“And you wish for my help to defend your city?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “The each uisge are holding the kelpie king prisoner beneath this pier, the same pier on which your kingdom stands. I don’t know if you care about Harborsmouth, but I do think you care about your own people.”
I clamped my mouth shut and waited. Hopefully I hadn’t said too much already. Fae were easy to offend and I had a tendency to blurt out everything that I was thinking. I did, at least, try to be polite.
The Green Lady’s cloven hooves scraped the ground as she began to pace. She didn’t strike me down, turn me to stone, or order “off with her head” which I took as a positive sign. I started to relax for the first time since stumbling into her grove.
“So it is true then,” she whispered.
The glaistig slumped forward, her shoulders bowing as she seemed to draw in upon herself. Her long golden hair hung in a flaxen cascade that hid her face, but I could tell from the way she held herself that this had come as a blow. I gave her a minute to collect herself, not wanting to intrude on her grief.
“Some of my people have recently gone missing,” she said, turning back toward me. Her green skin had taken on a sickly sheen, but she raised her chin and met my amber eyes with her emerald ones. “I had hoped that they were just out wandering, it is common enough behavior among the trooping faeries, but in my heart I knew that they were dead. Each one had disappeared without saying a word to anyone and they left all of their treasured belongings behind.”
Hitting the road without bragging about their destination and leaving everything they owned behind? That definitely didn’t sound like any fae I knew. It was especially worrisome that they’d left without packing up their prized possessions. Faeries were like magpies, collecting everything that caught their fancy. They might wander off without telling their friends, but faeries would never walk away from their hoards of treasure.
“It had to have been the each uisge,” I said, pounding my fist into my gloved hand. Mab’s bones. Those bastards would kill and eat anything that moved—and not necessarily in that order. “There has to be something we can do to stop them taking over the city.”
“What are you willing to give me if my people join you in this fight?” she asked.
Oh, of course, the bargaining. Faeries have made an art of haggling over deals. They even give demons a run for their money. But what did I have to bargain with, my soul?
The glaistig was staring at me hungrily with green, gleaming eyes waiting for my answer. I sucked in a deep breath, preparing to offer what I could to save the city, when my phone jangled loudly from my pocket. Damn, I’d forgotten to turn off the ringer.
I felt my face flush, cheeks burning in frustrated embarrassment, but was saved the full force of the glaistig’s anger. One of her servants, an ogre armed to the teeth, came rushing to her side. While she turned to confer with her guard, I used the opportunity to check my phone. The name “Kaye” was flashing on the screen so I hit the button to take the call.
“Kaye?” I asked. “Um, can this wait? Now’s not really a good time.”
“Mab’s bloody bones, lass!” Hob said. The brownie was out of breath and sounded terrified. “Listen, girl. Kaye’s been cookin’ her seein’ spells. Says yer under attack. Get out o’ there. Kaye and her hunter friends will meet ye near Wharf Street.”
Mab’s bloody bones, indeed. I could tell from the harried look of the glaistig, and the orders she was shouting to her guards, that Kaye’s spell had seen true. Prophecy spells were usually too convoluted to make sense of, and cost the caster dearly, but my friend must have felt it was worth the risk. It would have been a nasty surprise to discover the each uisge planned to launch their attack tonight.
“Okay, got it,” I said. “I’m with the glaistig, um, The Green Lady, now.”
“Ye got cotton in yer ears, lass?” Hob asked. “Run!”
The line went dead and I ran to the glaistig who was now standing beside a wooden chest filled with weapons. Spears, swords, and arrows appeared to have been carved from trees and tipped with stone. When most of your army are allergic to iron, you got creative. These looked more like art than weapons, but I was sure that in fae hands they were plenty deadly.
“I have to leave, so I’ll take that answer now,” I said. “My friends are waiting for me. Will you stand with us against the each uisge or will you run? I have it on good authority that they’re about to attack Harborsmouth.”
“We will fight alongside you if you give me a boon,” she said.
