Gillian Summers: The goblin's curse

Keelie had to do something.

“It’s up to Keelie-she has to call off the dragons,” Tavyn yelled above the terrified shrieks of the little girl.

Keelie hadn’t been able to stop the rampaging goblins, and so far, she hadn’t regained the Compendium. But she had other ways to fight.

She thrust Hrok’s branch into the dirt and called on the green that surrounded them. As the trees answered, desperate for help themselves, she thrust her power into the ground. If Under-the-Hill was still there…

The dark coolness of the Under-the-Hill filled her head, but it wasn’t the abandoned mustiness of the one under the meadow. It was the spicy-scented warmth of Herne’s dominion.

A roar came from the end of the road and chimes rang loud and clear, filling the air. Keelie turned in the direction of the noise.

Tavyn frowned and pounded his fist into his hand. “What have you done?”

A pulsing swirl of light, like the Aurora Borealis, formed in the middle of the path. It looked like the vortex at the Quicksilver Faire turned on its side. It separated the lines of fighting goblins and humans.

Tarl and Sir Davey scurried out into the lane to carry Thomas’s body out of the way while the goblins were distracted by the light. A pirate grabbed a discarded goblin sword and came to stand at Keelie’s side, ready to defend her.

A ground-shaking crack, like thunder, split the air. Literally. Where the pulsing whirl of light had once been was a pulse-edged sliver of darkness, a door into nothingness in the middle of the road.

It widened, and a row of gleaming, prismatic-armored knights, lances ready, rode out of the dark sliver of doorway into the faire. Keelie gasped, recognizing the High Court’s fairy army. Humans, dwarves, goblins stood frozen, staring at the beautiful beings, and then the goblins charged.

The armored knights lowered their lances and attacked. The dwarves followed, howling battle cries. Keelie was startled to see Knot, wielding a lethal-looking short sword, to the left of King Gneiss.

Tavyn screamed and ordered more goblins into the fray, while the humans threw themselves onto the rear guard of the goblin army. About fifty armored goblins split off from the fight and ran down the road to circle Keelie, Tavyn, and the pirate. The pirate hacked at arms and legs as they came near, wounding many, but to no avail. The goblins seemed impervious to pain.

Keelie called upon the trees again, and they bent, their branches hitting some goblins on the head and sweeping others aside like ugly croquet balls in a crazy lawn game.

One of the fairy knights turned his mount and galloped down the lane toward them. Tavyn screamed and leaped, landing on the roof of Galadriel’s Closet. Peascod grabbed Toshi out of the air and whirled underground in a spray of dirt.

The knight reined in his horse and leaped to the ground, yanking off his helmet. Brown hair tumbled down the shining armor, and around her father’s grim face.

“Dad!”

He ran to her and swept her up in his arms.

“How…?” Keelie asked.

“Bruce, Deuce, and Zeus have a mutual friend in common with you, and I thought we could use his help,” Dad said as he turned her around. “We brought reinforcements.”

“The High Court, yes. What mutual friend?”

Another knight removed his helmet, and Keelie saw that it was Salaca, the fae lord. He bowed to her from atop his war horse, then put his gleaming helmet back on, wheeled his mount, and attacked the goblin army. The fae army kept marching out of the doorway-now standard bearers came, holding aloft great silken flags with strange symbols on them. Behind them rode King Fala, the crown of the High Court fae bright on his brow.

And at his side, antlers proud, was Herne-with his Wild Hunt behind him.

Herne caught Keelie’s eye and winked. And then the fae warriors, light and dark, fought side by side for the first time in millennia.

Keelie looked for a weapon, ready to join the battle, but Tarl grabbed her up and held her fast to his broad chest.

“Don’t let her go till the battle’s over,” Dad yelled, mounting his horse again.

“Dad, come on, I want to help!”

He rode away, intent on the endless hordes of goblins that seemed to spin out of the ground everywhere.

“Sylvus take me,” Keelie whispered. Even the fae might not be enough to stop them.

Tarl suddenly cursed and turned around. Raven was standing behind them, a pike in her arms. “You hit me!”

“Sorry, Tarl. I saw Keelie and thought you were an ogre.” Raven shrugged. “You okay, kiddo?”

“I will be if he puts me down,” Keelie said, but her eyes were on the carnage around them. “I think we’re losing. Even with the fae, we’re losing.”

Raven pushed her hair out of her dirt-streaked face. One of her nails had broken, and blood stained her tank top. “I have an idea, but it’s a little crazy.”

Keelie cocked her head. “Yeah? Tarl, let go of me. I’m not going to run or fight.” Yet, she added under her breath.

As Tarl released her, Raven grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the ruins of the King’s stage. Tarl joined Merk the Troll and what seemed to be a real troll; the three whirled giant war axes and charged a group of rampaging goblins.

“Remember when you drew on Earth magic in the Wildewood?”

Keelie nodded. “I can’t do that here, though. We’re in another dimension or something, and I have no connection to the Earth.”

Raven smiled. “No, but I have a connection to my husband. Remember him? The unicorn lord of the forest?”

Keelie felt her eyes widen as she realized what her friend was saying. “We can link to the Wildewood through Einhorn?”

“And through my Lord Einhorn, to every forest on Earth.”

The two friends grinned at each other and joined hands. Then Raven closed her eyes and Keelie opened her tree sense. The image of Einhorn, the silvery-haired lord of the Wildewood, appeared.

Raven, what’s happening? My forest screams.

“Hang on, hubby. This is going to be a wild ride. Ready, Keelie?”

Keelie pushed on her power and Einhorn immediately responded, their mental link showing him what was needed.

Behind them, on the hills of the stranded faire, green power surged up from the ground, surrounding the fighters in tendrils of power. The fae and humans were untouched, but the goblins screamed as the power swept over them, leaving them vulnerable to the faire’s defenders.

Channeling the magic took every ounce of Keelie’s strength. After a while, it was too much. She and Raven fought to keep the conduit open, but then everything winked out into a starless dark.

When she opened her eyes again, Herne was standing over her. Fala stood nearby, talking to someone she couldn’t see.

“Am I dreaming?” She touched her forehead. The aftermath of the magic hurt, like a dozen hangovers must hurt. Keelie vowed to never drink. She didn’t want to ever feel like this again.

“Keliel, you’re back.” Herne bowed his head. “We were just discussing where we could be.” He studied the area around him. “Where are the mountains? I thought we were near the Rockies?”

“Peascod used the Compendium to move the faire to another dimension.”

Fala snapped his fingers. “That’s why we were rerouted here. I thought we’d hit an interdimensional exit when we neared Earth.”

“Did we win?” Keelie immediately knew that the fighting was not over. She heard the clash of steel against steel further into the faire.

“I thought we might have a time continuum problem,” Herne said to Fala.

“Will you two stop talking like Dr. Who?” Keelie struggled to her feet. Raven was already standing, a little wobbly, nearby.

“There’s Tavyn.” Keelie pointed toward the goblin, who now fought at the head of his remaining goblin faction, and then she saw Peascod, now sitting on the peak of the candle shop roof, nodding his head as he conferred with Toshi. He lifted his eyes and glared at Keelie.