Faery Born (Book One in the War Faery Trilogy) (16 page)

At the last second her wings popped out and she levelled out much lower than I had thought possible. Reaching out with those cruel talons she plucked the troll into the air. She ripped him into two chunks and threw the pieces at the goblins. Blood and gore spattered them.

On her next pass she did the same to a goblin, ignoring the cross bolt arrows as she ripped his head off with her teeth.

Anger coiled in her, lashing out at her enemy. It flowed through her and over me, and for that time we were one; our aims identical, our needs identical, we tore our way through the goblin ranks.

She was bleeding from a dozen puncture wounds but I thought she was infallible. And then, as she levelled out for a pass, a bolt struck the front of her wing. A million-in-one shot, it nicked the webbing, tearing through the membrane to the middle bone.

Shrieking, she pivoted to the side. The wing no longer held us aloft. I screamed and wrapped myself around her neck as we crashed through the trees, hurtling through branches and trunks and limbs until we slammed against the bole of a large oak.

‘Emerald.’ I climbed shakily off her neck and crawled to her head. ‘Emerald.’ Please don’t let her be dead.

She opened one enormous eye and stared at me. An image of us in a blaze of glory flashed into my mind. Then her eye slid shut and her mind was gone.

‘Oh Emerald.’ I wrapped my arms around her head, blinking tears onto her.

Warm air from her nostrils moved against my arm and a picture of a mouse playing dead flashed through my mind, quickly followed by a simple command.
Fight.

I stood and turned in time to see the goblins. They approached warily. I reached for my power but it had disappeared during the crash. I raised my hands defensively, and they stopped.

How long before they realised I was bluffing? I only had to hold them off until the Guard got there.

‘She’s over there,’ Wilfred roared.

‘Get her.’ It was a female voice, thick and accented. ‘Take her now.’

One of the goblins darted towards me. I grabbed my sword from its sheath on my back and slashed at his hand.

A female goblin?
All of the ones I had ever seen had been men.

He danced back out of reach and I heard the sound of fighting coming towards me. Just a few more moments and I would be safe.

‘Take her or suffer my wrath.’

At her voice the goblin warriors swarmed towards me. I managed to wound a couple of them before they overwhelmed me. Strong arms grasped me and prised the sword from my fingers. I could hear Wilfred yelling and Aethan calling my name. But they were too late.

The world shimmered, fading from view as the goblins took me captive.

‘Well, well, well, what have we here?’ She had a strong, proud voice.

The goblins held my arms tight and turned me to face her. As tall as me, she had dark skin and black, dreadlocked hair that fell to her waist. Her clothing was made of leather, adorned with teeth and bones.

She reached out her finger and dabbed at a cut on my shoulder. Her finger came away smeared red. She popped it into her mouth and sucked it clean. ‘That was easy,’ she said.

‘Who are you?’ I tried to keep the shaking out of my voice, but failed miserably.

Her smile revealed teeth filed to a point. It wasn’t a nice smile. ‘I’m Galanta.’

Galanta the Goblin Queen?
‘The
Galanta?’ I said.

‘Oh goody, you’ve heard of me.’ She polished her long, black talons on her leather vest.

‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’

She stopped polishing her nails and looked up, holding my gaze with her eerie, black eyes. A ring of red around the outside of her iris took that eerie and amplified it to freaky.

‘I want to chat.’ Her guttural voice ruined the innocence of the statement.

‘About what?’

‘You, and the second-in-line to the Fae crown.’

‘Aethan? What about him?’

‘I heard it on the apple vine that you had broken up.’

‘You mean grapevine,’ I said.

‘I said apple vine and I meant apple vine.’

‘Apples don’t grow on vines.’

Her face took on a steely look and she stalked towards me.

‘Okay, apple vine,’ I said.

She snapped her teeth together and visibly restrained herself. ‘Is it true or not?’

‘We were never really dating.’ What the hell was it to her?

‘But you love him?’

‘No.’ I said it
way
too quickly.

She snorted. ‘So you
do
love him.’

‘No I don’t.’ I didn’t love him, damn it. So why could I feel my face turning red?

‘I won’t tell anyone.’ Her face took on a conspiratorial look. It didn’t suit her at all. ‘I just want to hear it from the pygmy’s mouth.’

‘You mean the horse’s mouth?’

For a split second her face showed black rage. It was gone so quickly I almost thought I’d imagined it.

‘Ahhhh. So you won’t mind swearing that you won’t marry him.’

This was getting
way
too weird. ‘I won’t what?’

‘Marry him.’

‘What’s it to you?’

‘If you don’t love him, what’s it to you?’ She stalked towards me and ran a finger down my cheek. I jerked my head away from her, pulling against the restraints of her guards. Her finger dug deeper, her sharp nail tearing at my skin.

And
that
was when I remembered I could leave anytime I wanted. ‘Well it’s sure been a pleasure,’ I said, ‘but it’s time to be going.’ I shut my eyes and willed myself away. The pressure on my arms remained and I opened my eyes to the same situation I’d been in.

