Kara (26 page)

Kara too watched, amazed as well as
terrified. Euphoria leaned in close to the guard and whispered,
“Fire.”

It happened so quick, Kara didn’t even know
what hit her. The bolt sliced through the air, on a direct course
for her. ‘Oh…’ was the only thought she could manage. A concussive
boom sounded and then a snap. Kara flew to the side several feet,
landing on the ground roughly.

She heard a scream, perhaps Snow, and
running. Kara felt pain, but not sharp agonizing pain, just the
dull ache of falling down. The rabbit was at her side, blocking her
line of sight.

“Kara! Kara!”
Schunk!

“I’m fine. What happened?”

“Ynob snapped the arrow.” Snow helped Kara to
her feet and pulled her backward to the blacksmith’s cottage.

Euphoria held out a hand to stay the other
soldiers.

Hambone stood beside Kara and Snow. He
brandished a large chunk of firewood as a club.

“Oh goody, another one.” Euphoria
laughed.

Grace zoomed out and went straight for Kara.
Ynob stepped forward, but remained further back than the rest.

“I’m okay, Snow.”

Grace hovered and twittered too.

“There is the wizard, Kreitan.” Euphoria said
looking over to the captain and pointing at Ynob. “Not that
pathetic thing.”

“Dante!” Kara screamed pushing past Hambone.
The dwarc grabbed her shoulder and held her back with one hand.

Dante did not stir at the mention of his
name.

“Do you think he might be dead?” Kara
asked.

“No.” But his grip fumbled. One of his
fingers snagged the necklace. The chain broke and the bat pendant
flew several feet into the grass, towards the enemy.

Euphoria caught sight of the necklace.
“Mine.” She slurred the word, but then quickly turned to her
nearest soldier and pointed to the glowing object lying on the
ground, “Go and get it.”

The guard, unable to disobey the command, ran
forward for the prize. He only made it three steps before he burst
into flames. It was no ordinary fire. It flared up and the soldier
was no more.

Shocked at the sudden burst of light, Kara
stopped struggling and looked around. Ynob appeared winded, but
stood tall. “Creature! Leave!”

Euphoria, turning her head slowly and
purposefully, glared at the wizard. “I am only just beginning.” And
with a nod, two other guards suddenly came alive. One ran straight
in, while another fired his crossbow at the wizard.

Another boom and snap echoed, knocking Ynob
to his knees. The running guard scooped up the pendant. Grace flew
directly at him.

Euphoria stretched out an arm. Her hand
opened toward the sprite and caught Grace mid-flight. The princess
then quickly closed her hand tight and the green glow from the
sprite suddenly vanished. Euphoria then whipped her arm back and
flung the sprite into the air. What was left of Grace bounced off
the soldier as he ran back. He only made it three steps before the
wizard’s fire engulfed him too. The pendant dropped as the guard
disappeared into ash.

Snow and Kara yelled “No!” They immediately
tried to run for the pendant, but found themselves frozen to the
spot.

“No…stay behind…the barrier.” Ynob huffed
out, exhausted and then dropped the spell. Both rabbit and girl
fell forward, but ran no further.

Euphoria clapped her hands together and
walked toward the necklace, her face full of delight. Kreitan
remained still as the princess passed in front of him. Dante looked
up from the carriage. Euphoria paused a few steps from the
necklace, looking at something else in the grass. A small figure,
no bigger than a forest mushroom, struggled on the ground.

Dante’s eyes grew wide as he recognized the
helpless figure of Grace.

Euphoria drew up a foot. “Sorry sprite, but
thanks for the magic.”

He lunged forward off the carriage. The fox
quickly bit into Euphoria’s ankle throwing the princess off
balance. She fell over kicking out at Dante, but he hung on with
his teeth.

Snow took this moment to run to rescue Grace.
Kara a step behind, grabbed for the pendant. Neither heeded Ynob’s
command to stay behind the shield.

The wraith shrieked. It was beyond anything
the natural world could produce, a grating, high-pitched, piercing
wail that caused all to cover their ears—humans, dwarc, and
were
clan members. All were disoriented after the sharp
burst, but the
weres
recovered first.

