Raven-Mocking (Book 3 in the Twilight Court Series) Page 24

  “And who are you?” I called out over the sounds of battle surrounding us.

  “My name is Malvin but you may call me Mal,” the dullahan bowed, his stringy hair, the color of sun-bleached driftwood, slipped over his beady coal eyes for a second.

  He pushed his hair back with a pallid hand and I swallowed hard, noting how his skin was both the color and consistency of moldy mozzarella. He was grinning so wide that the corners of his mouth reached the sides of his face... and he never stopped smiling. Nor did his eyes stop moving, flitting about to each of us and back again.

  Cat growled and my Star's Guard lifted their swords.

  “We know you're behind the abductions,” I said to him as more dullahans exited the woods and spread out before us. “I am both Ambassador and Extinguisher and I'm in my right to extinguish all of you if you don't stand down.”

  “Oh, you can try,” Mal spoke through the grin. “We outnumber you greatly and your companions are already being subdued.”

  I glanced to the side and saw that he was right, even though magic sparked and shouts filled the air, our side was being overcome by sheer numbers.

  “But you made a fatal mistake, dullahan,” Raza stepped forward and the dullahans paused, staring at his eyes like hypnotized snakes. “You stole my son.”

  “Lord Raza,” Mal stuttered. “We had no idea you'd be with the Princess.”

  “Why would you try to kill me?” I shook my head. “Don't you realize that the Sluagh will be after you now?”

  “We are not trying to kill or harm you in any way, Princess Seren,” Mal held up his hands. “We merely need you to come with us, where you're comfort will be seen to until we release you at a later time.”

  “So that my father backs a war against the witches?” I lifted a brow.

  “Exactly,” Mal pulled a strange looking item from his belt.

  It was golden cream in color, like old dice, and laced with silver wire. He flung it out and it draped beside him, clicking eerily together. My eyes widened as I realized what it was; his whip. All dullahans carried a whip made from a human spine. The protrusions of the spine were dipped in metal and were sharpened to razor-sharp edges.

  “You may have succeeded,” Raza mused and the darting eyes of every dullahan once more settled on him. “Had you not taken Rayetayah. Now you will all die.”

  “Lord Raza, your son is well cared for, as is all of his people,” Mal held up a conciliatory hand. “They are safe within our village of Dathadair. They are comfortable and none are mistreated. I promise you that.”

  “I'm happy to hear that he lives,” Raza said and the dullahans started to look relieved... until Raza continued. “So you will die quickly instead of being tortured slowly. You may thank me now.”

  “Lord Raza,” Mal shrank back from Raza's glowing stare. “Please, we are only doing what we believe is right! You've seen the witches, our offspring. We created monsters and we must correct our mistake.”

  “Monsters?” I mused. It was funny how perception worked. Eye of the beholder and all that.

  “Yes, we may appear monstrous to you,” Mal's eyes were back to darting about. “But we are as the Goddess intended us to be and we serve our purpose. The children we fathered on humans were not meant to be born, nor were the children which followed them. The magic has mutated and become truly monstrous. They are unnatural creatures.”

  “Perhaps they were a mistake,” I pushed Conri a little to the side so I could face Mal better. “But they are here now. They live and it's not for you to say who has that right.”

  “Isn't it?” Mal cocked his head. “We know death, Princess. We live death. We hear its call and help it along its way. We know exactly who must or must not die.”

  “I care not for your reasons,” Raza spread his wings and stepped forward, causing the dullahans to take a step back out of the significant shadow he cast. “You are unseelie. You know better than to offend me. There is no excuse for what you've done.”

  “I promise you, Lord Raza,” Mal whined. “We had no intentions of harming your son. He's alive and well. We simply want war with the witches so we may kill these abominations.”

  “You are an abomination,” Raza took another step and started to shift, “to want a war after you've seen what magic can do in battle. And I intend to stop you before you get your wish.”

