by Anne Haley
His jaw clenched, and his eyes bore holes into her. She watched, as his body grew tense, the muscles in his arms flexed and then he pushed down his shoulders and gave her a short nod. "Okay," he finally said.
El was taken back. She was prepared to battle with him, not for him to be so compliant. This was a clear sign of how much trust they put in El and Aylin. It was what Aylin had been working hard for, and now that it had happened, it didn’t give El a feeling of satisfaction inside. It was Aylin who they all should be following, not El. She wasn’t designed for the lead role. But she would do anything for Aylin.
"She won’t be harmed?" Terra asked.
She swallowed and shook her head. "No. They need her too much for that." El turned her attention to Blake. "Terra and I are going to focus on the two witches. We will try to block any spells that come at you. I’m leaving it up to you to get inside and grab Aylin, do you understand how much trust I’m putting in you?" she asked before she could stop herself. He had just agreed to leave his mother inside with the witches because she had told him it would be the right thing to do. Now she questioned him.
"You don’t have to tell me." Blake crossed his arms, standing straight to tower over her. "I know how much she means to you, and you have to know what she means to me." He was frowning at her.
"You’re right. I’m sorry." El shook her head. "Hopefully we will give you enough time. Are you up to this Terra?"
"Yes."
El nodded and stood to enter the cave. She stood right at the mouth and her feet refused to leave the ground. "Shit," she hissed under her breath and looked up. Above the mouth of the cave were three daggers sunken into the rock, only the handles were visible.
"El, what is it?" Terra whispered behind her.
"Damn it! Why didn’t I even think…" El grumbled, shaking her head in complete frustration. She shouldn’t have been so stupid. She pointed up at the daggers. "Protections against fae. Hang a knife above the doorway and the faerie won’t be able to cross it. We can’t get in, she can’t get out." She leaned back and her feet loosened from the ground. She stepped backwards to get a better look at the daggers.
"So let’s take them out," Blake said roughly.
El glared at him. "We can’t just take them out. If I tried climbing up to remove them I would be stuck, frozen in place. Benefits of a protection."
"Well, I’m not a faerie." Blake stepped forward and looked for a place in the rock that he could hoist himself up. Once found, he stepped up and slid out the first dagger. El and Terra cringed at the sound of metal grinding against rock. The second came out just as easily. The third one was two inches out of his reach.
Blake took a few moments to calculate his next move, then planted both of his feet on the rock, bent his knees and leapt toward the dagger. His hand slid onto the handle and as gravity brought him toward the ground, the dagger broke, leaving the tip in the rock.
He looked down at the broken dagger in his hands. "Nice going," El said, thick with sarcasm. "What’s the plan now?"
Without a word to her Blake tossed the broken dagger into the woods, leaned down and retrieved the first two and tucked them into his belt. He went to the other side of the entrance, closer to where the third dagger was, and in one quick kick with his foot he made a foot hold in the rock. He climbed up, grabbed one of the daggers from his belt and slammed the hilt into the rock until there was a large enough hole for his hand. He slipped his fingers inside and pulled out the knife tip.
"Show off," El scowled, ignoring Blake’s wide smile.
As soon as El and Terra entered they felt a heaviness weighing down on them. The iron was potent around them. El put her hand on the wall and swiped it away, it felt like she had put her hand in a fire. Her hand had an angry welt forming where it touched the rock. She grimaced and showed Terra as a warning to be extra careful. Terra’s eyes widened at the sight of her hand, and she nodded vigorously.
Without touching her flesh to the rock, El put her ear up to the rock’s surface and closed her eyes. They watched her for a few moments, and when she opened her eyes she was smiling. "Knockers."
"What?" Blake whispered.
"They haunt mines, wells, and caves. They have long index fingers," she held up hers, "and mimic the pounding sound that miners made. That’s an unexpected surprise." She sat back on her heels and chewed on her lip. "I have an idea, just watch out for flying stones."
