Wilde's Meadow (Darkness Falls #3) (38 page)

Maybe Tristan is still on my side, after all.

“Right. Well, I still do not like being outdoors. Please, get on with this.”

High Leader Maher paces along the front edge of the platform, hands clasped behind his back, head down. “It saddens me when we must punish our own. Especially when they are so young. Carrying out this sentence will not be easy. In fact, this will be the most difficult punishment I have ever delivered. These children have been brainwashed, turned against our people by someone close to me, by my family. My son and his bhean chéile convinced us all they were on the right path, but they lied. They broke laws, my laws, laws created by my brothers before me. We have attempted to heal these children, to show them the difference between right and wrong, but they refuse to listen.”

“Burn them,” a man next to me yells.

“We should not stand for any kind of darkness,” shouts another.

I have the urge to smack them but keep my hands to myself. For now.

Leader Maher raises his hands, palms facing out. “Our intent is to end their lives, but let this be a lesson to you, any of you: we will not tolerate evil. We will not associate with those who wish this world to remain in Darkness.”

My mom takes Anna by the shoulders and guides her to one of the posts. Her chin quivers, and she doesn’t take her eyes off her brother.

Dufaigh pushes Marcus toward his post, scoffing when the child trips over his feet.

Leader Maher faces the children, arms out at his sides. “We are not cruel Leaders, Marcus, Anna. I will offer you a way out of this one more time. Denounce Arland and Katriona Maher, and your lives will be yours to live.”

Anna regains control of her chin and stares defiantly at Leader Maher. “You are going to die. You are not High Leader Maher, this is not Leader Wilde, and Arland and Katriona Maher are going to save us. They will not allow you to go through with this.”

Dufaigh laughs, his belly bouncing up and down, then takes a deep breath. “Oh, dear child, I do hope your brother is smarter than you.”

Leader Maher turns to Marcus. “This is your last chance. Will you choose Light, or will you choose Darkness?”

Marcus glances at Anna, then back to the Leader before him. “I chose Light a long time ago; it is you who chooses Darkness.”

“Suit yourself.” Leader Maher faces his left and snaps his fingers. “Soldiers.”

Now would be a good time for Perth to shoot his father. Now would be a good time for me to create a distraction. Now would be a good time to kill someone. What do I say? How do I not get attacked by the crowd?

I can’t allow this to happen.

Dufaigh walks to the front of the platform, frowning. “I doubt anyone will speak up, but if anyone would like to take the place of these children or can offer any reason as to why they should not be punished, please, speak now.”

My opportunity is now. I push my way through the crowd of bloodthirsty Draíochtans, keeping my head down, weaving around men and women. Breaking through the front of the crowd much like I broke through the line of trees, I rush toward the platform and release my magic, blue flames encasing my body in a fit of rage. “I would like to speak against your punishment for them.”

“Why, Katriona Maher, how lovely to see you,” Dufaigh says.

“I knew she would come,” Anna says, relief filling her words.

“I knew she would, too.” Marcus doesn’t sound as sure, but then he’s already been tortured. I’ve already let him down once.

“I wish I could say the same, Leader Dufaigh, but I am sorry, you are not a lovely sight.” I glare at him, squeezing the hilt of my sword, ready to come through if Perth misses.

Dufaigh must die.

“Are you here to kill the rest of us?”

“No. Just you.” I smile, making it as cheesy as possible. I am not afraid, not in this moment. I’ve faced a god. I’ve
killed
a god.
This
man will not torment anyone else.

High Leader Maher leaves the children and comes to stand behind Leader Dufaigh, green eyes meeting mine. “You lied to our people, Katriona. You murdered a god. You have not brought light to Encardia as you promised you would. Why do you fight against us?”

Dufaigh growls. “She does not need to answer that.”

Does he realize this shifter no longer wishes to fight against us? Does he realize the shifter is acting on his own free will and not on Dufaigh’s orders?

