“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” Locasta stammered. “I just have to keep up this pretense so much, sometimes I forget to drop it.”
The Fisher King kicked her in the stomach and Locasta cried out. “You dare forget something I hate? How many times have I told you I hate that glamour? If I didn’t still need you, I just drain your magic and be done with you.”
“Sir, please,” Locasta sobbed. “Look, I’ve dropped the glamour.”
I’d seen Locasta without her glamour, but no one else with me except Esiro had. Locasta had the same beauty the rest of the Sentinels had. She wasn’t as tall as Glinda or as short as Frankie. She was right in the middle like most of the Gillikin. Her hair was green like mine, but mine was the color of pine needles. Locasta’s hair was the color of green peas and was lighter than mine.
The Fisher King liked women to wear their hair down, so as soon as she dropped the glamour, she pulled the pins out of her hair so it spilled down her back in waves.
“Please, sir, when you succeed, you’ll never have to see that glamour ever again.”
“And you!” he roared, turning to my mother. “The only thing you did right was that we got here before the rest of Oz. I can raise an army that will slaughter the Munchkins without magic and capture those that do. I’ll just use the Munchkins that die today to do the same to those that would come here and seek to fight me. Now, let me raise my army.”
My eyes darted around the cemetery. I couldn’t see Dorothy or Ozma. Had they found that cornerstone and blessed the cemetery? We would be fucked if they hadn’t. Should we just rush in and try to fight him while we had the greater numbers? The spell to raise the dead took intense concentration and it was a long one too. Much like we were consecrating the cemetery so the Fisher King’s magic couldn’t be used here, he had his own ritual to raise the dead.
Unlike what I did in the jail, he wouldn’t be using salt to keep them contained. He wanted them loose and causing chaos. I turned to my group.
“We should strike while he’s preparing for the spell. It will take work and concentration. It’s the best time to get close to him and see if we can kill him.”
Daxar frowned. “Do you mean to let him raise the dead?”
“His ring doesn’t just steal magic. It can drain your life force. It’s a necromancy spell. If any of us charge through that gate now, at least one of us will die,” I said.
“Not if I put an arrow in his eye,” Saffron said.
“No arrows,” I said. “My mother and Locasta are there as a backup. They may look beaten right now, but they will step up to protect him. We need to wait until the Fisher King is occupied with that spell, then use your arrow on either Locasta or my mother.”
“It’s too risky,” Kazax said. “We don’t know if Dorothy has found that cornerstone. If she has, the Fisher King will know his spell isn’t working and react.”
“He won’t know until the dead don’t claw their way out of the ground. Trust me, this is how we take him down.”
“I don’t like it,” Daxar said.
Frankie just kissed his cheek. “Galen knows his father. We trust Galen. We must trust his plan.”
We went back to watching through the gate. My father lit a black candle and started walking in what I was sure looked like a random formation to everyone else. He was burning the symbol of the demon Astaroth into the ground to call the dead. He was chanting in Latin, trying to desecrate the ground so he could do the spell.
They hadn’t been given permission, but my mother and Locasta had both stood and were watching the cemetery for anyone to come in and try to stop their master. I could see the symbol burned into the ground, and the black candle was nearly totally melted. I could only hope Dorothy found that cornerstone, or we were totally fucked.
The Fisher King went to join his queens. He raised his arms and started his chant. Before we could even move, my mother broke ranks. She moved like lightning. She whipped a dagger from behind her and plunged it into the Fisher King's neck.
“Galen, I know you’re out there. I hope you brought friends. The time for your revenge is now!” she yelled.
The Fisher King stumbled backwards with blood spurting from his neck. My mother tackled Locasta. Had she been on our side this entire time, or did she just snap? Whatever that answer was, the time to get into that cemetery and beat the Fisher King was now.
“Everyone in that cemetery now!” I yelled.
Kazax and his Flying Monkeys went flying over the gates. Idris stayed with us and just kicked the gate open. We all went rushing in, either to certain death or to finally kill the Fisher King for good.
