14. Chapter 14 #2
On instinct, I glanced down at the spirits. They were barely visible through the snowstorm, but as I squinted, I noticed something new. A haze was currently descending over them like a cloud of fog.
One by one, it touched the spirits. And as it touched them, they began to glow. A subtle glow, pale and dim through the haze. The spirits, a smoky, translucent shade, started to fade into something resembling flesh.
Their eyes shifted from ghostly hollows to shiny beacons, orbs that should have been windows to a soul, but even from a distance, I could tell they were off.
Without souls, their eyes were windows that led nowhere.
It was eerie. Their gazes were hard and emotionless.
Mirrors waiting to reflect fear if I got close enough.
The mist encompassed the spirits slowly, and I felt the moment the first rider and his horse became solid.
A rush of fear and terror came, then dismay; we were too late.
I understood then what Silas had meant when he’d discussed flesh-weaving, and the way his eyes had gone dark.
This evil spell didn’t grant life. It simply made a vessel for these hollow spirits to inhabit.
A dangerous vessel that could now walk on our lands.
These creatures came into existence with glowing red eyes. The horses snapped and drooled, pawed at the air as they eagerly anticipated their transformation to finish. Evil had reached our doorstep.
Ranger Z was already on her Comm, speaking with the teams. A slew of Rangers dressed in all-black flooded the castle. Potions and weapons were at the ready as they prepared for battle.
“We need to stay and fight,” I said. “Do you have any of Lily’s potions? Anything for me?”
As I spoke, I realized I was empty-handed. The realization left me feeling foolish. Everyone around me was armed to the teeth, and I didn’t even have the vial Lily had given me before I went to the underworld.
“We must go on.” Ranger Z reached out and rested a hand on my wrist. “I’ve talked with Ranger X. I told him the plan. He thinks it’s more important that you be free to do—” She shook her head. “We should give you as much time as we can to focus on your task with the wards.”
“She’s right,” Silas growled, though his eyes were fixed on the river. His tone was meant for whatever was happening out there, not for me. “We don’t have enough people, weapons, or potions to fight this war. You are our only hope, Alessia.”
Silas looked into my eyes then, and I knew he wouldn’t put that kind of pressure on me unless he believed it. I also saw the worry etched on his brow—not for himself, but for losing me, the island, everyone on it.
I thought of Liza, her tiny hand in mine. I considered what would be best to save her. And I knew in my heart, that while I wanted to stay and fight with my fellow islanders, the only way out of this was through Fae Queen magic.
“Where’s Liza?” I asked urgently. “I need her taken to safety.”
“She’s with Millie,” Ranger Z said. “They’re already in transit to Ranger headquarters. Millie will protect Liza with her life.”
It was a good answer, even if it wasn’t completely the one I wanted.
I didn’t want anyone protecting anyone else with their life.
I wanted everyone safe and protected by my wards, the wards that were supposed to shield my island, my court, my people.
It angered me that I wasn’t able to hold up my end of the bargain.
I needed to fuel that anger into action, and even as I did, I noted the rage steadying me.
“I do need a weapon,” I said. “But aside from that, you’re right. We need to go.”
“Here.” Silas slipped something into my hand. “It’s yours anyway.”
Before I looked, I knew what it was. My dagger.
“It should work,” Silas said. “I’d expect Fae magic to work whether the spirits are in their spirit form or solid.”
“You didn’t tell me that before?” I looked up at him curiously. “I didn’t think you knew of a weapon that could harm the spirits.”
Silas spared a wry smile, a gem so rare and precious these days, that even in this moment I didn’t take it for granted.
He leaned closer to me. “I didn’t want you getting close enough to test it.”
“If we’re going,” Ranger Z said, “we need to move now. This way, into The Forest.”
The three of us jogged down the stairs of the castle and onto the snowy banks alongside it. Almost at once, however, Ranger Z stopped short. Her Comm chirped, and though I couldn’t make out the words, I could see that her face went ghost-pale in a sign that something was wrong.
“What is it?” I asked. “What’d they say?”
“Crimson lycanthropes are taking over. There’s a whole horde coming down from the volcano to the northwest, and they’ll be flooding The Forest. It’s not safe for us to cross the river. There’s another horde coming up from the south, near the Lower Bridge.”
