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I
stepped back. Edmond stepped back.
The
idea of the city falling . . . Yeah, that made me rethink what we really might
want to do.
"That
makes no sense," I finally said and dared look to the woman. I saw her only as a tall, dark-clad
shadow. Probably fae, but he couldn't
tell. "How did it stay up before
you grabbed Lord Cayman?"
"I
stole the magic from others, of course."
Like
she had tried to do with me when we'd first arrived. "You already had Lord Cayman when you
attacked me, though. You didn't need my
magic then."
"Lord
Cayman did not cooperate," she said.
My eyes shifted to the man trapped in the magic. His hand moved slightly. "He did afterwards, though."
She
didn't know why. I sensed that much --
that she had no idea Lord Cayman was my father.
"You trapped him here where he will die."
"Oh,
not for a long, long time," she said, stepping closer. Fae for certain, but she had a very lean,
angular look, with wide shrewd eyes.
"He shall bring back the glory of my city and the others will
return, knowing they were wrong to flee.
We shall sail the skies in beauty."
Lord
Cayman's hand moved a little more. I
knew this must be difficult for him. I
wondered what signal he was trying to give to me.
"They
left you," I said, trying to drag out the conversation a little longer
before I needed to make a decision of any sort.
"Fools.
Weaklings. Fearful of the old gods But
there are no old gods; there is only us and the power we hold and use."
"Maybe
you're right," I agreed. I didn't
know anything about old fae gods and I was not about to bring human religion
into this conversation. "But if so,
doesn't that mean you have an obligation to do good with it? If you want to be a god, shouldn't your
actions be god-like?"
She
stared at me as though I had just muttered something in a foreign language she
had never heard before. And then she
laughed. This was not a promising sound,
this near shriek that held no humor.
Lord
Cayman's hand still moved slightly and I thought he must be trying to give me
some sign, some signal of what to do.
Panic had started to inch up through my mind which did not make this any
easier. I didn't want the city to
fall. I didn't want to leave Lord Cayman
in place -- besides knowing that none of us would leave this reality without
him.
His
hand moved again.
What
did he want?
"I
think, boy, that you need to back away from there," the woman said. She started to move around to my side, her
hand raised and I knew I didn't have a chance to battle her. The stark smile on her face showed that I had
no chance to reason with her, either.
Lord
Cayman's hand moved again, this time a sudden jerk upwards.
I
understood.
This
was a moment of trust.
I
paused a heartbeat, a heartbeat more -- but our crazed fae friend had almost
reached me and she would end any choices, for good or bad. I looked into Lord Cayman's face.
And
then I reached into the light, grabbed hold of his hand, and yanked him out.
We
were falling, city and all.
I
started to cry out in surprise -- but Lord Cayman had hold of my hand still and
with one quick move he spun me around and into the light where he had been a
moment before. Tendrils of power surged through
me, caught hold of me, began draining --
We
were no longer falling.
But I
was trapped. Betrayed. I stared out,
feeling the rage start to take me and knowing there was nothing I could
do. I couldn't even turn to find Edmond,
to tell him to run and escape.
Failed
because I had trusted.
"Ah. I suppose that is a logical decision,"
the woman said. "And a reasonable
compromise."
She
gave a bow of her head.
"Except
that I am not in the mood for compromise, Potila," Lord Cayman said. I could hear them clearly -- and the tone of
Lord Cayman's voice was not that of a man ready to give up the battle.
Dared
I hope?
Potila
turned to him, her eyes narrowed.
"You aren't willing to sacrifice this half-ling for your own
release?" she said.
"I
wouldn't be willing, even if he wasn't my son."
Her
eyes widened. Her hand came up. So did Lord Cayman's.
"Mark
might have taken you on if he'd had more training," Lord Cayman said with
a glance my way and a little bow of his head.
"He has powers. He is a
Sanctioned Protector -- but he is not a warrior. That leaves it to me, doesn't
it?"
"Battle
me to free him and we all die," Potila snarled. "He stays. You cannot defeat me because you cannot
win."
The
idea that we were all going to die bothered me.
Part of that was being a Protector, I realized. The fear of killing the others seemed to
outweigh the fear for my own life. I
wanted to protest, but Lord Cayman turned my way and gave an unexpected smile.
"Trust
me."
He
reached out with his hand and I lifted mine.
Odd. He'd had trouble moving in
the light, but I didn't now that I'd stopped panicking. Maybe this was because I wasn't fully fae,
just like being able to get into the building.
It gave me hope, though I didn't know what Lord Cayman planed to do.
I
supposed I would just have to trust him.
Potila's
smile grew as she brought up both her hands, power sparkling around her
fingers. She laughed as her hands moved
--
And that
was when Edmond bit her on the ankle.
To Be
Continued. . . .
998 Words
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