Shifter (11 page)

            Some of them were humanoid, but barely so. They were monsters and things of nightmares, twisted so much beyond human or Hugtandalfer shape that Briony could barely look at them. There were other creatures there too. Things with too many legs and insectoid carapaces. Things that slithered with lizard-like movements. It seemed like Xylyx held many dangers.

            She turned away from that darkness, and found herself seeing something that shone. She wished that she could see it closer, and suddenly, she
was
closer. Close enough to see Vigor there, dressed in shining plate armor, a sword that shone silver in the sunlight in his hand. Around him were more Hugtandalfer, arranged in ranks, armed with spears, swords and shields that gleamed so that they had to be visible from miles away. They were here on the road below the palace, not clinging to the rocks to defend, but going out to meet the threat. Briony felt a surge of pride at that bravery, but also worry. Wouldn’t it be safe for Vigor and his troops to fight with high walls and higher mountain slopes to protect them?

            Then she was high up again, over the land, and Briony saw why they couldn’t. She saw the villages and the small farms in the path of the onrushing darkness. Yes, they could sit in the palace and wait for the creatures from Xylyx to come to them, but what would the vampires and the worse creatures do then? Who could predict what they would do, when they were rumored to be no more than animals? They might lay waste to the land without ever coming near the palace to fight. Vigor had done the only thing he could in going out to meet them.

            Briony blinked, and she was back in her room again. The horn and the scepter were no longer glowing, and she found herself wondering if what she’d just seen was real, or if it was just imagination produced by having that much power coursing through her.

            “Here, let me help with that.”

            Briony hadn’t heard Sophie come in, but now she moved over to Briony, pulling tight the last few stays on the dress.

            “There,” she said. “You look beautiful.”

            Sophie looked more military than beautiful. She’d tied her hair back severely, and she’d acquired silver steel armor that was a mixture of open chainmail and solid plate. She wore a pair of swords strapped to her hip, short enough and slender enough that they were more like long knives.

            “Where are you going?” Briony asked. “You’re going out to fight?”

            Sophie nodded. “I need to go join Vigor’s army. He’s already outside with them, moving to cut off the creatures.”

            So Briony
had
seen them. She wondered what that meant, and exactly what the horn and the scepter had done to her. For now though she didn’t say anything about what had just happened. She wasn’t the one who was about to go out to face an army of creatures even more evil than Marcus’ vampires had been.

            “You’re looking worried,” Sophie said.

            “I’m just worried about you, if you’re going to go out there.”

            “I have to,” Sophie replied. “Vigor’s army… they’re brave, and they’re strong. They’re Hugtandalfer too, and that means they’re going to be strong and fast. But they don’t have my experience of fighting vampires. They need me to go out and help.
Vigor
needs me.”

            “You really like him, don’t you?” Briony said.

            Sophie smiled. “He’s sweet.”

            “Sweet?” If there was one adjective Briony would never have applied to her too formal and dour step-brother, that was it. Briony sighed. “Just promise me that you’ll be careful.”

            “Oh, I’m always careful,” Sophie said. She moved forward to hug Briony, enveloping her in her arms and pressing her tight to the silver steel of her armor. “And whatever you decide when it comes to Josh and your destiny, know that I love you and I want you to be happy in all things.”

            “Josh?” Briony had put him completely out of her mind. “Are you saying that you think I should marry him?”

            Sophie smiled. “It means whatever you want it to mean. Do I have to spell these things out? You need to trust your own judgment more, darling.”

            “What if I get it wrong?” Briony asked. “People could die.”

            “Trust yourself,” Sophie insisted. “You have all the power of your father and in the scepter you have the power of your ancestors. You’ve been trained by, I’d like to think, the best slayer around. You’ve proven yourself against Pietre. You reduced Marcus to ashes. You have a weapon in that horn that Vigor tells me is incredibly powerful, and you have all the magic that goes with that. You have all the resources you need to succeed, but you’re the one who has to choose what you’re going to do.”

