Lost Soul

by E. A. Copen

  Chapter Thirteen

  Everyone gathered out back behind Paula’s. Finn and Remy opened a swirling green portal to Faerie and walked through as if it were nothing. Khaleda looked back at me before she marched through, and Ulmir ran though, armed to the teeth and cackling about it.

  Nate and Emma hung back. Neither of them had been to Faerie before, which made them understandably nervous.

  “What’s it like on the other side?” Nate asked, switching his weight from one foot to the other.

  I shrugged. “Like here, mostly. Just remember never to apologize to any fae, don’t thank them and don’t accept anything that’s offered to you. Oh, and don’t eat or drink anything. It’s probably safe, but just in case I would avoid it.”

  “Nate?” Emma said after checking her guns one more time.

  “Yeah?”

  “There’s something I need to tell Lazarus.”

  “Tell her I love her too,” I said.

  Emma closed her eyes and winced. “I don’t really think The Princess Bride is the best fantasy movie ever made. I just said that because I didn’t want him to make me watch it again.”

  “What? Inconceivable!” I should’ve known. When we’d been planning our wedding, I put that forth as a possible theme. We’d decided against it since the cost would be astronomical, and the logistics of having a bunch of guests show up in costume was just too much. At least, that’s what she’d said. If she didn’t like it, she could’ve just said so. I would’ve been offended—as any self-respecting fantasy nerd should be—but I would’ve accepted it.

  Nate deflated with a breath. “Oh, good. I’m not the only one. I’m more of a Game of Thrones fan.”

  “Me too,” Emma admitted with a little too much excitement. Then her face dropped. “Never thought I’d say this, but I kind of hope this turns out more like The Princess Bride than Game of Thrones, though. Know what I mean?”

  Nate nodded and gestured toward the portal. “After you?”

  Emma took another breath to steel herself and then went through.

  I waited for Nate to go after her before muttering to myself, “I’m so not doing a Game of Thrones wedding. That’s definitely not bound to turn out well.” I floated toward the portal only to slide to a stop as Thanatos’ shadowy figure stepped in the way. “Seriously? Can’t I catch a break just this once? Don’t you have a Fall Out Boy concert to get to?”

  He pulled back his hood and narrowed his eyes at me. “Excuse me?”

  I gestured to him from the top down. “Come on. Look at you. Black eyeliner, weird hair, nose ring, clothes that say ‘look at me! I’m so edgy with my watered-down punk rock fashion’. The unhealthy association with death and dying…”

  “I am Death, though.”

  “You’re not helping your case, dude.”

  He gritted his teeth and shifted his grip on his scythe. “Enough. I didn’t come here to banter with you. I came to claim your soul before you can escape into Faerie.”

  I glanced past him at the spinning portal. All I had to do to get away from him was zip into the portal, and he wouldn’t be able to follow me. Except under limited circumstances, death didn’t exist in Faerie, and I knew there were no Reapers there. Persephone had said as much. It was getting past Thanatos that was going to be a problem. With his long scythe, that was going to be a bitch.

  He drew it back and swung the blade at me. I avoided it by flying up and out of reach, forcing him to chase me. I’d forgotten about the sun, though, and as soon as I flew out of the shadow of Paula’s bar, I caught fire. With a yelp, I dove for the portal. Thanatos swiped at me on my way through but missed. In a puff of black smoke, he reappeared between me and the portal. I screeched to a stop and sped around the side of the building, racing toward the front.

  “You’ll have to face me eventually if you want your body back,” Thanatos called. “You still need your Spark.”

  I stopped inching around the building. “Why do you have my Spark?”

  “I was just going to reap you.” He rushed around the side of the building to the front, but I’d already slid inside, hiding curled up behind a table. “Then Samedi stepped in. You have too many powerful friends, Lazarus. The only way you’ll ever come to me is if you have a reason to, so I went out to find it. Of course, it’s useless to you without the other three pieces.”

  “Don’t you worry about that,” I called. “I’ve got those in the bag.”

