The Goblin's Curse (30 page)

Keelie had to do something.

“It’s up to Keelie—she has to call off the dragons,” Tavyn yelled above the terrified shrieks of the little girl.

Keelie hadn’t been able to stop the rampaging goblins, and so far, she hadn’t regained the Compendium. But she had other ways to fight.

She thrust Hrok’s branch into the dirt and called on the green that surrounded them. As the trees answered, desperate for help themselves, she thrust her power into the ground. If Under-the-Hill was still there …

The dark coolness of the Under-the-Hill filled her head, but it wasn’t the abandoned mustiness of the one under the meadow. It was the spicy-scented warmth of Herne’s dominion.

A roar came from the end of the road and chimes rang loud and clear, filling the air. Keelie turned in the direction of the noise.

Tavyn frowned and pounded his fist into his hand. “What have you done?”

A pulsing swirl of light, like the Aurora Borealis, formed in the middle of the path. It looked like the vortex at the Quicksilver Faire turned on its side. It separated the lines of fighting goblins and humans.

Tarl and Sir Davey scurried out into the lane to carry Thomas’s body out of the way while the goblins were distracted by the light. A pirate grabbed a discarded goblin sword and came to stand at Keelie’s side, ready to defend her.

A ground-shaking crack, like thunder, split the air. Literally. Where the pulsing whirl of light had once been was a pulse-edged sliver of darkness, a door into nothingness in the middle of the road.

It widened, and a row of gleaming, prismatic-armored knights, lances ready, rode out of the dark sliver of doorway into the faire. Keelie gasped, recognizing the High Court’s fairy army. Humans, dwarves, goblins stood frozen, staring at the beautiful beings, and then the goblins charged.

The armored knights lowered their lances and attacked. The dwarves followed, howling battle cries. Keelie was startled to see Knot, wielding a lethal-looking short sword, to the left of King Gneiss.

Tavyn screamed and ordered more goblins into the fray, while the humans threw themselves onto the rear guard of the goblin army. About fifty armored goblins split off from the fight and ran down the road to circle Keelie, Tavyn, and the pirate. The pirate hacked at arms and legs as they came near, wounding many, but to no avail. The goblins seemed impervious to pain.

Keelie called upon the trees again, and they bent, their branches hitting some goblins on the head and sweeping others aside like ugly croquet balls in a crazy lawn game.

One of the fairy knights turned his mount and galloped down the lane toward them. Tavyn screamed and leaped, landing on the roof of Galadriel’s Closet. Peascod grabbed Toshi out of the air and whirled underground in a spray of dirt.

The knight reined in his horse and leaped to the ground, yanking off his helmet. Brown hair tumbled down the shining armor, and around her father’s grim face.

“Dad!”

He ran to her and swept her up in his arms.

“How … ?” Keelie asked.

“Bruce, Deuce, and Zeus have a mutual friend in common
with you, and I thought we could use his help,” Dad said as he turned her around. “We brought reinforcements.”

“The High Court, yes. What mutual friend?”

Another knight removed his helmet, and Keelie saw that it was Salaca, the fae lord. He bowed to her from atop his war horse, then put his gleaming helmet back on, wheeled his mount, and attacked the goblin army. The fae army kept marching out of the doorway—now standard bearers came, holding aloft great silken flags with strange symbols on them. Behind them rode King Fala, the crown of the High Court fae bright on his brow.

And at his side, antlers proud, was Herne—with his Wild Hunt behind him.

Herne caught Keelie’s eye and winked. And then the fae warriors, light and dark, fought side by side for the first time in millennia.

Keelie looked for a weapon, ready to join the battle, but Tarl grabbed her up and held her fast to his broad chest.

“Don’t let her go till the battle’s over,” Dad yelled, mounting his horse again.

“Dad, come on, I want to help!”

He rode away, intent on the endless hordes of goblins that seemed to spin out of the ground everywhere.

“Sylvus take me,” Keelie whispered. Even the fae might not be enough to stop them.

