Briar Rose (37 page)

Briar shielded her face from the storm of debris, and when it ended she found the startled eyes of a fully human young man peering at her.

‘You freed me!’ he said. ‘How is this possible?’

‘Reg?’ a woman called out. ‘Is that you?’

He turned slowly, as if still encased in the metal, and then was engulfed by the arms of a young woman.

‘I thought you dead,’ she said, tears rolling in a great flood.

‘I was worse than dead, my love,’ he replied, then caressed her. ‘Now I am whole.’

Cool.

Gasps came from around them as the villagers’ awestruck faces registered what they’d just witnessed.

‘She destroyed the metal,’ one of them exclaimed.

‘The regent can be defeated!’

‘No!’ the princess cried out. ‘Unhand me!’

Briar spun round to discover two of the elite metal guards forcibly dragging the princess towards the carriage. Apparently the regent had decided Aurora was no longer a lovely prop.

‘Stop them!’ Briar called out.

Once the princess was back inside the palace, it was a good bet she’d never be seen alive again. No Aurora, no revolt. As much as the two guys needed Briar’s help, the royal came
first.

With a roar of fury, Ruric broke free of his guards. ‘To the princess!’ he shouted. When some of the village men joined him, they swiftly encountered an unyielding line of the
regent’s elite warriors, who hacked at them unmercifully. That only enraged the peasants more. To her credit, Aurora put up a good fight, kicking and shouting as she was being manhandled
towards the carriage.

Briar sprinted towards the melee, knowing if she could just get some of the fata’s dust on the metal, the guards would revert back to human form and give Ruric and the others a chance to
rescue the princess. But she was running out of time – Aurora was at the carriage now, struggling not to be shoved inside.

‘Get out of the way!’ Briar shouted, frustrated, as she tried to manoeuvre through the jostling bodies. Then she saw Reena just in front of her, notching an arrow in a curved bow,
her apparent target one of the elite guards.

‘No!’ Briar said, snagging on to her arm. ‘There’s a guy underneath all that metal.’

Reena stared at her and then lowered the bow. ‘Hey, you’re still alive,’ she said.

‘Right back at you,’ Briar replied. ‘We have to help the princess. I have some dust that will destroy the metal on the guards but I can’t get close enough.’

‘I have some of that too,’ Reena said, frowning. ‘It’s on my arrows.’

Briar thought for a second, then searched around the crowd. She beckoned and the smithy’s son trotted up to them. ‘Can I borrow your slingshot?’

He peered up at her, nodding. The weapon and a small pouch of stones came her way.

‘Thanks. Now go hide, will you? It’s too dangerous for you.’

‘Not for me. I’m brave like my father,’ he said, then took off into the fray.

‘Kids,’ she muttered.

Reena relieved her of the pouch of stones. ‘I’ll dip them in the dust, you do the slinging. You’re better at that than I am.’

‘Maybe when I was seven,’ Briar said. She tested the pull on the weapon and was pleased to find it proved sturdy and well-made.

As she waited for Reena to ready the missiles, she popped up on her tiptoes, casting a worried glance towards the two guys – they were still fighting the gryphon. More ominously, the
regent was digging into that bag of hers again. What would it be this time? Another flying thing, or something worse?

Reena handed her the first sparkly rock. It would have been ideal to allow plenty of time to set up the shot, but Briar didn’t have it. She took the shot and groaned when the pebble
bounced harmlessly off the side of the carriage, missing one Aurora’s captors entirely.

‘Wow, should I go get the kid?’ her friend said.

Briar grumbled under her breath as she loaded another stone. Now that she had a feel for the slingshot, the next missile struck one of Aurora’s guards on the shoulder. He didn’t even
flinch.

‘Any . . . time . . . now.’

The warrior’s shoulder turned darker, then began to disintegrate, revealing the human underneath.

‘Yes!’ Reena shouted, executing a fist pump. ‘Get the other one.’

