I found myself lying flat on the sand, Miles’ body spread over mine. Something warm, wet, and probably bloody dripped along my collarbone, but I was too disoriented to tell if it belonged to me or not. Miles groaned and gingerly pulled himself onto his knees. Dark blood smeared his shoulder. I could see a flash of stark white bone, but the wound was already closing. By my head lay a sharp, stained rock. It must’ve been the one that hit him.
“Are you okay?” Miles asked, scanning me for injuries.
“Should be asking you that,” I mumbled, trying to shake away the sense that my brain was packed with cotton balls.
Miles shifted his collar, revealing smooth skin. “I’m fine.”
I groaned as I sat up, my body aching from the impact with the sand. “What the haystacks just happened?”
“Aside from a mountain exploding? No idea.” Miles picked a piece of gravel from his hair. “Maybe two spells collided.”
Something sneezed behind my right shoulder. I turned to find Sinnym picking himself up from a pile of stone and sand. Aside from a healthy coating of dust, the dragonet seemed unaffected. He shook his head, the mane behind his horns releasing a faint, grey cloud. “I think I swallowed some sand.”
I spit. “I think I did, too.”
From the direction of the wreckage Quiet Hill came a low grumbling that grew to a deafening roar. A massive slab of rock toppled into the lake as Yymerenn reared above the rubble, yellow fire boiling between her jaws. On the other side of the collapsed Hill, the Queen rose above the broken stone, her fingers curled into claws. She threw spears of stone at the great dragon. I couldn’t see Keely, and I realized with sorrow that she’d probably been crushed.
I swallowed. “I suddenly lost my motivation to go in there.”
Miles’ head flicked between the two wickedly powerful creatures. “I don’t know-- how do we even--”
Sinnym crept up beside us, wing flapping in agitation. “We have to stop the Queen! She’s going to kill my mother--”
The three of us ducked as a wave of power rippled through the air. Stone shafts buried themselves in Yymerenn’s wings, and she screamed in pain. Sinnym shrieked in response and dove for the Faerie Queen, dripping blue flames from his maw. He breathed a swath of fire at her small form, but she easily cast the flames aside. An invisible force slammed the baby dragon into the rocks, pinning him to the earth.
Yymerenn wailed with rage and lunged at the Queen, who hastily shielded herself against the dragon’s fire. Yymerenn clawed at the ward, her broken wings fluttering uselessly, and her magic too slow to heal them in time. “Stop, Yymerenn!” The Queen shrieked. “Or I will crush him!”
The dragon froze, then lowered herself to her haunches. “What do you want?” she hissed.
The Queen smiled with an open mouth, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “What I always have. Your heart. Your power for the dragonet’s life.”
Yymerenn growled, but lowered her head. On the broken ground, Sinnym let out a wail.
This was bad. Not only did I hate seeing Sinnym pinned to the ground, but if what the dragonet said was true, Yymerenn’s heart would give the Queen the power to spread her realm. Something told me that would be worse than the Shadow.
The Faerie Queen raised her hand. “Wait!” I shouted.
The Queen glanced at me, annoyed. “What?”
“What-- what if the dragons went home? And you had the forest all to yourself?”
The Queen laughed. “And I would be back where I started! In a few moments, I could have immense power, quite literally, in my hand. Why should I give that up?”
“Um…” I gulped. “Because it’s nicer?”
She sneered. “One cannot grow strong by being nice. You are naïve.”
Ouch. “Isn’t your forest enough?”
She gave me a look. “No.”
I blinked. Well.
The Queen turned away. “Now, if you are finished with your stupid questions--” Her grasping fingers reached toward Yymerenn, a brightness glowing inside each digit.
“No!” I shouted, lurching forward.
A hand grabbed my wrist. Miles’ talons grazed my cheek as he turned me to face him, and for a second, the world hung still like a held breath. Miles tilted his head to one side.
I pressed my cheek into his hand.
My vision went dark.
Time hung still.
The Queen’s magic shimmered. White and grey filaments held Sinnym to the earth. A great, clawed hand reached for Yymerenn’s heart.
We moved. Before the Queen could blink, our hands closed around her throat, wrapping a quieting darkness around her power.
Time rolled back into place. The Queen gaped at us, too stunned to fight back.
“Let him go,” we said, our dual voice bright as an octave.
