Queen of Wands (The Tree of Ages Series Book 4)

by Sara C. Roethle

  Anna’s limbs flopped limply against her bedroll, his attempt to waken her in vain.

  “Curse these blasted Faie,” he muttered, then sprung up to prepare his horse.

  Iseult had already climbed into the saddle of Finn’s unicorn with Finn’s limp legs dangling down on either side of the beasts back and her body grasped against his chest. “We need to hurry,” he prompted as Kai frantically saddled his horse.

  “Anna went to the in-between,” he growled. “She will not wake.”

  Hoofbeats preceded Eywen, along with several of the other Aos Sí on horseback, some riding two to a saddle since there weren’t enough horses between them. Eywen hopped down from his mount beside where Anna lay. “I have her!” he shouted. “We must flee!”

  Kai cursed under his breath as he watched Eywen lift Anna into his saddle. One of the other Aos Sí helped balance her so Eywen could climb next.

  Kai would have preferred to be the one to watch over Anna, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He lunged into his own saddle, took up the reins, then galloped after Finn and Iseult.

  As they raced onward into the night, the Aos Sí closed in around them. The loud trills, the hunting calls of something that even scared the Aos Sí, increased in frequency as they grew near.

  Eywen rode up beside Kai, clutching Anna to his chest, their long black hair intermingling in the wind. “Do not look them in the eyes!” He shouted over the deafening trills. “No matter what you do, keep riding as fast as you can. If you see running water, cross it. We need only to survive until sunrise!”

  “It’s the middle of the night!” Kai shouted back. This was bad. An icy chill went up his spine as the trilling sounds closed in. He noticed black shapes darting around the surrounding trees. Whatever these creatures were, their eyes reflected the moon in a shimmering display. He tried to look more closely as he galloped by, then remembered Eywen’s words. Don’t look them in the eyes. Easier said than done. Any of the horses could easily stumble in the darkness, dislodging their riders. What was he supposed to do if he fell?

  Something leapt onto his horse’s rump, and he lashed out reflexively with a sharp blow of his elbow. He met with solid flesh, and the creature fell away. He couldn’t make out much about the creature, except a brief glimpse of a female, humanoid body. If it weren’t for the glowing eyes, these creatures could almost pass as ordinary women . . . ordinary women who were somehow outrunning their horses.

  Kai watched as one of the women jumped on the unicorn’s white rump, her flowing cloak obscuring Iseult and Finn from view. The woman’s body jolted, then fell away, revealing the glint of Iseult’s sword.

  Kai’s horse stepped around the fallen creature, as another vaulted to attack Iseult’s back. At the risk of possibly injuring Iseult, Kai threw his dagger into the woman’s back. She fell away with a screech, but another soon took her place. They had to be after Finn, he thought. Of course, they were after her.

  Seeming to come to the same conclusion, Eywen shouted, “Surround the Dair! Do not let them touch her!”

  The Aos Sí closed in, fending off the Dearg Due with their blades while somehow avoiding eye contact.

  Kai watched on in awe for a moment, until his back was slammed with a body, and strong arms circled his chest. Before he could respond, a mouth flew to his neck, teeth jamming down, breaking skin. He winced, feeling the clamp of a mouth affixed to him. Blood rushed to his neck, but the woman would not let go. Unable to loosen her hold on him, he fumbled for the second dagger on his belt. Securing it, he thrust his hand back, stabbing the dagger into her side.

  Still she did not release her hold. His vision darted to the Aos Sí ahead, swarmed by more of the creatures. He tore his dagger free and stabbed her again.

  Beginning to feel lightheaded, he managed to withdraw his dagger and stab her one last time. Her mouth fell away from his neck as her body tumbled from the horse. Suddenly too weak to keep his seat, he tumbled to the ground after her, landing with a thud in the damp leaves. The thundering of hooves grew distant, his party, he presumed, out of sight.

  He forced his eyes open, desperate to see if he was alone. His gaze was met with strange, reflective eyes. The woman spoke in a foreign tongue, then moved back to reveal several others.

