Deeper Shadows of Faerie, page 23
“Let’s get on with it then.”
We made our way back to the King’s chamber in a hurry. Lord Faniel was still laid out on the floor with the King, Queen, and Toby standing over him. Jack went to speak to them; Michelle came over to us and threw her arms around mother.
“We were so worried about you,” she said. “Are you alright?”
“I’m okay, but I want to get out of here,” said mother. “Is the cottage okay?”
“Fine, all locked up,” said Michelle. “Your car’s still there.”
“We’ll go back as soon as the compulsion is lifted,” I said.
“Good!” said mother. “Can’t happen soon enough.”
Jack and Toby called us over then. I took Toby’s hand, Toby took Lord Faniel’s hand and pulled him to his feet.
“You will remove the compulsion on this one,” he ordered indicating mother.
Lord Faniel complied and took her hand, not that he had any choice as he was still weak. It was a pretty simple compulsion, and I felt no pull on me as Toby directed him in removing the compulsion. He finished it quickly and Toby ordered him back to the floor.
“What now?” I asked Toby. “Mother wants to go back.”
“Then take her back. This one will be executed before the people tomorrow.”
“Is that smart? Wouldn’t it be better to dispose of him while he is still weakened?”
“I agree with you. But they have decided to make an example.”
“It’s asking for trouble from his supporters. I guess we’ll find out how strong they are.”
“I think so,” said Toby and I caught a thread of anxiety from him. “I fear they are stronger than the King believes.”
“So if I go back with mother and bring some more fireworks and bombs then that would be a good idea?”
“I think that would be a very good idea.”
“What time of day is the execution tomorrow?”
“Midday.”
“I will be back by then.” That should give me time enough back home to collect stuff. “With all the grief he’s caused I certainly want to see him get what’s coming.”
* * *
Michelle and I took mother to the portal in darkness. We had two Otherkin with us who were to fetch the refugee families back, so we went to the portal at Mrs. Barrett’s. It was late afternoon there and we found we’d been gone three days. Michelle drove us over to the cottage. Mother’s car was still there, locked up as she’d left it; fortunately, she had a spare set of keys in the cottage. We found the cottage untouched after Michelle opened up with her keys.
“Put the kettle on, Charlie,” said mother. “A cup of tea, then you can tell me the full story of how you captured Lord Faniel.”
I made tea, Michelle found biscuits and we settled down fortified by chocolate digestives and strong English Breakfast. I started the tale with the text I received from mother’s phone and described how Jack, Toby, and myself got into Peter Murphy’s place, captured him, and forced him to summon Lord Faniel into our trap.
“That’s impressive! So Murphy is who had me kidnapped?” said mother. “You sure?”
“Dead certain! I’ve been in his mind,” I said. “He’s Faniel’s son.”
“So what happened to him?”
“We gave him to the police with a strong compulsion on him to tell them everything.”
“Something good for this side comes out of it then. That was well done. What happens next, are you staying?”
“Tonight yes. Tomorrow we need to buy some more fireworks and anything else we can find to take over there,” I said.
“Do you really need to go?”
“Yes. I need to be there to see Lord Faniel pay for all that he’s done. Toby thinks there will be an attempt to stop the execution. We’re going to find out how strong Faniel’s support really is.”
“Do you think you can stop them?”
“I don’t know, but we have to try. I could wish for something a bit more lethal than fireworks.”
“Well, you’re going to do it whether I like it or not, so you take care.” She finished her tea. “I need a bath, then I’m going to bed to sleep for a week.”
Mother went upstairs and neither of us felt like cooking, so we drove up to the village centre to get fish and chips.
* * *
Mother was still in bed when we left the next morning to drive into Southampton. We went to the fireworks shop first. We didn’t know what numbers we would be facing; we had enough firebombs for small groups and, I presumed, the King’s followers could take care of the rest. What I needed was for facing an army, so I bought rockets, air-bombs and, at Michelle’s suggestion, smoke bombs. Nothing lethal but all things to upset, confuse, and disorientate soldiers who would not have seen them before. There was no point in buying more than we could carry through the portal, so we filled two medium-sized boxes, I bought three boxes of matches, too, and paid a bill of four hundred pounds. If we didn’t use them then we could have a great party.
We debated going to the lab so I could make more firebombs but decided against it. It was more important that we get back through the portal as soon as possible, and I thought we probably had enough anyway. They are for close range, and I really didn’t want to get that close to Lord Faniel’s followers.
We drove back Mrs. Barrett’s and left the car there as the portal was only a short distance away. Even the medium-size boxes were heavy enough that we didn’t want to carry them far. It was not possible to carry them and hold hands going through the portal, so Michelle followed me and gave me an anxious couple of minutes before she appeared on the other side.
It was dark under the trees, but the silvery glow of the palace was back, and we were able to find our way through the wood by its light. It seemed a good sign that it had been restored and, mercifully, without the music.
Just before the edge of the wood Michelle put down her box and caught my arm.
“Can you smell what I’m smelling?”
