Chapter 31

THIRTY-ONE

ELLIE

I marched toward the army with Savina by my side. The moment Tephine took the bait and followed Stellan and our decoys, Bash and Collins took off for Crystal Henge. It was just the two of us now against a whole army. Weston and Shylock had called the fae back into a retreat once those rifts opened up. They circled back now and landed on either side of Savina and me.

“Have we got a plan for this?” Shylock trudged in the snow beside me.

I shrugged. “Kill as many as possible and not die ourselves.”

“Seems feasible.” He flexed his fingers and that sage-green power seeped from his hands. He flapped his wings and took off, flying high above us.

Weston tilted his head back and watched his brother circle overhead. “You know, on occasion, I find him slightly terrifying.”

“Don’t we all?”

As we closed in on the castle, a group of the fae villagers joined in behind us, giving me a small group at best. They were no match in numbers for whatever army this was. Their weapons were made of sharpened crystals and subtle powers over nature. Nothing to the degree of our powers.

A tall strong fae man ran up to us and Weston nodded to him. “Aphid.”

“What is that?” He pointed toward the army marching toward us.

I answered honestly. “An army of unknown origin, size, and strength.”

“And you’re just going to walk in there and fight them?” Aphid raised his eyebrows at the three of us.

“Yes,” Savina, Weston, and I answered at the same time.

"Okay then.” He pressed his lips into a hard line and shook his head. “Count me in.”

“If your people aren’t ready for this or are too young or not experienced enough, they should leave now and take shelter.” I kept the nerves out of my voice and sounded more confident than I had any right to feel.

“And go where? We either help fight or die with the realm around us.” He held his sword at his side.

“Fair point. Stay clear of me and Savina. Stay back and pick off any of the stragglers who get past us. Try to keep them away from the village.”

He gave me a nod and fell back behind us.

Savina looked me up and down. “Expert military advice?”

I shrugged. “I love superheroes and battles are my favorite. This is like the Battle of the Five Armies.”

Savina grinned. “There’s the Ellie I know.”

We came to a stop. Before us was the army roaring and ready for battle. They raised their weapons above their heads and yelled toward our little contingent.

“Right, best be off.” Weston was about to take off when I stopped him.

“Weston, Stellan may need a ride shortly.” I motioned in the opposite direction. “He’s playing ghost and decoy with Sandra and Jada. If they can’t get him out, I need you to do it.”

“Consider it done.” He took off flying and joined Shylock soaring above us.

I sucked in a deep breath and let my power flow. Purple magic poured from my hands and thick purple clouds rolled overhead.

Savina gave a dark chuckle. “Don’t hold back, Eloise.”

My body lifted off the ground and the wind kicked up around me. My hair blew back from my face. I opened my hands, letting the lightning above hit me. Energy surged through my body. I smiled. Savina moved away from me and in the corner of my eye I saw her red lightning flare to life. The army charged forward with an earth-shattering roar. A scream ripped up my throat and I let my lighting go.

It flowed out of me, striking the army in front of us. It exploded across them, taking down multiple people. The ground rocked and exploded, sending snow and ice flying up into the air. Bodies flew in different directions. Their skin was charred from my electricity. The army rushed forward. With a grin, I threw my purple fire into the first line. They shrieked as they turned to ash and dust.

I marched forward and fired my flames into their numbers. Their blue skin turned to ash, and when my wind whipped through their numbers, their remains blew out of my way, staining the wait snow a dark, dirty color. A large soldier lunged toward me with a sword that was twice the size of my body. I ducked under his swing and rolled to the side, like I’d been trained to do. I threw my hand out and lightning exploded between us. He flinched back but the lightning put a nasty gash across his rib cage. Blood flowed down his side and dripped into the white snow around his feet.

He roared and bared his teeth at me. His eyes were round with rage and every muscle in his bulky body twitched with strength. He was at least two feet taller than me, with stringy white hair hanging from the top of his head. His clothing wasn’t like anything that I’d seen before but could only be described as brown leather-like pants. He wore no shirt, like the cold had no effect on him. When his eyes met mine, they were filled with hate, and I had no idea who or what the hell they were, but I knew I didn’t deserve their hatred.

