by Sumida, Amy
We were riding in the royal carriage of the House of Spirit, sumptuously appointed in purple velvet that was getting a beating from the armor worn by King Guirmean and the High Royals. I myself wore no armor and neither did Arach. I wore only a simple cotton sheath and he wore a pair of drawstring pants, nothing else, in preparation for our inevitable shift to dragons. We did have a couple of robes with us though for afterward.
Our jobs, along with the rest of the fey, was to distract Andrasta long enough that the High King could get the perfect shot. He only had the one arrow so it needed to be released at close range and it had to be a sure hit. Cian needed to send that arrow straight through Andrasta's heart for it to work.
And I hoped it would work. If it didn't, we were all up that river without a paddle because this was it, I didn't have anymore ideas on how to stop Andrasta and I was pretty sure no one else did either. I looked over at the other royals and their expressions were just as determined as I was. We couldn't fail, the entire fey race depended on it.
Earlier that morning, I'd shown the High King and other royals the location of the Darkness on a map. The High King had sent scouts ahead and we'd be meeting them at a predetermined spot along the Road of Neutrality which bordered the Forgetful Forest. We had to ride out to the road and then down to the left, nearing the border of Earth.
The forest wasn't just silent this time, it was empty. All of the life that could move, had. The only living things in the area were the ones rooted to the spot and they shivered continually in fear. I scented the air and got nothing, no scent of tree or earth even. I shot Arach a glance and saw that he'd sensed it too. The Darkness was close.
We came to a halt and everyone got out of the carriage quietly, though it was doubtful that our presence had gone unnoticed. The scouts that we'd sent ahead were waiting for us and reported that there was a dense patch of Darkness just fifty paces or so ahead of us in the forest. The royals nodded and went to instruct their armies. Arach and I went over to our collection of fire-sidhe, red caps, goblins, phookas, and leanan-sidhe. We'd left the Hidden Ones at home to guard the pixies and the rest of the Fire Kingdom. These were just our soldiers, we needed to protect the civilians too.
Arach instructed our forces to fan out and form a circle with the other Houses, trapping Andrasta inside while the royals attacked her. If Andrasta made a run for it, our armies would do their best to rein her in or kill her. I hoped it wouldn't come to that because honestly, if Andrasta was strong enough to make it past the royals of Faerie, then the armies wouldn't stand a chance. Our strongest warriors would be defeated in one fell swoop and all of Faerie would be doomed.
“Stop that,” Arach whispered to me as he led me back to the other royals. “We will prevail.”
“I hope so,” I sighed.
We headed deeper into the forest, the feeling of nothing becoming stronger though the forest remained surprisingly bright. The trees creaked around us, sounding almost as if they cried, and I shivered with dread. Memories of my last encounter with the Darkness, when it had been at full strength, entered my head. If we failed, one touch would be enough for it to paralyze and kill. It would be more powerful than anything in Faerie.
We finally came out into a clearing, the sun shining brightly as if it didn't know what evil it shone upon. Andrasta was sitting on a large mossy rock at the base of a shivering tree, regarding her nails as if they were the most interesting thing in all of Faerie. She looked up as we circled her and then she smiled.
“I was wondering when you'd finally come on in,” she sighed. “You've made enough noise to wake the dead,” she gestured to the side and there, in a discarded heap, were the bodies of the missing fey.
They were as I saw them in my dream, only there was more of them. They were shriveled and emptied of all life, with odd shaped limbs bent at even odder angles, like a pile of strange sticks. Vibrant eyes stared out at us in accusation. I heard Guirmean gasp and I realized that the body on top of the pile had blue skin and hair.
“You trespass here, murderess,” King Cian stated clearly as he lifted his bow. “You are not welcome in Faerie and as High King, I find you guilty of crimes against the fey. I sentence you to death.”
