Mark Del Franco - Undone Deeds

“Tell me,” I said.

Ceridwen ignored me, moving closer to the barrier. Sparks cascaded across the barrier, forming a curtain that rippled and bucked. Sections thinned under the stress, random streaks of fire breaking through. “We can hold these Dananns off, but they have numbers on their side. Where are the Fianna? I want the Fianna.”

The barrier was threatening to collapse. Despite the skill of the solitary defenders, the Dananns had firepower to match. All my abilities were defensive at this point, except the darkness, and I didn’t want to think about unleashing it again. Already, I could feel its pressure against the inside of my skull as it sensed the intense body signatures beyond the wall. I stood helpless with my sword. It was an offensive weapon and not long-range. I clutched the spear to my chest. We needed help.

I turned my thoughts inward, focusing on Eorla’s body signature. A tunnel spiraled open, the preternatural green glow of Eorla’s body signature dancing in the ether. The vision sharpened, and I saw her face. She lifted her head, staring at me through the tunnel. With a cutting gesture, she held out her hand. Essence flashed, and the tunnel collapsed.

I opened my eyes in surprise. I hadn’t considered that it was possible for someone to shut down the spear. Given what I had seen the spear do, I doubted many fey could. I got the message. Eorla didn’t want me wherever she was.

The barrier collapsed on one end, fairies pressing forward to exploit the advantage. A company of Dead surged into the gap, throwing themselves against lethal essence bolts. A ripple of essence burned along the pavement, and the street undulated as the asphalt and concrete heaved upward.

My skin shivered as a wall of stone and tar rose. It was troll work, and I recognized the body signature. I had the same essence, a residue from a troll named Moke, who had saved my life once. I sensed him beneath my feet, like a leviathan in the deep as his passage created the wall. I doubted it would hold long, but it was buying time.

Ceridwen rode the wave of stone. As the wall peaked, she let out a burst of essence, a spray of fire that pressed the Dananns back. They scrambled to reassemble, intent on taking her from her perch. Despite their abilities, they were facing an underQueen of the Seelie Court. In the past, I had watched Ceridwen take on ten times their number. She died only because Bergin Vize used the spear against her.

As the Dananns focused their attention on the barrier, solitary fey threw ineffective bolts of their own. It was obvious the Dananns were not concerned. The solitaries were chaotic and disorganized. The Dananns were a trained fighting unit. They needed their overconfidence poked.

I raised the spear and opened a short jump to the opposite side of the barrier. Landing near two Dananns, I swept their feet out from under them with the spear and jumped back. Joe danced in the air around me. “That’s flit fighting if I ever saw it. Not bad for someone so tall.”

The Dananns shifted away from Ceridwen’s barrier and toward me. I hesitated. My shield would protect me from the brunt of an attack, but I had to get close in for the spear to be any use. Time slowed as I took in the scene, the flashing of the essence-fire, the burnt-ozone odor in the air. I already had a sheen of sweat under my jacket, and my heart was beating with adrenaline. It felt good, like a long run after a night of drinking, the stink of alcohol oozing out of my pores. I felt alive like I hadn’t in a long time. I grinned at Joe. “Care to join me?”

He saluted me with his sword, and we jumped through a weak spot in the essence barrier. Flashing back into sight, Joe batted his sword on the top of a Danann’s head and blinked out before she saw him. She whirled in place, angry but confused, as I was too far away to have hit her. She raised her hand to strike. I ducked under the bolt, using the move to hit another fighter behind me. This time, I didn’t play nice, and jabbed him in the hamstring with the point of the spear. I jumped back.

The other Dananns moved in. One remained behind at the breach, drawing off Ceridwen’s forces while the rest concentrated their attack on a single point of the barrier. It crumbled, giving in to the weight of the strikes. Even Ceridwen couldn’t defend so many positions. One by one, the Dananns slipped the barrier, faster as the ones preceding them provided coverage.

“Watch and learn,” Joe said, and blipped out. In quick succession, he flashed in and out of sight behind the Dananns, hitting and stabbing. He reappeared by my shoulder, his face glowing with excitement. “Ready?”

I jumped. We crisscrossed our way through the attackers, hitting and swinging swords. They fought back hard, their deep training showing in the instant reactions to my appearance beside them. My head rang with sound, the clash of sword blades, the deflection of essence, and the whirring of jumping. I wasn’t Joe. I was tiring, my body no match for the constant jumps even with a shield protecting me from exposure. At least I wasn’t bleeding to death this time.

The dark mass in my head struggled against the faith stone as essence heightened around us. Pain flashed on and off, blotches of red and black appearing in my vision. The dark mass sensed the intense living essence. The stone bowl in my jacket flushed heat against my chest as it amplified the energies. It was becoming too much. The combined sensory input was overwhelming—the faith stone, the dark mass, the stone bowl, and the spear all activating at the same time. A balance existed—I could sense that—but the middle of a fight was not the time to learn. I jumped away and landed alone farther up Tide Street.

Joe popped in next to me. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Taking a breather. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

He hovered toward the fighting. “Kicking ass is what you’re doing. Nice moves for a glow bee.”

Several Dananns swooped through the air along the street, keeping low on the roofline. They were setting up some kind of formation but didn’t seem to be advancing. “I don’t get what they’re doing. What do they care about the Tangle?”

Joe swiveled in place, watching as they alighted on the buildings. They weren’t firing. “Purging, m’friend, oldest game in the book. Don’t like the neighbors? Purge ’em. Don’t like the next town? Purge it. Don’t like the next county? Purge it. Damned Dananns never did know how to make friends with anybody.”

“But why the Tangle? I can see the beef Maeve has with the Consortium, but the Tangle? It doesn’t care about international crap,” I said.

Joe glanced at me slyly. “Well, it does tend to hide rogues and thieves that do.”

The Dananns lined the sides of the street. I had a few more jumps in me before I gave up to exhaustion, but that moment was getting close. “But Maeve doesn’t know about Ceridwen.”

“Speakin’ of, here she comes,” said Joe.

Ceridwen reached the end of Tide. Get out of here, Grey. It’s you they want. If you leave, I can delay them.

I didn’t understand what she was talking about. I wasn’t a favorite of Maeve’s, but taking down an entire neighborhood to get at me didn’t make much sense.

The spear shuddered in my hand. Annoyed, I frowned. Now wasn’t the time for Ceridwen to try her hand with it. I pulled back, clamped my mind on the spear’s essence, and held it in place. It shook away from me, pulling my arm up. I struggled as the spear dragged and pulled away from me. “Knock it off, Ceridwen,” I shouted to her.

Dananns dropped into the street and faced Ceridwen. If she heard me, she ignored me. The spear bounced and leaped in my hand like an animal on a leash. I decided to give in and do what she wanted and leave. I visualized Meryl’s office, tapped the spear—and was knocked on my ass. A surge of essence flashed back at me, shutting down the jump. The spear burned hot in my hand and vanished.