by B. J. Smash
“Never get an Elf off their feet,” I’d once heard someone say.
Sure, we could wrestle with our legs, but our strength lay with kicking, jumping, and running. I winded my legs up around him, and he leaned down to hit me in the face again. Blood oozed from my now fat lip. He raised the axe, and he wasn’t aiming for my neck or my head—but my leg.
The moment was surreal, and time slowed. From the corner of my eye, I could see Cora running for me in slow motion, and Minimus. Minimus! Was I dreaming? He was with her, lifting his hand to cast a spell for me. They wouldn’t be here in time, spell or not. My leg was about to be separated from my body.
Off in the distance, I heard the screech of an eagle. The sound so soothed me as I prepared to lose a limb.
It drew closer, and I saw it to the right, high up in the wide, open sky, flying below the clouds. I could soon be flying with that eagle. That would be peaceful. Wouldn’t it?
But I was wrong. The eagle swooped down as though heading for some type of prey, soaring with great, eager speed, and about twenty feet from the Fae fighter, something happened that I will never forget for the rest of my life. It would be among my most favorite memories.
The eagle shifted, only the top half…to a woman. The eagle legs expanded out and were in proportion with the top half of her body.
The top half…an old woman in a tattered blue robe-dress. Someone I had surely missed.
Izadora screamed down, her enlarged talons grabbing hold of the shoulder of the Fae fighter. She held her mighty staff as she stood upon the Fae fighter’s shoulders. She brought the staff down, slamming it deep into his chest and pulling it back out to reveal his black, beating heart. Black blood dripped from the end of the staff as our eyes met—hers with something like amusement and anger at the same time. She nodded once to me then released her talons from his shoulders, shifted back to eagle form, and flew off out above the many trees and up into the baby blue sky.
“That might have been the grossest thing I’ve ever seen. But thanks,” I called after her, knowing she couldn’t hear.
She’d been my saving grace, no matter how disgusting. She’d saved me from a totally gruesome end. My dear old mentor was back. How? I didn’t know. But she was back.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
One thing that I have learned is everything happens for a reason. Sometimes you don’t get to ask why. And sometimes the things that happen will be cruel, and other times things will be miraculous. But the outcome is always inevitable, set in stone. I had heard it stated otherwise, but this is what I, myself, personally thought.
Sitting on a slippery rock on the coastline, I contemplated this over and over in my head while Aunt Cora spoke with Izadora.
Izadora sat in a lone tree on the beach. The branch was so narrow that it bent beneath her weight, and her feet dangled only a yard or so above the ground. The scene was comical, even with all the seriousness of the situation.
Aunt Cora stood below her now. “Izadora, I had to put you under. You would have never let me pass!”
“I can be reasonable,” she scoffed. Aunt Cora and I both snorted at the same time, but from the look in Izadora’s eyes, I decided to stay out of it. She continued to chastise my aunt.
“I have a mind to bend you over my knee right here and right now!” Izadora replied. She was so riled up that her arms flailed about her, and she almost fell from the slim branch. Grabbing the trunk of the tree, she steadied herself. Her white hair flew about her everywhere, and she reminded me of someone who had just escaped from a mental hospital.
“I apologize, Izadora, I truly do. Why, I had planned on returning soon to revive you. It was only a matter of time.”
Izadora jutted her chin out. “You’re lucky Izaill reversed the spell. If he hadn’t shown, you’d all be in well over your heads about this time. And Ivy may be legless by now.”
I had to give her that one. She had saved me.
“Forgive me. Please.” Aunt Cora winced.
“I suppose,” she replied, scowling.
Earlier, I hadn’t been delusional after all. Minimus sat on a rock not too far from me. He held a slender telescope out over the sea, squinting one eye, scanning the horizon. He had found my aunt early on, I was told. He knew she would need assistance, he had said.
