Duck, Duck, Noose

by Sara C. Roethle

  “She’s afraid of them,” he explained. “I don’t blame her for weakening them.”

  Mara’s expression suddenly turned fierce. “You would have her live in fear?” she snapped.

  “I would have her live,” he snapped back. “Fear exists for a reason. It keeps us alive.”

  She turned her gaze back to the forest. “Are you afraid now?”

  “Yes,” he answered simply.

  Mara and Sophie both turned surprised expressions toward him.

  “I do not fear my death,” he explained, “but I would be a liar if I said I didn’t fear never meeting my child, and never seeing Madeline again.” He turned to Sophie. “And it would be foolish for you to assume that I do not fear your death, and the idea that I might not be able to protect you from it.”

  Sophie smiled softly, making the entire admission of fear worth it. He wasn’t sure he’d ever admitted to fear before that moment, not in his entire life. Perhaps even after five hundred years, a man could still change.

  “Well isn’t that touching,” Mara mocked from behind Alaric’s back. “Can we please just get this over with?”

  He turned and raised an eyebrow at her, then gestured to the forest ahead. “Lead the way.”

  Mara smirked, but started forward without another word.

  Alaric followed after her, with Sophie trailing behind him. Yes, even after five hundred years a man could change, and he could still find new experiences. Like finding his soulmate, becoming a father, and traveling into a real life enchanted forest, complete with magic beasts, poisonous traps, and perhaps even a zombie or two.

  13

  The graveyard was small, just like the town, but it was also fairly old, at least in part. The little town must have been there for a very long time, because some of the graves dated back to the late 1800s.

  Faas and Marcos stood on either side of me, while everyone else stood back near the small, neighborhood street leading to the cemetery. I shifted my feet in the damp grass, feeling anxious. There were no houses right along the border of the cemetery, but the neighborhood wasn’t far off. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone ended up calling the police on us for loitering in the cemetery at night.

  With a single thought, I called the banshees to me, but they were barely wisps of energy now. I’d depleted them into almost nothing. It was time to fix that.

  Marcos took my hand, startling me.

  “I can help,” he said at my wide-eyed look.

  Faas put a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll be here if things get out of control,” he assured, then his hand dropped as he took a few steps back.

  I nodded lightly to him, then turned my gaze to the shadowy graves. We stood in the center of the graveyard. The older graves lay before us, and the newer ones behind us. I could sense them to an extent, but it was nothing like the waves of power I’d ridden when I summoned the banshees with the Morrigan’s help. Ritual had been needed then, sealed by the death of the Morrigan’s body. If the banshees faded entirely, I’d need that same ritual again. As it was, I might still have a chance of restoring them.

  Marcos gave my hand a squeeze, then suddenly power washed over me. I could feel each and every grave. Many of them just felt like empty shells, their energy long since moved on, but some spirits still lingered. A portion of the energy that previously inhabited the corpses remained tied to the earth, unable to let go.

  “What are you doing?” I gasped.

  “Connecting you,” he explained simply. “Think of me as a metaphysical switchboard.”

  White forms began to swirl around us. Marcos was drawing the energy in, and he was giving it to me. He hadn’t lied when he said he was willing to help.

  Giving in to the odd sensation, I focused my will onto the banshees. I was filling up with energy, similar to what happened when I released the soul from one of the Vaettir, but somehow different. These weren’t souls, but residual memories and shards of personalities who’d long since perished in reality.

  I took all of that strange energy and focused it on the banshees. They responded instantly, starved for power.

  I heard Frode mutter, “Holy shit,” from somewhere behind us as the banshees began to take form. He’d come to Ireland after I’d allowed them to be depleted, so he’d never seen them at full power.

  Their almost invisible forms slowly filled out until a dozen or so cloaked women hovered before us. Their slightly transparent faces were eerie, but still showed that they had been individuals in life. Different women with different experiences. All unable to move on.

  I continued to pour energy into them as more shapes formed behind them. Other phantoms, some with large wings, others more animalistic with glowing red eyes, came into being, though they weren’t fully corporeal. When looking right at them, it was hard to make out distinct shapes, but occasionally you’d catch a solid glimpse out of the corner of your eye.

  The banshees all bowed their heads. “We are here, my Queen,” they stated as one.

  “Thank the gods,” I muttered as my body flooded with relief. It had worked, and I felt completely in control.

  The banshees turned to Marcos, his hand still in mine, as they added, “and my King.”

  Well shit. I pulled my hand away as I turned on him. “You tricked me,” I accused.

  He smirked, not at all afraid of the ire in my expression. “They simply acknowledge the energy that helps to sustain them. I assure you, they will listen to your orders over mine.”

  A hand grabbed me from behind and pulled me farther away from Marcos. Faas’ face was suddenly right beside mine as he held me close. “But they will listen to only you if she dies,” he spat venomously.

  Marcos tilted his head to the side, spilling pure white hair over his shoulder. “I have no intention of harming her, if that is what you are implying. The phantoms are anchored to the earth by her ritual. If Madeline dies, that ritual would need to be performed once more. I do not have the correct tools to complete it.”

