| |
Aiden slashed at the fae. A half-hearted effort intended to scare her so he could break through to Corson, lying unmoving on the rocky path.
The fae responded with a circular attack. Refusing to give in, Aiden pressed closer, flashing a parry riposte at the fae’s shoulder and catching a drip of silver blood on his blade.
More silver-armoured fae were closing in around Corson’s body. Too many to fight. The fae he’d tried to attack stepped back to the others. Together, they turned their cold eyes and sharp teeth on Aiden.
Keera held her sword out, threatening the fae, and they shied back. “We’ve got to go.” She pulled him away.
“But—” Aiden could barely see from the tears streaming down his face.
“Don’t let Corson’s sacrifice be for nothing.” Keera wiped the back of a hand over her eyes and reached out to tug his shirt. “Come on. We’ve got to get to the girls.”
Still reeling, Aiden backed slowly away. They’d never hurt a child, would they? His mind shied away from the question and he began to jog. He couldn’t imagine losing any of the children.
Moonlit silver flashed through the trees. “Run!” Keera shouted.
“Okay, but only till we get the others to safety. Then we have to save Ruby.” If the fae don’t kill us first. Aiden ran down the forest path with Keera, the fae’s silver armour flitting through the trees not so far behind.
Aiden struggled, soon gasping for breath and near tripping over the stones and tree roots, let alone the abandoned backpacks and other possessions strewn across the track. Ahead, the flicker of torches showed much of the village had taken the path, not out of Brocéliande, but toward Market Town.
“Stop!” Aiden called, sucking gasps of air through his raw throat. “Shouldn’t we be getting everyone to safety?”
In the midst of the shadowy crowd ahead, his mother turned back. Snuggled in her arms, Pearl was little more than a shadow against her chest. Safe.
“Aiden, my boy, what’s wrong? Where’s Corson? Don’t say the rumour I heard was true? Was Princess Eirlys right?”
Aiden shook his head. Unable to say the words. Not now.
Changeling Ruby, riding on his father’s shoulders, waved. He smiled at her. Weird how the changeling was becoming more loveable with every breath. He wanted to protect her with his life—as if she were his own daughter.
“Pearl, Ruby, thank goodness you’re alright.” Keera rushed to Pearl and enfolded the baby in her arms.
Changeling Ruby held out her hand—her mouth moving as if she wanted to say something, but the words were too difficult.
“Come on, Ruby.” Aiden plucked Changeling Ruby from his father’s shoulders. “We have to get out of here. We can’t risk more people getting hurt.”
“Nonsense,” Burcham said. “We’ll go to the trading village. Set up there. Everything will be fine. You’ll see. It’s what Corson would have wanted.”
“Is it?” Keera strode toward him, towering over the man.
Burcham coughed. “Yes, yes, of course. It’s the safest option. The Three Sisters is right next to the FaerLand border. We’ll go to Market Town. Get help there. Surely it’s a big enough settlement to scare away a handful of fae and spiders.”
But at the edge of Market Town, there were no lights and no sign of life. The signpost rattled in the wind, the village eerily silent as leaves and other forest debris blew through empty dirt lanes, as if the place had never existed. An owl called, its thin hoot echoing into the night before disappearing.
Wordless, Burcham and the remaining villagers trooped on, trying to ignore the distant fae standing to attention under their giant trees, like a silver river, not trying to cut them off—just stopping them from setting foot anywhere near FaerLand.
“Aiden, look.” Keera pointed ahead. The barest sliver of a crescent moon hung in the sky over a tree with only two trunks.
The Three Sisters—was now only two.
Alice strode ahead and peeked through the trunks. “It’s alright,” she said. “Earth’s still this way.” She pulled her three children through the gap.
More villagers hurried through, scrambling between the two trunks to Earth.
Keera and Aiden waited, the fae inching closer as more and more people disappeared through the tree.
A lanky fae bellowed to his companions, “Raise your weapons.”
“Damnation,” Keera swore. She pushed Pearl into Aiden’s mother’s hands. “Go.”
“On my mark, fire at will.” The fae raised an arm.
The remaining people rushed through the small gap. They slowed as they were caught in the crush between the trunks, and had to scrabble for safety. If fae started firing, there’d be a blood-bath. Instead, the fae seemed to be having a whispered argument.
Arrows were nocked. With one last glance across at FaerLand and the arrayed forces, Aiden ran at the now empty gap in the trunk, carrying changeling Ruby through the portal as arrows zinged past.
Keera?
There she was, stepping over the threshold and onto the leafy forest floor, her dark hair shimmering in the moonlight. His heart lighter, he ran to her.
A crack echoed around the clearing.
Changeling Ruby screamed and pointed to the Three Sisters. The tree that should have had three trunks, now only had one.
We’re trapped on Earth.
A tear leaked from Ruby’s eye. Silver. And it wasn’t just the moonlight.
Don’t let Burcham, or anyone, see. Aiden wiped away the tear. “Don’t be frightened. We’re going to get you home.” Somehow.
Keera sheathed her sword. “How are we going to get back in, now?”
“What do you mean, get back in?” Aiden’s father demanded.
Aiden took a deep breath. “Ruby is...not Ruby, she’s a changeling. We need to go into FaerLand to get our Ruby back.”
Aiden’s dad scowled. “What is this nonsense? Kill the abomination and break the faery pact. What are you waiting for?”
“No,” Keera said.
“I’m serious,” he continued, ignoring the terrified child burying her face in Aiden’s chest and drawing his sword. “You know this is the only way. Do it.”
