Long white hair, dull like spider webs, caught the moonlight. The woman who stepped forward wore all black. Shapeless tattered clothing, little more than rags. She walked toward them, stopping well out of reach. The glinting eyes of her sisters could be seen through the trees all around.
“Few mortals walk these woods at night.” Her voice was dry, like the hiss of boots through tall grass. She glanced past Finn to Syrel. “And the Aos Sí travel only in herds, afraid to face us alone, though they boast of being great warriors.”
Maintaining her grip on Kai, Finn took a step forward. “Do you recognize me?”
The woman’s pale face transformed with a menacing smile. “Oaken Queen, Dair no longer. This earth no longer heeds your call, nor do we. We almost didn’t recognize you last night, didn’t care to kill you.”
Finn’s throat went dry. It really was true. The faie no longer recognized her as queen. “Then why speak with us now?”
“You are of little consequence to us.” The Dearg Due looked to Kai. “You, however, we have been waiting for. Watching, always watching. You are a rare occurrence. Too rare to let go.”
Finn jumped as Kai snorted with disdain, though his hand trembled, his fingers tightly laced with hers. “I’m sure any man to survive your curse runs far and long from you. I will continue to do the same.”
The Dearg Due’s rasping laughter was echoed by her sisters. The sudden eruption of sound made Finn realize all the night insects had fallen silent. Nothing around them moved.
The Dearg Due turned her eerie gaze back to Finn. “Tell me, fallen queen, why have you made it so easy for us to take him? I would like to know before I kill you. My sisters watch the Aos Sí camp. If they come to rescue you, they will be killed.”
So that’s why they’d waited until tonight. Last night was just a small hunting party, but now they’d summoned more of their kind. She couldn’t very well tell them the reason she’d been stupid enough to enter the dark woods, or they’d attack immediately. Which meant it was now or never. She had to eat their magic. To do just what that dragon had done to Àed. If it could be done, there might just be hope in restoring balance to the land. She could bring the faie back under her control, and grow strong from those who would not kneel.
She focused her senses on the Dearg Due around them, and the forest beyond, searching for any hint of energy she could use. She could feel the Dearg Due’s pulsing magic, but it was wholly contained inside them. There were no frayed edges to pull at.
“Finn—” Kai began.
“You will not tell?” the Dearg Due asked, clearly not even noticing Finn’s efforts. “Then you will die now.”
Her sisters swarmed forward, too fast for Finn’s eyes to follow. She held tightly to Kai and focused her thoughts on Naoki. Curse her foolishness, she should have practiced! She was too terrified to risk Kai with a preliminary attempt, and now he would suffer a fate worse than death.
Bony fingers, stiff and sharp like cracked branches, wrapped around her arms from behind, then just as suddenly fell away. She turned to see Iseult’s sword tip protruding from the woman’s chest. The darkness drained the color from the blood now speckling Finn’s sleeves.
She spun around, realizing she’d lost her grip on Kai, but Syrel was there. The movement of her blade was a graceful dance, felling the Dearg Due trying to reach Kai. Syrel’s body and blade consumed the battlefield, herding Anna and Bedelia inward. Tree’s crashed off to Finn’s right as Naoki touched down from the sky above, letting out an ear-splitting shriek.
All went still and silent, even Syrel. A rumbling growl echoed from deep within Naoki’s long neck.
“Dragon!” one of the Dearg Due hissed.
“Only a small one,” another said. “Cut it down.”
“She’ll eat your magic!” Finn shouted desperately. “Do not come near her.”
Several of the Dearg Due laughed, though Naoki’s presence had at least shown them caution. “Dragons may eat our bodies, but they can not suck out our magic. We are faie, magic is what we are. We cannot be separated from it. Even in death, our magic will seep into the earth and filter back into our people.”
Finn couldn’t seem to inhale. Keeping her hand low, she flailed it toward Kai until he took it. Her hand tightened into a desperate grip. She’d promised to keep him from the Dearg Due, and now that promise would be broken with her death. If neither she nor Naoki could steal faie magic, the Dearg Due would feast upon them.
