Destined

Chapter 14

As Laurel followed David and Tamani through the woods near the Academy, her breathing became ragged and clipped. They reached a copse of trees within sight of the Academy, and Tamani jerked to a halt, Laurel barely managing to stop before plowing into him. Through the breaks in the high wall surrounding the school, they could see a hundred trolls at least, wreaking havoc across the once-manicured grounds, tearing things apart, as far as Laurel could tell, for the sheer joy of it.

“I see a few sentries fighting in there,” Tamani said, squinting at the small gaps in the outer wall. “But mostly there are a lot of bodies. Once the sentries are down the barricades won’t last long. Not against this group.”

“What? Then why did you send Chelsea?” David demanded. “I thought—”

“I hoped to buy them time while we got Jamison to safety.” Tamani said, shaking his head. “You were right, Laurel. We should have come here first.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Laurel said. What’s done is done. And they’d saved Rowen — surely that counted for something. “How can we get in?”

“We could go round,” David suggested. “Maybe there are fewer around the back?”

“Maybe. But those entrances will be barricaded too, and I’m more worried about them tearing their way in here,” Tamani said, and sure enough, Laurel saw some of the trolls were beginning to attack the Academy itself, dislodging boards that had been fastened across windows, ripping down the ivy that crept over the structure, smashing their fists against the thick stone walls. There were a small handful of blue-armoured sentries fighting to hold the front doors which, though battered and cracked, remained closed. But they were vastly outnumbered and it would be only a matter of time before the Academy was completely overrun. “We’re going to have to charge through. David leads the way — if we stay close to him, I can protect Laurel from behind.”

Moving as one, they stepped out onto the path. As they passed through the Academy gates Laurel could taste the tang of blood on her tongue; it was different from when they were in the Garden where — despite the deaths — they had been winning. The Academy lawn was strewn with bodies of trolls and faeries alike, their blood pooling together.

The trolls were on them in an instant, rushing from all sides at their fresh new prey.

“Keep running!” Tamani shouted as he speared grasping arms.

David was swinging his sword wildly, clearing their path. Each swing brought down more trolls, and soon they were picking their way over dead bodies as David moved closer to the front doors. The trolls continued to press towards them. Laurel had to avert her eyes and hold her breath to keep from retching. It helped to focus on the front doors, looking for a reasonable chance to make a run for them. As she and Tamani and David drew closer, two sentries managed to drive a group of trolls back and down the stone steps.

“I’ve got a clear path!” Laurel shouted to Tamani.

He turned to glance at the entrance for the briefest of moments. “I’ll cover you. Go now!”

Laurel threw herself out of the protective sphere of David and Tamani and sprinted for the front entrance, expecting to feel a troll’s claws pierce her back at any moment. When she reached the heavy doors she threw herself against them, pounding her fists and shouting, “It’s Laurel! Let me in! Please! It’s Laurel! We need your help!” She turned to see Tamani and David close behind her. More trolls were closing in like waves on all three sides, gaining ground every second.

“Please!” Laurel shouted again. “Let us in!” She didn’t dare look again, just continued beating on the splintering wood, trying to ignore the ache of forming bruises on her fists.

A tiny crack appeared between the doors, so small it could have been her imagination. Then the opening widened, fingers threading through, pulling on the thick wood until there was just enough room for them to fall through. The doors quickly shut again, closing them away from the battle with an ominous slam.

Laurel lay panting on the floor, only dimly aware of the hands and bodies around her pushing furniture and bookshelves back up against the doors — repairing their barricade. Laurel lifted her cheek from the cool stone, tenderly probing the scrape there.

Then Tamani’s hands were lifting her gently, checking for injuries, and sighing in relief when he found none. “Are you OK?”

Laurel nodded, although OK was not exactly the way she would have described herself right now. She glanced around. “David. Where’s David?”

“Calm down,” Tamani said, a hand on each arm.

“I will not calm down,” Laurel said, pulling away. “Where is he?”

“He’s outside, fighting,” he said, reaching for her arm again.

