Chapter twenty-seven
the price of power
“ T here’s no other way?”
Darragh and I stood amongst the trees, off the main route that led to the village. We stared at the single bridge that serviced the path. A solitary guardian stood in our way. “There’s no other way,” Darragh replied bitterly. “We must cross.”
“Should we wait until it’s dark?”
“We can’t afford to wait.” Darragh squinted at the guardian. “I know her. She’ll recognize me.” Darragh ran a hand through his hair and paced.
“What if I distracted her and you crossed?” I suggested.
“No.”
“Listen, she won’t recognize me, right? I’ll walk back a bit and make a big ruckus. When she comes to investigate, you sneak over. I’ll wait until she leaves, then hop on the path and use the bridge like nothing happened.”
Darragh crossed his arms and scrunched his nose.
“We don’t have any other options!” Before Darragh could argue, I headed back the way we’d come. “I’ll see you on the other side.” When the bridge was out of sight, I cupped my hands around my mouth and let out a loud, “CAW!” I walked farther and did it again. Tiptoeing into the wood, I hid behind a tree and waited. Sure enough, the guardian walked up the path. Darragh better not piss away the opportunity. Finding nothing, the guardian gave up. I doubled back even farther and hopped back on the path.
Walk normal , I instructed myself.
Do I have a guilty walk?
The bridge and the guardian came into view.
Don’t be weird .
“Howdy!” I shouted. The guardian narrowed her eyes. I waved obnoxiously and pointed at the bridge. “I’m just gonna scooch by.”
“Of course.”
I took a step—
“Of course, I’ll need to ask you some questions first.”
Shit .
“What’s your name?”
“Uhhh…” All names left my mind. “Underhill?” I asked. The guardian reminded me of border security. I clasped my hands together; they were slippery with sweat. Even when I hadn’t done anything wrong, border security made me nervous. The problem was, in this case, depending on who you asked, I had done something wrong.
“Well?” she pressed.
Shit.
She’d said something, and I’d missed it entirely. I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly parched. “Uh, could you say that again?”
“Where are you travelling from?”
My scumbag brain couldn’t think of anything, so I told her the truth. “Uh Peak, Shadow Peak, big, uh…big mountain.” I po inted over my shoulder.
Why’s it so hot ?
“Oh?” The guardian cocked her head. “What was your business there?”
I fanned my face. “Uhhhh…”
“Tamsyn?”
Tamsyn whirled and raised her hands. Darragh stood behind her. He’d approached silently, his palms raised in peace. Darragh smiled, a broad, genuine smile that lit his eyes. “We mean you no harm.” Darragh’s charm was undeniable, and he focused all of it on Tamsyn. It reminded me of the way he’d been when we first met in the café. A surprising, but powerful twang of jealousy forced me to look away.
Tamsyn wasn’t fooled. “Don’t move Darragh.”
Darragh spoke in a calm, soothing voice as he approached. “Tamsyn, please. Let us pass.”
Tamsyn stretched her arm out. “I have to take you back.”
“Remember when I helped your father?” Darragh continued advancing, hands raised. “I asked for nothing in return.”
“She’ll kill me if she finds out I helped you.”
Getting nowhere, Darragh changed tactics. His arms fell to his sides, and he hooked a thumb in his pocket. “Are you really going to stop me, Tamsyn?” Darragh gave her a lopsided, cocky grin. “I’m much stronger than you.”
Tamsyn jutted her chin at Darragh’s mangled hand. “Not today you aren’t—”
Darragh struck. One quick punch. Tamsyn fell and Darragh scrambled to catch her before she hit the ground. I grabbed her legs. “Nice punch,” I said, hauling Tamsyn up.
“It didn’t feel nice,” Darragh muttered. Together, we dragged Tamsyn into the wood. Darragh knelt beside her. She sported a welt, a precursor to a nasty black eye. Darragh held her cheeks. He grunted, and the redness around her eye faded.
“Do you have the energy for that?” I asked.
“She’s a good person,” Darragh mumbled. Impatience needled me, and I glanced around. Darragh stood and brushed off his palms. “She’ll be fine when she wakes up.” As we walked out of the wood, he was almost smug when he said, “Did you see? I didn’t kill anyone that time.”
