Chapter Eleven

An unexpected alliance.

It turned out there was a secret gateway hidden between the Winter Court and the land of the Dark Fae Lord. Dante had learned this when he was imprisoned in the dungeon. He said it was guarded but that we shouldn’t have too much trouble getting through.

“No one thinks twice about talking in front of prisoners,” he told me when I expressed my surprise at his knowledge. “The moment you are locked up, you cease to be a living being to anyone. They have no respect for you. You become nothing more than a blight on their world. They see you as weak, powerless, and without identity. I learned much in my short time locked away.”

That was interesting. I’d never stopped and thought about it, I’d never been a prisoner before my time with the winter queen, but I could imagine that once you lost your freedom, a lot of your identity disappeared with it.

“What happened to the little girl, the one they hurt to try and force me to give the queen my powers?” I asked him when we were through the second portal and heading deep into the Winter Court.

“Despite being a winter fae, she has found her place in the Summer Court.” A sliver of a smile crossed his face. I hadn’t seen him smile a lot; he was kind of serious. To be expected in his line of work. “She’s staying in the palace under the care of those who raise our children.”

Just like in the shifter world, many of our young were collectively raised.

“She deserved a chance at happiness.” I had seen the fear in her eyes, but also the resignation. I had been reasonably sure that wasn’t the first time she’d found herself at the mercy of the Winter Court. Probably like Shelley, repaying a debt from a member of her family.

That was no life for a child.

Kade squeezed my hand, wrapping his love around me, all of that warmth and soothing energy, which eased the ache in my chest. Kids did it to me every single time; they were a soft spot for me that I would never be able to carve out of my being. I knew it was a weakness. I’d tried to harden myself to it so that no one could use it against me, but … I wasn’t the Red Queen. Or Isalinda.

I wasn’t my mother … or my grandmother … and I never would be.

Dante paused then, and all of us did the same. We were tuned into his actions by this stage. We were deep in a dark winter forest. This world was definitely more nature than anything else. Small villages, scattered amongst huge forests. I loved it.

My eyes flicked around; it was cold, snow thin on the ground — dirty already under our boots. I expanded my senses, used the extra sight I had as a fae and queen to try to see what had caused Dante to pause. He lifted both of his hands in front of him and started to feel across the air, almost like a mime. I stopped looking around and stared at his odd action.

What is he doing?

A sparkling navy light flashed right in front of Dante, almost hovering at his eyeline. He leaned closer, whispered something, and the light zipped away. “Come on,” Dante said, still using a low whisper.

He took off, chasing after the blue sparkle of energy, or whatever it was that had appeared before him. We kept pace, even though the densely-packed forest was not well suited to sprinting. I did my best to avoid the noisier undergrowth, staying almost as stealthy and silent as Dante.

The blue spark was really zipping, leading us deeper and deeper into the darkness. After some time, the only light around us came from that little navy speck. The cold increased dramatically.

I wished Violet was here. For a multitude of reasons. I really missed her, but she’d also be able to whip us up some light and warmer clothes.

Suddenly the speck let out a little squeak and disappeared.

Like poof, gone in a blink.

Dante stopped, and we all did the same. “We mean you no harm,” I heard him say.

Say what now? He was talking to the speck? The darkness hovered for a few moments, and it was so all-encompassing that I couldn’t make out anything except some movement of shadows, some rustling of branches.

I prepared myself for an attack. Hand on sword.

A circle of light appeared around us. It took me a few seconds to figure out that it was formed from multiple balls of light that were being held by … beings … of some kind. As more of these lights appeared, I got a very clear view of what we were facing.

They were tall, much taller than me, some of them even beating Kade, and that was a rare sight. Thin and muscled, it was difficult to tell if there were males and females or just a single androgynous sex. Humanoid in shape, they were dressed in neutral colors; leather, dark and worn, appeared to be the most common material used. It wrapped around their legs, covered their arms, across their bodies in thick armor.

Dante bowed his head. “We need your help. We need safe passage into the dark lands. You protect the entrance.”

They protected the dark lands? They were going to kill us!

I think he means they protect this land from the dark creatures getting out, Kade mentally said. I’m hoping that’s what he meant.

