Mad Magic

by Nicole Conway

  “Hey.” Zeph tugged on my hand. “You know I love you, right?”

  I exhaled shakily as I squeezed his palm harder. “Yeah. I know.”

  “Good. We’ve gotta make this convincing. So just … you know, play along.” He sucked in an anxious breath. “Damn, I hope you’re a good actress.”

  I managed a quick, teasing grin. “Oh sure. I got you to think that I liked those tattoos, didn’t I?”

  “Easy, tiger. Just remember to keep your head on straight. Don’t let fear get the best of you. Stick to the plan. After I hand you over, wait for the curse to break. Then give ‘em hell.”

  I nodded. I wanted to be confident so badly. My friends needed me, but all I could think about was the fact that Eldrick had left us. Did we even stand a chance now? I wanted to believe Zeph was right; that we didn’t need his help. We could handle this on our own.

  I needed to believe that.

  Minutes passed as the last few rays of the sun melted out of the sky. As night drew in, the stars began to wink through the twilight. The cold air made the sky seem crystal clear, like I could have dipped my hands into the heavens.

  “W-what if he doesn’t come?” I wasn’t sure if it was the cold or my nerves that made my teeth start chattering. “What if he knows it’s a trick? What if he refuses your invitation?” I’d never been a very good liar and now my life and the lives of all my companions depended on it. The irony was cruel.

  Zeph was sporting a fearsome scowl. “He’ll come.” His brilliant violet eyes narrowed on the tree line ahead of us, as though he were waiting for any sign of movement. “His pride won’t allow him to refuse. He’d never pass up the opportunity to see someone groveling at his feet.”

  Something moved in the forest.

  My heartbeat stammered and stalled. I could hear twigs snapping. Between the trunks of the trees, delicate little lights were floating toward us like fireflies. My common sense told me that wasn’t possible—it was far too cold for fireflies. But what else could they be?

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zeph bristle like a guard dog ready to attack. He moved, but it wasn’t against whatever creature was coming our way. He lunged at me suddenly, snatching my arms behind my back and forcing me to my knees. I cried out in genuine surprise at how rough he was as he held me, twisting my arms painfully every time I tried to struggle.

  “Louder,” he murmured so quietly even I barely heard him. “This is an Oscar-winning performance, not an audition.”

  I let out the loudest scream I could. I cursed at him, demanding that he let me go. I was afraid it sounded fake, but I didn’t have to play pretend for very long.

  Those floating lights weren’t fireflies—they were eyes. Monsters emerged from the forest like phantoms. Their eyes glowed like golden embers, and they all stared straight at me. They looked like wolves, or at least that’s what I thought they were. They were about the same size as a wolf—or a giant dog—but as they got closer, I saw that they weren’t animals at all. They were made of plants, roots, rocks, and gnarled branches all twisted together, just like the spriggans.

  A dozen of them prowled toward us, snapping their jagged, stone teeth and twitching with eager ferocity. It was as though they had been designed only to fight, hurt, and kill. I had a feeling they were going to be a lot harder to kill.

  “Moorhounds,” Zeph scoffed loudly. “Seriously? It’s not like you to be so cautious.”

  A deep, musical laugh echoed through the trees. It made my whole being shudder. Tears filled my eyes, and I let out another scream. I struggled, but Zeph just squeezed me harder.

  “I had to be sure you were being honest, boy. One can’t be too careful,” Fir Darrig’s voice chimed. It seemed to come from everywhere at once. “You understand my skepticism, don’t you? How can I be sure this is even the right girl? Perhaps you’re simply trying to use a bit of that changeling magic to save your own neck.”

  Zeph grabbed a fistful of my hair suddenly and jerked my face upward, forcing me to look toward the dark forest.

  “That enough proof for you?” Zeph snarled angrily.

  There was no reply.

  Instead, the forest seemed to shudder. The trees groaned as though they were in pain. Their trunks began bending and twisting, parting like a living curtain. Fir Darrig stepped into view wearing his natural form—that strange combination of lion, man, and bird. He carried his staff and wore a shining golden breastplate. His vivid eyes fixed on me, scalding me under a vengeful glare.

