PART TEN: GROWING DESPERATE

After that, things moved very, very quickly. Vendetta immediately created a blanket of black dust and wrapped Kelviana in it, immobilizing her. Tyler bellowed in rage and tried to charge but found himself wrapped in yet another blanket of dust. He toppled and fell over, this time hitting the ground hard. Taraan cried out in protest but Thane ordered him to stand down, though Jonathan could tell that the order pained him greatly. Zoe’s hands flared bright green, brighter than Jonathan had ever seen them glow before. A pulse of green light radiated out from her, much the same way Kelviana and Vendetta’s invisible pulses did, and most of the smoke creatures around her disintegrated. Vendetta chuckled from atop her Tempest, which was unaffected by Zoe’s magical pulse.

“Zoe, Zoe,” she said, clicking her tongue. “Be a good girl now and don’t cause any trouble, ok?”

To Jonathan’s dismay, Zoe stopped struggling and her hands lost their glow. She stood perfectly still, staring straight ahead with blank eyes. Tyler struggled against his bonds, but they held him fast, his screams of rage muffled by the black dust covering his mouth. Jonathan stood, frozen in shock, unable to process what was happening. Had Kelviana really just turned them over to Vendetta, after all they had been through? She had to protect the fairies and fey of her clan, he understood that, but wasn’t there another way? Hadn’t she been saying that Acrimony couldn’t be allowed to get his hands on them, no matter what? Now she was just giving up? Couldn’t she challenge Vendetta to a duel, then rush back to the Darkwood with an army of centaurs behind them, ready to liberate her beleaguered clansmen?

A stinging lash to his back made him cry out in pain. He spun around to find himself surrounded by Stormclouds pushing their way between him and Dalir, who looked like he was ready to take on the entire enemy army by himself. “Ok, ok,” Jonathan said, raising his hands, “I’m coming.” He started limping towards Vendetta, leaning heavily on the spear that was his improvised crutch. One of the Stormclouds lashed out again, causing another stinging welt on his back. “What?” he shouted. “I’m going!” The Stormcloud that had whipped him creaked out something that wasn’t quite a scream and fixed its glowing red eyes on his spear. “You’re kidding,” Jonathan said. “You want me to fall? I’m not going anywhere on this leg without help.” The Stormcloud screeched again and pulled a tendril back menacingly. “Fine,” Jonathan said, letting the spear fall to the ground. The green glow it had been emanating faded instantly. “Don’t blame me when I end up on my face in the mud,” he grumbled and tried to take a step. As soon as he placed his weight on his bad leg it buckled beneath him and he toppled over, landing heavily on his hands and knees, sending mud splattering all around. The Stormclouds growled in irritation but Vendetta stopped them with a command.

“Have the other boy help him,” she said with a wave of her hand.

The black dust surrounding Tyler dissolved and he stood up, glaring at Vendetta. “Why don’t you just heal him? You’re supposed to be a Fey, aren’t you?”

Vendetta narrowed her eyes at him. “Keep pushing me, boy,” she said, her voice taking on a menacing tone, “and I’ll let my Tempest have you. I only need to deliver one human to Lord Acrimony. Remember that.”

Tyler grumbled something under his breath and walked over to Jonathan. “Come on, Prince John,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He bent down and helped Jonathan to his feet. “You just had to go and get hurt again, didn’t you?” Tyler muttered as Jonathan wrapped an arm around the older boy’s shoulder.

“It’s not like I did it on purpose, you know?” Jonathan said as they began awkwardly shuffling forward.

“You never do, do you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jonathan asked, gritting his teeth.

“Never mind,” Tyler said.

“Glad to know you can still be a pain in the butt,” Jonathan grumbled.

“Get moving,” said Vendetta from her perch atop the Tempest. “It’s a long walk to the Darkwood.”

