Xana III

Chapter six

Xana III

We sit solemnly around the living room. All the lights in the house are off as if we really were sleeping; the only light comes from the aura around Aleen which is dimmed by Cecile’s aura. Our belongings are all packed into our own backpack. Mine seems to be the lightest. I only packed a few items; a few changes of clothes (not like their any different than what I have on now) and my trusty canteen of holy water, you know, to fight with Nix forbid we run into trouble.

The clock strikes one. All around me my sisters stir uncomfortably as the tension builds. I feel the buzz of anticipation in the air like haunting music dancing around my ears. Our silence is like a harp’s string being pulled, just waiting for someone to let go, but no sound penetrates our tense silence.

I look around the room. Cecile combs her fingers through Aleen hair, Nerina has her knees tucked up to her chest and wraps her arms around her knees tightly, Jinx traces her finger in the air making shapes and words at random, Kiri and Fleur sit back to back using each other’s shoulders as a pillow for their heads as they stare up at the ceiling, Adana’s eyes are closed as if she’s sleeping but I know better. I stand in the hall with my backpack strapped over my shoulders and the canteen at my hip. I’ve been standing ready for about an hour now. Sora is up in her room keeping watch through her window. My knees are starting to lock and my back is getting a bit sore but I don’t move, not a single muscle.

“Someone’s coming!” I hear Sora call from her room. A few of my sisters gasp. I creep towards the door. I can hear a bit of rustling from beyond the door. I reach for the doorknob slowly. Just as I hear the light sound of someone touching down on our porch I swing the door open and gather water in the air into an icicle with the tip as sharp as a needle. I grip the icicle like a spear about to be tossed.

“Whoa!” A dark silhouette of a faerie falls backwards on the porch and scrambles back. I hush him and let the icicle melt out of my hands. I grab the collar of the mysterious faerie’s shirt and haul him into the house closing the door behind us. Sora walks forward with the candle alight in her hand and Aleen shimmies past out gathered sisters so she can help with the low-light situation. I look at the faerie I dragged in the house. Disappointment fills my heart and then guilt for that feeling right after. It’s not Demetri. The boy has light brown skin and large dark chocolate eyes.

“Zephyrus!” half whispers half cheers Sora. She nearly loses the candle as she wraps her arms around Zephyrus’ neck and kisses his cheek. That’s new.

“Sora?!” He looks down at her with his big eyes bugging in surprise. Then he smiles. “Man is it good to see you.” He squeezes her tightly. Zephyrus is a wind faerie, so obviously he works with Sora which is, I guess, where their feelings grew. As of last year he no longer lives in a coven house, though he does live with two of his coven brothers in a house at the base of the trunk; he’s four years older than us.

Kiri coughs and Zephyrus lets go of Sora. “Ok, so are you ladies ready to go?”

“Let’s hit the road.”

He eyes me steadily. “Thank you for joining us Xana. You’re something of an idol to the refugees; the last ice faerie.”

The last words make me flinch, but I keep my composer afterwards. “Let’s just get out of here before someone detects something strange.” He nods in understanding.

“There’s a secret path, but at some point we’ll have to fly in open view. It’s dangerous, but we’ve made it plenty of times before. Just two nights ago we escorted two coven houses over the boundary. I’m sure we’ll be safe, especially with Xana.” All the girls nod. “Ok, I’ll lead. Stay right behind me. Don’t lose me.” He turns and opens the door.

�-–

We’ve been trekking through the wheat field on the outskirts of Fey City for at least two hours. Zephyrus takes the lead with Sora at his side and I bring up the caboose alone. We’re close to the border now and just in time too; the sun is beginning to rise and Kiri’s whining is becoming unbearable. “Are we almost there?” she moans.

“Yes,” says Zephyrus patiently. “We’re almost there.”

“Ugh! I’m sooo hungry.”

“You’re usually asleep at this time Kiri, so you usually never eat around now. Give it another hour; you’re over exaggerating how hungry you are,” says Starling.

“No I’m not!” she groans. “I truly am starving!”

“No you’re not Kir,” assures Aleen.

“Mmhmmm!”