Chapter 19
Frankie
I
’d never rushed into battle before, but I could already tell I didn’t enjoy doing it, not knowing all the facts. We didn’t know if Dorothy found the cornerstone, we didn’t know how to kill the Fisher King for good, and I had no idea why the Fisher King’s wife just stabbed him in the neck and now had Locasta on her back pummeling her face.
Based on the way Galen tensed up any time we talked about his mother, she had done some awful things to him I didn’t want to think about or I’d get pissed off. Did she snap after that backhand to the face and the way he talked to her just now? According to Galen, that was the relationship they had. I didn’t understand it, but I was glad she was finally fighting back.
The Fisher King might be immortal, but he wasn’t self-healing, thank Oz. That gushing hole in his neck wasn’t closing up. I remembered what Galen said about the wound to his groin. Despite drinking from the grail, it wouldn’t heal until certain words were spoken. Was that how his wounds worked since he drank something that made him immortal? I could work with that.
The Fisher King was clutching his neck as blood seeped through his fingers. He looked like he didn’t know if he should kill his wife or raise the dead first. I already knew he didn’t care about Locasta. She was expendable to him, and she might not think so, but he would drain her when she served her purpose.
The Fisher King decided to ignore the spat going on between his two queens and continue to raise the dead. I knew the language was Latin now, but it sounded so much more threatening when the Fisher King spoke this spell. When Galen spoke Latin, it rolled off his tongue in reverence. With the Fisher King, it was almost guttural and ugly.
His words sped up when he realized he had company in the cemetery. He had another choice now. He could try to use his ring to defend himself, or he could hope he finished his spell and let the dead do his dirty work for him. Apparently, he couldn’t do both. Galen had already told us this spell required a lot of concentration. There were beads of sweat rolling off his bald head and he was looking nervous the closer we got to him.
Saffron made me proud. She always did. She didn’t charge in with us. I knew that as soon as I saw the arrow zip past me. Her aim was spot on. It always was. Her arrow found itself directly in the Fisher King’s right eye. He stumbled back, but he didn’t fall over and die like anyone else would.
How the fuck were we supposed to kill someone with a dagger wound that bad in their neck who was still standing with an arrow sticking out their face? The Fisher King howled in rage and just yanked the arrow and his eye out. He could see Galen and Esiro with his one good eye.
“You traitorous little bastards. Did I not beat you enough growing up? Did I not properly teach you what would happen if you cross me? And you! I don’t know who broke the spell on you, but I should have known better than to trust you in the care of someone as weak-minded as Locasta. Tell me, girl. Were you not beaten enough either? Do you know what they say back where I come from? There’s a saying—spare the rod, spoil the child. Clearly, the two of you needed a little more sense knocked into you. Tell me, is your other sister here?”
Esiro just shrieked and flung a curse at him. The Fisher King was gushing blood from his neck and missing his right eye, but he blocked her curse with his ring. We needed to get that ring off him so one of us co
uld get close enough to cut off his head.
The Fisher King raised his hand, and a pulse went out that knocked me nearly clean across the cemetery. I knew what he was doing. His ring could only take on one of us at a time and I had a feeling if stolen magic powered it, there were limits to it. If he used it too much, it might run out of power and he’d be defenseless against us. No, he knocked us away, to finish his spell to raise the dead.
I heard the chanting again through the ringing in my ears from the spell that knocked me back. We were all disoriented as we struggled to get back to our feet. I could see the Fisher King raised his hands, and I heard him yell.
“Rise!” he yelled to the cemetery.
Nothing happened.
Dorothy and Ozma strolled through the gates of the cemetery holding hands.
“Hello, father,” Dorothy said calmly. “Expecting the dead to rise? While you were beating my brother, he was learning from you and how to beat you. I don’t think you’ll find the dead doing your bidding today.”
