“Too late, they’re here. I suggest you get yourself ready to…” A clang of metal cut him short as an Orc rounded the corner and met his weapons. The impact almost sent him back into a tree.

“Spread out! Shade, get your sword!” Soap yelled at her as she fumbled to grab her sword from her pack. With the hilt in hand, she backed away from the group as the others spread out too, fanning away from the spill of creatures that had reached them. Shade swallowed down her panic, trying to remember everything she had learned from Lana, and the fighting skills Soap and Dylan had taught her.

This is it. Now’s the time to find out if I know my stuff!

Shade swung at the first Goblin that reached her. Smacking swords and finding that they were equally matched, Shade pulled her magic together and sent a flush of air to knock him over as another attacker quickly replaced him. She could hear the others clanging weapons beside her, but concentrated on swinging to her left and throwing a kick up to meet the short Goblin’s chin. He grunted and yelled back at her, but his sword faltered as he let his guard down. Taking advantage of his oversight, Shade bunted him atop his head with the hilt of her sword. He barely crumbled to the floor when another Orc jumped her from behind. Dropping her sword, she pulled on his arms as he squeezed around her neck, cackling in her ear. She scratched and beat on him. Pulling and tearing to no avail.

Panicked as her vision flickered, she spotted a large tree next to her. She turned and backed up sharply into it. The Orc grunted, but didn’t let go. She shoved back with all her might, smashing into him once more. This time he loosened his arm just enough for her to head butt him in the face. Screeching, he shoved her away while shielding his face, as black-green blood oozed from his shattered nose.

Shade pulled a dagger from her pack and retrieved her sword from the fallen leaves on the ground. It shimmered in the fiery light of the flames that now lit up the forest around them. The thicker tree trunks slowed the consuming flames enough to allow the fighters some room to battle it out in between. Thin streams of lava were now crawling across the forest floor towards them, steaming and igniting the dry vegetation. She wiped the sweat that dripped into her vision, eyeing the Goblin that now stood smirking in front of her, an axe in his hand.

“Oh no you don’t!” Shade smirked back as she called the rain from the sky using the Santiran Water Magic she clutched to her chest. She reveled in the cool water, bringing the heat of the fire down as it steamed on the trees. The lava remained immune to the water, sending steam clouds up in pillars where the rain touched the molten rock. Shade gathered a ball of water and aimed it at the Goblin as he pulled the axe back to swing. She flung the water ball at the dark creature, letting it hit him with a stinging splash that caused him to sputter in the wave of drowning fluid, dropping the axe as he stumbled and fell back. Her focus was solid in the battle.

Shade spotted Soap to her left, fighting off an Erkling Warrior. The horrid, withered-looking creature had black eyes and grey sallow skin. It completely reminded her of a corpse, but without the rotting flesh. It swung a huge mallet against Soap’s sword. It may have been thin, but the force of each hit was wearing Soap down. Shade ran behind the hunched over creature as Soap swiped it across the chest, and she sunk her sword into its back. The withered creature disintegrated into a puffy blast of dust covering both of them.

“Eww! That’s disgusting! It’s like mummy death all over me!” Shade groaned. She wiped off some of the crud before another Erkling approached, circling them. She backed into Soap, who now faced an Orc with a sword in its hand.

“This is going nowhere fast. There are way too many of them!” Soap yelled out.

“You don’t say! What do you suppose we do about it?” Shade pressed her lips together as she eyed the Orc. His smirk growing wider as he closed in.

“We have to teleport out of here, but we can’t if we don’t all hold on to each other. We have to get closer to the others.” Soap’s frustration spilled into his voice as he caught his breath.

“Where did they go?” She scanned beyond the Orc, into the forest, but saw no sign of Andraste or Camulus. “Shoot, where are they?” More Sluagh arrived and started squeezing into the circle, narrowing the distance between them. “Crap, more of them. We can’t kill all of them. What should we do?” Shade felt the panic twist in her stomach. The odds were growing disproportionately against them.

When Soap didn’t answer, she threw a glance over her shoulder to see why. The creatures had also stopped advancing. “What’s wrong Soap?” Shade inquired and followed his stare, sucking her breath in.

