Everyone looked at each other for a moment. Megan tried to reach toward the gate and then drew back her hand again. If the taste of chewing on aluminum foil could be transferred to the fingers, that would be it. Megan wiggled her hand to circulate the feeling away, happily distracted by the sound of the wind through the now-even-creepier gates.
“The two of you could just fly over,” Lani told Ashling and the Count.
“I... I...” Ashling was actually at a loss for words for a moment. “I couldn't get the sword myself. That was part of the point. And the Count doesn't have any hands.”
Megan didn't join the conversation, staring and reaching towards the twisted, seamless metal that seemed to be almost some sort of lock without a keyhole. That aluminum feeling in her fingertips was unavoidable. It was almost like a medication overdose concentrated in her skin. A shudder went down her spine, and the wind sang out through the gaps again, one of the brighter versions of the sound.
“There has to be something,” Ashling said. “Megan, you seemed to have a knack with that bardic translation book—”
“It's not going to be anything in a book, especially not one the Unseelie King had,” Lani argued. “If there's a faerie spell that can open it, that's not tauntingly unavailable, really.”
Megan let her do the arguing, her mind seizing on every stepping and skipping whistle of the wind as Lani filtered it out and focused on the main thing going on. It was the story of most of their lives, really.
Megan absently swayed a little. "...C-E-G-E-C-E-G-E-F-A-C-A-C..." she sing-songed smoothly, parroting the notes, but letting them flow together without the long pauses.
And for a moment, the wall seemed to vibrate. And then, the seemingly seamless iron of the lock untwisted itself. The gate opened.
Chapter 19: City in Irons
The girls stood, staring into the open gateway. The wind continued to blow through the wrought-iron bars, but now it was more like a howl than a tuneful hum as it passed through the open gate. The city was no less forbidding with the gate open, just more colorful. Had she not known better, Megan would have thought it abandoned for a few years at most. All over the place, there were faded paints or partial images that had to have once been bright and cheerful, and maybe a little garish. The buildings even seemed to have few sharp edges, and unusual contours and layouts. The only thing close, she realized, was the architecture of a lot of modern concert halls, laid out to produce the best acoustics possible. It was like the entire place had been built to house one great spectacle of sight and sound. Now, all of that crazed precision left the wind echoing through every curve and twist, the whispers and howls echoing back through the streets.
Megan exchanged a look with Lani, both hesitating to push on and step across the threshold into the lost city of iron. As usual, Ashling started on ahead of them.
As the Count started to glide into the city, Ashling shuddered. The Count, noticing, reversed course back through the gates and landed on the ground.
“Count, don't be such a sissy,” Ashling hissed through clenched teeth, clinging to the bird's neck. “We have a job to do.”
“Caw,” the Count replied.
“What? Don't be ridiculous. I'm fine. I will be fine.”
“Caw.”
“Yes, they do.”
“Caw.”
“He really, really is.”
There was a pause, then a final. “Caw.”
“Thank you. It's all okay. Honest, just … don't brush into anything.”
She then visibly tensed further as the crow flew back into the city.
“'He' who?” Megan asked.
“Huh?” Ashling looked at her suddenly. “The Unseelie King, obvi—oh, yeah. You don't speak Corvid.”
“Nope. So what about my dad?”
“We were just mentioning him. Because of the job. You know, my cousin Nessa once said... she once said...” Ashling was breathing a little heavier, eyes glancing back to the gates and on to the next iron-wrapped building. Finally, Ashling looked Megan in the eye for a moment. “Well... Nessa and I don't talk anymore. The King and I do. This is worth it.”
"I'm sorry," Megan said, as she stepped into the city, following the crow and pixie. "Are you going to be okay in here?"
"I'll be fine," Ashling said, not sounding very convincing as she huddled over more, making sure she had a good grip on the Count. Even so, they flew on.
Some distance into the city, Megan paused. "Did you hear that?"
