Virtue - a Fairy Tale (8 page)

“My Lady!” Jinn wailed, touching her shoulder, and Scelestus’s eyes shot open. “Thank the gods that you’re alive!”

“Of course I’m alive, you dimwit!” Scelestus struggled to get up and snapped her fingers at him. “Help me up!” She put her arm around Jinn, and he helped her to her feet.

“What happened?” Jinn asked carefully. “Did you find the girl?”

“Does it look like I have the girl?” Scelestus wiped at the blood on her lips and glared back at the cottage.

“No, I’m sorry, Mistress.” He bowed his head in shame. “Did you destroy the witch?”

“No. Not today.” She turned away from the cottage and walked in the other direction, toward the palace.

Wick had drained Scelestus of her power, and all of her muscles ached and burned. It would take all of her strength to get them home, and she’d have to wait a few moments before she could recharge her magic enough to do that. It had been far too long since Scelestus had battled with anyone.

She considered going back to finish Wick, since the fight had undoubtedly drained her too, but Wick didn’t have the girl. In a few days, when Scelestus successfully recaptured Lily, she would have more than enough power to do away with Wick, and anyone else who crossed her. But for now, she was old, tired, and painfully mortal. Her time would best be spent back in her chambers, using the cauldron to track down Lily.

Wick had used all of her energy to cast Scelestus out of her cottage. She had wanted to kill her, but she had never done well with the dark arts. As soon as she’d sent her away, Wick went to her grimoira, looking for a spell to destroy Scelestus.

She had to drag herself to the table. Her muscles felt weak like jelly, and her mind had gone hazy. Even her vision blurred, and she found it hard to see the words on the pages. She cursed herself for growing stale and complacent living in the woods. Most of her practice went into potions and holistic cures, and it’d been years since she had used actual magic like that.

All her attention was focused on trying to find a way to kill Scelestus and get revenge for Iris’s murder. She had entirely forgotten how this had started until she heard the howling. To the layman, it sounded like wolves, but more menacing, like a howl mixed with a mad man laughing. That was the calling card of the canu.

The canu were a pack of hybrid demon dogs, and they worked for Valefor and his peccati. Scelestus would be the least of her worries if Valefor had gotten involved. Too late, Wick realized the canu were howling happily, the way they did when the caught their prey.

“Lily.”

8

Lily ran through the forest, Wick’s cloak billowing out around her. She heard the sounds of the forest around her, groaning and yearning, and the branches scraped against the cloth, but none of them touched her. The moon had been huge and full, but clouds rolled over it, blotting out its precious light. She could hardly see in front of her and narrowly missed running smack into a tree several times.

The flap of wings echoed in the sky above her, but she kept her course as straight as possible. She didn’t know where she was going or what she would do when she got there, but she knew she had to keep going. Wick had possibly sacrificed herself for her, and Lily couldn’t let that be in vain.

The only time she stopped was when she heard a booming sound behind her, coming from the cottage. She’d already gone too far to see the cottage itself through the trees, but she turned around anyway. Dazzling blue light spiraled through the sky, and Lily watched with awe for a moment before it disappeared.

She didn’t know what it meant, but when Wick had saved her from the charuns, her wand had cast out blue light similar to that. It had been on a much smaller scale, of course, but she had to believe that Wick had vanquished whoever came looking for Lily.

Staring in the direction of the now darkened cottage, Lily chewed her lip and tried to decide what to do. If Wick had done away with the assailant, then she had no reason to continue running away. On the other hand, if Wick hadn’t, Lily might walk into a terrible situation and only make things worse. But she maybe could help Wick if she went back. Or if she kept going, she’d be out of Wick’s hair and stop being a burden to her.

Then the decision was made for her.

Lily had grown accustomed to the sounds of the horrible little monsters that scurried about the forest floor. She rarely saw them, but she knew their grumbles and chirps and padded footsteps. When she heard the sound of heavy ragged breathing, she knew immediately that it was something else entirely.

The enclosure of the trees made it hard to tell how far away they were, or even how many, but it sounded like a lot to Lily. Even their breathing was angry, and it was often interrupted by growling or the sounds of teeth of gnashing. The air smelled faintly of burning, like the scent after a flame had been extinguished.

