Page 63 of The Light Falls
That sounds familiar. I swallow the hard lump in my throat. “A couple of weeks ago, the dark Fae king sent a messenger to me with almost the exact same message. He’s hunting Leandra because she stole something from him. He also threatened to end me if I didn’t deliver her to him, but…”
Holding me against the wall, he leans in threateningly. “You know where she is?”
Expanding my shield, I push against him until I can breathe, then use magic to make my knee hard as stone and thrust it up into his dick.
“Shield,” I hiss at him, barely able to speak through the anger coursing through me.
He bends over and grunts a few times, clearly in severe pain.
“Nobody knows where she is. Apparently, she traded information to a goddess for an amulet to hide her from her enemies,” I snidely inform him. Thoroughly done with jerks today, I shove him to the mat. “I put up with your bullshit in training because it’s the only way I’ll get good enough to kill Leandra. But don’t you ever, ever threaten me again.”
Tiernan’s round eyes move from Madoc to me. Hurrying to the door, he opens it for me to stride out in my most queenly strut.
“Fucking asshole,” I spit out, even though Madoc can’t hear me.
Out of nowhere, ice appears beneath my feet, and I slide across the hall. Then, a cloud of ice shards shatters against the shield I have wrapped tight around me. Damn. Madoc was right. The palace isn’t safe.
Gliding on air, our enemy moves fast. Feeding the ice beneath our feet until we can barely move, it continues to throw missiles at us. Tiernan uses his fire to melt the ice, but it’s a losing battle.
He knows it’s going to reach us before we can escape. Concentrating on the ice under my feet, he shouts for me to run and pulls his sword. I glance at the excessively tall deer creature thing-y with claws the size of my hands that is bearing down on us.
“What is it?” I whisper, staring at the horns protruding from its head and the hide barely covering its bones. Dark, fathomless eyes lock on me.
“A wendigo. Fire is the only element that can injure it, but you need faery fire to kill it,” he murmurs, lighting his sword with a single word. “Go. Get to safety. Send help back for me.”
Really angry, I make two fists and light them up the same way I did in training that day. Looking at the wendigo, I sneer. “If you’re stupid enough to attack me in my palace, come and get me. I’m not easy to kill.”
Tiernan runs a bare hand through the fire on my arms. “It’s not faery fire, but it will help hold him off.”
At full force, it attacks. Tiernan stabs it several times with his flaming sword, but the ugly creature just shrugs it off. While it’s occupied watching his sword, Tiernan opens his mouth and a stream of fire spews out of his mouth.
The wendigo shrieks and backs away. Then disappears.
It reappears in front of me. Using magic to build my strength and make my fire extra hot, I use a series of jabs and crosses to punch into his hide. Never letting up, I continue to hit him until he decreases in size and cowers against the wall.
It says something to me. I step closer and hear a shout from Tiernan. The wendigo bares sharp, jagged teeth and rises up three times the size he was a minute ago.Damn. I thought I had him. Raising my fists, I stare him in the eye.
“Bring it on, Bones.”
A fist reaches out of the shadow and grabs the wendigo around the neck. Eerie blue green fire flows in its mouth and down its throat, burning it from the inside out, until there’s nothing but ash. Stepping back from the shadow, I automatically raise my fists, determined not to go down against this new enemy without a fight.
Madoc steps out of the shadow. “Remind me during our next lesson to go over faery fire with you.” His eyes scan me from head to toe. Satisfied I’m not harmed, he awkwardly clears his throat. “Sorry about earlier.” He pauses. “I’m going to check into something. I’ll be back in a few days. Remember your shield.” Melting into the shadow behind him, he disappears.
That was a sorry excuse for an apology. I mean, for a man who barely speaks except to yell “Shield!” at me all the damn time, it’s kind of a surprise I got that much out of him, but he could have done better.
Tiernan touches my shoulder, and I bring my hands up. He quickly steps back, hands raised.
“Sorry, I’m a little jumpy,” I explain. See, that is how you apologize. “Let’s go.”
Tiernan is really quiet on the way back.
“Everything okay? It’s gone, right? It won’t come back?” I ask, needing a little reassurance.
He shakes his head a few times. “Sorry. It’s gone. Faery fire obliterates most things. I’ve only seen it a couple of times, mostly when a phoenix resurrects.”
“Hmm. I wonder why Madoc thinks I’ll have the power?” I muse. Here I thought Cormal was tough. Madoc is a beast.
“All those with royal blood can wield it,” he says with a shrug. “Solandis and a few others at court who can trace their lineage to the first Fae king. As Nyssa’s daughter, there isn’t any reason you wouldn’t have it.”
