A Tide of War

by Bella Forrest

  We looked at one another, too tired and beaten down to be surprised that the entity had known what we were doing all along.

  “Let us leave,” urged Derek again, his fangs protruding—the only indication of the rage that was simmering below the surface. “Ben, race ahead. Let Ibrahim and the others know that the entity is watching.”

  If they attempted to make a move toward the portal now, it would be fatal.

  As I dashed toward the trees, the last few words of the entity played on my mind. ‘You cannot conceive of what I have in store for you’—was that true? Hadn’t the entity shown me exactly what was to come? Or was this more evidence that I shouldn’t believe the visions? That they were lies planted by the entity to distract us?

  There was something I was missing here, I could feel it—something about the energy surge that had helped Hazel and me at the barrier, and then the feeling while I was receiving the visions that there was some alien, additional power present…

  “Faster!” Derek called out.

  Ignoring my thoughts, I ran, pushing my muscles till they screamed, mindlessly following the blurs of the vampires ahead.

  Julian

  I looked over at Zerus, his dark features lit up by the campfire.

  We’d stopped for the night, finding a spot at the foothills of the mountain range where Aisha and Horatio had put up barriers, enabling us to remain unseen by any creatures that might wander by in search of a meal.

  Zerus was strange. I didn’t know if it was due to the weeks spent in isolation in the pit, or just because all the Hellswans were an odd bunch as far as I was concerned, but the guy didn’t seem to be all there. At Benedict’s insistence, he had agreed to guide us to a path that would lead up to the top of the mountain safely, but I felt that his strange mutterings and the slow, shuffling pace that he moved at would do nothing but delay us.

  “Why don’t we ask the Hawks to just fly us up?” I asked Benedict for what felt like the millionth time.

  “What if we miss the jinn? If we’re with the Hawks we’re not going to be able to see properly,” he replied reasonably.

  I glanced over at Zerus to see if he was listening in to our conversation, but he seemed more preoccupied with his hunting knife, sharpening it with a stone. The scene didn’t exactly make me feel comforted.

  “Don’t you think he’s a bit of a liability, like he might snap at any moment?” I whispered.

  Benedict contemplated the sentry for a few moments, and then shook his head.

  “No. Not really—and what if he does? We’ve got Aisha, Horatio and Ridan here. They’ll be able to calm him. I don’t think he’s out to harm us anyway, he’s not like Jenus or anything.”

  I looked up to the tops of the trees, searching for Field, Fly and Sky. They hadn’t been down for a while, not since Field and Fly had returned to us with news of the failed battle. It looked like all hope was resting on us bringing the jinn out of hiding, wherever they were, but we’d seen no evidence so far that the forest was populated by anything other than goblins and a loopy sentry.

  “Get some rest, Julian,” Benedict yawned at me. Yelena had already fallen asleep in front of the fire, hogging the best spot, of course.

  “You get some sleep,” I replied crossly. “I’ll keep watch.”

  Aisha, Horatio and Ridan had already started to doze off, claiming that we were safe within their barriers, but I wasn’t so sure. One thing I’d learned about Nevertide was that you couldn’t be too careful—especially in the woods.

  “Fine,” he replied lazily, “you keep watch. Wake me up in a couple of hours and I’ll take over.”

  He curled up in his GASP-issue sleeping bag and almost immediately started snoring.

  ‘Wake me in a couple of hours?’ Yeah right. Once Benedict was out, he was out. It would be like trying to wake the dead.

  The firelight was dying out. It was just Zerus and me left awake, and it made me uncomfortable. Every so often I would catch the sentry studying me intently, then he’d go back to sharpening his blade—a repetitive scrape of stone against steel that was starting to irritate the heck out of me.

  “Will you stop that?” I asked eventually.

  “Does it bother you?” he asked, surprised.

  “Yes, it bothers me,” I replied, wondering if his dumbfounded expression was a trick or if he was genuinely a bit mad.

