Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Even with a bandanna tied around her face, the rags soaked in ammonia made Carys’s eyes water. “This better work because if all we do is make a magical bear mad, we’re screwed.”
Or Lachlan was going to get his wish to join the afterlife.
“Ugh.” Laura was wearing a bandanna and holding a bucket of ammonia. “I can’t believe you’re using my mom’s old trick to keep bears out of the trash.”
“Does this really work?” Duncan held the sprayer that Jibril used to treat his trees with neem oil. They’d filled it with a highly concentrated mix of ammonia and water.
“Oh yeah.” Laura nodded. “Bears hate the smell of ammonia. Pine cleaner too, but ammonia is worse. Or better. Depends on your point of view.”
Naida, Cadell, and Jack had already taken a roundabout path into the forest to search for the fae gate where the bear had snuck through.
Naida was hoping to guide the animal back through the gate while Jack reinforced the wards against the Morrígan’s creeping magic so it couldn’t enter the Brightlands again.
And they were hoping once they reached the gate that Carys and Cadell would be able to hear each other so she could direct the bear-herding.
“Starting to think Cadell’s fire idea might have been a better choice.” Duncan looked like his eyes were watering.
“We don’t want to hurt the bear,” Laura said.
“It’s really not his fault for messing with the hives,” Carys said. “It’s just a bear.”
“It’s a possessed fae bear,” Duncan said, “that tried to kill me once.”
“And you took half his ear off,” Carys said. “Don’t you think it’s kind of even?”
“No.” Duncan strapped the sprayer pack on his back and covered his face with another bandanna. “This smells vile.”
“According to Jibril, too many fumes will be harmful to the hive,” Carys said. “So Lachlan will scare the bear away from the hives, get it back into the forest, and then we start chasing it toward the gate, waving the rags at it and spraying the underbrush.”
Duncan was looking a little more than skeptical.
“I’m telling you, they really hate this smell.” Laura held her arms up. “Be big and loud and make a lot of noise.” She looked him up and down. “Easier for you than us probably.”
Duncan rolled his eyes. “Once we get into the forest, how are we going to know where the gate is?”
“Jack said he’d make it clear,” Carys said.
“How?”
“I don’t know, okay?”
Duncan leaned down. “It seems there are a lot of unknowns in this entire operation, Carys.”
“The one I planned with literally like an hour’s warning?” she whispered. “Yeah! I’m not surprised!”
She dunked her gloved hands in the bucket of ammonia and grabbed a rag. Oh. That was terrible. “Will you just signal Lachlan now? That bear is going to lose interest in the hives and wander off if we wait too long.”
Duncan glared at her, but he pursed his lips and hooted like an owl.
An echoing sound came from the hedges.
“Okay,” Carys whispered. “Good luck, everyone. Let’s go scare a bear.”
By the time they crept from behind the hedges, the bear was lolling on the ground, drunk with honey and batting at the angry bees that buzzed around his face, so when Lachlan popped out from behind a bush and yelled at the beast with a great roar, the animal started and jumped back.
Lachlan ran at the bear with reckless bravado, banging his sword against a piece of metal he must have found in the brush. “Get out!” he shouted. “Back where you came from, beast!”
Laura ran beside him and raised her gloved hands in the air. She started waving two stinky rags over her head. “Hey!” she shouted. “Hey, you! Get out of here!”
Duncan took the right flank of the clearing while Carys went left.
The massive animal rose on two legs for a moment before it let out a roar and turned in circles, knocking over half a dozen boxes before it lumbered away from the hives and into the forest.
“It’s working!” Carys shouted.
“Hey, bear!” Duncan waved one arm and boomed with a thick brogue, “Away an’ bile yer heid, ya numpty!” He started spraying the underbrush in an attempt to corral the bear.
Carys was shouting and waving at it. “Get out of here!” She clapped her hands together, which only made the ammonia scent worse. She nearly gagged, but she kept shouting. “Out, out!”
