CHAPTER 59 THE PORTAL PROBLEM
Weapons poisoned with Witch’s Brew … So that’s how they are funneling souls into the Forest of the Afterlife,” Alina recounted while reading from the magical slip that had been delivered to her and Kezia before they returned to the tunnels. They had luckily sent to His Majesty their own note along with the provisions just before intercepting the first witch. Upon their return they had found a response waiting for them in the form of a parchment magicked into a folded bird that had flown right into Alina’s hand, though they had waited until they were back in the castle courtyard before reading it.
Rebecca Devark and Kezia looked toward Finlay Ashowan, who stood only ten feet from where they convened in the courtyard, though the house witch was a mite occupied with sustaining the shield around the castle.
“Sir Cas!” Alina shouted up to the blond knight, who was in the process of commanding archers.
“How is Kat?”
“She’s getting bored!” the knight responded after a moment of surveying Kat fighting the remaining stragglers.
Admittedly, when Kat indulged her magic-infused persona, she seemed more like a savage animal ripping through each man and sending their horses on their way …
“Gods, that is terrifying,” Rebecca Devark uttered before she could stop herself. She didn’t need to see the carnage to know that for someone to be bored from taking out a group of armed men meant things wouldn’t be pleasant.
Alina ignored this. “Has Sir Cleophus Miller arrived from the southern gate?”
“He should be arriving around the same time as the rest of the rebels from the west gate by the looks of it! Judging from Sir Cleophus’s formation, Your Majesty’s men might be moving to encircle the castle!” Sir Cas called back after consulting Sir Vohn, who was tracking the movement of both their allies and the rebels.
“Any change with the first witch?” Alina wondered aloud.
“No other movement under the stone! My guess is she is going to pop up elsewhere!” Sir Cas leaned toward Sir Vohn in conference.
Meanwhile, Eric had been watching Kat’s decimation of the rebels to determine whether she would need any assistance. His concerns turned out to be unfounded as, unlike her duels with a sword, she had wisely not held back. With her magical abilities raging, she quite efficiently dealt with the men that had arrived thinking the castle would be easy to seize.
To make matters worse for the rebels, the more she battled against them, the more powerful she grew …
While on every other occasion such displays of her power were terrifying, it was serving the defense of the Troivackian castle and its occupants wildly well. Seeing this, the prince had made his way down the stairs of the castle wall to approach his sister.
“Hopefully, she’ll get a spare moment to send more power to Duke Ashowan.” Alina nodded to herself thoughtfully.
“What next, Your Majesty?”
Alina turned toward her brother, his hazel eyes sharp and ready as he approached.
His presence further confirmed that Katarina was in absolutely no danger, otherwise the prince would not have left his position on the castle wall.
“What do you think, Eric? We still don’t know where the first witch will reappear, those sirins are figuring out we aren’t as affected by their screams thanks to the beeswax in our ears, and last we heard the stone golem is … ?”
“He’s sitting down. Still flickering in and out of this realm, but he seems really enraptured with Pina.”
Alina nodded.
“Personally, I’m a bit surprised he isn’t more interested in the raccoon,” the prince muttered before giving his head a small shake to bring him back to the present. “Ah, and from the explosions beyond the north wall we can see that His Majesty received the crates we sent.”
“Do you think Brendan should’ve manned the west wall? Would that have made a difference?” Alina questioned worriedly.
“Given the numbers we saw approaching from the north, it was a reasonable assessment. No use dwelling on it now. My suggestion for the first witch? Get Fin to shoot Mr. Kraft in the air. With his magical sight, he should be able to vet the nearby surroundings of any abnormal magic or pixie presence to find where the first witch may be.”
“And the rebel army that is coming?”
“You have the castle rigged with traps, the knights lined against the wall so that they can’t be seen from overhead … It isn’t a bad idea to have them split up should we be breached, depending on the size of the next unit that attacks. My suggestion? Position Fin with his wife in the front entryway to take out whoever Kat and I don’t. Leave half of your knights hiding beside the gates and send the rest in the main halls. Katarina and I will stay in the center of the courtyard, drawing attention, you retreat to the solar with access to the tunnels, and Sir Cas can be the messenger and guard for your orders.”
