“ We need to finish clearing a path for her!” Cullen was circled by several different creatures as he sparred with all of them at once. This would be our only shot to destroy Morrigan, so if we failed, this was the end. If her torpid dagger didn’t work, we would be six feet below the ground.
As the fight continued on, we were all growing weaker from exhaustion. Hours upon hours of fighting was brutal to our bodies, but we had to. More importantly, I had to help get it done. Now that all the truths were out about my mom and brother, the last connection to them both now stood as my mate. She’d be killing the woman I wanted personal revenge on. Morrigan had made it known she lusted for me and my magic to merge with hers. Back then, I had been tempted to do it, knowing Muir got the girl I wanted. But it was the liveliness I saw in Briar’s eyes during my trip that prevented it even then. One day, I’d tell her she saved me from that darkness, but it wasn’t for today.
Briar was everything I had ever wanted, but my brother found her first. Now that she knew a little about me fancying her before coming, Briar accepted me. She understood my absence from this world because I felt isolated without my family.
Leaving them was my fault, but I didn’t know it would be my last goodbye. In their honor, I dashed forward, making X’s with my sword in front of me to slice those who got on my path. To fix my part in all this happening, and it was up to me to help her seek vengeance.
With her blade glowing, I could easily see where she stood in the midst of all the lost creatures. Morrigan’s green magic spewed from below the black earth to show us just how much she was ruining our world. This trip had been the first time I had seen the damage of her magic, knowing I couldn’t let our kind end this way. My blade met many along the way because we had to finish this. Getting to where Cullen stood, I helped him make a barrier with our bodies that would guide Briar to the castle doors.
Our shields of power served us well to ram into everything in front of us as we kept our swords jutting out from below it. Cullen impaled one that he had to shake off his medal by using his foot placed right below the stab wound. Once he finished getting his sword back, we pressed forward again with Bain and Alasdair flanking us from the side. Fergus held our ranks at the rear for us to move through the mass.
It almost felt impossible. The horde of savages circled us in a tight center to keep us from pressing forward. We were all covered in the blood of their brothers, but I worried for what they’d get from us. Bain tapped my shoulder in order to switch spots, telling me with his eyes what he planned to do. He and Cullen worked as a team with the flame and wind to spread it over the ones along our path. The combination was lethal in ways I never knew they could do, so I just fought from the side to continue flanking them, sending my darkness over the animals to blind them from our location. None of them had night vision when it came to my magic. It dissipated faster than I could send it from the green whisps striking it.
Casting my shadows wouldn’t be of much help right now, but it gave me time to get a sense of Morrigan’s as hers battled mine. Her magic blocked some abilities while on her land. Fergus and I were the ones who dealt with it the most though because he couldn’t call upon the earth in her dead spots. Morrigan had poisoned all the water, leaving Alasdair in the same boat we were in, but he had a canteen on him that he began using as a floating weapon, slicing through a row of animals all at once. Unlocking our primal forms and becoming dragons also helped us to stand toe-to-toe with the one above.
Continuing my sparring, I let the others do what they needed as I made sure no one breached our circle. In the same moment that the circle tightened with the few steps we took forward, we heard a different howl come from the distance. Looking over to the tip of the mountain just south of the castle, we found all the creatures of Faerie that hadn’t been turned yet.
Some of our own kind also joined, braving themselves to help us be victorious. They were chanting the war cry of a king’s call, telling me what it was that delayed Fergus in the oasis. Their spears and swords clanked against the ground in unison, creating a tremble of pride to wave through the rest of us. There were no words for how inspired I was to see several hundred of them charging into our battle.
Once our help arrived, the circle of our enemies began to disperse in order to stand against them. An earth fae brought vines of her own with her like Fergus had, using them to grow around her arms to attack the people better. Water benders kept flasks at the ready to use as a weapon just as Alasdair had done to take out a full row with one blow. The winter fairies could always use their fire, so they stood in the front to help ease the other people in as the animals bit into their new prey. Wind fairies teamed up to create a massive tornado that ran through all the shadowed animals next to us, leaving us a gap to maneuver through.
The fight just became fair, and I was humbled by how our people came to our aid. Most weren’t our biggest fans because we hadn’t completed the trials to become kings, so they had left us to fend for this world on our own. Now it appeared some understood that we couldn’t do it alone. My moment of awe didn’t last because I was in the thick of the battle trying to get Briar to the door. It didn’t take us long, but we finally made more headway up to the wooden door head.
We all circled around the entry just as Briar went inside. The rest of us wanted to follow her, but we also knew we couldn’t. It was foretold she would be the one to end Morrigan, so we’d cover her from the rest of the enemies around us. Spitting out some blood from being punched in the face earlier, I readied myself for who came up the steps to greet us. Our end was near whether we survived or not, so it only felt fitting to fight for it.
