Death's Hand

by N. P. Martin

  With Amelia still lying unmoving on the floor, I used my very last breath to say the words that would turn me into vapor, which then allowed me to pass right through Twig’s gnarly arm and escape his death grip. As I became solid again, I crouched over for a second as I got my breath back, then I turned to face Twig, who was still gripping Monty with his other arm. His face scrunched up when he saw that I was free from his grip, and he immediately unwrapped his arm from around the pillar and tried to grab me again.

  But I was ready for him this time. As he swiped at me, intending to slap me into next week with his huge hand, I did a move that would make even Jackie Chan proud, in that I dropped down and rolled across the floor, immediately coming back up to shout the words, "Ignem exquiris!"

  A second later, I released a fireball from my left hand and sent it hurtling toward Twig, whose face registered his shock as he helplessly watched the large ball of fire breaking toward him. In his panic, he let go off Monty as he tried to move and avoid the fireball, but he was too late. Once it hit, the fireball exploded over him, the flames immediately spreading to every part of his body as though he were made of nothing but the driest of tinder. A long, agonizing moan escaped from Twig’s mouth as he flailed helplessly around, using his long arms to try to extinguish the blaze. But he may as well have been doused in kerosene, so quickly did the flames spread, the heat from them increasing with each passing second until he finally fell to the floor, his body spitting and cracking as the flames burnt deeper still.

  At that point, I ran to Monty, who was just coming around, and picked him up off the floor. Still choking, he held onto my arm as we headed over to where Amelia lay. Crouching down, I gently tapped her cheek to try and wake her up. "Amelia…"

  She came around slowly, sitting up and holding the side of her bleeding head. "That was like getting hit by a steel girder," she groaned.

  "Tell me about it," I said, helping her to her feet as she soon noticed Twig’s burning body not far away.

  "De bastard is firewud nigh," Monty said, his neck blackened from Twig’s merciless grip.

  The three of us then turned our attention to the battle that was still ongoing between Sorcha and Hedrema, and I wondered if Hedrema really did know everything that was going to happen. Did she foresee me burning Twig to death? I wondered. If so, she didn’t seem to care that she had sent her loyal servant to his doom. She was too busy anyway, avoiding Sorcha’s continued attacks on her. "She can’t kill Sorcha," I said to Monty and Amelia. "She’ll lose her power if she does."

  "It doesn’t seem to matter," Amelia said as Sorcha began to attack Hedrema with her fists now as well as her magic, as if her rage and frustration was getting the better of her. As powerful as Sorcha was, however, Hedrema was still more so, not to mention more experienced, and she didn’t seem to be having much trouble defending herself against Sorcha. It was becoming obvious to anyone watching that Hedrema would inevitably overwhelm Sorcha eventually, and then she would subdue her completely, leaving her free to kill us… and probably Dalia as well, who was still surreally floating near the high ceiling.

  "We have to help Sorcha," I said.

  "How?" said Amelia. "When she probably knows what we’re going to do before we even do it?"

  It was looking unlikely that any of us was going to be able to stop her. Until that is, a crazy plan entered my head. At first, I wasn’t at all sure where this plan had come from, as it seemed too out there for my unconscious to throw up. Until that is, I heard a familiar whispering voice in my head…

  "Corvin Chance… listen to me…"

  The voice of Drakkar. Somehow his spirit was still able to connect with me, even though I no longer wore his hand. As I listened for a moment, Drakkar’s voice told me of a way to defeat Hedrema. The plan was solid, but the consequences of it were almost unthinkable. He wanted free from Hedrema’s hold over him, just so his spirit could take over the body of another, thus allowing him to emerge from his dormancy into the world again. So in order to have any chance of stopping Hedrema and saving Dalia, I would have to allow a depraved, evil warlock to roam free in the world again to do god knows what, and to sacrifice god knows how many innocent people to maintain and increase his own power. It would be like unleashing a plague upon the world.

  As my mind tied itself in knots trying to decide what to do, I watched as Hedrema finally grasped a completely exhausted Sorcha by the throat. "Time to put you back in your box, daughter," she said, looking pleased that she had won. Her head turned toward us. "Maybe I’ll throw your friends in with you… or maybe I’ll just kill them and leave their corpses to rot in your cell with you." She smiled over at us after she said it, and I knew then that I didn’t have a choice.