He swung at me again, so I flicked my hand and my wind caught him. I lifted him off the ground and spun him around like the teacups ride at Disney World. His arms and legs flailed as I spun him.

“Savina! Catch!” I threw him to the side right in her path.

Red lightning cracked across the field, hitting multiple soldiers on its way to the one I’d thrown to her. Her power rolled over him as he fell to the ground. His body convulsed into spasms on the ground between us. I ran toward him just as he dropped his sword. I used my wind to whip it up and toss it at another soldier charging for Savina. It soared right past her and sank into the soldier’s chest. He flew back and skidded across the ice, crashing into three more of his friends.

Savina marched up to the one she had pinned to the ground. “Who the hell are you?”

He gritted his teeth but said nothing. She hit him harder with her power and he threw his head back screaming.

She gave him a second to breathe. “Where are you coming from?”

His reflexes were lightning quick. He pulled a knife from the band of his pants.

I reached for him. “Savina!”

But I was too late. He jabbed the knife into his own throat, severing his artery. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as blood spurted from his neck.

She looked up at me with wide eyes. “They’d rather die than tell us who they work for.”

“Or where they came from.”

That only told me one thing. Whoever they were working for was more terrifying than death itself. Savina lifted her hand and shot lightning over my shoulder at the same time as I threw a ball of fire. Each of us protected the other’s back. I turned away from the body and marched forward with her by my side. We cleared a path into the center of their ranks.

Aphid soared over our heads with the other fae. They might have been smaller than the army, but they were much faster. They darted between their large bodies and slashed the backs of knees. They jabbed their swords into thighs and necks. They moved through the army like tiny hummingbirds, nearly invisible to the eye, yet when they struck, their victims fell like trees being hacked down. I followed the swarm, striking the soldiers that’d fallen with lightning to take them out of commission permanently.

When I reached the center of their army I stopped and found Shylock standing in the middle of a circle of destruction. He held his hands out and that sage-green smoke crept over the ground like snakes made of fog. It rolled over their feet and wound around them. There was nothing aggressive or violent about the way Shylock’s power worked. It was seductive and gentle, like a suggestion they just had to take.

The army crept toward him, but they held their weapons at the ready. They kicked at the smoke around their feet, but when it did nothing, they moved closer. He drew his sword, holding it at the ready with his great big golden wings spread behind him. His armor glistened and reflected my flashing purple lightning and Savina’s red magic. When they were within striking distance, he smirked and lifted his hands.

That sage fog shot up into the air like a spotlight. He glanced my way. “Bit of assistance, if you please, Eloise?”

“With pleasure.” I lifted my arms and let my wind gather around my legs. I shot up into the air with a huge tornado coming from my body.

He fired more of his power to mix with my wind. I flew across the field of battle and around the castle. The fae all veered away from me as I swept his power around the army closest to the castle. They all froze, holding their arms out and examining themselves waiting for something to happen. I dropped down next to Shylock, and he inclined his head toward me.

“That ought to do it.” He snapped his fingers and there was a change in the air. A feeling of anger settled heavily around us and I wrinkled my nose.

“Ugh that feels—” a shiver went down my spine, “—icky.”

“Isn’t it just?”

The warriors around us started pushing each other at first. Arguments broke out all around us as they turned on one another. Their voices raised as their fighting escalated. If I hadn’t been standing in Third Realm freezing and watching these hulking things for myself, I would’ve thought it was something out of a pirate movie bar fight. One collided with another and suddenly swords were drawn and they started fighting against each other. They threw punches at one another. It was utter chaos.

Shylock flapped his wings and shot straight up into the air with a grin, then dove down, taking swings at the army with his sword as he moved.

I called upon my wind and rose up into the air, soaring above the raging battle. It took everything in me not to look toward Crystal Henge where Collins and Bash had gone. It took even more self-control to not gaze off after my soulmate, Stellan. Instead, I opened up my arms and let the lightning strike. Power surged through my body, and I rained down hell on them all.