I stood beside her and sniffed the air. She was right, faint but unmistakable.
“Gwasannath.”
“That’s what I thought. Lord Faniel’s followers?”
“Very likely.” While gwasannath were widely used as servants, I’d only seen our enemies use them as soldiers.
We put down the boxes and moved cautiously to the edge of the wood. The sky was lightening and a mist rising over the lawns of the palace tinted silver by the glow. Dawn could not be far away. I put out a glamour to merge us with the shadows under the trees.
Away to our right a horse neighed and, moments later, a group of riders emerged from the mist at a trot following the edge of the woods a couple of hundred yards away on the far side of the broad lawns. They slowed and a second group, a handful of riders and a troop of spear-carrying gwasannath, came out of the trees to meet them.
“We have to get to the palace to warn them,” said Michelle. “Should we run for it?”
“They certainly need warning, but I don’t see how we can get there ahead of them. Even if we abandon the boxes, we can’t outrun them.” It was all open ground between us and the palace. While I could produce a glamour to conceal us from the gwasannath, the Great, who were undoubtedly with the enemy, would most likely be able to penetrate it.
“What do we do then?”
I could only think of one thing. “Use the fireworks now. It’ll alert the palace and should slow up the enemy at the very least.”
“That seems reasonable.”
We stepped back under the trees and opened the boxes. There were half a dozen launch tubes for the rockets which I stuck in the ground at the edge of the trees angled towards the enemy. We had bought rockets that burst with a really loud explosion, and I loaded up three to start with. We planted a row of airbombs in front of them also angled the same way.
“We’ll keep the smoke bombs back for cover us if they come after us,” I said.
The enemy were still milling around on the edge of the trees on the far side of the lawns.
“Maybe they’re waiting for more people,” said Michelle.
“Don’t see why we should wait.” I struck a match and applied the flame to the touchpapers of the rockets. We stepped back and a couple of seconds later the rockets soared off towards the enemy leaving a fine trail of sparks. While they were in flight, we loaded up another three and lit them. The first three burst with an eye-searing flash and apocalyptic bang.
“That should wake everyone in the palace,” said Michelle.
Among the enemy the effect was gratifyingly dramatic; horses shied unseating some riders, gwasannath screamed loud enough for us to hear and some ran into the trees. The second set of rockets exploded. More horses shied and the loose horses bolted scattering gwasannath. We launched a third flight of rockets. Five riders detached from the group and galloped towards us.
“Smoke bombs!” I called to Michelle then lit the airbombs.
The rockets exploded, further scattering the enemy, but the riders, armed with sword and spear, raced on towards us at full gallop. I stepped back under the trees and reinforced the glamour. I could feel their approach through the ground. The airbombs fired, and Michelle threw the first smoke bomb quickly followed by another. White smoke spewed out hiding the riders from our view, then the airbombs exploded. The vibrations through the ground ceased. We grabbed the remaining smoke bombs and airbombs then retreated into the wood away from the path to the portal. We found a clump of trees where the shadows seemed deeper than most and buried ourselves in it. Michelle took my hand, and I pushed the glamour out for all I was worth.
All was quiet for a minute or two. I hoped they had decided against coming into the dark woods, then we heard men’s voices calling to each other, sounding angry, though, of course, I could not understand them. Michelle’s grip on my hand tightened. The voices drew nearer along with the sounds of breaking branches.
“They can’t see us unless they’re Great,” I told her in her mind. “And they would not send anyone Great to do this.”
“Doesn’t matter if what they’re doing is sticking their spears into shadows,” she replied.
“You have a good point.” That was going to be a problem if they came this way.
The voices and noise came closer. They were coming this way.
“What do we do?” asked Michelle. “We can’t fight them. Can you scare them off?”
I could feel her fear and she was right, we couldn’t fight them. But maybe we could scare them. It was too dark for something visual but there were other options. I drew in her fear, added to my own and pushed it out focusing on the voices, accompanied by as low a growl as I could manage. I amplified and deepened it as if some huge predatory beast was menacing them.
The sounds of breaking branches ceased, and the voices took on tones of alarm. I hoped they were saying “did you hear that? What the fuck is that? I’m not going in there.” They were certainly moving, getting closer to each other so far as I could tell. I pushed out another deep growl to persuade them to rejoin their comrades. Their voices got a bit fainter as if they had moved away, but I could still hear them. We were safer and had bought time, but they were still between us and the palace.
“Where are they?” said Michelle in my mind.
“I guess they’ve gone back to the edge of the woods.”
“Where are their horses? They must have dismounted to come into the woods.”
“Don’t know. Maybe they tied them to trees at the edge.”
“So could you scare them into a stampede? It would give them something to think about instead of searching for us.”
“Maybe. If it was going to work, they should’ve already been affected. I think I might need to be able to see or hear them to focus on them.”
“Then we have to move.”
We moved as quietly as we could, pausing for me to push the glamour out again. I felt more powerful when I was in contact with Michelle, so I kept hold of her hand. The voices stayed where they were and sounded argumentative.
