Chapter 16 - Fallon

We snuck out every night to search the Island. It wasn’t until the third night we had any luck.

Under a crescent moon, we crept by the docks. Streetlights were uncommon, so there was little light. The scent of blood, fish, and sea permeated the air. I tugged at the pants I wore, a little too loose with holes in the knees. My shirt matched in style. Torin insisted disguises of old clothes would help us move around the Island easily, unrecognized by guards or citizens. So far he had been right.

I glanced back to the moon. It must have been at least midnight. “Should we get back? We’ll have to wake early,” I reminded.

Torin glanced to the moon and grimaced. Flynn didn’t even bother before he said, “Just a bit longer. It’s been over a week since you sent her back to the demonic realm. She’s got to be back.”

I chewed my lip. “Are you sure she could even get through? We’ve been doing a pretty good job sealing tears quickly, and fewer people are corrupting in general.”

Flynn met my gaze. “She’s here.”

I didn’t argue again. It wasn’t my sister. I would follow them as long as they needed.

“We’ll give it another half hour or so, then we–” a shriek cut Torin short.

Flynn spun and took off like an arrow towards the sound, deeper into town. Torin followed two steps behind and held the arrow in his fist. We swerved around a corner and skidded to a stop.

A child, smaller than Gwenn, stood in the middle of an alley. They were alone and blood dripped from their arm. The little boy sobbed and looked right at me. He wore shabby clothes, but his face was flush and healthy. A real child.

Flynn’s shoulders sunk at the sight. Torin turned away. But I couldn’t leave the kid alone. He was too young. I took a few steps towards him.

“Hey, it’s alright. What happened?” I asked. The boy couldn’t quell his cries long enough to respond. “I want to help.”

Flynn trailed after me, but his focus was on the dark corners of the alley and a rickety fence, anywhere a demon could possibly hide. Torin stayed at the alley entrance. When I drew close, within arm’s reach of the boy, he turned and ran. I called after him, but he wormed his way under a small gap in the fence at the end of the alley. He was gone before I thought to chase after him.

Torin cried out and I turned in time to see him stumble into the alley. Several figures emerged from the darkness behind him, hoods up and daggers in hand. The figure at the front was large and held a sword aloft. He shoved his hood back to reveal a square face framed in dark hair. His cheeks flamed red and his eyebrows narrowed.

“Blayne?” Flynn whispered. The figure glared.

“So you do remember me,” he commented. “I thought you must have forgotten, after you abandoned us.”

Flynn swallowed. “I had to go.”

“Had to escape, you mean,” Blayne sneered. “You let her die. And then you ran away, like the coward you are.” Flynn shrunk in on himself.

“How did you find us?” Torin demanded.

“We grew up together, I’d recognize you no matter what you wore. Even if you’ve forgotten, I haven’t,” Blayne said. I glanced between the brothers and the figure, at a lost.

“Is that what this is about? Us leaving?” Torin demanded, his tone icy. This did not seem like the time to have an attitude, but there was not stopping Torin.

“This is about Arlyn.” Blayne’s glare shifted back to Flynn. “She loved him, and he let her die. Might as well have thrown her to the demons himself.”

“What,” I spurted. I immediately regretted it when Blayne’s dark eyes found me.

“Sorry you chose such unfortunate company. Being Flynn’s friend has never ended well for anyone.”

“Flynn wouldn’t kill anyone, let alone a friend,” I said. I knew him enough to know he wouldn’t hurt anyone.

“He was with my sister when she died. He’s the one who convinced Arlyn to visit the forest. She died because of him, same as though he held a knife to her throat,” Blayne snapped.

“I never meant for that to happen. I tried to stop Arlyn-” Flynn’s words were soft and cut off by Blayne’s angry words.

“If you’d left her alone, she’d still be alive! You don’t deserve to have her name on your tongue.” Blayne took a step forward, and the figures in shadow followed him. There were at least seven of them. As confident as I was in my skill, the odds were not in our favor.

“I’m sorry,” Flynn whispered. His forehead creased and his eyes squeezed shut. He had cared for Arlyn. More than Blayne would believe. He’d been unable to pass the trial when she died. Blayne didn’t understand Flynn. He couldn’t.

Blayne pulled his hood back up. As one, the hooded figures marched in on us. We backed up, until our backs hit the fence and our shoulders touched. Flynn in the middle, Torin to his left, and me to his right. I did not see a way out of this.

