De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 37

“We are not going anywhere,” Silver said as she walked past them. “Piper attacked my sisterhood. I will deal with her.”

She only made it a few steps before Faylen, Lilly, and Naomi started walking alongside her.

“Too bad. We’re going with you,” Faylen replied.

Silver gritted her teeth.

“This is my fault, Faylen,” she said quietly as they moved down the hallway of the Flatiron. “I need to fix this.”

Faylen frowned.

“No one expected them to attack you in your own home,” she replied. “This isn’t your fault.”

The turnip chimed in next.

“Fay is right. The way your sisterhood described the attack, it seems like a desperate attempt on your life,” Lilly added, walking on the other side of her. “We don’t know why she’s in this district. Hells, Vivian even warned us that the Coalition may be onto how she’s getting her information, and it’s a trap.”

Naomi moved up beside Lilly. A smile on the ice salamander’s face, as always, even given the task they were all discussing.

“We’re a sisterhood as well,” she said. “We’re not letting you do this alone.”

Silver narrowed her eyes at Naomi.

Sisterhood?

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Faylen let out a chuckle.

“Do I really need to tell you that you have my blessing?”

Silver’s head whipped to see the wolfkin smiling at her. She was about to say something when they encountered the first checkpoint, and she retreated to her thoughts as they made their way out of the Flatiron.

Silence settled on their little group as they walked to the portal. She knew the girls were being quiet to not reveal anything to possible changelings still hiding in District 114, but her own silence was because of her internal thoughts. Thoughts about Ash.

She felt her cheeks redden at what Mei, Naomi, and Faylen had stated. Haylee and Aerial had said similar things to her in the past. She bit her lip, letting the thought slip past her defenses.

Would he?

She pictured Ash smiling at her and felt an ache in her chest. She let out a deep breath before pushing the image and thoughts from her mind as she recalled Aerial lying injured on the cot in Lilly’s shop.

There was only one thing she needed to focus on tonight, and that was killing a certain drider.

Once they arrived at the portal, Silver punched in the numbers and looked at the girls. Ash’s girls.

“You sure you want to join in this fight?” Silver asked. “Piper is a Councilwoman.”

Faylen walked past her and through the portal.

“See you on the other side, cottontail,” Lilly said, sticking her tongue out before stepping through.

Naomi just smiled as she went next, her sword resting on her shoulder.

“Another sisterhood…” Silver said as the girls vanished.

She turned and looked out at District 114. Truthfully, this place had felt more like a home to her than her mansion in District 1. Turning, she stepped through the portal.

The district she emerged in had a humid and warm climate with the sun just now setting. Faylen, Lilly, and Naomi, were waiting for her, and together they started walking down the streets.

“We’re heading for the wall,” Silver said. “Once we get there, we’ll circle it.”

Naomi gave her a curious look.

“Have you been to this district before?” she asked.

She shook her head.

“That’s where the slums usually are. The buildings in those areas were removed when the walls were built, and they are as far as you can get from where most District Bosses will set up their seat of power.

“Some Districts also have smuggler tunnels to get in illicit goods from outside De’Vas. They even work in lock step with human criminal organizations.”

Silver frowned at how much of a pain in the ass it was to shut down operations like that, and the devastation they could bring to a District.

“An orc tried to set something like that up in District 114 back when I was the boss,” Faylen growled. “Bastard smuggled in a shotgun and tried to pull it on me when we busted the place up.”

Lilly let out a gasp.

“I remember that! It was about a year after I moved into 114. There wasn’t much left of him afterwards,” Lilly added.

Silver clicked her tongue.

“Smugglers are the quickest way to get the Council involved in your District,” Silver said.

As they traveled, Silver noticed many lamia and gorgons on the streets and wondered if they were the main populace in this district. As they neared to the large wall of the district, the tall buildings gave way to shanty structures built from what the residents could scavenge.

The people here were rougher, and many gave unpleasant looks to her and Faylen, at least until they noticed the ice salamander carrying a giant sword or realized Lilly was a dryad. Then fear replaced whatever look they gave them as the individual got out of their way.

“Have you seen a drider?” Faylen asked, placing a few dollars in a beggar’s bowl.

She had done this each time they passed one on the street, usually only receiving a head shake or a thanks in return.

The old lamia looked at them warily but pointed down a side alleyway. Faylen placed an extra bill in the bowl.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile.