I was hoping that too.

The silence was uncomfortable, and then one of them, an ocher-skinned, ancient-looking … whatever they were … stepped forward. “Elves do not concern themselves in the battle of highborn. You know this. We have one duty — to keep the dark creatures from bleeding out into our land. Why should we help you?”

Elves! Holy shifter babies. We had found the elves! I’d thought they lived in the mountains, according to the gnome’s intel from last time, but clearly some made their home in this dark forest.

Our silent stare-off continued for some time, and since they hadn’t tried to kill us yet, I was going to consider them a potential ally. When the silence extended on, I realized that Dante wasn’t going to speak. When I turned to him and our eyes met, he tipped his head toward Kade and then me. Okay … this must be some kind of protocol. Maybe King Samson wouldn’t allow him to make decisions where the elves were concerned. Maybe only royalty negotiated with elves.

I stepped forward and bowed my head deeply, lower than a queen of her people should, but I wanted to show them respect. We were here, in their territory, asking for help.

“I’m Queen Arianna of the wolf and bear shifters of Earth. We are well met.”

A few of the statuesque creatures nodded their heads. Hopefully that meant it was okay for me to speak.

“You say your task is to keep the dark creatures from crossing into your lands. Well, we are here now to destroy the Dark Fae Lord, thereby ridding the worlds of his darkness completely.” I had my fingers and toes crossed that they were on our side with this, because we did not have time to fight the elves as well.

The elves started to murmur amongst themselves, sharing looks of doubt, mixed with the slightest tinge of fear. After a minute or more of this, my breath caught as the ocher-skinned fae spoke again, his voice stronger: “The task you seek to achieve is impossible. The Dark Fae Lord and his children are born of evil and only evil can eliminate them.” The ground beneath our feet trembled — only the smallest of shakes, but it was enough that my respect for their power increased.

Kade stepped forward, before he flicked the clasps of his case open, allowing the staff to become visible, its dark stone glinting softly in the elves’ lights. He held it high and a swirl of energy started to brew around it.

“We are prepared,” Kade announced, as each elf stared at the weapon with a mixture of awe and fear. “We will fight darkness with our own dark weapon.”

I saw the way their gazes hardened on Kade, like he might now be an enemy they had not expected in their midst.

“How can you wield a dark weapon?” another elf asked, one with a slightly more feminine tone of voice. “We know of none who could touch the dark stone and not be tainted with it.”

Kade’s voice was strong, calm, confident. He was very good at easing the minds of others, because he seemed so very capable. He was capable. “I have a gift for mecca energy. More so than any other bear shifter. My gift is a complement to my bonded mate.” He winked at me. “I can funnel this energy, and keep it from overloading me. It is not easy. I have fallen to the darkness before, but I am learning.”

I wondered if Kade’s gift — which as he said seemed to be a complement to mine — was there because of my dual heritage, being half fae and half shifter, having a tie to both sides of the mecca. Maybe without Kade, without our bond, the power would have driven me crazy, especially when my winter magic was first released within me.

The elves’ faces were now masked into something more ghoulish and warrior-like. But at least it seemed they were contemplating our mission.

Finally they spoke: “We will deliberate. Put that thing away!” Then with a flash of magic they were gone.

Kade bent down and returned the staff to its case, and despite his confidence not two minutes ago, I sensed he wasn’t as in control of the darkness as he believed. The longer he held on to the staff, the more it was wrapping around his energy. He didn’t want to put it back in the case. I could feel that through our bond.

All of that power, it called to him.

Which was making me increasingly worried. But we were so close now. If we could just get through to the dark lands, maybe with the help of the elves, then Kade wouldn’t have to wield it any longer.

I opened my mouth, but Dante moved before I could speak, wrapping his hand lightly across my face. “Speak with caution, they are still here,” he murmured. “They’ve only cloaked themselves for privacy.”

He released me, stepping back into his spot. “So we just wait?” I murmured back to our fae guide.

He nodded, leaning his pack against a tree. “We wait.”

