The Paladins

by Julie Reece

  Without their captive, other roots sprawl uselessly across the floor. Dirt and gravel continue sifting like flour over the glass ceiling of our cage.

  Water laps Cole’s chest. He seems not to notice, just stares with a look of dazed horror.

  “Cole?”

  He startles before plowing both hands through his soaking hair. “I should have known. It’s all my own stupid fault!” Rose’s betrayal shows in his tortured eyes.

  My heart cramps for him, but there’s no time for blame. I grab both shoulders. “No it isn’t. It’s hers. Now, help me get out of here so we can kick her ass.”

  He glances again at the surrounding devastation, and I can only hope I’ve gotten through.

  Desiree is planning who knows what for Gideon. There’s a crap ton of water still rising, and our air’s almost gone.

  Think, Rae, think, think, think, think …

  My mind snatches at bits of information. What does it mean to control the elements? How can it help? Individually, we’re weaker, but together we might be stronger.

  “Cole, call the wind.”

  “I’ve tried.”

  “Try again! Reach past the glass. We can’t give up.” I close my eyes and search for the trees with my mind. No one is close, none but the willows who hate me. Then my mother’s words find me again. Miss Willow will betray you if she can.

  If.

  You must bend them all to your will.

  I concentrate on the willow roots. They snap and curl away at my beckoning, but the thought of Gideon only steels my will.

  Come!

  Begrudgingly, the roots make their way forward. I ask them to encircle the barrier. The more they balk, the harder my thoughts push. Howling wind strengthens my resolve, knowing Cole is fighting, too.

  I open my eyes to a sea of roots wrapping around our jail. Pressure, I order. Tighten, squeeze, smash my cage.

  The waterline ripples over my nose. We tip our heads back for air that’s tepid and lean.

  I appeal to every tree in The Void. Animals, plant life, soil, the earth itself, begging them to fight for us.

  Willow roots flex and strain. Tiny fissures fork like silver veins of lightning across the glass box. The ground shudders. More roots tunnel up from the soil and butt against the clear floor of our prison cell. Glass snaps and crunches.

  Our heads press the ceiling where there’s a final gulp of air before submersion.

  Cole takes my arm. Our eyes are open as we face one another. Black hair swims around his handsome face. He lifts a palm to my cheek.

  I know what he wants. It’s written inside his sad, weary eyes. Forgiveness. I take his hand in both of mine and give it, though there’s nothing to forgive.

  All the while, my mind chants. Smash the cage …

  The waters darken and blur. Cole’s eyes roll white. His hand drops, and he falls away.

  I’m floating. Weightless, my body drifts as though I’m made of nothing but foam. I’m a bubble riding the waves to the shoreline. It occurs to me I’m dreaming … or drowning. My journey is peaceful until the surf changes. The ocean turns angry, wind bellows with a brave and vicious sound. Waves break me against an unyielding surface, and then I’m flung up and out of the sea, carried on the wind to freedom.

  I’m not breathing, but I can’t decide if that’s important anymore. Enveloped in a cloud of sweet clover, I’m not unhappy.

  A dull pain knocks at my chest as though I’m a door and someone wants in. Thud. Ka-thud. My body convulses. Another and another, though the pounding is more battering ram than polite knock. It almost sounds like a heartbeat. Ka-thud, ka-thud, ka-thud.

  My lungs rip apart as air seeps inside. A cough blasts water from my throat. I choke and strangle and cough some more.

  Ferdy’s image wavers above me. He hits my chest with his fist, and I bounce.

  “That’s enough, mate.” Cole’s face bleeds into view across from the bull’s head. Without a word, he lowers his mouth, fits his lips to mine, and gently breathes for me.

  My limbs tingle, energy infuses my tired muscles. The clover covering my chest give their lives to renew mine. Power zings through my veins, heart, brain. Healing, rejuvenating, more plants come, replacing those that die until I feel as strong as ten men.

  As Cole lowers his head again, my arms reach around his neck. “I’m okay,” I whisper.

  He straightens with a smile. “Rae, thank God. I was having kittens until your eyes opened.”

