Soul Mates Bewitched (11 page)

“Max, you’re not going. Not this time. I have to do this without you.”

Auberon put a hand on Max’s shoulder. “He is right. Listen to your friend.”

“Fine. I don’t like it, but I’ll respect it. However, if you aren’t back within a few weeks, I’m coming after you.”

I grinned. “I’m counting on it.”

Rik and James arrived a few minutes later. “Dude, Rik’s in.”

“Thomas?” I asked.

“Can’t. He’s gotta go see Gareth, the Goblin King. Something about a deal he made. A boon to be repaid.”

“Okay, we leave in an hour. Be ready.”

James and Rik headed back inside. I started to follow, but Auberon’s hand on my shoulder stopped me. I glanced up at him. “Yes?”

“Take Thane and Mylor, they will serve you well.”

“Are you sure?”

“Take them, you will need all of the help you can get to make it through the heart of Faerie to the Winter place. The Palace, when you reach it, is protected. Your Sorceress’ powers are useless there. You have power, though, my young friend, more power than you know. You are the key. Thane and Mylor will defend you unto death. The Unseelie Knight will not be alone, he will have much protection. He will be your last obstacle to freeing your uncle and the Sorceress.”

A
s Max opened the door to the Never Never I checked my hip, and touched the swords infused with Fae magic, and then glanced down at the Light Fae armor we all wore. We were a small army, but lethal, and I was confident that we would succeed in getting Jillian and Uncle Nicu back. I had to. I couldn’t imagine my life without her and Uncle Nicu in it.

“Be careful, Tones. Watch your back.”

“I will. Don’t worry, we’ll be back,” I said with a smile, and then stepped into a world beyond belief. It was incredibly beautiful, unlike anything I could ever imagine. The sky, a distinct purplish pink was vast and seemed to go on forever. The trees were exotic and lush green with red and yellow ripe fruits that I had never seen before. Eyes glowed in the dark patches between the trees, watching us, and I supposed, waiting to see if we were friend or foe. I stood my ground, calm and peaceful, and waited for the creatures to come forward.

I didn’t have to wait long. Soon, a pack of five large hounds emerged from the trees. Black as midnight and as big as any horse, but thicker, and stronger. I held my hand out, urging them to come closer.

“The Wild Hunt Hounds! How did you manage to call them?” Mylor asked incredulously.

“Gaia sent them,” I replied. “Come, they are here for us.” I watched as the one closest to me stretched his paws out in front of himself and sort of bowed down, dropping his shoulders so that I could climb upon his back. I grabbed hold of the creature’s long fur and pulled myself up to settle behind his neck. We could have sat three men to a hound, but there was one for each of us and so the other’s followed suit and after a moment we began our journey.

The hounds seemed to know exactly where we needed to go and so they led us deeper into the forest. We rode for hours, not saying a word, each of us lost in his thoughts. Mine were on Jillian and the latest nightmare I’d had involving her. Auberon had said I was the key, but he was wrong. Jillian was the true key. Without her the world would end. If anything happened to her… I didn’t even want to contemplate what I would do if she didn’t survive. I had to reach her in time, there was no other option. I would end the world if I didn’t.

“Yo, Tones!” James called after about eight hours.

“What’s up, Dude?”

“Think we can take a break? I’m getting hungry and I’m sure these beasts are ready for a break, too.”

I nodded and pressed my hand to the neck of the hound, feeling a pulse of energy pass between us. Before I removed my hand, I felt the hound’s agreement with my plan and with it his name, Apex. I stroked his neck and sent soothing energy through my fingers into his coat. “Thank you, Apex,” I said softly.

Apex once again leaned down, allowing me to slide off his back. His large head swung around and he stared into my face. I could hear him in my thoughts. He and the other hounds would return after eating, to protect us while we slept.

“Thank you, Apex,” I said again, touching his snout.

“Where are they going?” Mylor asked.

“They will return, Mylor. Do not worry yourself,” Thane said with a grin.

“They are going to eat. They will return after we’ve eaten to guard us as we sleep.”