The Tempest took flight with a few beats of its massive wings. Most of the Sylphs had gotten bored and flown away when the fighting stopped, but the few still lingering nearby laughed as they let the gust of wind blow them about. Jonathan’s heart sank; Kelviana had been right about relying too much on the tiny nymphs for support. He couldn’t tell if Aella was still with them or not and he had a sinking feeling that he would never see her again after this. He was surprised to realize that he would miss her.

Vendetta turned her Tempest in a wide arc and swooped low over their heads. She pulled into a hover above Thane and the centaurs. “Go back to your trees, horse-kin,” she said, drawing her black sword and pointing it at them. “You’ll get your precious dryads and the warrior back as long as you stay out of Lord Acrimony’s business.”

“You have made an immortal enemy today, Oathbreaker,” Thane growled through gritted teeth. “Queen Daphne will not forget this.”

“Forgive me if I don’t tremble in fear,” Vendetta responded with a dismissive wave. “Now get moving, my patience is at an end.” The Tempest turned and flew back to the front of the column where the Stormclouds were forming up. Vendetta kept Kelviana and Zoe at the front of the column with her but had Jonathan, Tyler, and the others put near the middle, surrounded by a roiling mass of Stormclouds. Jonathan quickly lost sight of Thane and the rest of the centaurs as their group was urged forward into a march. Sangar’s upper torso had been wrapped in a blanket of Vendetta’s black dust, pinning his arms to his side and his legs were shackled together with chains, forcing him to shuffle along at an awkward gait. Tyler tried to ask him if he was alright and was rewarded for his efforts with a cruel whip to the back from one of the Stormclouds, causing him to stumble and nearly drop Jonathan, who was still leaning heavily on the larger boy for support.

After that, they settled into a sullen silence, marching along with their captors. There were so many Stormclouds around them that all Jonathan could see was the few feet of ground in front of them and the canopy of trees overhead. It was a strangely quiet march. Stormclouds had no feet, so there was no pounding of footsteps as they moved, and now that the fervor of battle had left them their snarls and screeches had quieted, leaving the rustling of branches as their group pushed past the trees and the soft sobbing of the hamadryads as the only sounds. As time went on Jonathan’s leg started to loosen up and he was eventually able to put some weight on it. Jonathan had no idea what had caused Tyler’s sudden hostility towards him, but being forced into such close proximity had not done the situation any favors and they were both glad for the chance to put some distance between each other.

Hours passed and the sky began to darken. Even though Jonathan’s leg could bear his weight it was by no means in good shape. It throbbed painfully with each stumbling, limping step he took. More than once his leg buckled and he nearly tumbled over. Each time Tyler managed to grab him and keep him from falling, but when Jonathan tried to thank him he was just greeted with an angry scowl from Tyler and another whip from a Stormcloud. He was worried about Zoe, too. He kept imagining her walking along at the front of the column, her eyes glazed over and staring straight ahead, doing whatever Vendetta ordered her to. He remembered her saying that she could still tell what was going on when Vendetta had control like that, but couldn’t do anything about it. It must have been terrifying for her.

Jonathan was so wrapped up in his own miserable thoughts that he didn’t notice when the Stormclouds in front of him suddenly stopped and he nearly walked right into them. He was confused for a moment until he realized that Vendetta must have called a halt for the night. The Stormclouds ordered the captives to lay down, using threatening gestures and screeches that took very little imagination to interpret. There was no campsite, no cookfire or food, and no tents. They just stopped in the middle of their march and that was that. Jonathan was so exhausted he didn’t care. He curled up into a little ball, barely even noticing the rocks and roots he was lying on, and fell asleep, hoping that Tyler didn’t notice his quiet sobbing.

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A sharp pain on Jonathan’s scalp woke him with a start. He reached up and slapped at whatever was causing it, visions of spiders or other biting insects running through his head. The pain stopped and a quiet, girlish giggle echoed in his ear. His panic subsided. “Aella?” he asked, looking about in the darkness. All he could see were the indistinct shadows of sleeping Stormclouds billowing all around him. The nymph had probably made herself invisible.