“Sure, whatever,” I said, shrugging one shoulder.
“A wish to be granted at a later date,” she said.
She wanted me to owe her a favor that she would collect in the future. It didn’t seem like a bad bargain. In fact, it was a total no-brainer. If the glaistig and her army of carnival fae didn’t help us fight the each uisge, there would be no future. What was there to lose?
“Yes,” I said. “I promise.”
She looked amused. Well, bully for her.
“Since we are allies in this battle, I will bestow upon you a gift of knowledge,” she said.
“For what price?” I asked.
“One more favor?” she asked. “The information is not widely known and would give you a potential advantage over our opponent.”
“Sure,” I said, gesturing with my hand for her to continue.
“You are aware of how stealing a kelpie’s bridle removes his or her free will, so this should not be a difficult concept,” she said. “Every each uisge wears a piece of seaweed with similar powers. Steal the weed from an each uisge and they will no longer be your enemy.”
Great. If the pictures in Kaye’s books were accurate, then the creatures wore seaweed like a clown wears make-up.
“How will I know it’s the right piece of seaweed?” I asked.
“When he stops trying to eat you,” she said. “And, Ivy? That is two favors that you now owe me.”
I agreed to her terms and she nodded. The bargaining was over. It was now time to fight.
Chapter 19
The screams of terrified families were quickly drowned out by an electronic shrieking and wailing. The loud sound blasts, like a car alarm on steroids, were coming from an observation tower that stood overlooking the pier. Someone had triggered the severe weather warning siren. Good thinking.
The emergency warning system could be set off by radio transmitter, or, as I suspected in this case, magic. The alarm system was tied into a network of speakers and flashing beacons attached to navigation buoys and atop buildings, lighthouses, and water towers up and down the coast. That would get humans traveling out of the harbor and moving inland to higher ground. Nobody wanted to be standing at sea level when a hurricane or tsunami hit ground.
Little did they know that the true threat was much more eager to draw blood. Nature could be cruel, but the each uisge took death and destruction to a whole new level. A hurricane or tsunami could kill you, and leave the city a wasteland, but at least nature didn’t take pleasure in torturing you for a few days before letting you die.
The cacophony of sounds nearly blistered my ears and, for the length of one ragged breath, stopped all higher thought in its tracks. My imagination running wild with images of bloodthirsty each uisge probably wasn’t helping either. Thankfully, my lizard brain was working just fine.
“Fight or flight, idiot!” my body screamed at me. I raised a shaking hand to wipe my brow as traitorous perspiration slid into wide, unblinking eyes. My heart beat against my ribs like a wild beast trying to escape captivity. Even my saliva abandoned ship, leaving my mouth dry as desert sand.
Okay, right. It was time to run like hell, definitely, but which way? I was lost in a sea of tents with armed faerie creatures running, flying, and slithering in every conceivable direction.
I turned back to where the glaistig had been standing, thinking to ask her what path was the quickest way to the exit, but she was no longer app
roachable. The diminutive lady had disappeared, replaced by a seven-foot tall behemoth. Glowing phantom glaistigs flew like angry specters toward the faerie queen. She was gathering pieces of herself, retrieving the tiny shards she had scattered throughout the world to watch over her people. As she drew in more power, the glaistig came to resemble a true fae leader, one to rival Oberon in stature and Mab in ferocity.
While I stood, mouth gaping, she grew even larger in size, now a twin to The Green Lady painted on the main attraction tent. But where the painting invited guests inside with a quirk of the lips and a dancing pose, this Green Lady snarled with rage and used her goat legs and cloven hooves to stomp a wagon, and an approaching each uisge, to dust.
A second each uisge galloped into sight, which made my stomach churn. I had read about these creatures in Kaye’s books and watched them in my visions, but nothing prepared me for seeing one in the flesh. The monster was death incarnate, from the milky orbs of its dead eyes to the dripping fangs, sickle claws, poisoned spines, razor sharp exoskeleton of its legs, and dark mangy fur stretched thin over jutting ribs and hips.
