The Queen (15 page)

As Syndra got closer, Luana stepped in front
of Faylen and Rydel. “You loved your children so much that you
killed my mother? Or did you forget about your firstborn?”

Syndra stopped abruptly. “Your mother whored
herself to a commoner, you half-breed! She had the potential to be
one of the greatest elf maidens of our time had she only sacrificed
you to the gods as they demanded. Instead, she died to protect you.
You are nothing but a reminder of her weakness and disgrace.” The
sneer she bore on her face was the first time Luana had seen her as
ugly in her new form.

King Rydel pulled Luana protectively behind
him. “Mother, she is our niece, your granddaughter. She is a
firstborn daughter of a firstborn daughter!”

“She’s an abomination!” Syndra cried,
raising her hands. Purple mist grew in her palms. Her appearance
changed. She was no longer the beautiful moon goddess, but rather a
horrid grey-skinned witch with scales on her flesh and eyes black
as coal. Her hair muddied to a sickening brown that appeared to
drip with oil and filth.

Rydel raised his hands, creating a blue glow
that illuminated the sky. The trolls shrieked in terror at the
light, running for the cover of the dark forest, away from the
battlefield.

“Come back, you imbeciles. You witless
worms!” Syndra cried as the hordes bolted.

Faylen used the distraction to create a
swirl of wind to travel around the hordes, tossing them through the
air as they tried to flee. They slammed into the Kardell and
Mirstone troops, breaking the lines, destroying catapults, causing
the men to scatter and flee.

The Grasmere army let out triumphant cries
as their enemies ran.

“You dare defy me!” Syndra sent out a blast,
tossing Rydel and Faylen back. Then she turned her sights on Luana.
“Enough games. This ends now!” She raised her hands as purple fire
formed in her palms and ran up her arms.

That’s when it happened. Luana could see it
as though it occurred in slow motion but was unable to stop it.

Baylin snatched the bow from a nearby
soldier and grabbed an arrow from Ferric’s quiver. He pulled back
the bow and let loose the arrow at lightning speed. The sharpened
steel tip sailed through the air, straight for its mark—Syndra’s
heart.

The moment Luana was sure the sorceress
would be brought down, Syndra threw up her hands, creating a
magical barrier, hurling the arrow back at Baylin.

“No!” Luana screamed as she ran, reaching
out her magic to protect him. But her power was a moment too slow.
It surrounded him as the arrow struck his chest.

“Baylin!” Luana screamed as she ran to his
side. She reached him as he fell to his knees, sliding to the moist
ground with a grunt. She hit the ground, wrapping her arms around
him. “No! No. No, no.” The words seemed foreign and pointless to
her, but she continued to repeat them.

Syndra let out a rolling cackle from behind
them.

“This isn’t supposed to happen this way!”
Luana screamed, hot tears running down her cheeks.

Ferric helped her lay Baylin down on his
back. The arrow stuck out of the right side of his chest, blood
oozing from the wound.

The Prince looked up at Ferric. “Get her to
safety.” He coughed painfully.

“No!” Luana cried. “I’m not leaving
you.”

He reached up a hand to stroke Luana’s
cheek. “Protect our boy… Protect my son.” He began coughing
again.

“Ferric, we have to get the arrow out,”
Luana said.

“Luana,” Ferric said sadly. “I don’t know
if—”

“We have to get it out!” Luana screamed.

Ferric helped Luana roll Baylin onto his
side. The arrow had gone through, the bloodstained metal tip
showing on the other side.

“Hold the other end steady. This is going to
hurt,” Ferric said. He gripped the shaft of the arrow just above
the tip and broke it off with a jerk. Baylin let out a
blood-curdling scream of pain.

“Halfway there, my friend,” Ferric said.
“Just hold on.” He gripped the other side of the shaft and pulled
it out with a firm, quick motion. Baylin screamed out again as
blood began to run from the wound.

“We just have to stop the bleeding.” Luana
held her hands over the wound, trying to stanch the blood. In her
heart, Luana feared there was little hope. The blood was flowing
too quickly.
He’s going to die! How can this be
happening?

“This was really too easy. Grasmere is mine,
you fools!” Syndra laughed. “I have already killed that imbecile
Cadman, along with the Prince. The King and Queen won’t be too
difficult. Then there’s you and your little bastard to finish. And
so ends the line of the Kings of Grasmere… Long live the
Queen.”

