to park. Not because of what was going to happen, but because it was where Brionne had been shot. Small gatherings of flowers, stuffed animals, and crosses dotted the parking lot, positioned around a larger vigil where she had probably died.

  Taking a deep breath, Alice fastened the decoy Eye around her neck and dropped it down into her shirt.

  “You ready, milady?” Hatta downed his second stamina potion, the sky pinkening outside the window behind him.

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  The three of them made their way along the grassy stretch lining the outside of the field. The sun’s light poured across the sky, a streaked mix of pale blues and peaches.

  Right on time … I hope.

  Alice led the way into the tunnel from the backfield onto the main yardage. Their steps echoed in the shadows. When they emerged, the stadium rose around them. She’d never been on the football field before, always relegated to sit in the stands with the rest of the cheerers. From down here, the place was enormous, stretching out like a great behemoth of brick, ready to swallow them whole. The space was both freeing and oddly claustrophobic, with no way out except the tunnel at their back, or a similar one directly across from them.

  A quiet tension settled over the trio as they came to a stop at the fifty-yard line. Minutes ticked into eternity as they waited, fingers flexing around various hilts, heads on the swivel.

  Xelon cleared her throat. “Are we in the right place?”

  “There is no right place,” Alice explained. “Not really. He just said have the Eye ready at sunrise, and he’d find me.” A cliché bad-guy line if she’d ever heard one.

  “So I did.” The voice came from the south, and everyone spun to find the Black Knight hovering in the air, arms folded across his chest. “And so I have.” His head tilted to the side. “Didn’t expect you to bring friends, kitten.”

  “Don’t call me kitten. We brought the Eye.” She pressed a hand over the chain where it rested cool and concealed against her skin. “Where’s Chess?”

  “We’ll get to that in a minute. First things first.” He waved her off, his head angling around in a manner that indicated his attention had shifted to Hatta. “I suppose I should’ve expected you, but I’ll admit I didn’t. Still, I’m glad you’re here. I need your help.” He swung around to face away from them, his arms out to the sides. “What do you think?” He faced forward again. “Not as pointy or cape-y as your original getup, but still a good look.”

  “Who are you?” Hatta growled, his expression calm, almost serene, but the menace in his tone was downright lethal.

  The Black Knight snorted and set his hands on his hips. “She didn’t tell you?” He looked to Alice. “I luv ya, hun, but you suck at this.”

  “I know who you claim to be, but that’s not what I asked.” Hatta’s fingers flexed at his sides.

  “Is it childish to say that’s for me to know and you to find out?” The Black Knight tapped the chin of his helmet.

  “Enough.” Alice stepped forward, clutching the chain. “We had a deal. I brought it. Let go of Chess. Now.”

  The Black Knight shook his head. “Y’know, if take-charge girls didn’t drive me wild, I’d be kind of offended right now. Relax, kitten, the stiff’s fine.” He snapped his fingers.

  With a whooshing rush of sound the immediate area behind the Black Knight shimmered like the street on a hot day. Two Fiends emerged on either side of him, one of them dragging an unconscious Chess by the back of his collar.

  Alice’s chest tightened at the sight of him. Blood crusted the side of his face. He hung limp, bound and gagged, his clothes stained black and torn in places. He was pale, near white, except for a stretch of blackened skin visible from his chest to his neck. His left arm was twisted behind his back, though she could see through tears in his shirt that it was black as well. He was changing.

  “Chess.” She started forward, but Xelon gripped her arm, shaking her head.

  Fear and panic warred for dominance within Alice, but rising anger won out. She glared at the Black Knight, her hands going to her sword.

  The Black Knight extended his hand. “All right, I showed you mine.”

  Every muscle in Alice’s body tightened. This was it. She started forward, slowly lifting her hand to slip into the collar of her shirt and around the chain. She yanked. The chain snapped against the back of her neck. When the Black Knight curled his fingers expectantly, she pressed the decoy into his palm, hers still covering it.

  “You’ll pay for this,” she hissed between clenched teeth, eyes fixed on his helmet, hoping he could feel the burn in her glare through it.

