Secrets of the Deep

by E. G. Foley

  “Oh, have another one,” she urged, holding the tray up. “You can save it for later if you like.”

  He smiled at her warmly and accepted. He had always rather related to Dani O’Dell. Their situations here were not that different. Both of them were lowborn, and both had developed stronger involvements than expected with the people they were supposedly here to serve.

  “Pretty boring, huh?” Dani said.

  “Very,” Maddox agreed.

  “Well, that’s probably for the best. See you in another hour.”

  As Dani turned and started to walk away, Maddox was filled with a sudden sense of urgency.

  “Um, Dani?” he said abruptly, almost taking himself by surprise. Don’t be an arse, he warned himself, but it was useless.

  She stopped and turned around with a dimpled smile. “Change your mind about the coffee? It is good–just ask Archie.”

  “Nah, it can make your hands shake. Not good for a sniper. I just…er, could I ask you something?” he inquired with just a hint of desperation.

  “Of course.” She returned to him with a curious look. “What’s the matter?”

  He couldn’t believe he was going to do this, but the little redhead was Isabelle’s official companion. He kept his voice low. “Did, um, Miss Bradford say anything to you about me today?”

  She looked startled by his admission of interest in anything having to do with the blonde, but shook her head. “No.”

  His heart sank, but on second thought, maybe that was a good sign. “She didn’t rant about me, or anything?”

  “Not today,” Dani joked. “Why? Did you give her cause?”

  He faltered, shifting his weight uneasily from one foot to the other, then shrugged.

  Dani furrowed her brow. “Maddox, do you like Isabelle or not?” she asked bluntly.

  He stared at her, then glanced past her shoulder to the beauty farther down the beach. A small sound of distress escaped him, neither a yes nor a no.

  Dani’s eyebrows lifted. “I see. Well…hmm. I suppose if you want, I could talk to her for you–”

  “No!” He could feel his cheeks burning in the cool of night at the mere suggestion. “Don’t say anything.” Blazes, he didn’t even want to admit this nonsense to himself, let alone to Isabelle. “It’s just…I hurt her feelings today, and I really didn’t mean to.”

  Dani rested the tray more comfortably against her waist. “You two seem to do that a lot.”

  Maddox nodded ruefully. “I tried to apologize, but she walked away. She never walks away from me like that.” He stole a wistful glance in Isabelle’s direction. “I don’t think she likes me anymore…I mean, really doesn’t like me.”

  Dani searched his face. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, miserable. “Please don’t tell anyone we discussed this. I feel like an idiot.”

  “Of course.” She paused. Her straight red hair swung about her shoulders as she turned her head, glancing over at Isabelle and then back at him. “For what it’s worth,” she ventured, “I think you should tell her how you feel.”

  “What’s the point, if nothing can come of it?” he said in a weary tone.

  Dani pursed her lips and thought it over. “Well,” she said slowly, “if you’re not honest, that’s kind of like a lie. Isn’t it? I thought that was against the Guardian code.”

  Maddox frowned. The redhead had a point.

  “Maddox?” Dani asked in a thoughtful tone after a moment. “Did you ever wonder if maybe the Order got it wrong with that rule of theirs, about Guardians not being allowed to have a sweetheart?”

  “No. Why?” he asked cautiously.

  Dani shrugged. “It’s just that when the rock monster tried to squish me, Jake turned it into dust. That is, his affection for me made his powers even stronger. Maybe that would happen to you, too?”

  Maddox sighed. “I suppose it’s possible, but a soldier doesn’t get to make the rules. He just has to follow them.”

  “Janos didn’t. And he was a Guardian.”

  “Exactly!” he said with a snort. “And look how he turned out.”

  She frowned. “But isn’t Derek courting Miss Helena?”

  Maddox scowled harmlessly at her. “You’re not making this any easier, you know.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Anyway, it’s probably just a stupid infatuation,” he grumbled. “I’m sure it’ll go away soon.”

  “Aye.” Dani studied him with a shrewd glint in her eyes. “Probably so.” Then she turned away with a breezy air. “Well, if you change your mind, I’d still be happy to talk to her for you or help however I can.”

