Lightning, simple white lightning cast from a weak Fae, struck Sinopa in the spine and she dropped like a rock into the canopy of the first island. Her body disappeared into crashing limbs and shredded leaves. With the fight raging around us, I willed myself to her side. She lay crumpled on the ground in a small clearing in the oaks, not channeling any energy. I felt my heart racing several hundred yards away. Wakinyan, where are you?
I felt the presence land in the trees nearby and prepared to dissect it with Aether, but before I could, Sinopa disappeared. An instant later the shielding vanished, and Sinopa in the form of a Bigfoot plunged her fangs deep into Anuket’s neck. The former Seelie twisted out of Sinopa’s grip, stumbled, and transfigured into a towering human shape with a jackal head. Backing away slowly, she held her bleeding flesh, rolling her black lips back to bare enormous canines.
“You will die for that—all of your clan will die.”
“Ozara isn’t here to save you, Anuket.” Sinopa said, pulling a chunk of flesh out of her teeth. “And you’re not leaving this island,” she continued, swallowing it. “You’ll have to go through me to leave—and you’re not going through me.” Sinopa moved slowly toward the fiend, flexing her massive arms.
Anuket’s eyes narrowed and her hackles stood straight out down the length of her neck. She flexed her long sinewy fingers, dagger-like claws dripping with rain. Two more Jinn landed behind Anuket and took similar forms. “It is you, mongrel, who won’t be leaving.” Sinopa side-stepped, keeping a wary eye on the two new adversaries. Both lunged, and both exploded in a flash of light when I met them with Aether.
Anuket began backing up, bent at the waist, her amber eyes flashing wildly at the darkened forest around her. Sinopa stood erect and walked forward, smashing a twelve-inch oak that partially blocked her path. Anuket’s eyes traced the splintered debris as it disappeared into the thick Ozark underbrush, and twisted back toward Sinopa.
Plasma ripped from Anuket’s palms, whistling as it closed the distance on the Ohanzee elder. It deflected off of Sinopa’s chest, unable to penetrate her protective barrier. Anuket turned and sprinted into the trees, but Sinopa caught her. Anuket snapped her jaws around Sinopa’s wrist in an attempt to pull free. The Bigfoot twisted its arm, shattering the jackal’s teeth. Half curse, half cry, the mournful noise filled the air as Sinopa twisted Anuket backwards until her spine snapped. With more force than I could imagine, Sinopa lifted her arms and drove her fists into the ground, driving Anuket’s shattered body several feet below the surface. The flash came after Sinopa filled the void with Quint. Even though I wasn’t close to my body, I felt queasy.
“Thank you, Maggie,” she said, before shifting back into an enormous white eagle and disappearing behind Clóca. The powerful rush of air from her wings unsettled everything on the forest floor.
Enapay was exacting revenge on those who’d killed Nodin, his twin. The massive Ohanzee was on a search and destroy mission, passing by Seelie and Unseelie, killing Rogues by ripping them into pieces. Enapay was Air-inclined, but he only used his ability to snare victims. Wakinyan was even more lethal. The third oldest Fae on the planet, none could inflict damage on him and none could prevent their own deaths. It didn’t take long for the attacks to abate. The remaining Fae were terrified of the Ohanzee. If he wanted to draw Ozara into the open, this would surely do it. Her grand offensive had turned into a complete debacle.
I willed myself to her position. I found myself diving from the sky above the second island. I didn’t sense her, so I knew she’d learned how to conceal herself. I flashed back to Billy’s barrier, and directed a charge of Aether, an enormous burst into her path. All eyes turned to the sky as she fought through it. Visible now, it was a cue for the Ohanzee to return. Wakinyan and Sinopa did, making it back inside the barrier before a ground-shattering explosion of green rocked the island. The tether pulled me back to my body just as Sean was losing control. I filled the void with Clóca and Air as my eyes opened, hoping Ozara hadn’t noticed.
Sean groaned in agony. A chunk of the bluff had snapped loose and crushed his legs just below the knees. It had missed my head by inches. I sat up, yanking a handful of hair from my scalp. Closer than I thought.
