“Daire, where are we going?”
“Just scouting the area, keeping you out of harm’s way.”
“Gee, thanks. I just feel so useful out here.”
“It is my prince’s orders.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know,” I replied, feeling slightly annoyed.
Jillian squeezed my fingers and grinned, so I smiled back at her. I almost missed the Unseelie about to grab her with its sharp claws. I quickly yanked her toward me, throwing her off balance, but getting her out of the way enough that the claws just missed ripping her back open.
“Feckin’ beast!” Jillian said outraged as she, too, caught a glimpse of the creature.
I pulled out one of the swords that Max had given me earlier, and Jillian’s eyes went wide. The beast clawed at me again and with a quick swing, I took its arm. The creature howled, calling its pals over to join us, but before it could enjoy the back-up, I took its head, black blood gushed everywhere as the creature began to disintegrate.
Daire charged in a moment later and took out two more Unseelie with one swing, as they weren’t very large creatures, just deadly.
Jillian pulled another potion and lobbed it at a pair of creatures that were attempting to take off my head with their claws. This time the creatures didn’t so much explode as melt. All that was left was a big purple gooey mess. Once they were nothing more than a pile of goo, Jillian tossed a lit match on the blob and watched it burn while Daire and I destroyed the final creature.
“Oh that stinks,” I said covering my face with my tee shirt.
“Roi’t?” Jillian agreed with a laugh.
“Sorceress, put out the fire. It will draw others and we don’t need the attention.”
Jillian nodded, chanted a few words I didn’t recognize, and blew gently over the flames causing them to extinguish.
“Come, we have much ground we need to cover before we meet back up with my prince,” Daire said, turning back toward the softball fields.
We searched for another hour, looking for the Unseelie, but didn’t find anymore. “What time do we meet Max?”
Daire looked up at the sky, figuring the time by the placement of the stars. “We need to go now. It is about time and we need to get to the Bike and Roll Tavern. We will meet him out front.”
Daire took our arms and flashed us to the tavern. Apparently the King had given him leave to travel with passengers as needed, a welcome change that Max was probably responsible for. We didn’t have to wait long before James and Rik came lumbering out of the trees toward us, still in their animal forms. They stayed in the shadows afraid they might scare any humans that might be nearby. We moved toward them, meeting them at the tree line.
James managed to be just as snarky in his wolf form, with a couple of yips and a big wolfy grin at Jillian. She laughed and patted his head. “Good, wolf boy,” she said. “Ye didn’t manage ta get yerself killed.”
Max flashed in a moment later, looking a bit exasperated.
“What’s up, Dude?” I asked.
“That Brice is not as competent as you might think. He was oblivious to the fact that the woman he was chatting it up with was an Unseelie,” Max said. “He made no attempt to kill it. It was as though he could not tell it was a Ghillie Dhu. I know they can be entrancing, but for someone with as much power as Brice, I would have thought he’d be able to take it out.”
Jillian frowned. “What happened?”
“I flashed in behind her and took her head before she could touch him and turn him into her slave for all of eternity. You would have thought he’d be a bit more grateful.”
“He wasn’t?”
Max rolled his eyes. “No. Apparently, just his usual surly self. Whatever. Tony, I’ve had a thought about the Chalice that I want to run by you.”
“Sure, Dude. What’s up?”
Max pulled me away from the group, moved us more toward the trees, and spoke softly. “Tones, you know how you said Nicu and your dad made the potion and it was around
“Just scouting the area, keeping you out of harm’s way.”
“Gee, thanks. I just feel so useful out here.”
“It is my prince’s orders.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know,” I replied, feeling slightly annoyed.
Jillian squeezed my fingers and grinned, so I smiled back at her. I almost missed the Unseelie about to grab her with its sharp claws. I quickly yanked her toward me, throwing her off balance, but getting her out of the way enough that the claws just missed ripping her back open.
“Feckin’ beast!” Jillian said outraged as she, too, caught a glimpse of the creature.
I pulled out one of the swords that Max had given me earlier, and Jillian’s eyes went wide. The beast clawed at me again and with a quick swing, I took its arm. The creature howled, calling its pals over to join us, but before it could enjoy the back-up, I took its head, black blood gushed everywhere as the creature began to disintegrate.
Daire charged in a moment later and took out two more Unseelie with one swing, as they weren’t very large creatures, just deadly.
Jillian pulled another potion and lobbed it at a pair of creatures that were attempting to take off my head with their claws. This time the creatures didn’t so much explode as melt. All that was left was a big purple gooey mess. Once they were nothing more than a pile of goo, Jillian tossed a lit match on the blob and watched it burn while Daire and I destroyed the final creature.
“Oh that stinks,” I said covering my face with my tee shirt.
“Roi’t?” Jillian agreed with a laugh.
“Sorceress, put out the fire. It will draw others and we don’t need the attention.”
Jillian nodded, chanted a few words I didn’t recognize, and blew gently over the flames causing them to extinguish.
“Come, we have much ground we need to cover before we meet back up with my prince,” Daire said, turning back toward the softball fields.
We searched for another hour, looking for the Unseelie, but didn’t find anymore. “What time do we meet Max?”
Daire looked up at the sky, figuring the time by the placement of the stars. “We need to go now. It is about time and we need to get to the Bike and Roll Tavern. We will meet him out front.”
Daire took our arms and flashed us to the tavern. Apparently the King had given him leave to travel with passengers as needed, a welcome change that Max was probably responsible for. We didn’t have to wait long before James and Rik came lumbering out of the trees toward us, still in their animal forms. They stayed in the shadows afraid they might scare any humans that might be nearby. We moved toward them, meeting them at the tree line.
James managed to be just as snarky in his wolf form, with a couple of yips and a big wolfy grin at Jillian. She laughed and patted his head. “Good, wolf boy,” she said. “Ye didn’t manage ta get yerself killed.”
Max flashed in a moment later, looking a bit exasperated.
“What’s up, Dude?” I asked.
“That Brice is not as competent as you might think. He was oblivious to the fact that the woman he was chatting it up with was an Unseelie,” Max said. “He made no attempt to kill it. It was as though he could not tell it was a Ghillie Dhu. I know they can be entrancing, but for someone with as much power as Brice, I would have thought he’d be able to take it out.”
Jillian frowned. “What happened?”
“I flashed in behind her and took her head before she could touch him and turn him into her slave for all of eternity. You would have thought he’d be a bit more grateful.”
“He wasn’t?”
Max rolled his eyes. “No. Apparently, just his usual surly self. Whatever. Tony, I’ve had a thought about the Chalice that I want to run by you.”
“Sure, Dude. What’s up?”
Max pulled me away from the group, moved us more toward the trees, and spoke softly. “Tones, you know how you said Nicu and your dad made the potion and it was around
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