“Hush, silly,” her voice said in his ear. “Do you want to wake them up? I made a bubble of dead air around us to muffle any noise, but it’s not perfect.”

“I thought you had left with your sisters,” he whispered.

“Why would I do that?” the sylph asked, sounding slightly offended. “I already told you, you guys are far too interesting. This is the most fun I’ve had in a century.”

“Sorry,” Jonathan said. “Have you seen Zoe? Is she ok?”

“She’s fine,” said Aella. “She’s waiting in the woods for you.”

Jonathan sat up at that news, causing Tyler, who was lying next to him, to mumble and stir. “She and Kelviana already escaped?” he asked, forgetting to whisper. Tiny invisible hands pressed against his lips, painfully pushing them against his teeth.

“Quiet!” Aella hissed. “I thought us sylphs were supposed to be the foolish ones.” Jonathan brushed her away and nodded silently. “Wake your grumpy friend and let’s get out of here,” Aella said.

“What about the others?” Jonathan whispered, gently nudging Tyler in the side.

“My bubble can’t get big enough to cover all of you. They’ll be safe until we can come back for them properly. It’s you humans Acrimony wants anyway. If he gets you, it’ll be the end of the Fey Realm and really bad news for yours. Now get moving. We can talk more later.” Jonathan nodded, surprised at how serious the normally carefree sylph was being. It took some careful prodding to wake Tyler and even more work to get him to quietly follow him as he slowly crawled past the sleeping Stormclouds. He hadn’t even known that Stormclouds needed sleep and wondered why none of them had been set to keep watch.

After several tense minutes of crawling, they were finally deep enough into the woods for Aella to show herself. Jonathan had never realized it before, but in the darkness he saw that she glowed with a silvery-white light. That was probably why she had remained invisible until now. Jonathan and Tyler stood up, brushing the dirt and leaves off their clothing. Aella pressed her fingers to her lips and motioned for them to follow. Tyler looked back the way they had come, clearly not wanting to leave the others behind. Jonathan understood. It felt like a rock had settled in his stomach at the idea of abandoning their comrades, but at the moment they didn’t have any other choice. Reluctantly they turned and followed Aella deeper into the woods. A few minutes later they entered a small clearing and found Zoe sitting on a large fallen branch, anxiously tapping a foot against the loamy ground. She jumped up and hugged Jonathan as soon as she saw them.

Jonathan held Zoe tight for a few moments, letting relief wash over him at seeing her unharmed and seemingly back to her old self. “How?” he asked. “I thought you were under Vendetta’s spell?”

Zoe grinned. “It was all pretend,” she said, clearly proud of herself. “Didn’t know I was that good an actor, huh?”

Jonathan stared at her, trying to understand what she had just said. “Wait… what?”

“No way,” said Tyler. “There’s no way that was an act.”

Zoe looked down, her grin fading. “The first time, back at the house, it wasn’t. When we were in the centaur’s camp I asked Kelviana if there was anything we could do about it. She figured that since I wasn’t the one who gave my name to Vendetta in the first place there was a good chance it didn’t fully belong to her.”

Jonathan grimaced at that. “I’m sorry, Zo. That was stupid of me.”

“It’s fine,” she said with a sympathetic smile that didn’t make Jonathan feel any better. “None of us could have known. It was bound to happen to one of us at some point.”

“So what did Kelviana do to fix it?” asked Tyler. “It must have worked.”

“Actually,” said Zoe, a bit sheepishly. “It was something I had to do.”

Tyler looked confused but Jonathan made the connection almost immediately. “You didn’t…” he said, aghast.

“It was the only way,” Zoe replied.

“What?” asked Tyler, looking back and forth between the two of them.

“She gave her name to Kelviana,” Jonathan said, watching Zoe carefully. She looked away, confirming his suspicion.

“That’s nuts,” said Tyler. “Why would you ever willingly give someone that much power over you?”

