The Phoenix Grail

by Helen Savore

  Through the immediate contact smarted, he was in far better shape than he deserved. He stood, ostensibly brushing himself off as he continued knitting abused muscle and bone.

  “Did you just fall?”

  Jamie stared into the face of an ordinary fellow, behind which a small battle took place. He was oblivious.

  No, he cannot see.

  Jamie gaped, unable to believe it. Fae were blasting all across the space, chasing Adhomai and Drea in different directions. Some elves, a beast guy, and some smaller compact squatting things. Perhaps Drea’s run looked just like that, someone running just to run. The attacks weren’t hurting the castle yet, so there was nothing for this poor man to see.

  “You okay?”

  Jamie waved the hand away and stretched, trying to act casual. “Of course I’m okay. I’m standing here.”

  The man frowned. “I could have sworn you were just up there.”

  “Nah.” Jamie thumped the man’s shoulder and pointed to a nearby door. “I came out that way a few minutes ago. Maybe you lost track of time?”

  “I guess.” His eyebrows furrowed. This man was not the only person left from what Jamie could tell looking about the site. There were still the couple standing on the stairs by the entrance.

  “Look, I appreciate the concern, but as you can see, I’m fine. More than fine.” He pointed over the man’s shoulder towards Drea. “Now I need to go grab my girl before they close shop. Shouldn’t you be leaving as well?”

  Jamie let go, and the man turned to follow his point. Drea had stopped running, and now she spun a wind shield around herself as a beast thing and two squat people inched closer.

  “What is she doing?”

  Jamie groaned. The guy couldn’t see the fae, but he did see her movement. “It’s like yoga, she gets such a thrill out of twirling about, something about the energy of these historic places.” He ran to her, putting the curious man out of his thoughts.

  “Shrink!” Jamie yelled and nudged the ground, setting up a trip ring outside of Drea’s wind circle.

  The squats and the beast jerked forward, no longer meeting resistance. Two squats fell and were pushed away. The beast stood, taking the buffet, and leered at Drea. Before Jamie reached her, the air twirled around him, and she pulled him into the field.

  Drea spun her hands. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know.” Jamie tried to get out of her way.

  The reverberation of a large crack brought their focus forward. “He’s… he’s through!” Drea cried.

  The charging beast-man swung its jagged axe.

  Jamie ducked in her way but couldn’t beat the swing.

  It dug into Drea’s abdomen, ravaging her belly.

  Jamie gasped as the toothy axe first pricked then tore into his forearm, firmly lodging into the bone.

  He couldn’t see the beast to be sure, but he felt it try to jerk the axe out. Jamie brought to mind the bone mutilations he’d experienced. He focused and pushed outward, shoving the caught bone out of his skin, forcing the weapon away.

  The beast flew now that the axe was free. Jamie dashed out on top of him, pushing the weapon away and trying to get a hold of the monster.

  Except he couldn’t; its armor was too slick. He thrashed, shifting quicker than he imagined. Jamie wasn’t touching it, so instead he called to the ground to help him out. They sank as a pair. The earth muddled and climbed the beast, sucking it down.

  The ground was having an easier time holding on than Jamie was. In moments, the beast writhed under a dirt pile, and Jamie extricated himself. He couldn’t even imagine what he looked like to folk right now, but survive first, secrets later.

  He stumbled to Drea. Luckily she was moaning. “Okay, I got him down for the moment. We have to move.” Jamie tried to gather her in his arms.

  She pushed him away. “I can’t move yet. It’s taking time, this is no average gash.”

  Jamie tried to help but saw the wound was deep. Worse than anything Moralynn or Adhomai had inflicted in practice. He wasn’t sure if they’d have the time to treat it properly. He still was too slow at healing others, especially when maintaining an elemental shaping at the same time.

  Jamie looked to the beast thing. It shifted, but the dirt held for the moment. “Drea, I can’t hold him forever.”

  She panted, looking from him to the beast in the dirt. She frowned. “The castle is on stone, send him down.”