“No,” Laurel said, trying to twist away. “We can’t leave him alone! Not to face all of that.” She threw herself back toward the barricade. “You left him out there to die!”

Tamani grabbed her around her waist now, pulling her back. “He’s not going to die!” he said in a voice so sharp Laurel stopped panicking for a moment. “He has Excalibur and he’s not letting it go. I know it’s scary — I’m scared too. But—”

“You don’t even care!” Laurel shouted, the panic edging back in. “You can’t put this all on his shoulders. He needs us, Tam!”

“I would never let anything happen to him!” Tamani shouted back, his nose almost touching hers. He paused, his hands tightening on her waist just a little. “But if he wasn’t out there fighting the trolls, there’s no way we could have gotten these doors closed again. The trolls are too strong. He got us in, and now he’s buying us the time we need. If you can’t trust me right now, trust Jamison. David will be fine.”

Something in his words brought Laurel back to the moment. She looked at Tamani and forced herself to take a few long, slow breaths. “I don’t need to trust Jamison,” she said finally. “I trust you.”

“OK,” Tamani said. He stroked her hair, his eyes never leaving hers. “The best thing we can do is focus on our job in here — as soon as we can, we will get him back; I promise you that.”

Laurel forced herself to remember the power of Excalibur — how invincible David was with it — and how binding a promise from Tamani was.

“Keep piling!” a voice yelled as a soft hand slipped onto Laurel’s shoulder.

“Chelsea!” Laurel threw her arms around her friend. “I wasn’t sure I was ever going to see you again.”

“I ran so freaking fast!” Chelsea exclaimed. “I think I could have won state today. Apparently you put a troll on my heels and I turn into a superstar.”

Laurel squeezed her hand and turned to survey the situation. She had to admit, things looked better than she’d feared. The doors had a stout beam thrown across them and were braced back with an enormous pile of furniture. A group of faeries were lined up replacing the area they’d torn down to let her in, and the barricade was so massive Laurel was surprised they’d been able to let her through it at all.

The windows were a little trickier, but they’d done a pretty good job, using stone-topped tables and securing them to the oak window sashes with thick boards. The unnaturally strong trolls would only be slowed a little by the setup, but a group of faeries on each side of the great barricade clustered around two massive guns aimed at the windows on either side of the entrance.

Guns?

One tall, older faerie who seemed to be supervising yelled a command to the gathered faeries, then turned his sandy-blond head toward her. Sap had congealed in a ragged cut across one side of his face.

“Yeardley!” Laurel said, running to her professor and throwing herself in his arms with no thought to decorum.

“Laurel, thank the Goddess you’re safe. And you’ve brought us another sentry,” he said, his voice heavy with unconcealed relief.

“Yeardley — Tamani. You met him last time I was here.”

“I see Chelsea delivered the message,” Tamani said, eyeing the barricade — and the guns — approvingly.

“We’ve been doing our best. Thank you for sending your friend, Laurel. She told us what happened at the Garden and before the trolls got here we were able to pull in all the students who had been working outside and gather the younglings into an inner chamber.” He hesitated. “A few trolls did get inside, but we think we’ve managed to kill them all. The labs are a mess and… and we’ve had several deaths and more injuries. But you’re here now. Were you able to wake Jamison?”

Before Laurel could answer, a mighty thud on the covering of one of the windows reverberated through the atrium.

“Be ready!” Yeardley called.

Another thump sent the stone table rocking askew and a huge hand pushed through, followed by a beard-covered face.

“Now!” Yeardley yelled.

The sound of gunfire and the sharp scent of powder filled the atrium as the troll stumbled back in a spray of blood. Several faeries rushed forward to resecure the table.

The faerie at the trigger burst into tears and another faerie took the gun from her and scooted into her spot.

“Your friend’s idea,” Yeardley said, answering Laurel’s unasked question. “The trolls we killed had these… weapons. Chelsea suggested we turn them around on them. Brilliant, really.” He paused. “Hard on our poor students. They’re not killers.”

