All's Fair (Fair Folk Chronicles Book 4) (14 page)

Chapter 27: Ex

Megan's spear arm glowed, and the counter-dirge felt supercharged as she dispelled large portions of the initial magical bombardment. She was glad that Bres's troops had less organized sorcery than the wider Fomoire forces. Those attacks that hit the runed-and-enchanted area dissipated without harm. Once they had, Megan boldly rode her wolf—Seven—forward, flanked by her father's riders, hers now, and raised her spear in a defiant taunt, singing louder.

The Fomoire, far more numerous than the fae, charged. As usual, they drove their weakest—though no more human slaves—at the front, sweeping for traps. They found plenty of them on the prepared grounds, hitting the pits and spear-traps. There were no runed traps this time—Megan had needed all possible runecasters and enchanters to enact the riskiest portion of her plan. Still, what there were helped whittle down the numbers, and largely left Bres and his vanguard leading the mad rush. Megan lowered her spear, signaling for the fae to fire, and arrows, spells, and other missiles rained down on the Fomoire's ranks, to limited effect.

Not far at all from the front ranks of the last defense to the Fremont path, Bres crashed through the magical barriers as if they were little more than a nuisance. His lieutenants also came through with only a little more effort. The ranks behind them, however, were thwarted by the dwarven craftwork and fae enchantments.

"It worked. He's through!" Megan called, signaling a charge of her own. With the strongest of their casters focusing on trying to keep the runes up as long as possible, the rest of the fae turned their whole focus on Bres and his officers, with the rest of his army left to watch—and hammer at the barrier, slowly wearing down the magical protection.

Jack-In-Irons kept up with the wolves, helping to lead the charge. The ogre launched a massive section of fallen tree, taking out two of the monster horses and sending their riders flying. "Keep them off of us!" he called to the other ogres, as he turned his attention to Bres. The rest of the ogre contingent obeyed, launching thrown rocks and logs before rushing in to engage the other Fomoire around Bres. They were soon joined by other fae, trying to overwhelm the powerful Fomoire leaders or at least hold their attention away from the central battle.

Megan remained just back, waiting for her opportunity. If it was true that little they'd done had even scratched Bres, she had to pick her moment with the spear. For the time being, she used it instead to empower her counter-magic, limiting Bres to purely his physical attacks.

Justin, given the same instructions to hold back, remained at her side, sword drawn, a new shield strapped to his bandaged arm. Megan’s makeshift cavalry divided. Half went to help harass the officers, while two of the wolf-riders, Cassia and the cats, and a couple of other riders on their own mounts charged Bres. A portion of the archers aided these efforts, turning their missiles on Bres to try to distract him.

For someone as massive as he was, Bres turned out to be startlingly fast. His sword struck one of the wolf-riders a glancing blow—still enough to sweep the man right out of the saddle, to land several feet away, writhing in pain from a bloody wound across his chest and shoulder, right through his armor.

“Euan-euan-eu-oi-oi-oi!” Cassia managed her attack run on Bres's other side, striking full force with her sword. Even with all the momentum of the chariot behind her attack, her attack barely left a mark, as if his skin was made of the marble it resembled.

Jack-In-Irons's attack with his club did little more, but the impact at least got Bres's attention. A new flurry of arrows, and a bright wave of fire struck the giant Fomoire's sculpted face, throwing his counter-attack off. That let Jack grab onto Bres's wrist when the attack missed, the ogre's muscles straining as he sought to keep the sword arm restrained. Another of the wolf-riders pounced, getting in his own attack. Others surged forward, attacking Bres's legs, trying to surround him and keep him off balance.

Megan decided she wasn't going to get a better chance. With Bres half-blinded, sword-arm grappled, and under attack from all sides, she charged, Justin running right after her. Her song shifted mid-charge from counter-song to full-throated battle anthem, trying to further inspire and empower her allies as she lowered the spear like a lance, urging Seven on.

Bres roared, body tensing, before he lifted his right arm, carrying the ogre upward with it, flinging Jack-In-Irons aside to collide with a wolf and rider. His sword wasn't at the ready, but he either heard or saw Megan coming.