            Briony stepped back from her great-aunt, nodding. “Then there isn’t going to be a wedding. Not today. Not that there would be the time for it. We have a battle to fight instead. You’re right, I do need to make these decisions. Help me get out of this dress, Sophie, and find me some armor.”

            “Why?” Sophie asked, sounding suspicious. “You aren’t planning to…”

            “I can sit in here waiting for you, Vigor and the others to solve my problems, or I can go out and deal with them myself,” Briony said. “I’m not going to sit in here waiting for the creatures of Xylyx to come over the walls. If you lose, then they’ll come here and they’ll kill everyone who waits behind. It’s better to be out there fighting. At least there I can help.”

            “But…”

            “You were just telling me how much power I had,” Briony pointed out. She shifted the golden horn in her hand, working out what kind of weapon it would be. “Well, I want to use it. I’m going to use it. Now, could you please help me find some armor? I don’t want to go into the middle of a battle in just a dress.”

            Sophie stood there, hesitating for several seconds, obviously trying to think of a way to keep Briony safe. Finally though, she gave in and nodded.

            “I’ll go down to the armory to see what’s left.”

S
ophie went off to fetch armor for Briony, and while she did that, Archer and Fletcher came into her room together. Fletcher nodded to her, while Archer moved forward, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. His touch was light and surprisingly warm as Briony looked him in the eye. The dragon looked a little uncomfortable.

            “I wanted to say, my queen, that it has been a pleasure being your dragon.”

            There was something about the way he said that. It worried Briony. “You’re talking like you aren’t expecting to be around me much longer.”

            “I will stay beside you, whatever happens,” Archer said, “but this threat is a dangerous one.” He paused, looking back at Fletcher. “I will stay, but Fletcher is going. One of us has to alert the rest of the dragons of Palisor.”

            “I thought there were plenty of dragons around here?” Briony said.

            Archer shrugged. “Some, but most of us do not serve Hugtandalfer or live among them. There are whole clans of our kind in the mountains.” Archer smiled. “I have a big family, and they all have power. They’re all loyal to Palisor too. Fletcher should be able to bring a few of them back with him.”

            “How many?” Briony asked.

            “Enough, maybe,” Archer replied. “I heard that you’re not marrying Josh. That means no werewolves, so we’re going to need all the dragons we can get. Maybe there will be enough to turn the tide. I hope so.”

            Briony nodded. She knew how difficult the absence of the werewolves would make things, yet she couldn’t make her decisions based on just that. The only question now was whether they would be able to fill the gap left by the werewolves’ absence.

            “Are you sure?” she asked. “I mean, I’m sure you have plenty of family, but with the scale of what’s out there…”

            Fletcher stepped forward. “I will be able to fetch you dragons, your majesty. My blood goes back to that of the oldest dragons, when they ruled this land.”

            Briony vaguely remembered that story, that the Hugtandalfer had used magic to control the dragons and bond with them, taking control of Palisor from them.

            “You’re saying the two of you are some kind of dragon royalty?” Briony asked.

            Archer shook his head. “No. There is no dragon royalty anymore.”

            “But if there were,” Fletcher said, “then Archer and I would be it.”

            Archer glanced across to him, and it was obvious this was an argument the two dragons had had before.

            “What?” Fletcher demanded. He returned his attention to Briony. “I’ll get you your dragons.”

            With that, he left, obviously in a hurry to fetch his relatives and the rest of the dragons.

            “Well,” Briony said, “that’s one piece of good news, at least.”

            Archer nodded. “So, we have a full on battle coming up, and we’ll have dragons. Now what? Where do we go from here?”

            Briony was going to point out that she wasn’t sure either, but she guessed that, as the ruler there, she didn’t get to admit that. In any case, Sophie arrived back then with the armor and weapons for her to prepare for the battle. She took Briony behind the screen in her room again, helping her to change.