“She promised never to use it,” said Zoe defensively. “Besides, by doing that it took all of Vendetta’s power over me away.”

“Yeah, and gave it all to Kelviana instead. I don’t know if that’s any better,” said Tyler, his voice rising slightly.

“I had to. It was too dangerous not to.”

“Maybe,” said Tyler with a scowl. “But I still don’t like it.”

“Neither do I,” agreed Jonathan. “But it’s done, and there's nothing for it now.” He glanced around the clearing. “By the way, where is Kelviana? Aella said the two of you managed to escape.”

“Uhmm…” Aella said hesitantly. She had been flitting about in the branches above Zoe and now drifted down to join them. “I never actually said that.”

“You mean she’s still back there?” Jonathan asked, alarmed. “We have to go back for her.” He turned, ready to run back the way they had just come.

“Forget that,” Tyler said, grabbing Jonathan by the arm and yanking him back so hard that he nearly fell over. “We’re lucky we got away as easily as we did. You think we stand a chance of rescuing her? Without our magic weapons, Vendetta would swat us like flies.”

“He’s right, John,” said Zoe. “I only got away because Vendetta thought she still controlled me, so she didn’t bother guarding me or tying me up. Kelviana’s locked up tight and being personally watched by her. It’s hopeless.”

“We can’t just leave her. Not after everything she’s done for us.”

Tyler scoffed. “You mean selling us out to the enemy the first chance she got? She can get what she deserves. I’m tired of being caught up in the Fey’s grudge match anyway. We have our own problems to deal with.”

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“She had no choice!” Jonathan said, squaring himself up to the larger boy as best he could. Tyler still towered over him by half a head at least. “Her clan’s being held hostage. Can you say you wouldn’t have done the same in her shoes?”

“She’s barefoot,” Tyler said, glaring down at him and leaning forward slightly, causing Jonathan to involuntarily take a step back. “Besides, if we’re going back there, it should be to rescue Sangar and the Dryads.”

“Guys…” Aella said, drifting down and lighting on Zoe’s shoulder.

“We’re going back for Kelviana,” Jonathan said, ignoring her and glaring back at Tyler. “We need her magic to rescue the others.”

“We have Zoe and the pixie,” said Tyler, crossing his arms. “Between the two of them, that’s plenty of magic.”

“I am not a pixie,” Aella said, sounding offended. “And you guys should really calm down.”

“I can’t take on an entire army,” said Zoe. “Most of the fighting so far has been done by Kelviana. We should go find Thane and the rest of the centaurs. They’ll know what to do next.”

“It’ll take too long,” Jonathan said. “We’d never catch up to Vendetta before she reaches the Darkwood. I doubt we’d be able to rescue anyone once they’re in there.”

“How could you possibly know that?” Tyler asked. “You don’t know any more about this Darkwood place than me or Zoe. Just because Kelviana likes you doesn’t make you our leader or anything.”

“Just what’s your problem, man?” Jonathan asked, stepping forward so they were chest to chest once again. “You’ve been ticked at me ever since the battle. What gives?”

“Maybe I’m just getting tired of saving your sorry little butt all the time,” Tyler said, jabbing a finger into the center of Jonathan’s chest. “The last thing I want is to pull you out of the fire again just because you forget how puny you are and get in over your head trying to save someone who’s already sold us out.”

“Hey!” Zoe said, a hint of anger in her voice now too. “Don’t talk to him like that.”

“Please calm down, guys…” Aella pleaded from her perch on Zoe’s shoulder.

“No, it’s fine, Zo,” Jonathan said, glaring up at Tyler. “He’s still just the same brainless bully he’s always been.” He turned and began limping back into the woods, his heart was pounding so hard by this point he could feel the veins throbbing in his skull. “Thanks for the reminder.”

“John, wait…” said Zoe, but Tyler interrupted her by striding forward and grabbing him by the arm once again.