"How are you hearing anything over the wind?" Lani asked, but paused to listen even so.
After a few moments of the wind's howl, Megan was just starting to think she must have imagined the sound, when it came again. A dull sound of metal on stone that echoed through the corridors, then disappeared into the constant sound around them. "Are you sure there's no one here?" Megan finally asked.
"No one ever said that," Lani responded, looking around through the different passages through the city, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from when it echoed again. "Something keeps preventing people from coming back, after all."
"You're very reassuring."
Lani grabbed hold of Megan's arm, tugging her towards one of the buildings. "I'll keep being reassuring over here, then, away from any of the side streets and alleys."
Ashling and the Count circled higher, surveying the city from the rooftop level, before they finally dove towards Lani, landing on her shoulder. "Incoming!"
"Incoming what?" Megan said, glancing all around.
"I think it might be a giant," Ashling said, focusing on one of the side alleys across the street from them, drawing the girls' attention there.
“I thought there were no more giants,” said Megan.
"Tell him," Ashling said, the crow lifting off again as a massive form, at least nine feet tall, tromped into the street, each footfall echoing through the city. As it emerged from the shadows of the alley into the dim light of the open street, Megan could see that the figure seemed to be made all of the same black iron as the gates. Though the construction was frequently somewhat rough compared to most statues she'd seen, the figure still seemed to be made up as a loose interpretation of an armored soldier, down to the sword and shield, bearing an insignia of a rearing horse, permanently attached to the arms.
Megan froze where she was, trying not to draw attention her way, hoping the creature would turn. For a moment, it appeared about to do so, then its gaze fell on the small group. At first, Megan expected it to come running, but instead, it stood tall and tipped its head back. Though its mouth didn't move, the sound that emerged from the statue sounded somewhere between a bellow and a car crash. The sound echoed far louder than its footfalls had, easily carrying over the wind.
All around them, the city started to come alive with new noises. More of the metal-on-stone footfalls came from all directions. "Run!" Ashling shouted, the Count lifting off of Lani's shoulder and leading the way. Once the shout shocked both girls out of staring, they raced for one of the side streets. Hearing crashing behind them, Megan looked back to see the giant statue following, keeping pace with them due to long strides, maybe even gaining a little.
They rounded two more corners trying to lose it and almost ran directly into another, this one with a mountain on its shield. The Count abruptly swooped upward as the towering form turned a corner just ahead of them. Lani dove to the side to avoid a swipe from its sword. Megan wasn't as agile or lucky, only barely managing to slow down as she collided with a tree-trunk thick leg of iron. She stumbled backwards, barely keeping her feet. Looking back up, she saw the black sword raising. Before it could swing, a tiny black form ridden by a much more colorful one raked past its eyes. The crow's claws didn't do anything to the statue, but the pair got its attention. The shield came up as the Count was banking upward, the edge smashing into the bird and drawing a scream from Ashling. The crow went into a spin, flapping desperately and trying to regain the skies, while Ashling clung on for dear life. Lani do
ve, managing to catch them before they hit the ground, though the Count's claws or beak drew a long, bloody gash on her hand and arm as she did. The heroism did buy Megan time to recover. She helped pull Lani back to her feet, and the girls started running again, with Lani holding onto the smaller pair.
There were four more close calls, each new encounter sending them racing down a different alley or side path. Megan paused a few times, looking for signs of anywhere to hide, but all of the doors were chained, and the windows boarded. She never had time to look for long, or truly test any of them, with iron footfalls always sounding like they were just behind them, along with the bellow-crashes that kept announcing their presence any time a new thing found them.
Finally, as she was racing around a corner, almost out of breath, Lani grabbed for her, pulling her to the side. "Over here." Where Lani pointed, there was a window, once shuttered and boarded up like the others, but this one appeared to have been smashed open.
