Seventh (The Hafling Chronicles Book 1)

by Abigail McGovern

  I turn to Kenzie and whisper. “There’s Lukas. But no sign of Titus.”

  “And you’re sure you know who he is and why he’s doing all this?”

  “I am now.” I whisper back.

  Kellen finishes his speech and Kenzie steps forward. “When you all are fighting be sure to keep the demons away from the elderly, sick, and children in the cathedral. Be as strong and brave as you can if you get seriously injured join the others at the cathedral, there will be medics there.” They exchange confused looks. They know this isn’t what we told them earlier, but they trust us. “Remember what we told you earlier. That’s what goes. Stick to the plan, no exceptions.” That’s our warning to them. Lukas won’t know any better, but we’re telling them listen to what we told you earlier, not what we’re telling you now. Don’t go to the cathedral.

  Kira steps forward as Kenzie moves back. “Be brave, fight strong, and don’t keep fighting if you’re too badly injured. Remember our goal is to keep the demons away from the cathedral and drive them out of the city. Good luck.” I can feel the crowds fear and tension mounting with every word that spills out of our mouths. I know the feeling. It’s happening to me too. We- I think of me and the Halflings as one now-could lose it all today if we can’t pull this off.

  The crowd of people trickle away, preparing for our fight, and I look at the others, then we turn to where Lukas stands. His eyes are shining and the half smile on his face is so full of himself. I shake my head. He knows I know he’s evil, but he thinks the others still have faith in him. He thinks we accidentally gave him information that’ll end us. He doesn’t think it’s possible for anyone to one up him.

  He laughs and calls up to us “Thank you for the information. I’ll be sure to use it wisely.” He turns on his heel and stalks confidently away.

  “Luke?” Kira bounces down the royal steps after him.

  “Don’t worry sis.” Lukas says. “I’ll be back. You can count on it.” He smirks at me again, before strutting off.

  As soon as he’s out of sight I turn back to the others and lower my voice. “Ok. Trap set. Now all we need is Titus.”

  “I’m positive he was at that meeting.” Kenzie says. “He’ll be here, he’s just waiting for an opportunity to play the part we described. Our poor brother who got separated from us in the demon fight.”

  “Uh...do you even know Titus?” Kellen says.

  “Yes. Believe it or not I’ve known him longer than you. He will do whatever it takes to maintain his cover. He always has.”

  “I really don’t think-” Kellen starts.

  “Guys?” We turn around.

  Titus stands behind us, a black eye, a split lip and various cuts and bruises dotting his face. His clothes are torn, but it’s obvious he did it himself. “Titus?” Kira- the most innocent and least likely to fly into a rage-asks. “What happened to you? We were so worried!” I nod approvingly at her acting skills. If she were a regular girl she would probably be in drama.

  “When the demons attacked we got separated. They pulled me away. I’m ok though. I’m fine.” Oh. He is good. He’s the quiet tough guy type all the time until something bad happens. Then he pulls the behind-the-tough-exterior-vulnerable act. You would never think anything bad about him if you saw that act.

  Kenzie steps forward and gives him a hug. “We’re glad you’re ok.” She says.

  “Yeah dude.” Kellen says, stepping forward and fist bumping Titus. I give him a half smile and nod at him. He returns the nod.

  “So, uh...listen. When I was with the demons I heard their plans of attack, and um….they’re coming-”

  “We should go somewhere private to talk.” I say, nodding to the empty palace behind us.

  We go inside and into the formal sitting room. “Ok, Titus.” I say. “Spill.”

  “Liv.” Kira admonishes. All part of the plan.

  Titus glares at me, but starts speaking. “When I heard them talking, they said they were going to reach the city in about an hour and that was like twenty minutes ago, so they’ll probably be here in like forty minutes.” I meet Kellens eyes at the unintentional emphasis on ‘twenty minutes’. “There’s a lot of them -we can’t possibly hope to win this fight.” He says.

  I lock eyes with Kira, and raise my eyebrows in a silent question. Are you sure you want to do this? He is your brother after all.