  The Black Knight tugged his hand away. “Promises, promises.” He opened his fingers to inspect his palm. His head jerked back slightly as a Time Turner came into view. “What is—”

  Alice’s foot slammed into that bastard’s chest with a scream that rose from the soles of her feet. She’d reared back and poured into it every ounce of anger, of pain, of frustration for what he’d turned her life into, for how he’d tortured those close to her. It all burned through her in an instant, and she loosed it against him.

  With a sound like a wounded animal, the Black Knight flew backward. He tumbled, rolling out of his fall into a crouch, but Hatta was already on top of him. He barreled into the Black Knight with a sound like metallic thunder, driving him back with a spray of dirt and AstroTurf.

  The Fiends were distracted by their master’s peril, and Alice yanked her sword free and raked it across the muzzle clamped onto Chess’s shirt. The monster yowled and pulled away, dropping its captive. Alice knelt at his side, fingers going to his neck, her heart frantic as she searched for his pulse.

  “Is he?” Xelon asked as she stood over them, her sword drawn.

  Alice couldn’t answer, she wasn’t sure, and that uncertainty washed cold through her. “I—I…” Then she felt it, the weak jump beneath her searching fingers. Again, and again, present but fluttery. “He’s alive!” she shouted, relief flooding her. “He’s alive.”

  Xelon shifted her stance to keep herself between Alice and Chess and the Fiends pacing nearby. The beasts seemed less than keen on attacking for some reason, their lips curled, fangs bared in snarls.

  Nearby, Hatta and the Black Knight dueled. Alice had never seen Hatta fight like this, twisting with the flow of his sword, executing strikes and parries with speed and agility. The Black Knight met his attack with equal fervor, the two exchanging bone-jarring blows. The clash of their blades erupted in shrieks of metal and white and black sparks. Wherever they fell, the ground burned black, scorched. Hatta was a force to be reckoned with, but he couldn’t keep this up forever.

  “We have to get Chess out of here,” Alice said. Then Hatta could pull back.

  “That’s going to be easier said than done.” Xelon’s head whipped back and forth as the Fiends split to circle the three of them.

  Alice stood and placed herself between the unconscious Chess and the beasts. Breathing deep, she reached for the energy that filled her the last time, that enabled her to drive them off.

  Nothing.

  Of course nothing. Why would some special ability surface when she needed it most? The Fiends drew closer. Chess groaned behind her, the sound garbled. Alice’s heart filled her throat.

  One Fiend darted forward. Xelon struck it from the side, earning a pained yowl. Alice focused on the monster pacing toward her, the wound on the side of its face oozing black blood. Chess shifted behind her. She wanted to check on him—it sounded like he was in pain—but the Fiend came first. Squaring her feet, she dove.

  The creature pulled wide, but she was ready to fol
low, twisting and swiping, narrowly missing catching it along the flanks. It bounded around, lashing out with wicked claws that caught her forearm.

  Pain lanced clear up to her shoulder, and she cried out. She tucked her arm behind her, backing away a few steps and chancing a glance at the wound. The leather arm guards beneath her sleeves had absorbed most of the damage, but her torn skin bled freely. It could have been so much worse. She’d have to thank the Tweedles for the loan.

  The Fiend came at her again, though a plated foot slammed into its head and sent it tumbling. Xelon spun to parry another glancing blow from claws. “Your friend!” she shouted.

  Alice’s eyes shot to Chess, who’d regained consciousness and rolled onto his side, trying to get up.

  “I’ll hold them.” Xelon dodged another lunge. “Get him out!”

  She didn’t want to leave the knight to fight alone, but she raced to Chess’s side, dropping next to him. “I’m sorry.” She sliced the binds at his ankles, then his wrists, and yanked the gag free, tossing it aside. “Come on, I’m getting you out of here.”

  Behind her, Xelon roared as she drove the monsters back. They howled in pain as her sword found flesh.

  “Alice,” Chess wheezed. Red stained his lips and ran from the corners of his mouth. It soaked the gag and spread over most of his shirt, near invisible in the black material.

