Briar Rose (38 page)

Joshua flew just below the beast, trying to get in position.

‘Jump!’ he cried.

Briar shook her head. Gritting her teeth, she tried to wait out the ride, hoping to touch the beast a short time before it landed so she’d have an opportunity to escape.

Another sharp turn. Briar’s grip faltered and she slid down the leg. Flinging out her right hand in a desperate effort to keep from plummeting to her death, she grabbed on.

Too soon!

The reaction was instant: the gryphon went into a barrel roll, screeching as if it were on fire from within. Where she’d touched it, the metal began to lose cohesion, some unfathomable
chemical reaction that would not halt even though they were still in the air.

As she watched in horror, the process worked its way forward, across the back, the neck and on to the head. Then it reversed its course, aimed towards her.

‘Jump!’ Joshua cried again.

Terror locked her in place. Beneath Briar’s fingers she felt the metal begin to flex as the beast lost its ability to fly. Out of control, it careened towards the old oak tree.

Either she jumped or she fell. With a prayer stuck in her throat, Briar let go. She heard Joshua shout out as his hands brushed hers, and then she was gone. There was no way he could catch her
now. He would forever remember her falling away from him like some golden autumn leaf, at least until her bones and her body shattered when she hit the ground.

Momentum tumbled her into the tree and Briar clipped something, crashing into a tangle of branches. The one beneath her cracked, sending her plunging downward. Then she caught hold of a solid
limb, cushioned in leaves and tiny branches, which absorbed her landing and poked her in a hundred different places.

For a moment it was hard believe she wasn’t still falling. Brushing hair out of her eyes, Briar stared out at the battlefield through the leaves. A wolf went down, an arrow in its side,
courtesy of Reena. The prince and the smithy were fighting back to back. Aurora was surrounded by villagers, safe for the moment.

Which left the regent.

‘Get out of there!’ Joshua called out. He hovered on the flying horse a short distance away, his eyes wild with fear. ‘Go!’ Then he veered off as a mighty fist tried to
snatch him out of the air, like one would catch a pesky fly.

Two massive legs thumped in her direction: their enemy had not forgotten her.

Briar scrambled from limb to limb, ignoring the pain, but the faster she moved, the closer the solid
thump thump
came. A squirrel fled past her, chittering in blind panic. She was still
too far up to jump.

A whistling sound hissed through the air, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the club racing towards the oak.

As it struck the aged tree dead centre, Briar leaped into the nothingness.

Flailing, Briar landed on her back in the grass, every point of contact sending waves of misery throughout her body. Above her, the air filled with the tortured crack of green
wood, the death shriek of a tree that had lived for centuries. People screamed and fled as the wood splintered into lethal missiles. Some were impaled nonetheless, their cries nearly overwhelming
that of the dying hardwood.

The ground beneath Briar began to melt as giant roots flung themselves out of the earth, like eager new shoots seeking the sun for the first time. Shredded leaves rained down on her in a torrent
of green. Her body jumped with the ground as the world-jolting impact of the trunk heralded the oak tree’s brutal demise.

Trapped under the leafy blanket, Briar worked to free herself, but her legs were lodged under a limb. Joshua called out her name but when she tried to answer, no words came.

‘Briar!’ he called again, more frantic this time.

Branches went in all directions as he tore his way to her. Then the weight lifted off her legs and she was in his arms. His breath was ragged against her face and his arms shook.

‘Come on, don’t be dead,’ he pleaded. ‘You can’t die on me.’

No, she couldn’t. Then the curse would win.

Besides, she liked his arms around her.
Really
liked his kisses.

Briar blinked open her eyes and tried to grin into the panicked face of the boy who’d said he was in love with her.

‘Hey, you,’ she said, then coughed hard. There had to be a sackful of dirt in her lungs.

Joshua exhaled nosily in relief and whispered something that sounded like
Thank you, God.