“Oh, but I will. I fight because Anna and Marcus are right. You are not High Leader Maher, that is not my mother, and I never left the path of Light. Dufaigh has you all fooled, placed under a spell created by Foghlad.”

I turn and speak now to everyone behind me, praying I can keep up this distraction. “If you want to see the sun again, you must trust me. Who brought stars and the moon to Willow Falls? Who led an army ten times smaller than that of Darkness’s and won? Many of you fought with me. Many of you lost loved ones. Many of you were my friends. Whatever fog fills your brain, it is not of my doing. It’s of Dufaigh’s.”

I look up, and High Leader Maher’s shifter tips his head, a reassurance he’s still on my side, a positive reaction.

“Who here believes her?” he asks.

Angry shouts erupt from behind me. Cries of ‘No one’, ‘Burn her’, and ‘Down with Darkness’ bounce around from person to person as if they’re trading phrases.

Where is Perth? Why hasn’t he killed his father yet? Why haven’t Cadman and Rhoswen freed the real Leaders of Encardia?

“You are wise people.” Leader Dufaigh sighs.

“Are they? Or are they blind like Katriona says they are?” High Leader Maher jumps from the platform and stands next to me. I know he’s a shifter; I know he’s an enemy, but I want to reach out to him, hug him, tell him I miss his son and that I cannot thank him enough for the lengths he and everyone else have gone through for their people. “Do you have a way to prove your accusations?”

“I do, but I need more time.”

Mom stands on the other side of Dufaigh, pursing her thin lips. “Katriona, my dearest daughter, please stop these foolish games. I am not a shifter. I am your mother. I have already lost everything. Please, do not add your name to that list.”

I focus on High Leader Maher then close my eyes, just to be sure. His pulsing bright-white core radiates with light, black bands snapping around it. I check my mother as well. She’s a shifter, too. Cadman and Rhoswen need to hurry. I’m not sure how much longer Leader Dufaigh will allow his slaves to keep up this game. There has to be another way. Draíochtans need to see for themselves … .

Turning, I face the scowling crowd. “Think of what you love, think of what you wish to have when this war is over, when you are in your homes, living in the sunlight, swimming in the waters, eating different foods all the time. Think of who you want to be with you—”

“What do you think you are doing?” Dufaigh asks.

“Letting them see the truth.”

“Do not listen to her. Katriona is trying to trick you, to brainwash you the way she has these children—”

I ball my fists at my sides. “He is afraid because he knows if you conjure magic, magic you are born to use, magic that creates life itself, you will see through his game of charades. You will know he is a liar. Think of what you love, focus that love over your heart, then let it turn to rage, rage against what stands between you and freedom … then close your eyes and look at High Leader Maher and Leader Wilde. You will see them for who they truly are.”

A few people in the crowd exchange confused looks, but one person at the very back, someone I’ve never met before, closes his eyes and bursts into blue flames. “She is right! I see shifters under the skin of Leaders Wilde and Maher.”

He pushes his way toward us. People part to avoid being touched by his fire. “Katriona is not lying.”

Dufaigh’s boots clunk on the wooden platform as he takes a couple steps back. “She manipulates you.”

“No, I do not believe she does. I believe it is you,” the man says, staring at Dufaigh with narrowed eyes.

“Cyric, Deverell, kill him.”

I turn and face Dufaigh, but he’s gone. “Where?”

“
Kate
!” Anna screams, curdling my blood.

Thick, gray smoke rises from beneath the platform, reminding me of what I envisioned when I entered Encardia, but this time one daemon is on our side and one of our own has betrayed us.

Stop Dufaigh. Release the children. Tell Perth the time is now, and if he doesn’t hurry, I’ll kill his father myself.

Sprites appear in the smoke, emerge from the platform, burst through the ground, detach from the trees, jump out of the fire, then fly around in organized chaos. A dozen gray beings free the children from their bindings, while hundreds of other orange and red sprites carry away the burning embers in their small hands. The rest of the magic, shaped like leaves and stones, pick up Dufaigh and deposit him in front of me.