Briar did as she was told and suddenly the princess had two confused humans at her side. They quickly figured out what had happened and became her protectors.

Meanwhile, Ruric had been hemmed in by three of the warriors and, though having secured himself a sword, was dangerously close to being gutted. With a pleased grin, Briar helped even the odds.
One by one the warriors lost their metal cladding.

Around her, families reunited with their missing sons, brothers, fathers or husbands. After the tears and the hugs, the anger rose. Those same men picked up their swords and began to clear a
path to their ruler, keen for revenge.

Game on!

Briar turned her sights on the regent. ‘Payback time,’ she murmured, loading another stone. Moving sideways, she cautiously lined up the shot, hoping for a miracle. As the stone flew
through the air, Briar whispered a prayer that it’d do the trick.

It slammed into the regent’s mask, causing the woman to reel backwards.

‘Yes!’

The regent turned towards her, but the copper didn’t disintegrate. ‘Kill her!’ the ruler ordered. ‘Kill her now!’

‘Why didn’t it work?’ Briar said, backing up nervously.

‘It doesn’t on regular metal. Just her magical stuff,’ Reena said, backing up with her, an arrow notched.

Now you tell me.

A village man staggered up, his shoulder bleeding in two places. ‘The princess . . . wanted you to have . . . this,’ he said. He held out the charm bracelet.

‘Thank you!’

Briar took it, and then hunted for Aurora in the scrum. The princess sat on one of the horses now, surveying the battle from a distance. Briar gave her a wave and a regal nod returned.

Briar tucked the slingshot in her corset and then slipped on the bracelet, some of the fata dust coating it as she snapped the clasp. The moment the silver touched her skin, it gave a sharp ping
of recognition.

What else can I do with this thing?

When an enraged shout came from Joshua, they turned as one to find the guys reeling from the latest attack.

‘Oh, God. I can’t hit that creature, it moves too fast. Can’t you do anything?’ Reena demanded.

‘Maybe I can.’ As Briar set off towards the guys, her friend called out to her. ‘Do not let Pat get dead or I will be seriously pissed, do you hear me?’

Without knowing exactly why, Briar wrapped her dust-covered fingers round the one charm that might just give her a chance to defeat the gryphon. As she picked up her pace, she made a single,
crazy wish.

Because, sometimes, wishes come true.

The gryphon’s last pass had earned Pat three deep cuts on his forehead and a couple down his back. Though he’d pounded at it with his quarterstaff, it had had
little effect. Joshua had managed to hack off a few feathers and part of a leg, but that was it. They were both tiring and their weapons were pretty much useless. It was only a matter of time
before the gryphon won this battle.

Joshua was relieved to see the townspeople had experienced a change of heart, cheerfully bashing their way towards the regent with anything they could lay their hands on. He and Pat needed to be
there as well, not fighting some wind-up monster.

Above them, their menace circled, as if it were stalling.

Why?
He began to suspect it was intentionally keeping them occupied so they wouldn’t be able to join the battle.

But where was Briar? Joshua’s eyes darted to the tree in fear. The noose was empty.

Thank God.

The gryphon still glided around above them.

‘I wish Reena would shoot down this idiot bird,’ Joshua replied.

‘If she could hit it, she would have. I think it’s too fast for her,’ Pat replied.

‘Where is Briar?’ Joshua demanded. If she was hurt or dead . . .

‘Found her,’ his companion cried, pointing upward. ‘Whoa, check out
that
ride!’

A sleek golden-white horse floated to the ground near them, its iridescent wings forming swirls in the air behind them. Sitting astride the steed was Briar, her cloak and unbound hair trailing
behind her.

‘Are you
serious
?’ Joshua called out.

She beckoned to him. ‘Sure! Come on, let’s go kick some gryphon butt.’

Pat leaned on his staff, getting his breath. ‘You know how to fly one of these things?’

‘It’s a horse, right?’ Joshua replied. ‘How hard can it be?’