Briar touched his cheek, feeling the sweat. Or were they tears? ‘Can I just take a nap? I’m kind of tired.’

He shook his head. ‘We’ve got a buck-naked giant to slay. Then you can sleep, princess.’

That made her laugh, but when she tried to move the clothes fought back.

‘Damn this gown! Will you help me with this thing?’ Briar pleaded.

Joshua produced a knife and began to make some alterations, slicing off the bottom third of the dress, leaving the back long. When she stood, to her horror she found the gown now ended well
above her knees, exposing her legs and those ugly-duckling boots.

After Joshua sheathed the knife, he studied his work. ‘Oops. I might have got it a little short,’ he said, shrugging.

You think?
‘Thanks a bunch.’ At least it would be easier to run now.

A near-deafening roar split the air as the regent turned her murderous attentions towards a small band of townspeople. Their three friends were at the front of the group.

Oh God, they’re going to get themselves killed.

Reena was thinking the same thing. She’d seen the tree explode with her best friend in the middle of it, and was sure that Briar was dead. Then she’d seen Josh pull
her out of the tangled branches.

‘OK, girlfriend, this is
your
curse, not ours. We’re running out of time here.’

As the regent squared up with them, Reena looked around for the fata. Why weren’t they here? They had as much to lose as anyone else. Not that she could blame them. Who wanted to take on a
two-storey psycho monster?

My great-gran was right. Sometimes it’s better not to get involved.

As she notched an arrow, she swore under her breath. ‘Have I mentioned how much this sucks?’

‘Right there with you,’ Pat replied. He’d traded his staff for a sword now, though he swore he wasn’t particularly good with sharp, pointy objects. ‘So how do you
kill one of these things?’

‘They love metal so I doubt the dust will work.’

‘We shall have to fight it hand to hand,’ Ruric said. He gave the princess a worried look. ‘No matter what happens, please keep Aurora safe.’ He took a deep breath and
marched towards the regent, blade in hand.

‘Just a note: that whole prince/hero thing he’s got going, it doesn’t work for me,’ Pat said, shaking his head in despair. ‘She is just going to flatten
him.’

‘Then we have to make sure she doesn’t,’ Reena replied. ‘No prince, no happy ending, remember?’

‘I was afraid you’d say that.’ He rolled his shoulders. ‘Then let’s go do something totally suicidal. It’s been at least a couple of minutes since
someone’s tried to kill me.’

Reena grinned over at him, enjoying his sardonic sense of humour. ‘You’re pretty cool. Not that I’ll ever admit I said that.’

‘Right back at you, girl.’ He gave her a hopeful look. ‘Maybe when this is all over we could . . . you know, hang together?’

‘Yeah, maybe, if we’re still in one piece,’ she said. ‘But I don’t put out, just so you know that up front. That’s a no-go.’

Pat nodded. ‘Word. I appreciate the heads-up. Keeps me from making an ass out of myself.’

She eyeballed him, trying to figure out exactly what had happened to the Pat Daniels she’d found in the pillory.

What made you change?

Though it looked flash, Ruric’s swordplay was pretty much a waste of time, even if he did get some vicious slices into the regent’s feet as the beast was busily
playing Stomp the Prince. She wasn’t doing well – bad eye-foot coordination apparently. Every time she missed, she bellowed in frustration, which only made Reena’s eardrums
ache.

Yeah, yeah, you’re big and noisy. I got that.

In an equally lunatic exhibition of testosterone, Pat raced up and jammed his blade into the beast’s leg. It had little effect other than raising the thing’s bellow even louder.
He’d barely scurried away when a huge hand tried to grab him.

‘Guys,’ Reena muttered, shaking her head. ‘What
is
it with them?’

She moved laterally, trying to find the best place to embed an arrow.

Pat cried out as the regent kicked at him, sending him tumbling across the grass. Her heart raced until she saw him crawl back to his feet. Still, he was moving too slowly and if she
didn’t do something . . .