Megan scrambled up into the window and into the building, then accepted Ashling and the Count. As soon as she was able to set the pair down, she reached into the street to help pull her shorter friend in through the window. Neither dared peek out, but they heard crashing footsteps in the street outside. For a few moments, it stilled, though there were more footfalls out there, still coming their way. They held their breath, waiting to see if the thing would see their hiding spot and come crashing through the door or wall. Then the footfalls moved on. A few more came through the area, and each time, they moved on.
Finally, Megan dared to break the silence. "What are those things?"
"Iron golems," came a voice from the other side of the room. "The invulnerable guards of the city."
Chapter 20: Boy out of Time
The boy in the room couldn't have been much older than Megan and Lani, but he was a good bit taller, though clearly slouching from some injury. What drew the attention more than any physical feature, though, was his clothing. He was dressed like something out of a medieval movie, right down to wearing chain mail.
Lani didn't go near him yet, kneeling to tend to Ashling and the Count. Both were conscious and moving, but the Count was favoring one wing, and Ashling was quiet and had a black mark on one leg. Lani was taking both as a bad sign.
“I've no arms,” the boy said, holding up his good hand and wincing as it came away from his slumped shoulder.
“Well, you've got them, but one's not looking good,” Megan said.
“Weapons, Miss. I have no weapons. My sword broke fighting the golems."
"Oh," Megan said, glancing at the empty sword sheath at his belt. "Weapons probably would have been a good idea."
"Weapons you don't know how to use just encourage you to fight things you probably shouldn't," Lani replied.
"I had a good sword," the boy said. "It didn't do me very much good. The Claiomh Solais, though, should probably work a little better."
"Oh!" Megan exclaimed, "You must be the Queen's other agent. She was asking about you. I'm glad you're alive, but I was expecting someone..."
"A little bit more Fair?" he asked.
"Uh-uh, I knew about the 'human blood' thing, but I'd have figured their first person was older. Or maybe with guns or something instead of a sword."
"Guns really don't work on anything here nearly as well as you'd think they might," Lani said. She looked to the boy, getting in the practical questions Megan was skipping past. "Who are you, anyway? And what do you know about the sword?"
"Justin of Ludlow," he answered, with an obviously painful bow. "I am... I was the squire to Sir Broderick. We came through the portal seeking the Claiomh Solais."
"So where is he?"
"He never made it into Faerie. We had prepared ourselves for the trip, after consulting with numerous scholars on matters of the fae. Horseshoes, iron knives, necklaces of daisies, and, at great expense, plenty of salt."
"Oh, I heard about the salt thing," Megan said. Lani glanced at her with a quirked brow.
"So had we," Justin said. "And we thought we were ready. All we had to do was close our eyes, step through the lodestones, and step back out. As we did, there was a woman's scream and a terrible roar."
"I don't remember that part," Megan said.
"That's because we had a pixie guide," Lani said, still crouched with Ashling, who was half-trying to shoo her away.
"So, what did you see? Who was screaming?" Megan asked, looking back to Justin while Lani helped the pixie and crow.
“There were flames, and the flames just towered. Red-hot... white-hot... Sir Broderick… both his eyes were open. He fell straight for the fire. I managed to wrench myself aside somehow. I still fell. I fell half-blind into smoke and mist and hard earth. Once I could get up, I wandered for hours. Finally, I saw a path bordered by flames again and ran to it. I passed out as I emerged. Finally I woke, collapsed, near a bonfire on the lawn of a castle.
“Balefire,” Ashling said, finally joining the conversation. “They're there for a reason, and they're also the reason you don't open your eyes when stepping out of a circle.”
Justin nodded, wincing.
“What happened on the lawn?”
“There were two people … She was like an ethereal saint. He was like an avenging angel—”
“I know, right?” Megan interrupted, then blushed. “Oh, um, sorry.”
“She said she'd let me return to the mortal world, but only if I completed a mission.”
“Sorry to go back, but where is Ludlow, anyway?” She just had to know. His accent sounded like he was from somewhere between France, Virginia, and another planet.
