“All right, I’m tired of you two already.” Baba rolled her neck from side to side, causing it to crack loudly. “If I were you, Prince, I’d just step back a tad. It’ll only take me a minute to end the miserable, pathetic creature hiding behind your back.”
My spine went rigid at the threat. Not because I really cared about what happened to the clone. But I did care about what happened to Galeta. I had no idea if injury to this one could affect my female.
I grinned, feeling the heated surge of battle coil through me. There wasn’t much dragonbornes loved more in this world than a good bloody carcass and a violent tussle. Sex or otherwise.
Cracking my own neck, I called my magic to me. I’d not shifted in two days, which meant the shift this time would be excruciating. And bizarre. But perhaps I could use the latter to my advantage. It was said that there were few species alive in Kingdom more knowledgeable than Baba Yaga. If she knew what I really was, she’d know how to end me.
So better to never give her that knowledge.
A roar ripped from my throat, a sound that seemed dragged up from the very bowels of the Underworld. And then the shift started.
Shaping and forming into monstrous visions of creatures I’d taken in the past. Wings for arms. A snake’s tail for legs. Bloody, red eyes. Canines longer than a panther’s.
Baba’s eyes went wide, and she looked stunned for a moment. But a moment was all I needed. I would not kill her, but I would stun her into submission and somehow figure out a way to get the clone away from here so that Aphrodite could whisk me back as soon as could be to Galeta.
But the witch wasn’t as old and crafty as she’d come to be by being weak. A flash of her hand shoving inside her vest was all the warning I got, and then my world was suddenly rocked. Lights distorted my vision, and the clanging of cymbals deafened me. Disoriented, I dropped to my knees, putting my hands to my temples.
I expected another death shot. I was a Prince. I’d been raised to battle as a warrior; it was the way of my kind. But even I was helpless when it came to the wrathful magic of an enraged Queen.
Hearing a scratch of movement different from the cacophony to the left of me, I batted out wildly, catching something. With a whoosh of breath, I heard Baba fall with a thud.
And then more lights blasted around me. This time, a sizzling spark of mighty power.
Stories would lead one to believe fairy godmothers were weak and matronly. But I’d already seen the clone fight once. She was deadly and wicked.
Baba howled.
The lights that’d blinded me began to slowly abate, and I managed to catch Baba scrabbling to her feet for purchase. The battle was on then. Intense and magnificent as I watched two powerful women fight it out.
Last time, the clone had seemed possessed, intent on killing the centauress. This time, she battled fiercely, but a part of me rather suspected she held something of herself back too.
In the way she’d sometimes seek cover rather than parry. The clone had been distracted by me during the previous battle. This time, she seemed determined and focused. Casting me furtive glances now and again, as though to assure herself that I was well.
I frowned.
How was that possible?
Was Galeta so changed in the mirror realm that somehow she was affecting even the sliver of soul up here? Anything was possible with magic, but if she could do that, then wasn’t it also possible that perhaps Galeta wouldn’t be doomed to spending her eternity in that gray world?
Could she come into the above again? Could she control whatever darkness held her gripped? I was lost to my thoughts, watching as the clone kept Baba on her heels, forcing her back so far into the tree line that at one point the witch tripped.
Galeta raised her wand, and I growled but then hesitated. The fairy would kill her now. I couldn’t allow that, and yet something inside of me stilled. Waiting. Maybe hoping.
The Blue looked at me. Her thin brows were furrowed and full of questions.
We were locked in one another’s sights, never noticing Baba getting to her feet.
“Hey, you! Blue bug. Miss me?”
Both the clone and I glanced up. Baba twirled on her heel and, in one swift movement, pulled her drawers down, exposing the very pale globes of her bum and wiggling it back and forth at us.
She slapped it, causing it to jiggle distractingly. “I can crush walnuts with this thing!” She giggled wildly.
And while we’d been diverted by her absurd antics, neither the clone nor I had seen the vial whip out in her hand before it was too late.