She soon realized that they weren’t breathing heavy; they were
sniffing
, searching for something. Her heart pounded in her chest and her hair stood up on the back her neck. If she could smell them that meant that they could probably smell her.

One of the beasts howled, a deep, resonating sound mixed with a strange cackle. The sky was filled with the sound of charuns flapping their wings, dispersing into the night. Even they were frightened of the beasts. In the shadows, Lily couldn’t see much of anything, but she knew they were there – she sensed the shift of movement, the heavy sound of their feet pounding the ground, and their excited breathing as they approached.

Lily turned and ran for her life.  

Her legs moved as quickly as they could, churning underneath her, but she knew it wasn’t fast enough. They howled again, and it sounded much closer than it had before. She heard their feet pounding, a rabid pack of movement, and she darted around trees, trying to make her path as confusing as possible.

She rounded a tree, and there the beast was, right in front of her. Her feet skidded on the muddy ground, and she nearly flew right into it, stopping mere inches from its growling muzzle. The clouds parted enough for the moon to shine down on them, the light glinting off the massive incisors in its jaws.

It vaguely resembled a dog, but it was much too large, standing almost as tall as Lily when it was on all fours. The beast was hairless, and its skin appeared to be charred leather. The paws were as large as her head, with opposable toes and claws, like a cat’s, so it could hold or tear things apart. Its long tail moved like a monkey’s and had a forked end. The eyes were pure black, without any white rimming the pupil.

Lily stepped back, and she felt hot breath blowing on her cloak. Another one of the dogs was behind her, and when she turned around, she realized that four of them had surrounded her. She had nowhere to run, not that she could outrun them.

“Easy.” She held up her hands palm out to them, moving in a slow circle so she could keep her eyes on all of them. “Please, let’s all just stay calm.” One of the beasts growled and stepped toward her. “Stop!”

She wrapped the cloak more tightly around her, hoping that some of its magic would ward them off. They hadn’t torn her to bits yet, but other than eating her, she didn’t know what else they could possibly want with her.

The beast kept walking forward, and Lily had no choice but to step back. The one behind her moved to the side so she could get by. They moved together, walking as a pack in front of her, so she’d keep walking backwards. They were herding her along, and she stumbled over branches and tree roots, refusing to take her eyes off them. Unlike the charun, they acted like they knew what they were doing, like they wanted her to do something or go somewhere.  

Her heart raced in her chest, and she knew she didn’t want to be a part of whatever they had planned. They snarled and growled as saliva dripped from their teeth. They looked ravenous, and her instincts told her they wanted nothing more than to eat her alive. But for some reason, they didn’t. Their muscles trembled with restraint as they sniffed and huffed at her.

Lily decided that her only chance of survival was trying to make a break for it. She wasn’t as fast as they were, but she was much smaller. If she darted and weaved enough, going through small crevices in the trees, she might be able to lose them. As she walked backward, grabbing onto trees to keep her balance, she noticed a hollow log on its side. Maybe she could hide in there, or at least get a head start crawling through it.

As soon as she thought she was close enough, she turned and bolted toward the log. She’d barely made it four steps when a giant paw slammed into her back, knocking her to the ground. Its claws tore the cloak and ripped into her soft flesh, not enough to maul her but enough to send pain shooting through her body. She would’ve screamed, but the weight of the beast pushed her face into the mud. She breathed dirt, and she couldn’t even cough it up.

Just before she became certain she’d suffocate in the ground, the weight lessened on her body so she could lift her head up. She could still feel the paw, holding her in place should she try to run, but she could breathe again. Lily coughed hard, causing her body to spasm painfully. Her back screamed at her, but she tried to push herself up anyway. The dog growled and dug his claws in deeper, reminding her that he had control.

The scratches on her back burned, like her skin had been set on fire, and she screamed. Not for help or mercy, but simply because she couldn’t help herself. Her veins started burning, sending a searing sensation through her entire body. The beast had venom in its claws, and it was sending poison through her.

