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

by Sara C. Roethle

  “I must do something,” Finn said from beneath him. “Let me up.”

  Kai obeyed, and they both rose.

  Bedelia and Eywen’s men fired their arrows again. One hit the serpent’s eye, erupting in a gush of blood. The creature went wild, crashing up against the side of the wall as it wailed in pain and pawed at the arrow in its eye, eventually tearing it loose.

  It bellowed up at them in rage, then launched itself upward. Before Finn could stop her, Naoki launched herself forward. In that split second Kai knew Finn’s little dragon was about to get cooked.

  He pulled Finn down just as the next wave of flame came, but Naoki opened her mouth and spewed forth a massive torrent of water. Kai could hardly believe his eyes as the water hit the flame, dousing it, then poured down the outside of the wall with a loud hiss of steam.

  The creature below shrieked, then Naoki launched herself forward, spewing more water down upon it.

  “What in the Horned One’s name just happened!” Bedelia shouted, crouched beside the Aos Sí.

  Kai darted toward the parapet and looked down at the now soaked serpent. Its entire body hissed with steam, and heavy coughs emitted from its massive maw like it had inhaled water. Slipping and stumbling, it darted back into the trees.

  They had a moment of reprieve, then the trills of the Dearg Due came again. He had nearly forgotten about them.

  Taking advantage of the distraction, dark shapes with pure white hair darted out of the trees, moving like they were made of liquid. They were the next wave of assault, he realized. The Dark Faie were organized enough to plan a proper attack.

  Finn’s Faie appeared to intercept them, some flying down from trees, and some seeming to materialize from the earth. Little humanoid forms with the lower bodies of goats, and wide faces with round, milky yellow eyes expertly hurled rocks at the Dearg Due’s faces, then darted away before the evil creatures could catch them. Lumbering Trow snatched some of the Dearg Due with their large branches, wrapping them up and crushing them until they stopped moving. Pixies darted in and out, stabbing at eyes and tender skin with tiny branches and needles. Kai continued trying to follow the movements, but it was utter chaos below them.

  Even with the Faieries’ efforts, Kai spotted some of the Dearg Due closing in on the wall, then beginning to scale it. He lifted his daggers to defend himself as the first Dearg Due reached the top. His dagger slashed across her throat, flinging blood in a crimson arc. She fell away from the wall as he stared at his dagger in disbelief. How had he moved so quickly? Another creature appeared at the top of the wall, darting toward Finn. Kai’s hand snapped out and flung her off, sending her plunging back down the way she’d come.

  Finn looked at him, stunned. “How did you move so quickly?”

  Before he could reply, another of the creatures appeared atop the wall. Finn, clutching the shroud, seemed frozen.

  Kai tried to fight her off, but she thrust herself downward, knocking him to the stones. Finn screamed as another of the Dearg Due attacked her, but Kai couldn’t see what was happening as the first impossibly strong Dearg Due pinned him to the ground.

  Hot breath hit his cheek. “We meet again, weak Dair,” the creature hissed. “Or not Dair at all? Liar.”

  He fought against her, but he couldn’t dislodge her.

  “Had I known you were human,” she hissed, “I would not have given you blood. I will fix my mistake.”

  With sounds of fighting all around them, he cried out as her fangs sunk deep into his flesh near his collarbone.

  Blood poured down, pooling in his hair, flowing beneath his neck. He spared his last thoughts for Finn and Anna, assuming they’d soon meet the same fate.

  Finn swung her arms wildly at another attacking Dearg Due, connecting with hard flesh to send the creature screaming back off the wall. Panting, she stared down at the seemingly useless shroud clutched in one of her fists, then snapped back into motion. Whipping her head to Kai, her heart jumped up into her throat as she spotted the Dearg Due atop him, her loose black clothing and shimmering white hair blocking his face and body as he struggled beneath her. The sharp tang of blood hit Finn’s nostrils.

  Before she could act, Iseult appeared and slashed his sword across the creature’s back, cutting deep into her flesh. Finn caught a flash of white bone glinting in the moonlight as the Dearg Due shrieked, arching her back. She sprung up and darted back down the wall to join her kin fighting the other Faie.