We all sat down and opened our packs, taking a moment to drink some water and to eat a few of the dried snacks. Minutes went by with nothing, and I was starting to get agitated. What were our options if they wouldn’t allow us entrance into the dark lands? After an agonizing amount of time, the elves reappeared out of thin air, just like Violet always did. I had been expecting them to come back, but still, the sudden sign of them made my breath hitch. Kade and I slowly stood.

A slightly smaller — but still well over my height — dark-haired elf with pearlescent skin and a long gray cloak stepped forward. “We will grant you access to the dark lands, and I will be your host for the time you are there.”

Host? Did that mean he was fighting with us, or reporting back to his people our every move? Meh, it really didn’t matter. We were going in.

“Thank you,” I told them as Dante came up behind me and bowed deeply to the elves.

The elf leader, who had done most of the talking, stepped forward. “If injury befalls you in the dark lands, we will not come to your aid.”

At first, I thought he was speaking to us, but then I realized he was speaking to our host. The gray-cloaked elf nodded and placed a hand over his chest. “On my honor,” he stated, and with that, all of the elves disappeared again.

We all stood there for a stretch of uncomfortable silence until the elf host spun around and gave us all a curt nod. His cloak fluttered in the wind and I saw an array of shiny weapons beneath. “I am Zandu, and I will bring honor to my family’s name with this great quest.”

Okay. Good motivation. I liked it. He had something driving him other than just our need. For creatures who normally did not involve themselves in the battles of others, I sensed this was important.

“Thank you, Zandu.” I put on my most polite queen voice. “If you would lead us into the fae lands, we would be ever so grateful.”

He held up a hand and gave me a half smirk. “You highborn, always rushing into everything with your swords raised and your egos engorged.”

Kade gave a low rumble in his throat beside me, but I nudged his leg with my knee and he stopped. Zandu raised an eyebrow at Kade, turning back to me. “What do you know about the Dark Fae Lord’s creatures?”

I squirmed under his gaze. “Not much. I’ve fought an ercho twice.”

Zandu broke out into a full-blown grin, showcasing a mouth of slightly pointed teeth. “erchos are little pests compared to what hides in the lands beyond this gate.”

I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling unprepared for this mission. It had been a rapid, ill-planned sort of journey, but there was an urgency we couldn’t ignore. Every day I stayed in New York was another day for the dark ones to build their army, to initiate whatever plans they were making.

I was actually pretty good at being thrown into the deep end, learning on the job, so it had made sense … at the time.

Kade stepped closer; he was equal height with the elf. “Queen Arianna has powerful magic, and so do I. If you have information you would like to share with us about these dark creatures, we would be grateful, but show some respect toward my mate, the same way we have shown your people respect.” Kade’s voice was calm, but there was no way anyone missed the deadly undertones.

I found myself holding my breath as the elf assessed him. Kian took a step closer to his brother, their broad shoulders filling a section between two trees. Something twinkled in the elf’s eyes, and then he gave a half head bow.

“I’ve always admired how driven by love the highborn can be.” His normally blunt voice held a note of wistfulness. I knew there was a story there — a story we didn’t get to hear, because he was suddenly all business again. “The beasts that live in the water, the slimers, can come onto land, but they prefer to pull you into a watery grave. They cannot be killed by any normal weapon. The only enemy of a water beast is fire.”

We all nodded. The five of us were slowly inching closer to Zandu, trying to absorb every piece of advice.

“Winged, or skybeasts, like ercho, harpy, and jets, can only be defeated with an arrow between their eyes.”

Kian nodded, as he was our bow man on this journey. King Samson had outfitted him with a bunch of fancy silver-tipped arrows.

“Wait,” I interrupted. “We have killed a harpy before, with a sword.” I’d seen her chest stop moving.

The elf shook his head. “They can be disabled … their bodies mimic death, but they are able to be revived by the Dark Fae Lord if you don’t kill them in the exact manner I say.”

Thank the gods we found the elves. Their knowledge was going to prove invaluable, I had no doubt.

Kade intercepted my thought: Or they found us. Maybe the divine are on our side here?

That would be a nice change.

Zandu lowered his voice. “The killians are ground beasts and they are aplenty. It’s this creature which forms the main fodder for the dark one’s army. Their hide is well protected, made from something similar to metal. Completely impenetrable. Their only weakness is a soft tissue flap near their neck. Beheading them will kill them.”