  My heart was thundering in my ears at the sudden shock of realizing Marcos’ level of power, but I wasn’t overly afraid. I could feel my connection to the banshees. They were still mine. They just now used a portion of Marcos’ power to give themselves form. In fact, they felt more powerful than ever.

  “You strengthened them,” I said to Marcos in surprise.

  He nodded. “My powers work well with yours. I’m able to support you with the extra sources of energy that only I have access to.”

  “But why?” I asked, still not fully understanding. “Why would you share so much of your power?”

  He seemed perplexed. “I already told you, Madeline. Our goals are the same.”

  “Huh,” was the only reply I had for him.

  Faas finally let me go, then moved to stand at my side as the others warily approached. The banshees remained immobile, silently waiting for orders as the other phantoms swirled around them.

  “So . . . time for food?” Alejandro asked as he approached us.

  Maya looked up at the phantoms warily. “We should be careful. Anyone who can sense energy will sense this.”

  “She’s right,” Tallie added, positioning herself so that we were all between the phantoms and her. “I would be able to track this amount of energy, no problem.”

  I turned my gaze back to the banshees. I could use them to travel, and I was guessing they would probably take Marcos along for the ride too, but not everyone else. If Estus’ people found us, we’d have to fight, not flee. A sudden idea struck me.

  “Good,” I muttered to myself.

  “What?” Tallie asked.

  “I said good,” I stated a little louder. “Let them find us. I want them all to see what they’re dealing with, then we’ll see how many are still willing to stand at Estus’ side.”

  Marcos smiled wickedly.

  “But first,” Alejandro interjected, raising a finger into the air, “food.”

  I nodded, though food wasn’t even a secondary thought for
me at that moment. Perhaps tertiary or quaternary. Alejandro was right though, we needed to eat. Especially Faas and I. If we let our physical forms grow weak, our metaphysical powers would be weakened too.

  The sky around us had just begun to grow light. We’d been out for an entire night. It was winter, so for the light to be starting to show meant it was probably around seven. The sun wouldn’t fully rise until nine. I’d turned my phone back off, wanting to conserve its battery, so I didn’t check it to verify the time.

  Instead, I squinted at the early morning sun and yawned. “Let’s look for a breakfast place, then we’ll try to get a few hours of sleep before we storm the castle.”

  Alejandro raised an eyebrow at me. “So you truly plan to invade Estus’ Salr with only this small group?” He moved his hand in a sweeping gesture, encompassing our companions.

  I glanced up at the banshees, still visible, but less tangible in the early morning light. “We’re not actually storming the castle,” I joked, turning my gaze back to Alejandro. “We were invited.”

  He smirked. “Something tells me that invitation didn’t include a host of phantoms.”

  I grinned. “Well it also didn’t warn us about the advance attack, so I’m not too worried about being rude. Payback is a bitch.”

  “And Estus has a lot coming to him,” Maya stated coldly from where she stood behind me.

  I nodded, then silently led the way as we left the cemetery, for the first time almost glad that Maya was with us. Besides me, she was the only person present who had real reason to hate Estus, and she was willing to sacrifice her life if it meant she could help take him down. Estus had bullied and tortured far too many people over his long life. It was about damn time some of his victims came back to bite him.

  Did karma apply to sadistic Doyen’s inhabited by pure chaos? We were about to find out.

  They’d been walking through the shadowy forest for roughly an hour when Mara suddenly staggered. Alaric had to catch her arm to keep her from falling.

  “What’s wrong?” he demanded, thinking perhaps she’d happened upon one of her own traps.

  She held a hand to her eyes for several seconds, then brushed her red hair out of her face and stood straight.

  Sophie moved toward Alaric’s side, forming a three person circle as they waited for Mara to explain herself.

  Mara glanced back and forth between the two of them. “Madeline did . . . something,” she explained. “It was something big, considering I felt it without even trying to look in on her.”

  “How is that even possible?” Sophie inquired. “That you felt her without trying, I mean.”

  Mara shook her head, still seeming disoriented. Alaric had the sudden urge to shake her until the answers rattled loose, but resisted.

  “We are composed of the same energy,” she explained. “It’s not like the connection you have with your goddess, where you were simply made by the Norns in her image. Madeline and I are both mortal embodiments of the same energy. She is simply a newer, less concentrated version of what I once was.”

  “What did she do?” Alaric interrupted, caring less about how Mara had sensed Madeline, and more about what she had sensed.

  She shook her head again, as if trying to work something out in her mind. “I believe she has restored the banshees, but something is wrong with the energy. It’s different, and more powerful.”

  Alaric wanted to ask more, but something behind Mara caught his eye. His jaw dropped. “What was it you said about magical beasts again?”

  Mara’s eyes widened, then she looked over her shoulder, spotting the creature merely twenty feet away. “Well,” she began, her voice quavering, “I didn’t say much, but I should probably explain now. They’re basically unstoppable, pure embodiments of nature’s energy.”

  He stared at the creature as it watched them from within the shadows created by the dense trees. It was massive, around fifteen feet tall. It stood mostly on its hind legs, but leaned forward on heavy arms, like a great ape, only its skin was made of what looked like gnarled tree bark, hanging with loose moss and vines. Its head boasted a wide maw, and beady, glowing red eyes, with two small slits for nostrils. Its shoulders were wider than Alaric was tall.

