Meribella

Wait!"

Thorne's voice rang out over the melee. Meribella looked at her friend, waiting to see what had caused the order. Only, the witch said nothing. She closed her eyes, lifted her hands- the channeling stone on her finger glowing- and whispered words Meribella didn't understand. Opening her eyes, she grinned before swaying on her feet.

"Thorne," Lincoln shouted, scooping her up before she collapsed. Her head lolled to the side, and her lashes fluttered. He pushed a stray curl behind her ear, and his voice was pained when he demanded, "What did you do little witch?"

"Lincoln, look," Meribella said, pointing at the field where several people glimmered green.

"Green is mean," Thorne whimpered.

"You're brilliant," Addien said. "Now we know friend from foe."

"You shouldn't have done that. You didn't have the strength."

"Lincoln, she'll be okay. Thorne knows her limits, but you've got to get her away from the fight. She's no good like this, and you'll be no good if you're constantly trying to protect her."

He looked down at Thorne, indecision tugging at his features. When he raised his eyes to meet Meribella's, her heart broke at what she saw there. Guilt darkened his amber irises.

"If something happens to you..." He swallowed. "I couldn't bear it, and I'm not just saying that because you're Raff's girl. I love you Meribella."

"Awe," Thorne said, patting his face. Her eyes remained closed but she grinned.

"I love you too, you big lug. Now get out of here. The fight is pushing this way, and you won't be able to escape soon."

A brush of fur against her leg reminded her that Aurora was waiting. Lincoln gave them one last, lingering glance and then sprinted for the trees that would take him to the boats where Raff waited. For a moment, she considered reaching out to Raff, but he was going to be angry. And likely here as soon as Lincoln showed up with just Thorne. Once this was all over, she was going to have words with him about changing the plan like that.

Meribella studied the crowd below. While a few skirmishes took place near her, most of the fighting took place on the beach. Every time one of Nerida's followers spotted her, another selkie stopped them before they could reach her, but eventually, someone would slip by.

She looked at Addien. The woman was fierce, and she held a spear in her hand as if she knew what to do with it. Limp or no limp, Meribella would hesitate before engaging her in a fight. Grimacing, she reached down and rolled Marachet's rapidly cooling body so that she could remove her long tunic. This robe wouldn't cut it in hand to hand combat.

"Ready?" Addien demanded when Meribella finished dressing.

"Yes, I think so."

"You can still go. The path for escape is clear."

"I couldn't live with myself if I did that. I'm not a coward, and these are my people now."

Addien exposed her canines in a feral grimace. "Then let's do as you said, and end this."

With a whoop, the leopard selkie joined the fray, her destination clear. As bodies moved and parted, she caught sight of Caspian fighting his way out of the middle. Blood splattered his face, and there were several gashes on his exposed arms. None looked serious. Valencia and her children fought side by side not far away. But even with Thorne's help, it was hard to tell who was winning.

A woman charged from her left as Meribella moved down the hill. Drawing on the power in her middle to steady herself, she twisted away from the woman's blade, and brought the butt of her spear down on her temple. She dropped like a stone and didn't move.

Three more times she was attacked as enemies on the edges of the battle spied her. The last one left her with a slice down the back of her calf, and she would've lost her head if Aurora hadn't slipped out of the shadows like white smoke and ripped the person's throat out.

"Good girl," Meribella said, running her hand over the wolf's head, leaving a streak of scarlet on her silver scruff. Aurora whimpered in response and nuzzled her palm.

"Meribella."

Ooh, he was pissed. His anger rippled over her name, taking her mind off the throbbing ache in her leg. The moment she thought about her leg, the anger spiked to rage as if he could see what she was thinking about.

"Are you injured?"

She punched an Elephant Clan selkie in the face. His long nose cushioned the hit, and she caught a set of knuckles on her jaw. Aurora snapped at the man's heels, giving Meribella a moment to recover, and with numb resolve, she slid the spear between his ribs.

"Meribella! Damn it."

"I can't fight and talk at the same time."

"You shouldn't be fighting at all. We had this arranged so we could get you out safely."

"I'm shocked-" She hissed as a thrown knife skimmed her cheek. "You weren't here to drag me off."

"Nerida had her people watching me so I made it look like I was leaving you."

Meribella tuned him out as soon as her eyes fell on Nerida. The Leopard Clan leader had managed to push through the fight and get to the tree line near where Meribella had been put on "trial." She looked wild. Savage. More animal than human. It was the look of someone who was cornered and desperate.

But she didn't know desperate yet. Meribella let herself reach for every hazy memory. Every piece of her broken by the woman's manipulations. The belief that she'd betrayed Raff with her body, and then the anguish when she believed her body had been taken by force. Caspian may never have touched her, but because of Nerida, Meribella bore the same scars as if he had.

"Nerida," she growled, her toes curling in the sand as she rushed back up the hill.

"Come and get me girl," Nerida taunted.

They ran. Sand gave way to damp soil and soil to fallen leaves as they retreated deeper and deeper into the forest. Aurora weaved through the trees like a phantom, her blue eyes a beacon in the growing darkness. Fog spider webbed over the ground, and a sense of deja vu overwhelmed Meribella. Her dream... Only then, she'd run out of the woods and toward the sea. But the smells and sounds were the same. The choice was the same- to continue on or go back. If only she knew what she was choosing.

"You're slowing down. Are you giving up?" Nerida asked, her voice echoing around Meribella. Dead leaves rattled on skeletal branches as the wind whistled through the canopy. "I know every inch of this forest girl. You won't be able to find me if you fall behind."

"Or you could stop being a coward and fight."

"Is it really a fair fight if you have the powers of Fae Queens in your blood?"