Jonathan spun around, clenching his fists and ready to deck Tyler. The older boy saw the fire in his eyes and actually grinned slightly, clenching his own fists. “You really want to do this, Prince John? You may have found your guts, but I can still cream you.”

“Try it,” growled Johnathan.

A piercing scream came from the woods behind him and a moment later the small clearing exploded into chaos as Stormclouds and Cloudbursts poured into it from every direction. The air instantly turned green as Zoe cried out and released one of her magic pulses, sending the enemy flying and dissolving a few of them. Jonathan immediately forgot about fighting Tyler and began looking around for something, anything, to use as a weapon while desperately wishing he still had Dalir’s spear. He grabbed two long branches from the ground and tossed one to Tyler, who snatched it from the air without a word.

Aella shook her head and flew into the air above their heads. “I told you guys to calm down,” she said, sending out a blast of wind that pushed back some of the Stormclouds that were starting to recover from Zoe’s initial attack. As soon as the area was clear again Zoe put a barrier all around them. “Your anger woke them up and probably reinvigorated them too. Didn’t you notice how tired they were getting?”

Jonathan groaned as he realized she was right. Kelviana had told them that Acrimony fed on human anger. It only made sense that his minions would too. He had ruined their chances by letting his temper get the better of him. He looked around in dismay. Zoe’s barrier protected them from the enemy but also imprisoned them in the clearing. “Great,” said Tyler as he also watched the clearing fill back up with smoke creatures. Stormclouds began to pound against the barrier with their tendrils as Cloudburst dove at it from above, scraping against it with their sharp talons. “Now what?”

Jonathan glanced at Zoe. “Do you think you could add some magic to these branches?” he asked, holding up his makeshift weapon. “I think Dalir said full dryads can do it.”

Zoe gave him an icy glare but considered his request. “Not without dropping this shield,” she said after a few moments. “Even then, I have no idea how I would manage it. I’m winging all this as it is, remember?”

“Then what about making a hole big enough for us to run for it like you did the other day in the Wasteland?”

She furrowed her brow. “I can try. But I had a lot of help from Kelviana. I wasn’t kidding when I said she’s been doing most of the fighting. There weren’t any Cloudbursts then either.”

“I can help,” said Aella. “But my magic mostly just pushes these things around. It’s not very good at destroying them.”

“That’s all we need,” said Johnathan, preparing himself for a mad dash. He hoped his leg would hold out. He had hardly noticed it these last several minutes. His argument with Tyler and the subsequent ambush had gotten his blood pumping, and while adrenaline was a fantastic painkiller, it didn’t actually fix anything.

“Where’s Vendetta?” Tyler asked suddenly, looking around and gripping his branch tight. “She’s had to have noticed the commotion by now.”

Zoe’s barrier shook violently and Johnathan spun around in time to see a cloud of black dust fading away behind him. Another burst of black dust crashed into the barrier a moment later, making it tremble again. The section where the dust had hit faded noticeably. “You are a sneaky one, aren’t you, dear Zoe?” Vendetta said, striding out of the shadows. “Giving your name to Darkwood like that. I admit, it almost worked.” She whistled and a pair of Stormclouds came up behind her, dragging Kelviana between them. “Too bad I still have your master.”

“She’s not my master,” Zoe said with a bit of a growl. Jonathan tightened his grip on the branch.

“Really?” Vendetta said with a small giggle. “I'm sure the little princess here could make you sing a different tune, couldn’t you, Darkwood?” She nudged Kelviana with her foot, causing the captive fey to struggle against her bonds. “You could even make the human do a little dance along with it. Wouldn’t that be cute?”

“Leave her alone!” Jonathan cried. He stepped forward only to be stopped by Tyler grabbing his shirt.

Vendetta narrowed her eyes and her smile faded. “Careful, boy. You don’t want to make a fey angry with you.”

“Can you even call yourself a fey anymore, traitor?” he asked, gripping his stick tight.