Bres’s left arm swept down in a backhand. Her speartip grazed him, opening a bleeding gash in his forearm, while he hit her far harder. Megan went flying, vaguely aware of losing her grip on the spear, amidst an explosion of flashing lights in front of her eyes and pain through her side. She hit the ground, and her world spun, threatening to disappear into blackness.

Chaotic sounds, clashes of metal, and screams surrounded her as nausea battled with raw pain for the first impression on her mind. Her eyes opened. On her left, the flashing lights cleared enough for her to see Justin trying desperately to fight past one of the Fomoire officers to get to her, shouting something she couldn't make out. Catching his gesture, she turned her head, somewhat relieved she could do so, as much as it ached. The relief quickly faded when she saw an injured Fomoire looming over her, raising his spear.

Before he could bring it down, Seven crashed into the spearman, teeth sinking shallowly into the armored arm. Wrestling with the wolf while Megan struggled to move, the Fomoire went for a dagger at his belt, stabbing it into the wolf's shoulder. The injury drew a yelp, but Seven didn't let go, shaking at the captured arm.

A roar drew her attention back to the other fight, where a bloodied Jack-In-Irons smashed into the soldier Justin was fighting with, freeing the young knight to race towards Megan. Justin caught the warrior just as it was drawing the dagger out and about to stab for Seven again. The strike with the flaming sword took the officer's hand off at the wrist. As the wolf yanked the other arm out of the way, preventing any defense, Justin's follow-up strike took the Fomoire's head.

Justin crouched next to Megan, as the wolf moved to guard his mistress. "Are you all right, Megan?" Justin asked, trying to look for signs of bleeding. "Can you move?"

Megan retracted the thorns from her face. "I think so. Just hurts. Help me?" she asked, experimentally lifting an arm to him.

When he helped her sit up, the field looked much worse. Green fire rained down, striking the magical barriers still, but more and more got through, weakened, but still enough to cause scrambling and the occasional scream in the ranks. Some of the Fomoire had fallen, but so had more of their own than Megan wanted to think about, and almost no one was uninjured—with the unfortunate exception of Bres.

The gash on his arm was still bleeding black, but no one else had managed to break the marbled skin. Megan saw him strike one of the ogres down with a single sword-swipe, recovering in time to kick at a wolf-rider, taking the sidhe out of the saddle. The wolf, left alone, raced towards its packmate and Megan, seeking new direction without a rider. All the while, some of Bres's officers were making progress fighting to their lord, while the barrier of warriors struggled to keep Bres isolated.

"The spear, where's the spear?" she asked Justin desperately, wrenching her neck painfully trying to locate it.

"Majesty?" said a quiet voice to her side, Kerr turning visible again, offering the silver weapon.

Brownies, timing,
thought Megan, accepting it. “Kerr, you had no problem holding it?”

“The spear's not quite as human-blood-specific as the Claiomh Solais,” Ashling said, sitting on Kerr's shoulder. “Fae can use it. Personally, though, I haven't really put in enough time at the gym for it.”

Megan struggled to stand, using the spear to help. Glancing up again, Bres hadn't noticed her. That was what she'd thought before, too.

"Meg—Majesty, we're running out of time,” Justin said. “The barrier won't hold much longer. Do you need me to take the spear?"

Megan shook her head. "I'm struggling to sit, and we need both weapons in the fight." She saw motion out on the field, as Cassia and the cats in the field. Cassia was burned, with small black lines wiggling under the skin of her side, and both cats were bloodied, but they were still fighting. Megan managed to catch the satyress's eye just after the chariot ran down one of the minor Fomoire. "Kerr, get the spear to Cassia."

The brownie hesitated, then nodded, disappearing again with the weapon. Megan looked to Justin. "We need to buy time. Help me into the saddle."

Despite a worried look, he did, then swung himself onto the other wolf’s empty saddle. She drew the dagger, and started to sing a rousing battle song. Her lungs hurt with every breath, but the effect was immediate, rallying the demoralized troops who'd seen her fall. The effect on Bres was likewise immediate. He turned, stomping her way, sweeping aside two redcaps who tried to deter him. Justin readied himself between Bres and Megan.