“No!” I roared, racing toward Galeta.
The vial landed with a violent thunk against her forehead. The fairy gasped and then crashed to the thick branch beneath her. Eyes closed and looking as though she did not breathe. I grabbed up her slight form, cuddling her tight to me. Releasing a shuddery breath when I heard her slight inhalation.
“Freyr, bloody hell, get us out of here!” Baba snapped.
In the next instant, a strong wind blew through the trees, revealing the bow of a massive wooden ship. Standing astride was her male beaming down at her.
“Did you really—”
She lifted a finger. “You’re never to speak of that again. Go!”
They flew into the winds, and I looked back down at the clone.
Immediately, that same darkness rolled between us, Aphrodite’s cover to help me get out of this realm.
I felt the squeeze of air and the return of the goddess’s power. But my eyes were for the clone alone. Brushing a tight curl away from the corner of her mouth, I shook my head.
“Did you see it? Did you see it, Love? Did you see what happened?”
“The clone is changing.” The voice was feminine but not Aphrodite’s.
Still clinging tight to the now no longer breathing clone, I stared into the golden eyes of the harpy.
“If she can change up here, then surely—”
Her eyes were soft and sad as she said, “No, dragonborne. She cannot. Yes, Galeta’s soul is changing, but that does not negate the fact that she remains who she is.”
Feeling angry with the harpy, though I knew none of this was her fault, I growled. “What is she? Who is she? Why will no one give me a straight bloody answer?”
She stared down at her sandaled feet, and I felt an immediate wash of shame at my outburst. Clenching my jaw, I muttered, “You did not deserve that. Forgive me, Harpy.”
Shrugging but giving me a wimpy smile, she nodded. “It is okay, Prince. I think I’m beginning to understand what is happening between you two. If you want to know who she really is, then I’ll tell you. She is a good woman who has borne a terrible burden for far too long. Within her heart beats the seed of darkness. She is the protector of all of Kingdom. The Pink, as she was once known, sacrificed herself to keep that darkness away from all of Its creation. What you are seeing now is the soul of the female who once was and who could maybe be again.”
Trembling, because I’d never expected an actual answer, and also terrified because this seemed far greater a burden than merely someone preoccupied with madness, I asked, “Take it out of her, then. Make her whole again. If it’s true that she’s borne this burden for so long, then doesn’t she deserve to be free of it now?”
She nodded. “Yes. There is another vessel.”
“Where is it?” I snapped, growling with frustration. “Give it to me. Let me fix her.”
Harpy shook her head. “I cannot. The vessel is not yet here. But it comes. It has assured me it comes.”
“When?”
She blinked. “Soon. I hope.”
That answer wasn’t good enough for me. “End her torments. Stop those hated memories. Leave her in peace.”
Again she shook her head. “Would that I could, Prince. But the darkness has been so long a part of her that she must be purged.”
“So making her relive that pain...”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Believe it or not, it is healing her
. Slowly maybe, but it is. Trust me, Prince, I did not bring you here to watch you fail. I believe in the Creator, and so should you. If It says that the vessel comes soon, then the vessel comes soon.”
None of what she said made much sense to me. All I knew was I was being told to wait. And so I’d wait. My kind was good at that.
She glanced up. “I must go now. But a few things I must tell you. Galeta knows nothing of this past sacrifice. She knows only of the darkness in her soul, and before the games began, she was trying to end herself. To end that darkness. She cannot, though. She never can. If she kills the body, she releases the seed into the world. Tread lightly with her, Prince. And wait on me to hand you that vessel, for I vow I shall soon.” Her feathers plumped and fluttered as though she meant to wing away, but she paused. “One last thing. In case you doubt her. Don’t. None could have fought the darkness as long as she. Those memories you watch, they may seem vile, but she’s prevented so much worse.”
When she said that, her eyes looked haunted, and I saw the same sort of look cross her eyes as I sometimes saw in Galeta’s own. That of a being who’d seen too much. She gave herself a slight shake before giving me a soft smile.