  Jamie blinked. “That would…” The stone might oblige and reform as Jamie asked it, through Shaping. But there was no space to put someone. If he sent him down, there was no coming back.

  “If it’s struggling and not succeeding against you with the dirt, you should be able to win a contest with the stone as well,” she said, closing her eyes. Her hands splayed over the wound, holding it together.

  Jamie grimaced. “That’s not—” He stopped. She was right. They needed to decrease the fae numbers to move on to healing and damage control. There was always later to reconcile with what he caused. Jamie spared a hand and struck the ground. He buried it, and although he could not touch the bedrock, he sensed it. There, at its densest point, he yanked the stone, progressively shifting it to surround the beast.

  He winced, feeling a touch of moisture in his eyes, but shoved away those concerns. One down, but how many to go? They had attracted the attention of the squats again. Two, maybe the original pair, crab-walked over and their short arms were pitched forward, each waving a spiked mace.

  “Where is Murph?”

  Jamie groaned. He couldn’t shield like Drea, and he wasn’t sure he could pull the same trick with the earth—he needed to still them first.

  “Leave,” he said, sticking out his chin, trying to sound stern and tough, “or you’ll find out.”

  One struck the ground with the mace, sending a wave, knocking Jamie and Drea over. “You surprised me earlier. I am not afraid of you, human.”

  “Shame,” Adhomai said as he stepped between them. “However, you should be afraid of me.”

  Jamie had never been so happy to see him. “It’s about time.”

  “More than you realize.” Adhomai spared a wink as he clapped his hands together. Sparks flew, and two balls of fire appeared. “One for each ought to do it.” He hurled them at the squats, who both fell. The earth gobbled them up, and they disappeared. “Good thought on the bedrock, that will make cleanup easier.”

  “It was Drea’s idea. Is that the last of them?” Jamie’s eyes flicked round, but nothing else charged their way. He focused on Drea’s wound. “How does it feel?”

  She grimaced, but let go of her stomach. “I think I’ve got the internals in their proper places.” She pushed off the ground. “Where’s Moralynn?”

  “No more here,” Adhomai pointed toward the cliff. “I think Moralynn chased some down the stairs.”

  Jamie turned toward it, but noticed Drea hesitate. He offered a hand. “Are you coming?”

  Her gaze drifted towards the couple still loitering near a wall rubble, hesitating on others. “I think we can stay a bit longer, there are others here.”

  Is she really trying to cover this?

  Two could play at that game. Jamie took her hand. “No, we can’t be late to meet your friend, wasn’t Moralynn her name?”

  She began to shake her head. Almost barely, but her hair twitched, giving her away. “Jamie, the responsible-”

  “I won’t make you, but I think you’ll regret missing your friend.”

  A shiver ran down Drea spreading from her core, but then she fisted her hand, and took a step. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

  40

  Jamie’s axe wound ached as they dashed across the plain. As much as Moralynn had set him to healing himself while sparring, it wasn’t quite the same as during a mad dash. He really should mind his wind lessons more; he needed better control.

  Given the situation, he didn’t have much energy to really consider the human landmarks they cut through. He did manage
to convince Adhomai to pause at a street they had to cross; invisible didn’t make you invulnerable from cars. Jamie hoped no one spotted them cutting across the golf course. Then the dunes were in view.

  Jamie halted, gazing about. “How can you be sure she went this way?”

  “Sure? Who said anything about sure?”

  Adhomai kept going, so Jamie picked up the pace.

  “You said she was chasing a bunch of myrials in that direction, where there is a staircase that leads down. I don’t see an epic battle here, so if I had to guess, they went to the sea.”

  Alexandrea rolled over, still on her air bed. “Perhaps they were retreating?”

  Now Adhomai stopped. “Then why are we running towards them?”

  Jamie shook his head. “Shouldn’t we find Moralynn?”

  Adhomai stroked his chin. “That is an interesting point. She may be the best able to handle…”

  They crested a dune and found a myrial writhing by the ocean. Viviane. “What took you so long?” she barked at them.