The Queen’s lips thinned. We gripped her throat tighter.
She sighed. Sinnym flapped free and sailed over to his mother, who pressed her nose to his brow.
“Yymerenn!” we called. “Will you go home with your son if the Queen opens a path?”
She shifted, eyes narrowing. Her teeth bared in a draconic frown. “Your son will be safer in your homeworld,” we reasoned.
The mother dragon considered her child. “Very well.”
Our voice split. The higher tone asked: “You're not gonna, like, decide not to go at the last minute, right?” while the lower tone said: “Thank you.”
Yymerenn laughed, low enough to shake the small stones about our feet. “My word is binding.”
We turned to the Faerie Queen. “Will you do it?”
She sneered. “It is not as if I have a choice.”
We stared at her. She stared back.
“You need to let me go,” the Queen said slowly, as if talking to a dog.
Our fingers twitched. One half didn’t like that, and the other really didn’t like that. But we opened our hand and released the Queen’s magic.
“Don’t!” Yymerenn screeched. “She didn’t say yes-”
A spear of stone erupted from the ground, stabbing us through our stomach. We screeched, ripping desperately at the rock as black-red blood spilled to the ground. A sickening pain rolled like nausea up from the wound and lolled between our eyes.
Yymerenn pounced on the Queen, momentarily flattening her to the ground before the faerie blasted her away. The dragon hissed, flames seething between her jaws. Sinnym snapped at the hem of the Queen’s dress, but Yymerenn brushed him away before the faerie could trap him again.
Our nails lengthened into claws, and we cut the rock spear in half, yanking it from our body. We sagged against a boulder, coughing out blood until the white pain eased and the wound closed.
Yymerenn blasted fire at the Queen, who barely managed to shield herself. We cringed at the light and heat, the flames as unnatural under the dark sky as we were beneath the blue. One part of us fought a desperate urge to run far, far away.
As soon as the fire burnt itself out, we raced forward, unsheathing our knife. The blade was much too small, so we pushed a thread of magic into it, and it grew into a sword. We leapt at the Queen, cutting down the stone shafts she sent spiraling toward us. Our sword cut the air by her head as she ducked to the side, magic wreathing her hands. We blocked the shards of stone she flung at us with our power, then leapt away as Yymerenn’s tail slammed into the Queen’s chest.
The faerie picked herself up, coughing. “I will win this battle,” she spat.
“Your time has come, Queen,” Yymerenn hissed. “You can’t force this victory for yourself.”
The Queen sneered. “I grow tired of your growling.” Magic flared around her, smelling of metal and soil. “Perhaps I will silence you for good.”
The faerie’s magic screamed into the black sky, cresting like a wave and crashing down upon Yymerenn. We flung ourselves beneath it, using our shadows to block the violent tide before it could crush the dragon. The Queen’s power surged, hammering against our shield, but we held firm.
“I told you,” the dragon said. “You won’t win. A shadow and a human soul together are more powerful than your earthen magic.”
The Queen shrieked in rage and dashed forward, scything through our barrier. We dodged the blades she scythed through the air and landed upon a boulder. Yymerenn’s fire roiled behind her teeth.
The Queen laughed.
Dragonfire doused the faerie, storming up toward the darkened vault. If she screamed, we couldn’t hear over the raging flames.
Yymerenn cut off the inferno. But the fire still raged, swirling about the place the Queen had stood. Yymerenn’s orange eyes widened, her slit pupils dilating in surprise. “Boy! She’s going to use my fire-”
The wall of flame slammed into us, sending us tumbling. We lost our grip on our sword. The fire hurt worse than the rock spear, worse than the bitten throat, worse than the sword a part of us had once taken to the heart. We must’ve been screaming, but we couldn’t sense anything but pain: what it looked like, what it tasted like, what it felt like felt like felt like--
Our magic was strong enough that we didn’t die. The fire flared out, leaving us gasping, our body hurt and burning. We were too focused on healing to notice the Queen behind us and the cold magic about her fingers. We didn’t see her raise her hand, or hear Yymerenn’s roar of warning. Only when the faerie locked her fingers about our neck did we notice her.
“I said I would win,” she reminded us. And ripped us apart.
“Miles,” I gasped, my tongue heavy like it was iron. “Mi-- Miles!”