Harpy vanished. And I glanced down at the fairy in my arms. No longer an exact match for the one in my mirrored realm. I stroked my thumb down her soft cheek.
I had been doubting. But the moment Harpy mentioned Galeta trying to end herself, my heart had given a painful squeeze.
Dear gods above, the sacrifice my fairy had made. I had no reason to doubt Harpy’s words. All the questions I’d had began to make sense. Why there’d been such an effort by so many to bring Galeta back. Because of fate or some Creator that Harpy had spoken of. Whatever it really was, it no longer mattered to me.
All I knew was, I would go to the ends of the world and back to ensure Galeta’s eventual victory. If anyone deserved redemption, it was her.
The air squeezed with the scent of verbena and lavender.
The clone in my arms vanished, returned to her dark and lonely realm, and it was stupid that I suddenly felt bad about that. She wasn’t the real Galeta, and yet somehow from the last time to this one, my feelings for the she-devil had begun to alter irrevocably.
“Are you ready to return, Prince?” Aphrodite asked gently.
I finally looked up at her and nodded. “I am.”
She covered her parted lips with her fingers, letting out a tiny gasp. I frowned. Her hands landed on my cheeks as she stared deeply into my eyes.
“You know now, don’t you, dragonborne? You know why this happened. Why this all happened. You know the truth now.”
Her clear blue eyes sparkled, and I wondered how it was that she’d figured that out merely by looking at me.
I nodded, saying nothing.
She nodded too. “Who are you really, Syrith? Why have the Fates brought you into this?”
I wished I had an answer to her question, but I did not. “I am just a man, Love.”
Her lips twitched upward. “A man in love. I see it very clearly now. You will save her, Prince.”
I clutched at her wrists, hearing pain behind her words. “What are you telling me, goddess?”
Her look grew haunted. “I wish I knew. I only know this—when it’s all over, there will be tears.”
My heart turned to a rock in my chest. I didn’t want tears. I didn’t want Fate interfering in any of this. This was about me, about Galeta.
She shook her head, causing her golden cascade of hair to undulate captivatingly. “Too late for that, my boy. Far too late for that.”
Chapter 15: In Which a Fairy Meets a Bird
Harpy
“Show yourself, little one,” Ty said.
I frowned. I hated that I could never seem to hide from her. Appearing by the stables, I threaded a stalk of wheat between my fingers. Her keen gaze studied me.
“You are not well. Tell me why.” Ty took a giant bite from her pear, smearing the juices upon her lips as she wiped down her chin with her fingers.
I gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I am not unwell. I simply am beginning to suspect all is not as I’d imagined.”
Her lips pinched. But she asked me nothing. Ty didn’t need to; she wasn’t like most other people. She thought matters through first before speaking, and sometimes when she did, she said nothing at all that I expected.
Brown-eyed gaze flicking down to the wheat stalk, she studied my hand hard, and I knew she saw what I’d seen this morning.
A marking.
A tiny birthmark that’d not been there before.
The picture of a tree in bloom.
The mark of the vessel. But I couldn’t be the vessel. Surely, it wasn’t me.
My heart had sunk when I’d noticed it. Maybe I was only holding onto it for a time. The vessel still came, surely.
But something inside of me squirmed.
Coming down here—it wasn’t simply to learn about humanity, but to gain my own too. I didn’t want to believe this could be, but I worried that I might be acting willfully obtuse too. Surely, though, the Creator would have told me if I were the one.
Right?
I swallowed hard.
“Talk to me, Harpy.”
I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth. I’d come to Ty because I’d known I could talk to her. Could tell her what I was feeling. And she was so smart, so brilliant, maybe she could help me to understand what was truly happening. Maybe I could still save Galeta, and myself too.
“What if you’ve discovered that you are supposed to be the hero, but you don’t want to be? Even if that means the death of another?”
