The Blood Forest (Tree of Ages #3)(69)

With a smirk back at him, Oighear began to sway toward Finn on foot. As Iseult watched, she extended her arms, dropping her white coat to the ground. Snow fell all around her, blending her into the scenery. She lifted her palms skyward like she’d summon the entire sky down upon them, her dress glittering in the odd mixture of sun and snow.

The ice increased, swirling around Finn while a white horse pranced back and forth behind her, clearly distressed

“Finn!” Iseult shouted again, only to get a boot to the side of his face, grinding his cheek into the dirt painfully. He grunted in agony as his vision went momentarily dark, but he refused to lose consciousness.

Slowly, his sight returned through the pain. The snow around Finn left her barely visible. She was still unmoving, clutching the shroud in both hands. Oighear was going to freeze her to death while she just stood there, deep in some sort of trance.

He struggled against his chains and captors as Oighear reached out her pale hand and placed it on the shroud, still in Finn’s grasp. She began to tug, but Finn’s hands gripped the fabric tightly. If Oighear managed to claim the shroud, it would all be over. Her magic was already the most frightening he had ever seen. With the extra power of the shroud, no one would be able to defeat her.

“Finn!” a voice called, drawing Iseult’s limited gaze. A rider galloped toward them from the snowy road, bow raised. The Aos Sí turned to observe the new threat as one, releasing the pressure on Iseult’s back. Half of the Aos Sí rushed toward the rider, but would be too late. Galloping at full speed, the rider let loose an arrow to slice through the air.

Oighear turned a moment before it struck her chest. She looked down at it in shock, dropping her hand from the shroud. With a furious growl, she wrapped one pale hand around the arrow’s fletching and pulled, removing it from her chest with a gruesome spray of blood. Dropping the arrow to the ground, she reached for Finn.

As the first half of the Aos Sí intercepted Kai, those remaining rushed toward their queen, abandoning Iseult and Bedelia where they lay. Now free of her captor, Naoki rolled on the ground, attempting to remove the tether from her wings.

Iseult watched helplessly as Oighear renewed her grasp on the shroud, tugging hard despite her injuries. Her warriors neared her back cautiously, clearly unsure of what to do. Iseult’s heart gave a nervous skip as Finn blinked several times, then finally came back into reality. Noticing Oighear, rage sparkled in her dark eyes, an emotion he thought to never see on her normally innocent face.

Maintaining her grip on the shroud with one hand, Finn held out the other. As one, the Aos Sí collapsed to the ground behind their queen, as if a giant hand had crushed them to the earth. Their bodies trembled as they struggled in vain to regain their footing, but could not. This time, neither roots, nor other forces of nature pinned the warriors, just sheer power. Iseult struggled to his feet, straining against the chains binding his arms to his body. Barely able to stand, he began to stumble toward the scene.

Glancing back at her felled warriors, Oighear gave another hearty tug to the shroud in Finn’s grasp, but to no avail. She lifted her free arm skyward to mirror Finn. Hail suddenly pelleted the earth, pounding Iseult so powerfully he was forced back to the ground. Distantly he heard the Aos Sí detaining Kai cry out in pain. Somewhere behind him near Bedelia’s grunts of agony, Naoki shrieked through her bound beak.

Flat on his chest, Iseult desperately wanted to stand and take action, but hammered with hail, he could not even lift his face to view the scene at hand.

A shrill scream pierced the air from Finn’s direction. The hail suddenly stopped falling.

His heart in his throat, Iseult rolled to his shoulder and opened his eyes, dreading what he might find. As his vision cleared, he slumped in temporary relief. Finn had summoned her roots from the earth to snake around Oighear and suspend her in the air. Her warriors stumbled to their feet, battered and bruised from the unnatural hail.

Iseult forced himself to a seated position, but struggled to stand. All he could do was watch as the roots around Oighear became encased in ice. Oighear struggled, and all at once the roots shattered, dropping her to the ground on her side, tangled in her bloody gown. She unraveled herself and climbed to her feet, her angry eyes set on Finn.

Finn watched her warily, her shoulders hunched in residual pain from the unnatural hail.

Oighear staggered toward Finn. Her warriors watched on silently, awaiting their orders. Iseult could hardly breathe watching her snow white hand glide to her belt to withdraw a dagger.

“It seems we are evenly matched,” Iseult heard her say, “and so, I will dispatch you through more mundane means.”

Wet and shivering from the melting hail, Finn lifted the shroud in both hands. “Do not make me become who I once was,” she growled. “If you will not desist, I will trap your soul with all the others.”

Oighear continued to stagger toward her.

Iseult could barely force himself to watch. The last time Finn had stolen away someone’s soul, she’d become a tree for one hundred years. He could not bear to consider what might happen now.

The Aos Sí warriors were utterly silent as Finn began to chant in a language unknown to Iseult, and he’d traveled enough to hear many. Oighear was only a few steps away, dagger raised desperately against Finn’s magic.

“Hey Faie Queen!” someone called from the direction opposite the warriors.