Hearing wings behind her, she turned, half expecting to see Conall. To her surprise, it was Borra. He didn’t say anything as he flew up next to her. But she knew by the look in his eyes why he was there. He was going to help her take down the humans.
In silence, they flew the rest of the distance to the Moors. Swooping down, Maleficent and Borra landed on a large tree branch that looked over the Tomb Bloom clearing — or rather, what had been the Tomb Bloom clearing. It was now a scorched tract, stripped bare. Not a single flower remained. All that was left were boot marks in the deep mud.
Maleficent bit back a cry, her heart breaking once again. “This is where we bury our dead,” she whispered, explaining the significance to Borra. “They’ve destroyed it.”
Borra looked out at the devastation with a flash in his eyes, then turned to her. His voice was not full of the usual anger Maleficent heard when he spoke. This time, there was another emotion, something that sounded almost like pain. “This is what humans do,” he said. “They are nothing but locusts, swarming the earth. We have to stop them.” He paused and gestured to the field of nothing. “You spent years caring for a human. Now care for your own.”
Maleficent met his gaze. A part of her knew he was right. But another part of her heard Conall, speaking of hope, saying that she and Aurora had shown him another way was possible. Why did it have to be one way or the other? Why couldn’t she just find Aurora and leave the other humans alone?
Suddenly, a flock of birds burst into the air.
Maleficent sensed danger and knew the humans were still nearby. Pushing Borra into the air, she made for the open sky.
“Fire!” someone shouted.
Behind the fey, dozens of soldiers, unseen until now, lifted their crossbows. Then they fired. Iron bullets pierced the air. THWIP-THWIP-THWIP! The bullets came from above, below, and all around her. She and Borra ducked and weaved, but there were too many soldiers and there was no place to hide.
Time seemed to slow down as Maleficent struggled to stay in the air and away from the iron that would destroy her. She heard Borra screaming and the humans shouting. But something was pulling her back, slowing her down. Weakened by her still healing wound, Maleficent was falling rapidly. She wasn’t going to survive this. She knew it. She looked down at the empty field as she stretched her wings and prepared for the inevitable….
Suddenly, powerful arms wrapped around her, and a moment later, wings covered her entire body. Startled, she looked up into the warm, kind eyes of Conall. Time stopped as they hovered in the sky, cocooned together.
And then Conall’s body began to convulse as bullet after bullet slammed into him. Maleficent screamed as they fell toward the ground. Maleficent and Conall landed hard and then rolled for a few feet before coming to a stop. Beneath Maleficent, Conall didn’t move.
But the soldiers kept coming, their crossbows rearmed, ready to finish them off.
Maleficent raised a hand, and the last of her green magic poured out. Pulling the roots and branches from the ground around them, she formed a protective barrier. The soldiers fired, but the bullets bounced off her shield. With one hand on Conall’s chest, Maleficent looked out and watched as Borra let loose the rage he had kept inside.
Soldiers dropped around him one by one as he rampaged. Borra blew some back with his wings while he beat others with tree branches ripped from trunks like they were kindling. Then, with a roar so loud it made a nearly unconscious Conall shiver, Borra went after the last of the men. The ground in front of him opened, swallowing up the soldiers. The air filled with their cries.
When Borra was done, there was only silence.
The soldiers were gone. Slowly letting the branches and roots pull apart, Maleficent allowed Borra to lift Conall in his arms. Then, together, they began to carry him back to the Nest. Maleficent could do nothing but fly, her eyes trained on the warrior whose face was now ashen, his eyes closed.
The fight, fall, and magic had drained any energy Maleficent had left. But as they flew, one thing kept her wings pumping. It was a vow — a simple one, but one she was going to see through to the end. She was going to make the humans pay. Every last one of them.
On one of the castle’s guard towers, Queen Ingrith stood waiting. She was making her own vows. Vows to destroy. Vows to take power. Vows she made nearly every evening. Only now, she could finally see them through.
Hearing a commotion, she looked down and saw a line of soldiers approaching the castle. She could see, even from a distance, that the large brown sacks they were carrying were full. She allowed herself a satisfied smile.
The sound of boots on stone alerted her to the presence of Gerda and Percival, who had come ahead of the others. Turning, she waited for them to make their report. Their faces were smeared with dirt, and their clothes were a mess, but they looked pleased. “We’ve got them,” Gerda said as she approached. “Over a thousand blooms!”
“Maleficent was there, Your Majesty,” Percival added, earning himself a stern glare from Gerda. “She was in the Moors with two others. One of them sacrificed himself for her.”
“One creature saved another?” Ingrith asked.
Percival nodded.
Interesting, she thought. She had not foreseen that. She had anticipated that the Dark Fey would look after only themselves, the way Maleficent had looked after only herself when she abandoned Aurora in Ulstead. Ingrith shrugged. No matter. It wouldn’t change anything.
“Iron or no iron,” Percival went on, “they will be coming for us.”
Leaving her perch, Ingrith joined Gerda and Percival in the castle’s main gate. Once there, she slowly picked up a Tomb Bloom with her gloved hand. She ran a finger gently along the petal. “One can only hope,” she said.
“Mother?”
Hearing Phillip’s voice, Ingrith startled. The Tomb Bloom dropped to the ground. He was standing with his arms crossed, looking back and forth between her and the soldiers.
“What is all this?” he asked.
Swallowing, Ingrith took off her glove and picked up the Tomb Bloom. The pain was instant as her flesh touched the flower, but she bit back a cry and held it out to her son. “It was going to be a surprise,” she said. “Real flowers for your wedding.”
“Flowers?” Phillip repeated. “Won’t they make you ill?”
Ingrith felt small beads of sweat pooling at her hairline as she continued to hold the offending flower. “A small sacrifice for Aurora. She deserves it,” Ingrith lied. She had to make her son believe all was well. Ingrith thrust the flower into his hand and quickly put her glove back on. Immediately, she felt her heart begin to slow and the sweat subside. “Get some rest now,” she said, ushering Phillip back inside the castle. “In a few hours, it will all be over.”
As he disappeared through the doors, Ingrith looked back at the Tomb Blooms and smiled to herself sinisterly. Indeed, in a few hours it would all be over — for the faeries.
Chapter Thirteen
MALEFICENT WATCHED AS BORRA SLOWLY LOWERED CONALL TO THE GROUND IN FRONT OF THE GREAT TREE. THEY HAD ARRIVED BACK AT THE NEST NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON. Conall’s breathing was shallow and his face pale. Blood oozed from dozens of wounds and pooled beneath him. The sight made Maleficent sick with guilt.