I hear skittering behind me. “Kiri shut up.”

“Don’t tell me to shut up!”

“Quiet!” I hiss. “I think something is following us.” Zephyrus freezes and turns slowly around. There’s another skittering sound coming from the group’s side and then another and another. Aleen shrinks into Cecile and grabs her arm as Jinx whimpers in fright.

“No one move or speak.” Stalks of wheat quiver in front of us. “Don’t even breathe. Don’t even blink.”

Jinx snickers at the last sentence and when she does a gnawing sound like the grinding of teeth seems to pick up; it starts out quiet and then gets louder. The sound dies just as it starts to sound like we’ve stepped into the cave of giant cicadas. All is silent except for the sound of my sisters’ frightened breathing. I look up at the sky; it’s still dark out, but the sun will be up any second now. I search the field for anything, anything at all.

The world seems to stop for a moment and then its starts spinning fast enough to nauseate me. An imp flies out of the stalks of wheat and attacks me. There’s no time for me to scream, though that’s clearly not the case for my sisters, as it scratches at my face. I punch it I the throat and it crumbles to the ground. I scramble to stand up and look around wildly. Warm blood dribbles down my cheekbone. “Xana! Are you ok?!” asks Aleen frantically.

I hush her. “That can’t be it. No, no,” I say as the gears in my head whir crazily. “They travel in packs; never alone. We’re not done yet.”

That’s when we hear it again; the drones like cicadas. A patchy shadow looms over us as the sound grows. We all look up in horror. Thousands of imps fly slowly over us like the massive wave of a tsunami. “Go!” I yell. I start pushing someone away as my eyes stay locked on the wave of doom. “Go go go!” I yell frantically. My sisters, Zephyrus, and I sprint away from the imps.

“Keep going west!” yells Zephyrus. The only reason why we know that is because the sun rises in the east, so we’re running away from the sun.

I look back to see the imps closing in on us. “Fly!” I scream. We all lift off and soar west. I look back again, which was another mistake. The imps have formed a sort of cloud, a dark evil void threatening to swallow you up if you slow down even the slightest. “Faster!”

My precautions are useless because suddenly they’re on us. An imp grabs my ankle with sharp claws and throws me down. I lose focus and plummet to the ground. I land with a mucky splash in a small marsh. One by one my sisters fall out of the sky like fallen angels. The imps stay above us as I scramble up. I take a silent role. They’re all here and most look fine except Aleen, who’s wing is bent in a strange way, and Zephyrus, who hit his head in a rock and is lying on Sora’s lap. “Is everyone ok?!” asks Adana.

“Yes, we’re all just dandy!” yells Fleur in frustration and she hops on one foot.

“Sora! Is Zephyrus ok?”

“Yes, he’s breathing, but he’s unconscious.”

“Ok, Cecile and Jinx, help Aleen. Kiri, help Sora carry Zephyrus. The rest of you, lead the way and get everybody the hell out of here.”

“Where are you going?!” asks Starling.

I close my eyes and concentrate. I grab water from the marsh around us and let it crawl up my legs at my bidding. The water rolls over my shoulders making the spikes longer and sharper and slides down my arms. I tip my fingers with razor sharp icicles on my left arm and then on the right, from a kink in my metal I let ice grow down my forearm and way past my fingers in a blade like a sword. I gather my metal fingers in a fist and open my eyes. “I’m staying and fighting.”

“We’re not leaving you!” yells Nerina.

“Sure as hell you are. But don’t worry I’ll catch up with you soon.”

“I don’t like this,” moans Kiri.

“Yeah me neither,” says Aleen.

“Well get over it,” I say as I look up at the sky. “Because they’re getting agitated.”

“What are they waiting for?” asks Fleur.

“I don’t know.” Suddenly the swarm on us. We scream as they pull hair and scratch our skin. It like an apocalypse of giant, ash colored, flesh eating beetles. “GO!”