  Yet, instead of running, as I'd thought they would, the dullahans pulled back their whips and attacked Raza before he could finish his transformation. It was a bold move and perhaps a brilliant one; kill the dragon-djinn before he becomes a dragon. It was probably their only shot at survival. But my knights didn't even pause, they instantly went to Raza's defense, launching magic into the fray as they simultaneously slashed with steel. Everything became louder; the clang of weapons, the shouts of men, and the roar of magic. But then I lifted myself off the ground, hovering between earth and sky, and spread my arms out wide.

  The world went quiet, the chaos fading into the heartbeat that filled my ears. Magic rushed up my limbs and out of my hands, not bothering to fill my fingertips first. It simply flared bright and powerful, out into the twirling mass of friends and foes. I didn't worry for one second about striking the wrong person. My magic was an extension of myself and I knew that it knew who to hit.

  Dullahans screamed as they were wrapped in thick vines, black as a witch's cat, and pierced by thorns the size of spear heads. Flames coasted along the swirling lengths like ballet dancers across a stage, beautiful really. And like most beautiful things, they were deadly; two dullahans fell to the ground to writhe and scream until their hearts caught fire. Once those organs burned, the dullahans went silent.

  Raza pulled free of the slicing whips and completed his shift behind the wall of my Guard. Then he launched himself up into the air. It was hard to look away from the magnificent sight of a blood-red dragon against the cool New Mexico sky. Even more difficult when he made a dramatic turn and swooped down to scoop up two dullahans. A cracking sound echoed over the roar of battle as Raza broke dullahan backs and then pierced each chest with a long talon. The bodies were thrown carelessly to the ground as he dove for more victims like a heron diving for fish.

  The dullahans who had been battling the rest of our group, abandoned their fight to come to the aid of their floundering brothers. Every element raged in the air around us as fairy fought fairy; shards of ice flying like spears, whirlwinds picking up victims and throwing them yards away, rocks rumbling underfoot, and of course fire blasting through it all.

  This was why Danu desperately wanted peace between her children and why Raza thought these fairies were abominations to seek war. We were never meant to fight each other. When humans battle, they leave corpses behind. Sometimes they may burn buildings or tear down cities. That is horrible, yes. But when fairies fight, they destroy the very earth. They bring down the heavens and scoop up the sea. They tear down mountains and level forests. They can lay waste to the world with their fury.

  The only weapon humanity that matched the level of destruction the fey could produce, was the atomic bomb... and that was originally a fairy design. Don't believe me? That quote which Oppenheimer (father of the atomic bomb) used from the Bhagavad-Gita; Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds, was ironically documentation of the previous version of the atomic bomb; the fairy version which used magic to split atoms instead of science. It had been used in the Fey-Human Wars and was one of the reasons we plead for peace in the end. Yes, I hate to admit it, but it was us humans who ended up waving the white flag.

  Actually, the fey were responsible for several catastrophes that history has either labeled myth or Nature. Look up Mohenjo-daro; an ancient city in Pakistan, and you'll see proof of the fey-atom bomb being used. Pompeii was actually fey fire magic, used to cause a volcanic eruption and the Antioch earthquake was fey earth magic. Floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, they brought the forces of Nature against us. So in the end, we had asked for a truce and the fey had given in. Why? Be
cause even though it's much better to be the cause of such destruction than the victim of it; war isn't fun for anyone and the fey didn't really want to rule the Earth, just be allowed to visit it.

  So we signed a truce and the fey buried that nightmarish fey-A-bomb in some fairy vault, vowing never to use it again. And by the way, referring to it as the F-bomb is not appropriate. At least that's what my councilman history teacher told me. Unfortunately, the image of that fairy weapon had already been planted in our genetic memory and several years after the Fey-Human truce had been signed, a scientist hypothesized that an atom could be split and our own version of the atomic bomb was created. I was told that the fairies had wept for us.

  Tears now poured down my own cheeks as I slaughtered dullahans. Yes, they were hard to look at but they were still children of Danu and their deaths were like brands upon my soul. Still, they were already doomed. They had signed their own warrants of extinguishment the moment they abducted the raven mockers. Even if I allowed them to live, the Councils would surely find them guilty and sentence them to death. Unless...