  “Thanks, Dani. Hey, hold up,” he added, and strode after her to snatch another couple of biscuits off the tray. He put them in his pocket. “Guess I’ll just save a few of these for later. Pretty tasty.”

  “Told you so.” Dani grinned. “Live a little, Maddox. It won’t kill ye.”

  # # #

  “Oh, this isn’t good,” Sir Peter murmured.

  “Fire swarm?” Finnderool said. “What is that?”

  “You’re about to find out. Come on, everyone. Stay together.” The wizard hastened his team deeper into the fiery crater, making their way painstakingly toward the Black Fortress.

  Ramona watched worriedly from above as two of the Noxu ogres carried a large, sealed metal box out onto the battlements.

  Sir Peter wasted no time in expanding the force field he’d raised to shield his team until it wrapped all the way around them like a bubble. In tight formation, they pressed on, each taking care not to step outside the energetic barrier.

  Up on the ramparts, the tusked and armored Noxu captain ordered his underlings to stay back. Then he and his helper moved to either side of the box and gingerly lifted the front panel up, sliding it open.

  From inside the box came an orange glow, and immediately, hundreds, maybe thousands of the rare magical insects began pouring out of their makeshift hive.

  They were tiny—about the size of bees—but aggressive. Their fearsome reputation derived from the mysterious spark that existed in their bellies. If a person or animal were stung enough times, their bodies would burst into flames.

  The Noxu ducked away as the gathering cloud of glowing winged insects went looking for a target, buzzing as they flew.

  Ramona glanced at the two Order teams in concern. Against the dark sky, they could not fail to see the fire swarm coming. She was relieved to note that the other wizard, Fletcher, had created a similar bubble that wrapped all the way around his own team, which now included the Gryphon. Nervous as he had been earlier, she was glad to see he was following Peter’s lead.

  From the ramparts, the Noxu looked on in satisfaction, taunting them with bestial snarls and boorish laughter. Some still chomped on their licorice arrows.

  “Stay behind the shield,” Sir Peter ordered team one.

  All the while, Finnderool continued shooting arrows at the Noxu, and across the crater, Ranjit kept firing his rifle. Though threats like this could not penetrate the force fields, the Order fighters could still strike out at the enemy from inside it.

  Both teams had made good progress down the rugged slopes of the crater, but team two had to come to a full stop when the fire swarm reached them.

  The group huddled together inside Fletcher’s magical barrier.

  Somehow, a few of the insects managed to sneak through or perhaps up under the rim of the force field, but these were swiftly dispatched.

  Ramona saw Ranjit and the remaining centaur swat the insects, quickly dousing the tiny, matchlike flames that had burned them.

  The whole time, the rest of the swarm buzzed against the force field like moths pressing themselves against a windowpane, trying to get to a light inside.

  Fletcher stood bravely at the front of the bubble with his arms raised, wand up, chanting. He was thickening the barrier while his people kept toward the back end of the bubble. The fire swarm had not surrou
nded the force field evenly, but clustered at the front.

  Ramona noticed that the Gryphon looked a bit bewildered by this strange attack.

  Meanwhile, team one hurried on toward the bottom of the crater, where the Black Fortress waited. A few of the insects broke away from the swarm around team two and came over to investigate them. No magical barrier was perfect, and Ravyn was bitten on the arm.

  She quickly smacked the insect dead and doused the little flame on her sleeve with a scowl of irritation.

  Ramona waited uneasily to see what else Fletcher might do to dispose of the fire swarm thickly massed against his barrier and buzzing with an ever-angrier hum. Perhaps conjure a raincloud or even a few buckets of water to douse the insects’ flames, she mused. There were many options, but it was then that calamity struck.

  The sandworm returned.

  Determined to get at them—or more likely, controlled by someone inside—the monstrous beast shot up out of the desert sands above them and lunged down at team two without warning from behind them, ignoring the flames.

  Ranjit whirled around and shot at it—not that a single bullet would have much effect.