The girls grab the injured ones and try to flee, but the imps are too much. Then a sudden sparkling dark purple bubble expands around them and the imps are pushed away and repelled. Through the thick layer I can see Jinx concentrating with all her being with her eyes closed. She’s draped over Adana and Starling’s arms and as they all fly away the bubble follows, protecting them and eventually making the imps give up and fly away. I want to cheer in happiness at the scene, but my relief is shortly lived when an imp bites my arm, close to my elbow. I scream in utter pain and freeze the damn imps brains. It flops lifelessly onto the ground. I swat and swing my ice blade around wildly as I try to get the imps off of me. I dowse the imps around me in water and freeze them. That gives me an opening. I soar up into the sky at an alarming speed. I hold my arms over my head as I tear through the cloud of imps. I abruptly break through and am free for the moment. Without a moment to waste I whip out my special, self-discovered technique; no it’s more of a talent. Man I hope I still got it, I think to myself nervously.

I push my arms out to my side and let my hands dangle. I close my eyes and tilt my head towards the sky. Here goes nothing.

I concentrate in the imps. I can hear their blood rushing through their veins. I concentrate on that. I freeze their veins. The imps stop cold in their tracks in the sky. I smile at the sound of a few crackle as they try to let in air, but they can’t move. Then I concentrate on the blood still flowing; I freeze that next. I can almost hear the cracks of the veins as the blood freezes and expands inside. I laugh. For my final trick I unfreeze everything I’ve frozen and open my eyes. The sun almost blinds me but Im able to see the grotesque scene I’ve created. All around me imps spurt blood out of their mouths, noses, ears, and eyes as the blood sprays out of the cracks in all the veins in their bodies. I’m splattered with a bit of blood, but I don’t care. Imps fall out of the sky; every single one of them dead. A few, twenty I want to say, escape and fly towards the sun but again I don’t care; they aren’t harming my sisters anymore so whatever, hide.

Looking down on the dead imps one last time before I fly away I feel... accomplished. I guess I do still have it. If I had a collar that stuck out, I’d pop it.

I turn around and flutter west, away from the sun.

I reach my sisters; Jinx let the force-field go. Starling takes my shoulders and gives me a once over with wild eyes. “How- how did you get away?!”

“I killed them all.”

He eyes widen even more. “All of them?!”

“All but a few, but they went flying away like sissies.”

“But how did you kill them so quickly?!” asks Fleur in total amazement.

“Didn’t you guys see?”

“No! The sun rose and we couldn’t see you anymore.”

“Is that so?”

“Uh, yeah,” says Kiri.

“Hmm, well I took care of them with the help of my fallen folk.”

“What?” asks Aleen and Kiri in unison.

I smile at my last memory of Izo. You possess the power of all our fallen sisters and brothers; you just don’t know your strength. Take care of yourself Xana. Knowing that Izo and my parents are part of that weird, most likely untrue prophecy brings slight joy to me. “An old friend told me that.”

�-–

“Over there!”

The refugee camp comes into view through the fog. As we approach we discover it really isn’t a camp at all; it’s a small forgotten village. I remember learning about this in school; the Queen contracted the borders around Fey City, for reasons unknown, leaving villages of earth faeries to have to be abandoned and moved closer to the city. It’s a shame that happened because now some earth faeries have to travel far to take care the wheat all the way out here. I heard a rumor that exiled Faeries moved to these villages other than moving to a human civilization. Only until now do I realize that the rumors are true.

Beside the point, we’re here; safe and sound. Men and women, with and without wings, run from the camp to greet us with huge smiles. Even a few children with dirt on their cheeks grin at us. I can’t help but smile back. I can almost see their level of hope rise as they look around at us. Zephyrus is conscious again however I think he has a concussion.

“Nerina!” Gill pushes through the small crowd of people to get to his girlfriend.

“Gill!” squeals Nerina. She runs and leaps into his arms. He crushes her in a hug and kisses her cheek over and over again.

I search madly for him. He’s got to be here. He sent me that letter.

“Xana!” I whip around and see Demetri smiling brighter than I’ve seen in years. His dark hair is combed up and away from his chocolate eyes. His pearly white teeth stand out against his tan skin and the darkness. I feel my body release the tension when I see him. “Thank Nixie,” I huff.

