A powerful blast of wind pushed down from above him and out from where he stood. Elk skidded to a stop and shook his silver antlers. Axis pulled hard on the chain connected through the ring in his boar’s nose. The beast squealed, but came to an unsteady stop.
Elk transformed in a flash of light and drew his broad sword as the fairy army fell into formation. The boar riders closed ranks and formed a protective line behind Axis.
“Elric, move aside,” Master Elk commanded.
“I am your prince!” he shouted, and the authority in his voice shocked him for a moment. Elk took a step back and lowered his sword. “I command you to stand down,” Elric continued in a slightly shakier voice.
Axis laughed. “How convenient. It will make it all the easier to take the crystal back to where it belongs.” His orange eyes flashed in the dimming light. Thunder rolled overhead. “The fairies have used us too long.”
Elric turned to him. “You will not fight.”
Axis pointed the deadly weapon strapped to his arm at Elric. “Are you going to stop me?”
“You owe Wynn the life of your son,” Elric said. He could barely speak the words through his clenching jaw. “A life debt. You swore yourself you would always protect us. Is this how you will repay her? By killing her brother?”
“Father, no!” Lexi ran as fast as she could toward Elric, clutching a book to her chest. She turned and put herself directly in the way of his weapon. “The fairies are not our enemy,” she shouted. “And we are not theirs.”
Elric watched as Osmund staggered toward them, supporting the thin frame of the Headmind’s son. Behind them, a long line of pig-carts carried the vulnerable elves who had been left behind.
Lexi turned toward the fairies. “The Grendel lied to us all to drive a wedge between the fairies and the elves. He sent a creature called an illusury to make it look as if the elves had taken the queen’s baby. It is a shapeshifter, and can be controlled by fairy magic. The Grendel’s magic.” She held up the book to the illustration that she had shown them earlier.
“It’s true,” Elric shouted to the fairies. “The same creature tricked Osmund and Wynn. It lured them both into the woods. But they survived, and so did the princess.” Elric stepped closer to Elk. “I have seen her. She is real. There is hope. But the Grendel is on his way with an army of monsters at his heels. He wants us to fight each other. He wants us to be weak before he comes. The only way we can save this world is if we fight as one.”
“How can you know this for certain?” Master Elk asked.
“Trust in me,” Elric said. “I am not mistaken. I have spoken with the princess. All the queen’s children are alive. There is a chance to save the queen. But we cannot make a stand against the Grendel without the help of the elves.”
“They destroyed the shield,” Elk shouted. “It was our only protection.”
“They had a right to pull it down,” Elric countered. “The crystal was a gift; the fairies have used it against them. Anger at their anger will not help us.”
Elk considered this for a moment. His eyes changed color so quickly, Elric had a difficult time seeing one color before the next one flared. Elric wondered what thoughts were passing through the old warrior’s mind. The old fairy looked up at Axis. “I remember the days of our friendship, and the feasts in the towers of the city in the woods. I remember fighting alongside your father in days gone by. We were allies once.”
“Father,” Lexi said, holding her book to her chest. “Did we come for revenge? Or justice?”
Axis looked at Elk. “That depends. To what truth do the fairies hold?”
“I choose to follow my prince,” Elk answered. “If you fight with us”—he nodded slowly—“then we will fight for you.”
Headmind Axis slowly lowered his weapon. He rode forward on his boar, and offered Elk an open hand. The leader of the guard took it. “Then I will follow the counsel of my daughter.”
The dark clouds gathered overhead, casting a shadow over all of them. Elk lifted his sword. “We have to hurry. The power of the queen is diminishing. She is almost gone, turned to ice. We have to get those who can’t fight to safety. To the grove over there.” He pointed to a stand of trees.
“Wynn will save the queen,” Elric insisted. “We have to give her time. Lexi, lead all those who cannot fight to that grove,” Elric ordered, gesturing to the trees where Elk had pointed. She gave him a brisk nod and began shouting to the crowd of elves. “Osmund, go with her and protect them should the fight turn that way. Zephyr, cast your twilight over the grove to shield them. Then use your healing powers on the wounded.”
“I’ve never done magic that big before,” he said. He paled, and his eyes dimmed to a soft yellow.
“Now’s your time,” Elric stated.
Zephyr let out a slow breath, squared his shoulders, then flew off after the trail of the elf carts. He picked up an elven toddler and marched next to Lexicon as they headed for the grove.
“Prince Elric,” Elk said as he placed a hand on his shoulder, “you must go too. You have to stay safe. You should aid your sister. Go to the queen. She is dying.”
“The Grendel is coming. There will be nowhere in this world or the next that is safe,” Elric said. “Wynn will reach the queen. I will do what you have ordered of me. I will use my life to distract the Grendel as long as I can and give Wynn the chance to save us.”
“Elric, that was never—”
A loud clap of thunder sounded with such force Elric felt as if the inner parts of his ears had broken. Several