  “Shh, don’t speak. I’ve got you.” Her entire face was on fire, her eyes burning, her vision blurry. Alice tried to ignore the coppery scent, the feel of wet warmth slick on her hands. Chess clutched at her, his fingers fumbling for purchase. His entire body shook. “Here we go.” She shifted closer, caught him under his arm and hauled him up into a seated position. He screamed. The sound shot straight to her gut. “Oh my god!” The words faltered around a sob as he fell back into her arms, his hand at his side.

  His teeth clenched around a groan. “Side, on fire!”

  “O-okay, okay, let me see.” She pulled his shirt back to reveal the tears in his side, split and bleeding out. Red smeared the ground beneath him. She was almost sick with disbelief that she hadn’t noticed this before. Oh no. Oh please, no. “I-it’ll be okay.” The words fell out of her mouth. Lies. “I’ll get you help, you’ll be okay.” She fumbled through the pouches on her belt. Between the blood and her shaking hands, she could barely hold on to the few vials she had.

  Chess writhed against the ground, his eyelids fluttering. His chest heaved with wet, choppy sounds rising at the back of his throat.

  “Damn it!” Alice reached for a dropped potion, and his hand fell over hers, slick and sticky.

  With deep, shaky breaths, he forced a word free. “L-love.” His grip went slack. His fingers slipped through hers. He sank against the ground, his red-smeared face no longer contorted with pain or effort.

  No. “Chess?” She shook him. “Chess!”

  His eyes stared past her, unfocused, lost.

  He wasn’t …

  He couldn’t …

  Alice clapped a hand over her mouth. Her insides frothed up. She screamed. Her entire body rocked with it, quaking till she felt like she’d come apart.

  He did this, something inside her hissed. Red-hot fury exploded in her chest. She straightened from where she’d curled over her friend, her face slick with tears and blood. He did this!

  She whirled, eyes moving over the field. Xelon battled the Fiends, more ducking and dodging than anything else as they attacked while retreating. Hatta and the Black Knight twisted around each other, the tarnished ground writhing beneath their feet.

  The Black Knight deflected a blow, flinging Hatta over his shoulder and away. The knight moved as if to go after him, but jerked to a stop and twisted around to face Alice. With his helmet on, there was no way she could see it, but she knew the instant their eyes met.

  Her teeth ground together. You … She surged to her feet.

  Hatta had regained his, moving in to attack the Black Knight’s open back, but it was too late.

  In one fluid motion, the Black Knight gripped his Vorpal Blade in both hands and plunged it into the bubbling ground. The earth split with a shriek that burrowed into Alice’s bones. The ground quaked as liquid black rocketed into the air like a geyser. Some of it rained down, but most of it spread overhead, arching out until darkness domed the entire area, leaving everything gray, as if a filter had passed over the world. Alice squinted, her head whipping back and forth as she searched the field for any sign of the Black Knight. Nothing.

  He was gone.

  The geyser screamed, Alice’s ears ringing with it. The black was everywhere, coating everything. It oozed across the field, giving the impression the ground was alive. Mounds of it seeped together, writhing, thrashing, congealing into at least a dozen half-formed Nightmares. Instead of attacking, the blobs of appendages, tentacles, and torsos crawled, hobbled, limped, or lobbed their way across the field. Toward her.

  “Alice!” Xelon raced up, her face red with effort, her sword and some of her armor covered in ichor. “The Fiends have retreated. I don’t know to where or for how long, but we can’t…” She trailed off as her gaze played over Chess.

  Alice didn’t move. Didn’t speak.

  Xelon’s mouth snapped shut, and she took Alice’s arm. “We have to get out of here.”

  “I’m not leaving him.”

  The ground shuddered beneath Alice’s feet. It pitched and rolled, tossing her over. Xelon dropped beside her, shouting something in what sounded like Korean.

  Across the field, Hatta yelled for them to run.

  The half-formed Nightmares were nearly on top of them.

  “Come on!” Xelon sheathed her sword and got her arms around Alice, hauling her up and away from Chess.