“You get all that just from touching the beast?” Rik asked.

“Not exactly. He told me. Apex is their pack leader. We shared energy which allowed me to hear his thoughts.”

“The hounds have kept many predators at bay, and I am thankful to have them on our journey,” Rik said as he picked a piece of juicy, red fruit from the closest tree.

“Yeah, this trip would have taken forever without them,” James said biting into a piece of yellow fruit.

Thane smiled. “Well, you two will certainly have vivid dreams tonight,” he said as Rik took a bite of his fruit.

“What do you mean?” James asked, narrowing his eyes, as juice from the fruit ran down his chin.

“The fruit. I should have mentioned it before, I suppose. It’s not harmful, or poisonous, but it does have certain side effects…”

James’ jaw dropped and the fruit fell from his fingers. “What kind…offf…s-s-s-sidddde…” he started, but his words began to stutter and slur, and then he was falling forward, instantly going into a deep sleep.

Rik blinked twice and then he, too, was out, falling on his side snoring loudly.

“Are they going to be all right?” I asked, dropping the piece of fruit I had nearly taken a bite of.

“Oh, of course. They’ll be fine. That fruit is Nectar of the Gods. It causes visions, not necessarily true visions, but visions none the less. The only ones who can eat it and not be effected are, well…the gods and goddesses, and those that they bless,” Thane said with a smile as he picked berries off of a nearby bush.

“The berries?”

“Oh these are perfectly harmless. Blackberries,” Thane said popping a few into his mouth.

I nodded and picked a few berries for myself. “Good to know.”

We rested for a few hours, waiting for the effects of the fruit to wear off of Rik and James. Nothing bothered us while we slept, thanks to the Hounds. There wasn’t a true night in the Never Never, meaning it didn’t get dark like it did in the mortal world. And if it did get dark, we would have been in very big trouble. That would have meant the Queen was near, and we wanted to stay as far from her as possible.

After another four hours on the backs of the Hounds the weather began to change, the wind picked up and it got much colder. We were getting closer to the Winter place. Seasons were actual places in the Never Never. Winter, Summer, Spring and Autumn all had their own territory. Lesser Queens and Kings ruled each territory. Winter was ruled by Póg Tocsaineach, as daughter of the Queen of Air and Darkness she was given her choice of territory, though she rarely spent time in her palace, choosing instead to stay close to her mother’s side. Without a proper Queen for Winter, the season has been chaotic for the mortals. Strange blizzards in areas that rarely had snow, sunshine and warm temperatures in areas that were used to cold winter months, all because Póg Tocsaineach did not monitor her lands. Gaia was not happy in the least with her.

“Is that what I think it is?” James asked pointing at a shape in the distance.

“The Winter Palace, yes.”

The terrain we slowly traveled turned from lush green grass to pure, white snow, shallow at first and then deeper. It was not hard for the Hounds to travel through, however, if we had tried to push through it ourselves, it would have reached the middle of our chests. It did slow the Hounds down to a trot, but as we moved deeper into Winter the Palace began to take shape. Its ice spires rose high in the sky and its square cut windows were dark and had a Gothic feel to them. The rounded tower rooms were dark and empty as far as I could tell from where we observed the Palace.

“Where is this Unseelie Knight keeping them?” Thane asked as we rode closer.

I closed my eyes and let my senses reach out toward Jillian. I could feel her heart beat, faintly. It was pulling me closer to the Palace, deep into the heart of it, and many levels below the surface. “She is inside somewhere, deep. I won’t know for sure until we get closer.”

We rode the Hounds to the foregrounds of the Palace and then dismounted. The Hounds would go no further. “Thank you, Apex,” I said stroking his snout again.

“We shall wait for you, Light Bearer,” Apex said in my mind.

I nodded, pulled my swords and started toward the front of the building. The others pulled their weapons and followed close behind me. We were ready for the first attack when it came. Wave after wave of dark, mist like creatures that dissipated the moment you sliced through them, only to reappear moments later in another place.

“How do we kill them?” Mylor asked.