“Don’t talk about things that don’t concern you, boy,” replied Vendetta, her voice taking on a hard edge. “You don’t belong here. Lord Acrimony can get you back home, you know. With the portal gone, he’s your only hope of ever seeing your parents again.”

Jonathan’s breath caught for a moment at the mention of home. He had been trying not to think about it these last few days. Was Vendetta telling the truth? Fey couldn’t lie, so she must have been, but what wasn’t she saying? What would it cost the Fey Realm if Acrimony got his hands on them? What would it cost Earth, for that matter? The same stubborn resolve that had made him insist on coming to the Fey Realm in the first place rose up inside. “You want me?” said Jonathan. “Come and get me. No Stormclouds, no illusions. Just you and me.”

“What are you doing?” hissed Tyler.

Vendetta grinned and shot a huge cloud of black dust at Zoe’s barrier. Behind him, he heard Aella gasp and Zoe grunted. The barrier shattered like glass and before Jonathan could even blink, a heavy weight crashed into his chest and sent both him and Tyler sprawling to the ground. He found himself staring up into Vendetta’s eyes – which he realized were silvery-gray – shocked that she could still move so fast without being able to fly. “Stupid boy,” she said, stepping on his chest and pressing down with her bare foot with far more force than her diminutive size should have allowed. “Never challenge an opponent you don’t understand.”

Zoe cried out and a ball of green dust slammed into Vendetta, knocking her over. Before she hit the ground a blast of icy-cold wind from Aella blew her back to the edge of the clearing, where she landed and rolled a few times. She groaned and stood slowly back up, ice glimmering in her hair and at the edges of her wings. She flapped them a few times to shake the ice off and patted down her clothes before brushing her hair back and knocking the ice crystals out of it. Jonathan and Tyler picked themselves up. The branch Jonathan had been wielding was broken in half. He dropped what remained. Not that it had done him any good anyway. “Good shot, kid,” Vendetta said when she had herself back in order. “Now it’s my turn –” She started to reach for her sword but stopped when she realized the scabbard was empty.

“Looking for this?” Zoe asked as Aella flew over and handed Vendetta’s sword to her. The little sylph must have grabbed it when no one was looking. Jonathan marveled at Aella’s strength, the sword was massive in comparison to her size, though it looked like a child’s toy in Zoe’s hand. It began glowing green as soon as Zoe grasped it.

Tyler let out a whoop of joy. “Nice move!” he cried.

Vendetta glared at the sword for a moment then scoffed and let out a series of shrill whistles. After only a few moments a Cloudburst appeared, clutching something straight and narrow in its claws. It dropped its package as it flew past Vendetta and she caught it without looking. The item immediately began to glow an impossible shade of black. Jonathan groaned. It was Kelviana’s sword. Vendetta grinned. “Do you really want to cross swords with me, little girl? Didn’t I just teach your brother this same lesson?”

Zoe raised a hand and a barrier of green dust instantly began to surround them again, but it was too late. Vendetta vanished in a blur of speed and was inside the barrier before it could form completely. Zoe somehow managed to block Vendetta’s attack, and the two swords clashed together in a shower of green and black sparks. The barrier dissolved as Zoe focused all her attention on the fight. Vendetta began a series of sweeping attacks that Zoe barely managed to fend off, even with Aella zipping about, doing her best to distract Vendetta. Jonathan watched helplessly as Zoe was pushed steadily back, closer and closer to the waiting crowd of Stormclouds that surrounded the edges of the clearing. It was clear to Jonathan, who had seen Vendetta fighting against Kelviana once before, that she was only playing with Zoe, and could have easily defeated his sister any time she pleased, despite their differences in size. Vendetta swung her sword down in a vicious overhead slice and Zoe just barely managed to get her sword up in time to block the attack, but stumbled on a snag of brush and tumbled backward, landing hard on her rump and dropping the sword. Tyler cried out and sprang forward while the Stormclouds snarled and hissed. Vendetta lowered her sword, pointing it at Zoe. She started to say something, but Zoe let out another blast of magic, forcing Vendetta to slice through the pulse with her sword or risk getting blown away. Aella kicked up a whirlwind between Zoe and the dark fey, driving Vendetta back a few steps. Tyler reached them and grabbed Zoe’s hand, pulling her back up. Jonathan took a step in their direction and his leg chose that moment to decide that it didn’t want to support his weight anymore. He stumbled and fell to the ground in a heap. Tyler scooped Zoe’s fallen sword up from the ground and held it out in front of them, looking entirely too much like an action movie hero for Jonathan’s taste. Vendetta scowled, brushing away the leaves and dirt Aella’s whirlwind had deposited on her clothes and hair.