The smile faded into a stern expression as she turned back around. Together they moved through the alleyway. Tarps made a canopy overhead where they were stretched between the shanty buildings. The path was crooked, but soon they arrived in an open space next to the wall of the District. Piper sat in one of the corners of this open space, smoking a cigarette as she stared at the ground while wearing a disposable yellow raincoat.

“This shit hole suits you,” Silver greeted.

Piper looked up at her, the end of the cigarette glowing red hot.

“Who the hell are you?” she asked, exhaling smoke.

Her eyes locked on Lilly, and she snarled.

“The bitch pretending to be Willowson’s daughter,” she said while stamping out the cigarette. “So you’re the humans whores I take it. Is this some kind of attempt at payback for me killing Blackthorn?”

Silver glared at Piper, who wore a cocky smile.

“You didn’t kill Blackthorn,” Silver said, her temper flaring. “In fact, the person you attacked wasn’t even the real Blackthorn.”

The smile started to slip from the drider’s face as her hand moved for a dagger at her waist. Silver dropped her disguise, showing her real identity to Piper.

“You didn’t kill me, Piper,” Cleo growled, holding out her hand and casting her Will-o'-Wisp spell.

Fear filled Piper’s face as she drew the dagger, a rune etched on the blade glowing a light blue. Ice spread across the ground toward Cleo, but before it arrived at her, four black balls of Death Magic struck Piper, throwing her through the wall of one of the buildings.

Cleo saw Naomi’s sword take a blue hue and iron start to cling to Faylen’s body like armor as both girls prepared their spells. Lilly scattered seeds around the ground.

“You bitch!” Piper yelled.

She charged from the shanty building in her drider form. Spider-like legs propelled her forward quickly as she sent two laser-like blasts of Light Magic at Cleo. The banshee shifted to her mist form to avoid them.

“I’ll kill you! And I’ll kill them too!” she yelled as one of the spider legs tried to stab Faylen.

The wolfkin’s Iron Claws glowed red-hot as she grasped the spear-like appendage. Piper screamed as smoke rolled off her leg while Faylen’s claws dug into the chitin, working to tear it from Piper’s body.

“Let go, you mutt!” Piper yelled as she pointed two fingers at Faylen, Light Magic glowing on the tips.

Cleo reformed from her mist and prepared another Will-o’-Wisp. Faylen’s armor might withstand the attack, but she didn’t want to chance it. Before she could cast the spell, Naomi sliced off Piper’s arm with Torrent.

A cry of pain echoed against the wall of the district as the frozen arm fell to the ground and shattered like glass. Piper clutched her stump, her gaze darting to each of them before locking on Cleo and the Will-o’-Wisp spell.

Piper’s eyes widened, and she slammed the Ice Dagger into the leg that Faylen held. Ice formed on the chitin before she twisted the blade and severed her own leg. She turned to flee, but vines burst from the ground and tangled her.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Lilly declared.

Piper screamed as the vines pulled her to the ground. She started slashing at them with her dagger, freezing the vines until they eventually swarmed her enough to restrain her arm. There was no escape for her now, and Cleo approached with her Will-o’-Wisp spell hovering around her. Piper glared up at her as she sobbed.

“Damn you, Blackthorn!” Piper screeched. “You’ve ruined everything in my life! You broke my kingdom, slaughtered my friends and subjects. All for your petty revenge! What about my revenge! What about my justice!”

Cleo’s lips thinned at the truth of Piper’s words. She recalled the memory of the drider bowing low to her and swearing fealty after Cleo had conquered her lands, all to build an army. An army for her own revenge against someone who had done the same to her.

She did a lot of terrible things in the pursuit of avenging her mother’s death. The title of the Nightmare Queen was a constant badge of shame she wore for all the fear and pain she had caused.

Cleo felt a knot in her gut.

“If you had just come after me,” she said, holding the spell. “I would have given you a fair fight, but you went after my sisterhood.”

She prepared to send the Will-o’-Wisp at Piper’s head and give her a quick death.

“Bravo! Encore! Encore!” a voice shouted with laughter and clapping.

Cleo’s blood chilled as she looked up to see a smiling pixie sitting on the roof of one of the shanty buildings, watching them with amusement.

Councilwoman Scarlet!

“Run!” Cleo shouted as she sent the Will-o’-Wisp at Scarlet.

The pixie vanished in a roar of laughter as the spell struck the roof. A second later, dozens of slashes of Wind Magic rained down on them from above.