“It’s almost like you never had to.”
Darragh shot me a glare which suggested a reconsideration of his anti-murder oath. We walked right over the bridge. It was easy.
Too easy.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that they only posted one person?” I asked.
“Maybe they’re still regrouping back at the mountain—”
Darragh put his arm in front of me. One by one, ladies dressed in black stepped from the trees ahead. Darragh and I watched, frozen, as twenty guardians gathered on the path. I slid my hand into my pocket, and my fingers curled around the pendant.
“Do you remember where Bowyn lives?” Darragh spoke quickly.
“Yeah, why?”
Darragh threw up his arms and called out, “I’ll come with you. Let my companion go and I’ll walk back myself.” Darragh knelt and put his hands behind his head. To me he said, “Bowyn will help you get back to Earth.”
“We both go back, or neither of us go back.”
“They’ll kill you.” Darragh gave me a frustrated sideways glance.
Like a ghost, Alyth crept from the wood and stood beside me. “They can try.”
A guardian stepped to the front of the pack. A black robe slit to her waist showed thigh high black boots. “Darragh Mitalrrythin, you have been accused of ferrying an individual from Earth. You will be tried before the Queen.” Her robes caught in the wind and billowed behind her as she raised her arms. She grimaced, perhaps rejecting the foul words about to leave her mouth. “All those who accompany you shall be executed—on-site.”
“No!” Darragh pushed to his feet.
He wasn’t quick enough.
The guardian swung her arm and a dagger of ice hurtled at me. I didn’t have time to think, but Alyth was ready. My shadow peeled itself from the ground and leapt in front of me. The dagger exploded inches from my nose and shards of ice blew out like snow. They floated lazily to the ground in front of twenty bewildered guardians.
“I don’t want to kill anyone,” I whispered.
Darragh’s face turned from jaw-dropped shock to suspicion.
“That makes two of us,” Alyth replied. “Call to the shadows. They will help you.” All around us, long shadows stained the ground. I closed my eyes and imagined the shadows tearing themselves free. In my mind, they grew into demons, with bent legs and upside-down heads. I opened my eyes—and they were there. Skittering between trunks, the demons rushed forward like a wave of spiders. Screams erupted as the shadows surrounded the guardians. A pulse of energy flared from a tiny woman, pushing the demons back.
It did not stop them.
They surged and overtook the guardians.
Chaos broke out as guardians used all manner of magic to fend off the assault. The demons dodged attacks like insects avoiding a boot. They scurried about and pounced on the women, concealing them in dark cocoons.
“I admire your creativity,” Alyth said, watching a demon grow wings and drag a woman into the sky. “I never could have pulled this off on my own.”
Magic shrapnel flew by me, grazing my face. “Agh!” I touched my cheek and my fingers came back bloody.
“You should run,” Alyth suggested.
Right.
I reached for Darragh—
A guardian held him by the throat. Using his body as a shield, the guardian pressed a shard of ice to Darragh’s neck. “Call off the attack or he dies,” she screamed. I recognized her voice; the lady who’d addressed us. The one who nearly killed me. Darragh winced as the ice dug into his flesh. A drop of blood trickled down his neck.
All around, my shadow demons fell flat. I swung my arm, and the shadows shot across the dirt like lightning, converging on the woman all at once.
CRACK!
The guardian crumpled, dragging Darragh with her. Darragh scrambled to his feet. The guardian did not. Darragh grabbed me and ran, but I was slow to follow.
“Is—is she dead?”
“It’s not the time!” Darragh dragged me after him. My focus waned and the shadow demons fell back. A bolt of energy, like a firework, whizzed by us as we retreated. I called to the demons. They flew after us and burst, concealing our departure in darkness.
***
Confident we’d outrun our pursuers, Darragh and I slowed to a brisk walk. “That’s the second person I’ve killed,” I muttered.
“She was still alive,” Darragh said. I looked at him, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. She was absolutely not still alive. “Besides,” Darragh continued, “she would have killed you.” I didn’t say anything. “She would have killed me.” Darragh grazed my hand; an appreciative smile quirked his lip. As quickly as the smile came, it vanished. “How’d you do it?”