“Not bad,” said Vendetta, lifting her sword. “You’re a strong one, for a dryad. But playtime’s over.” Zoe narrowed her eyes and her hands started glowing. Tyler clutched the sword so tight his knuckles turned white. A green barrier sprang up between Zoe and Vendetta. Vendetta laughed and disappeared in another blur of motion. A moment later Jonathan felt the cold press of a steel blade against his throat. Vendetta grabbed a fistful of hair and painfully yanked his head back. “Drop the sword and the barrier, or say goodbye to your brother,” Vendetta said, all traces of amusement gone from her voice. “I've said it before and I meant it – Lord Acrimony only needs one human.”

Zoe sighed with defeat and the barrier disappeared. Tyler hesitated for a brief moment before dropping the sword. “Well, so much for that,” he muttered.

“Now,” said Vendetta. “Come here, nice and slow.”

“And if I refuse?” Zoe asked. In response, Vendetta pressed her sword tighter against Jonathan’s throat. “Ok!” Zoe cried, holding up her hands, which were no longer glowing. “Ok! I’m coming.” She took a few steps forward before Vendetta stopped her.

“On second thought, wait. Don’t move.” Zoe stopped, her terrified eyes fixed on Jonathan. Vendetta waved her free hand and Kelviana was lifted into the air and floated over to the space between her and Zoe. The black band of dust that had been covering Kelviana’s mouth disappeared, but she was still bound tightly around the middle, immobilizing her arms and wings. She glared at Vendetta but remained silent. “Tell dear little Zoe to stop resisting and do anything I say,” Vendetta said.

Kelviana laughed bitterly. “I promised not to stop you. But I have no intention of helping you.”

Vendetta pulled back on Jonathan’s hair, causing him to cry out despite the blade pressed against his throat. “If you don’t,” she said, her voice filled with malice. “The number of humans Lord Acrimony has to choose from starts dwindling.”

“And that’s supposed to bother me?” asked Kelviana. “Won’t that be a bigger problem for you? It would have been better for me if the humans had never come here. What happens to them means little to me, but I doubt Acrimony would be happy with you if you kill off his prizes before he even gets a chance to see them.”

“You expect me to believe you don’t care about these humans?” Vendetta asked incredulously. “No one fights as hard as you have for something they don’t care about.”

“I care about stopping Acrimony. Anything he wants, I don’t want him having. In this case, it happens to be humans.”

“I knew it!” Tyler said.

Vendetta looked down on Kelviana, who met her gaze. The two fey stared at each other for what seemed ages, until, with a scoff, Vendetta turned her attention back to Zoe. “If you were any other fey, I’d almost believe you, but you've got a soft spot for these creatures, don’t you, Princess?” As she spoke she pressed the sword even harder into Jonathan’s neck. He felt a sharp pain and something warm and wet dripped down into the collar of his shirt. Zoe screamed and Kelviana shouted for Vendetta to stop. She pulled the blade away and smiled back at Kelviana. Jonathan wiped his neck and held his hand up in front of his eyes. It was covered in blood. His head swam and he thought he might faint at any moment. “So the boy does have your favor,” said Vendetta. “How interesting. Living in their world for so long has made you weak, Princess.”