Cassia turned, the chariot nearly falling apart as she started her attack run. Kerr reappeared to one side, tossing the spear lengthwise into the air behind Bres. The satyress caught it out of the air, leaving her sword behind.

Instead of guiding the cats around a large armored body in the field, she steered them right at it, while pulling herself up onto the front of the chariot. The cats raced up over the fallen, while the chariot took it like a jump. While it was at its peak, Cassia launched herself into the air, raising the spear.

The giant Fomoire either caught them looking towards Cassia, or was simply too wary, spinning in place. He caught the satyress out of the air in one hand, crushing any scream from her lungs. As he did, Justin begin a charge of his own. As the wolf raced past, he cut into Bres's calf with the Claiomh Solais. Bres stumbled, and his grip loosened. Cassia drew the spear back, and, even injured as she was, launched it point blank at the giant's chest.

He dropped his sword first, then Cassia, pawing for a moment at the shaft jutting from his chest. Then he stumbled backwards and fell, laying very still.

Megan managed to hold onto the saddle as she guided Seven forward, climbing up onto the fallen body, recovering the spear, before regarding the battlefield. For a moment, dizziness almost overcame her, and then nausea, seeing all of the damage done to her forces.

Megan managed to regain her poise. From atop the body of their fallen general, astride the wolf, in full briarmail, and pointing the bloodstained legendary spear, she eyed the Fomoire legions.

"All right, who wants the math test?"

As if afraid the spear might strike any of them dead, and having seen their divine lord fall, the Fomoire scattered in retreat.

When Megan fell back, she found Lani glaring at her. "Math test, really?"

Megan shrugged. "What? Math is scary."

Chapter 28: Allegiance

The fae did what they could to cut down the numbers of the fleeing Fomoire, but no one wandered far from the protected area. Megan nearly fell out of the saddle just in the process of Seven's leaping back to the ground. Justin helped her down out of the saddle more gently, before she staggered to the nearest frozen-over bush to be sick, barely remembering in time to retract her helm.

She used the spear to steady herself as she walked, eventually getting help from Justin again, as Lani ran up. "Going to be okay? Is anything broken?"

"I don't think so, but everything hurts. Is Cassia...?"

"Cassia will live," Kerr said, crouching over the satyress, who was wincing as the brownie examined her ribs. Both cats, despite injuries of their own, rested near Cassia's head. "But she's going to need a lot of time in a healer's care."

"She's not the only one," Justin said, looking around the field. "Majesty, if you'll be all right for a while, I should help with the efforts to gather the wounded and get them ready to move."

Megan nodded, eventually finding a place to sit down. She retracted the armor enough to allow Lani and Kerr to examine her head and neck. The further intrusion of frosted air wasn't pleasant, but it certainly made sure she was wide awake. Megan started into her healing music while they did, trying to help as much as she was able, in between occasional small pauses to wince as they hit any of the numerous sore spots.

“Stay close to the singing, Count,” Ashling called from Kerr's shoulder to Lani's. “Get you back into the sky faster.”

“Caw.”

“I'm not being patronizing. I'm looking after my bread and butter, okay?”

Megan tried to keep singing, answering a few questions from Lani between verses, but she found herself staring occasionally at Ashling's eyes, as they glanced from the Count's wings to her own.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” Lani finished.

“Three.”

"Okay, that's good at least. I'm thinking you might have a concussion, though I wouldn't mind a second opinion from someone with more experience," Lani finally said. "But the armor saved you from it being a lot worse."

"If this is better, I definitely don't want to deal with worse," Megan said, pausing, as she glanced out at the battlefield ahead of her as people made sure fallen Fomoire were dead, and searched for survivors among the fallen. Her voice was quieter when she added, "We've got a lot of worse."

"Megan, don't be too hard on yourself," Lani said. "Everyone who came here knew what they were in for. By holding the line here, yes, we've lost some lives, a lot of people got hurt... but a lot more people would have been hurt if we hadn't."

"You really think so?"

“Leave aside prophecies and the damage Bres could do. Can you imagine the hysteria when there's absolute proof that monsters exist, they're killing people, and guns aren't doing anything to most of them?" Lani asked. "If they'd have gotten into Seattle, trying to round them up again would have been next to impossible."