Despite the woman’s words, she knew she had to try. There was nothing left to do, and she wasn’t just a dragon. A fraction of her old magic must yet remain. If they were going to die anyway . . .
She dropped Kai’s hand, gesturing for him to stay back as she walked around Naoki and toward the Dearg Due.
“Finn, no.” Iseult started forward.
“Back!” she hissed. She didn’t wait to see if he obeyed. She could waste no time. She had to strike while the lead Dearg Due was waiting, watching with her head tilted like a curious bird.
Finn’s entire body trembled as she strode up to the creature. Her air stuck in her chest, rendering her unable to suck in a full breath past her fear. She reached out and placed a hand over the surprised Dearg Due’s heart.
At the touch, something dark and slithering was called forth from within her. Something that wanted blood, death, and power. The world fell away in the face of that sudden hunger.
She no longer had to guess at what to do. She innately knew. She pulled at the Dearg Due’s magic. It was just as the creature had said, her magic was entwined with her very essence, her life force, but Finn didn’t care. She ripped what was inside the woman apart, pulling that dark light into herself.
Her arms erupted in goosebumps at the thrill of it. Her vision swam like she’d had too much wine.
The Dearg Due dropped to her knees, and Finn went with her, keeping her hand pressed over the woman’s heart.
“How?” the Dearg Due rasped.
She didn’t die, and because of the close link Finn now shared with her, she knew that to the Dearg Due, it was a fate worse than death. Now weak, she would be abandoned by her sisters. Left to starve in the forest, or to be killed by other faie.
As one, the other Dearg Due dropped to their knees.
Lights danced in Finn’s vision. She pulled her hand away, then stood.
The Dearg Due curled in a fetal position at her boots.
Finn tried to relax, but she couldn’t seem to focus beyond the surrounding creatures. Their magic called to her. Now that she knew what to do, she was sure she could drain them without touch. Kai and Syrel’s magics were a distant echo, not as tasty as the dark faie.
She smiled, a smile she was quite sure she’d never smiled before. “You will swear fealty to me. Bind your magic to mine. The only other choice is death.”
The Dearg Due bowed their heads, acquiescing, though it did not please her. She could sense their tendency toward betrayal. They would never truly answer to her, but for now, the knowledge of what she could do was enough.
She could feel her friends watching her. She could feel their sudden fear, perhaps even revulsion. Soft feathers grazed her fingertips. She reached out and stroked Naoki’s cheek. She realized that Naoki should have been eating magic like the other dragons, but her mother simply hadn’t taught her. Now she had learned, and with that knowledge, could grow big and strong.
Dizziness overcame her in a sudden wave. The world began to spin. She collapsed, and all went dark, cold, and icy around her.
Finn knew where she was the moment she felt the snow beneath her back, slowly dampening her hair as her warmth caused it to melt.
Judging by the hot breath on her face, someone was leaning close over her, but she knew she knew it was not one of her companions. She could sense this man’s magic like a second pulse thrumming in her head.
Her eyes opened to a familiar face hovering over her. “Belenus,” she said, her voice sounding oddly distant.
“I se
e you’ve figured it out. You reek of faie magic. I know what you’re trying to do, but you will never accomplish it in time. The land has become too unstable.”
She sat up, forcing him back.
He stood. His white hair appeared impossibly soft, though she’d never want to touch it. It fluttered around his silver-embroidered coat, the tiny tendrils dancing with gusts of snowflakes. His blue eyes looked nearly white in the moonlight.
Finn rose, expecting to feel weak from passing out, but she felt amazing. The Dearg Due’s magic still coursed through her. “Why have you brought me here?”
“I didn’t bring you, you came yourself. And you asked me to meet you, or did Arawn lie? I’d thought perhaps you were ready to surrender. I’d not be wasting my time otherwise.”