  I would have to do as Drakkar said, and deal with the consequences later.

  21

  Quickly, I told Monty and Amelia the plan of attack before stepping forward and shouting at Hedrema, "Hey! You want to kill us, come and get us!"

  Hedrema stared at me for a moment as she continued to hold Sorcha, looking more annoyed by my interjection than anything else. "You wish to die now, is that it?"

  "I don’t plan on dying." Even as I said it, I still had my doubts. For all I knew, Drakkar could be playing me, but it was a chance I had to take.

  "You do realize you can’t beat me?" She held up her hand, the Hand of Drakkar. "I’ve already seen your pointless maneuvers. But…" She turned then and pushed Sorcha toward the wall, pinning her against it with her power so Sorcha couldn’t move. "If you insist on this folly, I’m happy to oblige."

  Inwardly, I smiled. You can always rely on an ego-maniac for their arrogance.

  All right, I thought as I prepared my attack. You better not be messing with me, Drakkar…

  As Hedrema floated down to the floor, she stood staring at the three of us with an almost bored look on her face. "This should be good," she said.

  Oh, it will be, I thought.

  As I unleashed a continuous stream of lightening at the Fae Queen, Hedrema thrust out the Hand of Drakkar to absorb the energy I was directing at her. At the same time, Monty moved around to Hedrema’s front and used the same attack as me, directing his energy at Hedrema as she used her staff this time to absorb it. While we were keeping her distracted, Amelia was sneaking around the back of the throne where Hedrema couldn’t see her. I increased the ferocity of my attack as Amelia crept closer, still under Hedrema’s radar it seemed, as the Fae Queen had yet to notice her, which meant Drakkar hadn’t warned her with any visions.

  A second later, however, Hedrema made a thrusting movement with her staff that redirected Monty’s magic back at him, the impact of which sent him flying across the floor. My eyes darted to the right to see that Amelia was almost upon Hedrema, and she had the remains of her sword in her hand.

  "Give it up," Hedrema said to me as she started to push forward on me now, knowing I couldn’t keep the energy stream up for much longer.

  But I didn’t have to. For just as my magic began to wane, Amelia silently rushed forward the last few steps and used the broken sword to chop down on Hedrema’s extended wrist, slicing off the Hand of Drakkar, while also allowing my energy stream to hit Hedrema in the chest, sending her reeling back as she emitted an ear-piercing scream of rage.

  Bolstered by the success of the plan, I was able to dig deep and strengthen the stream of magical energy pouring forth from my hand, which I continued to direct at the wrong-footed Fae Queen. At the same time, Amelia directed her own powerful stream of reddish energy at Hedrema as well, the two of us driving her back onto the floor as she struggled to hold our energies back with her staff. Her staff was the only thing protecting her at this point, but Monty soon took care of that as he blindsided the now deeply unsettled Fae Queen and kicked the staff right out of her hand. Then he started blasting her with his own magic, the three of us now directing our energies at her, driving her into the stone floor as she screamed in pain.

  The screams must have reached the ears
of Sorcha, for she evidently found the strength to break free from the hold her mother had her in. She came flying down from the air to land on the floor beside her mother, planting her boot into Hedrema’s chest as Monty, Amelia and I ceased with our attacks.

  Hedrema was beaten and she knew it, though she still remained defiant as she stared hatefully at us in turn, her gaze finally settling on Sorcha. "What are you going to do now, daughter, kill me? You don’t have it in you."

  No one believed, Hedrema most of all, that Sorcha couldn’t kill if she wanted to. She had already sacrificed a load of people in service to her mother. Nonetheless, she looked down at her mother and said, "I’m going to do to you what you were going to do to me. I’m going to lock you up in a room where your power is useless… and leave you there."

  Hedrema’s face was aghast at the thought. "No, Sorcha, please… we can work this out, can’t we?"

  Sorcha shook her head sadly. "No, Mother, we can’t."

