Authors: Reed James
The entire sorority crowded around Maeve, their faces filled with awe, disbelief, and rapt attention.
“The Mortal Champion balanced Summer and Winter, siding with one or the other depending on which was stronger. Each time, the Equilibrium between the Seasons was reforged. Eventually, the Seelie and Unseelie Fey abandoned their wars. Nothing ever was gained.
“And then Cinniuint stole the Balance.”
“Who's that?”
“She was like the Norns, another weaver of fates. She witnessed something that made her steal the Balance and take it to the Mortal world. Now Queen Mab is plotting, and the Balance has sensed the Equilibrium has shifted. So it chose its Champion. But if Gunnar is controlled by Corrigan, he will side with Winter and instead of protecting the Equilibrium, he will destroy it.”
“And that means...what, an ice age?” Akiko asked.
“Yes.”
“I guess we don't have to worry about Global Warming then,” laughed Raven and a few girls gave nervous titters.
“Raven, take this seriously,” Billie Jo snapped.
“But that doesn't tell us what it looks like,” Akiko pointed out. “What if one of us has seen the Balance.”
“It doesn't have a fixed shape. It could be anything the Mortal Champion desires. And I'm sure Cinniuint has further hidden it. She is a spider, and she is said to spin glamours so convincingly real that only the Faerie Queens, and maybe Oberon, could pierce them.”
“So this coffee cup could be the Balance?” Brad asked, hefting his mug.
“Maybe,” Maeve shrugged, glancing out the window. Darkness had fallen and the full moon climbed the horizon. “It's almost time. Let's get ready and head to the Green.”
~ ~ ~
There was only pain.
Only the kiss of the icy flail.
Gunnar howled wordless blubbers.
His pain was unceasing. He fought against his tormentor. He fought against his flesh's plea to submit.
I will not surrender to Corrigan. I will not surrender to Corrigan.
End the pain. Call her Mistress.
No! Maeve is the Mistress of my heart!
Surrender! Corrigan is your true Mistress
No!
Yes!
The flail cracked. Corrigan laughed. Cruel and malicious. Her naked foot crushed his balls again. Gunnar screamed and bucked.
I just have to hold on. Maeve has a plan. Maeve will save me.
Surrender to Corrigan. Love your Mistress.
No!
Yes!
No...
Yes!
Crack!
~ ~ ~
Clouds floated dark past the silvery face of the moon. Maeve and ten of her friends trooped out to the grin, each carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle of ten cold iron spikes.
Maeve shuddered, marching far ahead.
Everything was wet in the Green. A shower had passed through an hour ago, leaving damp statues dripping with water, puddles lurking unseen in the green grass. The party splashed across the Green, grumbling as they found those unseen, icy pools.
“I hate having wet shoes,” Raven muttered as Maeve stopped near the rose bushes.
“Right here,” she declared, summoning a small glamour out of white light, forming it into a circle thirty feet across and laid it on the grass. “Try to keep your spikes evenly spaced.” She added to her glamour, putting crossing hashmarks to delineate a hundred arcs around the circle, a guide for her friends to drive in the spikes.
“So we just pound them in?” Evan asked.
Maeve nodded.
Metal tinked as her friends hammered the cold iron into the ground. Maeve watched, her heart thudding. She was breaking the Pact of Autumn by attempting this, but it was the only way. Corrigan would cheat as well.
Does that make it right?
Does it even matter?
Maeve would save Gunnar no matter the cost.
The moon climbed higher, nearing its zenith. Evan and Brad finished first, followed by Akiko. More and more of her friends moved away, standing beside Maeve. Felicity was last, wiping her brow, her mallet still clutched into her hand.
“All done,” she beamed.
Maeve looked over head. The moon inched closer. The power hummed from it, growing stronger and stronger as it neared its zenith. She reached up on hand, seizing the moonbeams. Silver light burst around her hand as she bent the beam, pointing it at the circle.
“Fuck,” Raven gasped, watching as Maeve moved around the circle, snatching moonbeams and aiming them at the spikes.
“That's so pretty,” Felicity clapped.
Maeve worked quickly, the moonbeams growing brighter and brighter as she circled the trap. Each moonbeam fell on a single spike, silvery sparks dancing when Maeve had the moonbeam aimed right on target.