She’d brought herself here again? It seemed to happen whenever she felt overwhelmed, but why would this be the place she’d come? “I will not surrender. I will defeat you.”
“You’re making a mistake you will not come back from.”
She pushed back her sweaty locks of hair, growing stiff with cold. “Why do you care? You’ve wished me dead from the start.”
He flicked his fingers as if shooing an insect. “You are an abomination. Eating magic like dragons. Those beasts do not belong in your realm.”
“Yeah? Well neither do you.”
His laugh cut her like rough shards of glass. “Foolish girl. The gods bring prosperity to the mortals who follow them. You saw Sormyr. Food is plentiful. The crops grow better than ever before. The people of the city are safe, warm, and happy. With what you are becoming, you would bring them only darkness and death. Put an end to your madness while you still can.”
His words made her hesitate. He was right, she’d seen Sormyr’s bounty with her own eyes, but that didn’t mean that she would only bring ruin. “You’re lying. You’re just afraid I’ll win.”
“I’m not afraid of you, silly dragon girl. I am a god.”
She walked toward him, her boots crunching through the snow. “Then why do you stand so far back?”
He blinked at her, seemingly shocked by her aggression, but did not step away. She too was shocked. To be so openly threatening was uncharacteristic of her.
His stunned expression melted into a smile. “I see you’re already changing. It will get worse, the more magic you steal. Soon you’ll become a beast, just like Ashclaw. Driven by hunger, and nothing else.”
“Ashclaw?”
“The black dragon, the one who wanted to eat you, not very long ago.”
She clenched her fists. “Then so be it. If it is the only way to restore balance without harming my friends, I have no other choice.”
“Then it will be a race.” Belenus turned partially and extended a hand behind him.
A woman stepped forward, looking so similar to Belenus—down to the silver embroidery in her white dress—they could easily be noble siblings dressed to awe their subjects.
“Oighear?” Finn gasped. “Why?”
Oighear’s face could have been etched from porcelain, her expression was so lacking. “I told you what I was meant to be. My grandmother was a goddess. Belenus has agreed to raise me back to what I should have been. I will reclaim the faie and place them under my rule, limiting their powers.”
Finn furrowed her brow. “Wouldn’t that be enough to restore balance?” She turned to Belenus. “Why threaten the mages with such a simple solution at hand?”
Belenus was glaring at Oighear, as if offended she had chosen to speak. “It is not enough, simply as it should be. The mages have too much power. They must be culled.”
Oighear snorted. “Or the Queen of Wands could simply bind them.”
Finn’s teeth were on the verge of chattering. With the shock of seeing Oighear, her adrenaline had subsided, leaving her damp and uncomfortable. “Even if she could manage that, it would make them easy prey to dragons. Nothing will be set right if the dragons remain in this realm.”
Belenus lifted a hand before Oighear could speak, though his eyes were all for Finn. “Would you give up your precious pet? And the life you have forged for yourself? Lest you forget, neither she nor you belong here. You never have.”
Finn was beginning to lose her patience. “Why are we here? What good does it do any of us to argue?”
“As I’ve already told you, it is your own fault you are here. Your very magic is unstable. This realm closely parallels your own. When you already have one foot in other realms, you need only take a single step to come through, and this one is nearest.”
She crossed her arms, not wanting to show him how much she was grasping at every thread of information. “What do you want, Belenus? You will not make a deal, and you cannot harm me. According to Arawn, you are content to sit back and wait for the most opportune moment to strike. So why come to this meeting at all?”
He walked toward her. Perhaps she’d been wrong in thinking he feared her. He stood so close they were nearly touching, gusts of snow swirling around them both. She had to crane her neck upward to look at him, but she refused to back down.
“You must stop this nonsense with the faie,” he said evenly. “Draining their magic into yourself still leaves the magic in your realm. It is not what we agreed upon.”
She lifted her brows. “So we did have an agreement then, that you wouldn’t attack if I could rein in the faie?”