My words were quiet, almost a whisper of sound, and it killed me to even think it. But I didn’t want this. I couldn’t be the vessel.
I simply couldn’t.
Though I now understood what it meant to be part of this world and the fabric of this universe, I wasn’t ready to become the darkness. Wasn’t ready to lose myself.
And yet even as I thought it, how could I possibly condemn Galeta to death? Because choosing not to accept that seed meant there’d be no escape for her.
Ever.
“And you are that hero?”
“No!” I was quick to correct and then shuddered. “No,” I said softer. “I-I don’t know.”
A tiny neigh spilled off Ty’s tongue, and she shook her head, closing her eyes briefly. “That is truly a terrible burden to bear, little one. And I am sorry for it. But however briefly we’ve known one another, I can say this with all truth of heart—you will make the right decision, Harpy, because that’s who you are. And whatever choice you make, I vow to you that you will not be alone in this. Petra and I, we will help you.”
Sniffing, I swiped at the heavy tears that’d fallen unbidden down my cheeks and nodded slowly. Throat too full of words and pain, I could no longer bear her gaze.
The Creator had given me a task. I was the messenger. I still had a job to do. Today, I would visit Galeta face to face. Today, I would look into her eyes and she into mine, and maybe, hopefully, I would know what to do.
~*~
Galeta
I felt someone watching me.
My heart gave a painful lurch, imagining for a moment it was Syrith. That he’d been unable to bear my solitude another moment and had sought me out. With a jerk, I shoved off the bed. Swiping at my tear-stained face.
But it was not Syrith staring back at me. Rather, a woman. A very pretty woman with large white wings.
I sniffed. “Who are you?”
Had I brought more life into this realm?
Had this strange woman replaced Syrith? At that, a terrible gasp spilled off my tongue, and I clutched at my chest. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t—
“Fear not, wee one,” she said. Her voice was heavenly and soft but heart achingly lovely. “Your dragon is just fine. He’s doing a duty for me.”
I frowned. Was Syrith spending his days with her? Was that where he disappeared to every so oft
en?
Studying her harder this time, I noted the shapely curve of her body. Her breasts—far larger than my own—and her stunning face. My heart sank. She was exactly right for my dragon.
Even from my spot on the bed, I could see her purity, her innocence—it sparkled all through her.
“What is your name?” I asked gently. I wanted to be angry with her, but it seemed impossible to do. She was simply too good. Too kind to hate.
Her smile was crooked as she said, “That seems to be a common greeting among your kind.”
“My kind? Are you not my kind too?”
“No.” She shrugged. “I am not of this world. I’m from one beyond, and I have no name. Although your male has taken to calling me Harpy. So I suppose you may call that as well.”
“My male? Syrith?” I hated how my heart suddenly beat like a drum inside of me, how slick my palms suddenly felt, and how light-headed I got thinking of him as actually belonging to me.
But that idea was absurd.
Fairies didn’t mate.
We had no need for it.
I wet my lips.
Harpy grinned. “Aye. Syrith. I rather like that boy, truth be told. I did not think I would when I first met him. So jaded. So hurt by his life.”
I frowned. That didn’t sound like Syrith at all. He was goodness personified and the strongest person I knew. He kept putting up with me, after all.
She pinched her lips. “Anyway, I merely came to see how you were, little one.”
It would be naïve to assume that Harpy didn’t know what was happening in here. She seemed to know an awful lot as it was. So rather than pretend, I shrugged.
“I don’t know, to be honest. It hurts. Seeing my past. What I’ve done. Knowing that no matter how hard I try, I can never seem to stop being...me.”
My brows bunched. I’d told her more truth almost anyone else in my past. But she didn’t seem to judge me for it. Harpy merely nodded.
“You’ll be okay, wee one. Just trust him not to hurt you. That’s all that’s really holding you back.”
“What? I do trust him.”
“Well, if you did, you wouldn’t have hidden yourself away these past two days, now would you?”