Meanmna: Book One of the Daearen Realms (21 page)

As a single unit, every dark fey attacked my loyal fey at once. There was an instant cacophony of fighting sounds and I scanned the crowd to see if I recognized anyone. Then my grandmother—still lying in my lap—grunted.  When I looked down I saw that the spot on her chest that Ray’s smoke had hit was starting to sizzle and shimmer. She moaned and her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fainted. I laid her on the ground, took off my cape, and put it under her head. Movement caught my eye and I saw one of Ray’s dark fey running for us, swinging a battleaxe above his head.

I stood up and blocked my grandma from the battleaxe fey. I raised my hands to magically throw his butt elsewhere, when out of nowhere a blur
red figure with dark reddish-brown hair tackled the fey from the side. The battleaxe was let go and landed with a thump. The two fey landed and skidded. The fighting was so swift I couldn’t tell who was involved, but the fey with reddish-brown hair twisted and grabbed the battleaxe by the handle, using it as leverage to swing himself to his feet. In one fell swoop, he swung the axe over his head and into the face of the other fey. He then dropped the battleaxe and turned to face me.

“Will!
Can you get the queen somewhere safe?” I shouted as he ran toward me. Behind Will, I spotted Elwin trying to break through the throng of fighters. Will scooped my grandma in his arms and ran into the castle. When they safely made it through the door, I turned to where I had last seen Elwin. He hadn’t made it much closer and was in the middle of a sword fight with another fey.

I was running toward Elwin when I was grabbed from behind. The force of two beefy arms wrapping around my arms and chest knocked the wind out of me. As
I was lifted off the ground, I kicked my legs frantically, trying to will my lungs to inhale. I had grown slightly fuzzy as I sucked in my first breath and channeled my inner Harry Potter. On my exhale, I wheezed out, “Stupefy!” The fey released his grip on me and collapsed. I ran toward Elwin and was within five feet of him when he ran his sword all the way through his opponent. He yanked the sword out of the fey’s chest and let him drop. I jumped over the fallen fey and grabbed Elwin’s shirt. I yanked him down and looked in his eyes for only a second before I gave him a hard, fast kiss on the lips.

“Come on.” I turned and ran toward the
castle door that Will had gone through. Elwin followed me. I mentally flicked a couple of dark fey out of the way. I wasn’t interested in fighting or the ramifications of using magic against a dark fey. I had to get to my grandmother. I ran through the open door and immediately zeroed in on her;  she was lying on a chaise lounge along the left wall of what looked to be a grand ballroom. There were two marble winding staircases with landings, and another single stairway that led to a grand entrance at the top. I ran to my grandma. The black shimmer was gone and her eyes were open, but she was ghostly pale. I could tell by the rasp that she was having difficulty breathing. Will was standing behind the chaise, crying. He looked at me with such sadness that I choked up.

“Grandma,” I said as I sunk to my knees and took her hand.
“Is there anything that I can do? Please tell me what I can do!”

“It’s your time, Sarette. This was always meant to be. This was always
who
you were meant to be. You are going to be the most wonderful queen Daearen has ever had.” Grandma squeezed my hand.

“I’m not ready for this. Please, tell me what I need to do.”

“You need to fight to save your fey and your kingdom now. Elwin?” Grandma put her other hand out to him. He took it and knelt next to me. “To conquer this enemy and the ones that will follow, you should be made whole.” Elwin’s mouth opened and shut. He looked at me and reached for my free hand with his. He brought our hands up to kiss my knuckle and kept them next to his lips. “Is he your chosen?” My grandma asked.

“What?” I broke eye contact with Elwin and looked at her.

Elwin whispered in my ear, “Do you want to be mine forever?”

My grandma smiled and nodded. I turned to look in Elwin’s eyes. “I do! And, do you want to be mine, forever?”

“And so much more!” Elwin started to kiss me when my grandma squeezed our hands and interrupted us.

“Will, please move to where I can see you so you can bear witness.” I had forgotten Will was even there. I looked at him and he was smiling with tears running down his face. It was quite a sight seeing a giant of a man weep. He nodded at me and walked around the chaise to be at my grandma’s feet.
“Please take out your amazonite crystals.”