Niall and Conri had recently left to scour the outskirts of the land, searching for Lucian and the others. My sister and Rodinand sat on the beach, well apart. Rodinand’s eyes were still covered with the leaves. We had taken the leaf from my sister’s lips because Izadora would soon be asking her questions. Zinnia sat quietly, not daring to make a peep. Occasionally she would take a peek at Izadora out of the corner of her eye, but I knew she didn’t dare make eye contact.
“Here she comes,” Minimus said. “In her new boat. I wonder who she hijacked that from.”
The sky grew a dark and deadly gray, and the wind picked up. Black clouds rolled in with Magella and her new rig. The boat had three masts and could haul some cargo, and it slid up to the shoreline with a big thunk. The big clipper ship slid halfway up the beach. Her eyes were black like the clouds, her mood just as dark.
“When did you get in?” Magella spoke first, leaning over the boat. Her long, scraggly hair blew in the wind. The waves pounded on the backside of her boat.
“Izaill rescued me. No thanks to Cora, here—” Izadora fumed.
Magella cut her off with a boisterous laugh. “Ha! It was quiet Cora that put you under that spell? Oh, the irony. Oh how hilarious.” She slapped the railing. I had never told Magella just who had put Izadora under with the sleeping spell, so this was news to her.
“Pipe it down. We have a dire problem at hand.”
“How did Izaill get up in the tree house to reverse the spell?” she asked.
“He didn’t—the pixie brought the cure up, put it to my lips,” Izadora explained.
“Well, good enough. That’s right and proper of her,” Magella said, indicating pixies were beneath her. “Where is Izaill now?”
Before anyone could answer, the beach rumbled low. It felt like the rock I sat upon would dislodge itself and sink. Soon the ground shook with great force and boom, there he stood before us, dusting sand from his hair. He adjusted his white bowler cap and said, “Well, look at us all here together. If only Montague could make it. What a shame.”
I had learned from Minimus that my GG Edmund was still in Scotland with Old Sam McCallister. Apparently they were attending an arcane and crucial meeting that could not be missed under any circumstances. Something else was going on in their part of the world, and it was mandatory to be there.
Pladia, who had been sitting on Izaill’s shoulder, noticed me. Immediately she fled to me, casting silver dust over the wet sand. “He crazy,” she said before disappearing into my hair.
“Thanks for your help, Pladia,” I whispered, and then my attention was back to the group.
Minimus stood, collapsing his telescope. He went to place it on the inside of his cape. I had a clear view of the inside of his cape, and there was no pocket. The telescope just up and disappeared into the cape. “I know how much you all adore one another.” One eyebrow went up as he spoke his sarcasm. “Nonetheless, we have a pressing matter at hand.”
I thought for sure he meant opening the gateway to the land of the Elven. And what he said next confused me.
“As you know, there is a storm brewing,” he said.
“Tell me about it. Do you know how long I’ve been holding that thing off? My whole body aches with pains unimaginable,” Magella said. “The last spell I cast set it back a few miles, but it won’t be long. No, it won’t be long before it comes back around, and this time, it will be impossible for me to stop it alone.”
“What storm?” I thought of the dream I’d had earlier.
“The storm from your dreams, Ivy. I cast a spell three days ago. A monstrosity of a storm is coming.” Zinnia giggled.
“You did what?” I rubbed the bridge of my nos
e, a new habit I’d formed when I got agitated. The problem with that was it hurt terribly. The Fae fighter that busted my lip open had nearly broken my nose as well. Working through the pain, I continued. “Zinnia. You are the one that sent me that dream, aren’t you?”
“Of course. And I placed a bit of an anxiety spell upon you. Just to unsettle you enough so I could try and escape,” she said, a little too cocky.
“The little wench,” Magella fumed.
Izadora interrupted and said to me, “Zinnia cast a spell to doom the island. Magella figured this out when you and Lucian were cast from the boat, separating you from the McCallister clan. Izaill learned from Magella of what she had done. That’s why I’m here. That’s why he rescued me. It will take the whole lot of us to stop this wave.”
“Zinnia?” I looked at her, confused. “Is there no end? Why?”
“I planned on being gone from this dreadful island by now. You got in the way.”
“But why would you want to come here, barricade the gate to the land of the Elven, and then leave?”