  “Thank you, bro. I’m all right, now.” I sit up and throw myself onto Ferdy’s body, hugging him with all my might. “You found us!” No matter what happens, he’s coming home with me. Whatever it takes to keep him safe, it’s done. I let my bull friend loose and bolt to my feet. We’re still amidst the rubble of what was the tower. “Where’s Gideon?”

  “Out there, I think.” Cole jerks his chin.

  Ferdy moos low in his throat. Mucus plonks the floor.

  “Your cow fished me out of the water tank, and then went back for you.”

  “Are you all right?” I ask.

  “The air hit me straight away. I don’t know how it works, but I feel strong as an ox.”

  Ferdy snorts.

  “No pun intended.”

  We climb up the broken tower to the courtyard. As tense and ready as a cage fighter, a thundering crash only makes me move faster.

  After crawling out of the hole together, we line up, shoulder to shoulder, and face our enemies.

  But nothing could prepare me for the sight awaiting us.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Cole

  Air element has darkened the sky in answer to my call, blotting the sun with gathering storm clouds. I felt the response, even from beyond Desiree’s cell. Energy coursed through my body the moment the glass broke, as though the air waited impatiently to aid me.

  Ferdy throws his head back and trumpets. If I could, I might do the same.

  Thousands of trees gather at our right, towering over the tops of the hedgerow that make up the maze. Assembled in rows like wooden soldiers, they’re impressive in number, and I assume here at Rae’s request.

  Gideon is missing, but Desiree waits to our left and behind her—a legion. Her blond hair whips in the breeze I’ve created. She pushes a few strands away exposing a small crossbow attached to her wrist. The weapon is laughable. What does the wielder of water need with a toy like that?

  Her white dress flaps and molds itself to voluptuous curves. Such a waste. She could have started over, lived her life. Yet, her relentless need to blight the happiness of others sealed her fate.

  I, for one, intend to make sure this ends. Today.

  The army of Draugar part and something steps into view beside Desiree. The wind carries her greeting. “Hello, Pan. Dressing down today, are we?”

  Pan. In his true form, I’m guessing. He’s naked, which is disgusting, because from the waist up, his skin is smooth and chalky white. From waist to foot, however, he’s covered in shaggy goat hair. Two thick horns protrude from his head, winding around his twitchy goat ears. Slanted, yellow eyes are wideset over a broad, flat nose. Though smaller, he and Ferdy pitted against one another would make quite a show.

  Desiree inclines her head. “This concludes our arrangement?”

  “It does.”

  “Our bargain?”

  “Yes, yes, tiresome creature. The boy is yours, the others mine.”

  “Not the girl, the girl dies.”

  Raven tugs my arm, but I shake her off to listen.

  “I think not,” Pan answers. “I’ve decided to keep her, especially.” There’s finality, even masked warning in his tone. “With you and the Maddox boy gone, I’ll need them both until I can appoint new Artisans and replenish my stores.”

  Desiree’s white smile appears as sincere as a shark’s. “Very well. So long as Gideon and I are free, what do I care?”

  Pan waves a limp hand. As the Drau
gar trudge forward, Desiree and Pan slip behind the mob of undead. Bloody cowards.

  I turn to Rae. “If they win, she gets Gideon. Pan wants you and me.”

  She nods. “We can do this.” Lightning fast, she rises onto her toes and smashes a kiss against my cheek. “Survive.” And then she’s gone, running toward her forest.

  The nearest oak bends and lifts her up. Damned if the thing isn’t walking. All the trees are. They tear their roots from the soil and lumber forward to meet the Draugar.

  Trees reach down, plucking zombies from the ground. Branches become arms, twigs work like hands and fingers, tearing dead limbs apart, ripping Draugar heads from their blackened bodies.

  Fascinating as that is, I’ve got a band of stinking corpses moving my direction. I send a gust of wind and knock them down.

  That’s when I see Gideon.

  Forty meters away, a large willow grows in the center of a concrete fountain. Reedy limbs bind our favorite firebug to her trunk. Roots gulp water and rain continuous moisture over him.

  Clever. Too much moisture snuffs his ability to make fire. A fact we’d not known before today.

