Chapter Twenty-Seven
When we reached Chetham’s Library, I sent the tracer for Aetnae. Our band of rebels followed Edgar to the coven while Arik and Royston waited for Aetnae with me.
Royston sat the box on a display case.
It didn’t take Aetnae long to show up. “What is going on here?” she asked.
“Come see,” I said, showing her the box. “I’ll let Sen explain things to you. Can you get them safely to the Fey realm? And stay there. Conemar is coming with the Tetrad to attack Barmhilde.”
“I will.” Her voice sounded solemn.
My boots felt heavy as I headed down the aisle after Arik and Royston.
“And Gia?” Aetnae stopped me.
I turned. “Yes?”
“Be careful.”
“You, too.”
Arik straddled the entry into the haven, waiting for me. I stepped through the open panel and joined Royston.
The Barmhilde village looked like a ghost town. Doors closed and windows shuttered, not a single living person or creature crowded the usually busy streets. Coming to a rescue in the Mystik world would prove difficult. Having so many jump through the gateway books would take forever.
We met Edgar and the others on the outskirts of the camp.
Cadby circled the sky before landing. He took up his guard at Royston’s side. “The Red and his army are at the entrance to the Talpar tunnel,” he said, a little out of breath.
…
Lei stood on a rock to look at everyone. “All right. Our objective is to protect Gia and Royston so they can destroy the Tetrad. They are center. Demos, Edgar, and Arik will take forward. Jaran and I will each take a side. Divvy up Couve’s Sentinels and guards to aid you. Deidre, Emily, and Philip, you’re in the rear. Get ready for battle. Arik is lead.”
Arik’s eyes snapped in her direction and a grin pushed dimples into his cheek. Lei was a great leader. She knew Arik had more training than she had. Leading came naturally to him.
She hopped off the rock, waved her hand over her head for us to get information, and charged in the direction of the battle. We reached the top of the hill that looked down on the field. To the left, cliffs dropped to the lake below. The Red’s army surrounded the boulder covering the Talpar tunnel. Arik stopped our group.
I held my side and panted, welcoming the rest.
“What is The Red thinking?” Edgar shouted to Arik. “If the Tetrad is blowing through the tunnels, it’ll hit those men closest to the entry. We must get them back to a safer distance.”
Lei studied the field. “All right. Go put them in a better formation.”
“Gladly,” Edgar said and jogged down the hill.
Jaran came to my side. “How are you holding up?”
“Terrified and ready at the same time,” I said. “The waiting is killing me.”
Edgar reached The Red. His arms flailed around him as he spoke.
The sound of boots on the packed dirt, marching up the hill caused Jaran and me to turn. I recognized the people right off. The men and women were from Tearmann. A few looked to be my age. I spotted Buach and made a beeline for him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Buach, his back straight and chest out, side-glanced me. “I be here to fight. What else would I be doing?”
“No, you’re not.” I pulled him away from the others. “You’re too young. Galach wouldn’t like this at all.”
“He isn’t me father.” He inspected my gear. “You’re my age, and you’re in the fight.”
“That’s different.”
“How so?”
“Okay, if you’re going to be in the battle, then you’re going to be with me.” I grabbed his arm and stormed off.
Buach kept up with me. “What are you up to? Don’t be embarrassing me.”
I ignored him and stopped in front of a man who looked in charge of the rebels. His hair was longish with gray streaking it. I released Buach’s arm.
“Sir,” I said. “Can I have a word?”
The man held his nose up in the air and rested his hand on his not so flat belly. “You may.”
“I need this…um, what are you called? A soldier?”
“That would work,” the man said.
“Well, I need him to aid my group.”
“And you are?” He looked down at me.
“Gianna Bianchi.”
He lifted his helmet. “That you be. You be much younger than your likeness painted in our tunnel. A little scrawny to be the Assassin of Truths as mentioned in your article in the Mystik Observer.”
Scrawny? How rude.
I didn’t know what to say to that, but I guessed a response wasn’t needed. The man’s hand dropped from his belly. “It is an honor to meet you. We are here to aid you.” His eyes went to Buach. “Do as she wishes.”
Buach gave the man a slight nod.
I headed back to Arik and the others, with Buach not so anxious to follow me. The field looked like a living thing, with the Mystiks all shifting their positions. Birds took off from the cliffs and flew over the lake. The purplish-blue sky was clear of clouds.