Two riders galloped in on animals that appeared to be horses with much longer necks, no eyes, and mouthfuls of sharp teeth. Shade moved to stand beside Soap as they stared at the horror before them. The two riders were Fey. One she recognized and the other she did not. Evangeline sat on one of the horse-like creatures. Her long black hair had a streak of white along one temple, and was pulled back tight against the nape of her neck. She wore a black, worn, leather, rider’s outfit, appearing to blend right into the creature she rode. Her black leather boots shined on the sides of the ‘horse’.

Shade moved her eyes over to the other rider. A handsome Faery man, he had long platinum hair with deathly pale skin. A streak of black at the nape of his neck flawed the white sea of smooth hair in a most startling way. His eyes were the color of a mother of pearl shell, and seemed to change color depending on which way he was looking. Like two full moons. His face had strong features, but his pale skin made it look more fragile. The black armor he wore also blended into the soft black tunic underneath the metal plating. Hands with black leather gloves held firmly to the reins of the dark horse, matching the gloves on Evangeline.

“What are they riding? Who are they?” Shade whispered to Soap as she watched the two leaders eyeing them back.

Soap breathed in deeply, looking at her as he answered. “Their steeds are Kelpies, Death Horses who love to drown their victims. Those two are Aveta’s top lieutenants, Evangeline and Corb. They’re Aveta’s hands of death, and both very powerful Fey.” He whispered to her.

“You are most correct Rylan,” Evangeline interrupted. “You forget we are also Witch and Warlock. Much more powerful than a spiteful, Faery Changeling. Don’t you agree Rylan?” She tilted her head and narrowed her gaze at him. She turned to Shade and smiled. A smile that reminded her of the iciness of Sylphi. Jack’s current Teleen girlfriend.

“Shade, how nice to see you again. You have no idea how delighted we are to have found you.” Vange’s smile seemed more like a predator savoring a tasty treat to come than a normal smile. Vange was the nickname Jack had called her when Shade had first met both of them in an abandoned warehouse.

“Sorry I can’t return the sentiments,” Shade bit her tongue, regretting her smart answer. Don’t piss her off yet!

Vange let out a laugh, but did not seem too happy with her witty remark. Shade hoped her loose tongue wouldn’t get her too mad or upset. At least not yet.

Evangeline turned to Corb as she tugged the reins turning the Kelpie around. “Take her to Aveta. I have other pressing matters to attend to.” Corb nodded slightly before she galloped away parting the legion of dark warriors. Corb never wavered. His stare was stone cold, unmoving, and revealed nothing. Shade wondered if he ever smiled or frowned. His face seemed hard and frozen into the blankest expression she had ever seen.

Shade gulped. Somehow she knew he was not that much warmer deep inside his hardened exterior.

“Kill him, tie the girl up, and bring her to me.” Corb commanded as he waved to his troops nonchalantly and pulled the reins of his own Kelpie and began trotting away. The circle of creatures immediately began to move again, tightening around them.

“Soap! Shade!” A voice called out to them from above. A flash of luminous wings and black feathers flashed above them. Turning up, Shade watched as two beautiful women; one with sleek, black-feathered wings, and the other a Pixie-like Faery, held their arms out towards them.

Soap raised his arms up to them, and Shade quickly followed suit. Their hands clasped down on their arms and pulled them straight up into the smoky, wet air above them. The night rushed past them as they looked back down to where they had just stood. It was now flooded with Sluagh and other dark creatures. Corb had stopped in his tracks and watched them as they flew away. His face remaining cold and blank, but his eyes twinkled with a taint of evil that shined so brightly, even with the distance growing between them and the screeches of creatures below, sent an icy shiver down Shade’s body.

Chapter Fifteen

BIBETTE GRIPPED SHADE’S arms as they flew over the treetops. Shade glanced up to observe her savior. The Faery’s outline against the dark of night was more shadow than anything. All Shade could see was her thin outline, the blur of her iridescent wings, and long hair rippling in the wind. She glanced over towards Soap, who dangled from the black-winged woman’s arms. She looked much like a black-haired angel. Amazed, Shade smiled. She was relieved to be alive and having escaped from the massive army of dark creatures.