  What my friend needs is a proper blow dryer.

  Wind adjusts with my specific instructions. While a mild breeze blows over Maddox, I push a hundred times more force against the tree itself, keeping Gideon safe in the eye of my storm.

  Leaves strip from the willow’s slender branches. Limbs break and are carried off in the gale. Whenever a Draugar gets too close, I divide the wind at my disposal leaving one hand on the willow, while I blow the zombie away with the other.

  It works until too many dead stagger my way, closing in from every direction. Their wrinkled skin resembles dried fruit, although a title like “giant prunes of death” really doesn’t do them justice.

  Ferdy takes up the cause, his ax severing the head of the nearest Draugar. Black slime sprays the garden as he lops the arms and legs off another two zombies.

  Though I swore eternal hatred for cows, the smelly bugger’s really starting to grow on me.

  With the onslaught of dead managed, I angle back to Gideon and his lithesome jailor.

  As Raven would say, Let’s do this!

  I send a wind blast strong enough to tear the top off the willow tree. Low light flares near her trunk signaling Gideon’s dry enough to spark.

  That’s our boy.

  Engulfed in flame, what’s left of the willow falters like a drunken maître d’. Gideon leaps from the fountain and races through the maze, his body glowing like a small sun.

  Unfortunately, Desiree spots him, too, and runs a course to intercept.

  The great numpty doesn’t notice her. He’s too busy hurtling fireworks into the zombie ranks. Between his fire and Rae’s homicidal trees, few Draugar remain.

  Pan breaks from the remaining circle of zombies surrounding him. His hands combust and he hurls a bomb of his own.

  The oak supporting Raven catches fire. Her scream sounds more angry than afraid as the flames spread.

  Pan launches another comet into the moving forest. Smoke from burning wood blights the sky.

  My throat tightens watching the old oak gently place Rae on the ground and out of danger. He rolls in the dirt to smother the flame. Mighty branches claw deep furrows in the earth. His twig-like fingers reach for his brothers, tremble and plead, but they can do nothing to save him. Since my element only feeds fire, I helplessly watch as more trees burn to death.

  Gideon blasts Pan with an impressive bolide, and I’m shocked when the fur on his leg lights.

  Expression clearly shaken, Pan seems as confused as I am. He puts the fire out and darts behind a row of hedges. It seems we’re not immune to other wielders, but how does that work when we control the same element?

  My thoughts are interrupted when Desiree calls water from the fountain and sends it over Gideon in a wide arc.

  Raven approaches from the opposite direction, but the wind I send is faster. It nudges the flow of water aside where it splatters harmlessly to the ground. I’m jogging toward Rae, Ferdy’s hooves clacking on the stones at my side. If we time this right, we can catch Desiree in a crossfire.

  A long root lassoes Desiree’s ankle and she face-plants. Recovering with a guttural cry, she releases sheets of rain over Raven. The deluge swallows her, but also douses the trees burning nearby. Churning smoke hides Raven from my sight. A perfect time for Pan to attack, but he’s gone missing, and Desiree’s water trick destroyed the damaging forest fires—his best effort yet to stop us.

  They don’t seem unified. Confusion swamps me as I puzzle over their strategy, before it strikes me; they don’t have one.

  They never thought we’d get this far.

  Spitting rain stings my skin, but I’m able to glimpse Raven emerging from the smoke in one piece. Desiree gathers water from the soaked ground and shoots Rae with the strength of a fireman’s hose. I cringe as she goes down, and Desiree pounces.

  Gideon is useless in this downpour, but no one told him. He’s barreling through the hedges like a locomotive.

  The monsoon blurs my vision. My feet stop moving, heartbeats race, as Raven’s pulled onto her knees. Head forced back, throat exposed, clearly Desiree plans to finish her rival execution style.

  My thoughts near hysteria; indecision and fear cripple my brain. That’s when I see a dark shape charging through the rain toward them. Head down, horns pointed forward, the Minotaur aims for Desiree. With nowhere to run, her arm flies out. At first, I think it’s a protective instinct, until I spy the crossbow on her wrist. The one I’d laughed at earlier.