The Ohanzee were riled, searching the sky. I figured out why a second too late. Ozara landed twenty feet from me. Beside her, Zarkus touched down with Enapay’s broken body in his arms. Enapay was wrapped in Aether and burning alive. His screams were muffled inside the Aether ball as it slowly constricted, consuming his body from the bottom up. Everything below the knees was gone and Zarkus slowly forced the Aether into a smaller ball.
“I should do something,” I whispered. Sean moaned and lost consciousness. Shit, use your head, Maggie. Billy directed Aether at Zarkus, but it was weak and dissipated on contact. No, Billy. It’s obvious, too obvious, my inner voice screamed.
Ozara stared at my doppelganger and blasted the Aether barrier with Quint and Plasma. The barrier weakened and shrank. Oh dammit. If only I could project, I could help them. I expected Ozara to attack, but she was cautious. Undoubtedly she thought it was me inside the shield and that I was toying with her. It wouldn’t take her long to figure out that wasn’t the case.
“Sean,” I whispered.
He didn’t move. I lifted the boulder fragment with my mind and slid him out. His legs were shattered and he was bleeding. “Oh god, this can’t be happening.” My mind whirled. If I moved, he’d be left unprotected. If I tried to project, they’d see us. If I did nothing, the Ohanzee would die.
“Maggie,” Sean said weakly, groaning.
“You’re awake,”
“In and out. Can you heal me? Please, I’m begging.”
“Oh god, I’m sorry, I never learned how.”
“Can you make the pain stop…oh fuck, it hurts.”
“I’m sorry,” I squeaked in a high-pitched, desperate whisper.
Ozara blasted Billy’s barrier with Aether. The two substances melded and she and Billy wrestled for control. Ozara studied the shield and leaned forward.
“Oh shit.”
“What?” Sean asked through clenched teeth.
“They’re about to die.”
“Then do something,” he moaned.
“If I do, you’ll die. Ozara and Zarkus are twenty feet away.”
“Oh Jesus. I think I can recreate the barrier.”
“No,” I cried, “if you pass out, we’re both dead.”
Other Alliance Fae began landing below us in the trees. Fifty, a hundred, they were all coming closer. “Shit, shit, shit.” I muttered.
“No, I will stay awake,” he groaned. “Help them.” He closed his eyes and I felt him struggle for a moment to connect to Clóca. A second later he took control of the Air barrier from me. “What do I do,” I whispered to myself. You trust him, idiot. Go.
Ozara turned and stared at Enapay as he flashed out. Wakinyan roared behind the Aether barrier.
Where are our reinforcements? “Shut the hell up, they’ll be here.”
When the red haired demon turned back to the Ohanzee, her face twisted. A blast of Aether hit Billy’s shield, shattering it. His Aether disintegrated, but I had formed a shield under his a split second before. When Ozara penetrated and locked onto mine, she stepped back. Fury consumed me. I knocked her backwards with the strongest blast I could muster. Billy reestablished his connection and recast the shield. Together we pressed it out to its original diameter.
Ozara tried to wrestle control away, but failed.
“It’s about time,” Billy said.
“Sean is hurt. It’s bad. I don’t know how long he’ll be able to keep us hidden.”
Wakinyan’s nostrils flared. “Can you pick Zarkus off?”
“No, not while I’m projecting and not when he’s that close to Ozara.”
“Then let me draw Zarkus off,” he said.
“You’ll die. No. Give me a few minutes.”
“You have two. In three we’ll all be dead.”
> THIRTY-SEVEN
LAST GASP
Zarkus channeled Aether and joined Ozara’s attack. He moved to the side as he did. Twenty feet between them. Just a little more. Ozara shot him a fiery glare and he stopped. Dammit. Together they had the upper hand, forcing our shield back about a foot a second.
“Maggie, now is a good time,” Wakinyan growled.
“He’s still too close,” I projected.
Ozara began pulsing the strength of her Aether. It was more effective than the constant burst, sending the barrier back faster and faster.
“Maggie, now,” Wakinyan demanded. Each of the Ohanzee channeled energy, as did Zeus and Aphrodite. Drevek, who was playing the role of Amadahy as a timber wolf, growled and moved next to Billy, who’d begun to grimace. Ozara studied his face, her eyes shifting back and forth between my Treorai and the facsimile of me. For her part, Amadahy tried to keep up the ruse, even generating a few tears. Oh crap, I thought, I wouldn’t cry. I’d lash out. Ozara knows that.
