Dark Fae (16 page)

Suddenly there was a burst of flame and the clash of swords. I sat up and strained my eyes. “That’s Luke’s fire
,”
I said. “He shouldn’t be fighting. Not unless . . .”

“Shit
,”
Bres said, scrambling to his feet. “Nuadha didn’t fall for it.” He pointed to two figures battling across the night sands, out into the waves. I saw Nuadha lift his blade, saw him disarm Luke. No. I couldn’t let this happen
!

I beckoned the water into a wave and it crashed into the two men. It saved Luke, but only for a moment. Seconds later a figure walked out into the water and plucked Luke up. Darcy held him up as if he were a wet rag doll. I heard her words as if she were standing next to me.

“She will not come for Chaos if we hold his life on the line. She loves him. He’s the perfect piece of blackmail.”

My heart clenched. What had we done?

Bres pulled me back down onto my belly. “Don’t do anything. They won’t kill him. We can figure this out.”

A soft scuffle of bush behind us spun us both around. Skulking towards us w
as
the humped back shape of a Fomorii. With its head down, eyes towards the ground, it lifted its hands in supplication. “I mean no harm. I come in peace. Please,
we need to be free of her
. She is not Fomorii any longer.
Bres, you know this.
”

I’d pulled out Carnwennan and
steadied myself on the sloping sand
as the Fomorii spoke. “How do I know you tell me the truth
? Why
shouldn’t I make sure there is one less of you on the battle field?”

Now it did lift its
head
. Both
eyes were
clear of Chaos’ mark. “Your sister tells me that you speak of a past love of your mother, Wil. She said to tell you to trust me. I served her when she was still
a little bit Fomorii
.”

The Fomorii lowered its head again
.
I wavered. There was no way it could have known what Ashling and I spoke of without her telling it. Damn.

Carnwennan went back into the scabbard. “Alright. What do you propose?”

The Fomorii lifted its head, its tongue flicking out past the wicked sharp teeth its mouth barely contained. “I teach you, like I teach
the other
girl. You need help, I give it. One lesson only.”

Bres leaned in to me.
I know Gormley
.
I trust her.
She has some strange abilities, but I think she might have something to offer.

I lifted an eyebrow.
“One lesson?”

Gormley ducked her head
.
S
he
scratched a claw through the sand. “Yes, one lesson. Only one spell you need to
know.”

She backed away from us and I shook my head. “No, I’m not going with you. Teach me here or not at all.”

A snap of her teeth and a kick of her feet in the sand preceded some
heavy muttering. “Just like the other
girl. Stubborn.”

Lifting her head along with one claw
,
she
acquiesced
. “Fine. I teach you her
e
, but she might hear and then we are dead.”

There was no need to say “her” name
;
we all knew Gormley meant Chaos. I would take that chance.

The Fomorii shuffled forward and I tensed
as
she lifted her claw
-
tipped hands into the air. “I need to be close to show you.”

It took everything I had not to bolt or strike out as she came within inches. One claw touched Carnwennan
.
I glared at her.

“This is sword of power, like Excalibur?”
she
asked.

“Yes.”

“Then it has power to lift curse on the Fomorii
,” she
whispered, her voice full of awe.

I hadn’t thought of that. “I suppose it might.”

She chuckled, “You are not surprised. You know of the curse.”

It seemed best not to try
to
explain
my near death experience and the past battles I’d seen
. “Yes, I know of it.”

Gormley
grunted. “Okay, I teach you one spell, one magic
,
and then you try to lift curse.”

Shrugging I agreed. “Trying is not the same as actually doing it.”

“Yes, yes,” she waved
a
claw in the air.
“I understand. You are not Silver hand.”

“She means Nuad
ha
,
”
Bres said. “The curse has been in force for so long, I
didn’t even
know that he could break it.” His violet eyes were drawn with worry.

What’s wrong?

He shook his head.
Gormley is ol
d.
S
he was at the battle where the curse happened
,
and she hates Tuatha, more than anything.
This is beyond out of character for her. Be on your guard.

I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures
,
I said.

Gormley lifted her hand again to touch Carnwennan. “So pretty.” She tapped the gem with one claw. “Soul gem
.
I
t will capture souls if you know how to use it. That is your lesson.”

I blinked. “That’s it?”

She sat back on her haunches. “Yes, lesson I teach is that there is a spell to trap souls. I don’t know it, but it’s there still the same. Now you try to break the curse.”

“Wait, give me a minute.” I stepped back and took Bres with me. “If I could trap Chaos’ soul, that would free Ashling, wouldn’t it?”

His eyes narrowed with thought. “I don’t know, but it’s a
possibility
.”

Gormley snapped her claws. “Is not
possibility
, is truth. Now try to lift curse.”