  Still on his back, he watched on awestricken, feeling as if he were in some sort of trance. He couldn’t seem to look away from the woman whose eyes he’d met. The one woman spoke again, then several sets of hands dragged him to his feet.

  The Dearg Due continued speaking as they half dragged, half carried him back the way they’d come. He recognized none of their words, save two, Dair Leanbh. He would have cursed himself if he could think straight. They must have been sent to capture any of the Dair, and since Finn’s blood ran through his veins, they thought he was one.

  Iseult had his blade in one hand, with his other arm wrapped around Finn’s waist, bracing her against his chest. He leaned forward, shielding her with his body as much as possible, trusting Finn’s unicorn to safely guide them.

  He’d heard legends of the Dearg Due, but had never encountered them before. They’d disappeared along with most of the other Faie. He did not know precisely why they were after Finn, but it came as no surprise.

  Screeches from the Dearg Due pierced his ears as the Aos Sí fell left and right, giving their lives to protect Finn. If Iseult had questioned their loyalty before, he was not questioning it now. He would not let their sacrifice be in vain.

  Squeezing Finn tightly, he slashed his blade at one of the creatures that had slipped past the Aos Sí. She gripped onto Finn’s limp leg until his sword sunk into her neck. Just as she fell away, another darted in from the darkness. Slashing his already bloody blade at her face, she too fell away.

  “Ride ahead of us!” Eywen shouted. “My soldiers will fight them, it is the only way!”

  Iseult did not need to be told twice. Perhaps he was a less than noble man for being willing to sacrifice others for Finn’s well being, but it did not matter. It was simply a fact.

  He sheathed his blade and leaned forward to take hold of the unicorn’s reins, sandwiching Finn between himself and the saddle. Without any prompting, the unicorn shot forward, straight and true like an arrow. She pulled away from the Aos Sí horses, while Eywen shouted orders for his men to turn and fight. It would be difficult for Eywen to defend himself while protecting Anna, but it was a distant worry in Iseult’s mind. Just as the worry that he did not see Kai, Sativola, or Bedelia anywhere.

  He steeled his gaze forward, grateful for the unicorn’s speed and ability to deftly weave through the trees and undergrowth, far more graceful than any horse. The shrieks and trills of the Dearg Due grew distant, along with the battle cries of the Aos Sí.

  Soon enough, all fell silent, save the rhythmic clomping of the unicorn’s hooves. It was silent enough that he could hear Finn muttering in her sleep, though he could not decipher her words.

  Anna staggered, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly dizzy. Was she waking up, or was it something else? Finn stopped walking and watched her with concern.

  She stared down at the mossy earth, trying to regain her equilibrium. “I think something is happening to my body,” she muttered.

  Finn glanced around them, then grasped Anna’s arm. “You should sit,” she instructed, then proceeded to help Anna lower herself to the ground.

  Naoki trotted up to see what the commotion was. She blinked her lilac eyes at Anna, then turned her beak up toward her mother, chittering a question no one would ever be able to understand.

  Searing pain shot through Anna’s arm. She doubled over.

  “What is it?” Finn gasped. “What’s the matter?”

  “I think we’re being attacked,” she groaned.

  “Then you must go back!” Finn hissed. “I will be fine. I will hide from Keiren until I awake. It should hopefully keep her attention off you.”

  Anna nodded, though she had no idea how to return except to go to sleep, and
she didn’t think she’d be sleeping any time soon with the pain coursing through her body.

  “Tell Iseult,” Finn began, then seemed to take a moment to think. “Tell Iseult that I will be alright, and to continue on our course as planned. I almost . . . did something stupid, I think, but I will not make that mistake again.”

  Anna nodded, clenching her jaw against the pain. Her vision was fading to black. Would passing out be the same thing as going to sleep here? She hoped so.

  She felt a soft touch as Finn kissed her cheek. “Please be safe,” Finn muttered. “I will do all that I can to protect you.”

  Anna wanted to ask her what in the Horned One’s name she was talking about, but another wave of pain raced through her, and her vision faded entirely.

  Suddenly the world came crashing back around her. She sat up with a gasping breath, but someone pinned her back down against the dry, rocky earth.

