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Riley never returned to the apple grove. He wandered the island, unable to clear his mind of the visions he and Luza had experienced at the turkey fountain. Each step reminded him of when Bilal and Junkai used him to please their lust for killing. There was no peace for him here.
He avoided the entrance to the gates and where the birds would nest for the night. He would not be welcome anywhere save in the presence of Luza. Even now at this late hour, he didn’t know how he could make things any easier for her.
After hours of walking, he found himself back on the top of the steep ledge, the three of them had climbed the previous afternoon. He figured it would be the last place anyone would look, should they want to find him. Sitting on the ledge, he let the lull of the water calm his soul, as much as he would allow.
Keira had drawn the line, shifting her form, like it was nothing. He knew there were few options going forward and that frightened him, should he ever allow himself to admit it. He was wondering if there was enough space for them to reconcile. Yet in his heart, he didn’t want to do anything of the sort.
When the option presented itself, Riley knew he would need to break away with Luza. Keira was dangerous and a liability.
She no longer was a friend to him, if she ever was. At every turn she challenged his advice and guidance. He couldn’t and he wouldn’t allow for it going forward. They just had to get through the gate and then they would part ways.
It was decided.
* * *
KABOOM!
KABOOM!
Keira lifted her muzzle. Her ears pointed towards the explosion in the early morning sun.
She stood on all four fawn colored paws and looked directly at Luza.
“Run Luza! Run as fast you can. The nests must be protected.”
Not waiting for a response, Keira jumped off the platform and darted towards the direction of the explosions.
KABOOM!
* * *
Having nodded off in the early morning hours, Riley was sitting hunched over on the top step of the ledge.
KABOOM!
He jerked himself awake.
KABOOM!
No time to process, Riley shifted mid stride. Gone was his lanky frame and his brown raggedy hair. The four-point buck, six-and-a-half foot long deer, standing well over six feet tall, raced to the scene of the explosion.
He knew exactly where to go.
It can’t be. Not yet, not now.
* * *
In her current form, Keira avoided the trail altogether. She didn’t need to run across one direction and then cut across another when her four paws could take her faster through the woods and over to the other side of the island.
KABOOM!
What is going on? I need to get there, like now.
Zigzagging around trees, stumps, and rocks, the teen raced through the balsam and pine rich forest.
She saw the smoke and the flames.
Am I too late?
* * *
Luza couldn’t fathom that now of all times she had to leave the apple grove, race down the trail, and protect whatever birds remained.
How am I going to do this? The blasted knife! Riley took it from me. What am I going to do? What if they strike the nests next?
Luza was correct in her thinking. She couldn’t run anywhere as fast in her current state. Gone was her agility and nimbleness, replaced with an awkward gait and a short stature that would hurt her in any close combat.
Nevertheless, even if Keira hadn’t told her to run, she would have. Her body changed to two legs, but her loyalty would always be with the animals. If that meant giving her life, she would.
* * *
Smoke rose across the island. Riley strained to get to the gates. They were just through the next set of trees.
Please don’t be there. Please don’t be there.
He didn’t want to think about the possibility, should Luza have been in the explosion. What could he do? Could he still save her?
* * *
Coming out of the woods with reckless abandon, Keira shot out at the first creature she saw. She didn’t wait to ask questions. She knew they weren’t welcomed guests.
A large brown Berkshire boar was the first animal in her way. It had a satchel around his body, filled with timers and several sticks of dynamite.
Her instincts took over.
Keira cut to the side of the woefully slower boar. She clawed at his face with one paw, clawed the backside with another, and then dug her teeth into the animal’s unprotected jugular.
It collapsed as Keira moved on to the next boar only a few meters away.
As with the first Berkshire boar, this one also wore a satchel with timers and dynamite. It meant no difference to the teen.
She leapt onto his back, and thrust her paws into his face and neck. Riding the boar until he collapsed a second later, Keira lifted her head up and surveyed the scene.
With a rough headcount, there were more than twenty boars standing outside the remaining gates not covered in smoke or ash.
Two gates were blown to pieces, with their entrances collapsed and the hill they had been dug from leveled.
A team of boars were busy laying down another set of dynamite to the remaining ancient faerie structures.
* * *
Riley didn’t wonder who was behind this attack. The time of day and the sheer dramatic effect only meant one thing. Sohon had sent the order.
Cutting through the open field, Riley lowered his antlers and struck out at the first creature he found.
The lucky black boar with his head turned towards the gates, received several puncture wounds to his body. That was only the beginning when Riley flipped his rack up, taking the boar for an unscheduled flight.
The animal collapsed unsure what had hit him.
Two other boars rushed towards the prince. They moved to their hind feet and transformed to full grown men with weapons on their side.
“How did they do that?” Riley said under his breath.
He panted. The knives the two burley men weld were going to complicate things.
* * *
Luza arrived at the ledges out of breath and confused.
The fires from the night before were smoldering and the birds, all of them, had remained close to their nests.
“Why is no one up? You’re under attack. You have to fight or leave. Do something or you all will die.”