"Fae Queens?"

They'd come to a stop in a clearing. Meribella stood in the middle, bathed in light while Nerida paced in a ring of shadows. Aurora bristled and growled, but she remained at Meribella's side.

"Everyone thinks they're goddesses, but I know the truth. They're nothing more than powerful Fae, and if they can be queens, why can't I?"

She shook off the revelation and focused on locating the woman in the woods. A trial in front of all the people she wronged was what she deserved, but if it took killing her to end this madness, Meribella would do it.

"But you're having a bit of a problem with your Blessing aren't you? It's never quite recovered from the weeks you spent in my control."

Nerida stepped into the clearing, twin blades clutched in each hand. Her eyes, normally dark, were the same turquoise as Meribella's. "You and I are connected now. I knew my son wouldn't be able to go through with bedding you so I handled it myself. Morgan taught it to me. It's the same spell she uses to keep her little witch, Vivian, under control, and I get the benefit of your power. It was quite simple, really, while you were drugged out of your mind."

Meribella fought the urge to retch. "It won't matter once you're dead."

Nerida crouched into a defensive stance, her blades whirling through her fingers. Her long braid snaked over her bare shoulder, and a victorious glint appeared in her eye. A sharp odor burned in Meribella's nose as the other woman's scent reached her. Satisfaction.

"There's a fun little catch in this spell," Nerida said. "To break the connection, we both have to die. Otherwise, your power will just keep bringing me back. Over and over and over."

Meribella couldn't refrain from gasping, and as much as she wanted to shake her head no, to tell the woman she was lying, she knew it was true. Could smell it. Nerida had created a trap and lured them all right into it. She'd told her friends this had to end, and there was only one way to end it. She would not be a pawn in this woman's games.

With a scream of fury, Meribella lunged at the selkie, swiping her spear wide. Nerida dodged it easily but was caught off guard by the back end when Meribella spun to avoid being stabbed. The crunch of bone beneath metal was sweet to her ears, but even sweeter to her eyes when she saw the red split running from the bridge of Nerida's nose to her ear.

But the first spilling of blood sent the Leopard Clan leader into a frenzy. She charged and swiped, dropping to her knees and rolling to avoid hits, and bouncing up to her toes faster than Meribella could blink. All along her skin, she felt the stings of where a knife had kissed her skin. No longer could she make out Nerida's scent. The air was too clouded with coppery tang of blood and earth.

"You're soft," Meribella spit, tasting blood on her tongue. She wiped her mouth, and her hand came away scarlet.

Nerida laughed. "And yet you bleed far more than I do. Even with your little bitch helping you."

Aurora lay near a tree, panting, but at Nerida's insult, she stood and limped to Meribella's side. She had a long gash down her back, and a deep red stain was spreading across her left flank. It broke Meribella's heart.

"Yes, well I wasn't raised with a spear in my hands. I was not born to be a warrior. In fact, I've held my own against you, and I've only been training with Thorne and Raff for the last year. However did you manage to become a Clan leader?" Meribella let her eyes go wide and her lips tip up at the edge in a hateful smirk. "You made up for your physical weakness by being a manipulative bitch. Resorting to magic to make up for your deficiencies."

She held her breath as she waited for Nerida to react to her taunts. Truth be told, she didn't think she had much fight left in her. The slow seepage of blood was wearing her down. Even worse was the effort it took to hold onto her power. Now she understood why it was so hard. It was like playing tug of war, but she knew without tapping into her Blessing, she never could have kept up with someone like Nerida.

"I won my place as leader in hand to hand combat against not one, but three others."

Meribella rocked back on her heels and bounced the spear on her palms. "That was a long time ago. You're old now."

That did it. It was so comical she wanted to laugh. How could a woman so smart and scheming be brought so low by vanity? Being unhinged by the loss of her supporters probably helped, but Meribella just praised the gods that it did work.

Nerida reached her fast, and Meribella didn't move out of the way. When their bodies collided, the momentum drove them to the ground. Pain spiked through Meribella's hands as she ripped the knives from Nerida by grabbing the blades, and then she locked her knees around her enemy's waist and rolled.

Pressing the tip of the knife against Nerida's chest, she looked into the woman's eyes. They stared back, not a single spark of fear showing.

"Do you concede? I'll let you live if you agree to break the connection between us."

"I'm sure you would. You see, that's your weakness."

"Mercy isn't weakness."

"It's human." She filled a single word with pounds of disgust. "If I did that, my queen would kill me anyway. So, I think I'll take my chances."

"Why does she want access to my power? She has plenty of her own," Meribella demanded, pressing the point of the blade into Nerida's skin until blood welled up around the metal.

"You're the Guide," Nerida purred, her hand darting between them and wrapping around Meribella's. She shoved down, piercing her body with the knife. With the foam around her lips turning red, she choked, "I'll be right back."

"No," Meribella said, her grip tightening on the second blade.

She watched as the light faded from the woman's eyes, but before it was truly gone, she drove the knife into her own stomach. Nerida's mouth opened as if to scream, but the sound Meribella heard was deep and full of anguish. She slumped over, the world dimming quickly.

A familiar touch warmed her cold body, and she squinted to see who was cradling her. Raff's face was blurry. The tears rolling down his cheeks sparkled the way her skin did in the ocean. They were the only light left in her world, and she held onto them as death tugged at her.

"Why?" He asked, covering the wound on her stomach with his hand.

She blinked. There was an answer, but she didn't know how to speak. At last her vision faded, but for a moment, her hearing intensified. Raff was sobbing and begging. And then a long, mournful howl joined his cries. She stayed to listen a moment longer.

A second howl. Then a third. Three different wolves.

One goodbye.