They came to a curve in the cave and they stopped just at the end of the curve. Around the corner they could hear voices. The three squatted down and El tried to look around the corner. The sight had her heart thundering. Aylin’s crumpled body was on the other side of the two witches, who were huddled around a smoldering fire. Terra’s mother was against the far wall, sleeping under a blanket.
"I hate babysitting duty. It’s pointless. It’s not like she’s going to escape," the witch on the left said. She was an older woman with silver, wiry hair. She was plump, and wearing heavy coveralls and work boots. The other witch was much younger, looked younger than Terra, and wearing a designer down jacket. Her jeans were tucked into furry boots, and she brushed her hair.
"Maybe we could have a little fun with her," the young one said. "I need to practice my interrogating skills. That’s what he told me this morning when I tried to come with." She put down the brush.
"No. Girl, you have no control of your spells! You could kill her. Then what would you tell him? Hmm?" The older woman yawned.
"I could practice on her." She pointed the mom.
"Give it a rest Julia." The woman rolled her eyes.
El crept back to Blake and Terra. "Us," she made a dot in the dirt, "witches," she drew a short line after the dot, "Aylin." Blake nodded in understanding. "Terra and I go first. We need to distract them before you try to get to Aylin. I will tell you when to go," she said to Blake. "Terra?" She motioned her to follow El. "What we want to do is create a protection field around them. Imagine the protection field that is around your house, created by those bundles that you and Aylin buried. Do you see it in your head?" She waited for Terra to nod. "I think that if we try to build it around them then their spells will only bounce back at them. We’ll create it from our hands." She held her hands palm up. "Once Blake has Aylin out of here, I’ll have the Knockers help us distract them so you and I can get out."
"El?" Terra asked.
"Yes?" El was already forming her hands into a cup.
"Make sure you come back with us."
El smiled at Terra. "Okay." She nodded toward her hands. Once she felt the ball forming she closed the cup of her hands, isolating the ball. Her hands heated, holding the light in. Once Terra had done the same they stood up and walked around the corner. "Hello ladies," El smiled at the witches.
The witches jumped up, the older one knocked over her plastic chair. "Who are you?" she screeched.
"I’m one of the faeries that you’ve been looking for." El threw open her hands, sending multiple red lights at the women. The witches flinched, throwing their arms in front of their faces. The lights hit their forearms, burning through their clothes onto their flesh. Terra sent hers flying, and hers were yellow, also burning the witches where they landed. Then El and Terra clasped hands, put the other hands in front of them and light exploded from their palms.
The older witch shrieked and began chanting. The light from their hands changed into a silver liquid and began to stretch around the witches like a bubble. The chanting of the older witch became muffled, drowned out from the field.
"Let’s keep it steady, Terra," El said. Sweat began to bead on her forehead. "Blake!" El yelled over her shoulder.
Blake slipped behind them and ran to where Aylin lay on the ground. He tried not to stop and stare in awe at what El and Terra had created. The bubble constantly shifted and changed colors as chants and spells bounced around the inside.
Aylin had iron cuffs around her wrists, and the chains that were attached were bolted into the rock. She was so still, and her s
kin felt cold and clammy. Blood matted her hair near her temple and stained the skin in the corner of her beautiful mouth, the deep color looked black against her white skin. His breath caught in his throat as the realization that they had come too late settled in his mind, but then there was a slight movement. She had taken a breath.
"Aylin," he gasped and tried to wake her up but she didn’t stir. He grabbed one of the cuffs where the chain connected and gave a good yank. The chain broke off with ease, and the cuff popped off her wrist. The skin underneath was bloody and very swollen. He broke the other cuff off and put his arms under her. As soon as he tried to lift her he felt his strength leave him and he collapsed on top of Aylin.
"Terra!" El screamed behind him. He moved his head to look toward them. El had her palms up, but Terra had collapsed to her knees, her hands on the ground, gasping for air. At that moment he felt a slash on his shoulder, like a knife blade slicing his skin. He put his hand on his shoulder and felt a warm, sticky fluid soaking into his shirt. He looked back and the younger witch smiled wickedly at him.