  Thankfully, the creature had misjudged the distance and fell short of reaching them. Though the rest of the giant sandworm remained safely buried in the sands above the basin of the crater, its upper body crashed to the ground a few feet behind them, and there it was—on full, horrible display.

  It lay wriggling and thrashing and trying to get at them, its single eye glaring with baleful intent, its round mouth churning with razor-sharp teeth. It began retreating, pulling its disgusting body back to its proper home when it saw that they were out of range.

  But the surprise attack had broken Fletcher’s concentration.

  His force field had dropped for a moment, and with his whole team a few feet behind him, the wizard was the first in line for the insects’ wrath.

  Instantly, they swarmed him. Ignoring the attack, he waved his wand and turned a large swath of the insects to tiny, winged chips of ice. Half the cloud of them fell to the ground, frozen at once.

  Others escaped and started stinging people—even Red—but the remaining members of team two were quick to put them out, helping each other.

  Meanwhile, Fletcher’s arms and legs had caught on fire. He was swinging his wand wildly, determined to finish off the rest of the swarm. Even now, one of Red’s feathers could have healed his burns, but he was already in agony—and he was getting stung too many times, Ramona feared.

  Screaming in pain while the Noxu cheered, Fletcher waved his wand one more time at the last huddle of insects that remained. But he was panicked and not being careful, and his scream cut off abruptly as he somehow managed to turn himself to ice.

  Sweet Gaia! thought Ramona.

  That would have been bad enough, for at least he had disposed of the threat. But the crater’s slope was steep, and the loose rocks shifted beneath the weight of the great block of ice the wizard had become. His teammates were already lunging to reach for him, but they weren’t fast enough.

  Ramona gasped in horror as the frozen wizard tipped over and fell into a cluster of flames, where he swiftly melted.

  There was nothing the others could do. Ebrahim leaned down to try to rescue him, Ranjit a step behind, but with the crater’s waist-high bonfires all around them, it was useless.

  In a moment, a puddle was all that was left of poor Hanley Fletcher. Team one whispered words of shock and dismay as even that quickly evaporated in the dry desert air.

  With the fire swarm threat eliminated and the Noxu still scrambling to find more arrows, it was Janos who recovered first from the dread of what they had just witnessed.

  “I’m going in.” He sprang into action, running the rest of the way down into the crater with his enhanced vampire grace.

  Ramona looked on as he used his peculiar abilities to run right up the side of the castle wall on all fours. As indestructible as he had become, it seemed he was more than happy to take the fight to the enemy.

  Aleeyah joined him as soon as he vaulted up onto the battlements. She drew both of her scimitars with a shout of rage and began spinning like a top, the silver bells on her belt and anklet tinkling as she cut down the palace guards.

  Nearby Janos attacked them left and right, kicking them away, throwing a few over the side of the castle walls, stabbing here, slashing there.

  Ramona could see it all from her vantage point above.

  Ravyn beckoned to the Gryphon. Red flew over to see what she wanted.

  “Take me up there! Shapeshifters, stay here. You!” Ravyn pointed at the minotaur. “Guard the Lightrider.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the creature grunted. Finnderool frowned as Ravyn slung a leg over the Gryphon’s back.

  Red lifted off with ease and speedily flew the lady Guardian up to the ramparts. Weapons already drawn, Ravyn leaped off the Gryphon’s back onto the castle walls and into the fray. Even Red got in on the fight, clawing at the Noxu, mowing them down, pushing them off the walls and tearing at them with his beak.

  Ramona watched in trepidation, well aware that these ogres greatly preferred the close-range combat of their tribal hatchets and battleaxes to their long-range bows. But while Janos, Ravyn, Red, and Aleeyah kept the Noxu busy on the battlements, both teams were closing in on the entrance to the castle.

  Ebrahim was carefully guarding Ranjit with the centaur and bear-Urso prowling behind him. The minotaur stayed close to Finnderool; wolf-Henry and leopard-Helena followed Sir Peter.

