Let the Darkness In
Twenty One

That night, I escaped the city the same way I had done that night I had picked the mandrake. Shuddering at the memories, I had forgotten all about that small bottle. It would no longer work for what Madb had in store for Jarrett, but it would work for a certain snug-faced pretender.

Feeling the butterflies dance in my stomach, I made my way to the forest again. The atmosphere at night was far removed from the day. It felt like whilst the great protectors slept, the mayhem makers were abroad. From that night I was attacked by the winged creatures, I swore never to step foot in the forest again. But since then, I had slept in it on the nights I had travelled to the kingdom. Even though I was part of the forest, I was still game to the creatures I wasn’t so friendly with.

As my feet snapped twigs and brushed past the sleeping bushes, small whispers and chuckles sliced the silence around me. Hisses came past me in quick passes and more than once I saw the glint of red eyes. I gritted my teeth, pulling a reservoir of energy from the trees around me. One pulse and anything that came near would be on the floor in a moment.

The nocturnal threats seemed to sense the power dominating me, mixed with savage determination.

I moved deeper into the forest, putting as much distance between myself and civilisation as I could. Finding a space surrounded by trees and trails of ivy, I knelt on my knees and whispered her name into the darkness.

“Madb.”

My whispers echoed and curious creatures came sniffing around me. One came too close and I smacked it on its nose. It bore its teeth in a snarl and then scampered away. Next time I would kill it.

A breeze came playing from the forest, a breeze that few stronger and stronger until I was curling up into a ball to protect myself. The familiar chill crumbled down my spine and without looking up, I knew she was here. When I did manage to lift my head, I saw her as I had first seen her. A shadow in human form, here but so ethereal my hand would go straight through her.

Her facial features were outlined but smudged.

“When will you bring him to me?”

Her face betrayed nothing but the tone of her voice said it all.

“Have you got the boy? My strength is waning Siofra. And I’m growing tired.”

“No. I can’t do this anymore.”

Even though it was impossible to see any emotions through the shifting miasma, I saw her eyes roll. Then my hand started to sear as if someone was taking a knife to my flesh. Hissing, I climbed to my feet turning my hands over. The wound was growing up my arm in a void. The scream of seared flesh ran around my body, bringing tears to my eyes. My hand was burning with red hot fire.

“There’s your promise to me first of all girl. You have made a pact with me and if you don’t deliver, you will pay for it with every drop of blood in your pathetic body.” My hairs were standing on end. “And then there’s this.”

A hand shot out and grabbed me, surprisingly firm. Ice cascaded through me, freezing my heart for a second. The world started to spin sickeningly, and I grimly fought rising nausea. I wasn’t where I had been a moment ago. First, there was the smell. A choking cloud of smoke wafted around me, squeezing my airways. The residence of a wood fire was strongest, and then the smell of meat. But it was no meat I had ever smelt.

Then there were the roars that seemed like a dragon. Screams of sheer desperation, of a woman thrown down, at her last strength soared above the trees.

Despite the twisting of my gut, I sprinted towards the chaos and finally came to a stop at the scene before me. Chaos was hardly the right word. Houses were bright with an orange flame that licked their woven walls hungrily. Hut after hut blazed like beacons. To my left, one gave a huge groan and crashed in on itself.

People were charging around and it took me a moment to see them as both people and the ‘others’. Someone shot by me, and through the mass of flying hair, I saw the tip of elven ears. A man, a peasant, was chasing after her with a wicked-looking axe. Numb, I stepped forward. A small fairy came flying past my ear, narrowly avoiding a smack with a broom from a crazed old woman.

I moved like a wraith through the carnage. The ground was wet with blood. Bodies littered every way. I saw glass-eyed men with the whorls of a druid on their skin, and women with the marks of the witches. I passed a door where a body had been strung up, it’s eyes gouged out. Ducking to the side, I threw up.

Everywhere there were scenes of madness and blood lust. As I walked through it all, untouched, I saw the reality for the first time. The victims were people like me. The hunters were men and women...like Jarrett.

Then I came to the heart of the village and my knees nearly buckled. A huge makeshift pyre had been constructed and two people stood atop. The first figure’s back was turned and moving quickly. As I came nearer, I moved to the side to see what was going on.

I couldn’t breathe. It was a man I knew. Although the man I knew was lying in bed. This man was younger and his hips moving back and forth against a woman. The woman turned her head and those familiar dark eyes stared into mine.

“Come with me and prove your love. It will stop.”

Madb took a last long look at me, then turned and spat in his face.

With a final grunt and shudder, the king withdrew. Straightening up, he stepped down.

“MY PEOPLE,” he roared. “This is why your crops fail.”

The world seemed to spin by, his movement and words a farce of noise and quick movement. I knew all this.

Then everything slowed down as the flames were lit. Madb’s unscarred face was lit up in a fiery glow but her eyes were flashing with light skin to the flames.