“I’m here,” he called. I wiped my eyes until I could see, then looked around. Miles sat slumped against the remains of the cavern’s wall a few meters away. “I can’t come in. I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“My barrier,” the Queen said. I whipped around. Her dress showed no marks or slashes. Her hair remained perfect. It was totally unfair. She smiled at me. “When you and the monster boy work together, I cannot defeat you. So I separated you.” She waved a hand, gesturing at the air. “I do not know if your human eyes can see, but there is a wall around us. The dragon and your shadow friend cannot come in.”
I scuttled backwards until my back pressed against something unforgiving. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miles lay his hand against the barrier, as close as he could come to my shoulder. “That’s nice,” I said. “Could you let me go? Without Miles, I’m afraid I’m rather disadvantaged. If you step wrong, you might squash me.”
She smirked. “Oh, little fish. That is precisely the point.” The Queen raised her hand, her magic coalescing into a shaft of stone. It looked very sharp. “I cannot have you merging again. And you are much easier to kill than an arcane.”
“Uh--” I tried to move farther backward, but there was nowhere to go. “Hey--”
“No,” Miles said. “Bluewhen--”
“You will address me as Your Majesty, boy,” the Queen hissed, stalking forward. “Or not at all.”
“Queen!” Yymerenn roared, slamming her heavy talons into the wall. At her feet, Sinnym scrabbled at the barrier, making crying sounds. “Stop this!”
“I apologize, Yymerenn,” the Queen said, raising the spear. I pressed as far away as I could, my soon-to-be-silent heart beating frantically against my ribcage. “This forest is mine.”
“No!” Miles screamed, ripping at the barrier. “Please, stop!”
“Don’t,” I whimpered. “Don’t, please. Wait--”
“Madeline!” Miles wailed.
The Queen stood over me. Her arm tensed. I turned my head so I couldn't see the spear and locked eyes with Miles. Just stay with me. Just stay here until I’m gone.
He leaned his forehead against the barrier, across from mine. His eyes were dark.
The Queen made an odd noise, like choking.
I turned as the spear tumbled harmlessly to the ground, then stared at the blood on the Queen’s chest. And at the faerie behind her.
Keely held my knife. Her bone-white fingers gripped the hilt. The blade lay buried in the Queen’s back.
The Faerie Queen slumped to the ground. She was dead.
“Are you okay?” Miles asked, scanning me for injuries.
“Should be asking you that,” I mumbled, trying to shake away the sense that my brain was packed with cotton balls.
Miles shifted his collar, revealing smooth skin. “I’m fine.”
I groaned as I sat up, my body aching from the impact with the sand. “What the haystacks just happened?”
“Aside from a mountain exploding? No idea.” Miles picked a piece of gravel from his hair. “Maybe two spells collided.”
Something sneezed behind my right shoulder. I turned to find Sinnym picking himself up from a pile of stone and sand. Aside from a healthy coating of dust, the dragonet seemed unaffected. He shook his head, the mane behind his horns releasing a faint, grey cloud. “I think I swallowed some sand.”
I spit. “I think I did, too.”
From the direction of the wreckage Quiet Hill came a low grumbling that grew to a deafening roar. A massive slab of rock toppled into the lake as Yymerenn reared above the rubble, yellow fire boiling between her jaws. On the other side of the collapsed Hill, the Queen rose above the broken stone, her fingers curled into claws. She threw spears of stone at the great dragon. I couldn’t see Keely, and I realized with sorrow that she’d probably been crushed.
I swallowed. “I suddenly lost my motivation to go in there.”
Miles’ head flicked between the two wickedly powerful creatures. “I don’t know-- how do we even--”
Sinnym crept up beside us, wing flapping in agitation. “We have to stop the Queen! She’s going to kill my mother--”
The three of us ducked as a wave of power rippled through the air. Stone shafts buried themselves in Yymerenn’s wings, and she screamed in pain. Sinnym shrieked in response and dove for the Faerie Queen, dripping blue flames from his maw. He breathed a swath of fire at her small form, but she easily cast the flames aside. An invisible force slammed the baby dragon into the rocks, pinning him to the earth.