  It was bad enough to see him again, but he hadn’t come alone. The forest rumbled again, and out stepped four huge spriggans. They were even bigger than the ones we had battled before, flanking Fir Darrig like colossal, moss-covered mountains. Their gaping maws steamed in the cold air, and they beat the ground with their boulder-sized fists.

  I didn’t have to pretend to be scared anymore. I was terrified. I screamed and struggled. My curses turned into sobs, and I began pleading with Zeph to let me go. I begged him to reconsider, to remember his love for me, but his gaze was so icy and detached it made me wonder if he was acting or not.

  He wasn’t … going to let Fir Darrig take me, was he?

  “Tick tock, old man,” Zeph snarled. “The moon’ll be up any second. I’ve upheld my end of the curse. Give me back my power.”

  Fir Darrig sneered. “Do I look like a fool to you? Hand her over first.”

  Zeph spat at the ground. He murmured a few profane things, obviously not happy about being bossed around. Then he forced me to walk. When we were only a few yards away from Fir Darrig and all his horrible monster-minions, Zeph gave me a violent shove. I stumbled, tripped, and fell face-first into the snow at Fir Darrig’s feet.

  “Good luck with that whiny little bitch.” Zeph snorted and crossed his arms. He gave me a disgusted look. “She wouldn’t make me the faerie king, either. I don’t see why you think you’ll have any more luck with her.”

  I had barely staggered back to my feet when I felt the humid breaths of the moorhounds staring me down. They snapped at my legs and forced me to cross the rest of the distance to Fir Darrig. He waited for me with a smug grin on his lips, holding out a hand as though he were inviting me to dance again. “Of course she will.”

  Oh yeah, I thought as I took his hand. Let’s dance, you bastard.

  I glared at him with every ounce of courage I had left. He smiled back cruelly, as though it amused him. With a violent jerk, he yanked me closer and snagged an arm around my waist. He sniffed me like an animal, puffing his filthy breath all over my face and neck.

  It was all I could do to keep from coming unglued.

  Then I saw it—a glimmer of silver light through the trees.

  In the distance, a radiant full moon was rising. It was shaking free of the horizon, filling the sky with rich, sterling light, and making every snowdrift and icicle shine like platinum. The air resonated with energy so strong it made my body shiver as it sizzled over my skin. A faint sound like glassy music echoed through the air, carried on the crisp wind.

  It was the Singing Moon.

  My trance of breathless awe was broken when I heard Zeph cry out. He roared in panic and agony, hunching over suddenly as though he’d been shot. I almost broke my act. My heart twisted painfully as I watched. All he managed to get out were desperate, agonized sounds. I couldn’t watch. I bowed my head, clenched my teeth, and shut my eyes tightly.

  “Don’t be a coward.” Fir Darrig grabbed my chin suddenly. He forced me to look.

  Zeph had crumpled to his knees. Even from a distance, I could see something wasn’t right. His whole body shook erratically. He crawled across the snow as though he were trying to get away from something, but with every move he made, his body—clothing and all—was slowly turning a strange shade of gray. First were his feet, then his legs and waist. Soon he couldn’t move the lower half of his body at all.

  He yelled out, his eyes crazed with terror as he tried to retreat.


  “What’s happening to him?” I tried to sound calm and complacent. My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears it almost drowned out Zeph’s tortured cries.

  “When we are completely drained of magic, fae cannot live. We turn to stone.” Fir Darrig laughed with pleasure like he was enjoying this. “Does it pain you to watch him suffer?”

  On the inside, I was screaming. I was falling apart, but I couldn’t let that show—not now. This was it. This was the moment of truth. One slip up might blow our entire plan.

  I stared back at Fir Darrig. “He betrayed me,” I answered coldly. “He’s nothing to me.”

  It was probably only a few seconds, but we stared at one another for what felt like hours. With every passing moment, I grew braver and more frantic all at the same time. Zeph’s life was slipping away. He couldn’t move his arms now, but I couldn’t show any emotion—at least, none other than hatred and anger. Fortunately, I had enough of both for Fir Darrig, so it wasn’t hard to look at him like I wanted to rip his pointed ears right off his head.

