Fairy War

Chapter 25

When we stepped through the portal we found ourselves on the rocky shoreline of a windswept island, the landscape in front of us dominated by a massive rocky outcrop that looked more akin to a human tower than any natural landmark. As well as myself and Selina there was Crystal, Marek, Nara, and a handful of fairies Nightshade had insisted we take with us. I almost immediately felt underdressed as an especially cold breeze made all my hairs stand on end, the others pulling whatever clothing they had more tightly around them.

"I can't tell whether this is natural weather or some kind of spell," Crystal said, looking at our new surroundings. "Either way, I'm making a mental note never to visit here again."

"I think the weather might be the least of our problems," Nara said, pointing up at the cliff. Several Wraiths – along with some strange, insect-like creatures – were clambering down the cliffs towards us. "Damnit, should've guessed he wouldn't just let us walk straight in there unmolested. There's our way up!" she said, pointing the enchanted blade towards a set of steps. They led up the cliff towards the only visible hole that anything larger than a small bird could enter. "I guess we'll just have to fight our way in then."

"Let's just hope Mickey can hold on long enough for us to get there," Selina said as she threw a small fireball at the first insect to jump off the cliff towards us, burning it instantly. With that the other creatures jumped almost as one, causing us to scatter to avoid them landing directly on our heads.

While the insects were relatively easy to dispatch, we soon found ourselves caught in a running fight against the Wraiths. Although we were able to avoid them killing us as easily as they had some of their opponents, they still moved quickly enough that landing anything resembling a fatal blow seemed impossible.

"This is no good!" Selina shouted, narrowly avoiding one of the Wraiths slashing her right side with its claws. "He knows we can't win a fight like this; he's just trying to delay us long enough for the ritual to become irreversible."

"She's right," Nara said with a grimace, finding her magic bouncing harmlessly off the Wraith in front of her. "We'll die of old age before we can kill them. We need a new strategy." She nearly jumped out of her skin when there was a sudden gunshot, the Wraith in front of her falling down as she saw I'd pulled out the gun the agent had given us. "As much as I appreciate you using that gun to help," she said, "that leaves us with just one bullet. Don't fire it here – we may need to use it in that chamber before this fight is over."

"I have an idea," Marek said, his voice suddenly deeper than I remembered it being before, "but right now I advise you all to duck and cover your eyes."

We didn't take even a second to ask what he was talking about, and within a moment I felt a sudden, intense heat passing over my back, which dissipated almost as quickly as it had appeared. When I opened my eyes I saw the burnt remains of Wraiths all around us, my momentary panic being quickly allayed when I saw the others around me, seemingly unharmed by what had just occurred.

At the centre of our huddle was Marek, his body glowing as if it was on fire, though he didn't appear in any pain.

As we stood up to thank him something suddenly caught my eye, the air around us seeming to shimmer as if caught in the haze of a summer day. What happened next occurred faster than I could comprehend, my eye catching only the briefest glimpse of Feth'rael appearing in our midst before I suddenly lost consciousness, hitting the ground with a thud.

I groaned as I came to, my head feeling as if several piles of bricks had just been dropped on it from a great height, my arms seemingly completely immobile.