by Eric Asher
But beyond that ocean of Fae was the noise. The grunts, shouts, and war cries of an army.
Vicky stared out at them, her gaze taking in the crowd from one side of the cavern to the other as she entered the room beside Zola. “Wow.” She stretched the word out, and I understood the awe in her voice. Jasper hopped off her shoulder, and rolled to the right until I lost sight of him in the throng of fairies.
Looking at that intimidating force left one question in my mind. “Why didn’t they gut the dark-touched?”
“Their mission was to keep this army a secret,” a voice said, a bit too much emphasis on the s syllables. “Until the right time.” I turned, expecting to find one of the Utukku, but not the Utukku. She bared her fangs in what I’d come to think of as a friendly smile. Her lizard-like eyes blinked sideways, and I returned the smile.
“Utukku! What are you doing here? I thought you’d be with Hess, or somewhere else, even back in Faerie, no?”
She reached out and patted my forearm. “No, Damian Vesik. There is no more important place than here. I was saddened to learn of my people who died on the street. But their sacrifice will keep us hidden for a time. Nudd does not know his doom grows beneath his feet.”
Morrigan glanced between me and Utukku. “Our time is running short. Some of the elite dark-touched have been seen here.”
“The ones that can talk,” I said.
Morrigan inclined her head. “Yes.”
Utukku stroked the hilt of the dagger sheathed at her hip. “They are formidable, but a formidable enemy can still die.”
A break in the rigid routine, playing out deeper in the cavern, caught my eye. “What’s going on back there?”
“The ring?” Utukku asked. “You must come and watch our allies spar.”
“A foolish way to get our allies to kill themselves,” Morrigan said. “I still do not approve of this.”
“There are more healers,” Utukku said. “And more importantly, Ward finished laying his runes before he left for Faerie with Leviticus. The incantations inside that circle are far weaker than those cast outside of it.”
Morrigan crossed her arms.
Vicky frowned and looked around the group. “Where’d Jasper go?”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “That furball can take care of himself.”
“As long as there aren’t any dolls around,” Vicky said.
“He still eating their heads?” I asked, remembering how many of Sam’s Barbies I’d fed to him when we were kids.
“It’s not the toys I’m worried about,” Vicky said. “You know what could happen if he got a hold of a voodoo doll?” She shivered.
And I tried to envision it, those gleaming, razor-sharp teeth slicing into the flesh of a voodoo doll, rending all the stuffing from it. “Thankfully, voodoo isn’t real, right?” I raised an eyebrow as I looked to Zola.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, boy,” Zola said.
I laughed nervously.
“Come,” Morrigan said.
I expected her to lead us around the drilling soldiers but, instead, we strode up the middle, only a few inches separating us from the thrusts of the swords and the overhead strikes of a hundred halberds. Zola frowned, looking unimpressed, though I suspected that wasn’t the actual emotion she was fighting with. Vicky, on the other hand, looked downright excited. And I could understand some of that excitement, knowing all these Fae were our allies.
I flinched as a halberd thrust came uncomfortably close to my right arm. The Fae at the end of the pike gave me a small smile and a nod before shifting his weight and swinging his halberd back in the other direction. I wondered how many of the Fae considered us their allies. Or were we something their leaders simply told them they had to deal with? Or, more perhaps more disturbingly, how many of them were actually spies for Nudd?
The thought sent a chill to my bones. But if I was honest with myself, I had little doubt that some of the Fae before us did not have our best interests at heart. If we’d been smart enough to send spies into the ranks of Nudd’s army, you could be damn well sure he’d done the same.
We started past the Owl Knights, and I would have thought they were adorable, if I hadn’t seen them fight. The damage the talons on those owls could do to a Fae that was still in its small form was immeasurable. Two of the larger barn owls at the back raised their right wings, concealing the flash of their riders’ swords. It was graceful, deadly, and terribly effective.
Beyond that, the skirmish in the ring had picked up in earnest. Three Fae squared off, and it appeared to me they were all on their own side. None of the fairies in the circle were armed with the narrow Fae blades I was so used to seeing. We were just close enough I could hear the words of the fairy in the circle with his back to us.
“Nudd be with you,” he said.
His two adversaries stiffened and raised their fists, as if they were about to engage in fisticuffs that would’ve looked more at home in a silent movie. But it wasn’t their fists that struck out. The Fae on the right made a half turn, and when the fairy closest to us moved to block, the attacking Fae changed direction so fast my head spun. Instead of a forward kick, a blindingly fast roundhouse caught the defender on the shoulder. The fact that he managed to get his shoulder in the way to block spoke greatly of his speed. He grunted as the third Fae closed on him. The defender whispered an incantation, too quiet for me to make out, but his laugh was clear. He grabbed the wing of the first attacker and dragged the fairy into the path of the wave of force from the second. Even though I didn’t hear the incantation, I was fairly certain it was a pulsatto. It hammered into the fairy’s chest, and he collapsed to the floor, only to rise in a rage and attack the third fairy.
“Too easy,” the defending Fae said. And something tickled my memories. It was a voice I knew. A voice I’d heard before.
