Eighteen
‘No!’ My voice echoed loud and clear across the cavern, but it could have resembled a foghorn for all the attention Athair or the Fachan gave me.
Hugo marched forward and inserted himself between the pair of them, but this was far more than a mere bar fight that required intervention. Athair snarled at him to get out of the way, and when Hugo held his ground he received a swift blow to the side of his head. As soon as it became apparent that Athair was prepared to follow up that blow with a lethal bolt of lightning, I jumped in and hauled Hugo away.
‘Stop it!’ I shouted. I appealed to the Fachan, aware that Athair wouldn’t listen to me. ‘Don’t fight him. This is my battle, not yours.’
‘It is too late, Daisy Carter. The challenge has been accepted. We must duel.’ The Fachan smiled. ‘This is a challenger worthy of my sword, if not my regard.’ He nudged me out of his way.
‘I do not suppose, daughter, that you will lend me your sword for this fight?’ Athair enquired. He had to be fucking kidding me. ‘I guess not,’ he said. ‘Do not worry. My bare hands will be more than enough.’
The Fachan blinked expressionlessly. ‘Regardless of my opponent, I always fight fairly. We can delay the battle while I retrieve a suitable weapon for you, if that is your wish. No use of magic is permitted. The battle must be on an equal footing.’
Athair paused and appeared to consider, then he snapped his wrists and used air magic to raise three of the larger loose stones into the air and throw them at the Fachan. The first one struck him from behind, smacking him between his shoulder blades. The second bounced off the Fachan’s skull, leaving a glistening smear of blood. He staggered and managed to avoid the third one through sheer luck.
‘Nah,’ Athair replied. ‘I don’t need any hand-me-downs.’ He grinned. ‘And I don’t fight fairly.’
The Fachan grunted but didn’t appear surprised or annoyed. Despite his wounds and the pain he was doubtless experiencing from the hefty blows, he twisted his sword and lifted his chin. ‘In that caseen garde,’ he said.
I clenched my jaw. Suddenly I was more than prepared to do exactly as Hugo had done and step between the pair of them to stop the Fachan getting hurt. This time, however, it was Hugo who stopped me. ‘The fight is underway. The best we can do is keep out of the way.’
I gave him a helpless look and Hugo returned it. ‘I know,’ he muttered. ‘I know.’
Otis fluttered up to my shoulder while the Fachan swung at Athair, arcing his sword over his head as if it were made of paper then slicing it through the air with a powerful swing that made it appear to be stone. Athair dodged the blow – but only just.
‘What do we do?’ Otis wrung his hands. ‘What do we do, Daisy?’
‘You and Hester stay as far back as possible,’ I said. ‘You keep out of the way.’ I pointed upwards. ‘If you need to, you fly up there and get the hell out of here.’
‘We’re not leaving you,’ Hester said, although she’d already found herself a sheltered spot well away from the fight.
I nodded: their choices were their own. I licked my lips and desperately wished I had some spider’s silk. I could certainly have done with its cold comfort right then. Instead, I nudged Otis away.
Athair was focusing solely on magic; the Fachan was only using his sword. His long, gleaming blade was far more useful against Athair’s conjurations than I’d expected; it helped, that his reflexes were faster than Athair’s lightning bolts. He blocked one after the other, swinging his blade left, right, up and down.
On three separate occasions the Fachan angled his sword so that Athair’s magic bolts were sent back towards him, bouncing off the steel in a boomerang-like fashion. Under any other circumstances I’d have cheered to see my fiendish fucker of a father struck by his own lightning bolt, but I was too scared to do anything but watch.
The Fachan blocked another arc of lightning, sidestepped to his right and spun round with a roar. The tip of his sword scraped against Athair’s bare chest and I saw a flash of pain and rage in my birth father’s blood-red eyes. He responded with a blast of fire, trying to engulf the Fachan in flames, but the Fachan was ready and leapt several metres into the air to avoid it. He landed to the side with a soft, almost cat-like thump, twirled his sword and advanced on Athair again.
‘Your kind is wholly evil,’ the Fachan said. ‘You should not exist.’
‘Neither should you,’ Athair returned. ‘How long have you been hiding in this hole? What kind of existence is this?’
The Fachan responded by executing a series of jabs, slicing with more delicacy than I’d have thought his massive sword was capable of, and nicked Athair’s skin several times. Blood was seeping from both their bodies now. Although I knew that theFachan didn’t have the ability to kill Athair outright, I realised that they were evenly matched. The Fachan could beat Athair and maintain his honour, then I could use Gladys to execute the killing blow.
I had to be ready. I knelt down and picked her up, gripping her hilt while she buzzed with anticipation. My action didn’t go unnoticed. While Hugo nodded approval, the Fachan called out, ‘Do not involve yourself, Daisy Carter. It is not noble to interfere.’
He had barely finished speaking when Athair lifted his hands and took full advantage of the distraction I’d mistakenly provided. He directed a powerful jet of water at the Fachan’s exposed throat.
It was an intelligent – and nasty – move. The police employed water cannons to disperse unruly crowds for a reason; it was akin to being hit with a missile. The jet of water didn’t break the Fachan’s skin but it stopped his breath and sent him stumbling backwards. His pain must have been immense.
Athair swung his head towards me and winked. ‘Feel free to clap at my prowess whenever you like, daughter.’
My face contorted and I couldn’t disguise my hatred. Athair’s eyes narrowed and, as if to punish the Fachan for my feelings, he attacked him with a second jet of water. Although the Fachan was still choking and gasping for air, he was prepared and managed to dodge it by ducking.
Otis gave a shrill cry as he narrowly avoided being hit by the magicked water cannon. If the jet had hit the brownie, it would have killed him. The force when it smacked into the cavern wall was terrifying.
Athair was already preparing another magical attack and I cried out to warn the Fachan. My impotence as I stood on the side lines clawed at me – perhaps I should get involved, regardless of the Fachan’s instruction.