She spat out her curse as I watched the king’s face. It was contorted with a make of revulsion but all adoration. As the flames reached her, Madb screamed and I could feel a surge move through my body. The fire tore at my insides with a heat so intense, my organs were exploding. Jabs and explosions seemed to be ripping me apart.

Through huge gasps of air that did nothing, I watched with streaming eyes as humans went off in search of fresh blood. A young creature with hair and eyes as green as moss was skewered before my eyes.

This is why you need to get that prince to my fortress. We are no longer tolerated by this world. They are killing us like cattle. The only way to stop this is to wipe out humankind. Their mind and words are poison. Because it was royal blood that started this purge, we need royal blood to end it. If you don’t bring the prince to my fortress by the time the moon wanes, then I will be paying a visit in person. Bring. Him. To. Me.

As Madb hissed the last words to me, I was back in the safety of my own forest. It was silent.

Shakily, I got to my feet, seeing everything as it was. Crystal clear and agonizingly real. Turning on my heel, my mind raced. Madb would have Jarrett but it was me that was going to bring him to her. Tears were streaming down my cheeks and the pain in my chest was unbearable, I could only breathe in short sharp gasps.

I staggered homewards. At the edge of the forest, I paused, looking down at the city before me. A few tiny pinpricks of light dotted the city but it lay mostly quiet. My eyes moved to the castle. A few torches burned faintly through some of the windows but Jarrett’s room lay in darkness.

My body was trembling as my emotions surged through me. It was now or never. If I didn’t do this now, I never would. Raising my hands, I felt the forest around me come alive. Everything was woken by the sheer power that pulsed from me. Nature was not in the city, but I could use what I had to get to the castle. Branches creaked as they expanded and seeking out the largest one, my senses latched on to it. With a move of my fingers I bought it snaking beside me and stepped on. A tiny part of me asked why I was doing this but I could hardly hear above the pulse of blood.

With my guidance, the tree started to lengthen, moving out into the grass, keeping low. I pulled the trails of vines and plants with me to keep the pulse of the forest alive. I could feel the branch shuddering beneath me but I urged it on. If I had managed to leave the forest, this branch could too.

It moved its way around the city walls, hugging it close and moving at as fast a speed as I could make it. Finally, we came to the back of the city. The tree was starting to scream now, trembling. One more push. I forced an explosion of ivy from it, wrapping my hands in its strong veins.

The ivy curled and twisted its way over the walls, pulling me with it, slightly rustling, as it wound its way around the castle tower, cocooning me in case I fell. I could feel the strength waning - this was the furthest it had ever come and it, like me, did not flourish in a city of numb stone and ice.

We moved as one to the slit but as we grew near, I saw I had misjudged the size. There was no way I would fit through there, slim as I was. I had to think fast. Commanding the ivy back around, I let it travel its way up to the top of the tower. The ivy unfurled around me and I stepped out, I saw the back of a guard. He turned as the leaves rustled and I only had time to see a brief look of consternation on his face, before he was whisked away by a branch. He had no time to scream as the leafy path from the forest shot back from where it had came.

A small wooden door stood at the other side of the space. Hoping that it was not locked, I tried the steep hook that served as a handle. I pulled and I let out a sigh as it swung open easily. That guard clearly wanted an exit route, just in case. Shame it had not served him well this time.

With my hand against the cool walls for guidance, I made my way down the stairs as softly as I could. Even my breath which I was trying to suppress seemed to be as loud as the drums of war. Doors flashed past and I wondered who occupied these. No doubt one of them contained the flaxen-haired toad.

Finally, I came to a halt outside a door. Coming from the other direction, it was hard to know which was which. But I felt like I was halfway with as much space going up as going down. I put my ear to the door and listened. Muffled through planks of thick wood, I could hear heavy breathing and a gentle snore. Even though I could hear no words, I knew I was in the right place.

I tried the door and it too was unlocked. Clearly the prince had nothing to fear. A shaft of bright moonlight streamed through the small window slit and illuminated the left side of Jarrett’s face in an effervescent glow. My heart skipped a beat but this time I had no guilt.

Lifting my skirts, I climbed on top of the bed, hearing it freak slightly. The occupant stirred, groggy eyes trying to focus for a moment or two. Another blink and Jarrett was staring at me. My face was inches away from his and he was clearly struggling to remember me or figure out why I was here. It clicked and he frowned.

“Siofra, what are you doing here?” he whispered.

My lips parted to say something but instead I seized the back of his head and pulled, crushing his lips against mine. There was a moment of fight and resistance, but then his whole body seemed to melt. His good arm came up behind my head, his fingers raking through my hair. Our lips moved in unison and I suddenly felt a hungry passion. Jarrett was mine and I would have him this night.

Jarrett seemed to feel the same pull and his roving hands were eager to touch. He jerked forward and then he hissed, falling against the pillows but bringing him on top of me. He tried to shift but I shook my head, using my hand to push him down.

“Let me,” I whispered, my face in the warm curve of his neck.