Dark Angel Box Set

by Hanna Peach

  Snow White dropped down into a side lunge, her skirt separating along two hidden splits showing off her pale, creamy legs. On her thigh was strapped a dagger sheath from which she unsheathed a shiny blade. Snow White screamed, loud and furious, and launched at Alyx.

  “Oh hell.” Alyx raised her sword to block Snow White and their weapons met with a clash.

  Metal rang out as they began to duel between the thorny trees of this fairy tale forest. As much as Alyx hated to admit it, this Snow White was good. She matched Alyx’s attacks, blow by blow.

  Finally, Alyx was able to twirl her sword around Snow White’s dagger, disarming her. Her dagger flew to one side, clattering against a tree and onto the ground. Alyx leapt forward, knocking Snow White down onto the ground. Alyx’s knees went on either side of Snow White’s hips, locking the rabid fairy tale character down. Alyx pressed down with her blade but Snow White grabbed at the sword to stop the blade from slicing her throat, not caring that her snow white fingers were being stained with blood.

  “Alyx,” yelled Jordan, “remember, you can’t kill her.”

  “What?” It was enough of a distraction that Snow White was able to send a punch to Alyx’s gut and roll them both around so that she was on top. “What the hell am I supposed to do instead?” Alyx yelled back as she struggled against Snow White.

  “Umm, distract her?”

  How in the coldest day in Hell was she supposed to distract this crazy, demented Disney lunatic? Alyx rolled Snow White so that Alyx was on top again. Alyx flung her sword to one side so that she wouldn’t be tempted to use it. “You’re the one who’s good with women,” she yelled at Jordan. “How about you come over here and distract her?”

  “I’m keeping this DreamScape together, remember?”

  “Yeah, right. And enjoying the view, I bet.”

  Jordan was silent, but she could feel him grinning.

  Snow White was able to get a knee under her and push her off. Alyx went flying back, slamming into the trunk of a tree. Snow White picked herself up, snatched at her dagger and ran towards Jordan, her dagger raised to attack. Alyx launched herself off the tree trunk and tackled Snow White to the ground. Snow White’s dagger dislodged as she threw her hands out to brace herself.

  They landed on the ground with a tumble. Snow White let out a string of curses that Alyx was sure would even make Mason blush. Snow White struggled to turn and face Alyx, her hands clawing wildly in an attempt to scratch and grab at Alyx. Alyx grabbed one of her wrists and twisted her arm so that it was pinned behind her back. This only made Snow White madder. Snow White twisted her upper body and reached out, getting hold of Alyx’s hair. She threw her head forward and head-butted Alyx with a loud crack.

  Goddamn that hurt. Alyx’s head spun and her vision went spotty. She felt Snow White’s wrist yank from her grasp.

  “Angel’s breath,” Alyx muttered. “Aren’t you supposed to be a docile children’s storybook character? Fall into a sleep and lie around waiting for some guy to save you?”

  Snow White’s blood-red lips pulled up in a snarl and she lunged towards Alyx, snapping her teeth. Alyx shoved her aside and avoided having a chunk of her flesh bitten off.

  Oh my God. That’s it.

  Alyx conjured up a thought of a perfect red orb and felt the waxy skin as it appeared in her right hand. Snow White launched forward again, her teeth bared. Alyx pushed the perfect red apple that she was holding into Snow White’s open mouth.

  Snow White bit down. Alyx pulled the apple away, a piece missing, and slammed her left hand down over Snow White’s mouth so she couldn’t spit it out. They tussled. Snow White trying to claw away Alyx’s hands, Alyx unrelenting even as Snow White left deep red scratches across her arm and hand.

  Alyx watched as the poison in the apple began to take effect. The light in Snow White’s eyes began to dull, her movements became slow and uncontrolled. Then finally, finally her hands dropped from Alyx’s and her eyes shut as she fell into an enchanted sleep.

  Alyx felt Snow White’s pulse in her neck. It was there but very slow. She was asleep. Alyx pulled herself off Snow White’s sleeping body. She glanced over to Jordan, who was grinning at her.