Dante unsheathed his sword and I knew he had just taken on the task of taking out the killians.

“There are many more smaller creatures, but they are of no real concern unless one bites or claws you. Don’t get bitten or scratched by anything in the dark realm, not even a bush,” Zandu warned.

With each warning my gut tightened with nerves.

Finally he looked at Kade. “The only way to kill the Dark Fae Lord is to snuff out the final sliver of humanity he has left with the dark weapon you possess, and then destroy his staff. I never believed we would end his reign, because I never believed anyone could wield a dark weapon and not succumb to its call. We will wait and see how you fare.”

He might not have faith in my mate, but I did. Kade was one of the strongest beings I knew, and I would keep him from the darkness. Complementary powers went both ways. Zandu took one final glance at our small hunting party and then spun around to open a portal. I stared into the shimmery oval, seeing the land beyond.

It wasn’t the stench of oil and death that had panic rising up inside of me, it was the sight of that damn lake from my dreams, and the black slithering creatures that swam within it. I welcomed the panic; it had my senses firing, my adrenalin pumping. My wolf was restless, pacing and growling in my chest, urging me forward. She was ready to end this. And so was I.

The war had begun.

Kian had his bow out. I held a long blade. Shelley had a two-pronged weapon in each hand, Dante his scary sword. Zandu appeared to be unarmed, but considering how many blades I’d seen beneath his coat, I knew he was one huge walking weapon. Our hunting party was ready.

The step through to the other side was silent and fast; the energy almost jerked me through, and I barely kept my feet on the icy ground. The cold bit into me; it felt even more all-encompassing than the winter lands. Adrenalin was keeping me warm though, my wolf prickling across my skin as she tried to force the change. It was almost unfair that I had to choose between her and my magic, because one didn’t seem to work with the other. I felt her reassurance, though, that she would aid me in whatever way she could.

Taking a deep breath, knowing that things were going to get very messy soon, I decided to take a moment for a Calista-style positive affirmation. “We will defeat the Dark Fae Lord and winter queen. We will prevent war and save thousands of lives. We will not let the darkness win.” My words were barely above a whisper; they were for me alone.

I felt Finn slip into my thoughts and it was a pleasant surprise that we could indeed communicate over this long distance. You got this, Ari. I’ll be waiting for you.

My familiar was with me at all times, hearing my thoughts and hopes and dreams, my insecurities and fears. He was my other half.

“We’ve been spotted.” Zandu’s terse warning brought me back to the danger around me. Everyone was through the portal now, so we a formed a line of defense. I heard screeches in the sky, and glancing up I almost cried when I saw how many creatures were circling above us.

Zandu followed my line of sight. “I can shield us from above, for a short time, to give us a chance to make it farther into the center.” He pointed across the frozen lake, the one from my dreams. “That’s where the Dark Fae Lord will be.”

It was a castle of sorts, thick and squat, like ice blocks dumped on top of each other. There was nothing aesthetically pleasing about it, but I could see it was solid, almost impossible to penetrate. The lake itself was mostly frozen over, with just a few patches of open water where the creatures must have broken through to the surface.

“Hopefully the Dark Fae Lord and winter queen come out to fight when they realize we are here,” Kade said. “Save us some time getting through this mass to them.”

“Something has definitely realized we are here,” Shelley muttered.

She wasn’t kidding. A horde of creatures were charging for us, the killians — I assumed — judging from the steel-like consistency to their outer layer. They looked like huge ants, with multiple round bodies, thick armor like shields on their dark brown skin, and gigantic metallic pincers on the front of their bodies. One near the front threw back its head and roared, giving me a direct visual of pink flesh. This must be the soft vulnerable part we needed to aim for.

The closer they got, the more details I was picking up. They were almost the same size as me in height, but much thicker. Their bodies were segmented, moving in ways I’d never seen before, almost like each part was disconnected from the other.

There were also a lot of them.

“Remember, hit the soft flesh in their necks,” Zandu shouted, as the first line of them was almost upon us.

I braced myself, blade in attack position, zeroing in on the targets. A screech above almost knocked me off my focus, but when the harpy bounced off whatever invisible shield Zandu had erected, I was able to focus on the ant-like creatures again.

