“Greater?”
She nodded. “You didn’t know? Both my elementals are considered major elementals. That’s why they recover so quickly. Most elementals have a limited capacity before they need to rest for a long period.” Something pulsed beneath her shirt, and Will saw a bright, golden glow radiate through her shirt.
“No!” said Selene sharply. “Not now! Please!”
“What is it?” asked Will. As he watched, power began to flow around Selene, rippling and shimmering.
She screamed, begging, “Please! Don’t do this.” Her form became indistinct. The last thing Will saw of her was her desperate look at him, and she broke her own rule. “I’m sorry, Will, so sorry.” Then she was gone.
In shock, he stared at the place she had just been standing. “What the hell?” Panic set in as he realized she was truly gone, though whether his fear was for her or himself he couldn’t be sure.
“Will?” said Annabelle timidly. “What’s happening?”
Before he could answer, the northwestern portion of Selene’s wall began to glow, turning red, then orange, before it began to slump and flow sluggishly to the ground. A wide hole formed, and then the entire wall on that side collapsed. Beyond it he could see another fire elemental, and behind that more soldiers. “Fuck,” he said, to no one in particular.
Chapter 62
“Stay close to me,” Will cautioned, pushing Annabelle behind him. He had no idea what to do, though. His last good idea had been waiting until Tailtiu could get to them, but that seemed unlikely to happen now.
Annabelle’s arms went around his waist, and she squeezed him briefly. “I can’t go back, Will. I can’t. You don’t know what it was like,” she whispered. Then her arms released him, and he felt a tug at his belt.
Through the hole he saw a man lift a crossbow. “Stay behind me!” He never saw the man fire, but he felt something strike his chest like a hammer. A second blow staggered him as something slammed into his back, between his shoulder blades. He fell to one knee, and when he glanced up he saw Annabelle holding his belt knife.
She stared at the unbloodied blade in shock for a moment. “I tried, Will,” she mumbled. “I wanted to save you too.” Then she reversed the blade in her hands, holding it out from her chest. “Forgive me.”
“No!” Will surged up from the ground and caught her hands before she could drive the blade into her heart. Annabelle struggled with him, desperation and fear lending her more strength than he would have believed possible.
“Let me go!” she shrieked. “I won’t let them take me. Not again! Not again!” Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she fought to end her life.
Will felt two more hammer blows against his back and a sharp pain as something pierced his mail. Some of the soldiers were cheering the crossbowmen on as they reloaded. A shadow passed over him, and when Will looked up the largest owl he had ever seen dropped down and landed in front of him. It began to shift and change, and moments later Tailtiu was standing there, her hip cocked to one side with a hand resting on it.
With a sly smile, she asked, “Want me to kill them?”
Yes! he thought desperately, but something stopped him. “No! Get us out of here.”
A quarrel appeared, sticking out of his aunt’s chest. She glanced at it in disgust, then pulled it free and studied it. The blood covering the iron head bubbled and smoked, burning away. “They really need killing.” His aunt lifted one hand, and vines shot up from the ground, forming a tight wall of greenery across the breach in Selene’s earthen wall. “Who’s the trollop?” she asked with a sneer, gazing at Annabelle.
Annabelle, for her part, had stopped struggling. With numb fingers, she released the knife and Will quickly put it back in his sheath. Beyond the wall of thorns, Will heard one of the men shouting orders. “Stand back! It’s one of the fae!”
Tailtiu moved forward, studying Will. “Have you been having fun, sweetling?” Leaning close, she sniffed him, then her nose crinkled, and a look of disappointment showed on her face. “Apparently not. You still reek of virginity.”
“She’s a friend,” said Will quickly. “Can you fly us out of here?”
Tailtiu appraised them for a moment. “You’re too heavy.”
“What about Annabelle?”
“Too heavy,” said his aunt dismissively. She pointed a finger at the impromptu barrier. “The sorcerer is about to do something.” Then she looked at Annabelle. “You’re a pretty little thing, aren’t you?” She ran a finger along Annabelle’s jawline, and the girl shivered.
Will moved to stand just inside the green wall. “Leave her alone,” he warned over his shoulder, then he expanded his turyn, creating another empty shell. He hoped it would work again. What happens if it isn’t fire?
An intense wave of flames burst through the wall, incinerating it in a flash. Will caught it immediately, focusing his will to draw the turyn into himself. It felt as though he was getting better at it, but he didn’t have time to waste with self-congratulations. Holding out his hands, he sent a gout of fire back at the sorcerer and the soldiers with him.
Acrid smoke and steam filled the air. The stench of death was palpable. As it cleared, he could see the sorcerer and twenty or so of the soldiers were down, never to rise again. He glared at the ones farther away and lifted his hands again. It was a bluff of course—he was empty—but they broke and ran nonetheless. Remembering his grandfather, he said, “About time I got some goddamned respect!” A laugh tinged with hysteria began to bubble up in his chest. I’m losing it.
Moving forward, he found the sorcerer’s body and released the elemental, giving it one final instruction. Burn everything. He watched with morbid fascination as it went toward the pavilions opposite the warehouses. They caught fire with amazing rapidity. Looking to his left, he saw that all the warehouses were up in flames.
Soon the entire camp would be engulfed by the inferno.
A thin mist was rising from the ground, and when he looked back, he saw Tailtiu had become the massive doe he had seen once before. She knelt so Annabelle could climb onto her back. Will went to join them.
His aunt backed away as he drew close. “Want me to save you?” she asked.
Will groaned. “Really?”
“You have two favors left,” his aunt said evenly.
Thinking quickly, Will said, “I completed Aislinn’s task. You have to take me to her. That was part of her bargain.”
Tailtiu studied him with one large doe eye. “You are so adorable when you say things like that. It makes me want you even more. Take off the iron, though. It stinks.”
“No,” said Will in flat denial. “You’ll have to bear it.” He began climbing onto her, getting into position behind Annabelle. Smoke rose from Tailtiu’s hide whenever the mail came into contact. He did his best to hike up the bottom to keep it away from her, and he put his arms around Annabelle’s waist. “You’re going to have to hold onto her for both of us,” he told his childhood friend.
Tailtiu began moving, gradually building up speed. “I really am going to kill you, William. One of these days you’ll make a mistake, and I’ll be waiting to make sure you enjoy it.”