“How’d I do what? ”
“Nell.” Darragh made a come-on face. “Magic.”
“Oh.” Movement in the woods cut me off before I could say more. Alyth stalked amongst the trees, paying close attention to us. Darragh gave no indication of Alyth’s presence; he still couldn’t see her. “I—”
“Don’t!” Alyth interrupted. She walked beside me now, between me and Darragh.
“I—”
“No!” Alyth hissed. “You cannot tell him about me.” Irritated, I scowled. Behind Alyth, Darragh squinted.
Why not ?
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you tell him. Lie. Say it just happened.”
I’m not lying to him !
I opened my mouth. Alyth reached out and grazed my neck. An unseen fabric slid down my throat and choked me. Staring at Alyth incredulously, I tried to tell Darragh, but nothing came out. I doubled over and choked. Unable to breathe, I collapsed and clutched my throat.
“What’s happening?!” Darragh knelt and scanned my face.
“I’m sorry.” Alyth crossed her arms. “I can’t let you tell him.”
Shadows seeped from the corners of my mouth as I choked. Darragh froze. “Oh Nell,” he whispered, “what did you do?” I coughed again, knocking tears loose. “Okay stop. Sh. Sh. Sh. I know, I know.” A crushing understanding came over Darragh. He sat behind me and held me. “It’s okay.” He squeezed my hand and rocked me back and forth. “Focus on my voice, breathe.” He inhaled, and I did the same. “Whatever happened, we’ll figure it out. You don’t have to tell me right now. Just breathe.”
His voice was strong.
But his hand trembled in mine.
***
Wilbur loomed in the distance. “When we get to town,” Darragh started, “you’ll go through, stick to the outer roads. I’ll go around and meet you on the other side.”
“We’re not splitting up.”
Darragh, surprised by my tone, backtracked. “It’s safer for you to go through town.”
“You couldn’t light a candle right now. It’s safer for us both to go through town.”
“I can’t.”
“You can’t even walk through it?”
Darragh’s jaw twitched. “They hold no compassion for me there. I will not risk us both.”
“Either we both go through, or we both go around. It’s your choice, but I’m not splitting up.” Darragh stopped walking and stared at me. Hungry and tired, I could do without Darragh’s stupid faces. “That’s compromise,” I snapped. “Maybe you’ve lived alone in the woods too long, but that’s what we call this.”
Darragh’s mouth fell open in shocked fury. “You know nothing of compromise!”
I resisted the urge to scream back. Yelling at each other in the middle of the street would just draw attention. “My vote is we go through town. You keep your head down, and we avoid the main street.” I started walking again. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“Look at me!” Darragh threw his arms out, his clothes covered in dirt and dried blood. “People will notice!”
“Okay, fine! We go around!”
“That’s even worse! Agh!” Darragh tugged his hands through his hair, clasping it in a tight clump at the back of his head. He stared at the ground with his brows furrowed .
“I can’t read your mind. Think out loud, please.”
“If we go around, I can’t protect us from the creatures in the woods. If we go through the town, most people will probably avoid me.” Darragh rubbed his palms against his face. “If they find out I’m powerless, we’re dead.”
I wanted to go through town, so I didn’t point out that I could protect us from anything in the woods. “Going through town is the safer option,” I said.
Darragh dropped his arms, defeated. “Fine.”
As dusk fell, the sun peeked through the clouds, shining through the grain and grasses that surrounded Wilbur. The grains swayed in the breeze, a golden wave around us. Up ahead, the tall, crooked buildings of Wilbur loomed. Since our decision to go through town, Darragh was awfully quiet. This wasn’t out of the ordinary—he wasn’t a talker—but usually, when I asked questions, Darragh gave me thorough answers, or answers that at least indicated he’d listened. But now, any attempt I made at conversation was met with a grunt, or a non-committal answer that didn’t really make any sense.
“The sun feels nice,” I said.
“Mhm.”
“Are you feeling any better?”
“I should have brought my veria seedlings in.”
“What?”
Darragh lowered his voice and babbled some nonsense I couldn’t hear.