Galanta had an amused look on her face. ‘Going somewhere?’ She threw back her head and laughed.

‘What have you done?’

‘I drank your blood. Now you are mine. Come,’ she gestured to her warriors. ‘Things are about to get interesting.’

I was guessing her idea of interesting was quite different to my own. I fought them as hard as I could. Throwing myself from side-to-side and flailing my arms, but I may as well have been a babe for all the good it did.

They dragged me out of the woods, into a small clearing. A bonfire blazed at one end of it, a stake stood at the other. They pulled my arms behind me and tied them around the stake.

Oh Great Dark Sky. This was not good at all. Where were Aethan and Wilfred when I needed them?

Drums started to bang; the pace slow and steady as goblins chanted and moved in a lurching dance around the large fire. Sweat dribbled down my body as the heat scorched my skin.

The lurching and chanting increased in tempo as the goblins picked up the drum beat. Faster and faster they whirled around the fire, the slapping of their feet resonating with the throbbing of the drums.

If only I could reach my powers. I closed my eyes and willed them to come to me. They may as well have been non-existent. It was
so
frustrating. My witch powers were almost useless. And what I had begun to recognise as my faery powers, came upon me when I least expected them, seemingly with the sole purpose of destroying goblins. Well here I was, desperately in need of some goblins being destroyed and what did I have? Big, fat nothing.

Trying not to cry, I sagged back against the post.

The drums, banging and beating so harshly one second, were totally still the next. Knowing that whatever they had stopped for had something to do with me, made the silence that followed harsher than the chanting had been.

I tried to blow a piece of hair that was tickling my cheek off my face but it was stuck to my sweat. A hand with long black talons appeared in front of me and gently removed the hair.

‘Is that better?’ Galanta asked.

‘Yes thank you.’ She had me where she wanted me. Angering her didn’t seem like such a good idea.

‘It’s the little things that make the difference,’ she purred. Her long, pointy teeth belied the kindness of her words.

I started to feel ill. What was she planning to do to me?

‘Now be a good girl and say it.’

Was she
still
going on about the marriage thing? ‘No.’

‘It’s just a few words.’

I had no idea what she was going to get out of this, but if she got
anything
it was too much. ‘Nope.’

‘Poor Isadora.’ She rolled the ‘r’ making it sound European. ‘So loyal, so young, so brave.’ She walked around the stake, trailing a finger around my body as she went. ‘Are you really willing to die for this?’

I didn’t want to die for it. It was stupid, I knew. They were just words. And we were never going to get married. But the stubborn part of me had stepped in, and now there was no going back.

‘It’s such a little thing.’ She pouted at me. ‘All you’ve got to do is promise that you won’t marry him.’

I shook my head.

‘She’s blonde you know,’ she continued. ‘It turns out that brunettes aren’t his thing after all.’

I closed my eyes as a vision of Aethan entwined with a busty blonde danced into my head. Was it the same one he had lip-locked a few years ago?

‘Just say it and all of this will go away.’ Her voice had become hypnotic, lulling me with its cadence and lilt. ‘Then we can be friends.’

My eyes snapped open. I may not have known if what she said about Aethan were true, but I knew for sure that she and I would never be bosom buddies.

‘Now Galanta,’ I said, staring into her cold, black eyes. ‘You and I both know that that’s
never
going to happen.’

She snarled at me, shaking her head like a lion. ‘So young, so stupid.’ She pulled her dagger out of the holster on her belt, walking over to the fire to hold the end of the blade in the flames.

Oh that
so
did not look good.

When it was red hot she came back to me and waved it in front of my face. I noticed her warriors had gathered in a semi-circle to watch. If I hadn’t been worried before, I certainly was now. Now I was shit scared.

‘Sure you don’t want to change your mind?’ she said, reaching out and lifting up my shirt. ‘While the cats are away the dogs will play.’

‘It’s mice you bitch.’ I gritted my teeth and braced for the pain.

Growling, she pressed the tip of the burning knife to the soft skin of my stomach. I could feel skin blistering and smell hair burning and I screamed the loudest scream I’d ever heard. By the time she pulled the knife away I was emotionally and physically exhausted, and I knew the fun had only just begun. Panting, I hung from the stake, trying to think my way through this rationally.

Why did she want me to say it?

Galanta wandered back to the fire to reheat her knife and then she returned. She smiled hideously at me and then seared the knife into the other side of my gut. My shriek cut through the air as I felt the scorching pain. Even when she stopped, the burning went on. I could hear my breath panting in hoarse sobs.

What harm would it do to say it? It was just a few words.

I screamed and shuddered as she burnt me. My whole body was on fire. She worked her way down my arms and my legs, then across my back. But I couldn’t say it. The words refused to come out of my mouth.