I run to him and he greets me with open arms. We slam bodies and his arms slip around me and he spins me. I can’t help but giggle as he swings me around. He gently sets me on the ground, but before he can get a word out, I’m kissing him. I run my fingers through his thick hair and his hands press on the small of my back, arching me into him. We break away and he smiles down at me, but is changed to a sudden frown quickly. “What happened to you?!”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m with you now and that’s all I care about.”

“And I’ll never leave you again, I swear sweetie.”

I almost let out a giddy giggle. He called me sweetie!

He kisses me heatedly. I can tell we’re getting a few stares, but at this point I don’t give a crap. “An ice faerie?!” squeals a woman’s voice excitedly.

I freeze. Yes, I froze in the middle of a kiss.

I part with Demetri’s lips. He presses his warm forehead to mine and sighs. “How splendid!” says the same voice.

I turn around. A woman faerie about forty approaches us. Her brown hair is streaked with gray and lines on her face tell me she’s frowned a lot in her time, though I can’t blame her. She’s smiling now, her coal colored eyes glinting in excitement. She takes my left hand the moment she’s close enough. “Oh what a pleasure to meet you,” she squeals. “Well I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you with us. Though by the state of you and your sisters, I see you’ve come across some trouble getting here and I do apologize. Those damn imps have taken over our city. Oh!” She giggles awkwardly. “I’m still shaking your hand!” She giggles some more and let’s my hand go. Well, anyways we’re grateful for your presence young ice faerie, but may I just ask, why are you of all faeries here? Aren’t all ice faeries devoted to the Queen?”

I snort. “See lady, that’s where you are terribly wrong.”

She seems shocked. Demetri clears his throat. “Um Xana this is Ceres Groverwood, Agues’ assistant. Ceres this is Xana Frost.”

“Oh yes! I should have introduced myself! Well no bother Demetrius did it for me.”

“Demetri,” he corrects.

She ignores him. “Well! You and your sisters must come meet Agues! Oh he’ll be so thrilled that you’re here my dear! Come along.”

She loops her arm with mine and drags me along. Demetri wraps his hand around my hip and follows from behind. Ceres doesn’t seem to mind his presence, which is fine by me. My coven sisters join our little walk silently.

The rebel village is really just an old section of Fey City that was cut off long ago, why? I don’t know ask our crazy Queen.

The houses are rundown, but it seems like the rebels took much time cleaning them up, putting candles in windows, and trying to make them look as homey as they can. It’s really not as bad as I thought it would be. “There it is!” cheers Ceres. She points to an old two story house ahead.

Suddenly, an older man drops in front of us, blocking our way on the cobbled stone path. He looks like he’s either in his late forties or early fifties. His black hair is peppered with grey and his eyebrows are scrunched together giving him the grumpy guy look.

“Excuse me for asking,” he says in a way that means he doesn’t care if he’s excused or not, “but why is it that you of all origin of faeries decided to rebel against the Queen? Aren’t you kind her pets?”

I narrow my eyes at him, giving him the same level of grouchiness back to him. “Ice faeries are no one’s’ pets,” I spit at him. “And I would have rebelled against the Queen when I was nine years old fighting in the war. I hate the b***h. Now let us by Nix damn it.”

He grunts and steps aside. “Thanks.”

I strut past him and towards the old house. “I’m so sorry about him,” says Ceres.

“Don’t worry,” I reassure her. “I’m tough.”

“Well of course you are,” she says softly, like a grandmother. “Come on dear, let’s go meet Agues.”

As we walk up to the light blue two story house someone walks out the front door. He has dark green hair and wings to match. He’s dressed nicely but his hair is askew. He has a nice tan and his Kelly green stubble is nicely groomed with the trendy runes etched into his cheek. He turns around and I really see his face. His orange eyes flicker to mine and widen. I know those eyes.

I snarl and rip my arm from Ceres’.

“You!” I sneer.

He flattens himself against the door. “No,” he rasps.

“You- you took it!” I shriek. I plow towards him, but my sisters grab me. They pull me back and try to restrain me as I jerk and try to yank away from them. “You b*****d! You took it!!”

“Calm down Xana!” orders Demetri.

