Magic in the Key of Joy (A Wylde & Cray Adventure) UIC2022

Chapter 15: Cray Zieh On You

 We manage to take the lower levels of the building, which swells our numbers thanks to the many prisoners who were, for the most part, outspoken critics of Selrach. The Sluagh have yet to breach the perimeter. A quick glance out a window shows the Sidhe Army engaging the Horde, both magically and physically. I know that, somewhere out there, is Wylde. There is no singing yet, which means he's either thinking of the right song or that he's been captured or killed. I push the latter option out of my mind and shape my paralysis spells like darts – swift enough to break through shields and sharp enough to pierce any wards the Council guards might have.

It is a struggle for me to simply disable an enemy, and not go straight for the kill. But when Aunt Bae, through Luna, had revealed the stark reality that awaited the surviving 'twin,' I was horrified at the thousands of Sluagh I'd slaughtered over the centuries.' That made me wonder what happened to their Fae counterparts who went mad. It was Lady Marjoram who'd revealed Windar's dark solution: at the first signs of abandonment (the term given to the condition) the affected Sidhe would be sent to the Infirmary, where they'd be painlessly murdered.

We successfully break through to the entrance of the Grand Chamber itself. The army soldiers have not been spell-warded, and instantly fall prey to our successive waves of paralysis and sleep spells. Stepping over the bodies proves time consuming, until one of the former prisoners – a gardener, I think – uses a spell that sweeps them aside like dried leaves.

Cracker-of-Skulls pushes the enormous stone doors inwards. I enter first, Luna wrapped around my shoulders, followed by the three hundred or so left of our original number of 438 that left the secret room. Selrach Windar is floating above his chair, flapping his vulture wings like that great bird of prey, surrounded by a blinding nimbus of power. His head has grown enormous antlers. He glares at us for a minute, before he begins to chuckle.

Splayed in their chairs, their slack-jawed mouths drooling, are seven of the eight council members. Each has a magic parasite attached to their chest, with a feeder tube that leads from it to Selrach Windar. Their eyes are glassy. My hopes sink. Where is Wylde, and what is he waiting for? The Sluagh banshees begin to wail.

"Would you like to see things better, Cray Zieh? Let me open things up for a better view, eh?" laughs the power stuffed Windar. He throws his arms wide open, and as he does so, the ancient walls of the chamber explode outward, sending several tons of rock flying at both Sidhe and Sluagh. When the dust clears, it becomes obvious that he's just killed half of the Chamber's Sidhe defenders.

"Oh! Is this not better?" shouts Selrach. "Let me even the playing field. Better yet, let me flatten it!" Row by Row, people and creatures are brought to their knees, screaming as bones break as if underneath a great weight. With the exception of two: Baelena, and Queen Mab. Seldar encloses them in bubbles.

"Aunt Bae!" I scream, and send a Light blast at Selrach, who simply absorbs it.

"Now, Cray – know the futility of your rebellion! Your insignificant Sapien Savior, your beloved singing simpleton, your songbird – has been caged!"

"There's still hope," Luna whispers. "He's alive. And he's a Fate Bender."

Selrach sings, "He's only a bird in a gilded cage..."and sure enough, a giant cage appears in mid-air. Suspended by chains is a dripping-wet Wylde, standing on a perch, his throat wrapped in a noose that is almost taut. All it would take is one push, and he'd die in seconds. His eyes, which should have been filled with fear, were blazing with defiance. By the Lia Fail and the Claiomh Solais, how I love this Sapien!

"Wait...I think I should redecorate!" Selrach laughs. As the death-cries of hundreds of Sidhe and Sluagh soldiers fill the air, the perch upon which Wylde is balanced appears three feet below him. I fly to the cage and try to get through the bars. I am soon joined by Bae, Mab, Sunny and Luna. The ferrcats slip through them and try to hoist Wylde into the air, but only succeed for a few seconds.