  Kai sat up, his face frighteningly pale. Clutching his bloody neck, he glanced at Anna as she crouched beside him to tend his new wound. Another Dearg Due darted toward them, but Àed rushed forward, hitting her with a small burst of shimmering magic before Iseult swooped in and finished the job with his sword.

  Finn clutched the shroud, her mind panicked. The light Faie were dying at the base of the wall, and her friends would soon be overcome. She needed to help them fight, but how? She had thought she was prepared, but now that the moment was upon her, she seemed unable to act. More of the Dearg Due leapt atop the wall above the Aos Sí and Bedelia. Eywen and Bedelia leapt forward to meet them with blades drawn. Finn was mesmerized for a moment watching the pair swing their blades in well-practiced arcs, Eywen faster and more graceful than Bedelia, but no more fierce.

  Finn gritted her jaw. She had to do something. This was her battle. Sensing a presence at her back, she spun around, then stared up at the Dearg Due perched atop the parapet. The creature tilted her head at Finn, trailing long tresses over her shapeless black clothing.

  “Greetings, Oak Queen,” she hissed, then launched herself at Finn.

  Finn reacted without thinking, taking one hand off the shroud to shove away the Dearg Due. She felt a wave of magic rush through her as she touched the creature.

  The Dearg Due stumbled to the stone floor, then began to scream. Her face turned up toward Finn, the moonlight revealing flesh turned green and yellow with rot. The skin of her cheeks began to drip from her jaw bone, splattering on the stones where she crouched.

  Finn backed away, knowing she’d caused the rot. She’d done it before. Why did her magic have to be like this? So unpredictable and . . . frightening.

  She fought the urge to gag as the Dearg Due continued to shriek in agony. Her cries ended abruptly as Iseult shoved his sword through the creature’s back and into her heart.

  Anna swung her daggers in a precise sweep, slashing away another Dearg Due that had gone after Kai, still recovering as he bled through a hastily made bandage. Finn turned just in time to see Naoki slash her beak across an already bloody face, knocking the creature down only to pounce and bite her neck, crushing it in a splash of blood.

  “More coming!” Eywen shouted from further down the wall.

  Finn lifted the shroud again, determined to do better as the next onslaught came.

  A war horn sounded below them, drawing her attention to the far end of the battlefield. Stepping out of the tree shadows, more creatures revealed themselves. They appeared like twisted old men the size of children, with hide-like skin and patchy hair on their heads. What Finn could see of their clothing was roughly made, and did little in the way of modesty. Goblins.

  Her Faie were already being overcome by the Dearg Due. She had to act now, or the Goblins would finish them off.

  Her hands trembled as she lifted the shroud. She focused on the earth near the tree line, willing the roots to shoot up and ensnare the Goblins. Her entire body began to shake from her intense concentration, but nothing was happening.

  She jumped as a hand touched her shoulder, then Anna’s voice whispered in her ear. “You may not feel it now, but you are surrounded by magic. For all of our sake, use it. We will watch your back.”

  Finn took a steadying breath. She could do this. This was what she was born for.

  Yet holding up her shroud, she focused all her energy on the Goblins, and magic flowed through her. The earth shot up in splashes of soil beneath the Goblins’ feet. She almost lost her concentration, b
ut persisted. Brought on by her magic, sudden memories shot through her like a knife. The day her daughter, Niamh, was born. The naming ceremony, performed by just Finn and her mother, instead of the entire tribe. Her swearing to protect her daughter with every ounce of magic she had. Magic that was meant to protect all of the Dair, not just a single child, but she didn’t want to protect them, only Niamh. Relations with her people had gone sour ever since that night.

  Tears streaming down her face, she snapped back into reality. She’d sworn to protect her daughter because no one else would. Despite her strong parents, Niamh been born with stunted magic. In the world of the Cavari, only the strongest survived.

  With emotion welling inside her, she renewed her assault on the now panicked Goblins. Roots shot up out of the earth, not only ensnaring them, but crushing them. Though they were on the other end of the battle, she thought she could hear their bones snapping beneath the pressure of the roots.