“I’m so sorry,” says the man. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know! I was under her spell. Please! Please believe me!” he pleas.

“You’re the one in charge of this operation?!” I spit. He flinches. “Answer me!”

“Yes,” he says wearily. “Yes. I am.”

“And I’m guessing you think you’ll take the throne when she’s overthrown?! Huh?!”

“It- it was the plan.”

I laugh manically. “Well, isn’t that rich!” I laugh again. “Well sir, if you want me to help you then I’d let that dream go, ‘cause there’s no way in hell I’ll let you rule Fey City after your sister!”

“Please Xana Frost, can we speak of this at dinner. I need to breathe.”

“Fine. Dinner it shall be.” I break my arm from my sisters’ grip and stalk away. That man has a lot of explaining ahead of him.

�-–

 

I find a small pond a few miles north from the refugee village. It was inhabited so I froze it. I sit on the edge of the pond staring at my empty canvas. You see, when I have a smooth, untouched surface like this one, I can decorate it with magnificent frost with just a single touch of my finger tips. The strange, almost floral looking pattern of frost expands across the ice and makes it hard to truly draw something, but over the years I've mastered the skill. The only problem is what I should draw. This always happens to me. Everything that comes to mind can be just too simple or really bad. 'Well if I don't like it I can always unfreeze the pond and start again. I mean I've got all day.' I look up at the sky and see the sun is heading towards the eastern horizon already. 'Ok make that a few hours.'

I get up and walk onto the ice. My heels click wonderfully against the ice as I choose my starting point. I bend down and touch the ice with the tip of my index finger. The wondrous patterns of frost grow across the ice and sparkle beautifully in the evening sun. I smile to myself, but then it fades as I concentrate on my piece as I go to work. I even start to softly sing Uprising by Muse as I draw; it's one of my favorite songs, plus it seems a bit appropriate for my situation.

“Hey!” I skid to a stop and whirl around. Demetri and all his gorgeous stands at the edge of the pond with his arms crossed over his chest. “We couldn't find you anywhere. We've looking all day.”

“That was sort of the point,” I mumble. He takes a step onto the ice, but freezes when I yell, “No stop!” I feel embarrassed for yelling at him to not move closer, but I don't want him wrecking my master piece, if you can even call it that. If my cheeks could blush, they would. “Uh.” I giggle uncomfortably. “Sorry. I drew on the ice. I don't want you stepping on it.”

He looks down at the ice in surprise. “What?”

“You can't see it from down here.” I point upward and take off. He follows me and flies to my side. We look down at the pond together.

“Oh wow!” he whispers in awe.

I drew a rose from lines of frost. The floral design of the frost makes the rose look more complex than it really is. “It’s nothing really. It took about forty-five minutes. I did it on a whim really.”

“What a wonderful whim that was.”

I laugh. “That’s quite a mouthful.”

He chuckles and wraps his arm around my waist. “You’re really good at, uh, whatever this is.”

“You know, I’ve never named the technique and I doubt there really is a name for it, but you can call it uh…”

He chuckles again. “You know what, it doesn’t matter.”

Suddenly he’s gone. “Dem?” I twist around and squeeze in surprise.

He laughs. “Lookin’ for me?” He’s upside down with his hair looking all wild; it’s the first time I’ve see his hair actually not look perfect and it somewhat pleases me.

I roll my eyes and smile. “You’re such a dork.”

He snickers. “Yeah,” he shrugs, though it looks silly upside down, “but what are you gonna do about it?”

“Nothing.” I press my hands gently into the sides of his face with my fingertips skimming the edge of his jawbone and idly stroke his cheek with my thumb. “I’m not going to do anything at all. You know why?”

His eyes spark for a moment. “Why?”

“Because you’re perfect to me just the way you are.”

“Diddo, sweetheart.” I snort and kiss him. It’s funny kissing someone while they’re upside down. It’s even funnier when they forget to beat their wings and falls out of my grip. I laugh at him as his cheeks redden. I twist in the air and arch myself so I can reach his lips again. My hair falls in our face and I try to keep it away but it’s no use. Even Demetri tries to move it, but the same goes for him as for me. I laugh against his lips and he joins in. Our laughter only builds as we try to swat my overbearing hair away. At some point I actually snort. I cover my hands over my mouth and bug my eyes out. Demetri only laughs harder and I sputter in with him. “Oh Nixie, I hate my laugh,” I moan but giggle again.

