Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

ORION

W endy worked as fast as she could, filling up as many viable cells as possible.

Now and again, even as the pain in my belly pinned me to the floor, I would lift my head to see what King Damien was doing.

Nothing much, just watching the queen bee and smirking at me whenever he caught me looking. Very much the cat who found the key to a storage facility filled with cream.

Would I really die here, my purpose in the bigger picture a spec of scarlet in the corner? Just because I'd survived this long, it didn't mean I got to be at the grand finale.

Stars. Pessimism was never fun. But I didn't trust the king. He wouldn't heal me. He would leave me here to die after taking the honey, never giving me a second thought.

What about Dawn? It still watched on, keeping its creepy lips sealed, absorbing the moment. Probably preparing an inferno or something to wipe out the honey.

Why hadn't the king or his guards crushed the head?

"Your Majesty," Damien said. "How much longer is this going to take? I really don't mean to rush you, but time is of the essence, as I'm sure you are aware."

Wendy answered with an irritable buzz, offering him no answers.

I loved the sassiness of that sound. It reminded me of her equally sassy beeps.

Good one, Wendy. I'm so proud.

The king sighed. "Rude. Well, I suppose we can talk now."

I lifted my head to see he'd addressed Dawn, whose bright-pink eyes sparkled when they rolled in the direction of the king.

"Silly king," Dawn said. "Silly king wants to talk to me?"

"I do, yes."

Damien confused me. One moment he wanted to leave, all meek and weak, leaning on his guards, completely defeated. But now he wanted to chat with the severed head?

Made no sense to me.

"What is it that you want?" the king asked Dawn.

"I am the greatest power. I am beyond your tiny mind. Do not ask me silly questions, silly king. You will see. I will spread everywhere, greater than before."

I kept my head up, unable to stop my spectating.

"Fine. I understand that. However, what does that mean? What are you? A god? Something else? A bit of everything?"

Even in this condition, my anger bubbled like paint under a blowtorch.

You helped make it!

Dawn made a clicking sound before answering. "You cannot comprehend me."

I licked my lips, my throat dry. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get these next words out, yet I tried anyway.

"If…" I cleared my throat, pushing the agony buttons in other parts of my body. "If you had a hand in this, then surely you already know what Dawn is."

King Damien glanced at me. "I am no grunt, Orion. I contributed money, blood, and supplies, not my personal labor." He chuckled, his guards echoing him. "Stay out of the conversation. You are not permitted to join in."

My goodness, the man deserved every type of pounding—and I don't mean the good kind.

I lowered my head again, my hair soaked from sweat, the pain vicious.

Unfortunately, there were no painkillers lying about, and no signs of me passing out to relieve this agony. The best I could do was stay as still as possible and send my prayers to the stars for another miracle. Because even though my survival wasn't written in stone, I would fight for my life. No matter the helplessness acting like iron chains, I would always resist the end.

For love.

For life.

For Miko.

"Silly king will ask me no more questions," Dawn clapped back in a voice that hummed through my bones. "Your crown does not grant you the authority to converse with me, lesser being."

I lifted my head again to see the look on the king's face.

Ah, what sweet joy to see him stunned. If it didn't hurt so much, I would pee myself laughing.

The king slapped his thighs angrily, springing to his feet. "I am partly your maker. You will speak to me, and you will answer my questions."

Dawn pursed its lips once again, releasing a stream of pink smoke straight into Damien's face.

"Your Majesty!" the guards cried in sync. They caught him as he collapsed, lowering him to sit on the ground.

His azure eyes flooded pink as his hands trembled. He looked at me, he looked at his guards, then bent over with a violent retch and vomited black goo onto the ground.

Dawn's cackle quickly became a scream. Pink steam curled from the skull's crown, the rest of it spasming as if caught in a seizure.

"Dirty… Dirty blood…"

Damien gasped, coughing wetly, as if his chest were full of fluids. It took him a good few minutes to be finally able to stand again, aided by his loyal men.

The skull began to melt, the stink of burning flesh stinging my nostrils.

"Your special blood will spill," Dawn managed, clearly in agony. "I?—"

With a fizz and pop, the skull became a puddle, Dawn gone.

Fae blood. Our blood. We could do something with it, use it to fight back. If Dawn evolved, then so could we. Maybe. There had to be a way of utilizing this as a weapon against the assbug.

Damien, his cheeks flushed crimson, sat back on the log, furious over being put in his place.

Wendy landed on my cheek again. "How are you feeling?"

I put my head back down. "Awful."

"Maybe some water will help. It won't heal you, but it might give you the strength to fight on."

"Okay."

"I'm sorry I didn't think of it before. I'm so… Oh, Orion."

"Don't worry. There's so much…going on."

My little buzzy friend took off and hovered above me, her eyes flashing in the direction of the king. "I have a request that will benefit you, too."

"Go on," the king answered coolly.

She told him about the moat.

"You can drink from it," she added. "As long as you help my friend."

I listened to the king's footsteps slowly approach me. He came to a stop, towering above me, his hair fanning around his face as he looked down.

"What a wonderful friend you have, Orion." He snapped his fingers, and a guard emptied his water canteen, filling it with the golden liquid.

The king gave him a nod before he carefully poured the sugared water down my throat. Its boosting properties were so, so welcome, surging through me, putting up temporary walls against the inevitable. I could even lift my head a little higher.

"Thank you," Wendy said, returning to her work.

"Go back to the carriage and bring more canteens," the king ordered one of his men. "There are plenty of them in the storage hold."

"Yes, my king." He darted off through the tunnel, crawl-walking as fast as his long legs could take him.

"Thank you," the king purred, drawing out his words. "I am so glad I paid this visit, after all."

Why couldn't he go back to being angry and scared and running away with his tail between his legs?

