As I waited for the Elder king to prepare, I mentally listed out my few options. Remembering some simple spells from the grimoires, I reached into my bag, summoning a small concoction of herbs and ingredients I kept on me at all times, especially after learning about some of them from Braelynn. I pulled out a water flask and took a fast swig of the fluid and then poured a few drops into my hand holding the herbs. I tossed the flask back into my bag and began furiously rubbing the plants into my palms. The friction sparked as the herbs released their essences, along with a dash of my own magic, which turned it all into a sticky mash.
I grabbed tiny pinches of the mix, dabbing it on vital parts of my body: my neck, chest, abdomen, back, sides, legs, basically anything vulnerable, furiously rubbing it in. I looked like swamp thing when I was through, but I could feel the magic tightening between each vital area as the spell began to weave a natural and durable elemental armor around my body. It was better than nothing, but I hadn’t used it before and didn’t know the extent of its strength. I prayed it would help keep me from dying too quickly during the battle. There was no room to lose. I had to win this or Shade would have an army banging on her door soon enough, issuing demands.
The thought of my family being threatened by this self-important dictator amped me up. I wouldn’t let any of that happen, ever. I would beat this. Something deep inside told me I’d get through it. I hoped.
“Are the warriors ready?” At Oran’s side, I saw Cornelius announcing to the group, like he was of fragging importance. I wondered just how much power he had in Oran’s tribe.
“Yep,” I answered.
“Yes,” Seritus answered and bowed to the “king.” Cornelius threw me a smug grin, and I returned it with a bright, overly happy smile, flashing him my white teeth and bowing a little too deeply. When I looked back up, he wasn’t smiling anymore. In fact, if I wasn’t mistaken, he was staring at me with an air of absolute contempt. I couldn’t wait to slice his throat wide open, but I’d have to take care of him later.
I turned toward Seritus and gripped my sword tightly. Now to kill an Elder King, a Sidhe faery who looked more badass than I ever had. I swallowed back the dryness forming in my mouth and breathed in deeply. I had to stay calm, stay in control.
“Fighters, take your places at opposite sides of the circle.” Cornelius pointed to both ends of the clearing where we were to fight. I peered around to find Paki standing on the other side of Oran, looking glum with a tight frown on his face. I was going to have to remind him to loosen up those facial muscles or he’d get stuck looking like an old man with wrinkles before his time.
I sighed and swung the sword around in a wide arc. The crowd around us gasped and whispered to each other as they studied both the warriors. I was sure they were taking bets on who’d win and became even more certain that I wasn’t the favorite.
Perfect.
“Hold out your swords,” Cornelius instructed. Seritus brought the length of his blade up and I followed with mine. The fire of my Empyrean blade licked the sides of his, but it wasn’t hot enough to melt the steel of his faery sword. I had to hand it to whoever had made my sword. It was indestructible and lightweight and felt like an extension of my arm. Though the Elder King’s sword was also beautiful and well made, it lacked the magic that laced through mine.
“Begin!”
We began by circling each other in the limited space. I couldn’t read Seritus like most of my foes, so I resigned to observing his movements and keeping track of any techniques he liked to use. The guy was like a moving statue. His eyes gave nothing away and his body never wavered, moving like liquid despite his size.
Stepping closer, I decided to test his defenses. I swung my sword toward him, and our blades met with a high-pitched twang. I could feel the force behind his defenses when he blocked me. It was hard and steady since his muscles knew the drill and were stockier than most. I continued to swing at all angles and sides, trying my best to find a vulnerability. All through this, he remained calm, with a stoic mask and looking unfazed by my efforts. Over and over, he blocked my attempts, and I failed to find a single chink in his armor. This frustrated the hell out of me as we paced around the circle once more and I waited for him to make the next move.
“Relent now, and you may live, elemental.” Seritus’s voice surprised me. I hadn’t expected a merciful offer from any of them.
“Or what?”
