Shadow Dancer Boxed Set

by Courtney Rene

  Chunks of Kat's blonde hair flew wild and free from her ponytail as she dove at me. I braced for the attack. I thought back to my days with Austin and Gavin, learning defense and offense. I thought of Lucas and all the time he had spent teaching me to fight back and fight hard. I waited and I timed, and the moment she was within arms reach, I fast and furiously drew back my arm and punched her as hard as I could, square in the face.

  She dropped to the ground in a heap of arms and legs and didn't move. I stood over her a moment and waited. She finally lifted her head and stared at me with her red-rimmed blue eyes. I lifted one eyebrow at her and said just softly enough that she could still hear me, "Told you." Then I walked away, once again focused on finding Lucas. She wasn't going to get one more second of my time.

  I didn't get far before I was stopped again by one of the King's Shadow Guard. I reached for my sword and realized in dismay that I didn't have it. I must have lost it in my tussle with Kat. "Crap."

  There was no help for it. I had to use my energy against him. I didn't want to. Simon was right when he said I would wear out too fast if I only used that one gift. I didn't have a choice right then though. So I hurled a hard arch of energy at his head. He stiffened, shook with the blast, and then he dropped to the ground and didn't move. I reached for his sword. It was so heavy, not like my smaller one. It hung and pulled on my arm as I moved through the crowd of fighting men. I needed a sword, so it would have to do.

  I once again swiped my face on my arm. I knew my nose was bleeding and I thought maybe my eyes as well, but I didn't have time to deal with it. As I moved through the fight, I realized there were people down, but not one of them was of my army. I stopped and really looked at the fighting then.

  I watched as a red body dropped to the ground. But before I could move toward him, one of my own men took his place against his foe while one of the fire people ran to his fallen comrade. He dropped down next to the prone body and laid his hands on him, closed his eyes, and sat there, still as the night.

  After a few moments, he opened his eyes, lifted the fallen man to his feet and they stumbled off the field together. I felt a smile crease my face. Those fire people were awesome healers. No wonder none of the fallen people were my own.

  Then I saw Cinder on the sidelines. I bet her mother loved that. Her face was filthy. Her hair hung in globs and bounced around her shoulders. I watched as she directed the fire people to the fallen. She had taken charge and was doing a fantastic job of it. I smiled at her. I don't know if she saw it or not, but I was proud of her all the same. No, maybe not a hero, but she was definitely an asset to us and I was so going to tell her mother about it.

  Then I had a thought. What about the others? I ran to a group of fire people and told them my idea. "Is there a way we can heal some of the Shadow Guard and then take them as like, hostages or something? They may not be on our side, but they are still people of Acadia. If we win this war," I said, although I was not thinking 'if' I was thinking 'when', "we will need every person we can get to help rebuild our world."

  "Not all can be saved," one of the men said.

  I nodded at him and replied, "I know. Save the ones you can. That's all I'm asking." I looked around for the golden head of Gabriel. I pointed at him and said, "Tell Gabriel what I want and have him help set it up."

  I knew Gabriel would probably be mad at me for taking him out of the fighting, but I was going to try to keep him safe if I could. He was the only family I had left in Acadia. I didn't want to lose him.

  Before I could see how Gabriel took the news, I raced back into the melee, again on the hunt for Lucas. My plans were again waylaid when I was once more face to face with King Gideon.

  I didn't say anything to him. I did tilt my head to the side and raised a regal eyebrow at him haughtily.

  "Are you ready to give up?" he asked.

  I laughed. "Are you that far out of your mind? Look around and tell me who is winning?"

  He smiled at me. A chill ran down my back at that smile.

  "It's not about the men in the armies. It's about you and it's about me. All I have to do to win this war is to beat you. Without you, your army is nothing, just a bunch of farmers and foreigners."

  That could be said about his group as well. I didn't know how to respond. It didn't matter though, as before I could come up with something sarcastic to say, I felt him suck in energy from around us. His form outlined in deep red before he quickly pushed a burst of it directly at me.

