Fairy World M.D., Boxed Set Two (4-6.5)
Page 72
“You mean, you might use up all your magic, and we might be swimming out of here?”
He gave me a tight-lipped smile. “More than likely.”
“Fine.” I crossed my arms. “Do what you have to do.”
Breathing deeply, Maveryck reached toward the stone, fingers outstretched. With his eyes closed, blue magic gathered around him. He chanted quietly under his breath as he placed his hands around it.
His brow scrunched with pain. The chanting grew louder. The glow became so bright I had to step away and shield my eyes.
Maveryck screamed and fell back. I knelt beside him. He looked at his hands, the flesh red and blistered. I placed my palms beneath the backs of his hands where they weren’t burned, cupping them.
“This doesn’t look good. Do you have any healing ointment? I’ve got bandages.”
“I don’t need it. I’ll heal soon enough.” He sighed, staring pensively at the stone. That’s unfortunate. I’m not sure how to remove it.”
“I don’t think I’m much help. Magic isn’t something I know anything about.”
“I’m trying to use my own magic to remove it, but I don’t have much energy left. What if I were to use its powers instead? Try to use its powers against it.”
“Can you do that?”
“I can try.”
He stood, shaking out his hands, then approached the stone once again. With a chanting of words, the purple glow shone on his robes, its magic wrapping around him. He touched the stone, then wrapped his fingers around it. When he picked it up and nothing happened, I finally let go of my pent-up breath.
“You did it.”
“Yes. Now we just have the chore of escaping with it.”
He placed the stone in his cloak’s pocket, then stepped away from the pedestal. The light went out, plunging us into complete darkness. The constant sounds of clanging machinery stopped abruptly. The silence pressed in, my ears ringing.
“Was that supposed to happen?”
“I guess that’s what happens when you cut the power.”
A blue light glowed, coming from Maveryck’s hands. His skin was already healing, pink flesh knitting back together, the burns disappearing completely. The light from his hands lit our path as we crossed back to the wall of pipes.
Climbing over had been hard enough. Doing it in the dark would be worse. But I refused to stay in this horrible place, so I grabbed onto one of the metal clasps and began my ascent. Maveryck climbed beside me, but his light didn’t reach far. When I’d reached the halfway point, the sound of shifting sand came from behind me.
Was the creature returning?
I didn’t glance back. I only kept climbing. The slithering came again, then disappeared. I got the feeling the beast was toying with us.
My arms cramped as I lifted onto the top of the pipe-wall. I only paused briefly, looking down at the sandy pit below. Not seeing movement, I swung my leg over and climbed down into the bowels of the machine.
The quiet unnerved me. Only the bobbing blue light of Maveryck’s magic lit the world around me—metal glinting, tubes and gears frozen in place, the walkway ahead that seemed to lead into a black abyss.
My own breathing sounded too loud. My fingers cramped as I held my knife. I couldn’t stop thinking about that creature we’d left behind. It would be back. I knew it would. Were we prepared to fight it?
“Maveryck,” I whispered. “Do you have enough magic to battle the beast if we see it again?”
His eyes looked dark under the glow of his magic. “If my answer is no, what then?”
“Then I’ve got my blade.” Which seemed so insignificant compared to a monster of that size. I wished I’d had my sword.
We trekked down the winding metal walkway until we made it away from the machine. The dark water of the lake spread out before us. We stood on the bank, the liquid unmoving. Its greasy scent filling the air.
I had no desire to step a toe, let alone submerge my entire body, in the water.
“We’ll have to swim for it,” Maveryck said.
“Do we have to?”
“If we don’t, then we’re stuck here.”
I grumbled as I removed my cloak, then started unbuckling my boots. Something rippled through the water. The beast’s roar broke through the silence as it rose up from the lake. Water poured from its lithe neck and reptilian head. Tentacles splashed.
“I changed my mind,” I said. “I’ve decided not to swim for it.”
“I agree.”
“I’m glad we agree on something.”
“Can you use your fire again?”
He breathed deeply, exhaustion etched in lines around his eyes. “Yes.”
Tentacles whipped around us. One hit me straight in the chest, knocking me back. I managed to grab the tentacle before it whipped away. Using all my energy, I buried my knife deep in its flesh. Its shriek pierced the air. After yanking my blade free, I got to my feet.
The monster’s face loomed closer, its fangs looming, yellow eyes burning with rage. Maveryck’s fire burst from his hands, blasting the creature’s head. Fire ignited, burning its scales. It thrashed violently and submerged, though dozens of tentacles reached for us. I severed one, then another. The ruined stumps fell to the ground.
Maveryck blasted the writhing appendages with his magic. Blue fire burned scorching hot, the heat brushing my face from where I stood.
The beast rose up again, half its face burned, revealing bone and muscle tissue. It snapped its massive jaws at my face. I jumped back, though its teeth scraped my calves. Stinging pain burned through my legs. Doing my best to ignore the pain, I grabbed my knife and rounded on the monster. Its face loomed. I stabbed my blade into its eye, hoping to puncture through to the brain.