For the second time tonight, I froze. I felt like someone had replaced my blood with strawberry slushie, causing a chill to creep up my spine and turning my veins to ice.
With a stroke of luck, the approaching each uisge didn’t target me as his first victim. A running satyr wasn’t so lucky.
The satyr was moving fast, carrying an armload of weaponry and a satchel containing messages. He, (Satyrs are always male, a fact evident for anyone with eyes. They never wear clothes, preferring to display their manhood for all adoring female fae to see. Normally that fact would have me throwing up a little and reaching for extra-strength brain bleach, but not today. I was too busy being terrified by the each uisge invasion.), never saw the attack coming.
Spears and staves went flying as the each uisge launched itself onto the satyr’s back. The satyr struck the ground hard, but immediately tried to turn itself around to reach its attacker. Little did he know, he was already too late.
When the each uisge leaped onto the satyr, it latched on using the shredding and gripping power of its barnacle and chitin covered forelegs. Shimmying up the satyr’s back with amazing speed, it managed to straddle the poor creature. As soon as the each uisges’ rear legs were close enough, it hooked its wicked sickle claws into the satyr’s hind quarters.
The satyr flailed, but couldn’t dislodge the water horse. It twisted to face its attacker, knife in hand, but the fight was already lost. While the each uisge climbed up the satyr’s back, it drove the long, needle-like, barbs of its forelegs into the flesh along the satyr’s spine. The fast-acting neurotoxin was already causing paralysis in the satyr’s extremities. It would only be a matter of seconds before he would lose the ability to move at all, but he would remain conscious. The each uisge liked their prey to be aware, as they flayed the flesh from their bones.
This one was in a hurry—no time for flaying. That didn’t stop it from making a snack of the satyr’s shoulder. The black horse-like head lunged forward, fangs and needle-teeth gleaming in the carnival lights. The each uisge continued to chew on muscle and bone as it reared back on hind legs, the helpless satyr dangling from its mouth. The faerie finally dropped its knife, fingers twitching against empty air. Not bothering to finish the satyr off, the each uisge flung the man to the ground to fall like a bloody ragdoll.
As he turned to search for more humans and faeries to hunt, the each uisge gave the satyr a vicious kick to the face, crushing his jaw. Something inside me shattered, releasing a burning rage. This is what happened to Marvin—the poor, innocent, sweet, smiling kid that I’d come to care for in just a few days. One of these plague infested, overgrown sea horses had kicked in my friend’s face, just like this asshat was doing to the dying satyr. Kicking a man when he’s down wasn’t very sportsmanlike, now was it?
Bastard.
I let the rage build in my chest. Anger burned away the ice in my veins and salt laden air rushed in to fill my chest as I released a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. Strength returned to my legs and I ran. It may have seemed cowardly, but I vowed to do everything I could to rid my city of these monsters. I wouldn’t do anyone any good, if I was dead.
I had lost my chance to ask for directions, the glaistig was no longer in sight, so I picked the path farthest from the blood-crazed each uisge. I searched for any familiar scenery in the strobe flashes of buildings, people, and amusement rides that were there, then gone again, as I ran past narrow pathways between the tents.
Finally, I caught a glimpse of a familiar Harborsmouth landmark. Dodging around rope and canvas, I came out before a row of low, wooden booths containing games of chance. The skyline, which had been obstructed until now by carnival tents, shone brightly in the distance. I could clearly see the steeple of Sacred Heart church high atop Joysen Hill. I now knew in which direction to run.
I ran.
My lungs burned and leg muscles screamed in protest, but I ran. I continued running even when I rounded a corner to find a pile of discarded corpses. The scene was both grotesque and sad. Mothers and fathers still held pieces of their children in their arms—an evening at the amusement park gone horribly wrong. Wiping tears from my eyes with the back of a gloved hand, I ran. The dead would be mourned when this was all over, if any of us survived, but, for now, I focused on the living. There were still lives that could be saved.