Flynn’s smallest finger hooked around mine. I glanced at him. His face was pale and sweat dribbled down his brow. He didn’t deserve this. No matter what had happened in his past, I wouldn’t let Blayne hurt him. I dropped into a crouch and sunk my hands into the soft dirt that made up the alley floor.

“Run for the water, it’s our best chance.” Flynn glanced at me; confusion twisted his brow. I took a breath and Blayne took a step. He stopped a sword swipe away. It was now or never. I launched to my feet, pulling the dirt with me. The ground under Flynn’s feet stretched upward, like a tree. I dumped him over the fence. Close to the docks as we were, he could make it. He had to.

Blayne and his comrades burst into action. He swung his sword at my face. Torin blocked it with his own sword. I launched my wave of dirt at the men behind him. It crashed down on them. Only two managed to keep their footing, which gave me time to unsheathe my sword. Steel crashed against steel as Torin and Blayne fought. Blayne called for his men to go after Flynn, and I forced my way into the fight, sword swinging. Flynn needed time. We had to buy it for him.

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Fighting people was different than fighting demons. My enemies screamed, but they were the screams of humans. Screams I would make under similar circumstances. I tried not to think as my blade found its way between someone’s ribs. The alley was narrow. My sword clashing against the stone walls on either side too often.

They only had daggers. I needed to keep them out of range. I used the dirt imbued with my mana to trip anyone who got too close, but it wasn’t looking good. Torin was locked in a death match with Blayne while two of the others ran off in search of Flynn. I faced the remaining three as sweat dripped into my eyes. I spent so much energy so fast when I forced my mana into the dirt.

A dagger bit into my forearm and I leapt back, only to bump into Torin. “You better have known what you were doing,” he hissed. Something flicked above. My sword dipped as my eyebrows rose.

Flynn rode his water stead into battle.

It was larger than the one we rode in the Dead Zone, but not as large as the one from the arena. Probably to conserve mana. It thrashed beneath Flynn and slammed into the three fighters with daggers. They fell to the ground, wriggling and flailing as their lungs filled with water. He passed over them once they lay still. Likely not dead, just unconscious.

I yanked Torin down as Flynn passed over our heads and met Blayne. Not a drop of water landed on us. Torin stared up at his brother, mouth agape. Flynn’s water beast made quick work of Blayne, though he too was just unconscious. As I said before, Flynn couldn’t kill anyone, even when it might have been for the best.

“Where the hell did you learn to do that?” Torin demanded with a shake of his head.

Flynn shrugged and dismounted beside us. “I spent a year doing nothing but training at the Center.”

“A year? You couldn’t have learned to do this in a year. You’re on a totally different power level.” Torin narrowed his eyes. “What did you do?” One of the fighters groaned.

“I hate to interrupt, but maybe you can save this discussion for another time?” I marched from alley, eager for open air. My muscles burned and I’d been cut again, but it felt good to win a fight without almost losing one of us. If I weren’t so tired, I probably would have smiled.

The twins followed after me, still bickering, as siblings are known to do. I didn’t care how Flynn learned his magic, we were just lucky to have it. Well, ok, that was a lie. I wanted to figure it out so I could do the same. From what Torin said, it sounded like Flynn had leveled up in an almost inhuman way. If I could do that, I could finally be better than him.

Something tangy and metallic filled the air. The scent of blood. Lots of it. I glanced to Flynn and Torin, but they hadn’t noticed. I froze and gasped when I spotted the source.

“What is it?” Flynn demanded as he stopped beside me. I pointed at the bodies. Two, dressed in black and half hidden in shadows. The men Blayne sent after Flynn.

Flynn’s face paled and he bent over, hands on his knees. I thought he might puke, but he kept it in. Torin took a step towards the grizzly scene. A growl rumbled through the air and we grabbed our swords before the sound could fade.

A creature on all fours, a pale messy mane of hair around its head, tumbled from the darkness. I barely registered we’d found Gwenn before she attacked. She scuttled towards Torin, mouth snapping. He kicked her away and dropped his sword, reaching for the holy fire arrow. We couldn’t kill her with anything except the arrow, it was the only way to free her soul. She turned on me, eyes more dead than those of a fish.

I stepped back, not sure how to fight a demon child I couldn’t kill. She shifted back into a crouch. Her gaze shifted to Flynn and she let loose a delighted shriek as she stood and ran for him. He didn’t move.

