The closest constructs clawed at their eyes and shrank backwards.
“Shine brighter still!” Emboldened, Angelique took a few steps forward as the crystals’ light grew in intensity.
Behind her, Snow White timidly said, “Shine?”
Angelique laughed as she shoved a crystal in a construct’s face. The construct fell as it scrambled to get away from her.
Of course black magic would react negatively to light—this is wonderful!
Angelique stood in the cottage door as the warriors finished off the remaining constructs that had gotten inside—most of them were writhing on the floor or clawing at their eyes as they were trapped between Angelique’s armload of crystals and the bright fire.
“How much brighter do these get?” Snow White asked.
Angelique tried to shift her arms without dropping her starfires. “At least another level or two. Why?”
Snow White glanced from the crystals she cradled in her fingers to the door. “Come on!” She fearlessly darted outside, Angelique behind her.
She wasn’t too surprised by the writhing mass of constructs that filled the lawn—she’d felt it inside the cottage. But it was one thing to feel their presence and quite another to see the dozens—possibly hundreds—of glowing white eyeballs and gleaming teeth in the cold night.
Their skeletal shapes were barely visible in the soft light of the moon that reflected off the snow, giving the shadows an even more ghostly appearance. When all of those constructs saw Snow White, they lunged forward—gnashing their teeth and swiping their claws at her.
Snow White inched closer to Aldelbert and Gregori—who were back-to-back and pinned against the cottage’s outer wall. She squared her shoulders, then held a crystal aloft, making the closest constructs jerk to a stop, spin around, and uselessly attempt to claw through their brethren to escape the light.
Angelique watched and shifted her armload of crystals. “What now?”
I have a guess…but I want the warriors to see what Snow White is capable of.
Snow White sucked in a deep breath. “Shine!”
Snow White’s crystals burned bright white—which was reflected by the white snow and made the area glow brighter. She flung the starfires into the mass of constructs—which inspired terror in those closest to the crystals.
Some of the constructs faded away—they didn’t even turn into smoke; they just disappeared as if swallowed whole by the light. The rest of the constructs collided as they tried to flee, and those at the back of the clearing continued to march forward, unaware of the other constructs’ terror.
What are these things? They’re reactive, but they’re definitely moving under someone’s orders…
Angelique grabbed a couple of starfires. “I get it—shine!” Angelique threw fistfuls of starfires, scattering them across the clearing, making the constructs shriek and retreat as the crystals—reflected by the snow—made the area as bright as day.
The warriors that had stayed in the house to clean it of constructs came bursting out and launched themselves on the hapless sea of constructs.
“My Lord!” Wendal pulled several daggers from his belt in a smooth movement that made Angelique suspect he had a belt pouch that was enchanted like her satchel to hold more than it should.
“Wendal—you’re just in time!” Aldelbert laughed. “Come, let us drive them away!”
Together, the Seven Warriors formed a crescent shape and cleaved their way through the constructs.
Puffs of smoke filled the meadow in a thick veil, but Angelique felt the constructs’ slight magical presence ease away as they fled. They skulked their way back to the shadows of the forest—or the surviving ones did, anyway. Those that stepped too close to the brilliant light of the starfires evaporated, and the warriors were fast and skilled, falling on the constructs with an admirable ferocity Angelique had to applaud.
The few constructs that made it to the trees faded into the darkness, disappearing—though not before they leveled their creepy eyes at Snow White and gnashed their teeth at her.
She may not be cursed, but something is definitely after her.
The Seven Warriors completed their sweep, eliminating the last of the constructs that the crystals didn’t destroy.
Marzell picked a starfire out of the snow and threw it into the trees. It landed in a little mound of snow, illuminating the hidden shadows of the trees to show nothing was there.
“They’re gone.” Marzell collapsed to his knees.
“Finally,” Gregori agreed. In the light of the starfires, his red hair seemed almost as brilliant as a fire as he patrolled the perimeter with Aldelbert.
Angelique twitched her nose—the smoke of destroyed constructs was mostly odorless, but it had a metallic tang to it that she didn’t like.
She peered at Snow White, wondering how the princess was going to handle the knowledge she’d been hunted by black magic.
To her credit, shy, book-worm Snow White took in a big gulp of air and—with her face pinched with fear—took a few steps closer to the warriors.
“You can no longer deny something dark is at work. A-Angel said those were magic constructs. That means someone with magic is involved in this—not just goblins and monsters.” Snow White’s voice was fairly strong, but she was still too quiet—the rowdy warriors wouldn’t hear her.
She needs to be the one to convince them, but I just can’t throw her out to sea like this and expect her to swim.
Plus, if Angelique was being honest, there was something warm and bright in Snow White’s eyes that reminded her of Quinn.
Angelique drifted closer to the princess and scratched her nose. “Speak louder,” she whispered to her.
Snow White sucked in a deep breath, puffing her chest up ever so slightly. “Y-You said yourself that all the skirmishes and creatures are at the border. The ‘outskirts of civilization’ you claimed.” She pointed to the forest. “We are nowhere near the border. This was a deliberate attack. Clearly, I was the t-target,” Snow White stumbled over the last bit, and Angelique could see it in her eyes that she was aware just how bad that was.
The warriors—satisfied with their patrols—meandered back to the cottage, silent and listening.
“You also said the country is in a worse state than I knew,” Snow White continued. “You were correct, obviously. But after this, I-I think it’s safe to say it’s also worse than you knew, for you have not seen the Queen and the pain she has borne while the rest of us were stupidly oblivious.” Hotly, with a passion that drove her to face the seven hulking warriors down, she added, “And Faina is not mad! If you still claim that is so, you are not the Seven Warriors you profess to be but are the seven idiots my ministers think you are!”
Oswald snorted. “So, Princess Snow White does have claws.”
“Just because she doesn’t mouth off like you does not mean she lacks the gumption necessary to be a leader.” Rupert inspected his wrist wound, which was shedding droplets of blood.
Wendal glanced over at them as he retrieved some of his daggers from the snow. “No, but her inability to speak her mind was not encouraging.”
Ahh, yes, she’s got them now, Angelique chortled to herself.
Gregori thoughtfully proved her point when he spoke. “The Princess is right. This is the first clear sign we have that all of this is on purpose. Monsters and creatures could be written off as the state of the continent. A magical attack is a sign of more.” He narrowed his eyes and brushed the fletching of his crossbow bolts.