“Hordes?” I echoed, my throat feeling raw.
One crimson lycanthrope had been enough to cause massive casualties. If Silas and I hadn’t been there, the end result could have been bloody. It had taken a Fae Queen and an extremely experienced Hunter to fell a single creature.
“There have already been fatalities,” Ranger Z said. “We need to move. We’ll go toward the cottage; it’s the safest place for now.”
Without argument, the three of us switched paths and headed toward Wisteria Cottage. I remembered the patch of dead lands near the hut where I’d trained with Seer Goddard, and I directed the others toward it.
The snow was up to our knees, some places our waists. We trudged through relentlessly. Before long I’d lost sensation in my toes. Even Fae Queens, it seemed, weren’t immune to winter’s bite.
“By the way,” I asked around a shiver. “Has anyone heard from Seer Goddard? He was with me when I went into the underworld.”
“He was?” Silas glanced at me. “We thought it was only Liza.”
I shook my head. “They were both there.”
“Liza didn’t say anything about it.”
I found that curious. “Did Liza tell you what happened? How did I end up at the castle, anyway?”
“When you didn’t wake up, Liza came looking for me at dusk on the first night. She explained that you’d traveled to the underworld, that she’d been with you as a spiritual guide but that your connection had been severed.”
“All that is accurate,” I said. “It’s just, she wasn’t there alone.”
“Well, she was alone when she came to retrieve me, and when we went to retrieve you, you were alone on the hill as well.” Silas paused. “We brought you to the castle, brought in Healers and medics and Rangers, but nothing we tried could bring you back. We waited until you awoke on the sixth day.”
“Interesting.”
“As for the Seer, as far as I know, nobody has heard from him since.”
At this point, we reached the top of the hill and found Seer Goddard’s now-abandoned hut. Our conversation lapsed as we came to a stop. The one bonus of coming here was the sense of comfort associated with this area.
It was where I’d spent hours upon hours in my early training days, focusing on nothing but my roots and my powers. It was, truly, where I’d begun to come into my own as a Fae Queen. It was where I’d visited The Glade. Where I’d met Seer Goddard. Where I’d first used my magic on command.
That small gravel circle, now buried beneath layers of snow, felt like a haven of good memories and hard ones, breakthroughs and disappointments. I’d experienced a lot in this tiny location.
And just beyond the rose garden was the patch of earth I’d healed. The patch of earth I’d healed on the day that Seer Goddard had decided to train me. Today, I hoped to do more than heal a tiny patch. I hoped to heal my island.
I stood where the circle lay hidden and pushed the snow outward in a big wave, revealing the familiar gravel beneath. Once the snow was cleared, I sat and pulled out my Fae book. My fingers felt like frozen logs as I opened to the spell I’d found to help me enchant the snow.
I studied the spell, cemented it to memory. I read it through, time and time again, taking just as long as I thought I could spare, and not a second longer. When I was confident I had the spell memorized to completion, I looked up.
“Something happened,” I said instinctively when I saw Ranger Z’s face tight with worry. A glance at Silas told me he knew, too. “What is it?”
“They’ve all solidified,” Ranger Z said. “The flesh-weaving spell is complete, and the spirits are taking solid form as they cross onto our lands. We don’t have long before it’s a full-fledged attack.”
Ranger Z’s eyes glowed a shade of gold that reminded me of a piece of information Lily had shared with me.
Her cousin’s skills allowed her to turn into animals, and her most favored form was a jaguar.
The way the tension bunched in a feline way in Zin’s shoulders, I could tell that, like Silas, she would prefer not to be here on a mountaintop guarding me, but down with her fellow Rangers on the front line.
Her sacrifice to be here with me made me even more determined to ensure this was worth her while. That it was worth everyone’s while.
“That means we could be interrupted at any time,” Silas said. “And if we are, Alessia, don’t stop what you’re doing. Let us handle it.”
I returned my attention to the textbook, knowing I needed to get started on the enchantment.
However, the second I did, I felt it. The drumbeat in my chest that sounded like the thrum of hooves against the ground.
The vibration of several creatures headed this way—large, angry creatures. Solid creatures.
“Behind the hut!” I leapt to my feet. “They’re coming.”