His eyes remained blank. I swear the guy was as emotionless as a slug. It was not only strange, but made the hairs on my neck stand on end. Who doesn’t show any emotions? Maybe it was a ruse, developed through centuries of conditioning. Who the hell knew? I suspected that living so long, he had forgotten how to express himself, but I didn’t know his entire story. If I lived through this, I’d be sure to try and find out.
“Or this will be your end,” Seritus answered. “I do not condone killing the rarities of this world. Elementals exist in such few numbers. I remember when there were scores of your kind. Now, you’re almost extinct.” He swung forward, crashing into my sword as I scrambled to block it. I barely escaped a slice to stomach and cursed to myself for being so foolish. I was being careless, clumsy and naÏve. I’d been in worse swordfights. Why couldn’t I get it together enough to stay at arm’s length from this massive man? It was beyond me.
“I guess we’ll find out.” I rushed forward in the hopes of getting a surprise jump on him, launching myself up, using his hip as a boost as I swung to the side. My sword clanged against the metal on his back, but it was enough to make him have to step forward to regain his balance. He used the momentum to propel around and slice me on my back right side.
I groaned and stumbled forward, pressing against the wound. A fiery heat seared across the cut, filling me with a sickening pain. It wasn’t deep, at least I didn’t think it was, but it was pouring crimson blood down my side, staining my clothes. I turned to keep him in my line of vision as I regained my composure. Concentrating on the wound, I quickly sent a line of fire magic to the wound, using the heat to weave the wound back together as it cauterized the tiny capillaries leaking blood all over my shirt and down my back. I yelled out from the excruciating pain from the healing and almost passed out. I didn’t usually heal my wounds that way—it was more unbearable than the wound itself—but at the moment, I didn’t have a choice.
I hated doing such a hasty job, but the moment it was done, I was already rolling on the ground to escape Seritus, who was barreling toward me.
I almost tripped dodging the barrier of Unseelie, their hollers and screams filling my head while they waved their arms around and cheered their champion on. It was somewhat disorientating, but I dug my heels into the dirt and mulch of the forest floor, grasping the earth magic I could feel pulsing through the forest. Earth magic was Shade’s domain, but I had grasped some knowledge on how to wrangle it from the grimoires.
It was enough to anchor me and brought my target back into focus. I dove to avoid Seritus’s sword and felt a whoosh of air pass, sending my locks flying up behind me before I rolled across the clearing. I managed to jump to my feet again and found Seritus carefully watching me.
I was already exhausted, feeling the painful throb of the newly closed wound. It was no longer bleeding, but I had lost a lot of blood before I’d healed it. The weakness fired up my muscles, making the dull ache a constant reminder that I was losing. But I wasn’t through. Far from it. Even the impact of clanging swords with a faery ten times stronger than me couldn’t numb me enough to give up yet. So I kept on while feeling pathetic and so very mortal as I huffed for air while Seritus looked like he wasn’t even winded.
This wasn’t going my way at all.
Chapter Twenty-One Allies and Enemies
Allies and Enemies
“Your sister, she’s the queen of the Seelie, is she not?” Seritus swung again and my blade met his just in time. The twang vibrated in my hands, turning them numb and achy. I was breathing through my teeth to keep from hacking ou
t my stomach’s contents. I would see this fight to the end, even if it meant certain death. I spat out blood-tinged saliva, and my lungs burned.
“Yeah. What of it?”
He actually snickered, but his face didn’t betray this. I could have sworn he was doing it for my benefit. What was he getting at?
“You can change his mind,” he offered. We circled each other again, probably only because he was fishing for something out of me.
“How would I do that?” If he thought I was falling for his stupid suggestions, he had another thing coming. Thwack! I slammed my sword against his, near the hilt. He barely noticed.
“He’s a foolish man with foolish aspirations.” Seritus dared to talk down on Oran? What the …?