Snow picked Grace up with her teeth and
darted off in the opposite direction. Kara stumbled within an arm’s
reach of the pendant. Euphoria, quickly reacting, grasped the fox
by the neck. Pain and unbelievable fatigue washed over Dante and
his jaws went slack.

Kara grabbed the pendant, but saw the fate of
her friend in the process.

“No!”

The wraith then kicked the limp fox away. She
began to stand.

A loud boom shook everyone. The carriage
exploded, a fiery mass threw shrapnel in all directions.

Euphoria, her hands inches away from Kara’s
knotted fist, looked in outrage—and for the first time, horror—at
the burning remains of the carriage.

This hesitation gave Kara enough time to pull
the pendant away and roll in the opposite direction.

The blast threw Taylon to the ground. Kreitan
had had his sword drawn, ready to slay the fox man when he stumbled
forward, missing the creature and stabbing his own soldier in the
foot. The force pushed him so hard that his blade sank halfway into
the ground, pinning his guard there.

Screaming—
human
screaming. Kara looked
around. The remaining soldier with the crossbow now clutched a
large charred fragment from the carriage that protruded from his
chest. It had skewered him all the way through. As he dropped to
his knees, his shriek tapered off.

“Enough!” Euphoria regained her stance and
shouted in the wraith’s biting tone. All froze feeling a bitter
coldness pump momentarily through their veins. The princess
breathed heavily. Her dress was torn and filthy.

Kara sat up. Snow was a good distance off,
still holding Grace in her teeth. Hambone still stood looking
bewildered. Jesset tended to Ynob, whose left shoulder was drenched
in blood. The wizard appeared dazed and exhausted.

Taylon stood up, assessing the situation,
while Kreitan struggled with his implanted sword. Euphoria, after a
quick stare at the enemy, took two long strides, grabbed the pinned
soldier by the throat. His eyes went wide, then went black, and
closed forever. She threw him backward, while with the other hand
pulled Kreitan’s sword free. She threw it to him, and he caught
it.

“Take better care of your weapons.” She then
pointed at Taylon who was the only member of the guard left
standing. “You, go check my mirror.”

She turned back, eyes only for the wizard.
“Let’s end this.”

The princess raised both hands, closed her
eyes, and took two steps forward. Strain and concentration showed
in her features and shortly there was the sound of ice breaking.
Ynob froze and shock came over his face.

“Your precious protection is gone. I should
have done that first thing, but I tend to like these games you
humans play.”

“It…can’t be…he sealed you….”

A soft laugh escaped Euphoria, a human
chuckle that still sounded cruel and unyielding. “You know your
history well, Wizard. I wasn’t aware that Guillaud had left
anything behind, other than his tomb.”

At mention of the name, Kara remembered. She
looked down at the bat pendant her fist held. Its glow radiated
outward. Tearing a strip of fabric from her dress, Kara looped it
through the pendant and tied it around her neck. Euphoria’s head
instantly turned in her direction.

“I see, dear human, that you know some of the
history as well.” She took a step in Kara’s direction, a small, but
deliberate one. Kara hardly noticed.

“Kara…” Ynob coughed, his pain worsening.

“All I want is that necklace.” The princess’s
true voice coerced as she took another step closer.

Kara stood slowly, still looking at the
necklace. It pulsed as if talking to her.

“No.”

Euphoria reared back as though someone
slapped her. “Foul, foolish human! Do you not think that I won’t
take it from you?”

Kara looked up, straight at Euphoria. “That’s
exactly what I think.”

Another look of disgust crossed Euphoria’s
face, yet this time a small hint of fear followed it.

“Rose has told me you can’t take it. It has
to be given to you.” Kara spoke with certainty. Her eyes were not
one of a frightened child anymore. She stared intently at the
creature before her waiting for a reaction from it. No one else
moved.

After a moment, a smile came across the royal
face. “You may be protected…but your friends
are not!”
Euphoria’s head swiveled to Kreitan, her gaze commanded all. He
raised his sword and sliced downward into the fallen fox man.

“Dante!”

Snow’s mouth fell open and Grace tumbled to
the ground. The rabbit ran blindly at Kreitan. She changed mid
jump,
schunk,
knocking the captain to the ground.

Snow only disabled Kreitan for a moment
before being tossed aside. The captain quickly returned to his
feet.

