Dawn of Magic: Sea of Flames Page 5

  The Aos Sí flanked them as they walked, and Anna ended sandwiched between her horse and Eywen’s sister, effectively trapping her.

  Her discomfort was strong enough that she clenched her horse’s reins until her knuckles turned white.

  The Aos Sí cleared her throat, then once she had Anna’s attention, asked, “How do you know my brother?”

  Oh, what to say? Anna opened her mouth, then closed it. Friend didn’t seem the right word.

  “They’re lovers,” Kai answered from the other side of her horse.

  “We are not,” she hissed. “Just, something in between.”

  The Aos Sí lifted her highly arched black brows at her. Now that she was so near, Anna could see a slight resemblance to Eywen in the gentle slope of the nose, and the arches of the lips. Lips that were now grinning.

  “Lovers? Truly? I never thought I’d see the day Eywen thought of anything besides service to one queen or another.” Seeming to note Anna’s blush, the Aos Sí nodded to herself. “Well then, I suppose we should get to know each other.”

  Anna was glad Finn and the others had begun conversing with the other Aos Sí, and thus would not likely overhear the embarrassing conversation. “Eywen never mentioned a sister.”

  “It hardly matters. We’ve been separated for centuries. Oighear favored the male warriors, and treated the rest of us poorly. He probably doesn’t even remember he has a sister.”

  “Then why get to know me?”

  She grinned. “I didn’t say I didn’t still care, and I never thought in a million years he’d end up with a human woman.” She narrowed her eyes. “Though you’re not quite human, are you?”

  “I am human,” she grumbled, glad Kai was talking to one of the other Aos Sí and could not interrupt.

  “Have you bonded with him?”

  She assumed bonded meant what Eywen had once mentioned. It was something akin to what Finn had done with Iseult and Kai. Sharing blood and immortality in exchange for becoming a bit more human. Eywen had offered her such an exchange willingly, but she was inhuman enough as it was. She didn’t need to feel any stranger.

  “Ah,” the woman observed, “not quite to that point yet, eh?”

  Anna’s face burned furiously. “What is your name?”

  The Aos Sí laughed. “Alright, I’ll let it go. My name is Syrel.”

  “I’m Anna. How far is your camp?”

  Syrel’s eyes glittered with good humor, much unlike the other female Aos Sí Anna had encountered. Those who’d suffered Oighear’s torments all seemed a bit . . . odd. They rarely spoke, and glared openly at any who tried to engage them.

  “Not far.” She gestured to the forest ahead.

  Anna would have noticed the camp herself had Syrel not distracted her. There was more magic ahead—more Aos Sí—but not as many as she’d feared. In addition to the ten surrounding them, likely only a handful more, judging by their faint glow of magic.

  “You’ll be safer here than anywhere else in the forest,” Syrel explained. “The lesser faie do not bother us. I won’t let anything happen to Eywen’s lover.”

  Anna stared at her boots as she walked. “I’m not his lover.”

  “If you say so.”

  Anna could hear Kai snickering on the other side of her horse. She’d be sure to give him a good smack once they were alone, that was, if they made it out of the forest alive.

  Bedelia

  Bedelia’s nerves were as tightly strung as Syrel’s bow. She sat rigidly on a roughly hewn log, dragged close to one of several fires. Most of the Aos Sí in the camp glared at them coldly, though a few had warmed up, if not as much as Syrel. Apparently Syrel’s conversation with Anna had satisfied her that they were who they said they were, but now she seemed set on wringing every last bit of information out of them.

  Bedelia stared down at the alcoholic beverage she’d been given in a tiny, roughly carved wooden cup. The liquid was reddish brown, and had probably been fermented in a hollowed out stump. It was slightly sweet, but burned all the way down. After the first sip, she’d decided on politely holding it until she found a moment to dump it in a shrub.

  Syrel had been stunned to learn their group sought the Dearg Due. Her exact words had been, “Who would want to spend time with those pale, blood-reeking fiends?” She didn’t seem to realize the Aos Sí were nearly as pallid as the fiends in question.