  I gasped in surprise, but quickly lifted up the too heavy sword to try to deflect the power. The burst of light slammed into the sword with such absolute strength and weight that I was pushed backward. I felt my feet slid along the ground under me. The sword got hot in hands and I wanted to let go of it, toss it aside. I couldn't though. It was my only defense at that moment. I quickly pulled energy as well.

  It was now or never in the fight against Gideon. Pain, weakness, and loss of control, all my fears of that moment were front and center and heavy on my shoulders.

  "Gideon," I said softly, "don't do this."

  "You leave me no choice." He lifted his hands and blasted me again.

  Instead of using my energy against him in return, I used it as a shield. I didn't know if it would work, but it was worth the try. I gathered the energy all around in a ball, a big, white, static filled bubble of energy. When the red burst of energy hit it, my white shield held strong against it.

  It cost me a lot of energy to hold the power there without letting it escape. However, since I was able to hold it and not let it go, it didn't wound me or slice me up on the inside. Yes, my nose was bleeding, but that was the extent of it so far. Once I used the energy against Gideon was when I would be in trouble. I had to time it right. I had to make sure I could do it.

  Gideon blasted me again and again. I held firm with my shield. He moved and tried to circle around me, but I kept my barrier in place and took his energy, blast for blast, and I still stood strong before him.

  He was getting mad. His face was turning red with anger and sweat covered his brow. "Fight! Fight me!"

  I was tired but not overwhelmed. I put on a good show for Gideon at least. I laughed and pretended to be perfectly at ease. "Why? This is working great for me."

  He stomped his foot and yelled, "You're cheating!"

  I really did laugh at that. "There are no rules in war. Remember?"

  He sucked in more energy. His color turned from a dark red to a blood red. I watched him as he gathered it before him. I had a moment of concern when he pulled it all together in a ball and reared back with it.

  "Uh…" Before I could stop him, he hurtled the ball of red at my head. It hit the barrier of white and I felt it crack under the pressure. Wisps of energy pushed through the shield and hit me full in the face. My hair whipped backward away from my face when my head snapped back. Unprepared for the hit, I dropped the energy in my hands, leaving me wide open.

  The backlash of white hit us both. I was lifted up off my feet and tossed ruthlessly to the ground. Gideon didn't fare much better, but he reached his feet before I could even think about doing so. He towered over my body as I lay sprawled on the hard unforgiving ground. He had the upper ground. He had the edge. Had I just lost the war because of one mistake?

  "Enough of this, Ari," he shouted at me. His eyes were wide and wild. He face was contorted in rage. His arm was raised up in the air with his sword clutched tightly in his hand.

  I weakly shook my head. "No. Sunny."

  He wasn't listening to me. He wasn't seeing me. "Come with me now! End this. Be my wife. Be the mother to my children. Live happily ever after with me by your side, or..."

  As if. "Gideon, I'm not Arianna." I tried to make him see me. I tried to get him back to the present, but he was lost in his own mind.

  "Or die. Right now. Right here."

  Not much of a choice, but he wasn't really asking me. "No," I said.

  "Yes," he hissed.

  I pulled
in energy and so did he. In the distance, I could hear someone call my name, but I could not take my eyes from Gideon. He had to have my complete attention. I slowly got to my feet and stood before Gideon. We were but a foot apart from each other. His red surrounded him, and I was outlined in white.

  Everything slowed down then. I watched him lift and aim his sword for my heart.

  I gathered more energy to me.

  Then his sword came down, but not at me. It dropped down to his side and he shook his head slowly and said, "Why can't you just do as you are told?"

  "Huh?"

  He looked so sad for a moment. "I don't want it to be this way. Do you think I want you dead?"

  Well, yes.

  "I want things to be as they should, with you at my side, us ruling Acadia and all the realms around us. Together. We will be invincible. Don't you see?"

  So it was true. He did want to take over the other realms. Not that I was all that surprised, but the blue fairies were right. He had to be stopped.