  “Do not think I don’t know about your duels, Lazarus.” He floated through the front door and looked around the bar. “I have volunteered myself to be Gaston’s second, and I will be watching your daughter’s duel with Fenrir with great interest.”

  “With great interest.” I snorted. “Do you even hear yourself? God, what is it about assholes like you that makes you all want to monologue? If you had half a brain, you’d have reaped me already.”

  He floated over the bar and looked down at where I was hiding. “There you are.”

  “See ya.” I darted into the kitchen, barely avoiding the sweep of his blade.

  Paula was in the back, prepping for work. She couldn’t see or hear me, which meant she was no help against a Reaper she also couldn’t see or hear, but I knew the bar inside and out. I had lived there for a long time, after all. Let’s see. It’d be right about…here. I stopped, looking up at the ceiling. I had to be exactly right, or I might zap myself temporarily out of existence and not trap the Reaper chasing me. At least, I hoped that’s all that would happen. Since he was carrying my Spark, I didn’t want it to get damaged either. Maybe I was better off just making a run for the portal.

  “You can’t run from Death!” Thanatos exclaimed as he came through the wall, sweeping his scythe back and forth madly.

  I flew up and through the ceiling, appearing in my old bedroom.

  Thanatos followed. “Stop running, coward.”

  “I’m not running,” I said and stayed where I was. “You want me, come and get me.”

  He grimaced and charged forward only to slam face-first into an invisible wall just inches from where I stood. He blinked, backed up, and tried again, though the results didn’t differ. “What’s this?” Thanatos reached out to press his palm against the barrier. “What have you done?”

  “Technically, I didn’t do anything. The circle you’re trapped in was constructed by a good friend of mine. I’d pull the rug back and show you all the awesome, intricate artwork he did, but I’m kind of in a hurry so…”

  He pounded on the edge of the circle. “I will escape eventually. You can’t keep me trapped in here forever.”

  “I don’t need to,” I said with a shrug as I floated backward toward the wall. “I just need that circle to hold long enough for me to make it to the portal.” I turned away and flew through the wall.

  The portal outside was flickering. I had only seconds to get to it before it collapsed, so I pushed myself as hard and fast as I could, tumbling through it at the last possible second.

  And right into Nate on the other side.

  He shivered as I pushed all the way through his body. “Laz, don’t do that! You’re freezing!”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  We gathered at the edge of Shadow, with the Summer border just beyond the last hill. It was dusk in Summer, just after sunset. It was also my first time returning to Shadow since I’d killed the Shadow Queen, and the first time I’d seen the state of Faerie since Remy showed me the black vines.

  The first thing that struck me was the size of the force we’d amassed. Fae courts liked to brag about their big armies, but they were nothing in size next to human armies in history. We measured our armed forces by the millions, while not a single fae court could field an army over ten thousand. The High Court didn’t have a ton of soldiers since they generally relied on their alliances with the lower courts to fight any wars that came up. War was a rare occurrence in Faerie, but not unheard of, so they kept their forces at a minimum. Between them, the Summer defectors who’d g
otten out, what was left of Shadow, and all of Khaleda’s troops, we barely had eight thousand bodies to throw at Mask. In terms of sheer numbers, it didn’t seem like many to me.

  I worried about our chances as I walked through the forming ranks alongside a soldier whose only job seemed to be lighting torches. I didn’t know exactly how many soldiers Summer had, but it had to be at least as many. They had the largest army of all the kingdoms after Shadow was defeated, and Mask had no doubt bolstered those numbers with troops of his own. Remy and Finn reported monsters that couldn’t be killed through normal means and shadowy, infected fae that could move at supernatural speeds. Since Mask also held the Winter Court, he had a force that easily outnumbered us.

  Thundering hooves made me look up as a bunch of horses rushed by me, Remy, Finn, Khaleda, and Queen Everleigh of the High Court atop them. A horse holding Nate galloped by a little slower, although he didn’t look near as confident in the saddle. He clung to the poor thing’s reins and rode with his eyes shut, mouthing what might’ve been a prayer. I sped after them, following them to the top of the far hill that overlooked Summer.

