Seventh (The Hafling Chronicles Book 1)

by Abigail McGovern

  “Hair?” The king says. “You have lovely hair. Like butter, but curly.”

  Everyone stares at the king for a second, then I shake my head. “Uh….anyways” I still don’t know who I’m going to choose, and I was glad for the Kings distraction. “The new heir will be-”

  “Seventh.” A messenger interrupts. “This letter is for you.” He holds out an envelope. I take it and read the name on the front.

  To Liv

  I open it.

  Liv

  You need to be careful at your royal ball. (Yes I know about it, our grumpy ghost did some poking around) The Shadows- the bad Halflings- and their demon lackeys (or is it the other way around?) are going to attack. We don’t know if their target is you, the Royal Heirs, the King, or the city in general, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve got to be really, really careful. Tell the King…..or the queen and the army. Better yet cancel the ball! I hope this warning gets to you in time. You’re my best friend,, I hope you come back safe..

  -Esmeralda (Mer) Arlington

  I freeze, realizing I’m shaking. I look up, scanning the crowd. I meet Lukas’s eyes and I see nothing. A dark empty pit. He laughs. “Figured it out yet Liv?”

  “Run!” I shout to the guests.

  I watch realization dawn on Kenzie and Kira’s face. “Run! Go!” They start herding guests to the doors.

  Then they burst open. Demons. Creatures of all shapes and sizes and origins stream into the room. That’s when the screaming begins.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I’m shoving the way through the crowd heading for the exits, trying to find the royals and get them out of here when I hear “Daddy!”

  “Kira!” I spin around, looking for her.

  She’s racing toward the rolling throne at the front of the room, her eyes wild, watching something off to the right. “Daddy, you have to move!!!”

  I run toward her as a giant, spider like demon slides across the floor in front of her. She grabs a fork off the table and hurles it at the demon faster than I can process. It squeals and spits venom at her, but leaps at the king.

  “Daddy!” Kira lunges towards the spider demon and I leap over a table and grab her around the waist.

  “Kira! Kira, hold still!” She struggles against me reaching for the king, but it’s too late. The frail form of the king goes limp, and the spider demon leaps away.

  Kira lets out a heartbroken wail, but doesn’t turn around and scream ‘I hate you!’ at me like a normal little girl would have. Instead, she squares her shoulders and turns to me, her big gold eyes tear filled, but serious.

  “We have to find my siblings.”

  I nod and pull her out the door after me. We leap down the steps dodging demons and hoping we’ll be thought of as just regular guests, but nope. A demon notices and hisses and burbles out “Itsssss the Ssssseventh, and Princesssssss Kira!”

  “Crap.” I mutter as the demons turn towards us. “Come on Kira!” I sprint in the direction of the woods- that somehow grow without sunlight, or any light for that matter- checking to make sure Kira’s behind me. I kick off my shoes and break into a sprint, and as I do so, I realize that this is my nightmare coming true.

  My bare feet slap the forest floor as we burst into the woods, twigs and rocks slicing open my soles as I sprint. I drag Kira along behind me, and when I glance back to check on her, terror is plain on her face. She stumbles, tripping over a tree root, and turning her ankle. She collapses to the forest floor with a cry and looks up at me.

  “Go. You have to find the others.”

  I reach down and heave her to her feet. “Not without you Princess.”

  “I can’t! My ankle-”

  I take a deep breath and try to act brave, even though absolute terror is coursing through me. “Your Highness. We are going to use our powers, and we are going to make it out of here alive. Now get ready to run.” She nods numbly.

  I take off again, pulling her behind me. I can hear our pursuers hot on our trail. We burst out of the bushes and onto a wide open expanse leading to a cliff. I hear them crash through the line of bushes behind us, and I swallow back my fear. My heart beats wildly as I lead us to the edge of the cliff. I look across the gully to the other side of the chasm. Behind that cliff face is our only hope for survival. By now I can feel their hot breath on the back of my neck. It’s now or never.

  We leap off the edge of the cliff and I will the wind to catch us. We’re flying, but I can’t keep it up for long, already exhaustion slows our progress. I can only hope I’m right about Kira’s gift. I look down at Kira behind me. “Kira, now!”