“What?” Tyler asked, surprised. “You lived on Earth? And you didn’t tell us that?” Zoe seemed surprised by that news as well, but Jonathan remembered Kelviana telling him that she had once spent longer than she had planned to on their world. He never had gotten around to asking her why.

“I’ve lived in lots of places and have been around longer than your parents and grandparents combined, kid,” said Kelviana. “I don’t have to tell you anything. Now shut your trap.”

“Everyone shut their traps,” said Vendetta. “The only thing I want to hear is Darkwood telling Zoe to behave.”

“Then it’s going to be a quiet night,” said Kelviana.

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” said Vendetta, raising her sword. “Say goodbye to the boy.”

“NO!” screamed Zoe, releasing another green pulse. Vendetta raised her free hand and stopped it with a wall of her own black dust. She started to swing her sword arm down but stopped with a lurch and a grunt. She looked up and her eyes widened as she saw a small band of green dust wrapped around her wrist. A moment later a horn rang out and the surrounding woods filled with shouts. At least a dozen centaurs burst from the cover, hacking at the Stormclouds with glowing green swords and short spears. The clearing lit up with green light as acorns burst all around, dissolving any Stormclouds caught by their blast. A canopy of green filled the sky above them, keeping the Cloudbursts at bay. Vendetta instantly enclosed herself, Kelviana, and Jonathan within a dome of black dust. Two centaurs – Taraan and another centaur Jonathan had never seen before – placed themselves between the worst of the fighting and Zoe. As the rest of the centaurs began forming a perimeter around the clearing Thane emerged from the crowd, a sword in each hand and covered in red welts from top to bottom. He strode toward them, followed by Sangar and the three hamadryads.

“You’ve lost, Oathbreaker,” Thane said, pointing a sword at her and sounding gruffer than Jonathan had ever heard before. “We’ve defeated your Tempest and destroyed your army. Give up the general and the colt and we will spare your life.”

Vendetta scoffed. “You dare call me Oathbreaker, Horse-spawn? You have broken the terms of your surrender and the fates of both the Darkwood and the Grove now lie on your heads.”

“The centaurs never surrendered, Chrysanthemum,” said Kelviana from where she lay, still bound tight. “Only I did, and I have kept my word. I have done nothing to prevent you from capturing the humans.”

“And I still have one,” said Vendetta, placing her sword at Jonathan’s throat again. “Or do you truly not care about the boy’s life?”

“If you kill the human, you will have nothing to offer your master,” said Thane. “I doubt he is one who forgives easily.”

“Even if I surrender, my life is still forfeit,” said Vendetta. “As you say, Lord Acrimony is not the forgiving type. Fortunately for me, I have a third option.”

“You have nowhere to go,” said Thane, stepping closer. “You cannot fly, your Tempest is destroyed, and your army decimated. Give up. You have lost.”

“I’ve never been good at quitting,” said Vendetta. “But I do know when to make an exit. Or did you forget that I had two Tempests?”

Vendetta let out another series of shrill whistles. A few moments later an ear-splitting scream filled the air and the sky lit up in a brilliant orange. Everyone in the clearing ducked as tempestfire burst against the green dome above them, destroying most of the Cloudbursts in its fury. The barrier shattered like glass as the Tempest crashed into it, claws-first, and landed between Vendetta and Thane. Vendetta dropped her dome of black dust as Thane began bellowing orders. Green spears flew at the Tempest, a few managing to stick into its side before the Tempest struck out with its long tail, sending Thane and several other centaurs flying back. The Tempest beat its wings a few times, lifting back into the air as Vendetta batted away the Centaur’s acorns with her dark magic. Jonathan barely had time to cry out in terror as the Tempest grabbed him, Kelviana, and Vendetta in its massive claws and carried them away. As Jonathan watched Zoe and the others drop away below him, he barely even noticed that the Tempest, at least, didn’t burn him with its touch.

End of Part Ten