The pain overwhelmed me, threatening my sanity. I dived inwards to the soft cocoon of my core, where it was muffled and distant. The golden pools of my mind glowed around me and suddenly, I knew what to do.

I hung onto one of those pools and with my remaining strength forced myself back to consciousness. The pain flared brightly in my mind. I forced it to the side and allowed pure rage to control me. Dipping into that golden pool I pictured the bindings falling free from my hands. They slithered away and piled at my feet.

With my arms still behind me, I imagined the cruellest weapon I could visualise; a short sword with three jagged blades emerging from the handle. Each blade was designed to do more damage coming out than going in.

I waited till she approached me again and let her press the blade to my skin. Then I whipped my hand around and plunged the dagger into her side.

Her eyes widened in disbelief as I wrenched it from her. The blade tore at organ and muscle.

I dipped my fingers into her blood and placed them in my mouth. Gagging, I forced myself to swallow the cloying, slimy liquid.

Her blood tingled as it entered my body, and her control began to fade. I just needed a few more seconds and then I would be free.

She staggered away from me, stumbling to her knees. Roaring in fury, her warriors raced towards her; towards me. But they were too late.

As a warrior reached out a hand to grasp my hair I closed my eyes and shimmered back to where I’d entered Trillania.

Emerald.
I sent out a mental call. I had to know if she were alive.

Her answer came from the direction of the Black Mountains. It was faint and tinged with pain. It was my fault she was injured. I had to help her. But there was no way I was going to be able to do it like this.

I sagged to the ground, trying to ignore the burning of my skin. I wasn’t sure how the whole faery-me, witch-me thing worked, but I had to hope I could use it to my advantage.

‘I hope you can hear me,’ I rasped. ‘I’ll take the pain and you help her.’ This had to work, it
had
to. The worst part was that I wouldn’t know if it had.

I closed my eyes and willed myself back. As soon as my spirit touched my body the wounds of my mind transferred themselves. Pain lanced through me and I gasped awake.

Chaos ruled the room. Scruffy was on the end of my bed with his head thrown back. Howls of loss ripped from his throat. Guards stood in clusters talking animatedly. Rako waved his arms as he yelled at Aethan. ‘Two of them? How could you let them take two of them?’

I ignored them all as I reached a hand to unclasp my arm band.

Have to do this. Have
to help
.

Pain lashed my every move. Blisters burst and fluid trickled down my arms as I struggled with the catch, my swollen fingers too stiff to manage it.

‘She’s awake.’

Can’t lose focus. Have to succeed.

Aethan’s face, creased with worry, came into view. He winced as he looked at me. ‘What happened?’

I shook my head and motioned to the band.

Have to get it off.

He reached over and unclipped the latch, gently opening the band and taking it off. It was the only patch of smooth, unbroken skin on my arm.

I gasped with relief and lay back. He undoubtedly thought I didn’t want to risk going back to Trillania. He didn’t know I had every plan of going back. At least I hoped I was going to.

Go to her.

I closed my eyes and let the pain wash over me, hanging onto it with every fibre. I drew it in till it consumed me. Red spun in front of my eyes and I let it drag me down towards unconsciousness. I hoped she could access Trillania from there. It was the closest thing to sleep I could give her.

Down, down through a void of black; agony smothering my every thought. I spun slowly in the dark, clinging to the pain, and I waited for her return.

***

The room was the same as it had been the last time I’d opened my eyes. Scruffy still howled, guards still milled and Rako still waved his arms and yelled. But now my body was covered in an icy, wet towel.

I could see another figure lying on one of the other beds, but the rest were empty.

I moaned as pain danced across my mind. Scruffy immediately stopped howling, whimpering instead as he licked my foot.

‘Hey boy,’ I whispered. Even
that
hurt my throat.

‘How are you?’

I tried not to move my head as I rolled my eyes to Aethan’s. ‘My own fault.’ The physical pain trivialised my emotions, and suddenly, I felt very stupid.

I had alerted dreamers to my presence. I had almost got Emerald killed. I had let myself get captured and tortured. There was no excuse for any of it, and I was ashamed of my behaviour.

He shook his head. ‘No it was…’

Before he could finish his sentence, my Mum’s voice cut through the rest of the noise.

‘Where is she?’ I‘d heard Mum angry before but I had never heard her like this. Rage shook her voice as she swept into the room. ‘What have you done to her?’

Oh whizbang. This was
so
not good. She hadn’t wanted me to join and now she was going to see me like this.

Her eyes lighted on me and she let out a gasp. She pushed Border Guards aside as if they were half their size as she made her way to my bed. ‘What have they done?’

‘I’m okay,’ I croaked. Oh yeah,
that
was convincing.

‘You are most certainly
not.’
Her voice cracked like a whip on the ‘not’ and I winced. She pulled the edge of the towel back and tears filled her eyes. ‘My baby,’ she said. ‘Oh my baby.’ She whirled and stalked back to Rako. ‘Did you do this to her?’ Her finger poked his chest with each word.