Something sharp pricked her in the back and Reena froze.

‘You release the arrow and you die,’ a firm voice said. A swift glance over her shoulder proved the knife wielder was well dressed and portly, probably an official of some sort.
It’d been a miracle he’d bothered to issue the warning.

Then the knife was gone, along with the threat, who crumpled to the ground in an unconscious heap.

‘Go ahead, take care of that thing,’ the smithy said from behind her. ‘The reeve won’t be troubling you no more.’

‘Thank you!’

Reena studied her target again.
Brain or heart? Which one will take you down?

‘You OK with this?’ Joshua asked as they regrouped, his eyes on Pat in particular.
Say yes, you idiot. We can’t have Ruric take one for the team.

Pat nodded, and then the prince as well, though reluctantly.

It was an insane plan: while the other two made a bunch of noise to gain the regent’s attention, Joshua would circle behind the beast, positioning himself behind one of the massive feet.
If he could reach one of the Achilles tendons and sever it, the thing would no longer be mobile. Or at least that’s what he hoped.

Joshua gave a quick look in Briar’s direction, but she wasn’t where he’d left her. He growled under his breath. He’d tried to convince her to stay hidden, but clearly she
hadn’t listened. With a concerned sigh, he turned back to the task at hand.

He waved that he was ready, and at that his two companions began a series of catcalls designed to enrage their enemy. Pat, in particular, was crudely inventive, and that earned him the
beast’s anger. With a snarl the regent abruptly shifted a clawed foot backwards and Joshua had to scramble out of reach to keep from being squashed.

‘Will you just stay put?’ he complained.

He lined up the sword crosswise to the tendon and then threw himself at the target. The blade caught the back of the creature’s foot and nicked the thick skin, but didn’t sever the
muscle.

The monster reacted accordingly, kicking backwards, throwing Joshua into the air. He landed, hard. If his breath hadn’t been knocked out of him, there would have been enough swear words to
earn him a week’s worth of chores back home.

Above him, the massive body turned as two gleaming eyes searched for the troublesome gnat. Stubby fingers dived down to grab him.

‘Run!’ Pat shouted.

Joshua scrambled to his feet and broke out in a sprint. He’d gone only a short distance when one of the fingers slapped at him, causing him to do a face plant.

Though Pat and Ruric charged the regent at the same time, yelling and slashing, trying to deflect the creature’s attention, it proved futile as the massive hand scooped him up into the
air.

‘Oh God, no,’ Reena said as her friend was carried closer to the beast’s gaping maw. She tried to calm herself as she zeroed in on the area just above the
left breast. She took a calming breath and set the arrow free. It zipped into the air, the fetching guiding it to its intended target. Even before it reached the beast, the regent moved and the
arrow flew past, harmless.

‘Dammit!’ Reena shouted, pulling the final arrow from her quiver.

‘Closer!’ Briar urged.

The horse obeyed her, responding to her commands without question as just ahead of them the massive hand lifted Joshua higher. When he struggled in the creature’s grip, he gained a bit of
leverage, but was still trapped.

I have to get him free. But how?

The charm bracelet tingled on her wrist, a reminder that it was the one thing that the regent feared. Briar pulled it off, clutching it in her palm. As she tried to concoct a plan, Joshua
managed to free himself and scrambled up the arm like a monkey.

‘Incoming!’ Reena shouted a second before the arrow embedded itself deep in the regent’s breast. The beast roared, thrashing in pain, nearly sending Joshua hurtling to the
ground.

Now it was Briar’s turn. This was her against the curse, one on one. If it was going to kill her, it would be now. Briar flew so close she could feel the regent’s hot breath, see the
madness in her eyes.

‘Eat this and die!’ Briar called out, flinging the bracelet towards the open mouth. An unlikely missile, the silver tumbled over and over, gaining momentum. Recognizing the danger,
the regent made a swipe at the bracelet, but missed, her hand knocking into the winged horse when it passed by.