It looked like it might be over before it began because King Cian did indeed have a clear shot at Andrasta and she wasn't moving to stop him in any way. But when he released the arrow, a wall of Darkness rose and batted it aside. Hollow laughter rang out from within it and the cloud grew, tendrils reaching out toward the royals.
“Don't let it touch you,” I screamed as I pulled Arach back. “Shift!”
I released the Kraken... er... dragon and she came roaring out of my skin in a shivering rush of magic. In seconds I was flying through the treetops, soaring above the spreading cloud of black below. Arach joined me in moments, his red scales shimmering bright in the Faerie sunlight. We hovered, our huge wings cracking through the air like thunder, and stared down at the scrambling fey royalty. Then Arach dived and I followed his lead. He swooped over the dark, lighting it up with a stream of fire as I hit it with a second blast for good measure.
The Darkness swallowed the fire without lightening at all. It remained as opaque as tar, withholding its secrets and protecting its host. In fact, it seemed to suck in the energy of the flame and feed on it. It expanded within moments of our attack.
Below us the land shook and I saw King Cahal raise a hand as the trees themselves twisted, lowering branches to swing at the Darkness. A horrible shrieking commenced and then a cracking sound as limbs were torn away and the trees of Faerie started to bleed. King Cahal backed away, terror clearly lining his face.
Queen Breana had enough presence of mind to use the wind to collect our magic arrow. She called it to her and ran it over to the High King but he had no shot. He stood aghast, staring into the Darkness with both bow and arrow hanging limp from his hands. Breana shook him and shouted at him but he just continued to stare at the dark like a toddler without his teddy bear.
Guirmean blasted it with water, a tidal wave lifting from out of the soil and rolling over the dark cloud. It crashed with a great roar but when it flowed away, the Darkness remained. The royals fell back when they saw this and they all began attacking the dark together, Arach and I sweeping in to apply our heat to the mix.
It did seem to shudder then, especially when King Cian sent a blast of rolling white light into it, and I felt a moment's encouragement. Then it gathered itself and appeared to harden, the black of it becoming shiny, like a beetle's back. It condensed into a conical shape and shot out through the trees, directly toward my fire fey.
I screeched and angled down to intersect its course, Arach flying beside me. We landed in front of our army and let loose a stream of fire that was so strong, it created a wall before us. A wall the Darkness didn't even seem to feel. It just went straight through it like a blade through water. Then it was upon us, over us, and my world turned black.
Chapter Thirty-One
It was so cold. My breath was freezing inside my lungs, my limbs paralyzed with the shock of it. It was like all of my heat was being sucked from me, all that made me fey, and the rest of me was paralyzed by it.
I was lying on something soft, grass maybe, but all I could see was black, the kind of true black that makes you wonder if your eyes are open or not. You just keep blinking, not knowing whether you've gone blind or if the world has just gone dark. Well, I knew which it was and I might have preferred the blindness.
It was eerily quiet inside the dark. The sounds of battle had faded completely and I wondered if we were all dead. Maybe I was in the void that the gods talked about, the place the souls were supposed to go if the gods hadn't stopped them from going. Was this it? Was I dead?
Not yet.
“Faerie?” My voice was swallowed by the dark as well. I was slowly becoming nothing.
I'm here and I need you, daughter.
“Need me?” I thought, since my voice would make no sound. “What can I
possibly do now? It's over, she's won.”
No, she hasn't. I need you to acknowledge what the star inside you means. I need you to allow it to shine.
“Can't you just this once, plain out say what you mean?”
The star is my symbol and when you were made complete, it was branded into you. Do you understand?
“No, I don't under-”
Think!
“Jeesh,” I huffed. “Okay, it's your symbol and I'm complete now. I don't know. You want to borrow my body or something?”
In a manner of speaking, yes. Andrasta is host to the darkness of the elements, the evil pieces that were removed from them before the fey were created to hold them. I am the source of the elements, the purest energy that remained at the end, the Keeper of the Nine Great Magics.
“And you want me to be your host, so you can kick the Darkness' butt?”