  Adhomai stepped forward and bowed. “We were not aware—”

  “You brought them, you must to get rid of them.”

  How many myrials was Moralynn chasing? They hustled towards the shore, but Jamie halted before they hit the water. “Drea is in no condition to go into the Waterways.”

  “Would you rather leave her here?”

  Jamie frowned.

  “Hey, don’t I have a say in this?” Drea stood, dismissing the wind. “I haven’t exactly been idle.” She nodded to Viviane. “Lady of the Lake, lead on.”

  Once they reached the water, Viviane eyed all three. “Do not worry, I can make the passage gentle.” She flipped into the water and a tendril grabbed him, Drea, and Adhomai, pulling them into a wild current.

  The next thing Jamie knew, his head hit the strange, shelled floor of the Waterways. He groaned and slapped his face, and floundered in the surface water. “You would think there would be a way to do this more smoothly.”

  The floor was covered with several sea-logged things. Jamie jumped so fast he almost slipped and fell again. He spotted a few myrials, and a pale one that was probably an elf, its eyes glazed and white. Two of the squat ones, or enough pieces for two, lay about. Viscera from these fae leaked into the standing water. He slapped himself again, trying to slick away and ring out any weird fae body sludge he’d gotten from skidding along the floor.

  He couldn’t see her, but he heard Moralynn’s voice, echoing from somewhere. “… attack me? … my people? … broken the most sacred of pacts…”

  Someone laughed.

  Adhomai straightened himself from his own tumble. “She seems to have handled things.”

  Viviane’s head tentacles twitched in a monstrous frenzy. “Not quite. There are several more who have escaped, farther in.”

  “Well,” Jamie said as he stood, “as long as they’re not here.”

  Viviane glared at him. “They are in my domain.”

  Adhomai gave her a crisp nod and dashed down the corridor.

  Alexandrea looked from him to Viviane. “Do you need all of us? I can assist Moralynn, but I’d prefer if Jamie remained here.”

  Viviane nodded, her head tentacles drooping.

  “Hey,” Jamie reached out to her. “What were we saying about underestimating each other?”

  She put a hand on his shoulder. “And what did we way about protecting each other? Jamie, you won’t be as effective here. I am a water witch.” Her lips twitched in not quite a smile. “I won’t be long.”

  If he wanted her to trust him, he needed to trust her. “Okay.” He gave her a final squeeze, then let go.

  She dashed away, sliding over the persistent puddles. She was out of view in moments.

  That left Jamie with Viviane.

  She stared at him, saying nothing.

  Jamie thought to say something, anything, to break the silence, but found he couldn’t. He could barely breathe. He had forgotten how terrifying Viviane was. Those dark, fathomless eyes filled him with fear. Her earlier words, although spoken quietly, echoed in his mind. Jamie wondered if all elder fae women had mastered that quiet menace.

  A splash behind them broke the stare. A komodrian lifted itself off the floor.

  “Oh, little lizard,” Viviane spoke in an uncharacteristically singsong tone, “that was a bad idea.”

  Jamie kept an eye on the komodrian as he waited for Viviane to do something. The komodrian lunged first.

  Jamie summoned a water wall. He had barely practiced water, so it was weak. It smacked the lizard in the face.

  “Viviane,” he said, facing her. “A little help?”

  “I told you,” she said, crossing her arms, fins trailing down her front. “You brought them in, you—”

  “Shut it!” he yelled as he tried to swirl a bit more water. “Then why did you say ‘bad idea’?”

  “He will die of exposure soon enough. In the meantime…”

  Pain flared across Jamie’s back. He growled and grappled with the komodrian, trying to keep its claws away.

  Jamie wasn’t armed, not that he was good with any weapons, but he wished he had something sharp to strike with. There was no earth to shape in this place. There was air, but in his panic Jamie must have been shaping wrong. First that beach sand and now air was failing him. This was getting frustrating. That left water, which he only practiced enough to not choke after the Avalon fiasco.