  She gave him her best glare. “You enjoyed that, did you?”

  “Yup.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be, I don’t know, worried for my safety or something?”

  “You’re a badass, Alyx. If anyone should be worried, it’s them.”

  Alyx opened her mouth to retort. Wait…that was a compliment. “Thanks, Jordan. I guess that was actually kinda sweet.” Alyx frowned and twisted her mouth. “In a way.”

  “I do aim to please.”

  Alyx felt her cheeks flush at his innuendo. She turned away. “Just keep an eye out for anything else that’s trying to kill us, okay?”

  Chapter 9

  Israel climbed higher and higher through the cloud, trying to ignore this odd feeling creeping over him. He just had to keep climbing. Just had to keep climbing. There was a good reason that he was climbing this tower. Wasn’t there?

  He broke through the top of the cloud. His vision cleared of the white mist but his mind stayed foggy. Up here, the top of the white cloud swirled across the moor-like landscape of a woody forest. Moss grew on thick tree trunks that stood up straight and uniform towards the sky. Where the hell was he? Where is this place? His fingers gripped the stone wall a little tighter. He should keep going, shouldn’t he?

  “Israel, please help me.” A soft female voice called to him.

  Israel snapped his head around as far as he could without tilting himself off balance. Only several meters away from him, through the trees, was a girl wrapped in a cloak of blood red. Her face was hidden under the lip of her hood as she bent over her feet, a lock of blonde hair escaping from her hood. She was clad in black boots with a mud-spattered frill of white socks peeking out from under her full black skirt. Her pale delicate fingers clutched at her cloak, tugging at the edge, which was caught on a fallen branch.

  Something didn’t seem right. Israel felt his brain sticking on something as he stared at the girl. Where was he? Wasn’t he…climbing…hadn’t he been climbing something?

  “Help me,” the girl called out again. There was something familiar about her voice. Familiar but not. It sounded fractured, disjointed, like there were two people speaking at once.

  “Hey, are you okay?” he called out to her.

  She lifted her head. Her familiar green feline eyes caught Israel. No, it couldn’t be possible. Israel squinted at her. It was Alyx. The same cheekbones, the same petite nose and fine-boned jaw. Except her hair; what he could see of the long tumbling locks from under the hood was blonde. “Alyx? What did you do to your hair?”

  “Please, Israel,” she cried. “You have to help me. I’m stuck.”

  “But… I can’t let go. I’ll…” I’ll fall, won’t I?

  Israel chanced a glance down, but all he could see was the grass and dirt of the forest just a few feet from where his toes dug into the stone. Part of his brain said he just needed to step down. Just step down.

  “Won’t you help me, Israel?”

  Yes, he should go and help Alyx.

  But no. He’d fall if he let go, wouldn’t he? Wouldn’t he? Wait, how did he get here? And where was here?

  He noticed the cool stone under his fingers that he continued gripping. Israel turned back to stare at the stone tower that he clung to. The tower. He had been climbing. He was climbing. Alyx and Jordan had gone to…do something important. And he… Wasn’t he trying to do something too…?

  He turned his head back to Alyx. Everything was fuzzy. Confusing. “Alyx, what are you doing here? Where’s Jordan?”

  At Jordan’s name, Alyx let out a small cry and her face screwed up in apparent terror. “Israel, please. Jordan’s coming for me. He’s going to hurt me. You have to help me before he comes.” She began to tug furiously at her cloak again.

  Jordan? Why would Jordan hurt Alyx? S
omething wasn’t right… In the distance a howl cut through the air. Alyx began to tug harder at her cloak. “You have to help me, Israel. You’re my only hope.”

  “But…” Israel looked down again. It was just the ground beneath him. The ground was right there, wasn’t it?

  “Israel, just let go. If you don’t let go, you can’t save me. Don’t you want to be the one who saves me?”

  But something screamed in him not to let go. Don’t let go, don’t you dare let go!

  Why was he so scared of letting go? Just let go and save her. He took one foot off the tower and held it out in the air…

  “That’s it. Still being a hero. My hero. You haven’t changed a bit, my love.”