  “I’m sorry, human creature,” he replied awkwardly. “It’s been a while since I was around anyone. Even back at the castle, I wasn’t that keen on companionship—I like to keep to myself, though I realize it can make me…off-putting to others.”

  “It’s fine,” I grumbled, feeling a bit foolish.

  He shrugged, putting the hunting knife away. He lay back, his hands crossed behind his head, staring up at the stars. A few moments later I heard the sounds of deep breathing. He too had fallen asleep.

  The night was still. The Hawks didn’t return, and I imagined that they’d found somewhere more suitable to rest, probably up in the branches of some tree. The fire was smoking gently, with only dying embers left glowing on the ground.

  My job as lookout was slow going. Occasionally I heard a crack of twigs in the distance, but if there were animals about they didn’t come any closer—either the barriers were doing their job, or we weren’t particularly appealing to them. The lack of any real threat had an annoying consequence—I started to imagine shapes in the darkness. Rocks became hunched men, watching us from afar. Gnarled trees became strange creatures, their twigs claws, their unearthed roots long-reaching tentacles waiting to pull me into seas of dead leaves.

  I shuddered, trying to maintain my grip on reality, but every time I managed to calm myself down, I would see another shape out of the corner of my eye—another lurking thing, waiting to grab me.

  Calm down, idiot.

  I settled back against a rock, and stared up at the sky. It was more calming this way. We were sheltered from winds down here, but at the top of the trees there was a slight breeze, parting the boughs so that every so often I could see the multitudes of stars shining across the sky—millions and millions of light years away.

  “No, I can’t help you, brother—no, please—no.”

  Zerus was moaning in his sleep. He had been making small exhales of panicked breath on and off for a while now, but this was the first coherent thing I’d hear him utter. I watched him, waiting to hear more.

  “I can’t—I don’t know how,” he cried softly. Clearly whatever he was dreaming about was causing him a lot of anguish. Why did he think that Tejus needed his help so badly? Was he somehow communicating with him? Was the entity back at the palace? His moaning continued, and I wondered if I should wake him. For all I knew, the mind-meld bond was stronger in relatives—maybe he was conversing with Tejus.

  I stood up. I wanted to know what he thought his brother needed him for so badly—if GASP and the other sentries were in danger, then I wanted to know about it.

  “Zerus?” I shook him gently. “Wake up. You’re having a bad dream.”

  The sentry opened his eyes, staring up at me. In the glow of the fire I could just make out the tears streaming down his cheeks.

  “Human?” he rasped, clutching hold of my arm with a bony but tight grip.

  I tried to shake him off, half-afraid of the intense look in his eyes.

  “Yeah, it’s just me,” I whispered.

  “My brother—my brother calls to me. He wants to be free. He’s in so much pain—so much pain…A poor fool, misguided, as always.” He shook his head, wiping away the tears.

  “Is he in danger?” I asked quickly.

  “He is dying.”

  “Tejus is dying?” I exclaimed, forgetting to keep my voice down.

  Zerus let go of my hand abruptly.

  “Tejus is dying?” he repeated, horrified.

  “What? No—that’s what you said,” I replied in exasperation.

  “No,” he whispered, understanding dawning on him, “no. I talk of J
enus. It is he who needs my help—he who is so lost.”

  I sighed with relief. Tejus wasn’t exactly my favorite person in the world, but I was glad he was safe—it probably meant the rest of GASP was too. As soon as the relief passed, I went back to questioning the sentry.

  “You’re communicating with Jenus?” I asked, wanting to be absolutely clear on the facts before I woke the others.

  “I do not know how,” Zerus replied quietly, “but he calls to me—through my mind. He whispers that he wants forgiveness, that he chose the wrong path. That he loves me.”

  At the mention of ‘whispering’ my ears pricked up—it reminded me too much of the entity, and its soft, cruel voice. Was the entity using Zerus as a weapon too?

  “Does he ask you to do anything specifically?”

  “He asks me to free him,” the sentry replied. “That is all. But I do not know how—I only see images that he sends me, of dark shadows by the sea, and a great fortress rising up through the ground.”