  The land beyond was black and dead with rolling clouds of smoke. Fires still smoldered in a few places. Everything but the black vines had been burned away to allow for a clear line of sight between the hill and the castle. The Summer Palace rose in the distance, a towering wall of impenetrable glowing stone, its three great spires clawing at the darkening sky. No sun touched Summer as far as the eye could see. It was all black, gray, and burning crimson red.

  Remy dismounted and ran forward several paces, her fists clenched. “What has he done? Everything is dead.”

  “I thought you said you’d burned the land to stop the growth of the vines?” said the High Queen.

  “Not like this. There’s no life left in the soil. Not even a single seed. The ground is scarred and dead. It’s so unrecognizable. How can this be my home?”

  “Mask will pay for what he’s done here, and everywhere else,” Finn promised.

  Another rider came up the hill and whispered something to Khaleda. She answered something in return, and he rode away.

  “They know we’re here,” Khaleda announced. “Mask has pulled the bulk of his forces behind the wall. The defending army in the field is just a token force two thousand strong. Some are fae, but the bulk is made up of Mask’s forces. Nightclaws, great tentacled beasts, and a dragon that he seems to control. There’s also a significant number of fae unaccounted for. My scouts believe they may be in the hills.”

  “Or they’re dead.” Remy clenched her fists.

  “If they are in the hills, we should leave some of our people back to break the line if they try to box us in,” Finn said.

  I shook my head. “We don’t have the numbers to leave anybody behind. If we want to take the castle, we need that field first.”

  Breaching the castle walls fell to me, and whatever ghosts Remy could raise, but she wouldn’t be able to raise anyone with Mask’s forces sitting on the field. We had to take it from them. Once we did, the whole army would be sitting ducks for any attacks from above while I led the ghosts in to open the gates. We could really use some aerial troops of our own, but we had to make do with what we had.

  Remy marched back to her horse and climbed back into the saddle. “We take the field as planned and try to limit fire on any fae. Our objective is to get Finn inside, to the center of the top of the highest spire, at all costs. Once there, I’ll ring the bells and he’ll unleash the power of the Speaking Stones.”

  “To activate the seal, you need a lot of power,” I told Finn through Khaleda. “More than you think. You need a soul to fuel it. Nate will have to get one for you.”

  “Me?” Nate squeaked. “But I don’t know how.”

  “I’ll teach you. It’s surprisingly simple. I learned to do it. How hard can it be?” I realized I’d just insulted myself and sighed. “Anyway, we need a team to make sure both Nate and Finn get to where they need to go.”

  “My knights will escort Finn,” Queen Everleigh offered.

  “I’ll go with them,” said Remy.

  “I’ll assign Malphas and a few of his elite fighters to Nate,” Khaleda said.

  Drumming sounded on the other side of the army ranks. Everyone on the hill exchanged worried glances.

  “That’s not one of ours.” Remy turned her horse around and sped toward the alarm.

  I raced after her with the others on my heels.

  A large cart pulled by two huge yaks closed. On the back of the cart stood three huge drums, each one played by a man-sized bird wearing a bamboo hat. Flying in a triangle formation over them were two dozen more birdmen. Tengu? What the hell were they doing here?

  The point of the flying pyramid broke away and changed direction toward where Remy waited. That’s not a bird, that’s a glider. A bright red glider piloted by none other than Haru Nakamata, the Red Horseman. Haru guided his glider expertly to a landing spot a short distance in front of the drummer cart. With a sweep of his arm, the glider folded in on itself, disappearing almost like magic.

  “You certainly know how to make an entrance,” Remy said. “Now, who are you?”

  He gave a stiff bow. “Haru Nakamata. War.”

  The other horses finally caught up, nearly trampling me.

  “Another Horseman,” Emma said. “I know him. He’s helped Lazarus before.”

  “Good to see you’ve recovered,” Haru said to Emma with another bow, then eyed Nate with curiosity. “But I see Lazarus isn’t here. There’s a new Death? What happened?”

  “I’m here!” I waved my arms. “Nate, give me a little juice, would you? Just grab my hand and concentrate on filling in the lines.”