  Something in her words struck a memory in his mind. Still being a hero. My hero. You haven’t changed a bit, my love.

  Didn’t…someone else say that to him once? He searched his memory.

  Still being a hero. My hero.

  There it was, floating up from the recesses of his mind. It had been another DreamScape. He had been there in his and Adere’s old apartment. And…Adere had said it to him. He remembered it clearly. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw it was you last night. I knew you had been looking for me. Still being a hero. My hero. You haven’t changed a bit, my love.”

  He had never told Alyx about what Adere had said to him in the DreamScape. So why was Alyx saying those exact words to him? He stared at the blonde Alyx tugging at her skirts and pleading with him to help her. The nagging feeling grew.

  “Alyx,” he said cautiously, “when we get out of here, I want to take you back to where we first kissed. In Saint Joseph in the middle of Charles Bridge. Is that okay with you?”

  Alyx hesitated for a mere moment before she smiled. “Of course, my love.”

  With that answer, Israel’s suspicions were confirmed. “Alyx and I have never kissed on Charles Bridge. You’re not Alyx. Who the hell are you?”

  Her face twisted with rage. He thought he saw another face under Alyx’s. “Adere?”

  Then it all made sense. Adere was trying to trick him. She was trying to stop him from coming after her in the top of the tower. She had sent a DreamShadow after him to try to trick him into letting go of the tower. Jordan had explained DreamShadows to him earlier.

  Israel turned back to the tower, ignoring Adere’s wailing at him, and stared up at the height of it. He had to keep going. He had to get to Adere, to get her to show them where Samyara is. He had to focus. He began to climb again.

  “Damn you,” the DreamShadow screamed at him in fury as she and the forest and mist around her faded to nothing. The ground, far below, reappeared again.

  Suddenly Israel’s head felt clearer. He would make it to the top. He would.

  A rustling noise came from below. Israel looked down, gripping the stones of the tower even harder. A thick vine was slithering up and around the tower like a hundred green snakes.

  Israel anchored his arms and his feet so that he was as stable as possible, and he pressed himself as flat as he could against the tower. His cheek was cold against the stone. The shushing of leaves came closer. And closer.

  Israel’s whole body braced as the vine grew up around him, the feathery leaves brushing up against his neck making him shiver. But the vine didn’t knock him off. It flowed around him like water around a rock. It twisted around and around the tower, coating it in a living skin.

  Israel grabbed out with one hand for a thick piece of vine, testing it. The vine was thick and strong under his hand and as it grew, it pulled him up. Excellent. Israel grabbed another piece of vine with his other hand and hooked his toe into a notch where the vine split into two. He held on as the vine grew up and up, taking him up with it. All the while something nagged at him.

  The vine grew beyond the top of the tower into the sky, where it disappeared into the cloud cover above. The vine growth began to slow until it came to a complete stop. He was closer to the top of the tower where the small window beckoned to him. He reached up and grabbed another vine, testing it for strength before he pulled himself up, then continued to do the same thing with his other hand.

  He felt a tremble go through the whole tower. He paused. What now? The nagging sensation grew. Think Israel…what did Jordan say? Fairy tales…and so a vine reaching to the sky, why would that be familiar?

  The realization struck him just as he heard a loud, deep voice booming from the clouds above, “Fee fi foe fum…”

  Chapter 10

  “Jesus, I hope there aren’t any more after this,” Alyx muttered.

  Once Snow White had fallen asleep, the ground had stopped rumbling. Jordan seemed to have it all under control. For the moment.

  “I think we’ve seen the worst,” said Jordan.

  Alyx hit him sharply in his shoulder.

  “Ow. What was that for?”

  “Don’t say that, you’ll jinx us.”

  From beyond the trees a thundering could be heard getting closer, and up ahead it appeared this forest of thorns was parting to let something through. Alyx wanted to slap her face into her palm. “You jinxed us,” she muttered.

  Alyx clutched her sword in her hand. Oh hell. There was a large carriage barreling towards them through the trees, being drawn by two huge white horses and driven by a horseman dressed in a red and white uniform. Hanging off the sides of the carriage were four footmen in matching uniforms holding swords with their free hand. The black thorny trees bent and shifted around them to allow them unrestricted movement. Another attack by Adere’s subconscious.