Birchard was the first to greet her. He flew up from the water’s edge, his face void of emotion.
“We don’t need to do anything. We knew they were coming. It’s inevitable Princess.”
“Are you mad? Why lead us all the way here just to die?”
The red-eyed loon, blinked unsteadily at the white and black haired teen.
“You should go while you can Foxy.”
Baffled, Luza reached out towards the bird. He kept far enough away to maintain a safe distance.
“That’s right, come a little closer and I’ll strangle you myself. Come on Birchard, what really is going on?”
The bird repeated. “Go while you can.”
He didn’t stay for Luza’s rebuttal. The Manning Lake loon squawked and bid the teen adieu. Back into the fog he went, never to return.
* * *
Another boar lay dead; that made five if Keira was counting. She looked over long enough to see Riley had arrived and was contending with a duo of knife wielding men.
She thought the deer might run but Riley stood his ground and waited for the two men to make their attack.
Not having time to watch the scene play out, Keira had issues of her own. Three boars lit the fuse to the explosives they armed for the middle gate.
There was no time to put it out, to save the gate from the same destruction the others had met. But for now those same boars had their backs turned and were easy picking.
Avoiding a wire held by two medium-sized boars, Keira slashed at their hooves. She couldn’t stand these hairy creatures with brown and black hair.
The boars cried out.
She paid no heed to their pain, and struck one of the three boars holding the fuse line.
It was ill-timed, not due to her pulverizing the boar with her paws and teeth, but misjudging his size and girth. As she pulled him to the ground, his massive size and weight rolled onto her body. She was now immobile while the dying animal lay on top of her.
The other two boars got down on all fours and attacked her with their snouts. They pecked away at her sides, as thought she was food to be foraged.
Keira was hurt, but she wouldn’t give up without a fight.
* * *
KABOOM!
KABOOM!
The explosives destroyed the third of the five gates. Rocks flew in every direction.
Riley watched the two men stumble. Giving him the time he desperately needed, he deflected one knife and stabbed the other man in the chest with his antlers.
Despite the deflection, the knife was jabbed at his body for a second time.
His front shoulder felt the blade make impact, but with a quick turn to his left, the blade was flung in the air and the man knocked to the ground unconscious.
“Why couldn’t Bilal have been that easy?” he said out loud.
* * *
The explosions shook the ground around the entire area. While the dead boar still laid on top of Keira’s dangling body, her attackers fell.
“Rarrrrrawww!” She screamed like never before.
Whether it was the sound of her roar or the extra effort, Keira rolled the six hundred pound boar off her body and got back on her feet.
They backed away from the snarling mountain lion. Neither one wanted a piece of the teen.
She was ready to grab the one closest to her, but caught sight of ten new arrivals.
Catching Riley out of the corner of her eye, she yelled, “Wolves!”
Grey wolfs, large ones, trained specially by Sohon’s special forces were coming through the last remaining gates.
Those boars still upright fell back and let the four legged elite take over.
Taking a step back, Keira looked on to see still more animals arriving. Croatian sheepdogs, lynx, and marten all arrived ready for battle.
She looked up in the sky.
“Where are the loons? Where’s my backup?”
For the first time in days when faced with adversity, she was alone with only Riley on the other end of the field, outnumbered 30 to 1.
* * *
The mighty buck knew enough to leave. He saved his strength and bolted for the woods.
She’s not stupid enough to stay. She can’t be that stupid.
He looked back at the settling invasion force.
Run Keira, run while you can.
Call him a coward if you want, but Riley was no match for those numbers. He put Keira out of his mind. Instead he hoped and prayed that he’d have time to protect and save Luza before the army was upon them.
* * *
Luza watched Birchard disappear into the fog. It infuriated her that the loon would betray her. She stormed over to the trees, wondering who else was waiting for her, Riley, and Keira to die.
“Are you all a bunch of chickens? Fraidy-cats? Yellow-bellys? I can’t believe this.”
The yellow, brown, red, and black eyes of over fifty birds, blinked back from the trees above.
“Are you kidding me? Where are you Great Loon so I can give you a piece of mind? Where are you?”
Luza covered the brim of her eyes, searching for the old loon. She wanted retribution. She wanted to tear off his feathers.
As much as she looked, the crafty bird was already on the other side of the island.
* * *
Caught up in the moment, Keira latched onto another boar. With an extra burst of strength, she dug her claws into the boar’s side and tossed the animal out of her way.
She might have bit another before the wolves had gathered their reinforcements, but the boars had fallen back.
Above her the Great Loon swooped down from above and landed only a few feet from the lone remaining gate.
She watched the wolves ignore the bird. One with a jade collar around his neck stood away from the others and conversed with the old loon.
Keira had seen enough.
Whether it was poor judgment or not she wanted the loon for herself.
No matter that there were enemies in front of her, she bolted away from the lines and ran along the rocks, mud, and trees that had been destroyed by the explosion.
He was close.
She could see his red eyes and the white feathers under his chin.