Her mind started feeling hazy, so she couldn’t be sure of what was happening at first. A gust of wind blew over her, and she craned her neck back, surprised to find the beast missing from her back. The pain blotted out most of her other senses, but her fear gave her some amount of clarity. She struggled to sit up and saw one of the beasts fly into a tree, as if it had been thrown.

Then she saw him clearly. Lux stood in front of the dogs, and he didn’t look the slightest bit ruffled. He held a giant stick in his hand, so long and thick it looked almost too heavy for Lily too hold. Three of the beasts growled and crouched in front of him, looking as if they wanted to rip his head off. The fourth one had been thrown into the tree, and he hurried to get back on his feet.

The dog charged and hurled itself at Lux, but he raised the stick and impaled the dog in the side. It yelped, and then fell to the ground. It lay a few feet away from Lily, twitching and whimpering on the ground, and even through her fiery pain, she felt sorry for the beast.

The other three dogs snarled and looked uncertainly at Lux. Since he no longer had a weapon, she expected them to tear him to shreds, but they did nothing more than look at him. He held his hand up, his palm facing them, and the beasts all began to whine, as if in pain. One of them yelped, then turned tail and started running away, and the other two quickly followed.

The dog Lux had impaled struggled to get to his feet, whimpering sadly. Lux walked over to it, and the beast cowered before him. Lux grabbed the stick and yanked it out, making the dog howl in pain. He raised the branch, meaning to finish the job, but Lily stopped him.

“Wait!” Lily held out her hand and tried to push herself up more. It hurt to breathe, and a weakening paralysis had started setting in her body. It wouldn’t be much longer before she’d be unable to move at all. “Don’t hurt him!”

“He’s a canu!” Lux said incredulously.

He wanted to argue with her about the merits of saving a demon dog, but when he saw the stricken look on her face, he knew she didn’t have the strength to argue. His stomach twisted up when he realized how much pain she had to be in, and it made it even harder for him not to destroy the beast that had done it.

Reluctantly, Lux dropped the stick and pointed away, signaling the canu to leave before he changed his mind. The dog slowly got to his feet and gave them both a confused look, unsure why it had been spared. Lux had already turned his attention fully to Lily, and the dog hobbled away without any more notice.

“Don’t move,” Lux said, rushing to her side. He reached out, wiping the mud from her face, and the warm electricity he got from her was still there, although it was dampened by his anxiety. She could barely breathe, and he found it hard to swallow, knowing the agony she had to be in.

“What are you doing here?” Lily stared up at him, and her arm gave out, so she fell backwards. Before she hit the ground, she felt his arm around her, holding her safe.

“Don’t worry about it.” He held her in his arms and moved the cloak, so he could see the gashes down her back from the canu. “You’re infected with canu venom.” He looked past her, his mind racing. “I can fix this.”

Lily tried to say something, but she’d already grown too weak to speak clearly. He got to his feet, still cradling her in his arms, and hurried towards the creek. He wanted to relish the weight of her body, the feel of her with him, but he couldn’t.

On his way to find her, he’d passed a babbling brook, and that would be his only way to save her. Clean the wound to get out as much venom as possible, then burn it to destroy the rest, and pack it with cool blue moss to ease the pain. It was a rather easy cure, but he had to get it in time.

The venom was only beginning to spread through her, and once it hit her full force, she would be in unbearable agony.

She mumbled something into his chest, and Lux ran faster, listening for the sounds of the brook. His heart pounded painfully in his chest, and he didn’t know what he’d do if something happened to her.

Relief washed over him when he saw the brook, the water reflecting the moon in the night. He skidded down the embankment, holding Lily carefully in his arms so she wouldn’t get hurt further. Gingerly, he laid her on her stomach on the soft mud and reeds next to the water. He took of her cloak and opened the back of her dress so he could have better access to the claw marks.

Lux cupped his hands, filling them with ice-cold water before spilling it onto her back. She twitched and made some kind of moaning sound, but he hadn’t even started cleaning the wounds yet. Using the edge of the cloak and the water, he scrubbed at the scratches, making the venom burn deeper, and Lily screamed.