Elwin and I let go of our hands and reached into our shirts. We both to
ok out our necklaces and clasped one another’s hands. “Are you ready?” Grandma asked and we nodded. Grandma closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Elwin’s and my amazonite pendants began to glow brightly and heat up. It wasn’t the same heat or pain I felt when I cut through my collar on the train. The heat felt warm and inviting, like an electric blanket on a cold Michigan winter night. I was at peace. I was content; it felt like my soul became bigger. A tingle and a rush went through my body and forced me to close my eyes from the overwhelming feeling that was encompassing me.

Elwin squeezed my hand and I squeezed his. “Forever,” he whispered.

“Forever,” I replied.

The sensation faded and I opened my eyes to find the room bathed in purple light. The light grew in brightness, blinked once, and then
faded. My grandmother and Will were smiling. Elwin and I leaned in and were about to kiss when a giant rock broke through a stained glass panel above the door. As the glass shattered, it rained down on the dark fey that were streaming in and running toward us. On the other side of the room, the castle guard came to intercept.

My grandmother let go of our hands, “You have t
o go, now.”

I looked at Will and then nodded to the door that was tucked under the stairs on the other side of the room away from the viscous battle ensuing in the ballroom. Will scooped my grandmother up and ran in the direction that I had indicated.
I looked at Elwin, “All of our weapons are on the train. I saw where Ray’s guys threw them.”

“Okay, follow me. You do whatever it takes. Do you understand? You have a higher purpose.”

“Yes, I do have a higher purpose and for now it’s about killing Ray. Let’s go.” I took off running before he could argue. Elwin quickly took over the lead. With our backs hugging the wall, we made it to an exit without being engaged in the interior fighting. Outside the door, a dead dark fey was pinned to the wall with a sword run through his chest. I stepped past Elwin and yanked the sword out. The fey dropped to the ground. I nodded toward the train and Elwin instantly complied.

Elwin led us around as much of the fighting as possible. He used his
borrowed sword when necessary, cutting through any dark fey that got too close. I scanned the area and realized that without even un-focusing my eyes, I could see every fey’s aura. I was shocked. I didn’t know when it happened. I stopped when I saw an Earth Fey and a Water Fey fighting each other. They had no idea they were allies.
God and Goddess, please give my loyal fey my own sight.
I ran again, but kept my eye on the fighting allies. I saw as they stopped and looked at each other confused. Then they nodded to each other, went back to back, and began fighting as a unit. It was awesome!

Elwin had reached the train car and was
making sure the coast was clear from the door when a dark fey broadsided me. The force knocked my shins against the train steps, and I fell forward on top of them. The heavy sword I was carrying flew out of my hand when my elbow hit the platform. I flipped over and made a motion like I was pushing him away with my hands, and an invisible force sent him flying. I scrambled to my feet and practically fell into the car. I shut the door and locked it.

Elwin looked to make sure I was okay
, then continued checking all the nooks and crannies for the enemy. My backpack was right by the door and my weapons belt was probably still under the cushioned bench it had been flung under about halfway down the car. Elwin’s was in the same general area. I went to my backpack, unhooked my boots from their D-ring and took out cammo pants and a tank top. I was kicking off my boots and taking off my long john shirt when Elwin asked, “What the hell are you doing?” He was next to the bathroom door with his mouth gaping open.

“Uh, hubby, no reason to be shy,” I said as I unzipped my pants and pushed them to my ankles.

Elwin sputtered until he could form words, “I’m just, uh, um,”

“Oh, for goodness sakes, Elwin. That crap I was wearing is hot and confining. Plus, I have never trained wearing it. I’d rather fight for life and death in something I’m comfortable in and understand how it moves.” I grabbed my cammo pants and started putting them on
...

Suddenly, the bathroom door flew open and one of Ray’s train guards knocked into Elwin. They both crashed into a table. Maintaining his balance, the guard punched Elwin
on the side of the head, rendering him unconscious.

“Oh crap,” I muttered as I ran to my belt and
dropped to my knees to grab it from under the seat. I couldn’t reach it in the position I was in so I got on my belly and reached my arm underneath. I touched leather with the tips of my fingers and was able to scoot it closer. I grabbed the hilt of my spirit blade as my attacker fell to his knees next to me.

The guard
jerked me by my hair and pulled me backward, causing me to land top of him. He forced my head to his body and held me by my hair with my face near his crotch. “I like it rough,” he said.