  The carriage was headed straight towards them.

  “Move,” she yelled out to Jordan. She grabbed Jordan’s hand and pushed up off the ground as hard as she could, pulling him along behind her. They flew up towards the top of the trees. Just as the horses flew by underneath them, trampling the ground that they were just standing on. Alyx flew them to where the black branches created a cage above their heads. Through the thorns she could see the sky.

  Could they get out? She scanned the gaps between the thorns. They were definitely too small for Jordan and her to get through. That was the point, she supposed. She drew her sword and swung at a section of thorns. Her sword nicked the metal thorn. The horses neighed and there was a sound of creaking as the carriage stopped in the near distance. The footmen jumped off their perches and ran to the base of the trees under them looking for a way up. It would take too long to cut their way out.

  That was when she noticed that Jordan was still gripping her hand so tightly, it was hurting.

  She turned her head towards him to yell at him to let go, but the words disintegrated when she saw his face. He had begun to sweat beads across his forehead and the muscles in his neck strained tightly. His cheeks were glowing red, and when she instinctively reached to push a damp lock of hair from his forehead, she felt him burning up.

  “Jordan, are you okay?” she asked.

  “She’s trying very hard to shut down this DreamScape. She wants us out, and she wants us out now.”

  Alyx pushed Jordan into a nook to sit where two branches split at the top of the black trees. “You concentrate on holding this ’Scape together.”

  She glanced down at the footmen, who had started climbing up the trees towards them. She wasn’t sure what the hell she was going to do. But she had to do something.

  Chapter 11

  Israel froze as he watched a large booted foot appear through the bottom of the cloud cover and step onto a notch on the vine. Then a second one. And then thick large legs appeared as a man began to climb down the vine towards him.

  Nope, this wasn’t a vine. It was a beanstalk. Which meant that was no man. It was a giant.

  As more and more of him appeared, Israel began to realize just how big he was. His palms were the size of dustbin lids with thick fat fingers that could wrap around Israel’s waist, and his boots looked like small canoes. His beard was reddish and thick like wires, and his deep blue eyes matching the sky were like large
marbles.

  Crap.

  He couldn’t climb back down. He needed to get to Adere. He glanced down at his waist to his sword. It would be like a needle to the large man. A useless yet annoying needle. But…his sword might work on the vines.

  Israel anchored his feet into two sturdy notches and made sure his left hand had a firm grip on the tower. He drew his sword and began to hack at the vines above his head. If he could just cut them away causing the giant to fall…

  But the vines were too thick and his sword wasn’t making quick enough work of them. He had only cut through part of this section of vine. The giant was getting closer. And closer. He had to think of something else.

  Maybe he could sneak around him? The tower was wide enough that he might be able to. Israel sheathed his weapon and slid around the tower, deftly grabbing vines and swinging across until he was out of sight of the giant. He could hear the giant climbing down, snapping off branches as he moved his thick arms and legs.

  Israel began to climb as swiftly as he could on the other side of the tower, hoping that he would be able to get past the giant and beat him to the top. Judging from the noises on the other side of the tower, he guessed that they were almost level now. Just keep going.

  But the giant must have realized that Israel was no longer in sight, or perhaps the giant could smell him, because his large hand appeared to the side of the tower, only meters away, grabbing onto a vine. The giant pulled himself around so that his face appeared, his large black eyes like two lumps of coal focused on Israel.

  Fee fi feck.

  Israel changed his direction to angle away from the giant as the great man gave a roar and recommenced his pursuit. Israel may be small and nimble but this giant was strong and his limbs were so much longer than Israel’s. He was getting so close that Israel could hear the big man’s breathing.

  The giant swiped out at Israel’s foot. Israel leapt up, reaching for a vine to keep him from falling. He shivered as the giant’s fingers brushed his ankle. Israel frantically pulled himself up as the giant grabbed for him again and again. He couldn’t keep going like this. It was only a matter of time before he was caught. He had to do something. But what?