  Her face screws up in concentration, and suddenly we are directly in front of the cliff face, falling towards it. I conjure up the feeling and immerse us both. I only hope I’m strong enough for this to work. We hit the cliff face.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Are you sure this is where the rest of your family is?” I ask Kira.

  “Yes.” She snaps irritably. “This is a safe house for our family.”

  “It looks like an old warehouse.”

  She sighs and wiggles underneath a board over the old broken down entrance. I roll my eyes and follow her.

  “Kira!” I look up to see Kenzie fly at her and give her a huge hug.

  I stand up and brush dirt off of my tattered dress, even though there’s really no point anymore. “Kira?”

  I look up as Kellen comes racing around the corner, catching Kira around the waist and spinning her through the air. He sets her down, grinning with relief. ‘We were wondering if you were dead.” He looks over at me. “Both of you.”

  “We’re fine….but...um...we have bad news.” I look to Kira, wondering if she wants to tell them.

  She nods, the tears returning, and threatening to spill over. “Daddy is-” Her voice breaks and she takes a deep breath and tries again. “Father’s dead. Daddy’s…..”

  Kenzie and Kellen wrap their arms around her, the tears streaming down their faces. Titus stands arms crossed in the corner, his face solemn, but his eyes glinting. I raise an eyebrow at him in suspicion, and he hisses. “You have it coming Olivia.”

  I narrow my eyes at him, but then rearrange my face into a bright smile, pretending I didn't hear. “Do you have any food here?”

  He nods, and turns, vanishing around the corner of the wall. I turn back to Kellen, Kenzie, and Kira. “Come on guys, we should move away from the doors.”

  I can tell they don’t want to, but reluctantly they get up and follow. We join Titus in a large room with several sleeping bags spread out across the floor, and crates lining the walls. “Beef jerky?” Titus asks with a smirk, holding out a package.

  “We’ll get our own, thanks.” I say, knowing the distrust lacing my voice is audible.

  He shrugs. “Suit yourself.”

  I walk over to a slightly ajar crate, and pull the lid off. I pull out an unopened bag of jerky and open it, then I hand other packages to Kenzie, Kellen, and Kira. Then I go back to the other crates in search of more food. After a delightful dinner of beef jerky, dried fruit, and crackers- Apocalypse food. What can you do?- we turn in for the night, on the horribly thin, itchy and scratchy sleeping bags that were in some of the crates- Apocalypse bedding. What can you do?- needless to say, it’s not the best

  BOOM!!!!

  “Huh!” I jerk awake with a gasp and sit bolt upright in bed. “What the heck was that?”

  Kenzie appears next to me, her long dark curls awry. “Somebody blew the door out.” She extends a hand and I take it. She pulls me to my feet and I swallow nervously.

  “Who blew the door out exactly?”

  Kenzie kicks Kellen’s shoulder, rousing him, and glances over at me. “I think you know.”

  I whip my dagger- yes I still have it- out of my raggedy dress. “Kira.” I bend down next to her, and shake her shoulder. “Wake up. Now!”

  She’s not groggy, or confused. She doesn’t even ask what happened, instead she’s on her feet in a flash
, then she vanishes. “Kira!” I say in exasperation.

  She appears exactly five seconds later, her beautiful porcelain doll-like face, fearful and nervous. “Where is Titus?” She vanishes again without waiting for a response.

  Kellen runs his fingers through his hair. “Doesn’t matter as long as he’s away from the demons. Because- don’t kid yourselves- we all know it’s the demons who are attacking us.”

  Kira reappears, sitting cross legged on top of a crate. “It’s not just us the demons are attacking. I guess we should have realized the demons weren’t going to give up after attacking us at the castle.”

  Kenzie pulls us toward the back exit. “Who let them in? The demons I mean.”

  Suddenly I remember what Lukas- back when he really was Lukas- said about suspicions of Titus working for the Shadows. “I think Titus-”

  “Is working for The Shadows.” Kellen finishes. “Yeah. We had our suspicions.”