“The time for agreements has long since passed. Continue your folly if you so choose. Gather more magic, and it will only attract the dragons. They will do my work for me.”
“Dragons don’t eat faie magic, and they don’t eat other dragons.”
Belenus leaned his head down to hers. “But you are neither. Not really.”
Oighear stepped into view beyond Belenus. “Finnur, you know what you’re doing is wrong. How can you harm the faie?”
Finn felt her gaze growing distant and cool. Something large and dark swam up inside her. Something that hadn’t been there before. “They made the choice to no longer follow me. They brought this upon themselves.”
Both Belenus and Oighear stared at her in disbelief.
She smiled. She was tired of being kicked around by gods. So what if the dragon magic was slowly changing her? Perhaps it was finally making her what she was always meant to be. She’d turned her own people, even her own mother, into trees, and she’d do far worse to the faie. She had failed in protecting her daughter. This time, she’d do whatever it took. Even if it destroyed her.
Belenus watched her for a moment longer. “So be it.” He snapped his fingers, and both he and Oighear disappeared.
Finn stared out into the cold darkness for a long while after that, waiting for Naoki to find her and bring her home.
Branwen
Branwen’s head throbbed, which was odd, because physically, she felt very little these days. She sat up. She was in a dark cellar, lit only by a single candle. Large mead barrels lined one wall, and straw dusted the stones beneath her.
The man who’d taken her—no not a man, a god—leaned against a small wooden table, arms crossed over black robes most commonly worn by scholars. “Did you have a nice rest?”
“What do you want from me?”
His dark eyes glared. “To stop your meddling. You’re dangerously close to getting in my way.”
She stood, brushing straw from her black cloak and wild russet hair. There was only one door that she could see, presumably locked, though it didn’t matter much to her. Since she’d become a wraith, she’d become rather good at escaping, at running away without anyone noticing, and at spying from rooftops.
Arawn sneered. “You truly believe you can escape a god? You will remain in this place until I want you to leave.”
“And what might prompt such a desire?”
He pushed away from the table and stepped near. “You help me, and once my goals have been achieved, I’ll help you.”
She gave the room a final glance, but she supposed she had little choice in the matter. S
he looked to Arawn. “Go on.”
“I want Finnur to become powerful enough to defeat Belenus. She has already discovered much without interference. She must not be derailed.”
Branwen sucked her teeth, considering his words. “You want her to bind the faie. To drink in their magic?”
He nodded, casting his hooded eyes into shadow. “It is the only way. Once she is strong enough, she will drink down Belenus’ magic.”
“But why? Is he not your ally?”
Arawn leaned his back against the wall and crossed his arms. “We are simply both victims of the same circumstance. It is not as Belenus chooses to claim. He is too prideful. We did not come here to restore balance. Coming here was our punishment. The gods were content in fading away, but not I, nor Belenus. We were determined to make mortals believe once more, in any way we could. This was before this land was sentenced to death. Due to our previous . . . meddling, the fading gods used the rest of their magic to punish us. They bound us to this land to die with it.”
Branwen’s jaw gaped. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Because I can. I’m quite sure you will see reason and join me. You stand little chance of succeeding on your own. The Ceàrdaman are worthy opponents. Not even I can locate them, nor can I divine what they plan.”
She stared at him.
“Yes, I know they are your target. I am not just the god of curses. I know your deepest fears. Your desires. I took no risk in bringing you here, because you will join me.”
She crossed her arms. “Let me see if I understand. You want me to make sure Finn continues on her path, stealing magic from the faie until she is strong enough to defeat Belenus?”
He nodded.
“Why can’t you just guide her yourself?”
He huffed. “She does not trust me. It is better, for now, that she believes I still work with Belenus, for she would only suspect trickery otherwise.”
She lifted her brows, not sure what he meant.
He rolled his eyes. “If I tried to guide her, she would make it her goal to thwart me, even to her own detriment.”
Dawn of Magic: Sea of Flames Page 6