The queen nodded. “What about magical beast sightings? The first witch might have killed enough of our army to summon more and open the portal as well, and we both know those sirins are plotting something. They’ve been too quiet.”
“With the stone golem distracted, I think we—”
An ethereal squawking shriek rang through the air, making both Eric and Alina look at the sky just in time to see Kraken pouncing from the castle wall and tackling one of said sirins out of the sky, as though it were nothing more than a bird.
They also noticed what at first seemed to be a black cloud cutting across Fin’s shield but was actually … a thick swarm of pigeons.
The queen and prince proceeded to watch as the sirin Kraken had latched on to flicker out of their realm. The other sirin that had been diving toward the fluffy cat in order to pry him off her kin was intercepted by the pigeons that clawed and pecked at her, muffling her cries.
“Kraken’s taking care of the sirins,” Eric announced flatly.
“I might ask to borrow Kraken from Daxaria on occasion in the future,” Alina remarked, her tone matching her brother’s.
“Keep in mind if you do that, he will most likely expand his reign of power and claim Troivack as his while taking over the cats, rodents, and pigeons.”
“I don’t mind.”
“He most likely will keep pooping in shoes.”
“That’s fine.”
“I beg to differ,” Rebecca Devark, who had been silently listening throughout the entire exchange between the siblings, jumped in loudly.
The pair looked at her, then back at each other, both deciding not to continue discussing the sensitive topic just then.
“If any more imps, stone golems, or Gods forbid, a dragon come through, we can reorganize then,” Eric continued. “For now, though, let’s just try and get that dagger from the first witch.”
The prince scanned the courtyard for Mr. Kraft, and as he did so, Kat strode through the front gate. She was covered in blood that mostly wasn’t her own, but her aura was blazing, and the magic light consuming her eyes was already fading.
She didn’t look as though she had relished killing the men outside, but her countenance was in no way discouraged.
Seeing his daughter’s reappearance, Fin released the shield.
Sweat was pouring from his forehead, and his knees buckled, making Kat rush to him, grasping him under his arm.
“Sorry, Da, I tried to be fast.”
“Don’t worry about me, Kat, I— Oh.”
Fin blinked as his daughter closed her eyes and already saw to restoring her father’s magic.
“Kat, don’t overextend yourself!” As he spoke, the duke steadied and stood tall once more, looking instantly revived from his previous exhaustion.
“Da, I have too much power right now after what I just did. You’re helping me,” Kat explained without an ounce of sarcasm.
The house witch regarded Kat seriously but said nothing more as he realized the part of his daughter’s ability that received more power when she killed bothered her enough.
“Where’s Likon?” Kat looked around the courtyard hurriedly.
“There.” Fin nodded toward the steps to the castle wall with a relieved smile climbing his face.
Kat whirled around to see that sure enough, Likon was being led down the stairs by her mother, though the duchess appeared to be supporting him …
Rushing over to save them steps, Kat threw her arms around Likon.
“Are you okay?!”
Likon let out a grunt thanks to her bone-crushing embrace, but after a moment to gather himself, he released the duchess and returned the hug, dropping his forehead to her shoulder.
“Fine. Just sprained my ankle when you chucked me on the wall.”
“It was that or have you break both legs from the fall.”
“Excuses.”
Kat laughed and leaned back, looking into his brown eyes that were tired, his face pale and full of shadows.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t find you sooner.”
Likon shrugged. “Honestly, it was like a vacation compared to what your mother and brother make me do.”
Annika cleared her throat.
Likon shot her a wry smile that the duchess couldn’t help but return.
Seeing this, Kat released him so that he could face the duchess more squarely.
“Your Grace,” he greeted.
Annika blinked, her eyes looking suspiciously wet as she then hugged her adopted son.
“Be more careful with yourself, or I’ll make you do another year of training. You scared the wits out of us.”