“Nor would I want them to be,” Tamani said. “I suggest they wear gloves when they handle cold iron like that, though.”

A loud crash sounded at the front door and Tamani swore. “Sounds like they’re using a battering ram,” he growled. “It won’t be long now. Yeardley, we need your help reviving Jamison. He’s safe, but he’s in the Spring quarter.”

“I’m happy to help,” Yeardley said, “but getting from here to Spring will be no easy task.”

“We can make it — we have David. Or we will soon. Do you have a high window facing front, an overhang, something?”

A flicker of a smile crossed Yeardley’s face. “Yes. We have a balcony we’ve been attacking trolls from; I’ll take you right there.”

“I need some rope — bedsheets, even — something to haul David up with.”

Yeardley passed on the request to one of the faeries standing by. “He’ll meet us there,” Yeardley said, already turning. “Come.”

“Do you have bows and arrows?” Tamani asked as Laurel and Chelsea followed them up a winding staircase.

“Why would we have those?” Yeardley asked, a trace of helplessness in his tone. “We’re a school, not an armoury.”

“How are you fighting the trolls, then? They’re immune to Autumn magic.”

“As your lovely friend warned us,” Yeardley said, his jaw tight. “Still, there are many things we can toss at them that don’t require magic at all. Acid. Hot oil.” He paused. “Bookshelves.”

The door at the top of the stairs was already open and led to a large balcony two floors up, a little to the side of the main doors. As they stepped out Laurel saw several faeries lugging an armoire through a door on the other side of the landing and she watched with horror and fascination as they struggled to the railing with the beautifully carved cupboard, paused, and then, when someone shouted “Now!” pushed it off.

A small blonde faerie brushed dust from her hands with satisfaction as she turned away from the railing. “Katya!” Laurel exclaimed, running forward.

“Hecate’s petals, you’re here!” Katya exclaimed. She pulled back, gripping Laurel’s shoulders, then pulled her close again. “You shouldn’t be! It’s so dangerous. Oh, but I’m so glad you are!”

Laurel lingered in her friend’s arms an extra moment. This past summer, when Avalon had been so lonely without Tamani, Katya had been Laurel’s personal rock. She never asked for details, but somehow she intuited that Laurel needed someone and took special pains to keep her busy and entertained.

Katya squeezed Laurel’s shoulders one more time then looked up at Tamani. Her eyes lit with recognition. “This is your sentry friend. Tim… no, Tam?”

“Yes,” Laurel said.

Without hesitation, Katya threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so very much for bringing her to us safely.”

“We’re not yet half done,” Tamani growled, but Laurel could tell he was pleased. She turned and hugged Katya again, grateful she was alive. It was a bittersweet reunion, but one Laurel hadn’t realised until now that she had been looking forward to so much. She even took a moment to laugh at their matching pink peasant-style shirts that looked like they must have been made by the same Spring faerie.

Katya’s eyes fell on Chelsea, standing just behind Laurel’s shoulder. Laurel looked at the two and grinned. She had told both of them so much about each other, it felt momentous to finally have them together. Gesturing to each one, Laurel simply named them, pleased that their faces lit as she did so. “Chelsea, Katya.”

“Laurel,” Tamani called, breaking into their momentary reprieve. He was at the far edge of the railing, pointing.

Turning from her friends, Laurel ran to him, and her eyes followed his finger. The trolls had felled a tree somewhere, stripped of its branches, and were now using it as a rudimentary battering ram. David must have realised that the battering ram was the greatest threat and was on one side of it, hacking away at any troll who tried to pick it up. It appeared the trolls hadn’t yet figured out just how dangerous David was, though; they poured onto him like water and fell like autumn leaves.

“David!” Laurel yelled, almost not daring to interrupt his concentration, but needing to know that he was OK.

“David?” Katya whispered beside her. “Your human boy?”

Laurel nodded, not meeting Chelsea’s eyes or bothering to fill Katya in on the specifics.

“He’s amazing,” Katya said in awe.