  The Dearg Due continued scampering to the top of the wall. Her friends and the Aos Sí, when not otherwise engaged, would pick them off as they arrived to ensure her magic would not be interrupted.

  Now that her magic was flowing so strongly, she couldn’t seem to stop. The Goblins who’d escaped the crushing roots ran off, shrieking into the night. However, more and more of the Light Faie below were dying, unable to stand up to the seemingly invincible Dearg Due. Finn longed to attack the dark creatures, but was unsure if her magic would hit the wrong targets.

  She tried to focus on the base of the wall, where the Dearg Due continued to climb while others fought the Light Faie. She could tell her friends were growing weary. If she did not do something soon, they would be overcome. Her eyes flared. An idea had popped into her mind.

  She approached the edge of the wall, looking down. White gleaming hands were dotting the wall on an upward climb as far as the eye could see. Still holding the shroud with one hand, she extended the other downward. If she could make the roots climb up the wall, she could ensnare the Dearg Due long before they could reach the top.

  As she focused, a green tinge began to encase her vision. A vibrant glow emanated from her outstretched hand, then a voice cut through her mind, the same voice that had spoken to her in the overgrown garden.

  Do you still desire only power? the voice questioned. You must make your final choice on what you will become. Will you follow down the destructive path of your people, or choose the peace your ancestors knew.

  Finn’s eye caught the glimmer of white hair surfacing at the top of the wall a few paces over. Seconds later the Dearg Due stood on the ledge with bloodlust in her reflective eyes, her long white hair blowing a bit in a breeze that had kicked up. She looked almost bodiless in her black clothing against the night. Finn’s friends did not come to her aid, too engaged battling the numerous Dearg Due continually sprouting up on the wall.

  Finn instinctively aimed her hand at the creature, blasting her with magic. White flesh turned dark and began to rot, falling away from the Dearg Due’s bones. She shrieked, sounding more animal than humanoid, then flung herself away from the wall, back down to the chaos below.

  The voice sounded again. What do you choose?

  I need power to save my friends, Finn answered silently. If peace means sacrificing them now, I do not want it.

  Destruction begets destruction, the voice replied. You will choose the good of the few over the good of many?

  “Always,” Finn hissed, then lashed out with her power. She’d made her choice, and would shirk the fears that had sealed away her magic. If she’d only chosen power over peace in her first life, her daughter might still be alive.

  Gazing back down at the base of the wall, one hand on the shroud and the other thrust downward over the wall, she summoned her magic full force. Roots shot up from the ground along the wall base, ensnaring and crushing the climbing Dearg Due. A cacophony of screams hit her ears over the sound of thundering earth, diminishing slowly as each met their fate.

  Overcome by the sight, the Dark and Light Faie below stopped fighting each other, staring up at Finn in awe.

  Waves of power lifted Finn’s hair away from her face. Though her friends were near, maybe even staring at her with the same awe as the Faie, at that moment she never felt more alone, standing with her body leaned forward against the parapet, surveying the countless Faie below.

  “Submit, or you will perish!” she shouted, her voice echoing across the sudden silence.

  A few straggling roots shot upward, crushing the last few Dearg Due still clinging to the wall, then silence ensued. Finn scanned the moonlit darkness, watching the Faie as they simultaneously turned their gazes behind them.

  Finn noticed other dark shapes lingering in the tree shadows. All at once, they emerged, revealing their cloaked forms to the moonlight. The Cavari.

  This was it, this was the moment Finn had been waiting for. She would not ask for Loinnir’s help again. If she was going to truly face her people, she would have to do it now.

  The cloaked forms approached the wall with the Light Faie scurrying away to form an open path.

  “Finn,” Anna whispered, bringing her back to the present, but with eyes still on the Cavari. “This is the moment I saw in my dream. I’m sure of it. This is the moment I’m supposed to save you from. We must run away from them. No good can come from interacting.”

  Finn barely heard her as she stared down at her people. The people who had wanted a queen, and were given only a mother who wanted to protect her child.