The wraith moved to get into the scuffle, but
found herself frozen, unable to move. Snow darted away.

“Very good, wizard. But you are tiring.” She
closed her eyes for only a brief blink, and then her whole body
shivered as if it were shaking off a wet cloth.

Kara flicked her gaze towards Ynob, who
looked seriously drained. Hambone stood by his side, offering
support. Her heart went out to the wizard.

“So I ask you one last time. Give me….”

“No.” Kara said speaking over the cold words.
She began to walk across the field, but kept her eyes on
Euphoria.

“Kreitan, get me that necklace.”

Kara ran, not toward the wizard and her
friends, not toward the house or the forest beyond. She ran toward
Taylon, who guarded the mirror. It lay face up, scuffed, but not
broken.

During her run, she whipped the necklace off,
Rose having told her what to do. She only needed to be close to the
mirror. Kreitan ran too, but changed direction when his quarry
headed for his second-in-command.

Taylon, under the wraith’s spell still, took
a moment to react to the girl running toward him. He drew his
sword, and then thought better and reached for his throwing
dagger.

And that was when Hambone clubbed him. The
piece of lumber came spinning through the air, thrown expertly, and
struck Taylon in the forehead. He collapsed immediately.

Kreitan closed in on Kara, but took a moment
to look back. Snow was coming in for another blindside. He held his
stance, sword out ready to strike. The rabbit slowed her attack and
retreated. Kreitan continued his pursuit.

Once at the mirror, Kara knelt beside it. It
pulsed, like the necklace. Her eyes darted to the princess. Panic,
anger, fear all melded into a complex expression as Euphoria opened
her mouth.

Kara raised the necklace high wanting to
savor the moment, but to her horror she saw the captain of the
Witch Guard three steps away, sword raised high. She slammed the
necklace down against the mirror just as Kreitan took a final step
and arched his sword downward. A huge crack formed in the looking
glass. Kara closed her eyes and felt the pain.

Chapter Twenty-Three

A bird song awoke her, a simple tune that
eased Kara from a deep sleep. Her eyes peeked open, adjusting to
the sunlight. Jesset sat next to her bed, keeping vigil.

“What happened?”

“No questions. Just stay still. Your shoulder
and arm are pretty torn up.”

Those words triggered a flood of memories,
with all the pieces not quite put together.

“Where’s—” But again Jesset shushed her.

“I’ll tell you everything, or at least what I
can. Let me get the others.” He stood, his smile warming her heart.
“But don’t move.”

Kara gave a small nod, starting now to feel
the numbness of her left shoulder and arm. Prickles of pain
fluttered through her, as the rest of her body came awake.

Jesset had only been gone a moment before the
whole house shook with the joyful sound of her name.

“Kara!” Snow smothered her in a hug that came
in quick but was entirely gentle. She went to return it and a sharp
pain pulsed through her injured shoulder.

Snow sat where Jesset had been. Kara could
tell she had been crying, a lot. That memory piece locked into
place and she remembered Dante’s fate. “I’m sorry.”

Snow gave a nod of thanks, but she barely
held back her grief.

Hambone came in, smiling. He didn’t hug Kara
for fear of hurting her. He stood behind Snow, a reassuring hand
resting on the
were
’s shoulder.

“I’m glad to see you smiling.” The dwarc
said, and instantly brought a smile to Kara’s face. Jesset came in
and stood at the foot of the bed. Kara looked around at all her
friends, as if waiting.

“Where’s…Grace?”

Snow’s and Hambone’s gaze jumped to Jesset,
who looked at them in uncomfortable surprise. “I haven’t told her
anything.”

All looked back at Kara, and she could tell
it wasn’t good news.

“What do you remember?” Hambone asked and sat
next to her.

Her eyes became wide, unsure of what was
going on. Confusion danced in her head making any memories blurred.
“I think I remember Grace losing her glow.”

Knowing looks passed between Snow and
Hambone.

“Sprites can’t survive long without their
glow, their magic. We did our best, but….”

Kara’s mouth dropped; the calm that filled
her when she awoke quickly drained out of her. “But…but surely the
wizard…?” Her words trailed off as she saw Snow’s expression go
from sad to mourning.