The Fisher King wasn’t fazed. He gave Dorothy a cruel grin. “You were supposed to stay where you were sent until I needed you. You just couldn’t stay put, could you? I don’t want to kill you, but your little girlfriend will have to die. I need her magic. Don’t get in my way or I will kill you too.”
The Fisher King raised his ring and pointed it at Ozma. We were all too far away to do anything to stop him. I needed to get that ring off his hands. Esiro, Galen, and I all flung curses at him. He couldn’t block all of them. His skin turned black and started to crack and bleed. Pustules were breaking out all over, and he still wasn’t backing down. Our spells caused him to stumble and lower his ring, but he was back on his feet aiming his ring at Ozma.
Saffron’s arrow found his heart this time. It tore through that strange, metal shirt he had on and lodged itself right in his heart. The man still wouldn’t die. He just ripped the arrow out and aimed at Ozma again.
“Dorothy, you come from where I come from,” the Fisher King said, clucking his tongue. “Didn’t you read your scriptures? When a man lies with man, it’s an abomination and they should both be stoned. The same goes for women, girl. This is for your own good.”
What else could we do? We were trying to get to him as fast as we could, but if one of us got to him sooner, he’d just use that ring on us. None of us were expendable. I just didn’t know how to kill the Fisher King. Idris took to the air, and it looked like he would get to the Fisher King first. The Fisher King wasn’t taking Idris from me.
The Fisher King realized Idris would get to him before he could kill Ozma. He turned his ring on Idris. A sickly green color shot out the ring and hit Idris on the chest. Idris froze midair, and his body started to seize. I took off running as fast as I could flinging every curse I knew at the Fisher King. We were all trying to get to him. Kazax and the rest of the Flying Monkeys were close.
All our eyes were on the Fisher King. We weren’t watching Galen’s mother. Honestly, I’d kind of just forgotten about her after she started wailing on Locasta. It wasn’t me that saved Idris. It wasn’t anyone from our group. It was Galen’s mother. While the Fisher King was intent on killing Idris, she snuck up behind him, yanked his sword from his scabbard, and cut off the hand with that ring on it.
The spell instantly broke, and Idris spiraled to the ground. It seemed like a million steps and a million miles before I made it to him. He was still alive! His hazel eyes were open and blinking at me. I grabbed his face and kissed him.
“Don’t worry about me, Francesca. Kill that bastard for good. Figure out how.”
I turned back to the Fisher King. Now he was showing pain. He was on his knees, holding the bleeding stump of his hand howling. His wife had his own sword at this throat. He still talking down to her.
“You stupid bitch. You would have been my queen. You can’t kill me. You know that. I’ll just come for you, and I’ll kill you this time.”
Galen’s mother looked at Galen. “Galen, you should do it. I don’t expect you to understand the things I’ve done or how I treated you, but one of his children should kill him. If you don’t want it, Esiro or Dorothy should do it.”
I didn’t understand the things she had done either. She technically plotted to kill my mother, and it was her that aimed Dorothy’s house at Adora and murdered her. Was she just as mad as the Fisher King? What game was she playing at, anyway? I’d been worried about saving her this entire time and she saved our asses, but I hadn’t forgotten what she did to Galen, me, or Saffron.
Galen looked so confused. It looked like his entire world had been shattered. I didn’t know if I needed to be with Galen or Idris right now.
“If you know how to kill him for good, just do it yourself if you can.”
Illyna just gave Galen a curt nod. “I hope all of you will let me explain myself.”
Could she do it? Could she behead her lover and the man she plotted to murder almost everyone in Oz with?
The answer was, yes, she could. It was swift. The Fisher King hardly had time to blink or speak before she swung his sword and separated his head from his body.
Chapter 20
Frankie
T
he Fisher King’s head tumbled down the small hill they were standing on, and it was pretty horrifying. The severed head was screaming the entire way down about what a traitor Illyna was. It came to rest at Kazax feet and he just punted it across the cemetery straight into a wall. I heard the bones crunch as his nose and teeth as his face smashed against the wall and left a bloody trail as it slid down.