I shook my head, “That’s not a lesson
,
which isn’t a fair trade. You said you’d teach me something, not tell me something. That’s a big difference.”

The Fomorii growled. “Fine. I teach you first lesson. How to heal.”

Bres was shaking his head.
“She can’t, it isn’t in her, not those abilities.”

She blew a messy raspberry at him
, spittle flying through the air
. “Stupid, you all are so stupid. There is always a way to heal, just what you are willing to give to make it happen.” Scuttling forward, she put her face into mine
.
I
t took everything I had not to flinch.

“You are like your grandfather. You can heal, but every time you do
,
it will take a piece of your power. When no more power to take, it will take your mind until even that is gone
,” she
said, her breath rank like old rotting compost.

“Back up, you stink
,”
I said. Her eyes widened
,
and then she started to laugh, right in my face. Before I could react, her claws had gripped my head and she put her forehead to mine.

“Here, see what you must do to heal.”
A dark wave seemed to roll over me.

In my mind
,
I could see exactly how I would heal someone, drawing off the actual source of my power, giving that up in order to mend a body.
Gormley
let me go and I stumbled back, my legs tangling; I fell back onto my butt.

“That’s not what happens to Ashling, is it?” Gods, I hoped not. I’d had her heal me twice
.
W
hat if I’d caused her to be weaker,
to be more susceptible to Chaos?

Gormley snorted and shook her head. “No,
the other
girl is a natural, first in many, many years. She heals like you kill, with no effort.”

Her view of me
,
and my abilities
,
struck me hard. “I don’t want to kill.”

She shrugged. “But still, you do.” Her black eyes bored into me. “Now, lift the curse.”

I got to my feet and brushed off my pants.
Cora, a little help here would be fabulous.

My mentor stirred within me.
You intend to try and break a curse that is thousands of years old, one that Balor has tried to break thousands of times over
and failed
? Arrogance will kill you yet, Quinn.

“I’m not being arrogant
,”
I snapped
.
“I’m going to try because I said I would.”

Bres’ eyebrows shot up. “You okay?” I waved him off. “Yeah, just trying to
work things out
.”

Carnwennan came free from the scabbard with
a
soft, sliding snick
. I held my breath as my
mind
raced. How was I
even
going to attempt this? Everything I’d done with my powers had been
based
on instinct and need. I neither needed this curse to be lifted, nor was I in dire
straits
,
being forced to survive.

Closing my eyes, I thought about how Nuadha had held Excalibur high, how it had flashed bright
,
and then
how
the curse had taken hold.

The sound of the surf was deafening
against
the silence as I tried to see what I could do, tried to
figure it out. Fomorii were creatures of water
,
and I
,
Lir’s daughter, had stolen Card’s power over the water. Maybe that would be enough.
I opened my eyes and climbed the dune, then jogged out to the water’s edge.

With a quick thrust I drove Carnwennan int
o the soft, wet sand
,
the waves washing up around the blade. I knelt in front of it in the surf and put my hands on the hilt, gripping the bone handle. I thought about my father, about how the powers he
,
Card and
I
had
were connected to all the water, everywhere.

Fomorii were creatures of the water, born and raised with the ocean. All I could think of was how salt water was cleansing, how it could help a wound heal,
and
keep infection at bay.

Carnwennan began to glow and I let my power flow through the blade and i
nto the water, through the ocean and
through
that connection to them
into the people of the Fomorii. I could feel each one of them, could sense their living force as if they each stood next to me. Some
,
though
,
were afraid
;
they didn’t want what I
was offering
.
T
hey didn’t want what
Gormley
wanted.

I shifted the power and gave them the choice. A bright burst of energy spilled out of Carnwennan
.
I held on, not realizing that I was screaming along with
Gormley
,
who writhed in the waters beside us, her body contorting and twisting as the curse lifted.

With a
final burst of light and power
,
I slumped over the sword. My body felt wrung out.

Bres put one of my arms over his shoulders and helped me to my feet
. Without
a word
,
he pulled Carnwennan from the surf and slid it back into my scabbard for me. “Thanks
,”
I whispered. My throat was sore.

“We’ve got to go. Now.” He was dragging me away
,
and though I tried to get my legs to work, there wasn’t much I seemed able to do. A sob reached my ears
. Someone
was crying.“Where is
Gormley
?”

We half turned to see a wizened old woman, naked as the day she was born
,
sitting in the shallows
. Her
skin
hung
off in wrinkled folds
, but
she was smiling. “You did it. You are the Chosen one!
This is the prophecy coming to light, bringing our worlds back together!
” She wobbled to her feet and
,
the best her old body would allow,
and
she
began to dance, sending up sprays of water as she kicked and hopped
.