Likon blinked as he bent down to accept Annika’s hug, a lump rising in his throat. He couldn’t say anything at first as he realized then just how much the Ashowans had become his family …
“The way I see it, you could use less wits, Your Grace, you’re too smart for your own good. Oh and … Kat, remember when I said the first witch can stop time … ?” he asked suddenly, pulling free from Annika’s hold.
“Yeah! What the hell is that about?!”
Likon shook his head with a smile. “I honestly said that more so to distract her at the time … You see … I kind of stole this thing she calls Chronos …” Likon reached into his pocket and withdrew a peculiar brass item that ticked …
Kat grinned. “Likon, you trickster you, did you pickpocket the daughter of the Gods?”
“She didn’t notice my blindfold had lowered ages ago. She was an easy mark.” As he shrugged innocently, Annika laughed and proceeded to reach up and cup Likon’s face, pulling his attention to her.
She didn’t need to say anything, but everyone could see how she loved him.
Fin had started making his way over to his family with Eric at his side.
While the house witch was equally relieved to see Likon returned safely, he and the prince knew they needed to reconvene for the next attack.
However, just before they reached the reunion taking place, an eruption of stone and dust broke through the middle of the courtyard.
Everyone turned, Kat and Eric already drawing their swords free.
A crater appeared in the courtyard, and from its depths floated the first witch, sirin, and the unconscious devil.
The first witch scanned the courtyard, unimpressed. Kat charged forward, Eric on her heels while Fin started levitating some of the rocks that had been blown out of the ground with the intention of pelting the sirin back down into the hole.
However, the ancient beast had already anticipated this, and instead shot the rocks right at Fin, Annika, and Likon.
Thanks to his daughter rejuvenating his magic, Fin was able to erect the shield in time to stop them, but it did impede his sight.
The first witch, seeing Katarina charging and the archers already turning their arrows toward her, sighed.
“While I didn’t want to have to use my emergency plan and forfeit getting more magical beasts, I guess I don’t have a choice …” Aradia reached into the inside of her pocket and procured a slim vial with a black liquid inside.
Kat and Eric had almost reached her while the sirin kept Fin occupied and blocked both the archers and Kezia’s magical attacks from the other side of the courtyard, when Aradia poured the liquid over the blade of her dagger.
The blade sparked and vibrated, then Aradia turned to face the castle gate that stood twenty feet away, and she plunged the dagger into open air … or so everything thought.
The ground trembled.
Then it rocked.
A deafening crack echoed, and then a hot, white vertical seam tore through the air starting from the dagger.
Aradia was uttering words no one could hear over the din of the commotion …
Kat and Eric stumbled to their knees as the courtyard lurched beneath them, and they barely managed to fling themselves out of the way when the sirin attempted to fire an additional attack at them.
The glinting tear in the center of the courtyard sparked and screamed before a pair of large stone hands slipped through the slowly widening brightness. It gripped either side and tore open a hole.
Another stone golem.
Kat and Eric shared a single look of panic and resumed running toward the sirin and first witch.
Any time the sirin managed to cast a spare burst of air or stone at the couple, Kat’s eyes would glow, and with her inhuman strength, she’d either deflect a missile or absorb the magic while making sure Eric was near enough to her side that she could cover him.
The stone golem stepped out of the portal, and as Kat and Eric approached, they could see through to the Forest of the Afterlife …
The stone golem turned toward them and blocked their view not only of the portal but also of the first witch and devil.
“Shit,” Eric said breathily as he stared at the giant creature that could easily wave its hand and decimate a castle tower.
“I’ll handle him. If you can’t shove the first witch and the devil into the portal, kill the devil so he can be reborn! We need someone who can fight the first witch here in our world—that bitch is too much of a problem!” Kat shouted to him, her eyes wide and frantic.
“Kat, you can’t handle a—” Eric didn’t get a chance to finish his thought as the golem attempted to crush him. He was forced to dive through its legs, narrowly missing being flattened into the broken stones.
Kat sheathed her sword and noted that the archers were refocusing their efforts toward the golem’s eyes as Faucher had instructed them to do in such a circumstance.