Ozara turned her head and concentrated on something to the south. She slowly scanned the short bluff behind the Ohanzee. No, no, no, no…
I considered dropping back into my body and taking a shot at Zarkus. I would be many times more powerful in the flesh. But before I could, I caught a whimper. I turned to Drevek, who was cowering next to Billy’s right leg. What is he up to?
My internal dialog stopped the instant Ozara smiled. The strength of her attack weakened. It was palpable. It was terrifying. She wore the horrendous smile I’d seen in the desert when she murdered the little girl.
In slow motion, she lifted her hand and I watched Aether spiking out toward the bluff, each strand overtaken by the next. My tether snapped and my concentration on the shield faltered as Aether scorched the bluff face where Gavin and my family were hidden. I was prepared to come out of my hiding place swinging, giving her everything I had, but I couldn’t seem to make a decision—fear locked me between the Ohanzee and my body.
All around me, things changed. The energy barrier hiding my family disappeared. They huddled behind Gavin, who channeled Aether. I wondered where Tse-xo-be had gone. He is supposed to be with Gavin, my mind kept repeating. Ozara spun and studied the Ohanzee as Billy’s barrier fell. Then something happened that I never expected.
Drevek sunk his canines into Billy’s calf, tearing it off the bone. His bloody muscle, attached only by skin, flopped on the ground. Billy collapsed on the rain-soaked surface, dropping the Clóca shield. The Alliance exploited the opening. I reestablished the Aether barrier as a half dozen Ohanzee exploded in the dying light, but not before Drevek leapt toward Zarkus.
Zarkus caught him in midair, and began constricting coils of Aether around Drevek’s canine form.
“Master, it’s me. Please, it’s me.”
Zarkus’s eyes grew wide as he brought Drevek to his face. “What is this?”
“I did what you asked. I am a loyal Unseelie. I serve only you. My life is yours, take it if you see fit.”
Zarkus smiled and set Drevek down.
Disgust, betrayal, they were powerful emotions that made me homicidal. They mixed with all the others rendering me powerless to do anything but watch. “Act, act now,” I said to myself. Funneling everything into anger, I let the tether begin to pull me back. Billy’s agonized moan stopped me. You need to play it cool, Maggie O’Shea. If you break the projection, the Ohanzee will die. “But my family…” Safe, for now, with Gavin.
I was so angry I couldn’t think. Instinct pulled me toward my body, the bonds of love I had for Billy anchored me in place. His wound was ferocious. He pressed the tissue back in place and tried to heal. He’ll need a few more seconds.
“What do I do?”
“Maggie, where are you?” Ozara asked.
I felt my body shiver. Game over. I kept my focus on the shield as Ozara pressed her attack.
“Clever, very clever. But let’s end this, shall we?” She taunted me.
Please, Sean, just a few seconds longer.
“I know how to bring her out of hiding,” Zarkus said. He turned and rushed toward Gavin and my family. Gavin fought his advance, but his connection to Aether was weaker than anyone’s. Zarkus deflected and advanced, Drevek trotting at his heels.
“No,” Ozara bellowed. “Stay close to me.”
“Gavin is no threat to me,” Zarkus barked.
It was my chance, but I couldn’t take it just yet. Ozara wrapped my Aether barrier with her own, pressing on every surface. Billy struggled to his feet, but he was still seconds away from helping me.
“Maggie,” Billy screamed an apology, watching Zarkus tear through Gavin’s defenses.
Zarkus slowed a few feet from Gavin, and blasted him backwards. I watched in horror as Gavin’s Aether flickered under the pressure and disappeared. In a flash of energy, Gavin disappeared into the crevice. Only Justice, baring his fangs, stood between Zarkus and my family.
The tether won, yanking me back into my body. I stood and gasped for air. Sweat poured from Sean’s ashen face.
“Conceal yourself as long as you can,” I said, wrapping myself in a barrier.
“Protect Candace,” Sean moaned. “I love her.”