“I think it’s sexy,” he says as he tries to calm himself down.

“Even the snort?”

He laughs. “Yes, even the snort.” I lean into kiss again but a horn is blown from the village. “Dinner.” That good feeling I had in my heart suddenly drops to my stomach and becomes acidic. I’ve been dreading this all day, though I buried it until now. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” I smile, but it’s swallowed down seconds later.

“You know, you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes I do. Everyone deserves to know about how absolutely evil the Queen is and you, my sisters and my friends deserve to know what happened that day I lost my arm.”

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Are you kidding me?! No, Xana.” he shakes his head. “You don’t have to tell us. We understand. It-”

I shush him. “I need to tell someone. I can’t keep this inside anymore, its driving me mad Demetri.”

He frowns. “I don’t like this Xan, but if you think it’s for the better than fine.”

I take a shaky breath. “The only thing that worries me is… how you and my sisters are going to feel about me. I’m afraid you’ll never look at me the same way.”

“No, no Xana.” He rubs our foreheads together and mashes our hair. “I’ll never look at you any differently than I do already and I’ll always think of you as brave and strong and don’t you dare think otherwise. Understand?”

I smile faintly. “Yeah, I understand.”

�-–

Ceres clanks her knife against her glass and stands up. “Ladies and gentleman! It has come to our attention today that there has been a great secret hidden from us.” A few gasps fill the air and whispers erupt around the mess hall. Demetri takes my hand from under the table and squeezes it tight. “Quiet!” Ceres makes even more ruckus. “That secret is held in the minds of the ice faerie Xana and our leader Agues!” Even more gasps and this time they’re more surprised than before. “Xana Frost, please rise and tell us!”

I let go of Demetri’s hand and stand up. Since I’m sort of short a few faeries in the back sit up on their knees to see me. I take a deep breath before telling my story. “It happened during the war. The Queen demanded that ice faeries of all ages fight and so we did. The children were lost fast, but I was lucky; my parents protected me well. In a matter of days I was the only young ice faerie left. Because of that my parents hid me away. I stayed hidden for five days before the Queen’s men found me.” I sneak a glance at Agues and his eyes fall away from mine in shame. “They took me to Fey Hall where the Queen confronted me. She hit me, hard.” I rub my cheek as I remember. “She was so angry. I just knelt on the floor and let her shout at me. Then she told me she’d punish me for every day I hid from the war. She-”

A flash back hits me like a cinderblock. I see the Queen’s beautiful face smiling evilly down at me and laughing as I bleed, then the hissing sound of her ancient, magic words. “May your past haunt you and drive you mad, may you never know true happiness again and may you die the death of an ice faerie! Only until the day you are truly loved will the curse be broken.”

I hyperventilate. “For day one, two and three she cursed me. I’ll never know true happiness without a price; I’ll always be haunted by my past and because of that it’ll eventually drive me mad for as long as I am in Fey City. And when the time comes I will die the death of an ice faerie. That is the extent of the curse.” My bottom lip trembles, but I keep going. “For day four, she had imps go to my house and murder my parents.” Tears trickle down my cheeks, but I decide to stay strong for now, so I freeze them and let them fall off my face and shatter on the stone floor. “For day five she-,” I whimper, “she took my arm!” A few woman scream in disbelief and horror, including a few of my sisters. Demetri grabs the edge of the diamond cutout on the back of my dress with trembling hands. “There is the secret. My blood was the first to spill in Fey Hall. The Queen is wicked and she needs taken down.”

Panicked conversations spurt around the mess hall. Then the grumpy oldish man who confronted me earlier today shoots up angrily. “And what does any of that have to do with Agues?” he spits.

I scowl at him. “Agues is the man who found me and took me to his sister.” More chatter erupts making the air buzz in anxiousness.