Yymerenn wailed with rage and lunged at the Queen, who hastily shielded herself against the dragon’s fire. Yymerenn clawed at the ward, her broken wings fluttering uselessly, and her magic too slow to heal them in time. “Stop, Yymerenn!” The Queen shrieked. “Or I will crush him!”
The dragon froze, then lowered herself to her haunches. “What do you want?” she hissed.
The Queen smiled with an open mouth, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “What I always have. Your heart. Your power for the dragonet’s life.”
Yymerenn growled, but lowered her head. On the broken ground, Sinnym let out a wail.
This was bad. Not only did I hate seeing Sinnym pinned to the ground, but if what the dragonet said was true, Yymerenn’s heart would give the Queen the power to spread her realm. Something told me that would be worse than the Shadow.
The Faerie Queen raised her hand. “Wait!” I shouted.
The Queen glanced at me, annoyed. “What?”
“What-- what if the dragons went home? And you had the forest all to yourself?”
The Queen laughed. “And I would be back where I started! In a few moments, I could have immense power, quite literally, in my hand. Why should I give that up?”
“Um…” I gulped. “Because it’s nicer?”
She sneered. “One cannot grow strong by being nice. You are naïve.”
Ouch. “Isn’t your forest enough?”
She gave me a look. “No.”
I blinked. Well.
The Queen turned away. “Now, if you are finished with your stupid questions--” Her grasping fingers reached toward Yymerenn, a brightness glowing inside each digit.
“No!” I shouted, lurching forward.
A hand grabbed my wrist. Miles’ talons grazed my cheek as he turned me to face him, and for a second, the world hung still like a held breath. Miles tilted his head to one side.
I pressed my cheek into his hand.
My vision went dark.
Time hung still.
The Queen’s magic shimmered. White and grey filaments held Sinnym to the earth. A great, clawed hand reached for Yymerenn’s heart.
We moved. Before the Queen could blink, our hands closed around her throat, wrapping a quieting darkness around her power.
Time rolled back into place. The Queen gaped at us, too stunned to fight back.
“Let him go,” we said, our dual voice bright as an octave.
The Queen’s lips thinned. We gripped her throat tighter.
She sighed. Sinnym flapped free and sailed over to his mother, who pressed her nose to his brow.
“Yymerenn!” we called. “Will you go home with your son if the Queen opens a path?”
She shifted, eyes narrowing. Her teeth bared in a draconic frown. “Your son will be safer in your homeworld,” we reasoned.
The mother dragon considered her child. “Very well.”
Our voice split. The higher tone asked: “You're not gonna, like, decide not to go at the last minute, right?” while the lower tone said: “Thank you.”
Yymerenn laughed, low enough to shake the small stones about our feet. “My word is binding.”
We turned to the Faerie Queen. “Will you do it?”
She sneered. “It is not as if I have a choice.”
We stared at her. She stared back.
“You need to let me go,” the Queen said slowly, as if talking to a dog.
Our fingers twitched. One half didn’t like that, and the other really didn’t like that. But we opened our hand and released the Queen’s magic.
“Don’t!” Yymerenn screeched. “She didn’t say yes-”
A spear of stone erupted from the ground, stabbing us through our stomach. We screeched, ripping desperately at the rock as black-red blood spilled to the ground. A sickening pain rolled like nausea up from the wound and lolled between our eyes.
Yymerenn pounced on the Queen, momentarily flattening her to the ground before the faerie blasted her away. The dragon hissed, flames seething between her jaws. Sinnym snapped at the hem of the Queen’s dress, but Yymerenn brushed him away before the faerie could trap him again.
Our nails lengthened into claws, and we cut the rock spear in half, yanking it from our body. We sagged against a boulder, coughing out blood until the white pain eased and the wound closed.
Yymerenn blasted fire at the Queen, who barely managed to shield herself. We cringed at the light and heat, the flames as unnatural under the dark sky as we were beneath the blue. One part of us fought a desperate urge to run far, far away.
As soon as the fire burnt itself out, we raced forward, unsheathing our knife. The blade was much too small, so we pushed a thread of magic into it, and it grew into a sword. We leapt at the Queen, cutting down the stone shafts she sent spiraling toward us. Our sword cut the air by her head as she ducked to the side, magic wreathing her hands. We blocked the shards of stone she flung at us with our power, then leapt away as Yymerenn’s tail slammed into the Queen’s chest.