Billy managed to reestablish a barrier. I was sure it would fail, but Ozara had extended her shield around Zarkus, diverting her power and her attention. Predictable.
“Drevek, kill the dog,” Zarkus said. Drevek’s ears went down and he bared his fangs. Justice snarled, his tail between his legs, but he didn’t move. Drevek crept slowly up alongside Zarkus. I concentrated on Drevek’s head, ready to snap it off.
“With pleasure, Master.”
With power I could never muster while projecting, I sliced hard through Ozara’s shield, snapping it, melding with it. She froze in place, then screamed, “Zarkus!” at the top of her preternatural lungs.
Before I could dismember Drevek, a flurry of fur and a flash of dissipating energy washed across the bluff face. My stomach lurched. I couldn’t tell what had just happened. Zarkus roared. It wasn’t triumphant—it was angry. I heard a yelp, then a canine crying in pain. I ran toward them, expecting to see Justice’s broken body in Drevek’s jaws. Instead, the gray and white form of a timber wolf bounced hard off the bluff wall. Justice snarled at Zarkus. What in the hell is happening?
Ozara dropped her attack on the Ohanzee, and started to move toward Zarkus, who held a bleeding stub of a hand. Drevek had bitten his fingers off. Zarkus started to talk, but his eyes grew large and he gagged. Lightning and Quint rained down around him sporadically. He was trying to fight something close to him. His eyes crossed. An opening in his throat grew larger, but nothing came out. His arms and legs flailed as he hovered off the ground.
Ozara launched Aether in his direction, and it took all my strength, but I deflected it. Zarkus went slack, like he was hanging by an invisible meat hook. I expected Tse-xo-be to materialize, but the being holding him took the husky shape of someone I hadn’t seen in weeks. Victoria, with her hand crammed past the wrist in Zarkus’ throat, turned to Ozara.
“You killed my partner and rejoiced in it. I’m returning the favor.”
Ozara’s shrieks hurt my ears, but they didn’t save Zarkus. Victoria pushed her fingers though his eyes, popping them out of their sockets, and then she ripped the front of his face off. Ozara gasped and collapsed to her knees.
His flash was surreal and lit Ozara’s face so brightly, the look of her horror burned into my retinas. Each time I blinked, I saw it. She turned to the hundreds of Alliance Fae standing in the clearing and began to vibrate. “Now.” Her voice echoed through the valley.
More than a thousand Fae converged on the small outcropping. It was all I could do to shield myself—the sky went white with explosions. I knew exactly what Caorann felt like before she died. I shielded myself and my family as well as I could, but I was distracted by flash after flash from where Billy and the Ohanzee had been. Ten, fifteen, twenty, my heart beat against my chest. The wors
t part was, Ozara hadn’t joined in yet. She knelt, arms at her side, staring at the ground.
With a wild look in her eyes, Victoria raced towards Ozara. Ozara didn’t react, except to close her eyes.
“Stop,” I shrieked a warning.
My voice, nearly drowned out by the roar of battle, fell on deaf ears. Victoria struck Ozara in the head, but the latter didn’t budge. Ozara wrapped her arms around Victoria’s body and Victoria sunk her claws into Ozara’s face. Red and black hair swirled in a flurry as the two ripped at each other’s flesh, twisting in a fatal ballet. My gut told me the outcome before it occurred. It was inevitable. Ozara stood breathing heavily, her wounds closing as she shifted her blazing eyes in my direction. Victoria was gone. Behind her, more Ohanzee were dying. Grief and panic consumed me.
In a blur, Ozara came for me. Swirling bands of green energy met and melded together, neutralizing both of us. Ohanzee kept dying. Frustrated and panicked, I couldn’t find a way to reach her.
Aether bloomed like a flower from the first island. Sara, Poseidon.
My senses went wild as several thousand Fae appeared around the island at once. One explosion of light on the surface of the lake preceded four, then a dozen. From horizon to horizon, Fae died at such a pace that the night became day. Kobold, Portune, and Alfar attacked from the north. Neieds and Oceanids swarmed in from the west, and from the South, the Ancient Ones and the Olympians burst through the Duende lines and engaged the Seelie and Unseelie.
THE MAEBOWN (Weald Fae Journals, Book 4) Page 37