Buach stomped up to my side. “What will you have me do?”
I stopped in front of Deidre, Emily, and Uncle Philip. “You stick with them. Our gang is bringing down the Tetrad.”
Leaving him there, I returned to my spot beside Royston.
Cadby’s wings twitched. He looked ready to take off. “This wait is agonizing.”
“Tell me about it,” I murmured.
The Couve’s Sentinels and guards were evenly spaced around our formation.
Edgar was still working on getting The Red’s army to move back. The Tearmann rebels continued down the hill to join Barmhilde. Dust rose, kicked up by the many feet pounding against the ground.
At first, I thought Tearmann’s army had shaken the ground, but it was an explosion at the entrance to the tunnel. Clumps of earth and dirt sprayed into the air. The boulder covering the tunnel shot out and dropped onto two Mystiks by the opening, crushing them underneath it. The Red’s army scrambled back.
The Red and Edgar shouted orders, trying to get the people back into formation. They’d just about gotten everyone under control when the Tetrad came out of the hole. Screams and shouts rushed up the hill.
I glanced back. Buach was viewing the field with a gadget that looked like old-fashioned binoculars.
“Can I see those?” I asked.
He nodded, shuffled over, and handed them to me. I peered through the lens at the field.
The creature of my dreams was alive. It stomped toward the army. The lead beast had a lion-like face. A dirty-yellow mane framed his scarred face, his nose was flat, and he had a cleft upper lip. Claw-like nails twitched at his sides as his fierce eyes glared at the Mystiks readying to fire a cannon.
Three other beasts followed him. One had two large ram horns coming out of his forehead. He was human, except for his forearms and legs, which were more beast-like. Another one had a boar’s head with sharp tusks and bristly black hair covering most of his body. The final beast had scales coating his arms and legs, which bent like a lizard’s limbs. His forked tongue tasted the air; drool dripped from his rows of razor-sharp teeth. The only human parts to him were his muscled chest, neck, and abdomen. All four looked as if someone had cut them up and haphazardly sewed them back together.
The beasts moved together on the field. It was as if something invisible tethered them together in a diamond formation as they descended on the army. The Lion Man led them like a puppet master pulling invisible strings. Whatever move he made, the others made with him.
Conemar came out of the tunnel with Nick by his side. His army then poured out onto the field. He climbed onto the boulder and yelled a command to the Tetrad, and it stopped. His army lined up behind the creature.
He motioned to someone in the tunnel, and several Esteril guards brought up eight people with sacks covering their heads and hands tied behind their backs. A dozen or so Writhes flowed out of the cavity in the ground. And I almost crumpled to the ground when a guard pulled Bastien onto the field.
Arik glanced back at me. “Stay strong, Gia.”
I took a deep breath. If I panicked, I’d fail Bastien. I’d fail them all.
Conemar raised his hand, and a blue light shaped like a cone formed. He put his lips to one end of it and spoke. “Surrender or lose your lives.” The cone was a speaker, making his voice boom over the valley. “We are embarking on a new era. One where wizards rule both the human and Mystik realms. You will be treated well. Your families fed. Everyone will be equal. If one has a slice of bread, all have a slice of bread. I am not the enemy.”
Murmurs rose from the Mystik army.
“Don’t listen to him,” The Red shouted. “You will all be slaves to him and his council. Ready your weapons.”
“Fools!” Conemar’s voice rang over the field. “He will lead you to your deaths.”
Arik gave me another look. “Are you ready? We have to move. Stop him before he turns the Mystiks against us.”
“I’m ready.”
“Lei?” Arik sought her approval.
“All right,” Lei commanded. “Tighten our formation. Keep close to Gia and Royston.”
Five werehounds surrounded us. One pushed her head against my leg. It was her way of telling me they were with us.
Arik motioned for us to follow him.
“Should I drink the potion?” Royston asked.
My gaze went to the Tetrad. “No. It might not last long. We have to get closer.”
“My creature can kill you in one quick, swift blow,” Conemar continued.
Nick looked like a zombie as he stood just to the right of his father.
In front of us, Arik’s and Demos’s paces picked up. They led us behind the bushes on the hill.
“Stay low,” Arik said.
I crouched. “We must find a way to stall him.”
“I’ll distract him.” Buach broke formation and headed down the hill.
“No, Buach,” I hissed. “Buach. Come back here.”
My eyes followed him down the hill. What’s he up to?