  “Young hearts are such fickle, useless things. They are turned so easily, it’s delightfully revolting,” Fir Darrig mused. He chuckled darkly and raised a hand toward Zeph. “But how you feel is irrelevant, I suppose. A deal’s a deal. You belong to me now; the curse is appeased.”

  The snap of his fingers cracked like lightning. It made a shockwave ripple through the air, spreading out and striking Zeph’s nearly lifeless body with great force.

  He collapsed into the snow and didn’t move.

  I couldn’t breathe. I stared at him, waiting for something—anything—to happen.

  Nothing. He was completely still. I couldn’t even see him breathing.

  It was as though someone were tearing my soul in half. I couldn’t stop the tears.

  And then, there was light—bright violet light that blinded me. A swell of tolling chimes filled the air, growing louder and louder until I was forced to cover my ears. I shrank back, unintentionally pressing myself against Fir Darrig in the process. Before I could react, he snatched me up and carried me off into the forest.

  “See that he doesn’t follow us,” Fir Darrig commanded his army of monsters.

  The spriggans and moorhounds bellowed in reply.

  My vision was still spotty as the dark forest engulfed us. I twisted in Fir Darrig’s grasp, trying to look behind us to see anything—any sign that Zeph was still alive. All I could see were the shapes of Fir Darrig’s monsters as they began to converge upon that vibrant point of light. A glimmer of white fur caught my eye, and I stiffened in terror as a familiar white wolf galloped past. It was Lumi.

  “I’ve a nice spot picked out for my crowning,” Fir Darrig laughed with wicked delight. “We won’t be disturbed there. Come, little vessel. It’s time we put the faerie crown where it is most richly deserved.”

  I pretended to struggle again. In the process, I twisted my body slightly, bringing my knees up until I could reach my foot. I slipped my fingers into the side of my boot and closed a fist around the hilt of my mom’s dagger. It wasn’t a fancy spell or an intricate enchantment, but hopefully it would work …

  I ripped the dagger out of my boot and stabbed Fir Darrig in the side with all my strength. The iron blade sank deep into his flesh—all the way up to the hilt. Immediately the air filled with a putrid burning smell.

  Fir Darrig threw me away like a bad apple.

  I skidded over the snow, slamming into the trunk of a tree. The impact cracked my head so hard that everything spun. He roared in pain, throwing away his staff and clutching at his side where the dagger had left an awful black wound. So much of his blood poured out onto the snow that I could practically taste it in the air.

  When I got up, I was still seeing bright specks, but I never let go of the dagger. If he came at me again, I was prepared to stab him as many times as it took.

  “You want to get me back, you bastard? You’ll have to catch me first!” I spun and ran full speed back toward the clearing. Thankfully, we hadn’t made it very far, and there were plenty of radiant bursts of light to guide me in the right direction.

  I broke the tree line and emerged onto a battlefield. Freddy and Camilla were running around, trying to cast spells while dodging the swinging arms of spriggans. Hank had taken a wide stance, firing round after round from his shotgun. The percussion of each blast cracked like thunder in the air and was usually followed by the agonized wail of a moorhound. Most of the moorhounds seemed more focused on Zeph, however, who stood in their midst like a gleaming, violet angel.

  Only, I’d never seen him shine like that before.

  With his power fully restored, his true form bloomed in the night with more beautiful strangeness than ever before. His horns were longer, his wings were larger, and the once sparse runes on his skin now covered him like stripes on a tiger. He bared his fangs, prowling on hind legs like a lion’s. He even had a long lion’s tail. He fought the moorhounds like a wild animal, ripping them apart one by one as they swarmed around him.

  “Head’s up!” someone shouted suddenly.

  Another moorhound sprang toward me, ready to tear me to shreds. I raised my dagger again, but the instant it leaped, ice climbed the monster’s body and froze it in midair.