We all just looked at each other in horror. Was it over? Was he dead? Apparently not. Illyna was struggling to tie his hands behind his back because his body was still animated. Locasta was out cold with her face bloodied on the hill. Kazax stepped forward and helped Illyna tie the Fisher King’s body down. He trussed him up like a Winkie hog. His head was still trying to talk through a broken nose and missing teeth.
Kazax looked over at the head. “I’m not touching that thing. What do we do with it? I’m assuming you have a plan?”
Galen, Esiro, and Dorothy were all looking at Illyna warily. I wasn’t all that on board with trusting her, either. Sure, she just lopped off her husband’s head and beat the shit out of Locasta, but what if she had been the evil mastermind this entire time? I hadn’t forgotten it was because of her Saffron and I no longer had our mothers. Maybe she thought Dorothy wouldn’t succeed at killing my mother, but she was the one that aimed the house at Adora. She might not have murdered my mother directly, but she murdered Saffron’s. She would have to explain that to me and she would have to explain all of this to all of us. Whatever this game was, if she wasn’t doing this for evil, she damaged her children and innocent people died.
“Can one of you empty your rucksack?” Illyna asked.
Idris groaned and sat up. “Not if you’re sticking bloody heads in there. You still have a lot of explaining to do.”
“I know this. I owe all of you an explanation, but we need to fix all the curses that were cast, and the North still thinks Locasta is a Good Witch. Locasta needs to stand trial, and this head is evidence. I’m evidence. I’m a witness. I can tell the truth about what we did and break the forgetting curse without hurting people.”
Saffron came from behind her bush. Oprix and Daxar were surrounding me with their arms around me. I needed their arms, but someone needed to hold Galen too. I got what Illyna was saying. She was trying to fix things, but why now? Why did she let everything get this far? I had so many questions for her, but I seemed to have lost the ability to speak. She had the answers to why my mother was killed and I couldn’t even get my voice to work to ask her why she did it.
Esiro didn’t have that problem. Esiro crossed her arms and glared at her mother. “Why should we trust you? After everything you did, after everything you took from everyone here, why should we believe a word out of your mouth?”
Illyna’s eyes watered. “You’re so s
trong, Esiro. It was so hard sending you and Dorothy away. It was hard pretending I didn’t love Galen. I was weak. I thought I could handle guarding the Fisher King. I thought I could ignore him. I did, for three hundred years. I never spoke back to him, but he tried different tactics over the centuries to get me to let him out. I was lonely, and I fell for his bullshit when he finally tried the romance route.
“I thought I was in love with him. I thought I wanted what he wanted. I thought he was right, and I deserved revenge for being left alone at that cave, I plotted with him. I cast spells for him, and I did so many horrible things.
“That all changed when he said he thought we needed more people, and he would only trust his blood. He wanted children. He wanted three children. The number three was always so fucking important to him. That was where I realized the mistake I made. He thought his magic and mine could control biology. He thought he could force a birth with three children with the right color hair on the first try.
“He was so angry when our first child was only one and had black hair. He yanked the child from my arms and snapped their neck right in front of me. He beat me and told me my body failed him. Carrying a child for that long, there’s a bond there. I wanted her, even if she was only one and she didn’t have my green hair.
“I knew I had to find a way to kill him, but I had already given him that ring back. You saw what that ring did to the Flying Monkey. If I hadn’t cut his hand off and severed the connection, he would have been dead in seconds. I couldn’t do it while he was awake, and he’s an insanely light sleeper. He would have woken up if I even entered where he slept.
“I wanted to stop and not have any children. I couldn’t bear watching that again, and I knew no magic could do what he wanted. I tried to talk him out of it. He would just beat me until I couldn’t stand and then rape me. If he didn’t have that ring, it would have been a different story. The fight outcome would be different. That stupid ring I was foolish enough to give back to him trapped me.”
Oz Has Spoken: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance (Emerald City Academy Book 3) Page 9