I ran.
With every pounding thrust of my legs, I sent up a silent prayer that my friends were still alive and safe. When it came to praying, I was no expert. I knew a few anti-demon prayers, so I started with those. Then I decided not to discriminate. I prayed to God, the Goddess, Zeus, Oberon, Titania, Mab, the Easter Bunny, and Santa freaking Claus. I didn’t think I could bear stepping over the bodies of my friends, like I had the bodies of strangers. I remembered a pale, bloodied arm ringed with an intricate rose tattoo. It reminded me of Jinx. I shook my head and prayed harder.
Still running, I searched my pockets for my phone, but came up empty. It was urgent that I pass along the information the glaistig had given me. If Kaye had known about the magic seaweed, she’d have mentioned it earlier. I needed my phone, now. Oberon’s eyes, where was the damn thing? I checked each pocket again. Nothing but pocket lint, No.2 pencils, and the lighter I’d brought to my meeting with the city vampires.
I pushed myself into a sprint as I burst out into the open stretch of pier beside the Ferris wheel and carousel ride. This section of the park, so close to the entry gates, was abandoned. The lack of laughing families, and abundance of blood, cast an eerie pall. Even the carousel horses seemed to leer as they bobbed up and down in their perpetual dance.
The emergency siren continued to wail over the discordant carousel music, but I heard another sound, could almost feel it vibrating up through the soles of my boots. It thundered like an avalanche, which even my fear-addled brain recognized as out of place here at sea level. I turned my focus from the spinning carousel to the sky, and nearly fell.
The ground heaved at my feet, deck planking thrusting upward and thin tarmac breaking apart, as something forced its way up from the churning waters beneath the pier. The white carousel horse was replaced by its midnight cousin; if that cousin were a serial killer decorated in ropes of blood and seaweed rather than blue and gold paint.
The each uisge climbed up through the broken planks and pavement like a spider. Alighting on the ground in front of me, it blocked my path. I tried to focus on the milky white eyes that sat like eggs in the each uisges’ face, rather than the dripping fangs and sickle claws. My friends needed the glaistig’s information. I had to survive.
Tilting its head to the side, the each uisge regarded me with curiosity. I wasn’t screaming, peeing my pants, or running away. I was, however at risk of passing out with fear. I pulled in a deep calming breath and tried to focus.
I grabbed hold of my anger and embraced it. Stoking the fire of my rage, I rem
embered my vision of Marvin being beaten by these creatures. The tension in my shoulders released. I shifted my weight, letting my hands hang loosely at my sides. The each uisge were swift and deadly, but I knew their weakness. I also could see through their glamour. This one was trying, ironically, to look like the carousel horse behind him.
I narrowed my eyes and searched his body for seaweed. If I could grab the correct slimy clump, then I might live. In a matter of seconds, I came to a realization. Even with the tip from the glaistig regarding the each uisges’ Achilles heel, I was screwed.
Trying to find a piece of magic seaweed on an each uisge was like searching for a needle in haystack. A haystack that was looking at me as if it wanted to skin me alive, eat me like a screaming fudge brownie, and pick its teeth with my bones.
I was staring into those hungry eyes, trying to ignore the saliva dripping from black fangs, as an arrow plunged into one milky white orb. The arrow came from my right, striking the each uisges’ left eye. The each uisge stumbled as it turned to face the direction of its new attacker, no longer curious about the tiny fly in its web. I took a step back, wondering if I could make it around the each uisge unnoticed.
No, probably not. Even blinded in one eye, the each uisge was a powerful killing machine. This one was tearing up the pavement as it stomped its feet and swung its head to dislodge the arrow.
I continued backing up, hoping to distance myself from the enraged beast, until the heel of my boot struck metal. My retreat came to a halt. I was out of room to move. Colorful lights shone from hundreds of electric bulbs and movement stirred hair on the back of my neck. I didn’t want to take my eyes from the primary threat, but was almost certain that I had backed myself into the still operating Ferris wheel.