Tarl suddenly cursed and turned around. Raven was standing behind them, a pike in her arms. “You hit me!”

“Sorry, Tarl. I saw Keelie and thought you were an ogre.” Raven shrugged. “You okay, kiddo?”

“I will be if he puts me down,” Keelie said, but her eyes were on the carnage around them. “I think we’re losing. Even with the fae, we’re losing.”

Raven pushed her hair out of her dirt-streaked face. One of her nails had broken, and blood stained her tank top. “I have an idea, but it’s a little crazy.”

Keelie cocked her head. “Yeah? Tarl, let go of me. I’m not going to run or fight.”
Yet
, she added under her breath.

As Tarl released her, Raven grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the ruins of the King’s stage. Tarl joined Merk the Troll and what seemed to be a real troll; the three whirled giant war axes and charged a group of rampaging goblins.

“Remember when you drew on Earth magic in the Wildewood?”

Keelie nodded. “I can’t do that here, though. We’re in another dimension or something, and I have no connection to the Earth.”

Raven smiled. “No, but I have a connection to my husband. Remember him? The unicorn lord of the forest?”

Keelie felt her eyes widen as she realized what her friend was saying. “We can link to the Wildewood through Einhorn?”

“And through my Lord Einhorn, to every forest on Earth.”

The two friends grinned at each other and joined hands. Then Raven closed her eyes and Keelie opened her tree sense. The image of Einhorn, the silvery-haired lord of the Wildewood, appeared.

Raven, what’s happening? My forest screams.

“Hang on, hubby. This is going to be a wild ride. Ready, Keelie?”

Keelie pushed on her power and Einhorn immediately responded, their mental link showing him what was needed.

Behind them, on the hills of the stranded faire, green power surged up from the ground, surrounding the fighters in tendrils of power. The fae and humans were untouched, but the goblins screamed as the power swept over them, leaving them vulnerable to the faire’s defenders.

Channeling the magic took every ounce of Keelie’s strength. After a while, it was too much. She and Raven fought to keep the conduit open, but then everything winked out into a starless dark.

When she opened her eyes again, Herne was standing over her. Fala stood nearby, talking to someone she couldn’t see.

“Am I dreaming?” She touched her forehead. The aftermath of the magic hurt, like a dozen hangovers must hurt. Keelie vowed to never drink. She didn’t want to ever feel like this again.

“Keliel, you’re back.” Herne bowed his head. “We were just discussing where we could be.” He studied the area around him. “Where are the mountains? I thought we were near the Rockies?”

“Peascod used the Compendium to move the faire to another dimension.”

Fala snapped his fingers. “That’s why we were rerouted here. I thought we’d hit an interdimensional exit when we neared Earth.”

“Did we win?” Keelie immediately knew that the fighting was not over. She heard the clash of steel against steel further into the faire.

“I thought we might have a time continuum problem,” Herne said to Fala.

“Will you two stop talking like Dr. Who?” Keelie struggled to her feet. Raven was already standing, a little wobbly, nearby.

“There’s Tavyn.” Keelie pointed toward the goblin, who now fought at the head of his remaining goblin faction, and then she saw Peascod, now sitting on the peak of the candle shop roof, nodding his head as he conferred with Toshi. He lifted his eyes and glared at Keelie.

“We’ve defeated most of the army. Peascod is in a much worse state than I’d realized,” Herne said. “Like random chaos—you’re not quite sure what he’s going to do.”

Finch and Vangar landed, and with a burst of flames, transformed into their human forms. They looked like a draconic biker couple in iridescent black and red leathers.

“Glad for the reinforcements,” Finch said, her red-gold eyes flashing at Herne and Fala.

“What a happy family reunion. Too bad it won’t help you in the end,” Tavyn declared as he walked toward them. Wild magic flowed in and around him like a captive cirrus cloud.

Fala sneered disdainfully at Tavyn. “Who is he?”

“A goblin-elf hybrid,” Herne explained. “He magically enslaved Peascod when I sent him out into the human world.”