Agues stands up abruptly. “I have an explanation!” he says in panicked defense. Demetri wraps his arm around my hips and pulls me back into my seat where he quickly embraces me. I feel like the hug a tad more for him than for me, but it’s comforting either way. Starling sits beside me and she sets her hand gently on my shoulder. Through Demetri’s ragged breathes I listen to Agues’ try to redeem himself for his past sins. “My sister and I are magic faeries, but her power is overwhelmingly more powerful than mine and that is why she was able to hex me to obey her every order. For years I’ve been building up the strength to break away from the hex and I did, a few days before King Caesar arrived. I found his arrival as the best distraction and best opportunity to escape and I did. I gathered as many people as I could and we fled here. I am no longer under my sister’s influences. I do not agree with my sisters decisions under any circumstance. I disown her as my Queen, as my kin. I will take her down myself. And I will take her down tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow!” shouts Fleur. Demetri’s grip on me tightens.

“Yes! We are fighting tomorrow!” People shout and argue in response.

Ceres gets up on a bench. “Quiet!”

You know other things aside; Ceres really has good crowd control. “Thank you Ceres,” says Agues kindly. “The imps are officially moving into the city the day after tomorrow.”

“Seems like they already moved in,” mumbles Kiri. Jinx hums in agreement.

“We’ll need to infiltrate the city before all the imps arrive in the city otherwise we’ll be greatly over powered. All men are permitted to fight. Women have a choice, but those who do stay behind will watch over the children. All tomorrow before we leave I do wish for you to get a little training if you’ve never fought before and I’m sure that’s almost everyone here.” He eyes me. “All of the warriors’ jobs tomorrow will be to fight on the front line and guard me as I enter the Queen’s chambers and defeat her.”

“How can we trust that you’ll kill your own sister?!” shouts a man. Others yell in agreement even a few of my sisters.

“You don’t have the fighting skills for it!”

“How can we trust that you won’t fall into the same statute as your sister?!”

“What if the hex is put back on you when you get back into the city?!”

Agues looks completely harassed as they shout these things, but I do have to admit that they are all valid concerns. One man stands up on his bench seat. “I say someone else fights her!” there are yells in accord.

Suddenly someone at our table stands up on the bench. I look up at Adana’s set face. “I think Xana should do it.”

Jinx stands up as well. “Me too. It’ll break her curse for sure.”

Nerina stands up. “She has the fighting skills for it.”

“And it’s the revenge she deserves,” says Fleur as she gets up too.

“All in favor of Xana Frost fighting the Queen one on one and ending this once and for all say aye!” yells Adana.

Not only does my entire table erupt in ayes, but almost every other refugee does in addition. Even Ceres gets up and shouts her conformity.

Everyone settles down awaiting my decision. I’m frozen in shock. I don’t know if I want this. It’s probably the most dangerous thing I’ll ever do, but it excites me all at the same time. I’ll get my sweet revenge for my parents death and everything she’s done to me, but if I can’t destroy her before the curse than there’s no going back; I’ll be utterly senile and there’ll be nothing anyone can do about it. “Aye,” whispers Demetri quietly.

That was all I needed. If he believes me, than I can do this. I move to get up and Demetri lets me go. I stand up on the bench with my fists clenched in defiance. “I accept the challenge,” I say steadily. Men and women cheer. Agues sits down in defeat. I raise my hands and they settle down almost immediately. It’s sort of empowering to have all these people on hand, but I don’t let that get to my head. I’m only a war hero to them. Everything will fade when this is all over, I think to myself. “Please, I request that everyone gets a good night’s sleep and for those who wish to fight and want quick lessons, meet me in the meadow northwest of here at dawn. Otherwise, we will meet here at five.” I sit back down. Well, I guess that’s that. I’m really doing this.

�-–

“Demetri?” I slide into his room barely opening the door. I couldn’t sleep in the empty house I was staying in, it was too, well empty. I gently close the door behind me without taking my eyes away from the dark room. “Demetri?”

I scan the room, but I see nothing but a few darker blobs. I must have missed the footsteps.