  “Be still,” a voice soothed. “You are alright.”

  She forced her eyes open, then nearly screamed.

  Strange, uptilted blue eyes peered down at her, set in skin as white as snow, framed in the darkness of the real world night. Eywen pushed his black, spider silk hair behind his ear, his other hand remaining on Anna’s shoulder, holding her down.

  She tilted her head to observe her arm, the source of her pain in the in-between. There was a fresh bandage wrapped around the entirety of her bicep. Her shirt, stained with blood, was torn all the way up to her armpit.

  She turned her frightened gaze back up to the terrifying Aos Sí. “What happened?” she croaked.

  “We were attacked,” he explained in a hushed tone. “Iseult escaped with Finn. I don’t know where the others are.”

  “Why am I here with you?” she breathed. “Where’s Kai?”

  “I do not know what happened to him,” he explained. “They attacked our camp, and it was quicker for me to take you. You would not wake.”

  Anna groaned and pushed his hand away to sit up. “Who attacked us?”

  “The Dearg Due,” he explained, glancing around the dark woods. “You have a bite on your arm. I bandaged it to stop the blood flow, but it must be cleansed.”

  “Dearg Due?” she questioned, shaking her head to clear away the cobwebs in her mind. “Cleansed?”

  He nodded, and that silky hair fell forward again. “For human women, the bite of the Dearg Due can be transformative. It can make you one of them. For human men,” he sighed. “They become servants to their newly beloved masters.”

  Anna shakily climbed to her feet, noting the single horse loosely tied to a nearby tree.

  Eywen rose with her, watching her closely.

  She shivered. Out of everyone she could have been left with, it had to be the cursed leader of the Aos Sí. She took a step forward and her knees gave out.

  Eywen darted in to catch her and she pushed away, not wanting him to touch her. She ended up on her butt in the dry pine needles, clutching her arm.

  Eywen watched her with concern, no sign of malice or Faie bloodlust in his strange eyes. Finally really looking at him, she noted that he was missing several components of his armor, including his helmet, and his wrist was bleeding from what looked like a messy, gaping bite wound.

  “You’re injured,” she commented.

  He nodded. “The bite of the Dearg Due will not affect me as it does humans,” he explained, crouching beside her. “I’m going to help you up now,” he added, as if asking permission.

  She took a shaky breath, then nodded.

  He gently wrapped his arms around her torso and lifted. The grip would have never worked for a human unless he was as strong as Sativola, but Eywen lifted her effortlessly to her feet. Once she was steady, he let her go.

  “We should ride on,” he suggested. “Once the sun rises we will be safe, and we can search for the others.”

  She nodded, feeling like a snake was uncurling in her gut. What if there was nothing left of the others to find? What if they were all . . . dead? Or worse, what if Kai was now a servant to these wretched, sharp-toothed Faie?

  Kai groaned and rolled over onto his back. The hard, cool stone seemed to bite into his skin. His neck throbbed.

  Slowly, his memories returned to him. He’d been bitten by one of the Dearg Due. He had fallen from his horse and was left behind. His head lolled to the side. He cringed. Staring back at him was one of the Dearg Due, sitting cross-legged with her diaphanous black cloak billowing around her. Her hair was long and pure white, framing a skeletal face with worm-white skin.

  She blinked her reflective eyes at him, then spoke in a language he didn’t understand.

  “I don’t know what you’re saying,” he groaned, wishing he had the strength to stand up and run away. With a stone ceiling above them, illuminated by a small fire, he guessed they were in a cave.

  “We have been sent for you, Dair Leabh,” she explained in a purring voice.

  His eyes widened. That was right. They’d been after Finn, and due to his blood, thought he was one of the Dair.

  “By whom?” he questioned. He reached up to his neck to find an open wound, the blood slowly congealing, but still bleeding. Would he be left on the ground to bleed out entirely?

  “The Winter Queen,” the Dearg Due replied. “We will bring you to her.”

  Winter Queen? Did she mean Oighear? “The Winter Queen is dead,” he replied. “I saw her die.”

