Without sparing him a glance, I hurled myself at the Ice Queen, knowing it was already too late.
A different roar echoed through the hall behind her, and she turned, her eyes going wide with fear. Scrambling off Ariel a, she leaped back, vanishing into a mirror, barely avoiding the huge jaws of the Wolf as he lunged out of the darkness. Snarling, the Wolf, our Wolf, met my eyes, his muzzle covered in blood and gore, and shook himself vigorously.
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“Ari—” I panted, f linging myself down beside her. Taking her wrist, I eased her into a sitting position, as the Wolf loomed over us, growling.
“Are you all right? Can you stand?”
“Maybe in a minute.” Ariel a winced, holding her head. “If the room would kindly stop spinning.” Glancing at my worried expression, she gave me a weak smile. “Don’t worry about me, Ash. I think I’m going to sit here and shoot at anything that comes within twenty yards of me. Go help Puck. I’ll be fine.”
I nodded reluctantly and glanced at the Wolf. “What about you?
Where’s the other Wolf?”
Our Wolf bared his fangs.
“Pale imitations cannot hope to take me down,” he snarled. But he favored his left forepaw, and his shaggy coat was streaked with blood.
Glancing down the hall, he narrowed his eyes at the melee behind me.
“Too many Goodfel ows for my taste.” He snorted, and curled a lip.
“Should I start biting off heads?”
“No.” I put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “You’re hurt. Stay here and guard Ariel a. Make sure nothing happens to her. Don’t leave her side, no matter what happens to me, understand?” The Wolf growled, but nodded. I glanced over my shoulder at Puck; he was still hanging on, surrounded by his twins. “Watch out for her ref lection,” I said, backing away from the Wolf. “It’s still around here somewhere.”
“So is yours,” the Wolf replied. “In fact, I’d say it’s waiting for you.” 224/387
I looked up. Other Ash stood within a mirror a few yards away, gazing right at me. He gave me a mocking salute, then walked away, through the mirrors, around a corner and into the other hallway.
I rose, gripping my sword tightly. “Take care of her,” I said without turning around. “I’m ending this now.” I walked steadily to the place where Other Ash waited, cutting down another Puck as he lunged out of a mirror. Two more Pucks stepped out to face me, grinning, but a pair of ice arrows struck them in the chest, one after the other, and they vanished in a swirl of leaves and twigs. Around the corner, out of reach of the deadly arrows, Ash the Winter King waited for me, the walls and mirrors around him coated in frost.
My reflection regarded me with a look that was almost pitying, his sword held at his side. “What are you doing, Ash?” he asked coldly, and gestured around the hallway. “What are we doing here? Becoming human? Gaining a soul?” He chuckled without humor, shaking his head. “Souls aren’t meant for us. Do you think, with all the blood and death on our hands, that we could ever earn something as pure as a soul?” He narrowed his eyes, seeming to stare right into me. “She’s lost to us, Ash,” he whispered. “We were never meant to be together.
Let it go. Let it go, and give yourself to the darkness. It’s the only way we’ll survive.”
“Shut up,” I growled, and lunged at him.
He parried my thrust easily, cutting at my face. I dodged, and we circled each other in the hall, looking for weaknesses. There weren’t many I could exploit, however. This opponent knew all my moves, my fighting techniques, and though I could say the same of him, it didn’t 225/387
help that I was fighting an enemy who knew exactly what I was thinking before I knew myself.
“You can’t beat me.” Other Ash smiled, cold and vicious, reading my mind. “And your time is running out. The doors are about to close, and I have all the time in the world.”
I took a half step back and bumped into Puck, retreating from his own doppelg?ngers.
“Hey, ice-boy,” Puck greeted without looking at me. I could feel him breathing hard against my back. “I’m getting kinda bored of this.
Wanna trade?”
I blocked Other Ash’s jab to the face and slashed at him in return.
“Can’t you take anything seriously?”