Luana slowly stood. Baylin’s blood stained
her hands. She turned to face the sorceress. “You have not won. You
will not!”

“Who will stop me? You? A bed wife?” Syndra
sneered.

Anger coursed through Luana’s veins. Without
even thinking, she lifted her hands and sent a large ball of light
shooting through the air toward the sorceress. Syndra had only a
moment to throw up her hands, deflecting the attack.

“It would seem you have learned a thing or
two about our ways, half-blood,” Syndra hissed, taking a step
forward. “Let us see how much your uncle has taught you.”

Syndra sent out a blast that resembled
purple lightning. Luana countered, shielding herself, but was
knocked backward onto the ground with a hard thump.

The dark sorceress cackled. “You are no
match for me, you silly fool!” She threw up her hands again in
attack but was met with a powerful white bolt from the side,
knocking her down. A whirlwind appeared, grabbing the evil woman
and tossing her around in the air.

Luana spotted King Rydel, hands at the ready
as Faylen controlled the element that trapped their mother.
Suddenly, as quickly as it started, the wind ceased and Syndra
slammed into the ground.

“Enough, Mother!” Rydel called. “You cannot
win this fight.”

Faylen ran to Ferric’s side, helping him
with Baylin. She tore a long strip of cloth from her dress and
began tending the wounds.

Syndra pulled herself up from the ground
while masking a wince of pain. “I’ve nearly won already, you
fool!”

“Even if you do succeed, you will still be
outcast from our people,” Rydel countered.

The sorceress began to laugh. A deep,
bone-chilling cackle that grew from deep down in her chest. “Our
people? You think I care a flick about our people? I am to be the
most powerful of all our kind. Once I kill you all, I will possess
your essences and have enough power to rule all of Wintervale.”

Rydel looked alarmed. Luana turned and saw
terror in Faylen’s eyes.
They’re scared. They are scared of her!
What was it he had said? The elder… Syndra… she had wanted to
absorb my mother instead of letting her go to the afterlife. She
means to take their souls!

The thought made Luana’s blood boil. She
lashed out a bolt at the sorceress while she was distracted. As it
hit, Rydel threw out his own white orb, slamming into Syndra.
Faylen sent out a beam of light that seemed to blind the woman,
disorienting her.

Luana lifted her hands, preparing to strike
the final blow. As she threw her hands back, she heard the
sorceress let out a blood-curdling scream. A long blade covered in
blood emerge from Syndra’s torso. As the sword retracted, she
grabbed her stomach, blood flowing down her front. She fell to her
knees.

Luana’s eyes widened in shock. Lord Cadman
stood behind her holding the bloody sword. “If anyone is going to
rule Grasmere, it will be me.”

Baylin watched from the ground as his uncle
cleaned the sword blade on the sorceress’s dress.

Pain seized in his chest where the arrow
tore through flesh and bone. He gasped as a sharp stab shot through
him.

“Baylin?” Ferric asked, putting a hand on
his shoulder. “Just hold on. We’ll get you to Master Keon.”

“Why bother?” Cadman laughed. “It would make
my job a lot easier if he would go ahead and die.”

“You bastard.” Ferric drew his sword and ran
for Cadman. “This is all your fault!”

The sound of their swords crashing filled
the air.

“No,” gurgled Baylin from the ground
nearby.

Luana ran to him, falling to her knees next
to him. “Baylin, oh Baylin! Just hold on, we can help you. The
battle is over, it’s done.”

“No,” Baylin repeated. “Ferric, no.”

Luana cried out to Ferric. “You must stop!
He wants you to stop.”

Ferric warily lowered his sword, keeping his
eyes on Lord Cadman. Cadman returned in kind.

“Why would you have me stop?” Ferric asked.
“What could possess him to spare this snake?”

“Please. Come.” Baylin lifted a hand,
motioning for Ferric and Cadman to come toward him. His breath grew
shallow and he coughed.

Ferric put his sword out in front of Cadman.
“I don’t think so. Leave the sword here.”

“Do you think me a fool?” Lord Cadman
spat.

Ferric clenched his teeth. “You scared of a
dying man?”

Cadman hissed, dropping his sword to the
ground and walking toward the Prince.

“Baylin, we must get you inside to Master
Keon,” Luana protested.