Briar scooted further back, giving him space on the mount. Joshua sheathed his sword and tied the scabbard round his waist, then moved the blade out of the way as he climbed up to join her. The
horse moved a few paces to the left and settled.

‘This is the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me,’ he said, causing the mare’s ears to twitch. ‘And that’s saying something right now.’

‘Isn’t she cool?’ Briar said. ‘Screw driver’s ed, I’m turning up to class on this baby next year.’

‘You conjured her up on your own?’

‘Yeah. I didn’t know I could do that. I think it had something to do with the fata dust. I wished for her and there she was.’

‘Works for me.’

A series of howls rent the air as a new menace joined the hunt, called to the battle by their mistress. Grey predators streaked across the open field from the village, encircling their prey.

‘Wolves,’ Briar said, her momentary joy gone. ‘So many wolves.’

‘Ah, damn,’ Reena said. ‘Just what we need.’ With one last concerned look towards Pat, she began to stalk the new threats. She didn’t dare take a
shot unless there was a good chance the wolf she was targeting would go down. There just weren’t that many arrows.

An idea came to mind, and when she spied the smithy’s son, she waved him over and handed him the pouch.

‘This is special magic. It destroys the regent’s metal. Have your people put it on their weapons. You understand?’

The eager boy nodded and took off towards a knot of village men. He wriggled his way into their midst, and after a lot of hand waving and explanation they began dispensing the fata magic.

Knowing that was the best she could do, Reena returned to the hunt. As she stalked the closest wolf, a primordial bellow came from the centre of the field.

‘Oh God, now what?’

The winged horse shied away in fright as a column of dirt surged upward from where the regent had been standing. The ruler’s magic transformed her into a figure with
thick arms and chubby legs. The limbs continued to elongate as the creature rose in height, first ten, then some twenty feet above the field. Its round, pudgy face sat above a massive chest and
neck. It was female and completely nude.

Joshua winced. ‘Oh man, my eyes are scarred for life. What is that thing?’

‘I think it’s a drazak. It’s what the regent looks like, at least the parts that aren’t human.’

He shook his head in disgust. ‘Whatever it is, I just wish it wore clothes. Can’t unsee that.’

The creature hoisted a massive club on her shoulders while grinning a mouthful of mismatched teeth. Apparently dental care wasn’t a priority for her kind.

A shadow covered them.

‘Gryphon!’ Joshua cried out as he kicked the horse in the sides to avoid the creature. As they cantered forward, Briar grabbed on to his waist to keep from falling off. Once they
were airborne, the winged horse had a mind of its own, veering away towards safety.

‘No!’ he cried out. ‘We have to fight that thing.’

The mare shook her head, clearly thinking that idea was blazingly stupid.

With great effort Joshua brought the steed under control and swung them back towards the gryphon. And found it missing.

‘Where did it go?’ he asked, looking around.

‘Above us!’ Briar cried, pointing.

The beast executed a power dive, forcing the horse to sheer away from it. Even before Briar could load a dust-coated stone into the slingshot, the gryphon passed agonizingly close. Just like it
had with Pat, a talon shot out and hooked on to her cloak. She tried to hold on to Joshua, but was dragged off the back of the horse. As her feet found nothing but air beneath them, her scream was
cut off by the rushing wind. The slingshot tumbled out of her grasp.

With a desperate effort, Briar clutched on to the beast’s rear leg with her left hand, trying to avoid the talons. Behind her, the cloak broke free and sailed away causing the wind to
whistle through the opening in her dress and up her skirts. She was flashing the entire field. Aware that it had a passenger, the gryphon’s sharp metal tail lashed at her, coming perilously
close to her face.

She dared not touch the thing with her right hand, or it would disintegrate. But how long could she hang on with only one hand?

‘Bring her to me!’ the regent demanded in a deep voice.

The gryphon dutifully circled round and began to descend, eager to deliver its cargo. Briar’s left arm cramped fiercely, like thousands of sharp knives digging into her flesh. Tears formed
in her eyes from the pain.