  She gives a slight nod, and glances at Kenzie and Kellen who both nod in return. I stand. “Come on Titus we have something to show you.”

  We lead him down to the ‘special dungeons’ with the steel doors and hinges. It’ll take Titus a long time to break through those doors. We push him in and Kellen locks the door. I hear him shout through the door; a long string of curses. “I should have known you knew!” He yells through the solid steel door.

  “How long have you been a traitor?” Kira asks and I can see genuine hurt in her eyes. Well, I guess he is her brother after all.

  Titus laughs through the door. “When did the war start little sis?”

  Her golden eyes widen. “Centuries ago....”

  “So since you were born twenty hundred years ago.” Kellen says dryly.

  “You guys are that old?” I ask.

  “How old are you?” Kenzie asks.

  “Uh….sixteen.”

  “Hundred?”

  “No. Just sixteen.”

  “Wow.”

  “Well, time doesn’t work the same in the Halfling world.” Kira explains. “Down here, one hundred years is like one year up in the Mortal world, so Titus is really the equivalent of twenty, I’m really the equivalent of ten, and so on.”

  “Good.” I say, relieved to know that I’m not technically the youngest.

  “Do you want to let me out now?” Titus calls through the door. “I promise I’ve learned my lesson.”

  Kira’s eyes have hardened from hurt to fury. “Bye Titus.” She turns on her heel and stalks away.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Ma’am. They’re almost here. I’d say about three minutes away from arrival.” Darrin says.

  Kenzie nods, her expression grim. “Have the people I sent out found my brother Lukas yet?”

  Darrin shakes his head. “Mica’s patrol spotted him, but haven’t caught up to him yet.”

  “We have to end this now.” Kenzie stamps her foot like a three year old throwing a fit.

  “End what?” Darrin cocks his head.

  “Well Lukas isn’t Lukas and we need to find my brother- the real Lukas- and we can’t let that demon keep this up.”

  Darrin looks confused- very confused- but says “Well I can help you find him Ken- Ma’am.”

  Kenzie waves her hand. “What did I say about the formalities?”

  “Oh.” He blushes. “I can help you find him, Kenzie.” He turns even redder.

  “Oooh…..” Kellen, Kira, and I all say at the same time. Both of them look up at us, startled.

  “What?” Kenzie snaps.

  “Nothing.” We say in unison.

  She rolls her eyes. “Let’s go find Lukas. And hurry.”

  We head out into the city, racing through the streets searching for Mica’s patrol. Suddenly Darrin picks up the pace and speeds ahead to an alley. I crane my neck but all I see is a flash of red hair. We follow Darrin and find him talking to a short girl with red hair that brushes her collar bone.

  She nods respectfully at us when we reach her. “I don’t know why you want to intercept Lukas so badly but we got him.” She gestures behind her.

  “Did you hear that? They got me.” I glare at ‘Lukas’, stuck in between two armed teens, and he chuckles. “Do you want to tell me why they ‘got me’?”

  “Luke, aren’t you going to get ready to fight?” Kira asks. I don’t know why we keep putting her in the sweet little sister position. Maybe because she’s the youngest (technically).

  “Depends on which side you think I should fight on.”

  “Duh. The good side.” She tips her head to th
e side, her golden eyes wide and pleading. She is way too good at this.

  “Do you know who I am?” He asks, teasingly. No one says a word, because yes we do know who he is. “What no ‘you’re my big brother’? Isn’t that what you say, my sweet little sister?”

  Kira’s wide, innocent eyes harden. “Oh I know who you are, Dillon.”

  His eyes widen and he clenches his jaw. “How long have you known?”

  “I know my twin brother.” Kellen grinds out. “You should have known I’d know you weren’t him.”

  Dillon-as-Lukas looks over at me. “I knew you knew I wasn’t Lukas, but when did you figure out who I am?”

  We all stand and stare at him. “Do the demons follow your order?” Kenzie asks.

  “I’m not going to answer anything you ask. I’m not trapped you know.”

  Kenzie leans forward so she’s in his face, her eyes locked on his. He stares at her. She straightens up. “He’s a demon lieutenant.”

