City of Fae

No, I was not letting him undermine me. This was my doing. I got this far. Me, and only me. With a snarl, I stepped around a body, readied my stance, blades gripped tightly, and beckoned him closer. “C’mon, General. You’ve wanted to kill me since you first laid eyes on me in that train car.”


His blades hissed as he freed them. “If I did, it was because I thought you inadequate.” We circled. “I was mistaken—”

I lunged. Swords clashed. Alien strength poured steel into muscle and fire into my mind. I drove him back, but he ducked and twisted, cracking the pommel of his short sword into my neck. With a grunt, I hit the wall, but instantly spun and ducked. His blade chimed as it hit the stone where my head had been a second before. He was quick too. Quicker than I was. Slashing the dagger wide, it kissed his thigh. He grunted a curse and swung a brutal punch into my jaw. I reeled away, swallowing blood. Must stay on my feet … Must stay upright … His blades glinted, coming at me from all sides. I blocked, parried, blocked … Back and back he drove me. Metal shrieked. My strikes did get through, but it wasn’t enough. C’mon … He’s mine. I can do this.

“He will kill you, sweet thing.”

No, no … I couldn’t let her in. Not now. Not when I was so close to … What? Why … why was I doing this? Why was I here?

The general slammed me into the door. My skull smacked against the iron. A cry shot from me. Sparks blurred my vision. I could not let him win. The dark in his eyes swirled as he crowded close, forearm lodged under my chin, pinning me still. He panted hard, spittle dashing my cheek. “That’s it, Construct. Listen well. She calls, doesn’t she … ? Listen to her voice. Do as she says. It was what you were designed for.”

“Kill him. You want to. Prove you can. And come to me. Our time is now. We are ready.”

“She’s telling me to kill you.”

He faltered, eyes widening, and eased back. “No. She would not. I am her servant.”

“Oh yes.” I thrust my knee up between his, and impacted hard enough for him to bark a cry and let go. One strike, I whipped the sword between us. He danced back, light and quick, and lunged, slamming all of his formidable form into me. I got my arms around him, and scraped my dagger along his ribs, tearing through his leathers. He had me, but I had him. Teeth bared, I bit down on his neck, desperate to get him off me. But his strength outmuscled mine. He punched his blade forward. The blow landed like hot steel in my gut and the melee abruptly ceased. Breath whooshed out of me. I should be pushing him off, but I clung to him. The tunnel blurred, colors mixing, swirling, and a cool numbness wrapped around my chest. My strength bled away; the rage and madness, oddly quiet. He’d stabbed me. Locked together, we sank to our knees. He cradled an arm around me as the empty darkness closed in; the embrace oddly tender.

“No, no … !”

Black anger, as thick as oil, poured into my mind. The queen raged, and behind the door, her wretched scream rose up. “She is mine!”

The general peered down at me. Blood splatters stained his face and hair. My blood, I assumed. I should have been feeling something, shouldn’t I? Why wasn’t I fighting? Get up, I screamed silently inside my head. He’ll kill me. I won’t leave these tunnels. I want to live. It wasn’t enough time … I want more time!

The general swept a lock of hair off my face with trembling fingers. I expected hatred, like the glares I’d received from Warren. But the look on his proud face was quite the opposite. Gray eyes regarded me with cool respect. He winced, lips twitching into a grimace. I’d hurt him. And I was glad for that. But he’d killed me, hadn’t he? That was the look on his face. Resolute confirmation. He’d won. The blow to my gut, the blood pooling around me. I was dying.

The door burst open and two glistening arachnid forelimbs reached toward me. The general released me and scrambled back. Countless slashes in his leathers gaped, blood dribbling. He pressed a hand to his side. Scarlet blood streamed between his fingers. I’d hurt him all right, maybe even enough to kill him.

The queen’s black crane-like limbs hooked around me. I should have felt something, anything. Why wasn’t my body working? How could I just lie there and let her touch me? Shock. I’m in shock. Knowing it did nothing to combat it though. Besides, it didn’t matter. The queen cradled me in her limbs. I smelled her familiar oily scent and closed my eyes.

At least I wasn’t alone.





Chapter Twenty-six


“We are made as one, you and I, sweet thing. I will not allow you to perish. Not yet. You will not be wasted. I do not fail. Ever.”

Her hooked limbs twitched and flicked, plucking at the ripples of green draíocht vapor encircling her. She unraveled me, tore the lose threads away, and tied purpose back into my borrowed limbs. Through my mind she wove her touch, smoothing out imperfections, healing reanimated flesh, stitching body and mind back together. Precious memories, those I’d tried to cling onto, buried beneath the flow of draíocht. I was healed and yet broken inside. She created me anew, with a single purpose. There was only one thing in this world she feared, only one creature who could stop her now.