Another hit, but this one took me by surprise after hearing what he was insinuating. The wide length of his blade whacked me just hard enough it felt like one of my bones cracked. Scrambling backward, I bounced on my feet, shaking off the biting pain.
He was trying to confuse me, catch me off guard. I had to be better than this.
“Oh yeah? Like what?” It was my turn to swing, and I managed to get him on the side with my blade. It caught fire to the small amount of tunic sticking out from under his armor where the scales were tied together, but he didn’t miss a step and put out the flames with one swift brush of his hand.
“I’m talking about offering a way to unite the courts.” Seritus frowned at me, looking suddenly like a tired old man.
Twang! My hand turned numb, and my left arm was barely recovering from the last hit. I zigzagged across the clearing, jumping from foot to foot. This made me feel foolish, but it kept me away from his blade because it allowed me to move away more quickly. It also, however, tired me out even more.
This had to end soon, or I’d get myself killed from the exhaustion.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I huffed.
“Think about it.”
Smack! He bunted me with the end of his sword when I attempted to swipe at his legs, but not as hard as he could have. Stars danced across my vision followed by a black tunneling effect that threatened to swallow me up. I shook my head and felt my feet give out as I stumbled to the ground. I hit with a muted thud, and the smell of moldy mulch mixed with damp earth filled my nostrils. I tried to get up and move, but my limbs wouldn’t cooperate. Moments passed before I could catch my bearings and shift my hands under me to lift up my torso. The world was oddly silent, and my vision was blurred.
Before I could get to my feet and search for my sword, I felt a hand wrap around my hair, knotting its fingers in my locks and yanking with ferocity. My scalp screamed in pain while I reached up to grab the hands twisted in my hair.
“Let me go!” I managed to call out as I struggled. I was sure it was Seritus who had me, but my vision was just clearing up, along with my hearing. The sudden jolt of noise and light was even harder to focus on with the cheering and screaming. I was getting my ass beaten and the Unseelie scum loved it.
In the periphery, I spotted the flash of metal from Seritus’s sword, held out to his side. Shit … was he going to decapitate me? No matter how hard I struggled to get out of his grasp, I failed miserably and hung there like a rag doll in his hands.
“You fool,” he whispered near my ear so only I could hear him. “You have two sisters. Offer one of them up to Oran, it doesn’t matter which one. He’s no idiot. He’ll want an alliance with the Seelie court. We’re all tired of this war. He wants to return to Faerie as much as any of these degenerates. Tell Oran this before I have to kill you.” His logic hit me at once, and I stopped my struggling. Seritus dropped me to the ground, letting go of my hair. I jerked my head up and scanned the crowd to find Oran watching my useless squirming with a mixture of disappointment and amusement.
What a freak. Time to end his party.
“Okay, okay!” I hollered, throwing my hands up as Seritus raised his sword, and the legions of warriors chanted “Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!”
“I call for a truce!” I hissed. To his credit, Seritus lowered his weapon and waited. Finally, I managed to scream out at the self-proclaimed Unseelie king, “Oran … please … hear me out. I call for a truce. A truce between our courts.”
Seritus’s sword slammed into the ground beside me, sinking into the soft earth. I continued to gasp because my side was burning again. My muscles ached, and my head was especially killing me.
Oran got to his feet, and the arena of warriors became silent in one swift wave of his hand. At least he had his group well trained. They eagerly waited to see my demise, and most looked somewhat disappointed and angry. I struggled to get off my knees and up onto my feet. Paki ran out to catch me as I fell to the ground again. No one ran after to restrain him, which I hoped signaled that something would finally go our way.
The look he gave me as he hooked his arm underneath mine to help me up was one of pity and sorrow. My head was spinning, and I was sure I had a concussion. Blood seeped from a cut on my lip and on my right eyebrow, and there was most likely a missing chunk of scalp where my hair had been ripped out. Yep, I’m sure I was looking as far from man of the year as one could get.
With Paki to steady me, I was able to peer up toward Oran who was now standing with a spiteful glare aimed our way.
