by A W Hartoin
“He won’t leave that scum. Who else?”
“There’s Esmee.”
I shook my head, more of a slight roll, if I’m being honest. “Not Esmee.”
“She won’t hurt you,” said Alesky. “Soren would never speak to her again.”
“Not Esmee.”
“Alright. Anatol, go get Mirielle and don’t take no for an answer. The kindler is a priority.”
Anatol left my foot and took off, flying low around combatants. I lost track of him and tried to focus on Alesky. “Iris got clawed. Where is she?”
“She’s being treated. She got a small dose.” Alesky got fuzzier.
“I have to get home. I have the root.”
He leaned closer. “You got it? How?”
“Spriggan.”
“What did you have to give for it?”
I smiled. “A promise.”
“Doesn’t sound like a spriggan.”
“They’re not all bad.”
“That’s the venom talking. Spriggans are all bad. If I could exterminate them, I would.”
I closed my eyes and pictured Horc with his bloody gums, sacrificing for Miss Penrose. Spriggans weren’t all bad. They weren’t all anything. Same as me. Same as anyone.
He shook me. “Matilda!”
I opened my eyes and saw his worried face change to one of relief. “What?”
“Thank goodness.” He turned. “Here comes Anatol.”
Esmee appeared at my foot. She bit her lip and started digging in her waist bags.
“Not Esmee,” I said.
“Where’s Mirielle?” asked Alesky.
“She’s with a phalanx. He’s bleeding out. She won’t leave him,” said Anatol.
“I can do it, Matilda,” said Esmee. “I won’t let you down.”
I nodded. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t refuse her. I had to get home to Miss Penrose.
Esmee mixed together three different powders and sprinkled them over each claw. “This will paralyze the venom glands long enough for you to move her.”
“Can you tie it up?” asked Alesky. “It’ll be hard to carry her with that arm flopping around.”
Esmee ripped off part of her skirt, bent the horen arm at the wrist, and tied it to my leg. Saying it was gross didn’t quite cover how it felt to have a severed arm tied to my leg. I got nauseous all over again.
“Alesky, horen at two o’clock,” said Anatol.
Everyone jumped up and, from between Anatol’s ankles, I saw the third horen kneel beside a golf club. Alesky ran into the open, waving his arms and, I suspect, screaming, although I couldn’t hear it. Daiki saw him and with one last thrust at a sluagh, he ran for the horen, fending off spriggans and trolls as he went. The horen closed his eyes and spread his arms. Phalanx, ponderosa, and katana all raced for him, but before anyone reached him, his form shimmered and a golden light emerged from his chest. The light sailed through the space between me and him. Everyone panicked, taking cover. Everyone except Bentha. He ran for the light with blurred legs, his sword low. Esmee pounced on me, covering my body with hers. A tremendous explosion rocked the floor. Esmee jerked and cried out. She went limp. I pushed with what little strength I had at her thin shoulder.
Anatol pulled her off me and laid her on the floor at my side. He examined her back. A large splinter protruded from her shoulder and dots of gold smoked and burned holes through her dress. Anatol ripped the back of her dress off and tossed it away. Burns and deep cuts covered her back along with the hideous splinter.
“How deep is it?” I asked.
“It’s bad. We’ll have to fly her out first.”
“Of course.”
I looked out past Esmee’s still form. The battlefield was empty, except for the wounded and a large amount of rubble made up of chunks of wood and glass. The legs of a red ant protruded from under a shattered piece of china. Two ants climbed over the rubble to lift it off their comrade. The combatants who’d taken cover didn’t come back out to resume the fight. A sluagh picked up the lifeless horen and carried him off. I got a glimpse of his face before he disappeared between cabinets. It was slack and unseeing. I hoped he was dead, but it seemed unlikely given the whole severed arm thing. Then Bentha lurched into view, small burns covering him. “My lady is well?”
“Fit as a flea,” I said, propping myself up on my elbows. I did feel better. “I always wanted to be yellow.”