  She then reached down and grabbed a hold of her mother. A second later, the two of them vanished.

  The three of us stood for a moment as if we didn’t know what to do next, until Monty said, "Oi tell yer waat, I’m glad oi played gaelic for al' dohs years. Ye clap 'oy perfectly timed dat keck wus? ye? It was a bleedin' marvel…"

  I smiled and shook my head at him. "You did well." I turned to look at Amelia. "We all did."

  "What about that thing?" Amelia said, pointing at the Hand of Drakkar lying on the floor not far away. "I think you need to destroy it."

  "Yes," I said, wondering why I didn’t think of it before. "I think I should."

  Without further thought, I raised my hand and sent a fireball flying at the Hand, fully expecting the smell of burning flesh to fill the air as the Hand melted away like wax.

  But instead, nothing happened. The flames around the Hand fizzled out, and the Hand itself remained unaffected by the scorching temperature. I shook my head in confusion and dismay. "What the hell…"

  "Maybe yer nade ter try somethin' els," Monty said. "I suggest jist leavin' de damn tin' 'ere."

  As I went to agree with him, a sudden excruciating pain in my chest brought me to my knees and I cried out in shock as I clutched at my chest, hardly able to breathe. As the pain continued, Monty and Amelia rushed to my aid, but there wasn’t much they could do except hold me up.

  Then I heard a familiar voice echo inside my skull.

  "You cannot destroy me… but I can destroy you."

  The pain in my chest intensified, to the point where I thought my heart was going to burst. "All… right…" I managed to say, and then the pain stopped as suddenly as it began.

  "You will find me a body, Corvin Chance…"

  "Corvin, are you okay?" Amelia asked. "What’s happening to you?"

  After taking a few deep breaths, I managed to get to my feet. "It’s Drakkar," I said, still breathless from the unbelievable pain. "He has some kind of hold on me. He wants me to find him a body."

  "A body?" Monty said.

  I nodded. "He wants his freedom."

  "E’s an evil Magi, t’be sure he does."

  "You can’t allow a spirit like that its freedom to do… whatever evil shit it wants to do," Amelia said.

  Taking off my jacket, I wrapped the Hand up in it and left it on the floor. "I don’t have a choice, I’m afraid. Besides, I have more important things to worry about." I looked up to where Dalia was still floating near the ceiling. "Sorcha!"

  A moment later, Sorcha appeared out of thin air near her mother’s throne. She was bloodied, and her face was grim. "You rang," she said wearily.

  "Where’s Hedrema?" I asked, still wary of her.

  "Where she belongs, locked up in a magically sealed prison cell."

  "Gran' enoof for 'er," Monty muttered.

  I pointed up at Dalia. "You need to fix Dalia now."

  Sorcha nodded as she raised her hands and began to draw Dalia down from the ceiling, gently resting her on the floor in front of the throne. Immediately, I went and kneeled down beside her. Most of her body was black with poison, including half her face. It also sounded like she was barely breathing.

  Sorcha stood over Dalia for a moment, and then hovered both her hands over the top of her as she whispered a few words. It gladdened my heart to see the poison in Dalia soon begin to disappear, as if it was all retreating to the center of her body. Sorcha then clasped her hands together before moving them out again as if she was discarding the dark magic she had used to make Dalia sick in the first place. But even though the curse had been lifted and the poison had gone, Dalia still wasn’t waking up.

  "What’s wrong?" I asked Sorcha. "Why isn’t she waking up?"

  Sorcha said nothing as she stared down at Dalia.

  "Maybe give it a minute," Amelia said. "She was almost dead."

  A tense minute soon passed, and Dalia still remained unconscious.

  Sorcha shook her head. "I don’t understand…"

  "D," I said gently tapping her face. "You better wake up now… c’mon, you aren’t leaving me again…"

  My heart soon leapt when Dalia suddenly opened her eyes. As she focused on my face, she smiled weakly. "I wouldn’t dream of it," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

  "D, thank god." I hugged her tight as she sat up. "I thought I’d lost you."

  She hugged me back for a long time. "Lucky for you, you didn’t."