Before I could say anything, a thunderous roar echoed from the back of the cavern. A small tower of blue sparks fired into the air, drawing my attention completely away from the fight.
“Shit,” I said. “Jasper. Nothing to worry about indeed.”
“That’s not Jasper,” Vicky said. Another barking roar sounded, and a second tower of blue flame went up beside the first. A gray neck rose, towering over the distant edge of the training grounds. “That’s Jasper.”
“Then what …” But I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence before another massive gray neck stood tall above the crowd, and a dragon equal to Jasper’s size made its way toward him. I took a step in their direction before Vicky cursed and grabbed my backpack. She had it unzipped and was rooting through it before I understood what was happening. I heard the bag of jerky crunch in her hand a moment before she sprinted off toward the dragons.
“Another dragon?” Zola turned to Morrigan. “Who is that?”
I knew the answer. And so did Aideen.
“You let him in here?” Aideen said. “We can’t trust him.”
“Trust who?” Zola asked, but the tone of her voice told me she already knew.
I stared at the back of the fairy in the ring. Watched the lithe, graceful form that I’d faced before on the battlefield and I called out his name, “Drake!”
He turned his attention to me for a split second and flashed me a smile. But his opponents, now fighting more as a team than individually, didn’t miss their chance. Drake’s face was smashed up against the dome of power a moment later. His wry smile turned into a grimace of pain. He tried to escape, but unarmed against skilled opponents, he was done.
“I yield,” Drake said.
The barrier around the fairies fell, and Drake’s opponents released him. He turned the fairies and nodded. “Your training is going well. I’m happy to see the improvements.”
“One day it won’t be my bare hands, betrayer,” the larger of the two Fae said.
“I did not murder your brother for joy,” Drake said. “It was on the battlefield, a long time ago. Some things are best forgotten.”
I rais
ed my voice. “You should come talk to the military with me. I’m sure they’ll buy that line.”
Drake flashed his teeth, somewhere between a grin and a sneer. “Vesik. Care to join me in the ring? Loser has to do whatever the winner says for a day?”
“I’m a bit more concerned about what your dragon might do,” I said.
“You ruined my dragon, Vesik,” Drake said. “I owe you for that.”
He cocked his head toward the back of the cavern. I frowned at him, and then followed the motion to the dragons. Vicky was sitting on Drake’s dragon’s head while the dragon stuck out his tongue so Vicky could pile Frank’s face-melting jerky onto it.
“I …” But I couldn’t find the words.
Drake turned and watched the dragons and the young teenager. “I doubt I’ll ever get him to eat humans again. Dried out cow, on the other hand …”
I blinked at the fairy. The right hand of the Mad King, a Demon Sword, who somehow retained his powers through the loss of his monarch—powers to rival Foster’s own, powers that he’d used to burn down Park’s base in Saint Charles. I glared at him.
For a moment, I wondered just how much the circle dampened powers, and if I could fire a spell through it with enough force to strike him down. I’d been willing to give him leeway after the minimal help he offered, but the fact he was now in contact with Vicky put my tolerance on the back burner.
A small smile lifted the edges of Drake’s mouth, giving his sharp cheeks and chin a deadly appearance. “I didn’t realize we would have guests so soon.” He glanced at the Morrigan.
“This was easier than trying to explain it to either one of you.” The Morrigan brushed at her sleeve, and a crease formed on her brow. Just a small expression of irritation I’d seen on Zola’s face more times than I could count. “I don’t care what differences you had in the past. We will have peace in this place.”
“The skirmish by the river?” Drake asked. “Hardly what I would call a difference.”
I choked back a growl. “People died.”
He scoffed. “I doubt it was anyone important. The commoners and their military.” He frowned, like he didn’t like the taste of the words. Much like I didn’t like the fact the military was occupying civilian streets.
“Vicky doesn’t need to be involved in your schemes,” I said, unable to think past what the fairy’s manipulations might be.
“My schemes?” Drake spread his arms wide. “It surely was not me who brought her to these grounds, who gave her the burden of a reaper, who gave life to that which should not live.” His words grew quieter as he spoke, until the last sentence had been little more than a whisper.
“Enough, boy,” Zola said. “What’s done is done. He only spins yarns to rile you up.”
“Is it true?” Aideen said, standing up on Zola’s shoulder. “You’re a mercenary now? A sword for hire? One who would work for the Unseelie Court as quickly as they would defend their own brethren?”
Drake crossed his arms. “Typical. I saved your friend’s life,” he said, nodding in my direction. “The fool would’ve walked right into Nudd’s trap. I could have let him die on the battlefield. I didn’t.”
“And why didn’t you?” Aideen asked. “So you may beg a favor of him one day? Win a favor of mine? Or that of the rightful Demon Sword?”
Drake let out a hollow laugh. “You don’t have the whole story.”
“Then tell it to us,” Aideen said.
Drake glanced at the dragons before returning his attention to me. “I mean her no harm. And I know of the bond you share. To kill you would be to kill her, and I won’t do that.”
I eyed the fairy.
“Come, necromancer. Spar with me here, while my powers are muted, and so are yours.”