Bentha grimaced at Esmee’s back. “She lives?”
“Yes,” said Alesky. “Help us.”
Anatol and Bentha lifted Esmee and then turned her over. Alesky took her under her arms and Anatol under her hips.
“We’ll be back as soon as we can. Guard Matilda, Bentha,” said Alesky, spreading his wings.
“With my life.”
They took off slowly. Esmee stirred, but her hair didn’t come to life. I hoped that wasn’t a bad sign.
Bentha stood behind me, sword drawn, but it didn’t seem necessary. No one looked remotely interested in attacking us. The field was littered with wounded and the galen fairies swarmed around the fallen, ripping off smoldering clothing and treating shrapnel wounds and burns.
“What happened?”
“The horen decided to use their worst weapon, usually reserved for a last resort. I concede I didn’t see it coming. Foolish of me. You were here.”
“What weapon? All I saw was light.”
“It’s their essence. Like how they throw themselves, they can throw a piece of their soul, if you will. Since they are full of malice and venom, it’s explosive.”
“But he wounded his own, not just us.” I laid back and pondered the implications, but I couldn’t make it out at all.
“Look. The katana returns triumphant,” said Bentha.
Daiki ran across the field, weaving around the wounded and galen fairies. He knelt at my side and brushed a long lock off my forehead. The gashes in his neck hung open like gaping mouths, showing muscle and blood vessels. But no blood flowed from the wounds.
“I told you no,” he said, his face kind and gentle.
“I don’t take orders from you.” I smiled at the wounds. I’d done it. Until that moment, I didn’t really believe I could.
“You shouldn’t have used your last bit of strength on me. You’re lucky to be alive.”
“It wasn’t luck. It was Esmee.”
“And Bentha.” Daiki inclined his head to the ponderosa. “I bow to your brilliance.”
Bentha touched the flat of his sword to his forehead. “And I to you.”
“I wouldn’t have thought to attack the horen’s essence directly.”
“So you don’t regret bringing me along?”
“Not a bit. Clearly the horen will do anything to get at Matilda. If you hadn’t batted his essence into that cabinet, they would’ve been successful.”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” I said.
“It does if you look at his aim,” said Daiki.
“Me? I was worth so many lives?”
“He didn’t care what it cost. Remember when I told you that your fire would bind some to you and make them loyal?”
“Yes. What’s that got to do with it?”
“The same thing that makes some love you,” he picked up my hand, “will make others despise your very existence.”
“You’re one of a kind,” said Bentha. “The horen would not have you eclipse them.”
“How could I? I’m just a wood fairy with fire.”
“Kindlers are rare. No one in this mall had ever seen one before you. It’s possible that you’re the only one in the world right at this moment. The horen consider themselves to be the most special of species, the gifted, the chosen, you might say. They believe themselves to be a cross between a god and royalty. Yet there are five of them and you are only one. No species was feared more than them until you entered the picture.”
“There could be more horen.”
“No, there couldn’t. There are only five horen living at any
one time.”
“How do they breed then?”
“They don’t. Horen can be born to any species. Technically, even a phalanx could hatch a horen. It’s thought to be a mutation.”
“Am I a mutation?” I asked, fearing the answer. I liked my fire. I didn’t want it to be twisted and wrong.
“No. Your ability is an inherited gift. Only wood fairies can get it.”
“Rest easy, my lady,” said Bentha, knees bent, ready to pounce if necessary. “The horen are depleted. It will take weeks for them to recover their full strength.”
“Maybe longer for the one who threw his essence,” said Daiki. “We’ll have to watch to see when he reemerges. I’ve heard they don’t like to do it because it depletes them so.”
Bentha hopped up and down. “Thankfully his hatred of you overcame his sense.”
“Yeah, great,” I said.
“It is great, my lady. The spriggans will not be pleased to lose so many on a horen whim.”
Daiki smiled. “They can fight each other for a while and leave us alone.”
“As long as you decamp directly we shall have peace in the mall,” said Bentha.