  “Stop!” I called out but the battle waged on. “I said cease!” My voice rumbled out of me, amped up by my magic, and everyone froze. “Dullahans, you are guilty of breaking the truce. You are guilty of treason against your court and against Fairy. But I will offer you leniency if you return those you've stolen and confess to the Councils as you have made confession to me.”

  “We have broken no truce,” Mal, who miraculously still lived, called out to me. “We plot against witches, not humans.”

  “Witches are human but even were they not, you have murdered an extinguisher,” I declared and Mal went silent. “His name was Nolan Kavanaugh and he had no part in your evil. You have broken the truce.”

  “One of us has committed murder but there he lies,” Mal pointed to a blackened tangle of vines. “You have already extinguished him, Princess. And as far as treason; we are not traitors. The fey we abducted are twilight, not unseelie. There is no law against that.”

  “But one of them is my son,” Raza growled. “And so you have betrayed your fellow fey after all. And I am not as lenient as the Council.”

  “Neither is Flight,” Elder Wasutke added as she joined us.

  “Raza,” I floated back to the ground and stepped over to the dragon. One wing came down over my head as I laid a hand on his massive leg. “Will you let go of your vengeance if they release the raven mockers?”

  Raza growled.

  “I understand your anger but Raye is safe,” I slid my hand over the glassy scales sympathetically.

  “And I know exactly where he is,” Raza's long neck curved so he could look down at me. “As soon as I'm done killing these dullahans, I'll return to Fairy and kill the rest of them.”

  “I'd be happy to join you, dragon,” Jennifer Wasutke offered.

  The dullahans muttered, drawing back and together.

  “And extinguish an entire race?” I asked Raza gently.

  “They were going to extinguish us,” Sarah walked up and stared hard at Mal. “So you are my ancestors? I would have thanked you for the dark gift of my magic, if you hadn't tried to kill me. As it stands, I'm inclined to use it against you.”

  “And so here we are,” I sighed and left the shadow of Raza's wing. “Facing death and extinction. All because some fairies bred with humans centuries ago.”

  “No one should be able to bring back the dead,” Mal hissed, losing his grin for a moment. “The soul leaves and the flesh rots. To bring it back into a decaying prison is evil. We cannot bear to know that we have birthed such blasphemy.” Mal shook his head at Sarah. “Such a pretty face and a little body, to hold such a malignant magic. But that is the point, isn't it? We are honest in what we are, we dullahans. We look like death and we bring death. But you deceive. You are not true to who you are. You disgust me; you foul, villainous creature. You're an affront to Nature and the Goddess!”

  “Alright, easy now,” I held up my hands as Sarah's eyes narrowed. “We get it, you don't like your children. Well, whose fault is that? You should have used protection.” I grimaced as Conri burst into laughter. “But this is not a typo you can just erase. These are people. You helped to birth a new race and that cannot be evil. A person cannot be evil, not innately. I don't believe that. Sarah and her kind have a choice, as do all of us. They can use their magic in whichever way they wish but they will have to accept the consequences of their choices. If we killed everyone with a dark power, most of Fairy would be dead, you included,” I pointed to Mal.

  “We are on the verge of negotiating a truce with the witches,” Tiernan added. “This truce will help to prevent the evil you speak of.”

  “But that's all they are,” Mal spat. “What will she do, if she can't raise the dead?”

  “I can speak to them,” Sarah said calmly. “I can bring peace to families whose loved ones have died unexpectantly. I can end disputes and give hope. There is more to my magic than death. There is more to me than death.”

  “I have never raised the dead,” Tristan added, turning Mal's grin into a gape. “I don't believe it's right. I divert the energy into spellwork. There is much more that we can do, just as there is more that you can do besides bring death.”

  “Such sorrow,” Alexis came up behind me holding her brother's hand. In their other hands they held bloody, iron swords.