  Smiling, full of ecstatic relief, I helped her to her feet where she stood facing Sorcha. Sorcha had her head bowed slightly, as though she could hardly bring herself to look at her former friend. "Dalia," she said.

  "Sorcha," Dalia replied as the tension grew between them.

  "Sorcha helped us defeat Hedrema," I said to try to break the discomfort that had risen between them.

  "Is that right?" Dalia asked her.

  Sorcha nodded. "She’s locked up now… as I was."

  Dalia swallowed as if her throat was dry. "I’m sorry for leaving you, Sorcha."

  "You did what you had to do, Dalia."

  Dalia nodded and then leant forward and hugged Sorcha, and the two of them stayed that way for a long time.

  "Can oi git sum av dat acshun?" Monty interjected after a while.

  Dalia broke off from Sorcha and turned around with a smile on her face. "How did you end up here?" she said as she moved toward him.

  "Yer nu me," Monty said as he put his arms around her. "I can’t resist a good scrap."

  Dalia then looked at Amelia, who was standing somewhat awkwardly, which was unlike her. "You’re here too."

  Amelia nodded. "Yes."

  Dalia bowed her head slightly. "Thank you."

  Amelia bowed her head back. "You’re welcome."

  Dalia then turned back to me and looked at my severed wrist. "I thought I was seeing things, but no. What the hell happened to your hand, Corvin?"

  I puffed my cheeks out as if it was all a long story. "I’ll explain it all to you, once we get out of this Otherworld."

  "About that," Dalia said. "I’m going to stay here a while." She turned and looked at Sorcha, who was now sitting on her mother’s throne. "Sorcha and I have things to discuss."

  I didn’t ask her what things, as I had a fair idea. "Okay. We’ll talk when you come back then."

  After hugging her again, I went and retrieved the Hand, and then Monty, Amelia and I all left the castle, but not before Dalia called after me. "Hey," she said. "You should go and see Davey about that hand… or lack of it. He might be able to help you?"

  "What’s he going to do, take one from out of a jar and graft it on?"

  "Just go see him."

  I nodded. "Will do."

  It made me uneasy to be leaving Dalia behind, especially with Sorcha, as unpredictable as she was, but I knew there was no point in trying to change her mind. She’d come home when she was ready.

  On the way back through the fields, the Fae seemed to have returned from wherever they were hiding, most of them keeping a good distance
from us now. Even the grass seemed to retreat as we advanced. In the last field before we approached the Thorns, I wasn’t surprised to see Brontus, perched on a rock as he chewed the cud. "How’s your balls?" I asked him.

  Brontus shook his head slightly. "Don’t hurry back here," he said.

  "Believe me," I said before stepping into the Thorns. "I won’t."

  22

  Monty drove his own car back to Dublin. Amelia had to drive mine, since I obviously couldn’t drive with only one hand. She refused to spend another four hours alone with Monty again anyway, much to his disappointment. "Oi wus 'opin' ter regale yer wi' more stories," he said before we left Cork.

  "I’ll just read your memoirs when they come out," Amelia said before squeezing into the Spitfire.

  At which point, Monty acted like a lightbulb had just gone off in his head. "Me memoirs, nigh there’s an idea."

  "You’ve got plenty of time to think about it on the way home," I said, giving him a tight hug. "Thanks for your help, bro. I guess I owe you now, eh?"

  He looked me in the eye, deadly serious for once. "You’ll never owe me, bro."

  I smiled. "We’ll see. Something tells me I may need your help again in the near future."

  "Yer nu wha ter fend me, bro."

  "Yeah," I said. "In bed with some floozy probably, getting handcuffed."

  "You know it, bro!"

  I was almost sorry to be leaving Cork as Amelia drove away from the cottage. As much as my time spent here had been something of nightmare, I was in love with the landscape and the deep sense of ancient history that it contained within its hills and mountains. Someday, I thought, I’m going to move here to live out the rest of my days, though hopefully not alone. At the very least, Dalia would be with me and the two of us could grow old while staring at the mighty Atlantic and its surrounding cliffs, secure in the knowledge that if no one else would have us, at least we’d have each other. It was a comforting thought if nothing else.