Suddenly I’m slammed against the door. Someone grips my wrists and pins them to the door with strong hands. I’m about ready to fight back when lips meet mine. I melt into the kiss knowing it’s nobody but my Demetri’s. He snakes his body against mine and I moan in longing. He lets go of my wrists and presses his hands to the sides of my ribcage where he slowly runs them down my back. I wrap my arms around his broad shoulders and press my hands into his skin, warm under my trembling right hand. I can tell he knows my body is shaking, but he chooses to ignore it.

His lips leave mine, leaving both of us to breathe heavily.  He presses his hands onto the door near my head. I can see his eyes now; shining a glossy earthy brown. “Xana?”

“Yes?”

“You are going to be ok, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Tomorrow. You are going to come back to me right?”

I bite my lip to keep it from wobbling. “I can't tell the future Demetri.”

“But you can lie to me though. Lie to me Xana.”

I take in a shattered breath. “I know for sure that I will come home to you tomorrow.”

There's a pause and then, “Thank you.”

I do my best to hold tears in. “Demetri?”

“What is it?” he asks worriedly. He must have heard the crack in my voice.

“Do you think-” I’m interrupted by a sob that passes my lips, unintended. Demetri wraps his arms around me and holds me. I rest my head against his warm chest. “I’m scared Demetri,” I sob. “I didn’t know it before, but it sort of hit me when I was laying bed. I don’t know if can do this anymore.”

He shushes me as he rubs my back. My tears roll down my cheekbones and land on his chest. “You’ll be ok, Xan. I know it.”

He holds me as I calm down, stroking my hair in the process. My teeth chatter. “I don’t want to alone tonight.”

“You can stay here if you want.”

I nod. “I want to lie down with you, just once before I go.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” he says through a strained voice.

“Except into battle.” He opens his mouth to retort, but I interrupt him. “Enough out of you. I’m too tired to argue.”

He nods. “Come on then.” He guides to his bed and sits me down. I kick off my slippers and swing my legs onto his bed. He pads over to his side of the bed and plops down. I fix my nightgown and shimmy under the covers with him. I lay my head on the pillow and face Demetri. He’s already closed his eyes. His hand lies in the space on the bed between us. I gently take it in mine and squeeze it lightly. His hand grips mine and a smile plays on his lips in the moonlight. I’ve never been so happy, so at peace. I smile to myself and close my eyes as well. No nightmares will wake me tonight.

�-–

At the training session I found out that all my sisters and friends want to fight along with all these men and some woman, all with set faces. I trained them as well as I could. I separated those with different weapon choices. Demetri, Kiri, Starling, and Adana were in the spear group; Gill, Cecile, and Draco were wielding swords like semi-pros; Sora, Fleur, and Zephyrus are using bows and arrows; Jinx, Aleen and Nerina stick with their magical abilities.

Seeing them all here only peeks my anxiety. I can’t stand to lose any of my sisters or friends in this battle. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to them. I think this as I look at all the brave men and women here in the mess hall awaiting my orders. I’m not sure how this all happened; how could I suddenly become the leader they look up to?

All is silent at the moment. Adana steps forward. “I think it’s about time Xana.”

I nod and face the crowd. I look into the eyes of as many men and women as I can, but they linger on the group of my sisters and friends. “I want everyone to pick a partner that you trust with your life because it might come to that. I will be taking no partners seeing as there is an odd number of us.” I watch as everyone partners up. Aleen and Cecile, Nerina and Gill, and Sora and Zephyrus obviously pair up. Kiri and Starling pair up; Jinx pairs up with Asher, a coven brother of Demetri’s; Fleur and Draco join together which cheers me up; and Adana and Demetri join forces.

Dem and Adana come up to me. “We decided that we’re going to back you up and take you as far as we can to your private battlefield.”

I bow my head to them, a respectful gesture with my ice folk before battle. “Thank you.” Together they move to stand behind me. I address the crowd again. “I want to warn all of you of the danger you are taking to assist me on this pearliest endeavor. Some of you may not come back,” I say gravely but courageously. “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack,” I say as powerfully as I can. “I am the wolf and you are my pack. We must work together to take down the Queen. We will be victorious.” And with that cheers erupt and fists rise into the air. I raise my own fist into the air. “Let’s take this witch down!”