I managed to get onto my hands and knees with my hair still anchored as I flipped over in one fluid motion and stabbed him in the heart. His eyes widened. I tried
a couple of times to pull my hair out of his hand, but part of it was knotted up and wrapped around through his fingers and around his hand. My twisting had caused it to get stuck around the brace where the train seat fastened to the floor. So, I yanked my spirit blade out of his heart and cut my hair loose to free myself.

“I l
ike the new look.” Elwin was standing up, rubbing the side of his head. I got up and ran to him so fast I knocked him slightly off balance. He caught himself by grabbing arms. He slipped his arms around my torso and picked me up. I kissed him hard. Elwin broke the kiss and asked, “I don’t suppose I could talk you into staying here, could I?”

“Nope
.” I jumped down and went to get my weapons. I pushed the dead guy out of the way and grabbed my belt from under the seat. I stood and put it on. “We need to find Ray.” I picked up my spirit blade, put it in its sheath and tied it to my leg. I looked at Elwin and said, “You ready?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

I looked at my weapons belt and everything including my sword was there. “No.”

Elwin had an amused expression as he walked past me to the door. He picked up my shirt and handed it to me. I looked and realized I was only wearing my sports bra.

“Oops!” I put my shirt on and as my head came through the hole, I saw a black light flash beyond the courtyard near the foot hills of the mountains in the distance. “Look.” I pointed to another flash; this one was purple. “There they are.”

Elwin found his weapons belt and was putting it on as we walked to the door. We took our swords and spirit daggers out. Elwin moved
and unlocked the door. He gave me a quick kiss and said, “I love you. Try to save your magic; we have no idea what Ray has planned. Stay behind me.” He opened the door and we ran.

I ran out of the train after Elwin. The sights and sounds of battle were all around. Screams and wails were mixed with metal swords clashing together. We were crossing the courtyard, going toward the area where we had seen the flashes of light. I was close behind Elwin as he ran through the least congested areas and cleared a path with wide swings of his sword. I followed picking off the few fey Elwin missed. I swung my sword low and to the right, and took a dark fey out at the knees. I swung it back to the left and clipped one in the shoulder, knocking him from my path. As I kept running, I sensed a fey was coming from behind me on the right. In my peripheral vision, I saw him swing his sword. I dropped into a crouch to avoid decapitation. The dark fey couldn’t stop in time and tripped over me, landing face first on the other side. I dropped my sword and grabbed my spirit blade with both hands. I swung the dagger and planted it in the dark fey’s back. I pulled it out, grabbed my sword, jumped to my feet, and ran after Elwin in one fluid, graceful move.

Elwin doubled back and was only a couple yards away when I saw a dark fey approaching him from behind with a spirit blade poised to strike.
I reached Elwin, pushed him out of the way, and stabbed the dark fey through the chest with my sword. I pushed the fey off my sword and held my hand out to Elwin. We heard a scream to our left. A young man with the red Fire Fey aura had lost his weapon and a dark fey had pushed him to his knees and was holding his sword to the kid’s neck.

“Go help him! I’ll catch up,” Elwin said.

I sprinted as hard as I could to the young fey. The Fire Fey was on his knees, looking bravely defiant as he waited for his enemy to deliver the deathblow. The dark fey was enjoying torturing the lad. I swung my sword and released it toward the would-be executioner. It made two complete rotations before planting itself in the back of my enemy. I got to the Fire Fey and helped him to his feet. He couldn’t have been more than fourteen. He was too young to be fighting.

“What’s your name?”

“Reece.”

“Reece, I want you to try to get inside and check on my grandmother. Can you do that? Can you go check on the
queen for me? Will is with her. Please help with whatever he needs.” He nodded, wide eyed. “Okay, be fast and safe.” I gave him a quick embrace and he hugged me back before he took off running to the castle.

Elwin had Mike Jones with him when he arrived at the scene. Mike took my sword from the dark fey’s back and handed it to me. A
dozen fighting fey spilled into our immediate area and blocked us from every direction. I grabbed Elwin and Mike by their shirts and said, “Up.” We started rising above the crowd just as a pair of fighters crashed into the space we had just occupied.

“Look for Ray and my dad!”
I scanned the hills past us, hoping to see a flash of black or purple.