"If I'd been more active in the alliance sooner, maybe I could have brought more people. It just seems like I could have done something more."

Lani hugged her and smiled. "Megan, you're 18. By all rights, you should be in art school. This shouldn't be your responsibility."

"But it is."

"It is, and you've done a great job with it."

"All right, I'll take your word for it, I guess."

"You shouldn't just take her word for it, Majesty," Kerr said. "You got an entire crew worth of brownies to leave their assigned stations. No one is sure how the demerits will be handled."

Megan couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Kerr. I appreciate it."

The members of the war council who could walk—the two ogres, one of the wolf-riders, and one of the tengu—approached as soon as Megan was cleared to take visitors.

"We have the dwarves reinforcing the runes, and a few sentries who've volunteered to stay put, make sure the Fomoire settle for just sneaking away, not through," Jack-In-Irons said.

"The wounded are being secured, and the dead are gathered," the wolf-rider reported.

Megan nodded, looking between them. "Have the dead buried here, as best we can, while final preparations are being made to move. When we win, I'll send crews back to do it properly, and put a monument here. They were brave," Megan said. The sidhe nodded, then turned to spread the order.

Megan sighed as she looked out. “Thank goodness for the sword and the spear.” The dokkalfar had maybe had a point about the importance of equipment in cheating fate. Of course, Megan had known that, intellectually, which was part of why she'd taken their equipment in the first place. Still, how much they all had to rely on beyond-Faerie magic was really driven home now.

"Yeah," Jack-In-Irons said. "You handed that over pretty easy, for what it is. Okay, trusting a brownie, I can see it. Satyrs, though, ain't typically the most reliable."

Megan thought about pointing out the necessity of it, under the circumstances, but wasn't sure immediate practicality would mean much. "Back on our first quest together, Cassia said the good news was that she could outrun us, if we ran into trouble," Megan said, in a fond tone of voice.

“Still absolutely true!” Cassia shouted with groggy hoarseness as she was helped past them, towards the rest of the wounded.

Megan rolled her eyes and continued "But she's been running towards the trouble, half the time just ahead of the rest of us, ever since."

"Sure did this time," the ogre said. "Good throw, too."

"I never doubted her. And just goes to show you that I'll send the artifacts where they're needed. You'll get the cauldron for your service."

"I stopped doubting that a while ago," Jack said. "We'll see this fight through."

"I'm sorry about your people. They fought well."

Jack shook his head. "I'm not. Couple less mouths to feed," he replied. Megan couldn't quite tell if he was serious, or if it was just ogreish gallows humor. She decided to assume the latter as Jack and Tsonoqua left to finish preparations to move, including helping secure the fallen ogres for their later funerals.

"You have questions?" she asked the tengu—the Count's go-playing friend who'd originally been the point of contact in bringing some of the Japanese fae into the alliance.

The crow headed tengu bowed deeply. "Far fewer than I had. You comported yourself well, Majesty."

"I missed my opportunity and nearly got killed. Cassia bailed us all out," Megan replied.

"But you didn't shy from your moment, and all of your pieces were where you needed them to be. This victory will be remembered. Now, if you will excuse me?"

Megan nodded.

"Well, that was odd," she said, once she was alone with just her friends again.

"That the whole council just swore their allegiance?" Lani asked, with a smile.

Megan blinked. "Is that what just happened?"

"I pledge allegiance, to the Queen, and to the alliance, if she can stand..." Ashling said.

"Very funny," Megan said.

Justin approached the group again. "Majesty, everything is secure, all the supplies are together. We're ready to move. But we'll have to make it quick. A lot of these people need more help than we can provide here."

Megan sighed. "All right, but I don't think we could get so many injured through into An Teach Deiridh. I'll come up with something."

Lani smiled. "You don't need to. Use your walking-stick-spear all you need for balance, and follow me. Just let everyone else think you know where you're going." Lani picked the Count up gently, setting him on her shoulder.

Ashling climbed up onto Megan's shoulder. Then Megan eased herself onto her feet to follow Lani, careful of both her legs and the frozen ground. "All right,” she said. “But where are we going, anyway?"