It suddenly dawned on me how they had to be killed and I centered myself, pulling energy into my hands and then blasted each creature with a pulse of Light. When they’d all been dispatched into the Ether, I took a moment to breathe and refocus on Jillian’s heart beat. She was weak; something was binding her and torturing her. I heard her scream in my mind. “This way,” I said angrily, determined to get to her. I led the way deeper into the Palace, down a long corridor.

We were met with another group of creatures eager to try our blades and so we fought, slicing through sinew and bone, crushing skulls with the hilts of our swords, and the heels of our boots.

“Damn. When are they gonna send in the big guns?” James asked. “These are just the appetizer.”

“Don’t worry, Wolf-man, you’ll get to sink your teeth into some real terrors soon I’m sure,” Thane reassured him.

James grinned as we trudged down the stairs into a darkened room. I sent up a pulse of Light and noticed we were surrounded by the Unseelie. They didn’t like the Light too much and so I sent up a second and third pulse of Light, causing the creatures to screech in agony as the Light burned their eyes. It was nothing for us to tear through them with our steel blades. I glanced at James, who ripped one slimy creature’s head off with his teeth.

Rik roared as his large bear claws connected with and decapitated a Medusa like creature with snakes for hair and fingers. The snakes shriveled and then the whole body faded into the Ether. Thane took out two Basilisk creatures with the swing of his broad sword and a scream of rage. I fought my way through a pack of Harpies, slicing off wings and heads as I went, sending them all into the Ether as well.

When the room cleared, we took a moment to breathe and check ourselves. “Where’s Mylor?” I asked glancing around at our small group.

Thane shook his head. “Mylor has moved on to the next plane. He fought well and hard. We shall see him in the Summerland.”

I nodded. “We’ll retrieve his body and give him a proper burial.”

“There is no body to retrieve, Light Bearer. He was turned to stone and shattered,” Thane said, his voice filled with anguish.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. “I am sorry for the loss of such a great fighter and true friend. I shall never forget him.”

Thane nodded. “We should move on,” he said.

I moved through the doorway and down another set of stairs, following the beat of Jillian’s heart. We continued to fight, more Harpies and Kampé as we made our way even further into the depths of the Palace. Soon, we came to a room filled with several Centycore, their large hooves pawing at the ground as they charged us. Not wanting to lose another member of our group, I stepped in front and blasted every one of them with a beam of Light, shredding them as they raced forward. Their sharp horns clattered to the ground as they disintegrated into dust.

“Are you all right, Tones?” James asked, seeing me panting.

“Yeah, Dude. Just need a minute to recover,” I said, bending over and taking a deep breath. I was close enough now that I could feel Jillian’s terror, and it cut at my heart like a steel blade. Her words were in my head and I felt more anger and rage than I had ever felt before.

“Dude, what is it?” Rik asked seeing my face fill with rage.

“Brice. Brice is the Unseelie Knight,” I bit out with barely contained rage. “He took Jillian. He’s torturing her. He’s trying to get her to give up the location of the Chalice as well as the Oracle’s home, her home. Jillian’s mother is the Oracle.” I gripped my swords, pulled as much energy into my body as it could stand and pushed open the door.

Jillian screamed again as Brice turned the spiked wheel she was attached to. Her wrists were held to the wheel with silver spikes, clamped in place, so that she could not escape. If she so much as moved an inch, the spikes arranged around her body dug deep, ripping and tearing at her. With each turn of the wheel the spikes drove themselves further into her skin. “Let. Her. Go.
Now
!” I said forcefully.

“Ah, I see you’ve finally decided to join us. Did my welcoming committee please you?” Brice asked with a grin.

“I said, let her go.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Brice said as he threw a fire ball at me.

I blocked it with a swing of my sword. It was killing me to see Jillian like that, but I had to be strong. I could not let her continue to suffer. Rik, James, and Thane moved into the room behind me, swords at the ready.

“I see you brought company,” Brice said with a smile. “Well, I have some new playmates to introduce them to,” he said, motioning behind him.