Once again releasing her magic to allow it to course freely through her being, Kat’s aura surged, her eyes filled with light, and she started climbing up the golem, intent on stabbing its eyes out once she got up there.
The ancient beast noticed her doing this, however, and so swung around in an attempt to shake her off.
Luckily, not only was he unsuccessful, but he accidentally knocked over the sirin.
Eric bolted toward the devil, who had fallen on the ground, hoping to the Gods that it was alright that he wasn’t watching where the golem was stumbling as he focused on cutting off the devil’s head as quickly as possible.
The devil had fallen to the ground when the golem had shoved the sirin aside, and so Eric landed on his knees beside him. Seizing a fistful of his hair, Eric yanked the devil’s head back, his sword swinging down in preparation to kill him, when the first witch leapt onto the prince’s back, her arm around his throat, her dagger slipping between his backplate and shoulder armor. Eric yelped in pain, his sword falling from his grasp. The first witch had stabbed his back more than his arm, making Eric fall to a knee. However thanks to Aradia’s injured state, the prince’s wound wasn’t incapacitating.
Aradia grabbed Eric’s hair, her dagger moving to cut his throat much in the same manner Eric had almost done to her brother, albeit significantly less gracefully than before as blood dripped down her arm from her arrow wound.
It was during this extra time that the first witch required that allowed Eric the opportunity to turn and punch her in the gut with his left fist.
She grunted, and her blade changed position as she doubled over. She prepared to stab Eric through the eye, though his hand was already coming up to stop her, when she suddenly let out another shout and collapsed on her side.
Eric looked down, baffled at what had happened … then noticed the arrow protruding from her arse. He stared dumbly at it, then looked up to see his sister with her crossbow in hand and Lady Kezia murmuring words beside her.
For a moment that felt longer than it was, Eric smiled at his sister in both appreciation and admiration. He leaned down and grabbed the first witch’s blade, slipped it into his belt, and picked his sword up from the ground. He plunged its tip into the first witch’s neck, pinning her to the courtyard. It would’ve killed a mortal being, but the first witch merely trembled.
The golem, with Katarina clinging on to his torso, swung around to see what had transpired.
Kat grinned down at her husband when she realized that Aradia was incapacitated, triumph rising in her belly.
But … a powerful gust of wind cast by the screeching sirin that had turned and seen what had happened, hit Eric from the side, lifting him up off the ground and sending him flying back … into the portal.
“NO!” Alina screamed.
Kat felt the world fall silent, her heart leapt into her throat as she watched her husband be cast back …
In an instant, she knew what to do … and what it could cost. A certain seer’s words rang in her ears …
She launched herself off the golem, diving into the portal, her aura burning to a white gold as she flew at a speed that was beyond what any human could see.
To her, the world slowed, and she watched the shock in Eric’s hazel eyes as she reached for him.
He didn’t reach back as though refusing to accept her help as he fell to what was sure to be his death, but Kat seized him by the tunic that peeked out of his chest plate and flung him back out of the opening.
With how fast it had transpired, it wasn’t until Eric was flying outside of the portal that he registered what was happening and started to shout … He saw Kat smile … as though everything would be alright …
But before Eric even hit the ground, he watched as the portal started to shrink; hungrily closing its mouth around the witch that had just come through.
When Eric hit the ground, the impact of the crash radiated through his shoulder and ribs, assuring him that he had broken several bones. Despite the blinding pain that came from his rough landing, he forced himself to turn his head and watch with horror as the seam crackled but did not reopen. The portal had accepted too much payment from the earthly realm from the Troivackian army and the burning witch … Something else needed to be returned from the Forest of the Afterlife for the order of the universe to balance …
This meant Kat was trapped in the Forest of the Afterlife unless she could figure out how to get back … and there could be other ancient beasts waiting to come through …
Eric looked up as a shadow fell over him. Although he was already shaking with fury and shock, the stone golem stared down at him.
The prince gave a breathy, dark laugh and smiled up at the ancient giant beast as the furious screams and mayhem of the battle echoed around him.
Closing his eyes slowly, he took in a deep breath before shouting, “Go on! Send me to her! You’d be doing me a favor.”