  “What?” Dillon gasps. “How did you figure that out.”

  “Dillon.” I say. “Where’s Lukas?

  He laughs. “Starting to have doubts are we?” He grins, that smirk turning darker, meaner. His hair does the opposite; lightening until it’s blond. His black eyes stay black, but now they look pitiless and empty like a chasm. “Don’t worry. He’s alive, and close. He had to be if I was going to maintain that disguise. He won’t be for much longer now that you know the truth.” He chuckles evilly, and I glare.

  “Kenzie!” Someone shouts. “We have incoming! Impact in five, four”

  “Gotta run.” Dillon says, vanishing right out of the grasps of Mica’s team.

  “Three, two”

  “Take cover!” Some else shouts. I grab Kira and Kenzie’s arms as Kellen’s arm wraps around my waist and pulls us to the ground, up against a wall.

  An earth shaking explosion rocks the city, and things fall, bricks from buildings,and tree branches slamming into me, bruising my back and shoulders, and my arms covering my head. Then as soon as it started it’s over, and the world stills. I uncurl my body from it’s tight ball, and look up. The entire top half of the brick wall we’d been hiding against was gone and bricks and brick dust are scattered around and on us.

  I struggle unsteadily to my feet joined shortly after by the others. “Where did the demons get bombs?” Kellen gasps out.

  Kenzie shakes her head. “All I know is….This battle has officially begun.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “How long will the gates hold?” I ask, sidestepping rubble piles from the most recent of four bombs.

  Kenzie shakes her head, her expression grim, her lips pressed together in a tight line. “Not much longer.”

  I eye the shuddering, solid metal gate wearily, and open my mouth to speak. “Incoming!” A guard from the top of the wall shouts, cutting me off.

  By now everyone knows that ‘incoming!’ means ‘we’ve got a bomb headed our way’, and we all know to take cover. We lost a lot of people during the first couple bombings, because they didn’t know to take cover, or they didn't hear or were too slow.

  “Impact in four, three….” I dive under a tree, rolling against its base, and curling into a ball to protect my head. Once again the bomb’s impact and explosion shake the earth, and I shriek as tree branches fall around me.

  When my ears stop ringing, I open my eyes, and spit out the ash I inhaled when I screamed. I try to sit up and wince as my back collides with something hard. I flatten myself onto my stomach and army crawl out from under what I now realize to be the entire tree. (No I still don’t know how trees grow down here with no sunlight, but that’s really not a priority right now.)

  “Kenzie?” I ask.

  She emerges from where the tree roots now stick up into the air. “You look like a nightmare.” She says.

  I nod. “If you look that bad I can only imagine how bad I must look.” Her hair, which she just recently wound up into a tight bun, has slipped down in parts, falling into her face, and is filled with twigs, and streaked with ash. Her face and clothes are also smeared with mud, ash, and blood and are torn.

  I gasp as the gate shudders again, and a hinge pops off one side of the tightly closed gate. “Kenzie!” I gesture to the gate in a panic. “The gate!”

  Kenzie eyes it nervously. “Ok people! Defense lines! Go, go, go!”

  Our fighters nervously lift their makeshift weapons, and ready their gifts, forming defensive lines in front of the gates. Another hinge- on the other side this time- pops off leaving both doors hanging by only one hinge. Bang. Bang. Bang! The two halves of the gate fly off at the same time, and things of all shapes, sizes, and various degrees of weird and grossness pour through.

  I scream- involuntary reflex, I swear- as a tentacled demon, dripping thick slime, launches itself at me. I turn invisible and leap to the side. The demon hits the ground exactly where I’d been standing a second ago, and looks around confused. I unsheath my dagger, and swing it at the demon, barely keeping myself from howling a battle cry. My dagger cuts three of the demons tentacles right off and it turns to face me.

  “Invisible are you?” It asks in a voice that sounds like torrential rain hitting pavement. “Clever little Halfling.”