  Of course, then there was the sticky question of, did he want me, Sunny? Or did he want Arianna? Either way, he wasn't going to like my answer. "Gideon, it's not going to be that way."

  "Why?"

  How do you explain to a whack-job that for starters, I was not my mother? That was just so ick to me. Then you had the fact that I didn't think it was my place or anyone's to try to rule all the realms. Each realm was a world in and of itself, with people and creatures very different from us, with different ways to live. It wasn't our place to try to take control over them all.

  I didn't get a chance to tell him all that though, as a form pushed roughly between us and knocked me backward and to the ground. It was a form I knew, once loved, and once cherished. "Leif!" I said in shock and maybe a little bit of fear. "What are you doing?"

  Gideon tried to step around Leif. I didn't know if it was to help me up or to begin the fight anew. All I knew for sure was that Leif had his sword in hand and he advanced on the king with a menace I had never seen within him before. Crazy was the word that came to mind. "Great, two nut balls to deal with," I mumbled to myself as I again got to my feet and brushed off. Now what?

  Gideon smiled at Leif as he raised his sword in acceptance of the challenge.

  They struck out at each other with a force so intense the clang of steal against steal could be felt inside my chest. Leif was so intent and serious. His face was a mask of frozen ice as he stared down at the King.

  Gideon wasn't taking it as seriously. I could tell because he was smiling and almost playing with Leif. He would defend himself, but then he would dance away, almost prancing. He was taunting Leif and anyone that took a moment to watch could see it.

  But then, mid-prance, the king made a miss-step. I saw it coming and didn't know how to stop it or even if I should. Gideon stumbled over a sword that lay discarded on the ground. His feet tangled up in the hilt and he went down. Hard.

  I saw real fear jump into his eyes. Leif advanced with a determined step. He raised his sword and I could see what was going to happen.

  I know it doesn't make any sense, but I didn't want Gideon dead. He was crazy as a loon and had real mental issues, but he was still my uncle. I wanted him removed from power over Acadia, but that didn't mean I wanted him dead. Not really. Dead is so final. There had been enough death in my life. I didn't need anymore.

  I dove forward just as Leif was driving his sword down toward the King's chest in a forceful killing blow. I screamed, "Leif! Don't!"

  Leif didn't hesitate at all. Not for one moment. In fact, he seemed more determined than ever.

  Gideon lifted his arms and caught me against him in surprise as a new fear washed over his face. "No!" he screamed.

  What? What was it?

  Then I felt it. The piercing cold of steal as it slipped inside my body with such silky ease, that if it weren't for the burning pain that came with it, I wouldn't have noticed. I felt every icy inch of the blade at it made its way through my back and then out my chest with a quiet slide of sound and only a gasp of surprise from me.

  I couldn't breathe. Leif. Oh, God. What had he done? My body was suddenly so heavy I slumped forward further into Gideon's embrace. I glanced into his face. His eyes were so wide that I could see myself within their glassy depths.

  "What did you do?" Gideon asked. It scared me all the more, because his voice shook with each word.

  "I saved you." And maybe killed myself in the process.

  "What did you do?!" Gideon roared, but that time, he wasn't talking to me. He was yelling at Leif. I turned my head as far around as I could without moving my body to stare up wide-eyed at Leif.

  His face was white, empty of blood and his mouth hung open in shock. "No. No. I didn't mean that," Leif said and shook his head furiously back and forth. He took one step back, then another, and another. "Him?" He pointed at Gideon, but his eyes were only on me. "Yes, I wanted him dead, but not you. Never you, Sunny."

  "Wait," I said. He wasn't just going to leave me there was he? Was he?

  He turned and yelled so loud that the sound carried across the field, "Help! The queen needs help!"

  The fighting came to a sudden and chilling stop around us. I hadn't realized that the sounds of battle had been so loud until it stopped. Silence filled the air. I saw Lucas. He was running with long powerful strides toward me. His face was white as snow, and his mouth set in a grim hard line. Austin stayed steady right next to him. Gabriel and Brick ran side-by-side, not far behind.

  Leif was still, too still. Why didn't he move? Why didn't he help me?