  “You can’t control it?” he whispered, keeping his gaze firmly on the unmoving creature.

  “No,” Mara whispered back. “It is under control of the current Morrigan.”

  “But you’re the Morrigan,” Sophie rasped.

  Mara shook her head minutely. “No, I am simply a cumulation of that same energy. Little more than a ghost, really. I have no power in this time.”

  “Shit,” Sophie replied. “Should we run?”

  The beast took a few steps forward, its massive knuckles pounding into the ground as it took on an aggressive stance. It let out an ear shattering roar.

  “Yep,” Mara said with a cringe. “We should definitely run.”

  Alaric didn’t need her to say it twice. He turned and shoved his sister ahead of him. She darted forward, needing no extra encouragement. They ran as the beast charged them, the heavy impact of its gait echoing throughout the forest around them.

  Alaric wove his way through the trees in the direction of the castle, keeping an eye on Sophie and Mara as they ran. The creature toppled trees as it gave chase, too wide to fit through many of the narrow openings. They all had to dive out of the way more than once as the falling trees narrowly missed them.

  Not only had Mara claimed the creature was unstoppable, neither he nor Sophie had any weapons. They were both capable of partial shape changes that could provide them with razor sharp teeth and claws, but he had a feeling their attacks would do little good against the creature’s tough bark. They needed a magic user to defeat the creature. He almost laughed as he ran, thinking how perfect James would have been for the job with his fire powers, but those days were over. He was dead.

  His mind quickly sorted through any other options. They could climb a tree, but the creature had already proven itself capable of felling several trees without hardly trying. They could continue to run, neither he nor Sophie would tire any time soon, even with the full night of walking, but the only possible salvation was the Morrigan’s castle. If he went storming in there along with the women, he would be cooked. The only options left were to somehow outrun the creature enough that it would lose their trail, which at the moment, seemed unlikely, or to somehow trick it.

  The sound of water running in the distance brought to mind another idea. If the creature couldn’t swim, perhaps they could escape it, or even drown it. Of course, that was assuming whatever body of water they might find would be deep enough, or wide enough, to impede the magical beast.

  “What types of waterways are near here!” Alaric shouted as they ran.

  Mara, with her green velvet dress hiked up around her knees for ease of movement, leapt over a fallen log like a gazelle, then answered, “There are several streams that lead into a lake! What are you thinking?”

  He was glad she didn’t sound the least bit winded as she spoke. She’d likely be able to keep up with him and Sophie for a while. If she was barely more than a spirit, as she claimed, perhaps she’d keep up the pace much longer than either of them could.

  Another tree came crashing down behind them, narrowly missing Sophie as she dove out of the way, gracefully rolling across the ground before hopping back to her feet to continue running.

  “Can the creature swim?” he called out to her over the thundering of the beast’s footfalls.

  “Who knows!” she replied. “I summoned it from the earth. I did not create it.”

  If he’d had a spare moment, he would have sighed. “Lead us to the lake!” he demanded. “It seems our best option.”

  With a nod, Mara darted off ahead of him, impossibly fast.

  With a competitive growl, Sophie picked up her pace and ran after her. Alaric dodged another tree, then followed them, praying that the creature would sink as quickly as it could run.

/>   After we were all fed, we went back to the motel where Alejandro had gotten directions to the cemetery. Between us we had the cash and credit cards to rent a room for every single person, but we decided to just stick with two adjoining rooms. That way, if we were once again ambushed, we’d all be together. I could summon the banshees, and we’d be able to protect ourselves.

  There was a second reason for the adjoining rooms, though no one said it out loud. Faas didn’t trust anyone around me besides Frode, and we still needed to keep an eye on Maya and Marcos . . . just in case. Two rooms made that an easy task. We’d decided that one room would contain me, Faas, Marcos, and Tallie, while the other would contain Frode, Maya, and Alejandro. The adjoining door would remain open in case of emergencies, though in reality, it was just in case Maya and Alejandro decided to band together to eliminate Frode. I was to the point where I actually trusted Alejandro just as much as anyone else, but it was still wise to be cautious. Anyone who was previously one of Aislin’s people needed to be watched, and that was that. I had a feeling Alejandro sensed our suspicions, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to find them amusing, quietly smiling at us as we debated the sleeping arrangements.

  After receiving our flimsy, plastic key cards, we’d entered our rooms. They were done in typical cheap motel style, with ugly patterned quilts on the pairs of queen-sized beds, burgundy carpet that would hide most stains, and cheap particle board furniture to support the TV and bedside lamps.

  Faas moved to shut the heavy drapes as I claimed the bed closer to the adjoining door. Marcos took the other bed, seeming quite content as he laid on his back on the bedspread and shut his eyes. He folded his arms across his chest, looking like a bad rendition of Dracula.

  Tallie shifted nervously between the feet of the two beds, pawing at the ends of her loose, black hair.

  I stared at her until I got her attention. “You can sleep with me,” I offered. I cast a wary glance at Marcos, then added, “If you want.”