“I am no longer magically enslaved to him,” Peascod called down. His eyes blazed with crazed fury, and he was still clinging to the Compendium. Keelie knew she had to get it, and soon, before the jester did something destructive to it. Hrok’s branch twitched in her hand as if it was coming awake, or reacting to the magic.

Fala turned to Herne. “Was he one of Vania’s allies?”

“Yes,” Herne said.

Fala drew his sword.

Tavyn narrowed his eyes. “So you choose war rather than surrender.”

“The fae do not parlay with goblins.” Fala glowered.

A swirl of energy surrounded Tavyn. “You will. Goblins, attack!”

The goblins roared and leaped forward, fearsome weapons slashing before them.

Fala held his sword aloft. “Knights!” Fala and Herne led the charge for the good side. This time the odds were more even. Peascod scurried down from the roof and turned to flee, and Keelie bolted after him.

“Not so fast,” she shouted. “Like I said, you have something that belongs to me.”

Peascod whirled around and glared at her, the single bell left on his hat jangling discordantly.

Thrumming with energy, the branch in Keelie’s hand pointed itself toward the Compendium. She realized the finding spell she’d cast before was still working. Time for the next step. She took a deep breath and grasped the branch more tightly. “Return to me what I have lost.”

Energy from the branch flowed to the Compendium, and the magical book sailed out of the jester’s tight grasp and flew toward her. She caught it by the edge of the cover.

Peascod shrieked in rage, picked up a turkey leg, and threw it at Keelie. It missed her head by inches.

She had the Compendium. In shock, Keelie turned to Dad, who was running toward her. “I have the book!”

“Keelie, watch out!” Dad shouted.

Toshi was surging forward, a small knife in its hands, murderous intent in its eyes. As the puppet zoomed toward her, Keelie smacked it in the head with the Compendium. Toshi hovered back in surprise.

“No,” Peascod screamed.

To Keelie, it seemed as if everything was happening in slow motion. Peascod rushed past her to attack Dad. The jester’s bell rang out as they fought in a blur of arms, legs, and jester hat.

Toshi rounded on her. Dropping the Compendium, Keelie grabbed an abandoned goblin sword and swung it at the puppet flying toward her. She smacked it with the side of the sword, batting it away. Toshi recovered swiftly, and, knife outstretched, returned like a puppet arrow.

Keelie felt time slow as it drew near. She noticed every detail of Toshi’s tattered clothes, the painted eyes, the glint of the lethal little blade. With one swift move, she sliced off the head.

It fell, bouncing, as the puppet’s body flopped to the ground.

Dark energy flowed from Toshi like greasy smoke. It drifted toward Peascod, enveloping both the jester and Dad, hiding them in a dark shroud of noxious vapor. A loud gurgling emerged from within the miasma.

“Dad?” Keelie took several deep, ragged breaths as she picked up the Compendium. As she touched the book, a wind blew and cleared away the dark fog. Two bodies lay, crumpled together, on the ground. She didn’t dare think about the impossible.

“I’m fine,” Dad said, his face still in the dirt.

Relief flooded through her. Keelie clutched the book closer to her chest.

Dad pushed Peascod’s body off him. The jester’s decapitated head rolled away like a gory bowling ball, nose eaten away, mottled skin pale and pocked with oozing, infected sores.

Keelie’s relief was colored with the need for a hot shower and lots of antibacterial soap.

Dad stood up. His face was red, but other than that, he seemed fine. Stepping back, he breathed heavily, trying to regain his wind. Keelie blinked back tears and threw her arms around her father, clasping the Compendium and the branch as he embraced her.

The branch began to tremble.

Dad stepped back. “What is this, daughter?”

“It was a gift from Hrok, who said we may need it to get back to our own dimension.”

“Indeed.”

The battle continued all around them. The goblins numbered fewer now, as the fae knights and the army of shopkeepers and performers battled the remaining goblins. The dragons worked the rear, picking off goblins as they broke ranks to run away.