Once upon another time, p.13
Once Upon Another Time, page 13
“I took down more of you than this in the forest,” she said, putting her fists up, ready to fight. “You should give up now, before you get hurt.”
“Master,” one of the Faceless said from the doorway, its voice echoing in the armor. “We have news. We have found the hiding place of the Last Knight—”
“The what?” the Golden King shouted, turning around in surprise.
“No!” Lena shouted, and Jin cringed. He didn’t need the king knowing she had anything to do with the Last Knight, not while she was still in his power.
But the Golden King seemed not to have noticed. “That’s perfect!” he said to the Faceless. “Soon we’ll have both the knight and the Spark. Now, bring the flame and the girl to me, whatever it takes!”
In response, the Faceless all turned in unison to aim their swords at Lena.
“You’re not taking the Spark!” she said, narrowing her eyes. She took a step forward, ready to punch the knights through the walls, then stopped, looking away in confusion. “What is… uh-oh.”
Uh-oh? Jin frowned, not sure what she was talking about. But a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned to find one of the paintings sliding back and forth on the wall. He stared at it curiously before noticing that the furniture was shaking too. He hadn’t noticed because he was floating in the air, but the entire castle seemed to be rocking slightly.
“What is this?” the king shouted. “Who would dare?”
“It’s the giants!” Lena shouted back, her face filled with horror. “They’ve come down to the ground, looking for the Spark!” She hurried to the nearby window as Rufus tried to hide behind the remaining furniture.
Jin blinked. He didn’t sense the giants anywhere close. How big and heavy were they to shake the land this much, even from some great distance?
“Which way is the mountain?” Lena shouted over her shoulder. “I need to see how close they are.”
“What mountain?” the king asked.
“The big mountain, near the Cursed City!” she shouted. “I don’t know its name!”
And just like that, Jin saw his chance. He hated to do it, but if she and her awful cat were going to live through this without being turned to gold, he had no choice.
Stupid spell, making me care! he shouted internally.
You really have to give that up already.
As he cursed out the cosmic knowledge in his head, Jin extended his arm down behind Lena’s back, snaking it until he could just reach the Spark without her noticing. Before she realized what was happening, he grabbed the bowl the fire danced in and yanked his arm back up, the Spark now his.
“No!” she shouted, and leapt straight up in the air at him. Before she could reach the Spark again, he teleported it to another part of the castle, safe in an unused room, then turned insubstantial, allowing her to pass right through him and land on the other side. “I need to give back the Spark, or the giants will destroy everything they find!”
“It’s too late for that!” he shouted back. “Go! Get out of here, now!”
Lena started to say something, but the ground shook again, reminding her of what was coming. Her eyes flashed between Jin and the window, a devastated look on her face, and for a moment she didn’t seem to know what to do. Then, as the Faceless pushed forward, she let out a cry of frustration, then punched an enormous hole right in the castle wall.
“You monster!” the Golden King roared, stalking toward the girl. “You dare touch my castle?”
But before either the king or the Faceless could get close enough to stop her, Lena leapt onto Rufus’s back, and together they disappeared out the hole in the wall in a blur.
A blur that Jin actually recognized now. The cat had Seven League Boots on. Smart of her. They’d never catch her now.
With Lena away, and safe—other than from the impending giant invasion—Jin turned back toward the king, then floated down to the floor, knowing he couldn’t stop what was coming next.
“Well, I got the Spark back, as requested,” he said to the raging Golden King, teleporting the Spark back from where he’d momentarily hidden it. The king didn’t respond, looking too angry to even speak, so Jin continued nervously. “So, does that count as an official wish granted, or… no?”
CHAPTER 25
Lena and Rufus reappeared at the base of the mountain that led up to the giant village in the clouds, and Lena jumped off her cat’s back, her heart racing so loudly she could hear it in her ears.
A foot the size of the Boot-ique crashed down just a few yards to her right, sending her and Rufus flying. Her cat meowed indignantly, trying to run uselessly while in midair, but she managed to grab him and hold him tight right before they slammed into a boulder on the side of the mountain, dislodging it with the force of the crash.
“Are you okay?” she asked him, releasing Rufus so he could stand back up.
“Lena is scared?” he asked, his whiskers twitching as he looked up with fear in his eyes. “If Lena is scared, we go hide?”
She tried to smile reassuringly at him, but she found she couldn’t even fake it. “I am a little scared, but we can’t hide right now, little man. We have to turn my people around before they hurt someone!”
She craned her neck backward to look up at the giant, not recognizing him or the one on the mountain above, climbing down slowly with a third giant behind him. Each one wore the armor of the king’s guards, which meant they were heading to war.
Only, they had no idea what they were getting into. Coming after the humans with so much ill intent meant they hopefully would never find the Cursed City. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t cause enormous amounts of damage to the kingdom all around it.
And then there was the matter of air sickness, this far down. Lena hadn’t ever experienced it herself, so she wasn’t sure how long it’d take to affect them, but she’d heard enough stories about the thicker air near the ground that did strange things to a giant’s brain. The giants who lived on the ground permanently suffered from a complete brain fog, barely able to speak, let alone do anything other than cause trouble.