Exactly.
“Well why didn't you just say so? Come on in.”
It's not as simple as that. You must focus on your triple trinities. Let go of your fear and collect your power into your heart. Make the star shine so that I can follow the light in.
“Oh sure, no problem,” I grimaced and tried to focus.
The Darkness was making it almost impossible to gather my power. How do you gather something as it's being taken from you? Like sand beneath my feet being pulled away by the tide, I could curl my toes into it but it wouldn't make a difference. Fear started to overwhelm me as I realized how impossible the task was but then I thought about Arach and my heart warmed just a bit. Love is the strongest magic.
Instead of trying to focus on gathering my power, I focused on how much I loved my men. Not just Arach but all of them. I saw their faces, recalled their scents and the way they felt. Love rushed hot through my veins and straight to my heart, lighting up the star that waited there. So simple, as great magic often is.
Thank you.
There was a feeling of laughter inside me then. Every negative emotion I had was suddenly obliterated under this overwhelming surge of brightness. I felt light, I was light, and it was me. I smiled, my heart-star flared, and the Darkness fell away.
I was standing in an open grove, the same place I'd stood with Arach before my army. Protecting my army, wasn't that silly? I laughed, the sound of it carrying through the trees, through the four kingdoms, through the earth, and through the firmament of Faerie. Everything came to a stop.
Around me, the fey were in various states of duress. Blood flowed, bones were broken, and weapons were lying in twisted heaps, all except for the magic arrow which King Cian clutched to his chest as he stared at me. Everyone was staring at me and I briefly wondered if I was naked. I should be, I'd just changed back from a dragon.
But then I laughed again, or was it Faerie laughing? Maybe we just laughed together because she made it clear to me that something as simple as clothing was a non-issue for us, for her, whatever. I was clothed in light and when I looked down at myself I delighted in the beauty of the dress.
It flowed from my neck to my feet in wispy layers of pure white. It glowed yellow at the edges, curling in like holiday ribbons, and the wide panels of the skirt flowed in the air like they were alive. I trailed my hand through it and watched as it disappeared into the fabric. I had the sudden urge to twirl.
“Vervain?” Arach was struggling to his feet, still in dragon form, his words a roar on the wind, but I could easily understand him. He looked emaciated, like he'd been starved for months, and his bones were showing through his scaled skin.
I frowned at his state and waved a hand to lift him up and heal his wounds. My mate deserved better than that. One of the spokes in my heart-star glowed as the great magic was accessed. Health poured into me and through me, into him. His flesh filled in, his scales shining once again, and he lifted his head and roared. There, that was better.
I waved another hand and the rest of the fey were healed, the harsh reality of war erased. Even the trees grew new limbs to replace those which had been lost, and I smiled in satisfaction. It was all as it should be once again. The nine-pointed star in my chest burned bright, emitting waves of happiness through me. I'd never known such complete joy as in that moment, standing in the sunlight, my fey surrounding me, all of them whole and healthy, my mate roaring at my side.
Having a body was nice, you felt things like heat and pleasure. I held my hand out to a shaft of sunlight and waved my fingers through it, there was warmth in the light. The ground was soft beneath my feet and I curled my toes into the moss, my muscles clenched and stretched, delighting in the sensation. Sounds were different, more precise and much harder to ignore. Everything was brighter, sharper, and louder in a body but I guess that was what happened when you forced so much into such a small space. I shrugged.
Then I saw her.
Andrasta stepped forward, her dark cover completely dispersed, and stared on me with hatred. I cocked my head at her, wondering what should be done about her after it all was over. While I contemplated, she had the nerve to send a spear of Darkness shooting towards me.
I batted it away, like she had done to the arrow earlier, and strode forward with a peeved expression. She cringed back, terror showing for the first time as she realized just what she was facing. I stopped directly in front of her and looked her over. I could see the Darkness in every cell of her body, it had infested her like termites in an old wood house. If I squeezed her, it would probably ooze out of her pores. The thought both disgusted and amused me, and I ended up grinning.