“I had to STOP them from being able to assist you.”
“Assist me with what?”
“They could easily stop me from ruling the world, and I couldn’t have that, now could I?”
“So, you came here to kill them off?”
“Rodinand said it’s never been done. That no one can stop the Elven. I thought I’d add some spice to our game and see if I could be the first to get rid of them.”
Never in my life could I think that she’d be capable of this. She was clearly crazy, but killing off a whole race of beings? “I don’t believe you. You don’t have it in you—not even you.”
“Okay, okay. You’re right. It was Roddy’s idea. He made me do it—he wants to rule the world. I must admit, there is not room for the both of us. I was glad to have Aunt Cora bind him with the negative narcissist spell. But now that I’ve told you that killing off the Elven was his plan, he’ll end up killing me.” As she spoke, the ivy vines on her arms made a sucking noise and tightened, creeping up her shoulder and wrapping around her neck.
“Shut your mouth, you stupid girl,” Rodinand yelled. “If it wasn’t for you betraying me back there, we’d be long gone. I’ve kept you around, hoping you’d come to your senses and get us away from these martyrs. Fools. But you continue to disappoint me.”
The vines tightened around her throat. Her hands flew up to prevent them from tightening, but she didn’t stand a chance. Everyone stared except for Minimus, who pretended she wasn’t there. His eyes were on my Aunt Cora. Aunt Cora watched Zinnia; her hands had gone to her mouth in fear.
Izadora shook her head with boredom and went about picking at her fingernails. And Magella laughed with glee.
By this time, Izaill’s temper flared. He pounded his foot into the damp sand, and a jagged line crept over to Rodinand, encompassing him.
“What’s happening? What’s going on out there?” Rodinand called out.
When the circle was complete, the sand crumbled below him, and he was swallowed up by the earth. The sand, as if alive, formed back over his body and smoothed out.
“We won’t be hearing from him for a while.” Izaill’s eyebrows furrowed, and he was peeved. He rolled up the white sleeves of his shirt and walked to Zinnia. She lay on the beach, writhing in agony.
Izaill reached down and grasped the ivy and ripped it from her body. “Now listen up. Personally, I think you are a spoiled rotten, disagreeable, pathetic brat. But here is your second chance—and your FINAL chance.” He bent over her body. “You either shape up this time, or by the power invested in me, you will die.” He stood up straight and walked back to the same spot he’d been standing at. “Game over for you. You will stay on the sidelines and sit this one out.”
Zinnia sat up, holding her throat and gasping for air. “Yes, sir,” she managed to say.
It never failed to amaze me that they still considered this a game. Izadora tended to agree with me. “I’d say this ‘game’ has taken a turn for the worse. We must focus to fix your mistakes.”
“There is no reversal for the spell she cast?” I had to ask.
“No,” Izadora said plainly.
And with that, we came up with a plan.
Aunt Cora and Minimus would get to the gate of the Elven as quickly as possible. It wouldn’t take long for them to arrive if they followed the path directly there. We were close by now, and the Elven would need to be released in case our next plan didn’t work.
Magella, Izaill, Izadora, and I would stave off the storm. At this time, I didn’t know exactly what that would entail, but I had agreed to help as much as I could. Zinnia would sit in the forest and watch. As Izaill had put it, she had no place here with us.
A gale of wind rushed past us, swirling up sand, and spun into the forest. The overcast sky was black as night. Dark, murky waves crashed ashore and rushed back to the sea. The building waves would return soon, and they wouldn’t be friendly.
When they finally informed me of what I’d be doing, I almost lost it.
“It has to be you, Ivy. You’ll take your great-grandfather’s place.”
“You are telling me that I have to accept AND conduct your energy?” They had floored me with this news. I was dumbfounded. How did they expect me to do this? I was not up to their caliber of witchery. They were so far advanced that if we were in a race, I wouldn’t even be able to see them ahead of me—they’d already be over the finish line! I wished my GG Edmund was here.
“That’s what we’re telling you,” Izadora said frankly. “It has to be you.”