25
Briar
“Go!” Cullen commanded in an order as they got the door open. Minutes had turned into hours, creating a soreness to build inside my muscles, but my chance finally came. I didn’t see this just as a quest for vengeance. No, it was a request for my redemption. Morrigan had hurt everyone I loved in her own way, so I’d be returning the favor and destroying the person she loved most, herself.
Someone like Morrigan didn’t care about the livelihoods of other people, and it was why she should have never been a leader in the first place. With one glance over my shoulder spared for my men, I met each of their eyes in a promise to do what I had to. We had only known each other for a short time but it was enough to understand we could make this work. We were the ones who would bring peace to the people in a way we hadn’t been able to do before.
Getting in the door just in the nick of time, it slammed behind me from my men guarding it. Outside, I could hear everyone grunting and raging in their roars, but in here was utter silence. The castle looked empty with cobwebs and dust blanketing the railing of the stairs. That was odd for a woman who resided here.
Knowing Morrigan would want a front row seat to the demise of my men, I began my climb up the stone stairs. There were so many steps that it troubled me to remember what she forced me to suffer right before placing me under that curse. I had climbed like this that night she took everything away from me. Shaking my head, I knew I couldn’t let those thoughts intrude right now. I would grieve my losses one day, but today was for bringing Morrigan to her knees.
Climbing the stairs felt endless in ways I didn’t enjoy. She did it on purpose to tire my legs out as well, but I didn’t think she knew I was coming for her. When I got about halfway, I heard the door open from below again, telling me my men found access inside.
I wasn’t sure how the fae army knew we were fighting, but it was quite the sight to see hundreds lined up at the steep of Morrigan’s castle, helping us breach the inside to destroy her once and for all. Part of me wanted to wait for my men to join me, but I also wanted to begin the fight with her for them to come in and slay her from behind. My ten-minute head start wouldn’t last long, but it was enough time to do what was necessary for them to ensure victory. If I could weaken her, they could kill her.
Finally getting to the upper level, I found the door to her quarters open, seeing her standing before the window. She looked as though she was content with what was happening outside, but I never would be from how many were surrendering their lives to finish this. Tyranny never looked good on anyone, and it was time this woman learned some manners.
“Morrigan,” I stated her name with a growl. She turned around to see me, surprised by who it was that entered her chambers.
“Well, well well, if it isn’t miss Briar Rose.” She began strutting toward me in a leisurely manner as though she felt she had complete control over the situation. I had no doubt that’s how she felt because she didn’t know Áine gave me her magic. “I thought I cursed you to sleep until you had true love’s kiss?”
Shrugging, I didn’t let on as to why I was here. “I guess there are secrets not even you understand,” I replied, making her feel inferior.
I knew it worked too because she instantly charged at me. Widening my stance, I pulled the spare knife that Cian had given me in order to fight off the malicious tyrant. Morrigan saw the knife and transformed into a full dragon in the very room we were in. With the high ceilings being dozens of feet above her head, she had plenty of room for her full transformation.
Black scales lined her body, but there was a toxic green glow between every single one of them that matched the color of her stomach. A booming roar left her mouth because my dagger had plunged into her thigh before she could think about it. I removed the cold metal from her leg, sensing how wrong it felt to hold such a weapon. But I didn’t want her seeing Áine’s magic in my blade because I knew she’d be able to sense what was happening.
If I could just hold out for the men to get here, I knew I’d have better luck with what was to come. Áine might have prophesized that it was me who would stand toe-to-toe with Morrigan, but I knew it would take more than just one person to complete this. Just like I knew the sacrifice of my men meant something more because they also gave up their futures for their people. Nonetheless, they had a sense of drive and belonging still present in their lives. When I promised myself to them forever, it was because I felt no future left in me, already having lost what I envisioned. So, holding the blade with no power, I made it look like I was just a meek human standing before her.
Looking at the blade of my knife, I could see Morrigan’s black blood dripping from the tip. She had poisoned herself so much that she was no longer like us by having red blood come out. Angered by what I had done, Morrigan reared back and readjusted herself to charge at me again. Her room was the size of a ballroom which made no sense to me because this was just her private quarters for rest. But then I looked to the window where she watched the outside world around her fortress. It was then I knew she never left this room.
All around me, I could see what she had stashed away with a full living room set being where we were now, to her master bed along the far wall. Much like the small cottage Áine and I shared, she had her room made into a reduced house inside the castle. It made sense to why the downstairs had been so barren upon my entry. Morrigan might be all powerful and supreme, but she had no life outside of her treachery.