  “Oh,” said Haru nonchalantly a moment later, “you are here. Sort of.”

  “I’m not dead,” I explained, “but I kind of don’t have a body at the moment. Never mind that, though. What’s all this?”

  Haru sighed. “My burden.”

  “His handlers, so to speak,” said one of the Tengu coming closer. The majority of them had landed and started to form ranks. He bowed to Remy. “I am Kaage-sama, ambassador to the mighty Tengu.”

  “How can I help you, Kaage-sama?” Remy said, her tone flat.

  “We heard there was a war on.” Haru patted the swords at his side. “I came to fight, since that’s kind of what I do, and they came to make sure I came back this time.”

  Kaage cleared his throat. “The Tengu came because one man is not an army, and to defeat Mask an army is what is needed.”

  “Maybe not most men.” Haru winked at Remy. “I can hold my own. Just point me in the right direction, Highness.”

  Kaage approached Finn and bowed. “I knew your great grandfather, King Finnegan, and the power of the stones he crafted. In ancient times, the Shadow fae and Tengu fought and died alongside one another against the Fomorians. It has recently been brought before us that we have spent too many hours on our mountain, ignoring the call to defend the balance we once protected. Today, we humbly request you allow us to fight alongside you once more.”

  “You must be really old,” Finn said.

  “Finn,” Remy warned through gritted teeth.

  Kaage laughed. “I was young then.”

  Finn shrugged and twisted in his saddle to look at everyone else. “If everyone else is okay with it, sure. I say, let them fight. We could use the aerial support. That is, if you guys are willing to take on a dragon?”

  “A dragon?” Haru’s face lit up like a kid in a toy store before Christmas. “Hell, yeah.”

  Kaage cleared his throat.

  Haru bowed. “I mean, it would be our honor to assist.”

  Remy nodded. “The honor is mine. Thank you.”

  Haru lifted his head and blinked, his expression silently asking if she’d meant to open that debt. When she didn’t make any attempt to get out of it, he stood, slightly uncomfortable.

  “Let’s go,” Remy said, urging her horse forwa
rd. “By dawn, Summer will be free.”

  “Or we’ll all be dead,” Finn added cheerfully.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It wasn’t a far march, but moving an army took time. It was dark in Summer by the time we’d moved our forces into position. Someone had found Haru a horse in the meantime, which he handled expertly, of course. It’d been decided that he should accompany me, despite not being a ghost. He could cross the moat with his glider, and on the off chance that none of us were able to open the door, he’d come in handy.

  Mask’s troops stood in slightly curved lines out in front of the high castle walls. Ugly, eyeless creatures Finn had called Nightclaws snorted, their icy breath turning the warm air frosty. There were hulking masses of slime and tentacles as well, one on each side. From where I stood, the only weak point in his line of troops seemed to be dead center, where he had only two lines of troops, fae with swords and little armor. Beyond them waited the moat, a pit of sharpened spikes and poison water stretching all the way around the palace.

  The massive drawbridge lowered, wood groaning and chains clinking in the anxious silence, and the line parted for two black horses and their riders. Tension in our ranks mounted as the horse sped toward us. Someone called for the archers to nock arrows.

  “Jessica.” Nate breathed her name in a whisper. “It’s Jessica!” He dug his heels into the horse, and it took off toward the riders.

  “Nate, stop!” Remy called, but she was no match for the bait Mask had ridden out of the palace with. With a curse, she sped off after him.

  Finn moved to follow, but Khaleda stopped him. “Get into position.”

  “But Remy—”

  “Do you want to win the battle or not?” she growled. “Get your troops into position. I’ll deal with this. Lazarus, come with me.” Before Finn could argue more, she rode after Remy and Nate.

  I followed her away from the safety of the army and out into the dead, naked land between our troops. As we got closer, it became clear that Jessica wasn’t there willingly. He’d tied her to the saddle and stuck a gag in her mouth. A chain ran from around her waist to Mask’s hand where he held it in a loop. He’d shoved a crown of briars on her head and left them there so long that the scabs had already dried. Around her neck, she wore a sign that read QUEEN OF DECEIVERS.