  Lucas reached me first and dropped down to the ground next to where Gideon and I lay. He gripped my waist with one hand and my shoulders with the other and tried to lift me away. He stopped immediately when I screamed in pain as agony sliced through my body.

  Lucas really looked at us then. "Oh, God. Sunny."

  "What? How bad is it?" I asked, even though I already knew it was pretty bad.

  He didn't answer me. Instead Lucas turned and looked at the anxious faces around us. Gabriel's was a mask of anger to hide his fear. Gideon's confused and lost and turning white before my eyes. Austin was stoic and firm as always. The Shadow Guard and the fire people, my army, and even a few of the rebels were quiet and watchful as they surrounded us, circling us in.

  Lucas turned and said, "Gabriel?"

  Gabriel nodded once and said, "Hold her tight and steady."

  I had a moment of deja-vu as a fleeting memory of Gabriel pulling an arrow from my leg flashed through my brain. I wanted to start screaming right then and there. Fear washed through me. "No. Wait. Please, Gabriel. Don't"

  He looked at me with such sadness, but also with firm determination that I knew what he would say before he did.

  "It has to be done, little one. You can't stay as you are."

  Oh, yes I could!

  Gabriel turned to Brick and said, "You can heal her?"

  Brick nodded once but firmly.

  I turned my attention back to Gideon who lay quietly beneath me. There were no sarcastic words coming from him and there wasn't any crazy talk either. His light of red was gone and I assumed mine of white, was as well.

  Gideon was so silent. Then I noticed the blade. Why I hadn't noticed it before? Maybe, I was too worried about myself to realize that as the blade had come out through my chest, it had slammed into his and pushed deep. He and I were skewered together by Leif's sword.

  "Wait," I said.

  "What, honey," Lucas said. He brushed my hair out of my face and looked directly into my eyes.

  "The king," I said. "You have to help him first."

  "Sunny," he said.

  "No," I cut him off. "You have to help him first. He's dying."

  "So are you."

  "No. No!" I said with a vehement shake of my head. "Promise me, Lucas. You will help him." It was a statement, not a question.

  He didn't take his eyes from mine, as he said, "I promise to do my best."
/>   I nodded at him. He didn't promise that he could save him or to try to save him first, but at least he would try. That was better than nothing. I was quickly losing strength. I didn't know how much more fight I had left in me.

  I turned to Gideon. "Hang on," I said.

  He smiled a gentle smile and ran his hand over my head. For once it didn't creep me out. It wasn't lecherous or dirty. It was a simple caress of tenderness. "It's all right, Sunny." There it was. A moment of the good I had known was in him.

  "We're going to be all right. Brick is going to fix us," I continued.

  "I want you to know something," Gideon said.

  I had a bad feeling. "No. You can tell me after we're fixed."

  Lucas braced me and held me down against Gideon. Gabriel stepped up behind me and I felt the moment he gripped the sword. It jarred ever so slightly, but hurt so badly. I gasped and tensed, waiting…waiting.

  "I need to tell you now," Gideon insisted.

  "Gideon," I said and shook my head.

  "Ready," Gabriel asked Lucas.

  Lucas nodded. His grip on me tightened and I tensed up even more.

  "I never meant for this to happen, Sunny," Gideon said, "any of it. Your mother, Arianna, she was everything to me."

  He knew who I was. In that moment of pain and sorrow and fear, he knew me. I tried to smile at him, but I'm not sure I pulled it off. "I know."

  "I thought if you and I were together, it would fix everything. Make it all right again, the way it should have been in the beginning."

  "Gideon," I said, but that was all, as right then Gabriel placed one big hand on my back and then smooth and fast as lightening he slid the sword out of Gideon and then out of me.

  Gideon grunted in pain as the sword left his chest. I was not as brave. I screamed and flinched and cried with every millimeter it moved. Finally it was out and I collapsed down on top of Gideon. I felt a gush of warmth spew from my chest.

  Gideon grabbed my arm to get my attention and whispered. "This is for the best."