Chapter Nine
Kai prided himself on having quite a quick mind, but he didn’t have a fucking clue what the hell was happening right now.
What he’d seen Eira do was impossible. Just impossible. Not difficult, unlikely, or weird.
He knew the theories of magic; users could bend and transform things that existed.
Eira hadn’t: she’d created ice.
Nothing was created, first law of physics, defining and explaining everything in the entire universe.
“We need to gather everyone; keep your questions, they’ll last the night if we survive this.”
He snapped his mouth shut, agreeing with Fyn.
He counted heads and was disturbed at the number: three hundred and ninety-five.
Someone was missing.
“Gerda,” he cursed.
She was probably hunting.
“We can’t wait, Kai.”
He nodded; while he didn’t know what was coming, he had a pretty good idea – elves only had one enemy nowadays.
Before his birth, his father decided to form an alliance with the marquis of Carabas, the land adjunct to the forest where they’d lived at the time.
Kai wasn’t certain what had happened but their friendship ended up in betrayal, but not before the marquis had learnt their biggest weakness.
Marking an elf made them servants to those whose scene they wore – slaves. The gods had cursed them that way after they’d rebelled, refusing to fight for their amusement – it had taken away their choice.
Carabas was close to the mountain where they now resided, but he’d trusted the wards to keep them safe – until now.
What had happened to make them fail? How was Eira linked to all this?
More importantly yet: she was obviously powerful. Why wasn’t she helping them, here?
“The children on the sleigh,” he ordered.
There was only one, and the thirty three younglings didn’t fit. Where was Gerda? For once, he could have done with the help of her stubborn Bae.
“Kragen,” he called. “Come here.”
He took the child on his own shoulders and they were on their way, too slowly for their own good.
He could hear them now; Eira had been right, there were motor vehicles – a lot of them.
He was desperately coaxing everyone at the back to hurry the fuck up when they reached a place which definitely didn’t belong in this mountain.
Anytime now, he was going to wake up from this nightmare.
They were in a flower garden. Seriously, a garden, in a middle of the winter, on this mountain.
“We need to hurry though it,” Fyn announced. “It’s either help or hindrance; as it comes from a person who knows magic, I bank on help. But that doesn’t make it safe. Don’t touch the flowers, and don’t drink the water here.”
Resisting to either was practically impossible, they smelt so very delicious and the water seemed clearer, more refreshing than anything he’d drank.
Kai suddenly realized just how very thirsty he was.
Fuck. There definitely was magic involved.
“Prince Kai, can’t we have a little bit of water? Just a little won’t hurt.”
“No,” he said firmly. “No; it will hurt.”
“You what!”
“Elves are smart,” Persephone shrugged. “Humans, not so much. They’ll spend an eternity lost in the gardens.”
Perfect. Just perfect.
Eira had been relieved when her old friend had turned up, but she’d just dumped a whole lot of worry on her shoulders.
Nothing in her gardens would harm the villagers, but if they were lost there, they’d just wait like sitting ducks until their enemies – probably armed to the teeth – turned up.
“Chill sista’. What is it with you today?”
“I do believe I feel a little bit of love in the air,” a newcomer sang out, coaxing a relieved sigh and a tired smile out of her.
“Aphrodite.”
“Hey Skadi. I’m quite put out; you’re in love and I had nothing to do with it!”
She glared, warning her to drop the subject, before pointing to the little door of ice at the back of her bedroom.
“Any idea what we’re doing about that?”
The door was banging so hard it vibrated, but they couldn’t identify the presence behind – it was faint, which meant that he – or she – had yet to make a dent in their shields.
It was an elemental ward, made of water, ice, earth and fire. They could have used a bit of air, but none of them had been really good with that.
That meant that if the unwonted visitor controlled air, he might possibly get through – not now, but eventually.
“No clue. We couldn’t just destroy the gate; not without affecting the other three.”
And while she wasn’t vagabonding in between the dimensions, Persephone and Aphrodite did. They had a life on the other side; Persephone loved her husband, Aphrodite loved… well, love.
“We might not have a choice. Imagine what they’d do if they passed through – they’d cause carnage just to exert their revenge.”
“I don’t mind closing the portal,” Persephone shrugged, to her surprise. “But we can’t make that decision without Amphitrite here.”
They nodded in agreement.
“Hang on, I’ll try to give her a call.”
Aphrodite produced a mobile phone; gone were the days of secret pigeons, thanks fuck for that. They used to shit everywhere.
“No answer. She kinda spends a lot of time underwater, I guess.”
Typical.
Eira opened her mouth to voice an idea when something cold and hard fisted her heart and ripped it from her chest. At least, it felt that way.
No.
“Kai!”
The scream travelled fields, hills and forests, bursting through the lands and it was his name he heard.
Kai immediately dropped to the ground, protecting Kragen with his body, and yelled warnings just when the shooting started.
They turned around in time to see there weren’t many enemies; only one vehicle, although he was certain he’d heard a few before.
But the vehicle was a tank.
Shit. He hadn’t expected that; everything he knew about their enemies suggested they wanted them alive, to sell or use them as they saw fit.
“Get the kids to safety,” he shouted towards Fyn, who drove the sleigh.
She obeyed, hurrying, as fast as the animal would go.
“Hunters! To the trees.”
They had bows, arrows and swords, not exactly efficient towards a fucking tank, but they wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“Kragen, I need you to run north,” he told the child, once they were away from the path. “Can you do that for me?”
The boy just shook his bloody head left and right. Fuck, he didn’t have the time for this.
“Right. Stay next to me, then.”
At least, he wouldn’t die running.
Needless to say, the volley of arrows were completely ineffective against the metal box, but they tried.
“Focus on the wheels,” he shouted, before drawing his first arrow.
Kai was confused for a short second.
It was blue. He was pretty sure he hadn’t at any point decided to decorate his hand-crafted arrows.
Eira had to have something to do with that. She hadn’t spent more than three days in his house, but somehow, she’d managed to play with his weapons and turn them into pretty girly shit. At least there was no glitter.
He shot it and froze in place as everyone turned to him.
Wow. Eira definitely had something to do with that, and he owed her a lifetime of cunnilingus for it.
The arrow went straight through the tank, and they heard a scream meaning it had lodge itself into someone in there.
“How did…”
“Prince Kai?”
He turned to Kragen, who was definitely looking at him funny.
“You may wanna know, you’re kinda glowing right now.”
Shit, the kid was right: his hand was definitely on the luminescent side of things.
“Right. Let’s freak out about it later. First, we have a tank to take down.”
He took another arrow aimed for the windows, this time.