Page 79 of Tattered Huntress
Unfortunately, we weren’t yet free. No sooner had we exchanged glances of exhausted satisfaction than the air was rent with a bone-juddering screech. The tide was high and the selkies were returning – and this time they’d sensed us.
There was no need for words. I grabbed Gladys and gestured to the left-hand path. Hugo nodded and we plunged towards it, running for the supposed safety of the old lookout.It was too late to make it to the mainland; we had to stay here until the tide turned yet again and this time that meant fending off the selkies.
We barrelled through the undergrowth, our feet pounding along the narrow dirt path, first up a small hill then down again. Dawn was approaching and the sky was already beginning to lighten, but daylight wouldn’t provide a defence: we had to create one for ourselves.
As soon as the lookout came into view, I threw myself towards it with Hugo hot on my heels. We skidded inside and wasted no time. He half-closed his eyes and summoned up another magic circle, made of fire this time. I repeated my air magic spell, hoping it would make it harder for the selkies to find us as well as adding enough oxygen to keep the flames high. Then we backed into the centre of the lookout and waited.
We didn’t have to wait for long.
The first selkie that appeared was massive. I’d been expecting something large, but nothing like as big as the creature that was coming towards us. It sniffed the air, keeping its distance from Hugo’s fire, but it knew we were just beyond the flames. It knew that we had no way to escape.
It drew its lips back over its mouth, revealing a vast row of sharp yellow teeth. I hissed and pulled back.
‘It’s okay,’ Hugo said. ‘The fire will hold.’
From the focused look in the selkie’s eyes, I wasn’t so sure. I was even less sure when several others came into view. One by one they took up position around the flames until we were completely surrounded. I was absolutely certain they would remain there until Hugo’s magic faltered; this was going to be a battle of attrition.
At my side, Gladys started to hum, a discordant sound that did nothing to ease my anxiety. ‘Stop that,’ I hissed.
‘She wants blood,’ Hugo said. ‘Shewants to fight.’
‘We can’t fight all of them,’ I answered. ‘Not if we want to win.’ He didn’t disagree.
One of the selkies screamed and the rest joined in until their chilling chorus echoed around us. I swallowed hard, reached for a spider’s silk pill and tossed it into my mouth with shaky haste. One single lapse in concentration and we were done for. I was shivering with fear. I didn’t want to be ripped apart. Suddenly I wasn’t ready to die.
Hugo cleared his throat. ‘My best friend was addicted to spider’s silk.’
I jerked. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Philip Farcastle. We grew up together and for a time we were inseparable. Then he met a girl, a low elf like you.’ His voice wasn’t judgmental or scathing, he just sounded sad. He sighed heavily and continued. ‘Phil knew his parents wouldn’t be happy about the relationship but he didn’t care. He was smitten. She gave him his first dose of spider’s silk. And his second.’
Hugo linked his hands together and stared out at the selkies while they stared in at us. ‘By the time I realised what was happening to him, it was already too late. He became strung out and he wouldn’t talk to any of us. All he cared about was getting his next hit. He even stopped caring about the girl.
‘When he ran out of money, she left him and he spiralled. I tried to help him, lots of people tried, but we could never do enough. Everywhere Philip went, he left devastation in his wake. He brutally attacked his own sister when she tried to persuade him to go to rehab. He stole a small fortune from his parents to fund his habit. It wasn’t his fault, not really, but he wouldn’t accept any help. He overdosed three years ago and now he’s buried in the family plot in Fife.’
He ran a hand through his tawny hair. ‘I’ve still never met anyone as skilled at water magic as he was. If he’d been here, hecould probably have held back the tide so we could escape. His powers were that extraordinary. If he’d not become addicted, there’s no telling what he might have achieved or gone on to become. The more spider’s silk he took, the less power he had – it sapped his magic.’
His voice grew darker. ‘And it sapped who he was at his core. Spider’s silk caused him to lose his family, his money, his magic and his life.’
‘I’m not like that,’ I whispered.
Hugo didn’t hesitate before answering. ‘Not yet.’
I licked my lips. Apparently it was the time for sharing. ‘My parents aren’t elves. I was adopted as a baby. They don’t have magic and they don’t understand it. They try, though. They’ve been good to me and I love them more than anyone else in the world.’
I felt Hugo’s eyes on me. I didn’t look at him but I did continue. ‘I started to have bad dreams when I was a teenager.’ I gave a cold laugh. ‘Nightmares. I don’t remember many of the details but I often woke up screaming. It didn’t matter what I tried, they got worse and worse.’
I gazed unseeing into the flames. ‘It felt as if something was after me, some monster that was stalking me through my sleep, and I grew too scared to go to bed. When I did fall asleep and the nightmares came, I used magic in my sleep. I had no control and I didn’t know what I was doing. There was no-one I knew to ask for help.’
I lifted my head and my eyes met the dark gaze of the first selkie. It was drooling.
‘One night it was particularly bad and whatever was after me started closing in. It was almost upon me and I couldn’t escape.’ I shook my head, remembering. ‘I managed to wake myself up somehow, and it was just as well because my bedroom was filledwith smoke.’
Hugo clearly understood. ‘You threw out fire magic in your sleep.’
I nodded. ‘The house burned down and my parents almost died. I almost killed my own mum and dad because I couldn’t control the magic inside me.’
‘That’s not an uncommon phenomenon, Daisy. There were lots of places you could have gotten help. High elves are trained from a young age to deal with that sort of thing.’