“Not without reason,” Aideen said, stopping me in my tracks. I’d scarcely realized I was already stepping toward the circle. “If Damian is victorious, you tell what you know of Nudd’s spies.”
I clenched my fists.
Drake smirked. “I accept your offer. I don’t want either of us to die here, so why don’t we say first takedown wins. Put me on the floor, and I’ll tell you what you ask. But if I put you on the floor, then you leave me alone about my time spent with your apprentice.”
“My apprentice?” I spluttered.
“Yes. I do not care to consider the grief my dragon would give me if she did not see her new best friend.” Drake looked back to the massive forms of the gray beasts. They were now flinging a giggling Vicky back and forth, catching her gently on each other’s noses like a rag doll. “It is … trying.”
I tried to imagine then what the time Drake had spent with Vicky had actually been like. If she’d been bonding with his dragon, his reaper who had been his compatriot since the age of the Wandering War, just how much had that gotten under the fairy’s skin? A slow smile spread across my face. “Agreed.”
“Sweep the leg,” Aideen said.
I hesitated, glanced back at her, and found the fairy grinning broadly.
“Oh, and don’t lose. Apparently, Morrigan doesn’t know whatever Drake’s about to tell us. She’s been trying to get it out of him for the past week.”
The Morrigan shrugged.
I cursed under my breath and stepped into the circle.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Drake backed toward the opposite side of the circle. “You humans haven’t changed in a thousand years. Faerie could’ve ruled you then, and if you’re not careful, Nudd will rule you now.”
“A thousand years?” I asked, shrugging off my backpack and throwing it outside the circle to Zola. “I think you give humanity too much credit. We’ve been killing each other far longer than that.”
Zola caught the heavy bag like it weighed nothing. It was one of those rare moments where she revealed the strength beneath what most would think was an ancient and frail body. Though she aged, and time had taken its toll on her skin, I doubted many could match her pound for pound when it came to strength.
“What of the rules of the circle?” Zola asked.
Morrigan gestured to the wards on the ground. “There are none. When the circle is engaged, their powers will be limited.”
“It will be hard to draw on line arts,” Aideen said.
“Is that all?” Zola asked.
When no one else spoke, I glanced behind me. Morrigan wore no expression. “It’s supposed to be.”
One of the Owl Knights stepped closer, a decorative halberd grasped in his left hand. He raised it high and spoke. “Die with honor.” He brought the haft down on a ward inlaid on a dark gray tile. A second before the glassy dome snapped closed over our heads, I realized most of the hall had gone silent. A great many eyes were on us. When the incantation completed, the silence was almost deafening. I could see those around us speaking, but few words penetrated the spell.
“Finally,” Drake said. “Whisper and they won’t hear what we say in this place. But you must fight as if you mean to kill me.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” I said, shrugging my shoulders and pumping my fists as if it would somehow intimidate the Fae warrior, who had likely seen more battles than I’d seen days above the earth.
“Nudd has to die,” Drake said, hopping forward in an odd feint before lashing out with his right leg. I barely had time to say Impadda before I remembered spells wouldn’t work right in the circle.
A shield spluttered on my arm, and perhaps it slowed Drake’s leg a fraction, but it still hurt like a bitch when he caught my upper thigh. I sagged to one side, and Drake danced backward, as if he were taunting me. It was jarring to hear the words coming from his mouth, but see a different expression on his face. I wouldn’t be surprised if the man could lie to himself without batting an eye.
“No shit,” I said. “But I don’t think that’s your priority.”
“He’s lost his mind, and he’s going to get everyone killed. Vanity is his weakness. Nudd believes himself too powerful, too intelligent, to be dethroned.
So he plays both sides as if they were marionettes.”
Drake’s eyes lit up, and he danced forward again. Instead of waiting for a response, or an attack, I lunged, reaching back as if I intended to throw a wide hook.
The fairy followed the motion, but I feinted the attack with my right hand, drawing up short and grabbing the collar of his mail shirt before drawing his chest down to my knee in one vicious strike.
Surprise widened Drake’s eyes, and I suspected he would’ve been in a bit more pain if he hadn’t been wearing armor. It was about then I realized I was wearing a T-shirt, and he was wearing armor.
“Shit.”
“You fight like the old legions,” Drake said. “But you’re sloppy. You take risks you don’t need to.”
“Not killing you is a risk,” I said.
Drake landed two quick jabs. Trying to block them was like trying to block a hummingbird. “You could at least try to make this a good fight,” the fairy said.
“Pulsatto!” I shouted, straining my will to put as much energy into the incantation as I could.
Drake danced away, but I hadn’t been aiming for his chest. Weakened though the magic might have been, his sprightly steps made his legs vulnerable. When the wave of force hit, it was enough to take one of them out from under him. He went down on one knee, but popped right back up.
“That was close,” Drake said. “I’m impressed.”
“What do you want with Vicky?” I asked. “Why did you seek her out?”
“I didn’t seek her,” Drake said after an awkward pause.
“You’re lying,” I said.
“She’s pure, untwisted by years spent in the service of a madman. I was like her once, long ago, and that child deserves the choices I never had.”
I narrowed my eyes, but I didn’t have a counter to Drake’s words.