  From above, Ramona watched the two teams converge in front of the castle entrance. There, Sir Peter began to conjure a Thunderfist spell to use as a battering ram on the raised drawbridge.

  Good idea. She watched as his incantations and precision wand-work caused a small, dark blue thundercloud to begin forming in front of him. It was about four feet wide, but growing.

  From the midst of it, a giant fist formed; Sir Peter controlled it with his own, using it to slam the front door again and again.

  “Anybody home?” he called with a fierce, wry smile.

  This tremendous knocking at the door was too powerful for even the Dark Druids to ignore. The castle’s raised drawbridge serving as the front door began to crack and splinter under the reverberating booms of the Thunderfist’s insistent pounding.

  Up on the ramparts, Janos and the other fighters were wiping out the Noxu, but, suddenly, Ramona heard reinforcements coming.

  Another contingent of the ogre guards began filing out of the tower on the far corner, running onto the battlements. Alarmed, she flew over at once to see what she could do to stop them.

  Brushing off her fears about being detected, Ramona summoned up her strength, pushed her hand forcefully, palm out, toward the fresh troops, and used a spectral strike to mow them down.

  The burst of energy flattened the whole line of ogre henchmen like dominoes as they came streaming out of the tower, then she slammed the tower door shut and sealed it with a burst of will so they could not get out.

  The force of the Magick she had just wielded was strong enough that Sir Peter suddenly sensed her presence.

  The Thunderfist paused in its pounding as the wizard glanced up, a half-smile curving his lips. “My lady, how kind of you to join us,” he murmured, though whether his words had been spoken out loud or were only directed at her telepathically, Ramona wasn’t sure.

  She was suddenly beginning to feel a little woozy, drained. She had extended herself by many hundreds of miles and put forth a huge quantity of energy. And besides, she had not done workings this intense in a very long time.

  Unfortunately, Sir Peter was not the only one who had sensed her presence after her strike against the Noxu. She’d floated farther up above the castle to catch her breath for a moment when a low whisper began to stir in a distant corner of her mind. A sinister singsong, calling to her: Ramonaaaa…

  With a small gasp, half unnerved, she prayed that she had just imagined it—b
ut then it came again, though she could barely hear it over the pounding of Sir Peter’s Thunderfist.

  My sweet Ramona, is it you?

  At that moment, the battering ram splintered the drawbridge into shards, exploding it away to reveal a light inside the castle.

  The four fighters on the ramparts finally finished off the last of the Noxu guards, whose reinforcements remained, thankfully, knocked out cold. Janos jumped down off the ramparts, descending with weird slowness, thanks to his vampire powers. Ravyn swung onto Red’s back, and the Gryphon pushed off the black granite wall, flying down to join Sir Peter and the rest.

  Aleeyah was the last to leave the battlements, which were littered with injured, dead, or unconscious Noxu mercenaries. She rematerialized in a puff of smoke near the others outside the castle entrance.

  All the while, Ramona could feel her enemy’s awareness spiraling slowly around her, circling like a shark.

  She glanced over her shoulder but could not see him any more than Zolond could see her with his physical eyes.

  At the same time, she was distracted by what was going on down at the front of the castle.

  A voice from inside boomed: “Hold your fire!”

  It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it. “Will you parley?” it demanded.

  Sir Peter shouted back on the Order’s behalf: “We will parley!”

  This was an encouraging sign. Ramona wasn’t sure why the Council hadn’t already made the castle jump to safety somewhere out of reach. But the intent all along had been to draw the enemy out, since the fortress itself was nearly impregnable. After all their losses already tonight, she was encouraged to see that at least the plan was working.

  The portcullis behind the tattered pieces of the drawbridge slowly began rolling upward, creaking like the wind through a graveyard.

  When the gleaming metal grate had retracted, the ponderous wooden doors behind it slowly swung open with a groan, and at last, several figures cautiously walked out.

  The one in the center was very tall and broad-shouldered, a large animal prowling by his side. As he stepped into the glow of the fires all around, Ramona narrowed her eyes to find it was none other than Lord Wyvern.