The bear seemed more confused than anything as it ran on all fours. It paused at the edge of the clearing and nearly looked like it would turn back, but Lachlan raised his sword and shouted again.
“Away, foul beast!” He yelled like a marauder, banging his sword against the metal. The clattering sound had the desired effect, and the bear started again, turning for a moment before it loped slowly into the trees.
“Keep it away from the hives!” Carys shouted.
Laura positioned herself at the edge of the clearing and waved her arms over her head, each hand holding a stinky, ammonia-soaked rag. “And don’t come back!”
Carys couldn’t smell anything other than the stinking scent of ammonia as she ran into the trees. Every sense was overtaken by the fumes and the adrenaline coursing through her system.
Every human instinct was telling her to run away from the bear, but instead, she was running parallel to it, trying to keep even with Duncan, who was shouting and spraying ammonia on the other side of the animal. Lachlan continued at the rear, banging his sword and shouting.
Her eyes swept the dense forest in front of them. Jack, where is the gate?
They ran farther into the woods, Lachlan pursuing the animal, Duncan and Carys corralling it as the trees grew thicker and all light from the moon disappeared.
Carys stumbled over a root, fell to the ground, and looked up, worried she was going to see the bear towering over her in a rage, but instead, when she lifted her head, she saw a greenish glow in the distance.
“There!” She scrambled up and pointed. “I see it!”
“I see it too!” Lachlan shouted.
She stood again, clutching her ammonia rags as she kept her eyes on the green glow.
“To the right!” Lachlan shouted.
“Aye!” Duncan called from the other side of the trees.
Carys saw the bear start to turn toward Duncan. “Duncan, watch out!”
Lachlan banged his sword on the piece of metal, and the bear turned in circles, confused by the noise and the smells. He reared up on two legs, but as he did, Duncan lunged forward and pointed the ammonia sprayer right at the bear’s face.
The bear roared, bared his teeth, and swung his face into a tree branch.
There was a sharp yelp, and then the animal turned and galloped ahead, running right at the green light.
It was working!
Nêrys?
As they approached the gate, Cadell’s voice grew clearer.
We’re coming toward you.
Jack lit the gate. Look for the light.
We see it.
They must have sounded like lunatics as they ran through the woods, herding the huffing bear toward a fae gate while the animal sneezed and moaned in complaint.
As the bear neared the portal, a strange light shimmered over the animal, and it slowed from a run to a loping walk.
The bear shook its head, and Carys saw the blood covering one side of its face.
Something had jammed in the animal’s eye, and blood soaked its dark brown fur.
The bear turned and scanned the trees wobbling back and forth in some kind of daze.
Its eyes turned and fixed on Duncan, and it let out a low, angry huff.
“The enchantment,” Jack called. “Her magic is waking again.”
“Don’t stop!” Carys shouted.
They needed to herd the animal back through the gate before whatever spell the Morrígan put over it became active again.
Duncan kept his eyes on the animal. “Hello again.”
Carys almost felt bad. In the Brightlands, this bear was just a bear. On the other side, it might be enthralled to the goddess again.
“Back!” Lachlan slammed his sword against the metal again.
He and Duncan moved in tandem, charging the animal, surprising it and knocking it back on its rear end before it stood on all fours, turned, and started trudging slowly toward the gate, grumbling as it retreated.
There was a faint song in the distance, a siren call from the other side as Naida lured the creature through the glowing green portal that appeared in the trees.
Cadell stepped forward as the bear disappeared into the light, and in the eerie green glow of the fae gate, she saw the dragon’s profile lengthen and the fire at his throat glow.
Moments later, the bear disappeared, the green glow had died down, and Carys, Lachlan, Duncan, and Cadell were standing in the middle of the forest alone.
“It worked.” Carys felt high. She felt elated.
She felt… just a little bit like a hero.
Cadell looked at the three of them. “All of you stink. Very, very badly.”