  Kenzie’s eyes widened suddenly. “Down.” Fast as lightning she grabs mine and Kira’s wrists and pulls us to the floor. I catch Kellen’s wrist as we go, bringing him down with us.

  A fraction of a second later, the glass in the window above us shatters, blowing inward. “Get ready to fight.” Kenzie hisses.

  A demon erupts through the shards of shattered glass still clinging to the window frame, and hits the ground directly in front of us, froth and spittle flying from his mouth, six thick, slimy, tentacles waving around. More and more spill in through the shattered window and the now doorless doorway. Kellen and Kira, both with teleporting abilities, vanish, bouncing around the room taking on demons. Kellen with the sword he’d had sheathed at his side at the ball, and Kira with a metal rod she must have found.

  Kenzie’s gift is apparently telekinesis. She lifts up crates and boxes and pieces of wood and glass, hurling them at the demons. I turn invisible and sneak up on the demons with my dagger, but even combined we’re losing. Demons have powers too. To shake the earth and light the sky on fire…...and they’re strong. We can’t win.

  I find myself back to back with Kellen. I lean back so my mouth is next to his ear. “We need to get out of here.” I hiss.

  I feel him stiffen in surprise, but he rolls with it. “And how do you suggest we do that, Liv?”

  “Two teleporters” I stab a demon in the chest. “and two not teleporters. You and Kira can get Kenzie and I out.”

  “Ok. On three. One. Two. Three.” He spins around, grabs me by the waist and teleports.

  Teleportation isn’t what you think it would be like. Instead of you vanishing and reappearing somewhere else it’s more like you’re standing in one place and your surroundings change around you.

  Suddenly we’re standing near Kira, and I’m visible again- I guess it’s hard to maintain invisibility during teleportation. Kellen glances at her out of the corner of his eye. “We’re not going to win this.”

  “You don’t say.” She says wryly. “I take it you have a plan?”

  “Well we have two teleporter and two non teleporters so-”

  “You and I take Kenzie and Liv and teleport out of here. Let’s do it.” She vanishes and I see her next to Kenzie. Kellen pulls me close to him and teleports.

  We wind up standing on the cobbled path outside the the warehouse. “What are we going to do?” Kellen asks. “The city….”

  Kira looks determined. “We need to tell the people. They need to fight to defend their city…...and themselves.”

  “If we’re going to tell the people we have to hurry. The demons are going to find us!” I say, panicked.

  “Kellen and I can teleport into houses to warn the people, and Liv can walk through the doors to warn more people.”

  “I’m not just going to do nothing.” Kenzie crosses her arms over her chest, determined.

  “Kenzie. Once they get out of their house you need to tell them what to do and how to fight.” She looks around at all of us. “Everyone got it?”

  We nod. “Ok.” I say. “Let’s do this thing.”

  I choose a row of houses and demolecularize, walking straight through the door. “AH!” A little girl jumps to her feet, her building blocks falling to the floor. “Mommy! This girl walked through the door!”

  A young woman in her late twenties to early thirties maybe, comes into the room her eyes wide. “Ainsley! Have some respect! This is the Seventh!”

  “How many people are in this house?” I ask.

  “Four.” The woman says. “Why?”

  “The demons are swarming the city. You need to get your kids somewhere safe and we need every able bodied person to help fight.”

  The woman looks afraid but, steels herself. “Of course, Seventh.”

  After that I go through a lot of houses, warning people and rallying them to fight, then I meet back up with Kellen and Kira. We rejoin Kenzie out on the street where she is giving instructions and shovels, rakes, pitchforks and anything else that could be used as a weapon.

  “Wow.” I say. “I think we just might be strong enough to take on these demons. There’s only like fifty of them.”

  Kenzie presses her lips together. “Have you looked outside of the city?”

  “Uh….No...why?”

  “Darrin! Front and center!” She barks. I open my mouth to tell her that this isn’t an army and no one will listen to that, but then a cute boy, about sixteen with messy sandy hair and blue gray eyes appears.

  His back is ramrod straight as he faces Kenzie. “Yes Ma’am?”