  Alice twisted and pulled, kicking to break free. “No! No, we can’t! They’ll get him!”

  “He’s gone, Alice. I’m sor—”

  Alice drove her elbow up into Xelon’s face. Xelon shouted, releasing her hold, her hands going to her mouth. Alice was free, and she threw herself toward Chess just as the Nightmare blobs flung themselves on top of him.

  “Chess!”

  The quaking beneath her feet intensified. The blobs kept coming, piling on top of one another, their growing mass rocking back and forth. The whole of it twisted with a low rumble.

  Not a rumble, a roar.

  The mass swelled before one side erupted outward. A hand the size of a compact car slammed into the ground, just shy of squashing Hatta flat. Huge fingers dug grooves into the earth. Hatta scrambled to his feet as the sludge continued to take shape, the torso of a man, legs of a goat. Black, leathery wings spread from its shoulders, tendrils of ooze clinging to spindly joints or glopping to the ground. It swung its snakelike tail and threw back what became its head, pointed like a dragon, rows of jagged teeth bared. Two horns twisted upward from its head. It gave another bellowing roar, its forked tongue lashing.

  The feeling of lightning shot through her left arm, searing the nerves. The flames of the Nightmare’s eyes struck with life, red fire burning. That same fire erupted from its mouth with a crackle of embers and the rotten stench of sulfur and decay. She’d smelled it only once before.

  At Ahoon.

  Twenty-Nine

  CLAWS THAT CATCH

  Alice crouched, frozen as tremors twisted through her. This couldn’t be happening. She was dreaming, she had to be, even though her body ached, her head and chest pounded, and her nerves screamed as her muscles tightened.

  The Nightmare stomped its hoofed feet and lifted its arms, getting a feel for its newly formed body, bigger than the one she’d faced in the village.

  Crossing the Veil makes them more powerful. The thought struck her like a slap. So stupid, coming here, where Brionne had …

  So much fear, so much sadness.

  My fault.

  Pitch oozed off it like embryonic fluid. Its wings shuddered as it snorted a cloud of ash before fixing flaming eyes on Alice. All feeling left her body.


  She screamed.

  With a rumbling chuckle it stomped toward her, shaking the ground with each step. She scrambled backward in a frantic crab-walk before pitching herself over and clambering to her feet. She ran, with everything she had, she ran.

  The ground cracked under its hooves. The air snapped with heat when it roared, just like last time. Flashes of the encounter tore through her mind. The pain of talons tearing at her skin, of breath hot and foul in her face. The pressure of a hoof against her chest, pushing until she felt her whole body might cave in. If the Tweedles hadn’t been there …

  But this time she was alone.

  Until a familiar voice reminded her she wasn’t.

  “Here!” Hatta shouted. There was a sound like cloth ripping, and the Nightmare howled in rage and pain.

  Alice stumbled to a stop and glanced back. Hatta, sword in hand, evaded the monster’s claws as he cut into its calves.

  Xelon dove around and between its legs, slicing at the beast while dodging claws.

  It roared, swiping faster and faster, gaining more control of its huge limbs. It stomped, trying to catch them under its hooves. They were quick enough to avoid it so far, but they were battle worn, growing weary. Claws glanced off Xelon’s armored shoulder, but she still cried out in pain.

  Hatta drove his sword into its side. The massive Nightmare snarled and backhanded him away. Hatta flew through the air, then hit the ground hard enough to send dirt and grass spewing. He tumbled to a stop and was still. Alice screamed his name and started for him.

  The creature turned toward her, and she froze. Her entire body locked up, trembling.

  Pools of fire where its eyes should be fixed on her from across the field. It took one rumbling step toward her, then stopped. The flames in its gaze dimmed. The snarl on its lips died away as it stared at her. The orange burn cooled to white, then vanished altogether. It watched her with huge, violet eyes.

  “Al … ice…” The monster choked on her name, more a growl than a word, but she’d heard it. Her heart pounded against the inside of her chest.

  “Chess,” she whispered.