  Jamie had nothing, but faced a creature with two claws and a snout full of sharp teeth to boot. He had to do something to get away from this thing, besides careening around. He tried molding water in a combination, like how he had spun earth and air. A bubbling started by his feet.

  Great, all I’ll do is trip myself. When he realized the bubbles were just slowly gathering, he tried to keep his struggle above that spot.

  He and the komodrian continued to wrestle, Jamie taking scratches and shallow bites that he put to right. It wasn’t doing anything major to Jamie, but he hadn’t struck it once.

  When he sensed the bubbles beginning to surge, he threw himself back, bringing the komodrian right over the water spout, which slammed it into the ceiling.

  Jamie scrambled farther into the Waterways, away from the bodies and Viviane. He hunted for one of the occasional walled edges, thinking to surprise the komodrian as it chased him around. Unfortunately, they were in an open space and there were only columns. The upside was he’d be able to find his way back that much more easily. If he finished this and was able to return.

  The komodrian followed, brandishing a knife. When it passed beneath one of the ceiling portals, the blade caught the wavering light in just the right way to highlight its serrated edge. Jamie almost fainted in anticipation of the pain.

  It didn’t close in right away. Its yellow eyes kept flicking to the floor.

  He thinks I’m going to water burst again. If I can just grab that knife… Jamie did what he didn’t expect, and jumped towards it.

  As he brought a punch round, he splashed some water. A momentary firmness, he thought, trying to emulate the pebble air-skipping trick. He needed it still a moment; just the right moment.

  The komodrian caught each throw. Its left claw held the knife, and Jamie collected small shallow nicks up to his elbow. The small water shield could only do so much. The cuts were something he could easily heal away, but the strategy wouldn’t last forever. He suspected the lizard would win the endurance battle, despite Viviane’s reassurance it would perish if he stayed in the Waterways too long.

  Jamie aimed to the left and pretended to stagger. He meant to hit the lizard with an uppercut and grab when it ducked after him, but instead all he got was a terrible gash from the knife.

  He wailed in pain and rolled away, but the metal piercing him brought something to mind. There were minerals in the Waterways, in the form of that knife.

  Jamie dashed farther away and tried to pull on the knife, like when he gathered earth from afar. It twanged in th
e komodrian’s hand but would not come.

  Jamie ducked from the lizard’s lunge and threw a wave as he ran away. Back, back towards the dead ones. Perhaps they had weapons, if someone else hadn’t collected them.

  He waved his hands as he ran, trying to splash more water. Maybe one of the momentary shields would trip the komodrian.

  It didn’t. The komodrian pattered through the persistent puddles, coming ever closer.

  Jamie continued to run away. He glanced at one of the columns to better duck around it, and then ran smack against a pool edge, which sent him careening towards the floor.

  The komodrian did not stop. Suddenly, Jamie realized he was perfectly positioned for the lizard to strike him.

  “You will not hurt me!” he bellowed, and reached again for the komodrian’s knife. This time it was not as a Shaper calls metal and stone, instead it was, something purer and laden with authority. “My knife!” He tugged the knife away, hilt first, and it slid into Jamie’s hand.

  The komodrian had too much momentum to stop, knife or no, and it apparently could not find any way to shield itself either. It ran straight into Jamie and its knife. Jamie shook as the komodrian’s hide tore apart, the thrust slipping into its ribcage from the momentum.

  Jamie gagged. This was a new level of gruesome, more than anything he’d experienced so far, magic or medicine. He didn’t consider himself squeamish, between cases, surgical observation, and patching himself these last few months. But now his hand was inside something—someone—else.

  Once he caught his breath, Jamie noted the komodrian remained still. Probably dead. Just in case, Jamie grabbed its shoulder, first bracing himself to get his right hand out, and then slashed it through the throat.

  Then he closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see, didn’t want to think. It was awful. This was nothing like the sparring Moralynn and Adhomai taught him. Nothing like those first hauntings, either. In retrospect, they were more a bother than a threat. He felt horrible.