  It leaps again, it’s remaining six tentacles waving. This time I can’t move. It feels like my legs are rooted in place. My heart is pounding in fear, and my brain is sluggish, the only thoughts it’s processing are Aaaahhhhh!!!!, but somehow my arms move of their own accord, raising the dagger above my head. The demons collides with it and the dagger plunges deep into its gut. Then it explodes.

  It showers thick black slime, and rubbery tentacle parts all over me. I feel my stomach lurch at the black flesh and the black slime running down my arms, and I press my hands to my face to keep from puking. A harsh, acrid taste fills my mouth, and yank my hands back. The thick black slime is dripping down them. I take a deep breath, and try to ignore the lingering taste, preparing to go back into battle.

  “Liv! Behind you!’ Kellen shouts from a few feet away.

  I spin around, and narrowly avoid being hit by a long spiky black tail, with a huge barb at the end of it. “Oh my god.” I raise my dagger as I dive out of the way.

  Thunk.

  The barb falls on the ground, sliced cleanly off. Thick green goop spills from the severed end. I jump back as the poison- I’m sure that’s what it is- streams toward the tips of my boots. I spin back to face the scorpion demon. It’s spits more thick poison at me and clicks it’s mandibles. I lunge at it, spearing through the middle, and spin around again.

  Three more demons stand behind me, advancing closer with every second. They’re an odd mix of dog-crocodile thing. I lift the dagger as they growl and snap at me. As one they move closer and I swing the dagger in one broad arc, looking away as it slices through their necks, cutting their heads off.

  Apparently no one can catch a break during a battle. I get so caught up in the fighting and the slicing and dicing that I don’t realize the battle has spread out and I’m fighting a grotesque gargoyle demon like thing near the middle of the city, by the palace.

  My gaze darts to the largest of the lord and noble manors nervously. All the children, sick, weak, injured and elderly people are in there. There is so much at risk here. I leap into the air and turn invisible. I spin a snap kick at the gargoyle’s head, then, when it’s stunned, I maneuver into a flip and slice the head off of the weird creature.

  I spot Kellen, and Kira fighting back to back, and land near them stabbing a demon in the stomach. “Hey.” I pant, turning visible again.

  Kellen uses his sword to slice one in half, and Kira does the same with the hoe she found. “Hey.” They respond in unison, then Kellen wraps his arm around my shoulder in a half hug.

  “Are you okay?” He asks, his eyes wide with concern.

  “Yeah...fine.” I say, still out of breath.

  “You’re not hurt?” He stares at my forehead, his eyebrows furrowed
.

  “Not badly….I think?” It comes out like a question and I reach up to touch my forehead.

  My fingers come away covered in blood, and I notice a sting in my leg. “Ok….so I might be a little hurt, but it’s nothing serious. What about you two?” I notice Kira’s arm is bleeding, and blood is soaking through Kellens shirt near his ribs.

  “Fine.” They both say automatically.

  I narrow my eyes at them, then spin around and slice a snake demon in half, then lower my voice. “We are all going to Lord Fiskars now.”

  They roll their eyes but join me in slashing our way through the field of demons and around the back of the manor. The backyard is mercifully empty of demons, but it isn’t really a backyard anymore. It’s more of a giant bomb crater, with patches still flaming. We hurry past the crater and over to the backyard, making sure no demons are following us, and open the back door.

  Kenzie appears. “Shut the door! Shut it now! We can’t have any demons in here.”

  I pull it shut behind me, and gape at her. “Kenzie, what happened!?” Her brother and sister stare at her wide….eye? They look just as shocked as I feel. Kenzie has a bandage wrapped around half of her head, covering her left eye and blood is seeping through it.

  She grimaces. “The crab demons. Their pincers are like swords.”

  “It’s pincer stabbed your eye out?” I gasp at her.

  “It stabbed my eye. I don’t know about out, but I definitely won’t be using it for a while. So….you guys are hurt?”

  We nod grudgingly and she leads us into the large dining room, the tables pushed against the walls. I wince at the sight of all the injured people sitting on the floor or on benches at the tables getting treated. We follow Kenzie to a table where a girl with dark caramel hair that’s held up in a bun, tendrils falling down around her face, is treating two kids around thirteen.