I leaped forward and slammed into her before she got too close to Flynn, knocking her away. He wouldn’t be able to fight her. She was still his baby sister, even if her soul was trapped in a demonic body. A light flickered to my right, the arrow ablaze with holy fire.

Gwenn shrunk back at the sight, scampering back into the shadows. There was no time or sightline for a bow. We chased after her. Flynn finally moved, though he trailed a step behind. Torin cut around to another alley as Flynn and I followed her.

She was fast. Most demons were, but I hadn’t expected such speed from so small a body. She hissed and spat at us, putting distance between us. But then she made a mistake. She ducked down an alley, where the shadows everything. We chased after her, stumbling over the hidden bumps and obstacles. Ahead, the speck of holy fire shone.

Gwenn screeched ahead; the blue fire cast strange light over her. A wobbly, raspy voice said, “Tor?”

My heart leapt as Torin said, “I know what you are, demon.” We caught up to the demon child and her human brother, and light cast from the holy fire cascaded over us.

Fat tears tumbled down Gwenn’s pocked cheeks. They were worse than before, so obviously unhuman. Flynn’s face twisted at the sight.

Gwenn spun on him like a trapped animal. “Fin?”

“Gwenn…” Flynn shook his head. “You’re not my sister.” The tears ran faster as she glanced between the twins.

“Tor, Fin, please. Help me!” Gwenn’s cry devolved into a shriek as she launched herself at Torin. All he had was the arrow to defend himself with. He swung it, but it didn’t make contact. Gwenn slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. She aimed a bite to his neck, a lethal blow. Flynn cried out and I rushed forward.

Gwenn hesitated, just for a second. But it was enough. Torin swung the arrow around and it sunk deep into her back. She screamed as death curled its permanent fingers around her body as flames consumed her. But I swear, for a flicker before her face caught flame, she smiled. I never told Flynn.

Torin rolled out from under her burning body, unconcerned with the flames that nipped at his clothes. Flynn rushed over and patted them out. Torin reached towards the writhing demon, then his hands fell to his side.

“She… she called me Tor,” he whispered. Flynn knelt beside him as tears streamed down his face. He wrapped an arm around his brother. I stayed back. This was not my moment. They stayed like that until Gwenn’s body was nothing but smoldering ash and the sky grew pink. I stood guard over them the entire time.

*****

Arawn was not happy when we returned. We’d been missed, and the blood covered clothes didn’t help our case. The situation only worsened as the day wore on. Protesters began to march outside the gates of the estate. Apparently, Blayne found a way to rally the people to join him. I presume it was the dead bodies. Even I’ll admit, the circumstances were suspicious.

“Look, we’re sorry.” I paced in front of Arawn. “We never meant for any of this to happen, we were just trying to release Gwenn’s soul.”

“I’d do it again,” Torin commented. I shot him a glare. So not helpful.

Arawn rubbed his brow. “It doesn’t matter what you meant to happen, citizens died and they blame us. We’re lucky the guards haven’t turned on us too. At this point, it’s only a matter of time before the corruptions pick up again.”

“And we’re stuck in the manor,” Leith stated. Maddox nodded beside him and their shoulders brushed. I winced, but couldn’t deny the trouble we’d created. Still, setting Gwenn’s soul free made it worth it.

“We can still fix this,” I said. Flynn glanced at me from his spot against the wall. He hadn’t said much since the demon burned.

“How?” Arawn countered. I didn’t have an answer for him. Maybe there wasn’t a way to fix it. He sighed. “We’re out of options. Our presence is making the situation worse.”

Leith slumped in his chair. “We’ve failed our mission, haven’t we?” My heart jumped. We couldn’t fail, I needed the invitation to the castle.

Arawn said, “I’d say making the Island an even more dangerous place counts as a failure.” I flopped into a chair. Well, shit.

Sir Seznec strode into the room. He didn’t look at either of his sons. “There’s nothing you can do except leave. The citizens are demanding your heads. I can’t keep my community together like this.”

“I’m sorry it turned out like this.” Arawn bowed his head.

Sir Seznec shook his head. “I don’t need an apology. I need you gone. You’ll leave when the moon is highest. The mob should disperse in fear of demons and my most loyal guards will rush you to the boat.”

“Of course, sir. I’ll plead your case on the mainland best I can, hopefully get the resources you need.”

“Good.” Sir Seznec turned to his sons. “Torin. Flynn. Make our family proud.” Without another word, he left.