“There!” Mike pointed to our left. We didn’t see anything for a second or two and then we saw a purple flash followed by a black one that lit up a hill more than a mile away.

“Over,” I said and we flew in the direction of the flashes. As I looked down on the scene, I could see that those loyal to me were grossly outnumbered. I brought us down just past the imminent slaughter. “I’m going after Ray and my dad. You both are needed here.” I let go of Mike’s shirt and pulled Elwin to me. “I love you. I can do this.” I kissed him. “They are using a lot of magic. I won’t use a lot of my magical power getting to them. I’ll have enough strength left to do what needs to be done. I have to do this.” I kissed him again and released his shirt. One last smile and I flew.

I was
still half a mile away from where the flashes were occurring when they began to move all over the hills instead of staying in one location
. Stop and float
. I watched the flashing light display. They were moving miles in split seconds. There was no rhyme or reason to their movements. If I flew all over the mountains tracking them, I would end up completely exhausting my magic like they were doing to themselves now. I still didn’t have a full battery life, and I had this gut feeling that I needed to conserve it. I needed to get back to the castle. If my dad was successful, he would come back to the castle in victory. If Ray bested my father, he would still want to destroy me. As morbid a thought as that was, the only thing that mattered was stopping Ray. However, I needed to make it through a kabillion fighting fey to get there.

I turned and started flying back through the empty space but felt my magic weaken, so I set myself down and ran the rest of the way. When I neared the edge of the fighting where I had left Elwin and Mike, I spotted them instantly.
More of my fey had joined them and they were all working together as a team. They had the upper hand with their foes and didn’t need my help. The path to the castle from there was filled with fighting, but I couldn’t spare any more magic to fly over the mess. I ran along the edge of the fight, praying for a safe route through.

As I ran, I recognized
Lilly by her hairstyle—little buns that looked like pincushions. She was fighting off three dark fey. “Lilly behind,” I yelled as I neared her. Lilly nodded without taking her eyes off the fey. I joined her and we became our own deadly duo fighting side by side. Lilly wielded her kampilans like she was dancing—swaying and moving. Each move she made was well executed to deliver a death sentence. I held my own with my sword and dagger. I fell into a rhythm that allowed me to hit two blows in succession, one to incapacitate and one to kill.

A shrill scream sounded from my left. I
looked past Lilly to see Tessa being carried over the shoulder of some big oaf as if she was some spoil of war.

“
Lilly,” I said as I nodded to Tessa. Lilly flew off to help Tessa. I kept my eye on them as I killed the last of the three enemies near me. Lilly dropped and slid, like she was stealing a base, past the fey and cut off both of his legs at the knee. Tessa dropped off the oaf and sprang to her feet. Lilly and Tessa looked to me. I nodded and took off running toward the castle.

I ran as fast as I could through the fighting. I couldn’t believe I had
n’t fallen yet. Somehow, my body just knew what to do. I didn’t question it; I just went with it, ducking under swords and jumping over dead bodies. I twisted and turned my way until I was back in the courtyard. A flash of black lit up the courtyard. It was coming from the roof of the castle and I could see Ray there. I ran through the same door we used earlier and sprinted to the large white marble staircase in the back of the room. There were a few dead fey on the ground, but no active fighting. The ballroom’s walls were lined with gold-edged mirrors and golden wall sconces blazed between each one. While walking, I looked up and gasped when I saw the ceiling. I lost my footing and rolled my ankle. I sat down in pain but couldn’t help looking up again. The ceiling was about the size of a basketball court and had a chandelier that spanned the entire area. The ornate, round center was about five feet in diameter and looked like an upside-down wedding cake with hundreds of strands of glowing crystals that spread to the walls. It was so beautiful.

I moved my ankle in a circle a couple of times to make sure it wasn’t broken
, then I ran to the stairs. I had only made it up the first ten steps when something yanked me from behind and threw me upward. I crashed into the center of the chandelier near the ceiling. On my descent, I reached out and grabbed onto a strand of crystal lights. It broke loose from the center and I swung across the room, hitting the wall with my feet and bouncing off a couple times before I felt the strand giving away. When it broke, I fell the last five feet, but that was better than the forty foot drop I would have had if I had fallen from the center. I stood and turned to run, promptly tripping over the chaise that my grandma had laid in earlier that evening. I sat up and heard a laugh as I was hit with black smoke and lost consciousness.