Ugh.

Damien helped himself to some water, a sickening grin stretching his mouth, golden droplets glistening on his lips.

"This is incredible," he intoned. "I feel extraordinary, as if I have enjoyed the best meal of my life." He stretched his limbs, then drank some more. "What a wonderful discovery."

"Our blood," I said. "We can?—"

But the returning guard cut me off. The three men soon scooped up more water, laughing together, drinking as if this was some bar on Saturday night. Merrily passing the time without a care in the world, not registering what'd just happened to Dawn.

"Our blood…" I tried again to no avail.

Sounds came from the tunnel, killing their foolish camaraderie. Something scuttling in there was coming at us. Fast.

The guards got into position to protect their king, Damien pretty much standing beside me now, fear all over his face.

There. Much better. Fear suited him, as did the terrified tremors in his hands.

Now you know how it feels to be afraid, I thought.

Holding my head up, I watched the darkness of the tunnel between the legs of the guards. Lights appeared, eight of them. Pale green, shimmering, strange.

"What is that?" the king rasped.

The spider launched itself from the darkness, taking down the guard on the right. He shrieked, dropping his sword. A terrifyingly huge white spider pinned him to the ground. Eight green eyes seemed to search the room even though they didn't move. Its fangs punctured his chest, its legs tapping the mud, silk spraying from its swollen abdomen.

The other guard charged, swinging his sword. He sliced off a spider leg, the creature screeching.

"By the stars!" the king cried.

The guard made another swipe with his sword, taking another leg. He twirled, avoiding the spray of web, stabbing at the spider's abdomen.

The arachnid's squeal was ear-splitting.

Regardless of my hatred for the king and his guards, I wanted them to succeed, especially when I lay here like a ready meal.

A new set of eyes appeared in the tunnel.

Crap. This was all going to…what was that saying? Hell in a paper bag? No. Hell in a handbasket.

The guard sliced his sword through the abdomen, a fizzing white slime spilling across the ground. With one final shriek, the spider fell dead just as the next one charged into the hive.

"In the name of the king!" the guard boomed, rushing it.

This spider reacted quickly, spitting silk into his face. The man fell to his knees, muffled cries behind the white sticky stuff. He clawed at it, his weapon forgotten, clearly unable to breathe. Vulnerable, exposed, prime meat for the spider's fangs.

I watched as the spider drove those fangs into his torso. The guard collapsed and went as still as his comrade beside him.

Were they dead? I couldn't tell.

The king stayed by my side, shaking.

A terrifying silence filled the hive, aside from Wendy's buzzing. The spider stood there, unmoving in the way spiders did. Watching, ready to strike at any moment.

Pixie balls. What next? Would it take over the hive, build a lair here and add us to its menu?

Wendy flew down from the honeycomb heights to greet the spider. It lifted its two front legs, lowering its body as if bowing.

"Anya," Wendy said. "How long has it been?"

What was going on here? Wendy conversing with a spider that might have killed two guards?

"Too long, Your Majesty. You are a wonderful sight for these weary eyes." There was a strange effect on her voice, like an echo on a microphone.

"Likewise. But what are you doing here?"

Anya lifted herself up from her bowing pose. "We sensed your return. The entire forest feels it. We thought you were under attack by fae here to spoil everything again." A strong dose of sadness tainted her tone. Wendy's disappearance all those years ago affected everything in this forest, it seemed. The mournful atmosphere I felt when I arrived here was much more palpable than I could have ever imagined.

This was grief in its rawest form.

"Stars…" I breathed.

"I'm fine," Wendy answered. "I'm here to…" She hesitated for a moment, and then explained everything.

The spider moved slightly to the left. "Incredible. Oh dear. A thousand apologies for charging in here so headstrong. We didn't mean to spoil your task. But do not fear, these men are not dead. Give them a day and they shall walk again."

King Damien said nothing, his hands clasped across his chest.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Wendy said. "Agatha lost her life defending my honor when she didn't need to. This never should have happened. I should have alerted the forest to my presence better."

"We will always defend you, Your Majesty. Always. We have missed you greatly, and have prayed to the stars for your safe return across the years."

"You are too kind, Anya. May Agatha find peace with the stars."

"And may her body nourish the soil and give back to our beloved lands. I will miss you, dear friend. Existence will forever be hollow without your wonderful laugh." She made a spitting sound. "This Dawn invader crawls through the creatures of the forest. We have seen yetis with pink eyes fighting possession. The undying ones move against their own volition, succumbed to this thing. These are strange times."

That was putting it mildly.

Damien went to his knees, still saying nothing. He looked at me with imploring eyes, but I didn't have anything to give him, other than an imagined punch direct to the nose. If he wanted to come here to be a complete assbug, then that was his problem

You reap what you sow…

Wendy landed on my cheek again, introducing me to the spider.

"Glad to meet you," Agatha said. "What a tangled web of a story." She chortled, the sound so echoey, so eerie. "If I can help in any way, please do not hesitate to ask. This affects us all."

There. The spider understood better than the king, who Wendy introduced next, along with an explanation of his plan.

Anya made the spitting sound again. "Fool. Do you want me to kill him?"

Damien blanched, sliding back, one of his hands splashing into the water. "Please…"

"There will be no death here," Wendy responded curtly.

"You blackmail the queen?" Anya spat.

The king cowered, inching closer to me. "I'm only doing what I think is right. I don't mean for anyone to be hurt?—"

Movement in the tunnel cut him off.

Anya spun around, lifting her legs, the tiny hairs on her body bristling. "Fae!"

More undying ones? More Dawn. More danger?

I mean, why wouldn't there be?

But no pink eyes shone in the dark. Instead, a man with the same complexion and hair color as the king joined us.

I gasped at the same time as Damien.

Prince Dorian was here.