His physical demeanor changed too. Out in the wild, Darragh was sure of his movement; he walked with a graceful ease. Each step he took was confident, purposeful. But now, he kept tripping. Every time he stumbled, his head snapped back to see what he’d tripped on, in a sort of furious surprise. Despite looking straight at the rocks strewn about the path, Darragh didn’t see them .
His mind was far away.
We passed the first row of buildings. Darragh and I pointed to a cobbled road on our right…the direction that avoided Darragh’s burned home. We hadn’t gone far before Darragh slowed. In the street, two girls and a small boy tossed a ball back and forth. One of the girls waved, and the ball went where she commanded. The boy chased the ball and grabbed it. He wound up and threw it back. Darragh stopped walking. He looked around timidly, like a dog expecting a kick.
“Come on,” I urged, pulling Darragh behind me. We passed the children and I smiled. The tallest of the girls waved and sent the ball flying. The little boy leapt to catch it, but the ball soared over his head. It arced through the air, straight to Darragh, who caught it. He stilled as the little boy ran up to him.
“Nice catch. I have to use my hands too.” The little boy flailed his arms around. “I’m not good like Wynnie and Marn.” Darragh handed over the ball. “Thanks!”
“Bhaltair!”
Bhaltair jumped and dropped the ball. “Wyn! Marn! Get in here!” The children scampered over to a man standing in a doorway. They gathered around the man, who knelt and whispered to them.
Darragh nudged me on. “Let’s go.”
The man wrapped his arms around his children, who all wore frowns. Bhaltair’s hateful scowl followed us as we walked on. An elderly woman headed in our direction, and Darragh stepped behind me so we could walk single file. As the woman approached, she gave me a warm smile.
“Hello, my child.”
“Hello.” I returned the smile. Her milky eyes travelled from me to Darragh. She spat and quickened her pace. I chased her. “Hey now!”
“Don’t.” Darragh grabbed my arm.
I pushed my sleeves up. “No! I’m going to—”
“Let’s go.” Darragh pulled me away.
The old woman stood in front of a house, whispering to another woman. As they glowered after us, I shook my head in disgust. Darragh walked quickly now, and I was thankful to see the edge of town ahead.
A tall, lanky figure slunk from the shadows and approached Darragh.
Please, just leave him alone .
“If you had a bath, I imagine you’d be quite pretty.”
I recognized the voice. “Sateen?”
Sateen’s gaze shot from Darragh to me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize he was with you…” Sateen paused and scrutinized me. “You’re Bowyn’s friend.”
“Yes.”
Sateen examined Darragh, peering through the grime. “You’re that man. The one who burns things.” Darragh didn’t say anything, but a muscle corded in his neck. Sateen approached me and lowered their voice. “Do you need my help?”
“We’re fine,” Darragh snapped.
Sateen’s eyes narrowed. They smiled like they’d just found an interesting—and potentially useful—piece of information. “You’re together?”
“No. We’re not together ,” Darragh snarled. He grabbed my arm and yanked me roughly away.
“Guh!” I cried out in surprise.
Sateen’s eyes lingered on Darragh’s white-knuckled fingers squeezing my arm. Their nose flared. To me, they said, “If you need my help—”
Darragh advanced on Sateen, challenging them. “Try to take her from me!” Sateen didn’t move. Darragh’s eyes moved up and down Sateen. “I thought as much,” he mocked. Turning away, Darragh wrenched me after him.
“How did you know them?” Darragh asked.
“They’re Bowyn’s friend. He had Sateen ferry us to the mountain for the ball.”
“Never trust them— ever .” Darragh looked over his shoulder to make sure no one followed before he let go of me.
“Okay, that was super rude.” I massaged my arm.
“I’m sorry. They can’t know we’re”—Darragh hesitated, looking for the right word—“friends.”
Ouch .
“Trust me, it’s better if they think I’m holding you against your will. If anything happens, you may need Bowyn’s help. I don’t want them to think you’re associating with me willingly.”
“Mhm.” I walked ahead and kicked a loose stone. It arced into the wood and bounced off a tree.
Darragh watched the rock roll along the ground. He brushed a strand of hair behind his ear. “I’m sorry—”
“It’s fine,” I snapped. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t have made us go through town.”
“That wasn’t so bad actually,” Darragh shrugged. “Did you know tarring and feathering isn’t specific to Earth?”