When the last moonbeam was bent, and the moon arrived at its zenith, Maeve reached out with her magic. The nearby rose bushes blossomed in the dark, flooding the Green with their perfume. The silver of the moonbeams mixed with flecks of pink and red, drawing in Maeve's power.
Evan sneezed
She focused on concealing the cold iron spikes, the holes in the lawn melding away, covered in seamless grass . Maeve swayed as the power rushed out of her. The prickling sensation of the cold iron on her skin vanished.
But Corrigan was clever. She might find a way to defeat the trap. So Maeve added extra to the spell, weaving more of her roses in with the moonlight. A pink hue bled into the moonlight, growing brighter, flooding around their feet.
“So beautiful,” Felicity gasped.
Maeve clenched her teeth, her body on fire as she channeled the awesome power. She wove rose and moonlight together. The light grew redder and redder until it shone with the passionate crimson of the rose.
The moon passed its zenith. The moonlight vanished.
“It's ready,” Maeve panted, Brad catching her as her knees buckled. He picked up her light body. “Tomorrow night, we'll save him.”
Just hold out until then, Gunnar.
~ ~ ~
Surrender.
End the pain.
The smiling face slowly dwindled.
Surrender.
End the pain.
The color drained from her red hair.
Surrender.
End the pain.
Maeve vanished from his agony.
Surrender.
End the pain.
“Mis...tress...”
Chapter Ten: Corrigan's Victory
The Pixie didn't sleep. She didn't have to sleep, but she liked to sleep. There were fantastical dreams to discover, and it was wonderful to fall asleep next to her lover.
Tonight she didn't sleep because Gunnar was with Corrigan. The scent of Winter was on the air, drifting from the direction of Gunnar's apartment. As she perched on the roof of the sorority, Maeve could only hope that her wonderful Champion wouldn't succumb to the foul servitude of the Lean Sidhe.
The night was cold, the rain fierce, but the Pixie endured. Tonight she would face Corrigan and win back Gunnar, freeing him fully from Corrigan's icy chains.
Just keep holding on,
she thought.
Please, Gunnar, just keep holding on.
Despite the clouds billowing over head, the horizon lightened. Dawn approached. The Pixie fluttered her gossamer wings as she watched the clouds transform from black to gray to pink to orange. The colors of Summer.
She flew down and landed on the lawn. She assumed her Mortal guise before anyone witnessed her skulking on the roof. It was deeply ingrained in her nature to avoid being noticed. The last few days had seen her overcome that reluctance as she shared her true nature with those that had seen the Bodath last Saturday night.
Maeve strode into her sorority. Brad and Felicity awaited, sitting on the stairs. The rules of the sorority had been bent for Brad. He was a part of the fight. He had been touched by Corrigan before. And he was ready to fight back.
“Are you ready?” Maeve asked him.
Brad looked up, his brown eyes firm behind his glasses. “I am, Maeve.”
Felicity tightened her grip on his muscular arm, fear shining in her eyes.
“It'll be okay, Felicity,” he said to her, stroking her cheek.
“Will it, Maeve?” Tears brimmed in Felicity's eyes.
The Pixie smiled down at the blonde. “So long as he followed the rules.” Maeve shifted her gaze, focusing her emerald eyes on Brad. “What are the rules?”
“I am to agree to nothing, accept nothing, and I will not, under any circumstances, touch her.”
Maeve nodded. “She may try to touch you. That's fine. So long as you do not initiate the contact you will be bound by the Pact of Autumn as my emissary. So do not be afraid. Do not show fear. Be strong.”
“See, I'll be fine. Maeve wouldn't lead me wrong.”
No, I wouldn't. I'm not Corrigan.
Raven walked down the hallway wearing a long shirt that fell down to her mid-thigh. Her black hair was mused, her eyes puffy. “So, it's time to issue the challenge?”
“Yeah,” Brad nodded, taking a deep breath. He stood, his chiseled jaw set. “Let's do this.”
“Good luck.” Felicity hopped up, threw her arms around Brad's neck, and planted a fierce kiss on his lips.
Brad moaned into the kiss, savoring every moment of their contact. Maeve missed that. Their aura burned bright, shining with their love. A tear brimmed in the Pixie's eyes.
I'll save you, Gunnar.