We worked our way slowly around the voices and back to the edge of the woods. The sky had grown noticeably lighter, and we could see a group of horses tethered about a hundred yards away. The voices came from somewhere beyond them, but they were hidden behind their mounts. Across the lawns the palace still glowed tantalisingly, but I could see nothing happening. Looking the other way up the woods’ edge, the main enemy force still appeared to be in disorder with gwasannath and men milling around. I wondered if my glamour had reached as far as them.
We hid ourselves in the scrubby bushes at the margin of the wood. I took Michelle’s hand and projected fear at the horses. The horses were unaffected. I pushed harder. Still nothing doing with the horses, but shouts of alarm from the voices behind them.
“Doesn’t work on horses,” I said.
“I know what does,” said Michelle. She released my hand, took an airbomb and stuck in the ground angled towards the horses.
“Hold on,” I said. “I want to try something first.”
I took her hand again and pushed the fear glamour out towards the main enemy force. The effect was immediate. The gwasannath screamed and ran away from the woods and scattered across the lawns. A few of the men ran, too; others clutched their weapons and huddled into defensive circles with blades outward. A few riders seemed unaffected; the Great I presumed.
“Mm, interesting,” I said. “That works over a greater distance than I thought it would.”
“Why are you surprised?” said Michelle. “The glamour on the palace works over a long distance. Will I light the airbomb?”
“Yes. Do it.”
She lit the fuse and I pushed out a glamour to conceal us as we watched from the bushes. The first cartridge launched with a pop and soared over the horses then exploded with an apocalyptic bang. The horses, without riders to control them, panicked, rearing and surging. They broke the tethers holding them and galloped away across the grass. Their riders shouted in vain and gave chase as a second airbomb exploded frightening the horses further.
“Let’s see if the rockets are where we left them,” I said as we watched the riders pursue their mounts across the lawns.
We made our way along the edge of the wood to where we had left the rockets. The box looked like it had been kicked over spilling the rockets into the undergrowth, but they were still usable. We loaded up the launch tubes and kept watch. The main group of the enemy were still in disarray, but I expected the rockets would still be needed when they got organised.
“When are they going to do something?” said Michelle looking at the palace. “They must know something is happening.”
“I think they must. I expect something is being done behind that glamour, but all we can do is wait.” Which was true but did nothing to soothe our anxieties.
“Do you think there’s going to be a battle?”
“Quite likely, I think. And we should keep well out of it.”
We waited and watched the riders fruitlessly pursue their horses and the main group slowly restore order to their ranks. Another small group came up out of the woods to join them, and they looked like they were ready to move.
“Look!” Michelle pulled on my arm. “Something’s happening at the palace.”
I looked. She was right. Things were moving in front of the palace. As we watched, cavalry and infantry emerged from the ground mist. A whole army marched with banners waving and breastplates shining across the grass towards us; three maybe four times the strength of the enemy.
The enemy responded with frantic activity, moving men and gwasannath around into a defensive formation as the army approached like the incoming tide across Lepe beach.
“There’s going to be a battle,” said Michelle.
“There is, but how much of that army is real? It looks real enough, but it could just be a really good glamour.”
“Does it matter if the enemy can’t tell either?”
“Some of them are Great, maybe they can see through it.” But then maybe they can’t. The King would have assembled the strongest Great available to him plus his own strength. “We’re going to find out pretty soon.”
I moved to the launch tubes; we had a couple of flights of rockets left. “Let’s try to make the best use of these.”
We watched the two forces draw closer to each other and I chose the moment with care. We lit the fuses and watched the rockets soar towards the enemy formation. As I had intended, the King’s army was about a hundred yards away and beginning their charge when the rockets exploded. The gwasannath panicked and ran as did some of the infantry. The King’s cavalry crashed into those that remained, driving deep into the enemy formation through the gaps that had opened up. The illusion dissolved and we could see their real numbers. Far fewer than they had seemed, perhaps slightly more than the enemy, but they had the momentum with them.
There seemed to be no point in launching the final rockets, nor could I project my glamour of fear as the combatants were too close together. We stood at the edge of the wood and watched the battle develop, preparing to run for the portal if it looked like the enemy would prevail. At this distance and with no one wearing uniforms, it was difficult to tell who was on which side. We hoped Jack and Toby were not part of it.
There were some hard men among the enemy. Despite their inferior numbers and tactical disadvantage, they fought for an hour with the desperation of doomed men - which they most likely were if captured. Eventually the numbers told, the back-to-back fighting groups were whittled down one by one until none remained and the King, clearly visible with his full glamour, stood over the last man to fall.
We walked over to join them carrying the remaining fireworks and the full extent of the battle became clear. The grass was strewn with bodies for hundreds of yards, both men and horses, small groups of people attending to the wounded and great stains of dark blood.
The King saw us approach and smiled. A bloodstained man wearing a shirt of bronze scales appeared beside him and beckoned us over. He removed his helmet; it was Jack.
“The King wishes to thank you,” he said.