“Your friends have come through for you, Katriona. May we never meet again,” High Leader Maher says, patting my shoulder. His skin melts and falls to the earth along with the white core of the shifter. A disgusting pile of hair, blood, skin, teeth, and eyes—everything Leader Maher is made up of on the outside—now lies at my feet, staring back at me.

The mystery man gasps, and I do everything in my power not to puke.

Two feminine hands close around my throat, cutting off my airflow. “He may have been willing to go home, but I am not.”

Thrashing, I bang my arms against the shifter’s, fighting to breathe, fighting for my life.

“Enough,” Dufaigh shouts, smiling and grabbing at something on his belt. Whatever he holds is invisible, and he holds it just like a sword.

My “mom” huffs and slightly loosens her grip.

“Allow me the honor,” he says.

Ground Dweller magic
. His protection. Perth showed me how they manipulated magic, how they convinced it to make weapons by thinking of them as
protection
instead.

“Your eyes are wide with fear. My son tell you about our magic when you tricked him into loving you? Did he tell you what I carry on me at all times?”

“Not in so many words, but I know what you have in your hands you intend to use to kill me.” There’s no sense in telling him that I didn’t trick anyone. I wheeze, still struggling to bring in air past the shifter’s grasp; Perth needs to make good on his part of the deal and kill his father fast.

Leader Dufaigh lunges and nearly falls over. He’s so fat, so out of shape. Something tells me he hasn’t used a weapon in a long time, but that makes him no less dangerous. He regains his footing and straightens his tunic, then presses the invisible thing to my throat, cutting into my skin, and my mother’s shifter releases me.

Come on, Perth. This is your moment.

“I have waited for this for a long time. None of these people will speak against me. Not now. Your death combined with Arland Maher’s”—Dufaigh grins, revealing his disgusting yellow teeth—”will secure my son’s place, my
people’s
place as Rulers of Encardia.”

Something glimmers in the corner of my vision. I look above Dufaigh’s cold, hard eyes. A single arrow burning with blue light soars through the sky.

“You’re right. Your son deserves to be High Leader of Encardia, but not on your terms. On his. He’s just proved he’s a bigger man than you’ll ever be.”

He cocks his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. “What—?”

The arrow plunges through Dufaigh’s back and pierces through his heart, crimson trickling down his white tunic. He drops his weapon and grabs at the sliver of metal sticking from his chest.

“Perth?” he whispers.

“Yes, Perth.” I kick him in his gut, then in one swift motion turn and draw my sword.

But the shifter falls into a messy pool of skin and blood.

Anna and Marcus run to me and then wrap their arms around my waist.

“I knew you would come, Kate. I knew it,” Anna says, smiling up at me.

The people move closer to us, eyes white and wide, expressions angry.

“It is still night,” the strange man who saw the shifter in High Leader Maher says, holding out his arms in front of us, protecting me and the children.

I grab their hands and pull them close. “We aren’t through this yet. If I say run, you run. Do you two understand?”

“I understand,” Marcus says.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“You killed them. You killed our Leaders. They were right about you.” A short, blonde woman stalks forward. She’s pale—a Ground Dweller—and her eyes are colorless.

I back the children behind me, but there’s nowhere for us to go. The platform blocks escape on one side while the crowd blocks freedom on the other.

The man who conjured magic looks over his shoulder, arms still spread wide, and mouths ‘run’.

He doesn’t realize
I
can’t run, everything I need, everything this
world
needs, is right here. “No.”

I thought killing Leader Dufaigh would end Foghlad’s curse … again. I don’t understand this power, and the time for figuring it out has passed.

I mirror the crowd’s angry looks, narrowing my eyes, and grab the hilt of my sword. “I won’t hurt any of you, unless you make me.”