  “Jack!” I cheered as he swooped low on his wintry white wings to give me a playful wink.

  “Don’t get too comfy,” he warned with a merry chuckle. “The spell will wear off quickly! Fir Darrig was ready for me this time. He warded them all against my frost.”

  I ran straight for an open patch of snow. The curse was broken, Zeph was free, so now it was time for phase two of my plan.

  I had a new royal to crown and a gate to open.

  With Jack flying defense to keep the moorhounds at bay, prepping the crowning spell was easy. It was just a simple circle spell with a few symbols around it and a mark in the center that looked sort of like a crown. I drew them out quickly and perfectly with one of my charred twigs. Then, I scribbled more spellwork on my arms with the Sharpie. I was working fast, but I didn’t mess up. My mind was a steel trap, remembering every symbol in perfect detail.

  A familiar enemy came striding toward me right before I finished the last symbol. Lumi stood only a few yards away, her white fur bristling and her pale blue eyes shining like stars. Her snout wrinkled, lips drawing back into a snarl as she flattened her ears. I looked around for Jack—but he was already preoccupied with two moorhounds.

  This was up to me.

  I scowled, sticking the Sharpie between my teeth before I took out Zeph’s lighter and the little can of hairspray from my pocket.

  Lumi sent a blast of cold air at me when she snapped her jaws, her legs coiled for the attack.

  Wait for it—wait for it.

  The white she-wolf sprang, surging toward me with fangs flashing in the moonlight. I tensed, holding firm until she was only a couple of feet away. Then I sprayed a burst of hairspray through the open flame of Zeph’s lighter.

  Fire belched out into the night and blasted Lumi right in the face. Her fur caught fire immediately. She yowled and scrambled to get away, pawing at her face.

  So I advanced. This was personal; I wanted some payback. She’d only just managed to douse her face in the snow when I hit her again, blasting another wave of fire over her body.

  Lumi yelped and shrieked. I threw down the lighter and hairspray and drew my dagger again. Seizing her charred snout with one hand, I held the iron point right between her eyes. “Move and I’ll ram this right through your brain.”

  Lumi froze, her pale eyes wide as they stared back at me.

  “If you ever come near me or any of my friends again, I swear I will kill you. Got me?” I pressed the point harder against her hide. “This is your only chance—leave now and never come back.”

  As soon as I let her go, the white wolf stumbled back with her tail between her legs. I kept the blade of my dagger poised, ready t
o strike if she decided to test me. Lumi snarled one last time, her eyes blazing with anger, and disappeared into a whirlwind of snow and white mist.

  I smirked, slipping the dagger back into my boot before I went back to my spellwork. No time for a victory dance now. I still had to pick someone to be the new faerie ruler … someone new. My mind raced as I finished drawing the symbols on my arms and hands. Who should I pick? Freddy? Camilla? Jack? Those were my only choices except for Zeph. I didn’t know any other faeries to choose from.

  Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe.

  Something hit me so hard it sent me flying like I’d been struck by a car. I sailed through the air, flipping helplessly over the ground. Something snapped. I felt my leg hit awkwardly, knocking my dagger free of its hiding place. It was lost somewhere in the snow—my only effective weapon against these monsters.

  I landed facedown on the frozen earth. My whole body ached. Every time I tried to take a breath, sharp pain pierced my chest like I was being stabbed.

  I stared up through my delirium to see what had hit me. As my eyes focused through the haze, I saw a pair of wrathful, green eyes glaring down at me with utter hatred.

  Fir Darrig wrapped a powerful hand around my neck. He plucked me out of the snow like a naughty puppy. I gasped for air, clawing at his arm. My chest was already hurting so badly that I knew I must have broken something, and now Fir Darrig was crushing my windpipe so I couldn’t even speak.

  “You wretched little shrew,” Fir Darrig rasped. He was still bleeding from that wound in his side where I’d stabbed him. The flesh around it was turning black and rotting away faster than should have been possible.

  “You will name me as faerie king and maybe then I won’t crush the life out of you.” He squeezed my neck even harder. I thought it might snap at any second.