“So the spriggan situation is my fault.” Tears stung my eyes. Being me was always causing so much trouble.
“Let’s say your presence stirs things up.” Daiki kissed my forehead and Bentha looked away, reddening.
“Where are those wzlot? They should’ve been back by now. My lady becomes more yellow as we speak,” said Bentha.
Daiki’s brow furrowed. “She is, isn’t she? How are you feeling, Matilda?”
“It’s not too bad. I’m ready for this arm to be off my leg though.”
“We shall take her.” Bentha danced into the open, pivoting left and right in case of attack.
“We shall not. Summon a galen.”
Bentha raced around the battlefield and questioned several galen. Then he came back and said, “We shall. The galen medications only work once. The hand must be removed before further treatment.”
Daiki started to slide his hands under me, but Bentha stopped him. “You cannot. Matilda stopped the bleeding, but you are weakened. I shall do it.”
“You’ve got burns and cuts all over you.”
“It’s nothing to a ponderosa. I’ll assist my lady in her time of need.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Not today, katana.”
Gerald fluttered down and landed between the two of them. “Matilda, did you see? Did you? Did you see me fight?”
“You never cease to amaze me, Gerald,” I said, holding out my hand.
“That’s right. Intelligence isn’t my only gift.” Gerald danced around, waving his ponderosa sword and nearly skewering Bentha. “You have to tell my mom. Tell her I don’t need naps.”
“No way,” I said, dropping my hand that was starting to fuzz out. “She’ll slap me silly if I suggest her baby is a fighter.”
“I am a fighter, aren’t I?” Gerald stuck out his chest.
“Indeed, young cavalier,” said Bentha as he maneuvered Gerald’s sword arm and sheathed his sword in his belt. “But even the greatest must rest and replenish their strength.”
“Yes, that’s true.” Gerald paced back and forth. “Even the greatest must rest.”
“Thanks for that,” I said. “There’ll be no living with the greatest after this.”
“You are quite welcome, my lady. The young must be encouraged, so they can build their reserves of confidence, don’t you agree?”
“Some have more confidence than the rest of us can stand.”
“What are we waiting for?” asked Gerald. “Let’s get out of here. My work is done.”
Daiki smothered a smile. “Matilda is gravely injured. We’re deciding how to transport her to the stronghold for treatment.”
“I will decide. I’m the smartest. Everyone says so.”
Daiki and Bentha nodded gravely, their lips twitching.
“The phalanx can carry her.” Gerald pointed to a diamond formation of phalanx with several wounded sliding around on top of their shells.
“Agreed,” said Daiki. “Why don’t you and Bentha find Farue?”
A phalanx trotted around the edge of the velvet. “No need. I’m here,” said Farue.
“How many troops did you lose?” asked Daiki.
“Plenty, but it could’ve been worse with the horen that are on the scene. Nice move, Bentha. Choosing you is one of the smartest things I’ve ever done.”
Bentha nodded, and his skinny self seemed to puff up at Farue’s praise.
“Now Matilda,” said Farue, “what have you done? That’s a fine case of yellow you got going on.”
“It’s a good color on me, don’t you think?”
“I like you natural. I guess the commander was right once again. He always says disaster is your middle name.”
I scowled at him. “It isn’t my fault.”
“You’re the leader. It’s always your fault.” Farue snapped his fingers and two dozen phalanx scuttled over in response to his call. They formed a large diamond and awaited his orders. “You two lift her on. I’m a bit on the small side for the job.”
Gerald broke in. “Did you see me, Farue? Did you? I fought. I did it.”
“I saw it. You’re undisciplined, weak on maneuvers, and have the arm strength of a hatchling,” said Farue. “Look at that spindly arm.”
Gerald’s face fell and his eyes welled up.
“That being said, good job. You were there when we needed you.” Farue pounded Gerald on the back and he staggered forward almost stepping on me.
“Thanks, I guess,” said Gerald, looking thoroughly confused. I tucked that expression away in the back of my mind for enjoyment later. It wasn’t often anyone confused Gerald, and it was a sweet sight.