  “Okay,” I replied slowly, “I think we need to get you to Tejus. Your brother needs to know all this. The fact that you can communicate with Jenus is important. It might be able to help them somehow—I don’t know.”

  The sentry sat up, his panic residing.

  “I would like to see Tejus,” he agreed. “Maybe he can help Jenus?”

  “Err…maybe,” I replied.

  Field and Fly had told us what had happened to Jenus when they’d returned from delivering the energy-infused powers—how the entity had taken possession of his body in much the same way he had with Benedict. As Jenus had most likely been a willing subject, I doubted very much that he could now be saved.

  “Anyway,” I added quickly, “either way you should definitely see Tejus. I’ll get one of the jinn or Hawks to take you back to Memenion’s palace—is that okay?”

  The sentry nodded.

  I hurried to wake up Benedict and the others, while mentally kicking myself. Why hadn’t we asked him earlier which brother he was mumbling about? If Jenus really was communicating with his brother it meant that somehow his consciousness must be surviving the possession—just like Benedict’s had.

  It meant we still had hope.

  Hazel

  I knocked quietly on Ruby’s door. I thought she might be asleep, but she immediately pulled it open, a worried frown creasing her forehead. Of course she wouldn’t be asleep. She was waiting for news like I was.

  “Nothing,” I said, before she could ask.

  She nodded, sighing.

  “How are you holding up?” she asked, gesturing for me to come in.

  “Okay. It’s just been a while, and we haven’t heard anything…” I trailed off. There was no point in speculating. Maybe it was a good thing—maybe they’d found a way to lock the portal, which was why they were taking so long.

  “I keep thinking that if there was good news they would have sent Jeriad or Lethe back,” she commented, flopping down on the bed. I joined her, curling up against the headboard.

  “Maybe, maybe not—it’s a small team. My grandpa probably needs every one of them,” I replied. I just wished that he hadn’t needed Tejus.

  I smiled suddenly, remembering the other reason I’d come to find her.

  “I also heard rumors that you might have some news for me?” I asked, poking her with an outstretched toe.

  She sat up, her face aghast.

  “Oh, God—Hazel, I’m so sorry—I wanted you to be the first to know…but with everything happening…” She flung her hands up in the air, then quickly shoved one of them in front of my face.

  I grabbed her hand, admiring the gold band that lay on her wedding finger.

  “Oh, it’s so lovely!” I sighed happily. “I’m so glad—you’re a perfect match, aren’t you? He’s the only man I think I’ve ever seen stand up to you,” I teased.

  “Shut up.” She grinned. “But yeah, pretty much. He’s a good influence on me…and I’m crazy about him,” she added shyly.

  I laughed out loud. I’d never seen Ruby come even close to shy. “Wow—are you blushing?”

  She tutted at me, shoving my foot away.

  “It makes the waiting worse,” she replied eventually, all traces of good humor gone. “The fact that he almost died—I don’t know…It makes everything seem so fragile. Like you can be so completely happy, and then…”

  “Don’t think about it,” I replied quietly, not letting on that it was pretty much the same thing I’d been thinking all evening.

  She nodded. “I know. How do you think the boys and Yelena are getting on?”

  “Field said they were doing okay. I just worry about them being in the forest at night. Mom and Dad are worried too, but at least they have the Hawk boys, Ridan, Aisha and Horatio with them. I just hope they find the jinn soon.”

  “Do you think they’re still here?” Ruby asked. “I mean really? Don’t you think it’s strange that they’ve stayed away all this time—through the red rains, the ice fires, the earthquakes…If they wanted to help, surely they would have done something by now?”

  “I know,” I replied. “That’s what I think. If they are here, maybe they don’t want to help. But then it might just be a case of forcing them to.”

  “GASP can be pretty persuasive.” Ruby smirked.

  There was another knock on the door. We both jumped up as my mom’s head appeared around the door.

  “Lucas has just come through the barriers—hurry.”