“Faerie?” She gasped. “Is that you?”
With her words, the rest of the fey went wide-eyed with shock. I smiled and gave them all a little wave. I was kind of surprised that they hadn't realized who I was sooner but then they'd always been a bit slow when it came to me. They gaped at me and I laughed, good for them, they could use the shock. I looked back at Andrasta.
“That's right, it's me,” I said with a voice that vibrated through the air like a separate entity. I saw the exact moment when it touched her, she winced as if she'd been struck. “I let the fey handle you last time. Remember? Oh, have you forgotten? No? Cat got your tongue?” I laughed, thinking of Roarke, one of my most favorite faeries. He would probably write that onto a piece of clothing. A T-shirt, I corrected myself. Cat-Sidhe got your tongue? Oh yes, he'd like that, I must remember to tell him. I was certain he'd find a way to make the statement lascivious.
“You deny me life,” Andrasta hissed, only it wasn't her voice. This was something darker, older, and colder than she. The words crept over my skin like insects and I shook them off with a little irritation. “You take everything while I am cast out.”
“It's hard to be the Darkness,” I sighed, feeling sympathy for the part of the elements that had been severed from the rest. Just like the elements, this too had come from me. In a way, it was my child and I cared for it but I also knew it as only a mother could. “But only if you are the light. Magic has no notions of right or wrong, it simply is what it is. You are the darkest of emotions and as such, the dark is where you belong. Loneliness can only exist in solitude, anger can only flourish by encouraging the evil in men. There is no shame in this, Hate is one of the great magics and it is necessary. You have your place, just as I have mine, but you refuse to be content in it.”
“Content?” She crept forward a hairsbreadth. “I am hatred and anger and loneliness. My very nature is to not be content. I need to consume, I need to feed this emptiness, and as you say, we are what we are. Yet you scorn me for it. I do what is in my nature to do.”
“It is also in your nature to keep the balance,” I looked over her passionate anger with calm acceptance. “Magic holds one law above all others, Equilibrium must be maintained. I know this and I've restrained myself from simply pushing what I want onto the fey. I guide and help as is my nature to do but I don't force or impose. It can be frustrating, especially when you know what you want is best, but equilibrium is more important. You were free to delight in all
of those things as long as the balance was kept but you sought to change the balance. You stole elements from my faeries and took them for yourself. You disrupted the balance and if you had succeeded, you would have unmade this realm.”
Gasps and murmured shock from the fey. The threat had been even bigger than they thought. They drew closer, attracted to both my light and the drama unfolding.
“You can't destroy me then,” she smirked at me. “If you do, you'll upset the balance. Wouldn't that unmake the realm too?”
“You are not the only source of darkness,” I smiled sadly. “When you were banished to the Human Realm, you spread yourself over it and infested it with pieces of you. Even here, I hold the Nine Great Magics. Hate and Domination will always exist. Balance will be maintained, even after you're gone.”
“Fuck your balance,” the Darkness growled, “and fuck your realm.”
“Well now,” I sighed, “that wasn't the response I was hoping for.”
I reached out a hand and then fisted it in the air. Andrasta's limbs pulled in tight as if I'd closed it around her. Her eyes went wide and panicked, the pulse beating in her throat so fast that her skin appeared to be vibrating.
“High King,” I turned and looked to King Cian, “come forward and take back the elements that have been stolen.”
King Cian nodded respectfully to me and came to stand beside me. He notched the arrow and aimed carefully at Andrasta's heart. An inhale and then with his exhale, he let loose the arrow which flew true and lodged itself deep inside Andrasta's chest.
Andrasta screeched, the sound drawing itself out into a piercing wail. Inside her chest the arrow glowed, changing colors from blue to yellow and then to green before it finally pushed free and dropped to the ground. It glowed against the bright grass and then the elements it had collected sank into me, returning to where they belonged.