“England. The Marches, near the Welsh border.”
“And what year is it there?” Ashling asked.
“Anno Domini 1389.”
Megan blinked. “Oh. Oh, gosh, I hate to break this to you...”
“The Queen already did, Miss. Don't worry. She helped me try to understand the strange future dialect better before she sent me on this quest last fortnight. Not sure why she started with that. The iron golems don't speak it, or speak at all.”
“At least you know she intends to keep her word and let you leave.”
“Oh, she always keeps her word,” Ashling said. “She has to.”
“Oh yeah.” Megan paused only a moment, her mind still racing around. “So she gave you a mission. The mission was to get the sword? The same thing you'd been trying to do anyway?”
“Well, yes, but not to bring it back to the King anymore—”
Ashling perked up a little. “You've seen the Unseelie King?”
“No,” Justin said hurriedly, shaking his head. “No, I absolutely haven't. The King of England wanted to raise everyone's hopes against the machinations of the Lords Appellant—and the bad weather, and the fear the plague will return. Mostly, though, it's politics. Or it was politics.” Justin had a strange expression for a moment, which might be understandable when realizing that everyone you know is dead. “Anyway,” he continued. “It doesn't matter now. The Queen said I could never re-enter the normal world without first shoving the sword into a stone she showed me.”
“Huh. Reverse King Arthur,” Megan said. “Of course, we've got a crow instead of an owl.”
Justin looked puzzled. “What do owls have to do with King Arthur?”
“Let's just not talk about owls,” Lani said. “So, the sword.”
"Yes, the sword. I've seen it," Justin said. "I'm in no shape to make another attempt. They keep it well guarded. Most of the golems don't seem very intelligent. Distractions worked well. The four guarding the sword, however, seemed to have different instructions, or better magic animating them. They won't leave the sword alone. That made it harder to take, but, thankfully, made them easier to escape, too." He said, glancing at his injured arm.
"So, at least we have a better idea what we're up against," Lani said. "We're going to need a plan. But we have some time. I hope you don't mind us inserting ourselves into the mission, Justin, but we'
re after the same thing. It seems like the best idea."
"It does," Justin agreed. "As soon as I can move my arm enough to fight."
After checking on Ashling one more time, Lani crossed the room. "Let me take a look at it."
Chapter 21: Plans of Attack
Megan moved over to Ashling and settled down, now that she was fairly sure the golems weren't paying the damaged window any attention. She noticed the black mark. The thoughts of mention of iron and Ashling's damaged wings sprang quickly to mind. "Is that...?" she started, not precisely sure what to even ask.
"Just iron burn," Ashling replied. "It barely touched me. It will heal, eventually, when we're out of the city."
"So all you have to do is touch it?"
"Not as bad," Ashling agreed. "But yes, if the iron is pure enough, just touching it hurts. This is sort of like, I guess, if you touched something red-hot. Which you really shouldn't do, by the way." She sounded like she was speaking from experience.
"I'll keep it in mind," Megan assured her. "How is the Count?"
The crow cawed, Megan glanced at him, then back to Ashling. "He says he'll probably be able to fly in a day or two. Maneuvering very well might be longer, though."
Lani sighed, as she went through her pack for bandages. "We only have a couple of days. Most of our food is still in Cassia's chariot.”
“Oh yeah,” Megan said. She looked to Justin. “So you got away from the hounds without someone to distract them?”
“...Not exactly.”
“Not exactly someone?”
“Not exactly 'got away.' I was brought up that it's better to ask permission than run screaming.”
Megan looked at Justin for a moment. “So you just asked the giant monster dogs nicely to let you through?”
“No. I asked the Huntsman.” His good hand attempted to help Lani hold the bandages as she wound them into a brace for his bad arm.
“Tall guy? Scary Looking? Horns?” Megan asked.
Foul is Fair Page 9