  We ran, following my mom down the stairs, all the other GASP members coming out of their rooms and joining us in total silence as we hurried to hear the verdict. Lucas reached the entrance doors before we did, Ash by his side.

  “It’s not great news,” Lucas burst out, holding his hands up for silence, anticipating the flood of questions that would be coming his way. “Ghouls have arrived through the portal—including a ghoul queen that Ben recognized.”

  I looked at Ruby.

  Why are ghouls coming to join the entity?

  “Not only that, but the entity has taken over Hellswan castle—sort of. I’ll explain the details later,” Lucas continued. “It’s also watching us. Right now it knows about every move we make…and has since the beginning. The others are still by the cove—we’re still waiting for the right moment to get to the portal, but the shadow’s been hovering over it constantly. It’s going to be difficult to get close, but it won’t be impossible.”

  “What can we do?” my mom asked.

  “Be ready,” Lucas replied. “We might need to go into battle again at a moment’s notice. Until then, just keep the barriers secure. Has there been any more news from the boys?”

  Ruby and I shook our heads.

  “Not since Field left.”

  “Okay.” Lucas nodded. “Get your weapons ready—ministers and guards too,” he added to Ash. “We’ll send the dragons when we need back-up.”

  I blinked and he was gone.

  “I guess we get ready then,” Ruby murmured to me. “Shall we check the armory, see if there’s anything else we can bring?”

  “Good idea,” I agreed.

  Most of the weapons down there were infused with the immortal waters. If we were going to go to battle again, I wanted more than just the dagger—as awesome as it was.

  “I’m thinking arrows,” I mused out loud.

  “I’m thinking a mace,” Ruby replied.

  “Old school.”

  “Yeah, I’m going medieval on the entity’s ass this time. Enough is enough.”

  I couldn’t have agreed more.

  Derek

  We joined the warlock and the rest of our party by the cliff edge. They had followed a row of jagged rock around the cove, taking them closer to the portal.

  “Why haven’t they attacked?” Ibrahim asked, as soon as he saw us.

  “No idea,” I replied. “Maybe they just don’t see us as a threat right now…or the armies are playing with us—biding their time.”

  Not knowing the
answer to that made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t entirely sure what our next move should be—whether it would be sensible to leave, or continue to wait for an opportunity to get down to the portal. If the entity was underestimating us, perhaps in its arrogance, it might provide us with a chance.

  “How close, physically, do you need to be to close the portal?” I asked.

  Ibrahim glanced over at Nuriya.

  “We’re not sure,” the warlock replied. “It took the stones to open it, and a great deal of power. It will take time to seal it – and if we’re at a greater distance, it will be harder.”

  “So what do we do now?” Sherus asked impatiently.

  “I’m wondering if we take our chances and attack the shadow now—maybe we call for back-up. If we could act swiftly then we might be able to give you enough time to get to the portal before the entity sends reinforcements,” I replied, thinking that even if we could take on the shadow, the entity’s response would be too swift for the warlock and jinn to accomplish their task.

  “Do you think that’s wise?” Nuriya looked at me steadily. “When the entity is watching everything that we do?”

  I heard the sound of someone approaching behind us. I motioned for them all to be silent. A few moments later, Lucas stepped into view and crouched down behind the rocks next to me.

  “How’s the palace?” I asked.

  “Secure. They’re ready to move at a moment’s notice.”

  I nodded my thanks, then told my brother what I was planning. Lucas seemed to accept the risk, but the fae king balked.

  “This is suicide,” he muttered angrily. “The shadow is waiting for us to attack. We’d be playing right into the entity’s hands.”

  “I’m not sure we have a choice anymore,” Tejus murmured. I looked over at him. His gaze was fixed on the shadow above the portal—it was moving.

  “It’s approaching us,” Tejus asserted. “If we don’t stand and fight, then we’re done for anyway.”

  The sentry rose in one swift movement, unsheathing the Hellswan sword from his belt. He faced the approaching shadow, his muscles poised to strike, waiting for the black form to get close enough.