  Finn and Iseult now sat off by the fire, conversing with Syrel, and Anna and Kai argued quietly amongst themselves. Darkness was coming, and they’d hadn’t even managed a full day of riding. Of course, if Syrel could help them locate the Dearg Due, they were better off being near the safety of the Aos Sí camp.

  Bedelia was so deep in thought she yipped as Syrel plopped down beside her. She’d seen her swill two of the small drams of rotten liquid already, though she didn’t seem bladdered. Bedelia would have been off her seat and in the dirt if she drank that much.

  “What is your tale?” Syrel asked. Her body was at ease, no weapons in sight. “I’ve spoken to the others, but you’ve remained mute.”

  Bedelia cursed the others for pairing off and leaving her alone. Perhaps she should have joined into one of their conversations earlier. “I’ve no tale to tell. Finn is a friend. I’m happy to help her in any way I can.”

  Syrel leaned in toward her shoulder, bringing with her the scent of the forest with a tinge of woodsmoke. “But what’s in it for you?”

  Bedelia stiffened. “She’s my friend.”

  “But you must have your own goals. Clearly you’re an adept swordswoman. I can tell by the way you hold yourself. The swordsman loves the Oak Queen. Anna loves my brother. And Kai is infected by the Dearg Due.”

  Bedelia’s spine jolted straight at the mention of Kai’s curse. “W-what?”

  Syrel laughed. “You think I couldn’t tell? Look at his eyes, the way he moves. It’s as clear as day, though it makes little sense to me. Most of the infected turn into slowly rotting, mindless monsters.”

  Memories of Sativola flashed through her mind, of what she’d had to do. She clutched her stomach, feeling ill, and looked past Syrel toward Finn and Iseult, willing them to come save her, but they were deep in conversation with one of the other Aos Sí. Kai and Anna seemed to have gotten over their argument, but they showed no signs of leaving the fallen log they’d seated themselves upon. Not even the horses would beckon her for care.

  Syrel watched her closely, suddenly serious. “I’ve made you uncomfortable. I forget sometimes that most mortals fear us. I’d assumed since you know my brother well—”

  “It’s not that.” Though really it was, at least in part. “I’m not uncomfortable around you. Just a bit . . . out of place.” She was always out of place, wasn’t she? And always burdened with tasks which hurt her heart.

  Syrel looked to some of the nearby Aos Sí gutting freshly caught fish and throwing their innards into the fire. “I know how you feel. When we escaped Oighear, I thought I’d feel free. Instead I hide in the woods with this lot. Some of them have come around, but most are just broken.”

  “Broken?” Bedelia asked, thinking how much she related to the word.

  Syrel nodded, her gaze on the other Aos Sí. “Most are much older than me. They suffered even more under the reign of Oighear’s mother. I think it unlikely they’ll ever fully recover. Being around them is . . . difficult.”

  She was surprised to hear Syrel was so uncomfortable with her own kind, age difference or no. Though she supposed that would be the same as Syrel believing all humans should get along with each other, regardless of their life experiences.

  “So now that we’ve established your lack of discomfort around me,” Syrel began anew, “will you tell me your tale? This is the first real excitement I’ve had in ages.”

  Bedelia shrugged. “I suppose I cannot tell you because I don’t really know. I don’t know much of anything, I’m afraid. I’m a bit lost.” She bit her tongue, surprised at how candid she’d been.

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nbsp; Syrel turned her knees toward Bedelia’s, facing her more fully. “My new friend, as long as there is ground beneath your feet, you can never truly be lost.”

  “You can if you don’t know where you’re going. If you don’t even know what you’re looking for. Isn’t knowing those things the point of life?”

  Syrel grinned. “And here I thought you didn’t know much of anything. You may not know what you seek, but at least you have the sense to look. Speaking of looking, you should look behind you.”

  She whipped around. The sun had nearly set, but it wasn’t yet full dark. The Dearg Due shouldn’t be out yet. Her eyes widened at tiny lights, flashing in unison all throughout the trees and on the ground.

  “Faie?” she gasped, ready to reach for her sword.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen firebugs.”