            There was chainmail. There was padding that went under the chainmail. There were greaves, bracers and other sections of light but solid plate. There was a long jacket that looked suspiciously like the one Sophie had left Wicked in, that came complete with pockets and hangers for stakes and knives.

Briony was already rushing to get into armor and to get what she needed to fight.  She had the unicorn’s horn as a weapon, but she wasn’t sure how much the legend holds true in a time of battle.  She placed a jacket on herself that she recognized from Sophie’s stash of slayer weapons.  The jacket had stake holders sewn into it so she can carry a few wooden stakes in it. 

            More than a few, in fact. There was a belt loop for the golden horn too, and Briony wore it like a sword, slung from her waist.

            “Use it, but don’t rely on it,” Sophie said. “It’s an untested weapon. It ought to be a deadly one if the myths are true, but until we know for sure, don’t risk your life by trying to use it as your only weapon. Use the stakes, or use your magic. The kind of fireball that finished Marcus should work.”

            Briony nodded. “I will,” she promised, though even as she promised it, she could feel a strange kind of confidence in the back of her mind that the golden horn would work. She just needed to have the courage to use it.

            “I thought you had more sense than to throw yourself into something like this.”

            Briony stepped out from behind the screen to see Josh standing there.

            “Isn’t all this a bit extreme to keep from marrying me?” he asked. “Getting suited up in armor and putting your life at risk?”

            “I would have done that anyway,” Briony insisted.

            Josh looked at her for several seconds. “Yes, I believe you would.” He sighed. “If I could get my werewolves here, I would, regardless of the marriage thing. I know we need to win here to keep Wicked safe, and my people with it. I want that. All right, so I wanted the power, and I wanted you too. What man wouldn’t? But I want them safe, and I want you safe.”

            Briony didn’t know what to say to that. Particularly to the compliment. She’d assumed that Josh was only interested in her for what she had to offer in terms of power. Josh went on then though.

            “That’s why I’m going to do what we both know you want me to do, Briony.”

            “I don’t want you to do anything, Josh.”

            Josh shook his head. “You do. You just haven’t been able to ask for it, because you keep your word. You want Kevin, and we both need my werewolves to be able to come through. Archer here can find me a gate. I’ll go back through, and Kevin can come here. If you decide to marry him, then he’ll be a worthy enough werewolf for the scepter. It should mean that you’re able to control the gates again and let more of my kind through.”

            “Oh Josh,” Briony said. “I don’t know what to say. I guess I owe you an apology for thinking you were…”

            Josh raised his hand, and Briony was immediately reminded that Josh was a king, the Werewolf King. “Utterly power mad? I can see why you’d think it, but for me, power is always about a purpose, and that purpose is keeping my people safe. And of course, since I know you will never marry me, but you might marry Kevin, this way is our best shot at getting back into Palisor.”

            Briony smiled. “Nice to know that the old you is in there somewhere, working out the angles.”

            “It’s what a ruler has to do, Briony,” Josh said. “Now, I’ll need Archer’s help.”

            Briony nodded to Archer, who went with Josh out the window, transforming and taking the werewolf king with him.

            “We should be going too,” Sophie said.

            Briony nodded. “I’ll be there in a minute.

            Sophie nodded and headed out the door. Fallon came in through it as she left. He crossed the distance to Briony in two quick strides, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply.

            “That’s for deciding not to marry Josh,” he said, before kissing her again. “And that’s for all those good vampires who have just narrowly avoided the vampire apocalypse thanks to you.”

            He seemed so happy then, and Briony could guess why. He thought that he still had a chance with her. Who knew, maybe he did, but right then, it didn’t seem very likely. She hadn’t told him yet about the plan as it currently stood, where she would marry Kevin and that would be that. Did he deserve to know? Even though Archer had told her that the marriage was only one of the keys to the vampire apocalypse, did Fallon have a right to know that Briony was thinking of taking one step closer to it to save her kingdom?