  Ferdy, no!

  “Teleport!”

  Gideon’s yell works as well as a slap. Shite! What am I doing? My body vibrates, and I’m gone. Appearing beside Desiree, I lunge for her arm, my fingers wrapping her shoulder just as the arrow flies from the track.

  The Minotaur buckles and falls, snout first. Momentum powers his enormous bulk forward plowing soil like a bulldozer.

  Raven screams and throws herself. His weight could crush her, but she’s beyond reason. Her arms wrap Ferdy’s great neck. She whispers between sobs, offering what comfort she can.

  In my panic, I forgot to do the one thing that could have saved him. Now, his breathing comes in shallow pants, creating fog at his muzzle. The arrow protrudes above an eye, shaft buried deep. Blood runs from the wound, coating his face, staining the mud. Guilt sours my stomach. I failed him, and he’s done for, poor bloke.

  Rae grasps the bull’s meaty hand with both of hers. I deflect the rain, using wind to create an umbrella above them.

  Gideon crashes through the last hedge, his gaze falling on me and my prisoner, then the pair in the mud.

  The fog at Ferdy’s muzzle fades. His chest stops moving. Raven sniffs, gently lowering Ferdy’s hand. Her fingers move six inches and curl over the bull’s abandoned ax handle. She looks up, face hardened to flint.

  Desiree jerks free of my hold and bolts, but Gideon blocks her escape. He wrestles her arms together, pinning her against his chest.

  I know who commands the hedge that yanks its roots from the mire and sneaks up behind them. The thick shrub separates down the middle, leans forward, and swallows them both. I can’t see a thing through the mesh of twigs and leaves, but like a heron regurgitating its dinner, the plant vomits Gideon onto the grass while holding onto Desiree. Trapped from the waist down, she fights like a cat until she’s torn and bleeding, but can’t break free.

  Raven stands, ax gripped tightly in her hands. Red rimmed eyes tell the story of her grief as she faces the woman responsible.

  Water answers Desiree’s frantic call for help with a flash flood that drives us back. Raven’s arm flies up, flagging the trees. They plunk their massive roots into the runoff to drink. A good idea, yet it won’t be enough, because Desiree’s already pulling more water from the ground.

  Building her element in height and mass, she forms a st
atic thirty-foot wall as easily as a kid stacks blocks. If I kill her, the water will drop and finish us.

  I failed my friends once. I vow not to fail again. And as I study the towering black surf, I know the fight is mine alone. In physics, I never cared to understand turbine aerodynamics, never gave a shite about drag based wind, and now it doesn’t seem to matter. I am wind.

  Wind is force. It moves. I don’t need to stop the water, just redirect it. I catch Gideon’s eye. He steps forward, but I shake my head. “Leave her to me.”

  With a primal scream, Desiree releases her wall.

  Impulses from my brain connect to my element sending hurricane force winds to divide the plummeting tsunami.

  Water punches the earth on either side of us. It takes all of my strength to keep the crushing water out, but we’re safe within my wind tunnel. As the water recedes, broken tree limbs stab the ground, bones of the dead pile at our feet, providing me with plenty of ammunition. Wind obeys willingly, lifting various items of debris with unseen fingers at my command.

  “Pan, help me!” Desiree calls. When he doesn’t appear, she turns to Gideon. “I know what I did was wrong. I know that, but if you let me go, I’ll disappear. You’ll never see me again, I promise.”

  “It’s far too late for that now,” I say.

  Her blue eyes leak the element she wields. They widen as a dozen sharp objects hover near me. Whether because of her connection to Rose, or something else, I hesitate. I still see Rose’s face, hear her voice. I know it’s not true, but it’s as if she died at Desiree’s hand. The woman’s hate is corrosive, all consuming. No matter what she says, she’ll never stop hunting us. I have no choice.

  Wind releases its arsenal. Whip fast and accurate, the tibia of a Draugar impales her torso, Ferdy’s ax blade lodges between her neck and shoulder. She’s run through with fragments of wood and bone until her white gown runs red with blood. Her eyes glaze before her head rolls forward.