The fifth floor, Mab’s domain, wasn’t just protected by the Ogres at the base of the stairs. While they prevented access to the top level, a squad of Fae soldiers suddenly arrived in the hallway behind them.
Bringing up the rear of their group, Sandy, Dayshia, and Tish were the first to hear them and only had seconds to react.
“Magic Attack!” Tish gasped as she triggered her shield. Sandy and Dayshia got theirs in place a split second before blue lightning struck the air before them. They shrieked in fright, but the bolts just fizzled out as the electricity scrabbled across the surface of the shield. In fear, the women linked hands and watched their shield form a wall and spread out before them, blocking the next volley of blue lightning. Michelle huddled down behind them as well, trembling in fear.
A streak of white leapt over their protection to shoot towards the soldiers. It struck with tremendous force, tossing their bodies against the floor and walls like rag dolls. As quickly as it began, the battle ended with Sigrid standing over the fallen Fae soldiers. She poked a few with her spear, but they were down and out. She trotted back to the friends and grinned widely.
“Excellent defense coordination!” she exclaimed. The three just looked at the Valkyrie in awe and nodded weakly. She took up a position beside them with her shield at the ready.
“Save your energy for Mab!” Camila called out from the middle of their group.
Up ahead, Roy and Mary were going toe to toe with the four Ogres defenders. Both were holding their own, much to the rage of their opponents. Mary was taking a pounding but released that energy with devastating blows against their bodies. Bones were snapping, and blood sprayed, but the brutes wouldn’t stop their attacks regardless of the damage they took. Their rage consumed them, leaving no room for rational thought.
“We need- to finish- this!” Mary gasped to Roy.
He saw the Ogre holding the top of the stairs turn and charge back towards the Queen’s chambers. “You ready to get serious?” Roy asked her as he sent his opponent flying back against the wall. It shook off the blow, ignoring its missing ear and roared.
Mary gave Roy a quick look “Seems the only way,” she said with a frown as she broke the leg of the guard rushing at her. It still managed to slam her into the corridor wall, but she rushed back to kick it in the ribs, driving it back to strike the stairs with its back.
“Why aren’t they using guns?” Dayshia muttered to Sigrid.
The tall blonde gave her a grim smile. “They can’t fire one inside the castle without risking the building’s magic bindings. The building isn’t truly here. Mundane explosions send shockwaves through magic. It wouldn’t be good to have the building fall into the between with all of us inside.”
Dayshia looked closer but to her augmented vision the building’s integrity showed no sign of disappearing.
“I’ll explain later. I’m going to assist Roy and Mary. Hold the line!” She spun and leapt over their group. She drew her sword and prepared to surge forward as she saw an Ogre jump at Mary. She lifted her shield just in time to block the spray of gore as Mary drove her fist through the brute’s skull while Roy swept his claws upwards, opening his opponent’s torso from groin to throat.
“Dammit, Roy!” Sigrid bellowed as the dead guard’s shredded guts rained down from above, splashing off the shield.
He surged forward to finish off his last opponent with a savage bite through his throat.
Panting, blood dripping from his jaws, he turned to look into Mary’s eyes just as she snapped the neck of the goon she was choking out. She didn’t shy away from his gaze, and he grinned at her.
“You’re one messy motherfucker,” she said.
He switched back to his glamor and began to laugh when a terrible cry sounded from up the stairs.
He and Sigrid were the first through the door with Mahati close behind, spell prepped for launching, balanced on her fingertips.
But Mab wasn’t there.
Baba Yaga wasn’t there either.
And there was no sign of the baby Roy had seen growing in Mab.
As Sigrid was bringing Henry around, Roy moved to the massive hole in the window and looked down to see the dead body of the last guard. His body landed on the grass, but his head struck a stone walkway. Roy frowned as he spotted Ikehorn’s body crumpled on the ground a short distance away.
Sigrid knelt next to Henry who suddenly burst into deep, soul-crushing sobs.
“Henry? Are you hurt?” she asked gently.
He rolled his head from side to side slowly.
The room pulsed slightly then dimmed.
“Shit! We have to go! Henry, get up!” Sigrid said as she grabbed his shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” Sandy nervously asked as she watched Sigrid haul Henry to his hooves.
“Oh my god! It’s slipping away!” Dayshia gasped as she finally saw what Sigrid meant.
“Mab is pulling the plug on her castle!” Camila exclaimed. “Hurry! We have to get out of here before it takes us with it!”
-=-
Marisa was still exhausted from her efforts and running up the stairs drained her even further. She looked to Nate in desperation as she didn’t know if she’d be able to keep up.
Nate dropped his glamor, scooped Marisa up in his arms and jumped out the window. His wings snapped open and, after a brief moment of terror, they found themselves gliding around the building. Marisa clung to him with her face pressed tightly to his neck. They tumbled onto the soft grass when they reached the bottom. Marisa lay next to Nate gasping for breath. When she felt her heart rate dropping back to normal, she looked over at him and saw he was grinning at her.