  “Such integrity,” Alex added. “You gave your children that,” he said to Mal. “I see your true intentions, Malvin Skinner.”

  The dullahan looked sharply at the telepath.

  “And they are good,” Alexis added, “if misguided. You act in the name of your Goddess but is this what she'd truly want?”

  “Shouldn't you trust that your children received more than just magic from you?” Alex went on. “They know death like you do and they understand the heavy responsibility that has been laid upon them.”

  The dullahans looked to each other in silence, smiles frozen on their grotesque faces. Then finally, Mal spoke.

  “Perhaps we have been rash.”

  “Seriously?” Conri huffed. “Rash, he says.”

  “You will have to face the Council for your crimes,” I said gently. “But it would go a long way in your favor if you would release your prisoners and come to the High Council of your own free will.”

  “I think I have a better idea,” Mal shared a secret look with his fellow dullahans. “We'll hold onto our guests until the Councils issue a pardon to all dullahans.”

  “What?” I gaped as Raza growled.

  “Harm us, Lord Raza, and your son will be killed,” Mal's voice was regretful. “If we don't report back to the others, they'll know that we are compromised and they will kill all of the prisoners.”

  “Now you shall die slowly,” Raza rumbled.

  “The dullahan speaks the truth,” Alex confirmed.

  “Do you really want to risk your son?” Mal shot back. “Get us a pardon and all of the prisoners will be released; alive and well. We'll give you a week to speak to the Councils on our behalf and scry us with their decisions. After that, I can't guarantee the safety of our guests.”

  “You're blackmailing both Councils?” I asked in shock. “Taking hostages like bank robbers?”

  “I'll do whatever I have to do to ensure my people's safety,” Mal sighed. “And I don't believe the Councils will pardon us any other way.”

  “I know where Dathadair is,” Raza growled. “You're making a very poor decision.”

  “The Coven will find you, wherever you hide, and we will destroy you!” Wasutke added her shout to Raza's. “You cannot hold my people hostage without paying a price.”

  “Come anywhere near our village and your son shall be the first to die, Lord Raza,” Mal declared. “Followed shortly by one of your witches,” he sneered at Wasutke and then waved to his men. They disappeared into the forest as Raza roared.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Fire shot out in curling streams of citrine
and diamond to blast the trees in front of me down to cinders. My body started to shake as Raza literally lost his cool. I wasn't sure if I could talk him down this time but luckily, I didn't have to. He regained control himself; shifting back to man form and dropping to his knees to wail as he pounded the earth with his fists.

  Everyone just gaped as the monster became simply a father, tormented by the possibility of his child's death. I rushed over and laid my hand to his bent head as I knelt beside him. He didn't look at me, just lowered his wings around us and used them to pull me in closer. I slid my hand across his shoulders and just held him as he breathed hard, trying to get his emotions under control.

  Finally, he sighed and looked up at me. We didn't say anything, just stared at each other. He knew what I would have said, I saw that in his eyes, so I knew that I didn't have to say it. We would get them back, at any price. Neither of us would stop until all of those people were safe again. I wiped the tears from his face swiftly and smoothed his hair back into place before nodding curtly.

  He squared his shoulders, stood, and took a deep breath, then held his hand down to me. I took it and let him help me stand. Then I gave him a little grin and waved at his nudity. He shrugged and folded his wings so that the tips angled in front of his most personal parts.

  “Does anyone have an extra pair of pants?” I called back to the others before I smirked at Raza. “Why do you keep getting naked?”

  “Why do you keep trying to clothe me?” He shot back.

  “Because you're much less intimidating when you have clothes on,” I shook my head and walked the few steps back to where everyone had gathered.

  Tiernan pulled me off to the side,“I understand, I do. But if I have to watch you comfort that dragon one more time, I just may end up smashing my fist into his forlorn face.”

  “Noted,” I nodded with a smile.

  “So what now?” Sarah asked everyone in general. “Do you think your Councils will issue the pardons?”