  Bedelia felt so idiotic she could have curled up in a ball and died right there. “Firebugs, of course. I’ve seen them before.” Idiot, idiot, idiot.

  She turned back to catch Syrel’s grin. “You’re on edge, it’s understandable.”

  She was surprised Syrel wasn’t poking fun at her. Keiren would have called her a whimpering babe for catching such a fright over firebugs. “Yes, none of our scouts have returned from this forest. It has made me wary.”

  Syrel nudged Bedelia’s arm with her elbow. “Don’t worry, human, I will not let anything happen to you. Any friend of my brother’s lover is a friend of mine.”

  Bedelia found the statement oddly comforting. She was usually the one doing the protecting, not the other way around. But if Syrel was anything like Eywen, she knew she was outmatched.

  Syrel nodded past her. “Here comes your Oak Queen. I believe it’s time to go in search of the Dearg Due.”

  Any comfort Bedelia felt quickly evaporated. It was time to venture into the quickly darkening woods, in search of monsters more fearful than her worst childhood nightmares.

  More fearful than the adult ones too.

  Finn

  Night insects chirped and hummed, filling the dark forest with their songs, oblivious to the danger the companions faced. Walking under a half-moon, shedding only the faintest light, Finn gripped Kai’s hand tightly in hers. She would not risk the Dearg Due taking him before she could react. Before her magic changed, they had agreed to leave him be, but now, everything was different. The Aos Sí had not recognized her as the Oak Queen, so the Dearg Due weren’t likely to either. Their treaty no longer stood.

  Iseult walked on her other side, and Bedelia, Anna, and Syrel behind them. She’d been surprised Syrel had wanted to accompany them. None of the other female Aos Sí were willing to risk their necks for strangers. They remained huddled by their fires, on guard and ready to defend their camp.

  Naoki was with them too, though far out of sight. She would come if called, but Finn had done her best to communicate that she should stay away, lest the Dearg Due remain in hiding.

  As her boots crunched over dead leaves, Finn looked past her hot breath steaming the air, searching for the shine of eyes in the dark. The Dearg Due could travel faster than most faie, save the pixies. With the amount of ground the creatures could cover in one night, they might be difficult to locate. Their only hope was that they’d see the weary travelers as prey in a forest where prey had long since learned to hide away at night.

  She gripped Kai’s clammy palm more tightly. He’d walked into the forest bravely, but she knew the fear he felt deep within. Perhaps that’s why they understood each other so perfectly. Deep down, at the core of their beings, was fear. If she couldn’t drink down Dearg Due magic, they would all perish. Her weakened magic and one Aos Sí would not be enough to save them. Naoki would kill a few, but she was small for a dragon. If the pack—Finn could only think of them as a pack, like wolves—was large enough, there would be no stopping them.

  “They watch us,” Syrel whispered.

  “Yes,” Anna replied softly.

  Finn focused, and noticed a shift in the air, a slight whisper of power. She could sense their magic too. The Dearg Due were near.

  “Why haven’t they attacked?” Kai hissed, his words barely audible.

  “Assessing the risk,” Syrel replied.

  They stopped walking. Gripping Kai’s hand tightly, Finn raised her voice, “Reveal yourselves!”

  Kai inhaled sharply, but nothing moved. Only the sounds of their breathing, and the gentle breeze ruffling the leaves overhead could be heard.

  “They retreated,” Anna murmured. “But why?”

  Syrel shook her head, her skin a ghostly gray in the moonlight, while her black hair seemed to meld with the shadows. “Too close to camp, most likely. They prefer weaker prey.”

  “Should we go further?” Kai asked.

  Finn squeezed his hand for being brave. While part of her wanted to press their luck, she knew patience was needed. “No, they know we are here now. We will return to camp and wait them out.” She glanced at Kai. “I have little doubt they will come for you, now that they know you are here. Let it be on our terms, not when we are tired from tromping through the dark woods far from the camp.”

  “Wise words,” Syrel answered, her tone more relaxed. “Let them brood awhile, and we will try again tomorrow night.”

