All the villagers had flocked to the junkyard and as one, they now flailed angry fists toward the skies.
Meanwhile, I tumbled straight for a thick knot of Darklings—all of them wild and yellow-eyed, their skin a strange shade of cool gray, like those from the northern provinces. Barbarians. These were the ones who often plundered the cities of home and stole what they wanted when their own supplies ran low. One of them turned and snarled, swiped at me with raking claws.
I spun out of his reach.
Down below, Jake was cupping his hands to his mouth and calling something, but I couldn’t hear.
I wished I knew where Father was. He was in charge of this village and its magic, how had he let this happen? Then I saw him, tumbling through the skies just like I was, not that far away. The wound in his side was revealed for all to see now, silver light sparking inside. I flew to his side, wrapped one arm about him to steady his flight.
“Father! What happened?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
He tried to smile, but I could tell that it took great effort. “I let Driscoll escape.”
Then the curse was over. Ticonderoga Falls was without a ruler.
“Sing with me,” I said. The enchantment still wrapped about our limbs like fibrous tendons. Together we began to chant a song of release, each verse of the poem slicing through the spell, layer by layer. Already many of the other Darklings had broken free and they were flying toward the ground, a fury of black wings and hunger.
A few more verses and we would be free.
I kept my gaze focused on Jake, hoping that he would be safe until I got there. Then I noticed that he was standing near Maddie and Tucker and the werebeast. But as soon as I had fixed my eyes upon them, they vanished. Maddie and Tucker were gone. Only the dog-beast was left behind.
“No!” Father cried.
Then we sang one final chant, the spell fell away like broken chains and together we sailed toward the ground.
Chapter 83
Gone
Ash:
Madeline disappeared. Like a ghost in a nightmare, she just vanished, and in her place, the air simmered with the odor of mushrooms and cobwebs. I thumped to the ground, knees buckling slightly as I landed. With a sweeping glance, I knew what had happened. Thane hadn’t left Ticonderoga Falls. He was still here. Overhead the enchantment broke, causing an unnatural silence to fall upon the field. No birds, no wind, no sound of rushing water. Only the flutter of wings could be heard as the great cloud of Darklings descended and each began to cast his own spell, as all the children and a number of the adults sank to their knees in unison, then all collapsed supine on the snow-covered earth.
Maddie and her boy were gone.
Her dog whined and howled and he ran in circles, yipping and hunting for them. He pawed the ground and he sniffed the air. Relentless.
Meanwhile, my strength returned, borne of anger. My skin darkened, turned blacker than the sky, my wings thundered, and with a wild cry I lifted above the crowd, leaving Elspeth and the others behind. I circled the field and the junkyard, then headed toward the forest. There the wind whistled, the trees bent to the side to let me pass. All the other Darklings watched me with a cautious gaze, almost all of them feeding. Within a few minutes, the grassy meadow had been transformed. Now it resembled a vision from centuries past, like the wars that had continually ravaged Europe; the earth trodden by horses; the bodies left scattered and twisted over an unknown battlefield.
She would not be a casualty of this.
“Maddie!” I cried. “Tucker!”
But all I heard was a whispering in the midnight wind, a throaty song tangled in the willow branches, rolling over me like a silver river. Broken. Sad. Bits and pieces of the Legend were teasing me now, taunting my impotence.
I had lost her. Before she had ever truly been mine.
Chapter 84
The Rules of Harvest
Elspeth:
Almost as soon as our feet touched the ground, my father flew off in search of Maddie. Now I sailed over the field of harvest on a mission of my own. I needed to find Jake and make sure that he was safe. I didn’t know if these wild barbarians knew the laws, whether they would even consider abiding by the rules of harvest. Just then, a child moaned as I passed overhead. Already the girl had grown pale and weak. I dropped from the sky, then delivered a swift kick to the feeding Darkling’s jaw, knocking the beast aside.
“Let the girl go,” I cried.
He whirled about to face me, assuming the stance of attack, his back hunched and his claws extended, a low growl in his throat.
I returned his growl and kicked him again, harder this time, knocking him on his backside. It was a gesture intended to humiliate him in front of his clan. A twitter of laughter and harsh jests circled around us.
“Life and limb,” I said. “ ’Tis the law here, same as anywhere else.”