That alone explained so many of their problems with humans. If Lena herself only knew giants from their fog-induced rampages, she’d probably be terrified of them too.
Watching the giants climb down, she noticed something unusual: the mountain had gaps all the way up it to the summit, chasms that Rufus always had to leap over to make it up or down. But now she could see that the giants had created these gaps, as they were lined up perfectly for a giant’s stride, giving them a good, solid place to put their feet as they climbed down.
How many giants had used the mountain that same way in the past? How often had they come down to the ground to ransack human villages and steal their magical items?
“Lena hides now?” Rufus asked, nuzzling her with his forehead. She absently scratched him behind his ears while trying to figure out what to do. When they couldn’t find the city, they might head back up into the clouds, but more likely they’d just look for the next nearest human settlement. It wasn’t close, from what Mrs. Hubbard had told her, but that wouldn’t matter much to a giant, who could cover miles in minutes instead of hours or days.
A fourth giant reached the ground, one Lena recognized: Creel, the Sparktender. He must have come to make sure the Spark was properly cared for. But if someone of his importance had come, then that meant—
A fifth giant slammed down, sending a wave through the ground that knocked Lena from her feet and forced Rufus to leap into the air. “Humans!” King Denir roared, shaking the few remaining trees still standing. “Give us back the Spark, or we will destroy each and every one of you!”
The king was here? Lena hadn’t ever heard of him leaving the clouds before, especially not after the death of his brother, which had happened just before Lena was born. She couldn’t imagine how mad he must be to have come down himself.
“Shouldn’t we worry about air sickness, Your Majesty?” Creel asked. “I can already tell it feels thicker down here.”
“That’s a myth, Creel,” the king said, shaking his head. “It’s not real. Put it out of your heads and breathe in deeply, boys. We’re going to destroy some humans!”
Lena felt sick even at the sight of the king, but maybe this could be a good thing. There’d be no way she could talk a king’s guard out of their attack, but if she could just convince the king himself, he might turn the whole group of giants around.
Assuming he didn’t try to throw a spear at her this time. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be armed. But unfortunately, it wasn’t like he needed weapons to just crush her with his feet.
“Your Majesty!” she shouted up at the king as loudly as she could. “Please, there’s no need for this! We can talk—”
The king looked down at her briefly and squinted. His face contorted into a sneer as he seemed to recognize her, then lifted his foot up over her head. Realizing what was coming, Lena grabbed Rufus and leapt out of the way into the bushes to the side, even as the king’s foot came crashing down, sending an earth-shattering shudder through the ground as far as Lena could see.
“Was that a human, Your Majesty?” Creel asked, not able to see Lena or Rufus from where he stood. “Did you get it?”
“I got whatever it was,” he said. “The first of many. Keep moving. They’ll have the Spark in this city of theirs, so we’ll just have to demolish it so no human bothers us ever again.”
Lena felt a wave of nausea pass through her. Not only had the king just tried to squish her without a second thought, but he didn’t even think she was worth mentioning to the Sparktender. That was how little he thought of her.
You are no giant.
But no matter how much the king hated her, she couldn’t just let them destroy the city, or hurt any of the humans who lived there. She had to try to reason with him, make him listen, no matter what it took!
“They don’t have the Spark!” she shouted, leaving Rufus in the bushes to catch the king’s attention again. “If you’ll just hear me out, Your Majesty—”
This time the king kicked out at her, crashing his boot into the forest just over her head. Hundred-year-old trees went flying in every direction, destroying any cover Lena might have had. Realizing this wasn’t helping, Lena leapt over to where Rufus lay hiding, grabbed him, and moved farther around the mountain, hoping the rocks might hide them until she could think of something else to try.
“Another human, Your Majesty?” another guard asked.
“Indeed,” the king said. “I don’t hear it yelling anymore, though, so hopefully it’s gone now. Horrible little monsters, humans.”
“What was it saying?”
“Something about stealing the Spark, I think,” the king said. “Do you see the city?”
The other guards all turned around, looking for the Cursed City, but seemed to have no luck. Lena felt her first bit of relief at that: apparently the spell on the city was still working, at least.
“Keep searching until we find it,” the king ordered, and the five giants set off into the forest, each of their steps sending trees flying. Lena climbed onto Rufus’s back and pointed him away from the giants for the moment, completely at a loss as to what to do.
The king had recognized her; she knew he had. But even if he hadn’t, he wasn’t going to listen to any human, either. She needed to make him understand that the humans didn’t have the Spark, at least not the ones in the Cursed City! Maybe if she put on the Growth Ring, so she could face him at his own height?
Except that if she did that, the king and other guards could easily overpower her, five to one. They already didn’t think of her as a real giant; why would they suddenly listen if she was their height?
It didn’t seem worth the risk of her being captured, or worse. But that left her without any ideas. She needed help.
Fortunately, there was someone nearby who might be able to offer it.
“This way, little man,” she said quietly to Rufus, and pointed him in a new direction.
Even without using his Seven League Boots, Rufus moved quickly and had them around the side of the mountain in no time. As she directed him to a semi-hidden cave right in the mountainside, he slowed down, then stopped completely, a few yards away.