  Finn hated the idea of waiting another night, but if they could lure the Dearg Due closer to the Aos Sí camp, it was worth it. Anything that might make the Dearg Due hesitate to attack was worth it. She’d need time to test her new magic, time that would already be too little when lives could be lost in the blink of an eye.

  The next morning, Finn and Iseult ventured on foot away from camp, leaving their companions in relative safety. It was a risk, but Finn needed a break from the Aos Sí, and even from Kai, Anna, and Bedelia. She could not recall the last time she and Iseult had a quiet moment alone.

  Now if only that moment weren’t filled with such tension.

  Though the air was chill, birds still sang overhead, and flashes of sunlight warmed her cheeks. It should have been a nice moment, perhaps even romantic. “I know you don’t want to be here,” she sighed.

  Iseult stopped walking and lifted a brow. “Why would you think that?”

  “You don’t agree with what we’re doing.”

  He shrugged and kept walking. “That has never mattered much.”

  She hurried to catch up with him. “It does matter, you know it does.”

  He shook his head slightly, his eyes on the patchy forest path ahead. “I was not seeking pity. I know my concerns cannot be placed over the safety of an entire burgh. I feel no bitterness. I only wish things were not as such.”

  She took his hand. “Just because things must be as they are, does not mean your feelings don’t matter.”

  Finally he turned to her, the phantom of a smile on his lips. “Little good that does me.”

  She relaxed at his tone and they started walking again, hand in hand. “Maybe once Belenus is defeated, it will finally be the end of this madness. We can both fade into obscurity and live out our lives together.”

  “I have faith that will be the case, some day. Though I may be an old man by that time, and you may no longer want me.”

  His words halted her once more. She blinked up at him. “Is that truly what you believe?”

  He tilted his head. “I will grow old, you will not.”

  “You have some of my immortal blood. You may live longer than you think.”

  He shrugged, then tugged her hand to keep walking. “We cannot know what will be—with any of it—so I simply must hold out hope.”

  “Hope,” she muttered, her mind lingering on the ideal she’d clung to for so long. “Yes, I suppose there’s that.”

  “It is more than most have.”

  “I suppose it is.” She slowed her pace, beginning to feel wary traveling so far from camp. While the Dearg Due would not attack them in full sunlight, there may still be other faie about. “We should return to camp and rest. I want everyone clear headed when we
face the Dearg Due.”

  Iseult dropped her hand as they turned and started back the way they’d come. “Most of us are no match for them, you do realize that?”

  The tension they’d started out with seemed to return. Iseult rarely expressed doubt when it came to battle. She stared straight ahead as they walked. “I know that. You can stay at camp if you like. Anna and Bedelia too.”

  “You know none of us will agree to that.”

  She sighed heavily. “Yes, I’m not the only one impossible to reason with.”

  He laughed. She realized it had been quite some time since she’d heard his laugh. Though many others had never heard it at all, so she counted herself lucky. She could only hope that luck would hold.

  The rest of the day went by painfully slow. Finn had been unable to rest at all, though they’d had little sleep the previous night. If the Dearg Due were truly clever, they would wait them out for several more days until they were all so sleep-deprived they wouldn’t put up any fight at all.

  Finally setting off into the slowly darkening woods was a relief—though it was a relief filled with fear and anticipation. She knew the Dearg Due would return to watch them again this night, they’d probably watched the camp from afar last night too.

  Finn squeezed Kai’s hand. Iseult had been right, none had volunteered to stay behind, so it was her, Kai, Anna, Bedelia, Iseult, and Syrel, walking through the dark once more.

  “Stop,” Syrel hissed, sensing something the others could not.

  Finn stopped. Her pulse thudded rhythmically against her throat as she scanned the trees. It didn’t take long for her to catch the first flash of reflective eyes.

  It was more than they’d seen the previous night, yet they didn’t attack right away, which was a good sign. Maybe they recognized her. Or maybe they just recognized Kai, and were planning to kill everyone around them. Either way, that they’d let themselves be seen meant a confrontation was at hand.

  “Don’t look into their eyes,” Syrel muttered. “They can entrance you.”