Dark Isle(39)

As the first Banshee came into view from the top of the bluffs I shouted up at her. “They went that way!” I pointed northwest. “They are pushing hard to reach the other side of the forest.”

The Banshee screeched and lifted her serrated sword high in the air. My gut clenched. She knew I wasn’t one of them! What made me think I could fool them? With a burst of speed she flew down the cliff towards me.

Hold, Quinn! Just wait.

Never had it been so hard to keep my body still. I did as Cora said, and held my ground, not lifting the scythe or my dagger. Brushing past me, close enough that she ruffled my hair, the Banshee circled to the right.

“Hurry sister, we can catch them if we hurry!” She sang to me, her voice pulling me along a few steps. I shook my head.

“I will wait, I want to speak to . . . another sister. It is of importance.” I tried my best to mimic Aednat’s way of speaking, as sweat trickled down my spine. Everything around us seemed to narrow to that moment. She lifted her shoulders in a shrug and streaked off the way I’d pointed.

As she flew away, a group of a dozen Banshees flew overhead, their wailing and singing climbing up and down my spine like a kid bashing on a piano. Again I pointed to the northwest and they followed my directions. It was too good to be true.

You were very lucky, Quinn.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” I said, letting go of the Glamour, dropping the scythe and bolting off in the direction that Aednat had led the humans.





15

They were moving at a good clip when I found them, only about ten minutes away from the border of the forest. “Aednat!” I shouted. “I sent them the wrong way.”

She barely nodded in reply and it was then that I could see the huge strain this was on her, commanding a small army of humans to follow her every wish. Knowing that I couldn’t sing to them like Aednat, there was a simple thing I could do to help ease that strain.

“Here, I can help.” I scooped her up onto my back and kept jogging. She bounced along, her song right in my ear. Five minutes passed and I could see the shimmer of the lake ahead.

“We’re going to make it!” I said. But no, life wouldn’t be quite that fair.

The Banshee guard who’d survived the bluffs, and called out the reinforcements stepped into our path; I skidded to a halt. Aednat slid from my back and I gave her a gentle push. “Go, I’ve got this.”

Aednat streaked around the Banshee, and the humans followed. When the guard tried to intercept them, I sent a blast of fire that caught the edge of her long red dress.

“Damn you Tuatha!” The Banshee shrieked at me. Her whip whistled through the air while she attempted to put out the flame with her other hand. I ducked and rolled, avoiding the lash. Leaping to my feet, I ran at her, tackling her to the ground. Her eyes widened as we scrambled for dominance, her weapon of choice nullified by our proximity, the flames put out by our struggle.

Grabbing her around the waist, I tossed her over my hip. She landed on her head and shoulders and then crumpled up. She let out a groan, eyes closed, mouth open and panting, a stain spreading over the middle of her dress. The scent of urine was strong and for a brief moment I felt bad for hurting her. But then I remembered Luke; the pity disappeared.

With a quick twist, I flipped her onto her back, using her own whip to tie her hands and feet together. I had no doubt that the other Banshees would be hot on our tails, which meant that I had to get out of here; there was no way I could take on a pack of them. And that wasn’t the point anyway; we had to get to Luke.

Sprinting, I caught up to the stragglers of the human horde just as they stepped over the forest’s edge and onto the paved road. All of them were stumbling, blinking, rubbing their faces. The disbelief in their eyes, and in their stances was obvious. I jumped up on a downed log to get a view over their heads. There in the center of them was Aednat, her hands fluttering like two hummingbirds sparring.

“We gotta go!” I shouted, waving to get her attention. A curt nod, one final wave of her hands, and she ran to my side.

She raised her left hand, a high-pitched note erupting out of her mouth, one that made my skin crawl with the intensity of it. It went on and on, climbing higher; I clapped my hands over my ears, afraid that Aednat might do some lasting damage. The mass of people froze, their bodies seizing up as a unit and then, as the note finally began to fade, they relaxed shaking off whatever spell she’d laid on them.

“I make it so that…they can’t be spelled again.” She paused. “Now we take care of bad Queen. Now, you see what Aednat can do.”

The determined set of her jaw would have been cute if she was truly a little girl. Knowing her for what she was, it was more than a little unnerving.