“He certainly is,” Chelsea said under her breath.

Laurel had to admit it was true. Trolls were falling so quickly there was a pile around him and he was forced to shove bodies down the front stairs with his feet to avoid being buried. Everywhere he went, he turned the tide of battle, and yet watching him do it here only made Laurel sad all over again.

“David!” she called again, and at last he heard.

He glanced up at her, then his brow furrowed in concentration and he swung the sword in a particularly wide arc, picking his way across the piled bodies while still keeping his sword in front of him. He slowly made his way towards them and Katya halted the faeries still throwing things off the balcony so that they wouldn’t hit David.

“It’s OK,” Chelsea said, a sparkle of pride in her voice. “He’s untouchable. Keep tossing stuff.”

“Guys,” David gasped when he got closer. “I can’t do this much longer. My arms—” He sucked in a breath and paused to swing the sword at another troll. “My arms are about to give out.”

“Where is that rope?” Tamani demanded, an edge of panic in his voice.

Laurel scanned the balcony and caught sight of two faeries running towards them, tying sheets together as they ran. She leaned over the railing. “We’re—” She paused, feeling her voice about to break. “We’re here, David. We’re almost ready.”

Tamani grabbed the first sheet from the faerie and pulled out his knife, splitting the end into two strips that he tied into a stirrup. He met Laurel and Chelsea’s eyes with gravity. “We lower this and David has to get to it first or the trolls will pull it down and we lose it. He puts his foot into the loop and we pull him up. Understand?”

Laurel nodded as Tamani handed her the stirrup. She leaned over the railing and repeated Tamani’s instructions, to which David — without looking at her — nodded his understanding. She worried about telling him what to do when all the trolls could hear, but he was killing them off so quickly she suspected none of the ones in earshot would still be alive when the loop descended.

“Grab hold!” Tamani yelled, gesturing to the handful of fae surrounding him.

Everyone grabbed on to the end of the tied sheets and Chelsea stepped forward as well, taking hold of the sheet right behind Tamani. “Aim carefully,” he said to Laurel, then clenched his fingers around the material and planted his feet.

“David!” Laurel shouted, and he looked up at her.

“I’m ready,” he called weakly.

Laurel closed her eyes, took a breath, then opened them and tried to apply every concept she’d ever learned in softball as she threw the knotted material towards David.

Removing one hand from the sword, David reached up and grabbed the material out of the air, pulling it down and against his chest. After taking a moment to catch his balance he leaned over and thrust his foot into the loop.

The trolls, seeing a moment of weakness, surged forward. If they somehow managed to pile on him…

“Pull!” Laurel screamed the instant David was ready.

As the sheet-rope went taut, David clung crazily to it, defending not himself but his tenuous escape line.

“We’ve got him!” Laurel called.

Several howling trolls made grabs at David’s legs; each time they did they slid away, unable to touch him. One of them finally got smart and, just before David was out of reach, it jumped up and grabbed the sheet and began swinging its club at David.

The weapon couldn’t hurt David, but it knocked him off balance and threatened his grip. David tried to swing Excalibur at the troll, but he was exhausted and at a bad angle. Laurel could see his white knuckles, the strain in his face as he worked to keep hold of the sheet and Excalibur both. The possibility that David would ever drop the sword had seemed remote, but now it was the thing Laurel feared most. Without Excalibur, David was as good as dead.

Abruptly, the troll released its hold on the sheet, dropped to the ground in a heap, and lay motionless where it fell.

There was no time for Laurel to question this; with more than half of the weight suddenly gone, David practically flew to the railing.

Tamani let go of the rope with one hand and leaned forwards to extend the other to David. But their hands met and then slid away, and David fell back.

David took two breaths, then looked up and swung the sword, releasing it into the air. Laurel heard it clatter against the balcony floor behind her as she reached out to grasp his arm, her hands making contact this time. Tamani had a firm grip on his other arm and together they pulled David up and over the edge of the railing, all three sprawling onto the cool stone.