  She let the shroud fall to the stones near her feet. She would face them with her power alone, or not at all.

  “I have claimed my birthright,” she called out. “You wanted a queen, and you have found her!”

  “Finn!” Anna hissed. “They want to kill you!”

  “Let them try,” she growled, then lashed out with her power.

  If her power was what sustained them, she could not kill them unless she died, so she needed to make them submit. It was the only way. Her magic cut across the earth below, knocking the Light Faie on either side of the Cavari off their feet, but the Cavari seemed untouched.

  Finn inhaled sharply. She would not let them hurt her friends, nor anyone else, ever again. She called upon every shred of power at her command with all that she was or could ever hope to be, then rained it down upon the Cavari.

  For a moment she thought she had failed, then one by one, the cloaked figures fell to their knees and bowed their heads. One turned its gaze upward, pushing its hood back to reveal her face.

  Anna and Kai both gasped as Finn’s mother, Móirne, gazed up at her. “I had wanted better for you!” she called back. “But you have claimed your birthright, and now we must follow.”

  “If you had truly wanted better for me,” Finn replied calmly, raising her voice to carry down to all below the wall, “then you should have been brave enough to step away from our people and show me the way.”

  Her mother bowed her head, unable to argue with the truth.

  Finn had appreciated her mother’s attempts to protect her, but the loyalty had only been partial, not enough to part ways with their tribe. She shook her head lightly. Partial loyalty would never do. She would protect those who stood at her back, no matter the cost.

  “Finn,” Anna cautioned, moving to stand at her side. “This is a mistake, I can feel it in my bones.”

  Finn shook her head. “Any other choice would have seen us all dead. Perhaps this was the wrong choice for the land, but I only care about those standing with me now. I can only seal away their magic, by sealing away mine. If I did that, I could not protect you from the threats still to come.”

  A cold feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she peered down at the Cavari and Light Faie, the remaining Dark Faie long since retreated. For now, she had won, but she knew it was only temporary.

  Eywen moved to Finn’s other side, gazing down at the kneeling Faie and Cavari. “You have found your army, and your fortress, my queen. Wha
t will you do next?”

  She shook her head. She wanted neither, but this was the fate she’d been dealt. “I will expand my reach,” she muttered, “and I will crush anyone who would dare threaten my friends. I’m done hiding from my fate.”

  Eywen bowed his head. “As you wish, my queen.”

  Sensing eyes on her back, she turned. Kai and Iseult stood side by side, watching her, the former slightly hunched, clutching his bloody bandage against his neck. She could see the worry in both their expressions.

  Her gaze met Iseult’s. “Now is the time to prove if you truly meant what you said.”

  He watched her for a moment, then nodded. “To the ends of the earth, for better or worse.”

  She nodded, accepting his words, then turned back to the Cavari below.

  Her new path had been chosen. There was work to be done.

  Iseult cradled his left arm, injured in the battle, as he walked with Finn across the dark courtyard, with Naoki slinking tiredly behind them.

  There were a million things Iseult wanted to say. You can’t reign over all the Faie. We should move on to Sormyr, to human civilization. Do not trust the Cavari.

  He would have liked to say all those things, but she never once looked at him as she strode across the soggy grass. Her light brown hair hung limp down her sides, weighed down by the heavy rain. Her tunic, breeches, and visible skin were all stained with blood and grime. With her frail frame, she looked like someone who had been lost in the marshes for weeks, not eating, not sleeping, just fighting to survive. He supposed her actual situation had not been much different.

  The tired Aos Sí warriors remained atop the wall with Àed to keep watch, even though many of the Faie, along with the Cavari, had retreated . . . for now. Kai, Anna, and Bedelia had retired ahead of Finn and Iseult to nurse their wounds.

  Iseult glanced at Finn. The important thing was that they had survived the battle. Hearing the brush of his boots in the soggy grass as if his steps were numbered, he couldn’t help but feel that it was the beginning of the end. Everything would come crashing down for them soon, like the waves on the shore of his homeland.