The Faerie Curses

Chapter Forty-Four: Iron, Blood, and Moonlight

"Everyone look out!"

The glass of the dining hall windows shattered into flying fragments that zoomed across the tables, sprinkling all over the hundreds of guests. They screeched in terror as the pieces rained down upon them, but the source of their fear were the iron hooks that latched onto the window sills.

I could only watch as cords began to tug into view.

"The sprites are scaling the palace walls." I whispered in realization. I could hear their armored feet thumping against the plaster, drawing closer and closer to the cowering creatures hidden in this hall.

Diandre snapped into action.

"Everyone, we need to get out of here!" He barked. "Follow Marissa! We need to protect the young and elderly and escort them to safety where they can find help for us!"

His words seemed to jolt the ballroom guests awake, and they began to hurriedly stream towards the exit doors. I nodded at Diandre in satisfaction.

"Thank you," I told him.

"Don't thank me yet," he replied grimly as he ushered a group of young teens out of the dining hall.

I gripped my ice sword, feeling its whispers in my mind. It longed for battle, it longed for blood and chaos. Blood and chaos were all I had ever known. Then, I watched as iron clad figures swung into the dining hall, brandishing crudely forged weapons dripping with the insides of their victims. They grinned as their feet planted onto the marble floors. More and more sprites climbed the gold walls, invading the palace.

Faeries and other creatures screamed in horror as they fled through the doors, the ancient instinct of fear on flying feet guiding them away from danger.

"Get away from them!" I yelled, swinging my sword at a female sprite and she sprang towards a cluster of sobbing Summer Academy students. The monster hissed at me, her lips drawing back over her gleaming white teeth as she deflected my blow with a mighty battle axe. Iron clashed with ice, filling the desperate air with noises shrill collision as my weight shoved against hers. The female sprite's tongue lulled out of her foaming mouth as her axe swooshed towards my head. I dodged the strike, ducking my entire body and stabbing her between the plates of armor coating her legs. Releasing an inhuman shriek, the female sprite crumpled to the floor, warm blood spurting from her wound.

I picked up the battle axe and threw it to Diandre. "Catch!" I yelled over the roar of war cries.

His fist closed around the iron weapon, and I watched his eyes glisten as he felt the weight of the axe in his palm. Diandre then chucked his new blade to the left. It scraped against the faces of four sprites chasing after a screaming Headmistress Flora, mutilating their cheeks and eyes. The axe then embedded itself into the back of another sprite, and the creature died instantly.

Whirling around, I drove my blade into the necks of two more attackers advancing towards me. Their hot blood sprayed into my face, smearing in scarlet beads down my forehead. Around me, casters and knights were joining together to hold off the wave of sprites. Their spells and weapons whizzed and whistled past my ears as they valiantly fought back against the monsters who continued to crawl through the broken windows. Beside me, Jared was flinging his elven blades at a burly sprite twice his size as Noel stabbed his shins with his knight's sword. They were grinning proudly at each other, punching their fists into the air as they cut the monster down and advanced into the thickening battle. Centaurs bucked their hooves at the heads of more sprites, sending them sprawling onto the floor. Fire dancers hurled flames at our attackers' iron armor, weakening the material. Dwarves drove their pick axes into the feet of yowling sprites, darting nimbly through the legs of the crowd.