El screamed again and the field around the witches that had been dimming exploded into a blinding light. Blake had to look away because it was like looking directly at the sun. The witches stopped chanting and started screaming. Blake felt his strength immediately return and scooped Aylin up. He jumped to his feet and ran toward Terra. Aylin lay lifeless in his arms and he had to hold her tight against him so her head didn’t bounce around. He looked at the screaming witches again and their skin began to smoke. Large angry red blisters were forming on their faces and hands, and the older one collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.
"Terra!" He shook his sister. She coughed and looked up at him. Her hair was wet with sweat and the skin under her eyes was dark. "Let’s go!" She stumbled to her feet.
"El!" Terra staggered to El and grabbed her arm. El flinched and Terra saw her eyes which burned dark red. "EL!" She shook her. El blinked and her eyes returned too liquid green. The bubble disappeared around the witches and she put her hands down. The other witch collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. "Let’s go," Terra said again and pulled El toward the corner of the cave.
"Wait!" El stopped and turned back to the witches who were whimpering on the ground. The older one was struggling to get back up to her feet. The blisters on her face shrank slowly. El put two fingers into either side of her mouth and let out a loud whistle. It was loud and strong, and it echoed off the walls.
She waited, and after just a few seconds her patience was rewarded. The sound of hammers on rock echoed off the walls, coming from every direction. The noise increased in volume, and the younger witch covered her ears. "What the hell is that?" she screamed. "You fucking bitch!" She was now looking at El with hatred in her eyes.
The thousands of hammers stopped at once. "Oh, you shouldn’t have done that," El scolded Julia. "You have to watch that mouth of yours." Just as El said ‘yours’ a small stone came from the back of the cave, hitting Julia square in the back.
Julia screamed and whipped around to face whoever was back there, only to meet a shower of small stones, pelting her in the face and stomach.
El turned back toward Terra, who was staring wide-eyed. "Knockers." El nodded and draped her arm around Terra’s shoulder.
Blake had carried Aylin outside and set her down on the ground. "Aylin?" He tried to rouse her again. His shoulder screamed in pain with every movement and he tried not to move it around too much. Aylin was unresponsive and he couldn’t wake her. Her skin was ghostly white and slicked with sweat. He brushed the hair off her brow and framed her face with one hand. "Aylin, honey, wake up. Come on," he urged over and over.
At the sound of shoes scraping on the rock he looked up to see Terra and El coming out of the cave. They were leaning on each other heavily. "Moonlight," El muttered and pointed to a spot in the grass a few feet from him. He put his hands under Aylin’s shoulders and pulled her limp body into the moonlight. He knelt down next to her and waited.
El and Terra leaned against the cliff, watching. Each one of them held their breath, waiting for some response from Aylin. They were all thinking the same thought, that they might have been too late. Terra sniffed, tears running down her face, and El squeezed Terra tight against her side. El refused to believe that they had been too late. She could still feel Aylin, she was still connected to her.
After a few moments Aylin’s pale lips twitched and parted. Then she took a deep breath and opened her eyes to slits. "Blake?" her voice was weak and shaky. She looked up at him.
He let out a sigh of relief and brought her hand to his lips. "Yes. I’m here."
"El… Terra?"
"We’re here Aylin. But we need to leave. Now," El said, her voice unsteady.
"I can’t move," Aylin said and her voice hitched.
"Don’t worry. I’ll carry you, you’re safe now." Blake picked her up gently, but held her firmly against his chest, and led Terra and El out of the woods. They found the truck easily near the road, hidden in the darkness of a large pine tree. He and El put Aylin in the back of the cab, her head in Terra’s lap. El and Blake jumped in the front and they sped away. "Is it safe to go to Terra’s?" Blake asked El.
"Yes. There are protections around the house," El said, leaning her head against the window.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Dawn broke as Blake sat at Terra’s kitchen table nursing a steaming cup of black coffee. A thick fog had set in during the few hours he slept, and he could barely see the trees that lined her backyard. He rolled his shoulder, testing the bandage that Terra had skillfully secured. She didn’t have to stitch him up, but she had put on some butterfly bandages.