I found Bastien on the field. His eyes closed and palms turned up, he looked like he was mumbling something. The people with their heads covered seemed familiar to me, but I couldn’t figure out why.
Buach ran along the outside of the Mystik rebels, then he slowed down when he reached the end. He approached Conemar, and I couldn’t hear what Buach was saying. Conemar nodded as he listened, then put his lips to the magical bullhorn.
“This lad has an excellent question.”
“Move,” Arik said, taking advantage of Buach’s distraction. We shuffled after him.
Conemar continued. “He wants to know if being part of this uprising would hurt his chances of being a guard for the council. If you put down your arms and walk away, your actions here will be forgiven.”
The hill steepened, and we slid down it on our butts. The werehounds trotted beside us. At the bottom, I pushed myself up. Arik shot to his feet. Royston grasped Deidre’s arm and helped her up. Cadby’s wings stretched out before flattening on his back.
Lei came close to my side. “We need a fight to break out. Not this question and answer stuff. We can get lost better in a fight.”
“I agree,” Jaran said.
Buach said something that made Conemar throw his head back and laugh. “The boy wonders if he’d get paid. Certainly, you will receive a hundred crown coins a week.”
We made it to the field and mixed in with the Mystiks. I could hear what was being said better from where we stood.
Murmurs broke out among the Mystiks again.
“Lies!” Edgar shouted. “He lies to you. I have spies close to the council. They will only give you enough so that you don’t starve. They want to enslave you. They will make you equal, all right. He says if one gets bread, all get bread. Well, you’ll be lucky to get that. His promises are lies.”
Conemar’s face twisted in anger. “Will you believe a turncoat over a high wizard? I did not come to fight you. I am here for one reason.”
Buach’s stare went up to the hill. Conemar glanced to where Buach was looking.
“Get back with the others,” Conemar ordered, watching Buach suspiciously.
Get out of there, Buach.
It was as if Buach heard me. He crossed over to the Mystiks and found a spot in the line.
Conemar brought the magical bullhorn back to his mouth. “People of Barmhilde, there is a fugitive in your midst. Turn over Gianna Bianchi. Those harboring her will receive a death sentence. Whoever brings her to me now will receive a thousand crowns.”
I had no idea what a thousand of those golden coins with a crown on them meant in dollars, but the gasps coming from The Red’s army made me think it was a lot.
Conemar scanned the crowd. “No takers? Reveal our guests,” he said to the guards standing behind the prisoners.
The guards removed the sacks from their heads. I gasped, my eyes going from face to face—Sabine, Pop, Nana, Afton, Kayla, Briony, Galach, and Father Peter.
Buach made a run for his brother.
With a flick of his wrist, Conemar created an electric ball and threw it at Buach. It hit the boy in the chest, and he flew back, landing hard on the ground.
“No!” I shouted at the same time Galach had.
Galach broke from the others, but he only got a few steps before one of the guards grabbed his arms and pulled him back.
Conemar watched Galach curiously. “Was he a loved one of yours?” He nodded to the guard behind Briony. The guard put a knife to her throat. “Move again and my guard will kill your queen,” he said.
With the bodies in front of me shifting, I couldn’t get a good view of Buach. Was he breathing? Still alive? I didn’t know. Please be okay, I prayed.
“Gianna, only you can save them,” Conemar continued. “Come to me now.”
I tried to move past Lei, but she stopped me. “No. He’ll kill you.”
“He has my family…Afton. He’ll kill them all.” I retrieved the canister from my boot and placed it in her hands. “I got Royston here. I gathered the blood for the potion. I’ve done my part. Because of my mistakes, we’re here. I should have been more careful. I left a drawbridge down—”
“What are you saying?” Her eyes danced over my face.
“I am what the presage saw. The Doomsday Child.” I glanced back at the field. “I can change it. I must go.”
Jaran huddled with us. “What are you doing?”
“You guys need to get Royston close enough to the Tetrad,” I said. “Have him drink this, and he knows what to do. I will be the distraction you need. Please trust me on this.”
Lei’s eyebrows pushed together as she watched me, my words processing in her mind. “I trust you.”
“I do, as well,” Jaran said.
“Arik and Demos may try to stop me,” I said. “Don’t let them.”
The werehounds followed me.
I eased into an opening in between a Laniar and a man resembling a bull, and disappeared into the crowd. It was as if the sea parted when Mystiks realized it was Gianna Bianchi pushing to get by them.