She reached over and slapped his shoulder. “Don’t ever do that again!” she scolded.
“On the contrary, do it again!”
Marisa looked up and saw a teenage girl looking down at her.
“Ah ah ah! Stay right there,” Mab said as she gestured to Marisa who was struggling to rise.
Suddenly, Marisa felt like a giant’s hand was pressing her into the grass which covered the rooftop. Nate leapt to his feet but Mab touched his forehead, and he blinked in confusion at her, his facial muscles going slack.
“Aren’t you going to glide me to safety, my dear Nathan?” Mab asked.
“yes… Marisa, of course,” he said, distractedly.
Marisa stared up at Nathan and struggled to get a breath, to call to him and wake him from the spell, but she was beginning to see spots before her eyes.
“Sorry, I haven’t quite gotten control over this body or its magic just yet,” Mab said with a shrug and a gleam in her eye. She led Nathan away and waved goodbye to Marisa with a cruel grin.
All Marisa could do was watch Nate climb up onto the ledge, hug the young woman to his chest as his wings spread wide. He tipped over the edge and was gone.
Marisa couldn’t breathe. She needed to scream, but she had no breath. She looked towards the castle which was flickering light and dark. She needed help, but she couldn’t call for anyone.
And Nate was gone.
-=-
Camila stared at the window where her daughter had been carried through. Roy was standing at the edge and nodded.
“They’re gliding. Going around the building. They’re ok. We have to go now!”
“Michelle, can you take someone down the outside with you?” Sigrid asked.
The woman looked at her and nodded. “But I can only hold onto one.”
“Take Dayshia and move away from the building once you get down. Find Marisa and Nate,” she instructed.
Michelle immediately dropped her glamor and held out her hand to Dayshia.
“Kesini- she says she wants to climb down as well!” Sandy exclaimed nervously. “She can do it.”
Sigrid nodded, and Sandy rushed to the window’s edge and lifted off her feet as Kesini took control. Sandy squeaked only a little then smoothly flowed out the window and down as her hair found or made grips in the stone, lowering her quickly down the outside wall.
Michelle spun a web and bonded it to the window frame. Then she hugged Dayshia to her chest and used her front legs to support the woman as well while she lowered herself out the window.
Mahati looked panicked, and Sigrid picked up on that immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not a fast runner. I’ll never make it in time,” she squeaked.
“Sigrid, take her out the window. Glide her down but go dark. The illusion is failing so you’d be visible otherwise.” Camila said.
The Valkyrie looked to Meixiu. “I can climb down as well!” the petite woman insisted.
Sigrid frowned but nodded. She looked at her remaining friends. “Hurry!” she said a little desperately then lifted Mahati against her chest and sprung backward out the window, spreading her wings once she was clear.
Meixiu was immediately out the window and climbing downwards.
When it was only the four of them left in the room, Tish seized Henry’s hand and tugged at it as she dropped her glamor. “We have to run!”
He nodded and followed as Roy rushed by holding Camila’s hand.
Henry was only dimly aware of the rush to exit the building as they ran down the stairs. His hooves unerringly found the steps and his muscles pumped to keep up with Roy and Tish. Camila was in Roy’s arms now as they could move faster that way.
“This wasn’t how I envisioned us running together!” Tish gasped with a worried smile. He locked eyes with her, and that halted his slide into a dark funk. Mab’s horrific theft, Baba’s cruel act, they had to take a back seat to the imminent danger to Tish. The building suddenly dropped an inch under their feet.
“We’re not going to make it to the ground floor!” Roy yelled as the group ran down the stairs from the third.
Henry saw a possible exit ahead. “The window!” he yelled in response.
Roy put on a burst of speed and shot away as Henry and Tish charged down the final steps.
-=-
It took Sigrid a significant effort to glide carrying a passenger and keeping her wings dark, so the grass caught her by surprise and they bounced and tumbled on the lawn, knocking the wind from them.
She looked up at the castle which was fading from this reality significantly as the radio towers bled back into their actual location. She rose and pulled Mahati to her feet. They ran around the building until they saw the others gathering around someone on the ground. As they got closer, Sigrid saw it was Marisa.
“What happened?” she called out.
“She can’t breathe! Something’s holding her down!” Sandy cried out and tried blowing into her mouth, but her chest couldn’t rise.
Mahati reached out to feel the spell, and she looked back nervously at Sigrid. “I can’t break the spell. The magic is too strong! It’s trying to flatten her to the roof’s surface.”
Kesini suddenly stabbed deep into the ground around Marisa’s body. Muted sounds of destruction began as Kesini ripped through the roofing materials, then the support structure beneath until Marisa suddenly dropped ten inches. They heard her suck in a deep breath then wheezed it back out as the pressure returned.