“There are many someones here,” he said, his whiskers twitching nervously.
Not sure what he meant, Lena jumped off his back and petted him reassuringly, then slowly walked to the mouth of the cave. The last time her cat had mentioned many someones, it’d been because the Faceless had surrounded them.
The cave was far too dark to see inside, so she pulled an Everpresent Torch from her infinite pouch and held it aloft, its eternal flame lighting the cave floor inside, revealing nothing out of the ordinary. She took a step forward, then another, deciding that maybe Rufus had smelled the Faceless elsewhere.…
And then she froze, the light shining off an empty helmet on the cave floor. A helmet, then another, and another.
Faceless helmets.
“Hello?” she said as loudly as she dared. “Is anyone… there?”
“Well, well, look who it is!” shouted a voice from inside, and Lena immediately brightened. A figure stepped into the light of her Everpresent Torch, clad entirely in silver armor from head to foot, with a closed visor hiding his face. But there was no doubt in Lena’s mind who it was.
“Lena!” the Last Knight said, laughing inside his helmet as he carried empty Faceless helmets in either hand. “It’s been a while. How did the ritual go? Did you get your real name finally?” He paused. “And what’s with all the earthquakes? I hope that was you celebrating!”
CHAPTER 26
Jin slammed up against a wall, not able to breathe. He clawed at his throat, knowing it wouldn’t do anything against the magic binding him to the Golden King, but not able to help himself.
“I honestly just don’t understand,” the king said, examining the Spark before him as he held up his ringed hand, pushing two fingers together to cut off Jin’s air. “Why would you let the girl go? You had to know I’d punish you.”
“Can’t… breathe,” Jin said, and the pressure around his neck released enough for him to speak. He slid down the wall, taking in as deep a breath as he could before answering. “I did it… because she’s dangerous. You saw… what she did to the wall and… the Faceless.”
“And you saw what I did to her,” the king said, holding up his golden glove. “No one is dangerous to me, especially not with shadow magic on my side! But now there’s no way of knowing how to work this thing. If I could master it, I’d have all the magic I need and wouldn’t even need to keep feeding the twins’ shadows.”
Feeding shadows? And there was another mention of the twins, the ones the Last Knight had been looking for. Who were they? What was he talking about? “I can tell you… how to work it,” Jin lied. “You saw… me use it earlier. To change her… back from gold.”
The king glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow, then strode over to where Jin lay slumped against the wall. He picked Jin up by his tunic and held him in the air as he stared the genie in the eye. “Well?”
“It’s… me,” Jin said. “The Spark responds to me, and me alone.”
What are you doing? the cosmic knowledge demanded, which was odd, since if anyone should know, it would be the knowledge.
Trying to save my life, Jin thought back.
Oh, I get it: you have no plan whatsoever, and so are winging it. Badly.
Pretty much.
The king narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “That can’t be true. The girl could obviously use it, and she said it was a treasure of the giants. They must have figured it out as well.”
“They were using it for healing,” Jin said. “Same with the girl. That, anyone can do. But to access its true power takes someone made of magic, and after all your purges of magical creatures, I’m all you’ve got.”
The king sneered, then tossed Jin back to the floor. “I don’t believe it. Tell me how you interact with it.”
Now comes the hard part, Jin thought. He looked up at the Golden King and shook his head. “Sorry, but no.”
Without even turning, the king raised a hand, and instantly Jin was choking again. He resisted grabbing his throat helplessly, knowing there was nothing he could do this time except wait it out, if he wanted his bluff to hold.
It helped to remind himself that even if he was in awful pain, the Golden King couldn’t do any permanent damage, since this wasn’t Jin’s true form. Or so he hoped, at least.
Except this time, the king didn’t release him or even bother asking another question. In fact, a minute passed, and the room began to darken. As it did, the pain seemed to fade, and Jin felt his eyes close, wondering how everything had gotten so sleepy all of a sudden.
Just as he was about to fall unconscious, the magical force closing off his air disappeared, and he took in a deep, gasping breath.
“Tell me how to access the Spark’s power,” the king said again, his back still to Jin.
“I did… tell you,” Jin gasped. “I’m the only—”
This time it felt like his entire body was in a vise, compressing in on itself in the most agonizing way possible. He didn’t have bones, but if he had, they’d have broken under the pressure within seconds. Even without them, the pain was beyond anything Jin had ever felt, even worse than the shadow-magic sword of the Faceless, and he had to keep himself from giving in, admitting he didn’t know how to use it either and that Lena was the only one who could.
If you tell him that now, he’ll have no use for you, and that’ll be it, the cosmic knowledge told him.
Don’t you… think I… know that? he thought back. But look how selfless… I am! I’m protecting… her!
No, you’re protecting yourself, but nice try, the voice said, and Jin cursed inwardly, even through the horrible pain.
The king let it go longer this time before again cutting it off abruptly. “This will be the final time I ask,” he said, now turning to stare down at Jin, who found he’d knocked over a table in his writhing. He’d been in so much pain he hadn’t even noticed.