“What sort of truce are you offering?” His face twitched while his jaw ground down into his teeth, making it look like he might not have any left when he was done.
“Uh, well … you see,” I stuttered. Shit. Now I had to offer up one of my sisters. How was that going to work out when Shade was already married? There was Anna, but she was barely of age to marry. She was still too young, and I’d never turn her over to the likes of him.
“He told me he wants to offer a truce of the Faerie courts,” Seritus started without me, and I turned to glare at him with the nastiest death look I could manage without wincing in pain.
“Really? What sort of union do you propose, Benton?” Oran’s mouth upturned into a surly grin.
“I didn’t propose anything. I … he …” I pointed at Seritus. “He said to offer you up one of my sisters to unite the two courts, but neither of my sisters would ever marry you. Shade’s already married, and Anna would never accept you.”
Oran cocked his head as he watched me. I was sure I’d said something of interest, but I was ready to grab my sword off the ground and thrust it into the Unseelie leader’s chest.
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong, elemental. There are rules for truces here, unlike in your honorless society.” Oran started walking toward me and came to a stop a few feet ahead of us. I flicked my eyes to my sword, which was lying about three feet away to my left. Seritus’s sword stuck out of the ground but two feet to my right. It left me calculating which would be the better choice to pounce on if I needed to.
“It’s an old Faerie law that when the land is in jeopardy, alliances must be forged between the two faery courts. When this happens, it’s very possible to break any current bonds between fey lovers that bind royalty to facilitate a truce to keep Faerie safe.” Oran’s smile sent a cold, silvery thread of chills down my spine.
What?
Was that true? Oran couldn’t be trusted. I needed to confirm this with someone neutral or someone from the Seelie Realm. If it was true, what could it mean for Shade? This would seriously suck for her if it was true. He’d force Shade to marry him and break her heart.
“You’re lying.” I spat the remnants of blood from my mouth onto the ground.
Oran’s laugh echoed throughout the expanse of trees, bouncing off into the distance. No one was laughing with him. I could only feel for them since they were obviously afraid of him. Or not.
“Ah. To a mortal like yourself, these rules don’t apply. But Shade is not just mortal, is she? She’s bound by the rules of the Land of Faerie.”
Well ain’t that a downer?
“What do you want me to do?” My body shook, exhaustion, dehydration and blood loss, n
ot to mention my woozy head, were all catching up to me. “I can ask Shade, but I’m sure she’ll turn you down. What then?”
Oran narrowed his eyes, looking thoughtful. After a moment, his eyes brightened, a new plan forming visibly on his face. It only caused me dread, and I didn’t want to hear or be part of any of it. “You’re in luck. You won’t be dying today. You’re our pass into Faerie so we can speak with her.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at this ridiculous proposition. If he thought either of my sisters would marry him to unite the courts, he was going to be severely disappointed. All I could do was shake my head.
Regardless, Oran folded his arms across his chest, looking calm and composed. “We’ll return you to her. If you’re our prisoner, we can return you to the queen in good faith, which allows me passage through the Seelie Court of Faerie. Then she will have to break her bonds to her husband and marry me.”
Man, this wasn’t looking good. I felt my face pale as I took a few steps toward my Empyrean blade. When he turned away to walk back to his makeshift throne, I bolted toward my sword, sliding across the damp ground feeling twigs, rocks and other tiny things tear up my knees. Just as my fingers clasped around the hilt of my blade, it came to life with an explosive rush of fire. But before I could get back to my feet, I felt another smack against the back of my head that sent the blade flying from my grasp. My body sprawled onto the ground, my face slamming into the rocky mulch. I barely registered anything as a looming shadow approached and peered distastefully down at me.
My eyes were still open, stunned as I tried to turn and see who had hit me. I got nothing but a brief glance of Seritus reaching toward me before my mind gave up and the black curtains fell, plunging me into darkness.