“Gia!” Arik’s voice came from where I’d just left.
Gasps and murmurs moved like waves over the Mystiks when I stepped from the crowd into the front.
“Stay here,” I told the werehounds. They whimpered but obeyed me.
Conemar was about half a football field away from me. I squared my shoulders and crossed halfway to him.
His eyes landed on me. “Good girl. I knew you would do the sensible thing. And I’m certain your loved ones appreciate your sacrifice.”
“No, Gia, get back,” Pop pleaded.
“What do you want me to do?” I slid a glance to Nick. His eyes were almost marble-like.
The Tetrad stood slack, heads down, like puppets waiting for their master to bring them to life.
Conemar turned his head from side to side while he studied me. “Don’t you wonder why I have your Bastien?”
Bastien’s tortured eyes lifted and found mine.
I didn’t answer Conemar. My heart was slowly tearing from my chest.
A sinister smile tightened his lips. He hopped off the boulder and paced in front of Nick. “Too afraid to know, huh? I needed wizards to compel my son. Children these days don’t obey their parents as they did in my day. I’ve been running through wizards like cheap batteries, their lives snuffed out too fast.”
I didn’t speak, just stood there, listening and searching for weaknesses in his plan.
“Compelling runs out a wizard’s life. We live almost three hundred years. But I had to be careful not to let any of them die while compelling my son. I’m not that evil. I don’t want a vegetable for an heir. You’d be surprised what someone will sacrifice for loved ones. They’d let me run out their lives to save them.”
I had no options. He could kill any one of his hostages. He could kill Bastien.
“Bastien is controlling my son as we speak,” Conemar was saying. “While you’re standing there watching him, your beloved Bastien’s life is slowly diminishing.”
Whatever was left of my heart exploded, the pain so great I could barely stay upright.
Conemar scanned the Mystik army. “While I have a captive audience, and because I’ve dreamt of this revenge ever since you sent me into the Somnium, let’s play a game. Shall we?”
Sure, Conemar. I’ll play your game. Because while he was being a typical evil dumbass seeking revenge, Lei and Jaran were getting Royston to the Tetrad.
He stopped pacing and turned his menacing glare on me. “Bastien will do what I want because eight innocent victims, one his own mother, will die if he doesn’t do as I command. What will you do for the lives of those you love, Gianna?”
My gaze found Pop. Worry weighed on his face. Tears streamed from Afton’s eyes. Nana was gagged, probably so she couldn’t use her spells. Sabine stood regal, as if she was ready to die if need be. Briony looked the same way. It must be something they learned when becoming rulers or something. Galach’s head hung, blood dripping from his mouth. With worry on her face, Kayla kept glancing at Pop. Father Peter’s gaze met mine. He had no fear in his eyes or on his face. His lips moved as if he were saying a silent prayer.
I returned my focus to Conemar. “What do you want from me?”
He went over and placed his hand on Nick’s back. “A fight to the death.”
My stomach lurched.
“All you have to do is kill Nick,” he continued. “That is, before Bastien’s life runs out. If Bastien goes easy on you, I’ll kill one of the prisoners. If he doesn’t compel Nick, I’ll kill them all. Bastien is young. His life span is long. But the sooner you kill Nick, the better for Bastien.”
There was no way I could kill Nick.
I could just kill myself. End his game. But did I have the courage to do it? I wondered what was happening behind me. Were Lei and Jaran moving with Royston? Was Arik trying to reach me or come up with a plan to save us? I had to put my faith in them. That they were doing what they could to stop this madness. And I did have faith. I trusted my life to my brother and sister Sentinels. We were born to fight as a team. To have each other’s back. They would die for me, as I would for them. And there was comfort in that thought.
“If you kill yourself,” Conemar said, as if he’d read my mind, “they all will die. Are we clear on the rules of the game?”
Tears blurred my vision as I stared into Bastien’s eyes. “Go at me hard,” I told him. “Don’t stop. You can’t. Promise me you will choose them over me.”
“Gia, I—”
“No!” I stopped him before he could finish. “You have to promise me. I can take care of myself. Trust me.”
He nodded, tears pooling in eyes. “I promise.”
“I couldn’t have written a better script,” Conemar said, amusement in his voice. “Bastien, take control of Nick and kill her.”
I just have to make it look good before I give in. I removed the shield from my back.
Bastien’s head lowered, and Nick charged for me.