Daiki and Bentha lifted me, and pain shot up my leg. My vision went white, and I panted as they placed me gently on the shells. When my eyesight normalized, I let myself slide into a good position. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as it looked. The shells were so close together, their rounded shapes kind of felt like a massage. As long as I managed not to think about the fact that I was being moved the same way they transported dead flies, I was okay.
Farue snapped his fingers and the formation moved out. I slid around and started searching for a handhold. One of the shells popped up and a phalanx said, “We’ll keep you on. Just relax.”
So I did. For the first time since I saw Miss Penrose lying in the grass, pale and dying, I relaxed and let myself slide. Bentha and Daiki flanked the formation with their swords drawn. Daiki was all seriousness, his dark eyes darting around. The slashes in his neck had begun to weep, but it was nothing like the gushing before. He would need stitches from the galen. If I had Grandma Vi’s bag, I’d have applied a warm compress of myrrh and arnica, then given him a tincture of white willow in tea before I stitched his neck. I’d always avoided the bloody stuff before Grandma Vi died, but now I found blood didn’t bother me at all. It would’ve been nice to do something for Daiki after all he’d done for me, but he certainly didn’t look like he needed any help with his fierce expression and sharp sword.
Bentha, on the other side, danced around on his tiptoes. You’d never know that he’d just been through a battle if it weren’t for the multitude of cuts and bruises marring his skin. He saw me looking at him and smiled. I smiled back and closed my eyes. My leg was getting worse and I would’ve liked some white willow myself. A big mug of it with Grandma’s special chamomile tea, served in her kitchen with a hug and berry cobbler. My eyes, although closed, filled with tears. I tried not to think of things that could never happen again.
I blinked away my useless tears and thoughts of Grandma with them. Daiki was still in position, but as I looked at him, a flash of gold caught my eye. It was between two crockery jugs. We passed the area, and just for a few moments a face was visible. A horen with an expression of unsurpassed malice watched me. I might’ve been mistaken, but I thou
ght I saw only one arm in the folds of his golden cloak. We stared at each other until the phalanx passed the jugs and the face was blocked from view.
Daiki tapped his sword on a shell next to my hip. “Matilda, what’s wrong?”
I swallowed and shook my head. “Nothing.”
He didn’t believe me, but he walked in silence, even more alert than before. I don’t know why I didn’t tell him what I saw. It just seemed like that moment was just for me and no one else. The horen was sending a message. It wasn’t over. Soren could get me out of the mall. Bentha and Daiki could guard me with swords drawn, but the horen would always be there. Malice like that never wanes because it has no good reason to exist in the first place. The best I could do was get out of the mall and hope they didn’t follow.
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE WOUNDED SURROUNDED the katana stronghold in neat rows with two dozen red ants standing guard. Galen fairies raced between patients, their hair whipping around in a frenzy. Some were stitching wounds closed and others mixed medications in droppers much like Grandma Vi’s and dripped thick, colorful drops into open mouths. Beside the galen were the little fairies dressed in brown cowls. They pressed cloths to foreheads and gave drinks. Iris was there with her pretty blue wings tucked tightly to her back as she held a teufel’s hand and adjusted his pillow. Her leg didn’t appear to pain her, although bandages were wrapped around it from thigh to calf.
The phalanx stopped at the edge of the wounded and rose up, sliding me toward Daiki. He caught me and, with Bentha’s help, carried me past the rows of wounded and through the door of the stronghold.
“Why are we going in here?” I asked.
“For treatment,” said Daiki.
“I should be outside like everybody else. I can lay on the floor.”
“My lady deserves better than a mere floor,” said Bentha.
“No, I don’t. I deserve the floor. If I’d obeyed Farue and stayed invisible none of this would’ve happened.”
“The truth is hard to see. Everyone’s truth is different,” said Daiki.
“The horen saw my wing and that’s how he knew where we were.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. We’re taking you to your room,” he said.