They flew for a short time more when they came upon a large mountain range of high barren rock and cliffs. Once they reached a flattened plateau, the flying Faeries set them down gently and came to stand next to them. Camulus and Andraste stepped towards them, grinning from ear to ear as they gave each other gripping hugs, all relieved to see the others alive.

Bibette stepped towards them. Her light-brown hair was flowing around her shoulders in straight wisps. Her skin almost matched the color of her hair, a soft golden brown. She reminded Shade of a Filipino woman, but much prettier. Bibette’s see-through wings hung behind her and glistened in the moonlight. She smiled at Shade as she reached her hand out to her.

“I’m Bibette, and that’s Queen Aluse of the Black Ravens. Those that helped Andraste and Camulus are Naja and Ren.” She waved over to two other black-winged Faeries that nodded their greetings and waved. Ren was the only male among them.

“How did you know we needed help? And thank you for helping us, of course,” Soap said as Naja started rubbing ointment on his cuts and bandaged him up. He smiled at the attention but pressed his lips together at Shade’s raised eyebrow. “Hey, they had impeccable timing!”

Shade rolled her eyes and sat down on the cool stone of the mountain, turning towards the direction of her grandmother’s house. She was grateful to be safe, but the faint glow of the fire still burning against the clouds of the night sky could still be seen from the mountains. She felt numb and exhausted at the same time. Ren came over to help her apply balm to her own cuts and bruises. She let him fuss over her, but felt empty and forlorn as she stared at the orange glow in the far off horizon.

Soap plopped down next to her, giving her a friendly nudge. He followed her eyes and watched the burning forest. It was seemingly so far now that it was just a faint glow reflecting in the clouds over the area.

“Hey, she died well. She knew she was going and chose the perfect time to do so. You know, Lana sent Queen Aluse to help us, as if she knew we would need them. Even in exile, she still had strong allies. Lana loved you so much, Shade. Don’t ever forget that.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer. Shade fell into the embrace and let the tears spill out. The weight of her pain poured out as a light rain slowly sprayed down on them. The same rain had been falling in the forest and had quenched part of the raging fire. Shade loved the feel of it. Like heaven was crying with her.

“Shade,” Soap loosened his embrace to point at the clouds. “It rains when you cry. Did you know that? Like you’re controlling the weather!” He tilted his head back, enjoying the cool splashes soaking his face and running down his sopping wet hair. “At least we’re clean now.” He winked at her as he shook out his long, golden-brown hair that looked black while sopping wet. Shade sniffled back her sobs and smiled while watching him enjoying the downpour. Soap always had a way of looking at the brighter side of things.

Chapter Sixteen

THE CRACKLE OF fire snapped and popped, echoing in the dark forest. Shade stood in the center of what looked like a ring formed from fallen logs crossed end over end. She spun around looking about her. She had the feeling she was being watched. Gulping, she hoped she was dreaming and silently prayed for her spirit guides to come and keep her safe.

The moment she wished it, Elaby, Astrid, and Duende appeared, floating within the circle in their ethereal gowns and flowing black hair. The three sisters were identical in every way–even in voice–as they peered down at her with peace and calm written across their faces.

“Shade, you have summoned us.”

“What can we do to ease your soul?”

The sisters’ simple dresses seemed to ripple in an unseen breeze as Shade tried to muster her courage. Their presence was calming but she still felt watched, and the forest beyond the circle was dark and foreboding.

“I wanted to ask, why did Lana have to die? I feel like nothing I do makes anything better than it was. In fact, things are worse now than ever! That legion of things; whatever they were, there were so many of them! How could we possibly defeat such an army of dark creatures?”

She pulled in a breath as she paused. Her heart still fluttering in pain as she remembered her grandmother. “If I give up now, will they eventually enter the human world? I need to protect my family, but I feel so insignificant. Why do I even have to be part of this?”

The three sisters watched her with sadness in their eyes that seemed to grow as they listened to her rant. Shade gulped back her choked up tears. She sighed; knowing it probably wouldn’t do any good to cry here. It was only a dream.