One swipe and he would be punished once and for all.
With tunnel vision, Keira focused solely on the bird, and she paid dearly for it.
KABOOM!
* * *
“You hide in the trees because an old loon couldn’t see past his own fate. Ridiculous! At least the geese, I expected more from you.”
Luza stared up at the pine trees, searching for the familiar black and white feathered birds.
Where did those long necks go?
“If you think you’re safe, you’re wrong. Nothing can protect you, not a handshake, an agreement, or a cranky old bird. If Sohon doesn’t kill you, in time the faeries will.”
Her voice was hoarse from yelling.
KABOOM!
Luza looked in the direction of the smoke.
She closed her eyes and quietly said, “At least act on behalf of the Princess, the Queen to be. She doesn’t hide in the shadows. She’s doesn’t fall back just because she’s scared. She believes in something, more than you can say and maybe even me.”
Shaking her head in disgust, tears fell from the Arctic teen’s face.
“Somebody help us, please.”
* * *
Keira rolled hard onto the loose dirt. Her eyes burned. Her body ached.
She gasped for air.
Smoke continued to rise around her and the destroyed gate behind.
Gone were her paws, the two-foot long tail, and the whiskers to match. She laid there on her stomach all five-foot-ten of her human frame.
She wanted to cover her forehead and the welt from one of many rocks that struck. Instead, her hands clung tightly onto her bruised ribs.
Her strength knocked out of her, Keira laid on the ground wondering when the others would settle the score.
She imagined the Great Loon perched on a large boulder strides away, safely in front of the last gate and surrounded by Sohon’s force.
If she had the ability to cry, she would have.
The wolves, martens, lynx, and Croatian sheepdogs ignored the teen altogether. They set out in haste leaving only a small force behind with the remaining pigs.
Keira was alone and for the first time since her transformation, genuinely afraid.
* * *
Riley didn’t know how much time he had. Sohon’s guard had to be close. They didn’t come here simply to guard a gate. He was confident of that.
Turning his head back and forth, Riley didn’t see anyone, let alone Keira.
He considered shifting course and finding the teen.
KABOOM!
Time was running out and he knew it.
Passing the remnants of the turkey fountain, the teen ran faster.
Snorting, he continued to run as hard as his hooves would take him, to Luza and hopefully off this island.
* * *
Fighting the pain, Keira opened her eyes and watched the Great Loon continue his conversation with the necklace-wearing wolf.
She didn’t know why, nor did she care about the wolf. The loon and his grin irked her at the core.
Weakly, she cried out, “Why don’t you finish me Charlie? Or are you going to let them do your dirty work?”
He shifted his beak and cawed, “You were never the target my dear. What a shame to see you lying in so much pain. Just rest and I promise they’ll let you be. I swear on your father.”
“My father?” she sniffled.
The comment devastated the teen. It was more than just Lane’s legacy at stake, but what he had wanted her to do. Keira didn’t understand the politics and who wanted what. She only understood they had been betrayed and those animals crisscrossing the island were after Luza.
* * *
Riley couldn’t run any faster.
His legs burned with lactic acid.
Two wolves burst by the teen.
He begrudgingly couldn’t act or do anything to slow their pace. The grey wolves with red in their eyes and the taste of blood in their throats, knew there was nothing he could do to stop them.
* * *
The image from days earlier of Luza bursting out of the woods, running away from Bilal and his dog Junkai, filled Keira’s thoughts. She remembered the little Arctic fox, with the adorable black button nose, and that long bushy tail she would wrap herself in while sleeping at night.
Luza’s deep blue eyes with amber specs had come all this way to find her. She had come through one of those gates and now Keira was unable to repay her for the sacrifice the fox had made.
It pained her, more than those bullets Bilal had unloaded on her body in the cave.
She took a deep breath and gasped for more air.
Looking up, she watched the grey wolf with the necklace swat at the Great Loon. The old bird never knew what struck him as he fell to the ground.
The golden eyes of the wolf fixed in on the wounded teen.
She watched him approach and wondered what she had left, if anything to fight.
* * *
Luza heard the two wolves coming. She saw them soon enough. Two large grey wolves, the scouts of the advancing force meant more were close behind.
My prince. Where is Riley?
She hoped he would be there to protect her, but instead the Princess of the Northern Wood stood defenseless, footsteps away from a smoldering fire, and a forest filled with birds who were content to hide.
* * *
The golden eyes came closer. Keira fixated on the emptiness of the grey wolf’s face and the jagged teeth that belonged to him.
She might have given up then, but from above a familiar cry came out.
“For King Lane, the rightful king!”
She raised her weary head and saw what seemed to her hundreds of red-tailed hawks and Canadian geese.
The wolf focused on the teen far too long. He wasn’t prepared for the impact of several hawks and geese dive bombing into his sides and back.
Keira lifted herself off the ground and stood.
She thought of her father and where he might be.
The birds fought for him, but she knew in her heart they had come for her.
With renewed strength and a heart filled with love, Keira ran on all fours. She was going after Luza.