  The Dearg Due shook her head. “You cannot kill the winter.”

  This was bad. Very bad. “Well if you want me to make it there, I’ll need my wounds tended,” he groaned. If he could just get himself in better shape, then he could escape.

  The Dearg Due made a hissing sound that he soon realized was laughter. “I am no fool,” she replied. “The Dair are not so easily killed. Most of my kin have been slain and I must keep you weakened.”

  Well shit. He couldn’t tell her he wasn’t one of the Dair, she’d likely kill him right there. Yet, if he didn’t tell her, he’d soon die of his wounds.

  “The sun will rise soon,” she said, her voice trembling. “We will stay here until nightfall. If I sense your magic, I will kill you.”

  He cringed and turned his gaze back to the stone ceiling above their heads. If he was expected to lie there for an entire day without care, he wouldn’t make it till nightfall. His only option was to convince the terrifying creature to help him, which wasn’t much of an option at all.

  It appeared that he was finished. He would be left in this cave to rot, and no one would ever even know what happened to him.

  Chapter Ten

  Finn sat in a grassy copse with Naoki slumbering by her side. The sun had risen, giving the eerie landscape a more serene look, though it was still misty. How long was she going to be trapped in this blasted place? She’d tried going to sleep briefly, but when she awoke, she was still here, just like her mother had said. She wished at the very least her mother would come back and tell her more, but she hadn’t seen her since she’d been chased off by . . . something.

  She gently shook Naoki awake, then stood. She didn’t want to remain in any one place for too long, lest Keiren find her. Naoki uncurled, then stretched her winged back like a cat.

  “Ready?” Finn asked her, as if Naoki could answer.

  Finn stepped forward cautiously, favoring her foot with the boot still on it, wary of sticky mud. She shuddered, thinking of the slimy attack of the previous evening. Naoki was with her now though, and that made her feel better. Her dragon was highly perceptive, and likely to spot danger long before she would.

  She sighed, picking her way around tall brambles in search of a path. Eventually they left the misty area behind, emerging into a meadow filled with small trees and brambles. The sun shone brightly overhead, fooling Finn into thinking perhaps she was somewhere back in reality, not stuck in the in-between.

  She meandered on for some time, ignoring the grumbling of her belly. With her physical form unconscious, she wasn’t sure how she was
supposed to gain nourishment, and hoped she would not be out long enough to waste away.

  She walked on, her boot and sock hissing across the grass, hoping everything had turned out alright for Anna upon returning to her body.

  She froze.

  There was a man sitting in the meadow ahead of her, staring up at the fluffy white clouds.

  “A-Anders?” she questioned.

  He turned back to her, a sad look in his honey colored eyes. “I’d hoped I’d see you here before I moved on.”

  She hurried to his side with Naoki trailing behind her. “What do you mean? How are you here?”

  Anders sighed and looked down at his lap. “Niklas killed me, and I ended up here. I think this is where I have to wait until I move on to . . . wherever I’m supposed to move on to.”

  “That cannot be right,” she argued, taking a seat beside him. “Why would he do that to you?”

  He shrugged, turning his gaze back up to the sky. “I was no longer of use, but it’s alright. He promised he’d save my sister.” He turned toward her. “I heard her voice, you know. When I first arrived here. I heard her voice, but then she disappeared. I think she must have been returned to her body. I can’t believe she was here, trapped, all of that time.”

  Tears burned at the back of Finn’s eyes. “You didn’t get to speak with her?”

  Anders shook his head, then wiped a tear as it fell down his face. “No.” He sniffled, then looked more closely at Finn. “Why are you even speaking with me? You must be furious that I helped trap you here.”

  She sighed. She’d been a little angry, but it was hard to throw stones at a dead man. “I’d say you learned your lesson,” she joked, then bit her tongue. “My apologies, that was insensitive.”

  He waved her off. “No, no, it’s alright. I’m glad, at least, that no harm has come to you. I don’t know what Keiren planned to do once she had you here. Well, I know she wanted to steal your immortality to destroy the barrier between this place and reality, but I wasn’t sure what that might entail.”