I remembered the day that I’d spent with Maximus on Hy Brasil. He had taught me to pull down the lightning and focus the energy, and to dispel it into the earth. He had known that I would soon need to know how to do this. He had known all along. And what was it he had said? “You will have to learn to work with the elements.”
And to think I had thought he had meant the wind and lightning, and things like that. Oh no, no, no. When he had said “the elements,” he had meant earth, air, and water—also known as Izaill, Izadora, and Magella.
The man was wise to put it the way he had. I may have never come here, otherwise.
I prepared myself mentally. This wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Just a bit of electric current flowing through my body.
“What are we doing again?” I asked. “I mean, how will this work?”
“We didn’t tell you yet,” Izadora said. “But since we’re about to perform the rite, I will tell you now.” She adjusted herself on the tree; her butt barely fit. “I will be in that tree over there.” She pointed to a tall, sturdy tree in the tree line. “You will be farther down, and Izaill will be in the clearing in the woods beyond me. Magella will remain in the boat. We will form a circle of sorts.”
Magella had lost patience. “She will shoot forth a current. I will accept it and shoot it to you. You will accept and then shoot it to Izaill, and he back to Izadora. By doing this, we will form and cast up a ceiling of energy. When the wave hits, it will flow over us and back to the ocean, sparing the island.”
“Flow?” Izaill laughed. “That wave will be coming at breakneck speed. It won’t flow. We’ll be lucky to live through this. Plus, the electrical currents that will be flowing through our bodies are nothing to sneer at.” He snorted. “And that is why we call it the ‘ring of death.’”
The ring of death! So this was what Izadora had referred to as the “ring of death.” She’d seen it in a vision but didn’t know when or how it would happen. Wow. This could be the end of us all.
Izadora informed me that all of us were right-handed, except for Izadora, who was ambidextrous. We’d have to receive the current with our receiving hands, which would be the left hand, and shoot forth with our “power hand,” which would be the right hand.
“Oh, God,” I rambled on to myself and walked to my post. “What have I gotten myself into now?”
Zinnia’s legs draped over a lo
g as she sat close by me. If I wasn’t so freaked out, I could just about strangle her for causing all of this trouble. Pladia stood on her shoulders, a sentinel at her post. She’d make sure my sister stayed in line. Standing at my tree, I could clearly see Izadora ahead of me and Izaill to the right, and Magella stood in her boat.
Disrupting my chain of thought, Magella screeched, “What is that noise? A whole bunch of ruckus!”
“It’s a battle!” Izaill called, trying to explain over the noise.
“A what?” Magella cocked her ear and cupped it with her hand.
“A battle!” he yelled. This time his voice sounded like he had a megaphone.
I’d been so taken in with the task at hand that I hadn’t heard the raucous voices and pounding feet trampling over the forest floor, crunching branches and breaking tree limbs.
A battle had broken out in the forest. We all took pause to watch. The Unseelie ran toward a group of Elven. The Elven were sorely outnumbered by at least a hundred. But on the side of the Elven were a group of fierce hellhounds.
My heart soared. The hellhounds!
A commotion spread out on the hill behind the Elven. Something was coming. Voices. A combination of many voices screaming all at once that reminded me of a choir. The ground rumbled violently with footfall.
My sister stood to watch. “It is the Seelie. The Good Folk.”
Tall, beautiful men descended down the steep hill, raging forward with spears and axes. A few had swords. I focused my Elven eyes in on the leader of the group to see that it was Angus, the Fae that I’d met on Hy Brasil at the hurling game. His mouth was open as far as it could go, and he screamed violently as he held his spear up and ran toward the Unseelie. Clearly the group meant business. I was so glad to see them!
But what caught my heart’s attention was the beautiful, golden-haired Elf that sat atop Solstice. I sighed faintly with pride. He rode in swiftly from the side, joining Angus and the rest of the Seelie. Jumping up to stand on Solstice’s back, he brought some arrows back in his bow. Releasing them, they shot forward, striking four different Unseelie. He was amazing.