Its head thrashed, knocking me backward so far my back collided with the machine’s metal wall. The breath escaped my lungs as I fell into a heap.
Pain tore through me. I couldn’t seem to pick myself up off the ground. All I could do was watch as the creature thrashed, the hilt of my blade poking from its eye socket, Maveryck’s fire blazing around its remaining appendages.
The monster finally collapsed with a gasp. The entirety of its body rose to the lake’s surface, long enough to stretch from one shore to the other.
Maveryck came to my side. A bruise formed on his cheek, blood smearing his neck and his tunic. He breathed heavily as he took my hands in his.
“Are you okay?”
I sat up, wincing at the pain in my legs. “I’m all right. I should be asking you the same thing. Is the beast dead?”
“It’s dead, and we won’t have to swim. We can use its body as a bridge.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard since we arrived on this world. Well, except for the news that you were alive.”
He gave me a knowing smile, then kissed my knuckles.
Relief that we’d finally slayed the beast made my heart soar. I couldn’t wait to be free of this place. Maveryck helped me get to my feet. My calves burned as I walked, but we had no time for bandaging wounds.
The beast’s snake-like corpse floated in the water. We climbed atop it. I tried to ignore its noxious, greasy scent. Its scales were made of a metallic substance. Walking along the ridge of its back wasn’t as hard as I might’ve imagined as long as I avoided the spiky protrusions.
When we made it to the other side, the world shook. Behind us, large chunks of metal gears broke free and clattered to the ground.
“That can’t be good,” I said.
“No. Without the unicorn’s stone, it can’t stay together. I imagine this whole world will be torn apart soon.”
We headed for the tunnel leading out, but I grabbed Maveryck’s arm. The looming question of the dying world was something that plagued me.
“We can’t leave yet. We can’t steal their only source of power, then allow them to die. It’s not right.”
Maveryck nodded, as if understanding my drawback. “I agree, and I’ve given some thought
to this.” He glanced back at the machine. Closing his eyes, he whispered a spell. When he outstretched his hands, an orb of blue magic ignited atop his palms.
The orb grew larger until it floated toward the lake. In its facets, I spotted swaying green trees and a pink-tinged sky.
When he opened his eyes and stepped away, he stumbled. His face turned ashen.
“What did you do?”
“I gave them another way out. That’s the entrance to an undiscovered world. A new planet. A new life.”
“How will they find it?”
He pointed up. A fissure opened above us. Through it, a starry, nighttime sky appeared. “We’re in the city’s center. They’ll find it.”
I nodded, hope swelling in my chest. Maybe they’d have a chance. The ground shook more violently. We ran into the tunnels, the bricks blurring past as we sprinted out.
When we finally made it back up to the surface, the city had devolved into chaos. Fires burned, people ran screaming, and the Regaymor had descended like a plague, their black cloaks and wicked, scythe-like claws ripping flesh.
Maveryck took my hand as we ran through the streets. Fires crackled around us. He led us down narrow alleyways where we dashed past bodies lying dead and bloodied. My heart raced as we approached one street and then another, thinking that at any moment we would be attacked by the Regaymor.
When we made it to the city’s wall, we spotted a passageway and darted through it. The dark forest loomed before us.
I finally got the chance to catch my breath as we stood under the trees, their presence calming me, reminding me of home.
Behind us, footsteps crunched over sticks. We rounded to find Lucretian and the two other Wults. Beyond them, I spotted my brother Kull with Olive, sitting against a tree trunk, the sword at their feet.
“Is that the weapon?” I asked the wizard.
“Yes. That’s the weapon that will stop your world from becoming like this one. Let’s pray you save it.”
“I agree.”
Maveryck took my hand. When I looked up at him, hope swelled in my chest. One quest had ended. Another would begin soon, but he was with me again. As long as we survived, we’d have a life worth living. And we would do it together.
Don’t miss the final book in the Fairy World M.D. series by bestselling author Tamara Gratham! Get your copy today!
The thrilling series conclusion: It's been four years since Olive Kennedy sealed the portals between Earth and Faythander. To keep her mind off all she's missing, she's been working as a consultant to the Houston PD. A clue at a crime scene will change everything. Dark forces are at work, and Olive will stop at nothing to solve the murder and return to the only world she calls home.
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About the Author
Tamara Grantham was born and raised in Southeast Texas. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in English from Lamar University. After marrying her husband David, she followed him through his training to become a burn surgeon, which consisted of moving from Vidor, Texas to Galveston, Texas, then to Tulsa, Oklahoma, back to Galveston, and they finally settled in Wichita, Kansas. Tamara and David have five active, sweet, and almost always well-mannered children, ages zero to ten years. Their two pets, June—the Jack Russell Terrier, and Chester—a black cat, help to keep the house lively (in addition to the children.)
When Tamara isn’t writing or tending her children, she enjoys taking walks through the woods, eating chocolate, and very infrequently, she enjoys a good night’s sleep.
Tamara would love to hear from you!
www.tamaragrantham.com
Afterword
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