He had protested when she came at him with a salve made with thyme leaves, she claimed it would quicken the healing process, and somehow she had muscled around him and covered the slashes with the thick cream. Then she covered that with thick gauze and heavy medical tape that would rip hair and skin off when removed. He didn’t look forward to that, but at least it was on a part of him that didn’t have much hair. He didn’t want to fess up to her that since she had put the smelly salve on him he had been feeling a lot better.
Blake and Terra seemed to have come out the best from the previous night’s activities. She was weak and tired, but a hot shower had revived her. After sleeping a few hours herself she had made him coffee and oatmeal. He didn’t touch the oatmeal, but the coffee tasted good.
Terra checked on the other two. El had been so weak that she had passed out in the truck on the way back home. Her skin had turned pale and clammy, so Terra had Blake carry her into the bedroom that El had claimed. She covered El with thick blankets and had placed jars of candles on the windowsill. When he asked her about them she only waved him off, too exhausted to explain. Later she had explained to him that they had been made with oils from certain herbs for protection and healing.
Aylin had been the worst of them all. She had been in and out of consciousness during the ride back, and once in bed she hadn’t moved. Blake knew because he had slept on the chair in the corner of her room. Her wrists and ankles had looked painful with the deep gashes and red welts covering them. Terra did have enough energy to explain to him that the witches must have made cuts on her wrists and ankles, placing the iron directly on top of the wounds. This would have let the iron seep into her blood stream and if left long enough, it would have killed her. Terra did what she could for Aylin’s wounds, cleaning them and bandaging what she could. Blake tried to help her, but she made him sit in the chair, and soon he had fallen asleep.
Blake stood and refilled his mug and walked back to the room Aylin was in. She was covered in layers of quilts on the bed. Her midnight black hair splashed across the pillow, fanning away from her pale face. He returned to sitting in the chair in the corner. He couldn’t stop the images in his mind of her lying lifeless on the rock floor of the cave. Blood had matted in her hair at her temple. Her face looked peaceful and for an instant he had fear
ed she had met her destiny. But it only lasted a second, because he saw the slight rise of her chest, she had barely been breathing. His relief had only lasted moments, until he had seen his sister collapsed.
Blake closed his eyes and forced the images away. He focused on the hot mug in his hand, the feel of the chair he sat in. The back of the chair had been too upright to be even remotely comfortable to sleep in, but he hadn’t dared moving any farther away from her. Terra had said that Aylin should pull through just fine, but she would heal faster when she slept. So he made no attempt to wake her.
"Blake?" she whispered, her throat dry. He jumped at the sound of her voice; he hadn’t noticed her eyes were open in slits.
"Aylin." He moved to the bed.
"Coffee. Smells good." The corner of her mouth twitched.
"Do you want some?" He leaned over her. She nodded slightly and he quickly made for the door. He had a full mug for her in a flash, dripping the hot liquid on his hand and barely noticed the sting. He brought it back in and found Terra sitting on the end of the bed. Aylin weakly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Blake immediately adjusted the pillows behind her and she leaned back.
"Thank you," she said taking the mug. He noticed the cuts on her wrists were now red, angry looking scars. "How is El?"
"She’s fine," El said smartly from the doorway. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and still looked pale, but she walked slowly and sat down on the other side of the bed.
"Tell me what happened," Aylin said quietly.
"Maybe later." Terra shook her head. "You need to rest and heal."
"No, I would like to know now," Aylin said. She looked at Blake. "You were there."
Blake nodded, but it was Terra that spoke. She relayed the events, and Aylin grimaced at some of the details. Toward the end of her detailed description of the previous night’s events she frowned, "That amount of iron should have killed you."
"Oh, I had a few tricks up my sleeves." Aylin faintly smiled. Ever since she was eighteen her mother started her on taking small doses of iron. It had made her sick at first, but she fought through it, and now she had a tolerance built up against the effects of it. She would never be fully immune to it, but was stronger than other faeries would be when in contact with it.