The first one slammed into me with solid strength, its weight pushing me back as I fought to stop its pinchers from carving my heart out of my chest. My wolf rose up, adding her strength to mine, and we managed to grab on to each side of the pincher, wrenching it apart. It cracked in two, and then my blade was swinging before I could think about it, slicing straight through its throat.

With a garbled grumble of a noise, the killian collapsed, melting into a pile of dark goo. Okay, then … apparently when you killed a dark creature, it became sludge. As I stepped forward to take on the next creature, I saw Shelley slip away from our group and head for a bank of trees off to the left. At first I thought she’d gotten scared and was running away — I wouldn’t blame her one bit — but then an army of white-cloaked fae stepped out. Members of the winter queen’s army, complete with white fur uniform.

Shelley was doing the opposite of running in fear, she was heading right for danger, giving us time, holding off those winter soldiers. I lost sight of her as I sliced into another killian. They were strong brutes, but quite dumb and clumsy. As long as I stayed alert, I would be okay.

The killians were pushing us back towards the edge of the frozen lake. With each step, I had to look behind me to make sure I wasn’t suddenly going to find myself on thin ice. Finally, Kade took down the last killian, but I saw more in the distance, hobbling our way with their wonky gait.

“I think we should cross the lake. Easiest way,” I told the group.

Shelley wasn’t with us, yet, but she looked safe — standing in front of the winter queen’s guards. It looked like she was using her powers to influence the front line of the white-clad soldiers to start fighting with those behind. It was clever; I doubted she had enough power to influence all the soldiers in one go. This way, she just kept them fighting each other.

I glanced back at the ice again, seeing the zipping creatures below waiting for us.

“The killians are too heavy. They won’t step on the ice,” Zandu said, before he whipped out a weapon from under his cloak. It was a torch, which immediately burst to life, flaming with an iridescent pink fire. He handed it to me and I took it without question, assuming this was the fire we needed to kill anything that jumped out of the lake.

Then Zandu pulled a bow from his cloak — seriously, where did I get one of these magical cloaks? — and in two swift moves loosed an arrow, taking a harpy down. It fell to the ground with a thud, arrow between the eyes.

“Go!” he shouted. “I will hold off the sky creatures with your other bowman.”

Kian moved in next to Zandu, both of them focused on the sky. I didn’t even want to look up, didn’t want to see what creatures were waiting above to pluck off our heads. Dante pulled a second sword out, so he now held a lethal blade in both hands. “I will keep the killians off you, just in case they do decide to risk the lake.” He then ran straight at the approaching creatures.

I looked at Kade, who nodded. All of our friends and allies were fighting for their lives. It was up to us to finish this once and for all. Kade stepped out onto the ice first; it made a slight groan of protest but otherwise held. I followed about three feet to his right, to disperse our weight. We walked with brisk care, avoiding all ice that looked particularly thin, and the few open black pools of icy water.

We were about halfway across when I saw something dark slithering on my right.

“Kade…” I murmured.

“I saw it,” he said, slowing, sword raised.

We walked a few more steps when the ice right before me cracked wide open and an oily black ercho broke the surface. It reached out with one of its claws, gashing my leg.

I cried out, swinging my torch by instinct.

Like it was doused in accelerant, the pink flames ignited its skin with ease, rushing across its back, and down the length of its bat-like wings. High-pitched screeches filled the air, and the scent of burning rubber — thick and tar-like — clogged my nostrils. The ercho flopped about as the fire burned it alive and slowly melted the ice it lay on. I peered at the hole it had broken through and saw that the lake was black and oily.

It wasn’t water.

Half a dozen shadowy figures sped under the ice to answer the ercho’s dying call, and I was reminded of how quickly it had caught alight.

It gave me an idea.

“Kade, how fast can you run?” I gave him a wink. He was more than fast enough. I just hoped I could keep up. I held the torch to the open oil spot.

Kade’s eyes gleamed. “Do it,” he said.

Needing no more encouragement, I dropped the torch into the oily water, and we both took off running.

Burn baby burn.

Today I was taking out the Dark Fae Lord and all of his evil babies.