  I stare in shock as she answers. “Could you show my siblings and Liv our…..issue?”

  “Of course Ma’am.” He gestures to us. “Right this way.”

  As we follow him, my nerves are mounting, fear filling me. What could Kenzie and Darrin possibly want to show me that’s so bad. What she said about the demons….how many there are...Oh no. I think as realization dawns on me.

  “Darrin! Faster!” I urge.

  He nods, leading us up a staircase and onto a rooftop. His face is pained as he points out over the city skyline to the wastes of the Underworld. I follow his gaze, and feel my knees buckle as despair fills me. Kellen catches me, pulling me to my feet.

  “Liv? Are you okay?” He asks urgently.

  “We’re never going to be able to fight them all.” I moan.

  “Liv, whatever it is don’t freak out. It can’t be that bad. After all, look how many people are going to be fighting for us.”

  “With us.” Kira corrects, but I barely hear her.

  Kellens words are still racing through my mind, but differently. The truth is…..with all the demons they won’t be fighting for us. They’ll be dying for us. I can’t get that thought out of my head. Look how many people are going to be dying for us.

  I grab Kellens chin and lift his head so he’s looking past me and out to the wastes beyond the wall. His golden eyes widen, filling with sadness, and horror as he watches the swarm of demons- enough for a whole army- racing towards us.

  “Hey!” Kira barks. We look up at her in surprise. Her golden eyes are fierce as she looks at us. “We are not giving up. We are going to get more people. There are one million three hundred Halflings living in this city, and we are going to get as many of them as we can to fight.”

  “Don’t you think some of them are on Titus’s side?” Kellen asks, still stuck in the pits of despair. I however, have hope blossoming again.

  “True.” Kira says. “But we’re not going to lose this fight. We can’t lose our city.”

  Darrin nods. “Come on, we better get more weapons.”

  Kellen sighs dejectedly. “We might as well kiss our city, and our lives, goodbye.”

  “No.” I say, determined again. “I have a plan.”

  Chapter Twenty

  We stand on the steps of the palace-now safe since the demons that were here left and rejoined their friends- facing the crowd of people in front of us. Every single able-bodied fighter in the city, or at least the ones who are willing to fight
on our side, is here, and we’re going to talk to them.

  “So I suppose you want to know what we brought all of you here for.” I say, yelling out into the crowd.

  “That’s too casual.” Kenzie mutters, when the shouts of agreement die down.

  “Then you do it.” I mutter back, before stepping forward. Kenzie shakes her head. I sigh and keep going. “Your city is under attack! Thousands of demons are on their way here right now, and all of you need to fight, to save your city, to show those demons who’s boss. You all need to use your gifts to the best of your ability! If you can fly, teleport, turn invisible, or move through objects, then you need to find a weapon to carry with you. Those demons will never see you coming! If you can levitate objects make sure there’s something heavy or dangerous near you that you can hurl at the demons. If you could use a weapon with your hands and your mind you’d be two times stronger! If you can shape shift, then make sure you turn into something, strong, smart, fast, and dangerous!” The crowd roars in response to my speech, and I think how different I am now, from the the girl I was just a few days ago, learning how to use her gifts and throwing a Halloween party. I mean, I used my gifts and everything but here I am telling these people how to use their gifts to fight an army of demons.

  I step back, my part of our speech done, and Kellen steps forward. “Citizens, you can forget the usual Royal/Non Royal formalities. We are under attack. Now is a time for us all to work together. That said, demons attacked our safe house and in all the chaos we lost our brother Titus. If anyone has seen him, please let us know, and if you see him from now on out please let him know we’re looking for him, and my twin Lukas, the palace guard as well. We haven’t seen him since we last left the castle. The same goes for anyone who has seen or may see him.”

  I watch the heads of the people turn, talking to each other, asking about Titus and Lukas. Then the crowd ripples and parts, revealing a boy with dark hair and dark eyes, who moves to the front of group. I lock eyes with him and he smirks. In that instant everything clicks. The suspicions that have been dancing around in the back of my mind ever since we noticed the change in Lukas finally come together to form a whole picture.