AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I spun to find a shale creature nearly upon me. I stumbled away, but the creature struck—a coldness passing over my side despite my armor. Shock coursed through me. An angry black slash appeared on my leathers.
Dagda rammed a knife into the shale ghost’s chest and it crumpled to the dirt at my feet.
He took in the black slash on my side. It was as if someone had marked my armor with black paint. I felt nothing.
“Stay at my back, move with me,” he said.
I nodded, a bit of confidence growing. This really was like a virtual reality game. I sighed, glad that Badb hadn’t made an appearance.
Five more shale ghosts appeared from the forest, spreading out, circling us. I pressed my back to Dagda’s, his strong warmth settling me. As they moved around us, the gray tendrils seeped out of their cracks. I grinned. They were nothing but rock and mist. Dagda went to work, and I swung my spear out at them to keep them from getting another hit.
One got past my swing, and a dark slash appeared across my abdomen. I hissed. That would set us behind further. Crouching low, I thrust out with the spear, and rammed it into the faceless head of the shale ghost that had marked me. I twisted, slamming the spear’s butt into the creature next to it. They both crumpled.
Dagda finished the other three and turned to me, his eyes growing wide at the collection of shale at my feet.
My fingers grazed the new mark on my armor. “I got another scratch.”
He didn’t appear bothered or winded. In fact, exhilaration shone in his face as he nodded toward the forest. “Here they come.”
Our reputations were on the line. I grit my teeth. I’d help Dagda win this. This time, seven shale ghosts emerged. Something fearless and anticipatory flowed in my veins. Dagda’s excitement must be contagious.
“I’ll distract them, and you take them,” I said.
“Good plan.”
I waved my arms as Dagda faded into the trees. “Over here!” I shouted, drawing their attention. All seven barreled toward me. When they entered the small clearing, I raced into the woods, the way Dagda had gone.
Right before they ran me down, Dagda jumped out of nowhere, a one-man army, driving into the middle of them and sweeping outward with his sword and knife.
By the time we’d finished, I’d taken another two out, getting no extra marks, and Dagda had destroyed the rest.
We returned to the glen, ready for whatever came next, and stopped, searching the small trees. I noticed a piece of shale stuck in Dagda’s hair. I reached up and brushed my fingers into his jet black locks, knocking it loose. His mane was thick and silken to the touch. Without thinking, I slid my fingers through his hair again, enjoying the texture. Dagda stood frozen, sword still gripped in his hand, staring at me.
I snatched my errant hand back and stepped away, a heat gathering in my cheeks. “You had shale in your hair,” I muttered.
A door at the other end of the small glen appeared, and I breathed, relieved at the escape. I raced toward it. “Let’s go.”
Dagda followed me through the door, and the forest faded. Suddenly, we were in a long field. A bale of hay lay at my feet with two crossbows. Two targets lay across from us. On the other side of the field, well beyond the targets, a crystal orb sat on a pedestal surrounded by a large crowd of faeries that watched as spectators. Their distant shouts reached my ears.
“We both must hit a bullseye,” he said, snatching up the crossbow. Worry flashed in his eyes. “I will shoot mine and then I’ll show you how to line everything up.”
I glanced over, where other rows of bales of hay and crossbows were marked for other contestants. Niall and his son piled out of their magic door and snatched theirs up.
“You just focus on your target,” I said, grabbing my crossbow.
I released the first arrow and cursed as it hit the outer edge. I readjusted, as I heard the next arrow load into the feeder, and I said a grateful prayer that I didn’t have to reset the bow after every shot. My finger pulled the trigger and the next projectile hit the inner ring. Dagda’s apparent shock made my heart pick up, and I smiled, pressing my cheek to the crossbow.
“Shoot, Dagda,” I said, and he turned, lifting his own weapon.
I hit the bullseye on the third arrow. Dagda had his in two shots. I glanced over. Other faeries had made it to the bales of hay. But the pair that had come out at the same time as us had both hit their bullseye.
Dagda grabbed my hand. “Run!”
We raced across the field, the long grass pulling at our shins, the faerie spectators cheering and shouting. The two warriors we were racing pulled even, and Dagda lengthened his stride. Fire burned in my lungs and my legs trembled. I couldn’t catch my breath.
Still, I pressed ahead, wanting to win, not just for Dagda but because it had become a matter of pride. Because we might win. But despite how badly I wanted it, my body, which was less trained than those around me, faded. Dagda tugged on my hand, urging me forward, but Niall and his son outpaced us.
And it was the champions from the house of the Honored Ones that pressed their palms to the large crystal orbs first.