~ ~ ~
Gunnar whimpered and cried before the Lean Sidhe, his body whipped to ribbons by her icy flail. His flesh oozed frozen blood. She loved it. Her blood pumped hot through her body as Gunnar's blood streaked her stomach.
He was close to breaking. He had experienced such pain, holding out for over a day. His strength was so impressive, and once he had been tamed, he would be a fierce hound, eager to please his Mistress.
Such power will be at my hands once Gunnar wields the Balance.
Gunnar spat as he struggled to speak. She let the whip vanish as she leaned over, her body trembling in anticipation.
“Mis...tress...” he croaked, blood bubbling from his lips.
Corrigan shuddered as she had his surrender.
“My hound,” she purred, leaning over to kiss his lips, tasting the salt of his blood as her tongue probed his mouth.
The temperature plummeted in the room, swirling snow whipping around the bed. She poured her magic into him. Gunnar was her hound, her slave. He had no choice but to submit now. He had no will of his own. She poured her magic into him. She sent it deep into his bones. Not the half-change she had given her previous three hellhounds.
Corrigan permanently changed Gunnar. He deserved to be her hound for all eternity for the pain he had caused.
I had to say the word love to you!
Gunnar's flesh rippled as the change took him. His muscles spasmed, his ruined skin healed into black, sooty flesh. His bones changed, transforming into hard maple wood as they reshaped his body. He howled as his jaw elongated into a fierce snout, his teeth becoming hard obsidian. His eyes transformed into a sapphire and a brown zircon.
Corrigan frowned. She had never witnessed a hellhound with anything other than opal eyes.
What makes you different? Is it the Balance's touch on you?
Corrigan petted the mastiff as he rolled over on the bed, sharp claws ripping into the mattress as he righted himself. Gunnar snarled and howled, rubbing into her hand as she caressed the rough, black hide. Gunnar was hers, but the Pixie still had a claim to him, something so deep that Corrigan's magic couldn't fully sever it.
Corrigan expected that.
She leaned over, scratching at his ear. “I'm going to enjoy watching you feast on your fiancee's flesh.”
Gunnar let out an eager growl, hungry for blood.
“Good boy.”
His rough, foul tongue licked his blood off Corrigan's stomach. The Lean Sidhe shuddered, still petting his rough hide, stretched tight over the warped maple wood skeleton. A smile grew on her face.
“I beat you, Pixie. I broke your love and claimed his soul. You'll be mine forever. You'll course and hunt at my command.”
The doorbell rang.
“Stay,” she ordered, tapping his forehead.
Gunnar obediently lay down on the bed, fixing his one sapphire and one zircon eye on the doorway. His body was tense. ready to tear the flesh of whatever silly Mortal lurked at her door. He hungered to course and hunt for his Mistress.
Soon.
Corrigan's hips shook as she walked to the door, assuming her Mortal form. She didn't bother dressing. She ripped the front door open.
Brad stood on her doorstep, his fist clenched, and his eyes fixed hard on him. A smile curled Corrigan's lips. Brad had his relationship saved twice by the meddling Pixie.
And now you wander back into my power.
“Corrigan of the Winter's Kiss, I claim protection from the power of you and your servants under the First Provision of the Pact of Autumn. Maeve of the Winter Rose has chosen me to be her bonded emissary.”
Corrigan released her power, the Pact's restrictions falling down on upon her.
“Why don't you come in and tell me what the Pixie wants,” Corrigan purred, letting a geas fall on her body, a subtle illusion that made her seem more inviting and lush. “It's far more
comfortable
inside.”
Sweat beaded on Brad's forehead, his cock swelling in his pants.
“I respectfully decline your generous offer.” He swallowed, his fist clenching. “I will remain outside.”
“Oh, don't be so polite.” Corrigan ran her fingers up her thigh, drawing it closer to her naked pussy. His eyes locked on her fingers, his lust rolling off of him. “I just want to give you the reward for your service.”
Brad's fist clenched. “No. I am here to deliver Maeve of the Red Rose's challenge.”
“Oh, for what?” Corrigan arched her eyebrows.
“Gunnar.”
“Oh, him,” laughed Corrigan. “All of this for a man. She is a slave to her hormones. All Pixie's are such whores. Gunnar's moved on to the delights I have to offer. And you can enjoy them, too.”