The faerie picked herself up, coughing. “I will win this battle,” she spat.
“Your time has come, Queen,” Yymerenn hissed. “You can’t force this victory for yourself.”
The Queen sneered. “I grow tired of your growling.” Magic flared around her, smelling of metal and soil. “Perhaps I will silence you for good.”
The faerie’s magic screamed into the black sky, cresting like a wave and crashing down upon Yymerenn. We flung ourselves beneath it, using our shadows to block the violent tide before it could crush the dragon. The Queen’s power surged, hammering against our shield, but we held firm.
“I told you,” the dragon said. “You won’t win. A shadow and a human soul together are more powerful than your earthen magic.”
The Queen shrieked in rage and dashed forward, scything through our barrier. We dodged the blades she scythed through the air and landed upon a boulder. Yymerenn’s fire roiled behind her teeth.
The Queen laughed.
Dragonfire doused the faerie, storming up toward the darkened vault. If she screamed, we couldn’t hear over the raging flames.
Yymerenn cut off the inferno. But the fire still raged, swirling about the place the Queen had stood. Yymerenn’s orange eyes widened, her slit pupils dilating in surprise. “Boy! She’s going to use my fire-”
The wall of flame slammed into us, sending us tumbling. We lost our grip on our sword. The fire hurt worse than the rock spear, worse than the bitten throat, worse than the sword a part of us had once taken to the heart. We must’ve been screaming, but we couldn’t sense anything but pain: what it looked like, what it tasted like, what it felt like felt like felt like--
Our magic was strong enough that we didn’t die. The fire flared out, leaving us gasping, our body hurt and burning. We were too focused on healing to notice the Queen behind us and the cold magic about her fingers. We didn’t see her raise her hand, or hear Yymerenn’s roar of warning. Only when the faerie locked her fingers about our neck did we notice her.
“I said I would win,” she reminded us. And ripped us apart.
“Miles,” I gasped, my tongue heavy like it was iron. “Mi-- Miles!”
“I’m here,” he called. I wiped my eyes until I could see, then looked around. Miles sat slumped against the remains of the cavern’s wall a few meters away. “I can’t come in. I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“My barrier,” the Queen said. I whipped around. Her dress showed no marks or slashes. Her hair remained perfect. It was totally unfair. She smiled at me. “When you and the monster boy work together, I cannot defeat you. So I separated you.” She waved a hand, gesturing at the air. “I do not know if your human eyes can see, but there is a wall around us. The dragon and your shadow friend cannot come in.”
I scuttled backwards until my back pressed against something unforgiving. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miles lay his hand against the barrier, as close as he could come to my shoulder. “That’s nice,” I said. “Could you let me go? Without Miles, I’m afraid I’m rather disadvantaged. If you step wrong, you might squash me.”
She smirked. “Oh, little fish. That is precisely the point.” The Queen raised her hand, her magic coalescing into a shaft of stone. It looked very sharp. “I cannot have you merging again. And you are much easier to kill than an arcane.”
“Uh--” I tried to move farther backward, but there was nowhere to go. “Hey--”
“No,” Miles said. “Bluewhen--”
“You will address me as Your Majesty, boy,” the Queen hissed, stalking forward. “Or not at all.”
“Queen!” Yymerenn roared, slamming her heavy talons into the wall. At her feet, Sinnym scrabbled at the barrier, making crying sounds. “Stop this!”
“I apologize, Yymerenn,” the Queen said, raising the spear. I pressed as far away as I could, my soon-to-be-silent heart beating frantically against my ribcage. “This forest is mine.”
“No!” Miles screamed, ripping at the barrier. “Please, stop!”
“Don’t,” I whimpered. “Don’t, please. Wait--”
“Madeline!” Miles wailed.
The Queen stood over me. Her arm tensed. I turned my head so I couldn't see the spear and locked eyes with Miles. Just stay with me. Just stay here until I’m gone.
He leaned his forehead against the barrier, across from mine. His eyes were dark.
The Queen made an odd noise, like choking.
I turned as the spear tumbled harmlessly to the ground, then stared at the blood on the Queen’s chest. And at the faerie behind her.
Keely held my knife. Her bone-white fingers gripped the hilt. The blade lay buried in the Queen’s back.
The Faerie Queen slumped to the ground. She was dead.
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