He shook his head, pushing Luana back with
his hand. He looked to Ferric. “Take her. I want to speak to my
uncle.”

Luana fought against Ferric’s grip. “We have
to get you inside, now.” Rydel and Faylen came over and helped
Ferric hold Luana to the side, out of the way.

“Uncle,” Baylin rasped.

Cadman looked at Baylin, then to Luana,
Ferric and the rest before turning back to Baylin. “What is
this?”

“I need to make peace with you.” Baylin
coughed. “We must make peace before I die.”

“No!” Luana pulled against Ferric. When she
could not pull free of him, she turned and cried into his
chest.

“Peace?” Cadman looked at Baylin warily.
“Fine. Be at peace.” He dismissed the sentiment, waving his hand in
the air as though swatting a fly.

“No, we must do it properly,” Baylin
groaned, his words catching in his throat. He mumbled something
incoherent.

“What?” Cadman said. “Speak up, I can’t make
out a word you’re saying.”

Baylin coughed hard, grimacing in pain. He
motioned for Cadman to kneel down closer. “Please, there must be
peace between us.”

Lord Cadman huffed and rolled his eyes. He
knelt beside the Prince, leaning in so he could hear him. “I’m
here. What do you need to be at peace?”

“Just this.” Baylin slid a dagger into the
left side of Cadman’s chest, just under the arm where the armor did
not meet. Blood poured from the wound as he withdrew the blade.
“Now I can be at peace.”

Cadman fell the ground, trying to hold the
wound closed with one hand while attempting to crawl across the
ground to his sword. Luana shook free from Ferric’s grip and ran
over, picking up the sword.

Faylen and Rydel rushed to Baylin’s side,
quickly setting to work on his wound.

Baylin struggled to sit up, but the pain was
too much. He watched as Cadman stopped and looked up at Luana.

“You can’t hurt us anymore,” she said. She
lifted the blade high above her head.

Darkness swam in Baylin’s vision. He felt a
warmth in his chest as the two elves began chanting in a language
foreign to him. He heard the sound of a sword coming down, then
there was nothing.

Baylin’s eyes were still closed when he
heard the sound of shuffling footsteps over the stone floor. There
were soft taps of metal on metal and a gentle humming in the air.
He struggled to open his eyes. When his eyes finally adjusted to
the light in the room, he found himself in a familiar setting.

He was lying in Master Keon’s medical
chamber under a thick layer of furs.

The old physician hunched over a large
mortar and pestle, grinding something that sounded like small seeds
or nuts.

Baylin turned his head, searching the room
for Luana.
Where is she?
Fear gripped him. His thoughts went
back to the battlefield.
What if she was hurt? What if she was
killed?
He struggled to sit up in bed. A sharp pain surged in
his chest and he coughed against the pressure.

“Your Grace!” Master Keon squeaked, hobbling
across the room. “You must lie back; it is not good for the
wound.”

“Luana,” Baylin rasped, swinging his legs
over the edge of the bed in an attempt to get up. “Where…” He began
to cough again.

“Please, Your Grace, you must lie back,” the
old physician urged, gently pushing Baylin down on the bed. “Luana
is fine, just fine. She has gone to rest. She’s hardly left your
side these past three days.”

“Three days?” Baylin asked. “I’ve been here
that long?”

“Yes,” Keon replied. “You had us all very
worried. Had it not been for the elves and your Luana’s gift of
healing, you might not be drawing breath now.”

Luana. She’s safe.
A weight lifted at
the thought of her being alive and unharmed. “Our son? My parents?
Ferric? What of them?”

“The King and Queen are fine, as is your
son. Ferric emerged with a few bruises but otherwise unharmed,”
Master Keon explained as he lifted the bandage on Baylin’s chest,
examining a gruesome wound.

“And my men?” Baylin was almost scared to
ask. He knew countless had fallen in the battle.
How many were
struck down? How many fathers, brothers and sons did I send to the
afterlife?

Master Keon sighed. “I’m afraid there was a
great number of men who fell, Your Grace. The wounded are down in
the medical ward your Luana set up before the war.”

“How many?” Baylin cringed as the physician
smeared a sticky green mixture on his wound. “How many men did we
lose?”

“You needn’t concern yourself with such
things, Your Grace,” Master Keon said, covering the poultice with a
clean bandage. “Your main concern should be recovering so you can
resume command of your men. Seeing you well will lift their
spirits.”