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by John Goode

“Are you under the impression you can give me orders?” the diamond asked, sounding amused. “Because, if you’d like, I can have someone provide a copy of the most up-to-date family history. The gem at the top gives the orders. Does that sound—?”

  “You are ill,” Ruber interrupted, ignoring the jibe. “Going into combat could cause irreparable damage that would leave you—”

  “Broken and insensate. I am aware of that,” Adamas finished for him.

  “Now you’re acknowledging there’s a problem? How long until you forget what you’ve just said?”

  “You’re going to have to learn something about leadership, Ruber, and I don’t have time to give you and your sister a lesson in it. When you are responsible for a group of people, there are certain tasks you must take upon yourself even if they are potentially lethal. That efreet almost killed your brother,” Adamas said, his voice shaking with rage at the memory. “And though the changeling sent it, that damned thing came from The Wolflands. Only the ruler of that country possesses the authority to release a being as powerful as the efreet into anyone else’s hands. The fault lies in the Wolflands, and it is there I am going to go and remind their ruler of what it means to harm a member of the Crystal Court. Could I die? Yes. Do I mind? Not anymore. I might have a few decades ago, but now? Now that fate doesn’t scare me.”

  “Why?” Ruber asked, completely shocked by his father’s conversational tone.

  “Because if I do fall, I know the Court is in good hands with you and your sister. And in the end, the only thing that matters is that the Court endures. Now I know it will.”

  Ruber was left literally speechless at his father’s explanation. Before the moment could become unbearable, Adamas added, “Take care of your friends on that side, and I will take care of the ones on mine.”

  The diamond propelled himself toward the ambers, giving orders before he reached them. In his wake, Caerus floated to Ruber. “What did he say?”

  “He knows he’s going to die,” Ruber said, not believing the words he was saying. “He knows he is going to die and doesn’t care.”

  Caerus froze in place, and when she spoke, the question came in a shocked whisper. “What can we do?”

  Ruber thought about it for a second and then said with a sigh, “Nothing. He’s determined to follow through with this, and, save pulling out of this endeavor, there is nothing we can do about it.”

  “What should I do if he starts losing control on the other side?”

  Ruber looked at his sister and said in a grave voice, “Fly, fly away as fast as you can.” His answer did not in any way bring her solace.

  “I DON’T like this,” Hawk thought, his forehead pressed against Kane’s as they embraced.

  “No one likes this. That’s how we know this is the right thing to do.”

  “I’m serious. You know Demain is going to double-cross you.”

  Kane laughed. “Yeah, I cracked her clever code. That’s nothing we didn’t see coming from the first time we met her.”

  “This isn’t funny! You could die.”

  “So could you.”

  “That’s my point, this is dangerous.”

  Kane looked deeply into Hawk’s eyes. “This has been dangerous from the moment you stabbed me through the heart with your sword. The difference is that I know this is dangerous. And that makes all the difference in the world.”

  They stayed there in silence, basking in each other’s presence for a few seconds.

  Finally Hawk blurted out, “I release you from my promise.”

  Kane gave him a half smile. “So it’s your promise now?”

  “You made it to me, and I am releasing you from it.”

  “Let me explain a few things, Mr. Man. One, I made the promise because not using my power was the right thing to do, not because you forced me to. My desire to keep that promise isn’t based on me being afraid to disappoint you. It’s based on losing what’s left of our soul. Two, I expect you to do whatever you need to do to survive in the Wolflands, and I am going to do the same thing on Earth. If there aren’t any choices left, I will certainly use the power, but not because you allowed it, but because I need to. Got it?”

  Hawk gave him a smile. “Have I mentioned you’re beautiful when you’re angry?”

  “Have I mentioned you are an ass?”

  “Many times,” Hawk chuckled softly, just before he kissed me.

  THE TUNNEL extended for several thousand feet, some of it down, or tending down at a slight angle. Sliding along the surface using ice she created as she went, Ferra stayed acutely aware of her position, prepared to pull her ice into armor should she need to.

  Ferra knew she had left the workshop behind. Beneath her the floor of the tunnel became rougher, so she smoothed the bottom of her ice slide to keep from slowing down. “This passage was created magically,” she muttered to herself. Grimly, she pushed the thought aside; magicks never boded well, Ferra knew.

  And just like that, the metal tube ended. Unable to stop, Ferra found herself falling through the air. Spreading her arms out wide, she crafted a pair of extremely thin wings of ice; they allowed her to glide instead of fall. The seasoned warrior in her immediately cataloged what she was seeing, orienting herself as she went, examining everything she could in the greatest detail possible.

  A dozen three-dimensional city blocks, meticulously accurate down to the last set of blinds covering windows and the flowerpots on windowsills, had been built by someone with a master’s eye.

  However, the paintings were the things that stunned Ferra. She wouldn’t have known they were paintings if she had not glided past the upper edge of one. Rapidly, she made out the top edges of more pictures, vast creations that recreated a city in perspective so accurate that no one on the ground would have suspected that they might be underground.

  She had never seen buildings such as those in the paintings or in the city blocks. Even the smaller buildings were superbly crafted, but the grandest ones? The ones in the pictures? They were tall and shapely with steepled roofs and, on some, hideous creatures carved from stone. These were perched at each corner of the roof in all cases and were enough to make Ferra wish for a sword. From above she could see there was a hole on the top of each one, making them some kind of water diversion.

  “Does it rain underground?” she asked herself as the city came rushing toward her.

  The closer to the ground Ferra glided, the more realistic the painted backdrops became.

  Each block had torch lamps at the corners, their dim light illuminating the cobblestone road below as well as the paved walkway on each shoulder of the street. Irregular alleys emptied into main streets, and both people and horse-drawn wagons provided the sparse traffic. The nearer she came, the clearer were the sounds of a city. If anyone could see the ice angel descending on them, they took no notice.

  Ferra began to believe that none of this was real.

  As she circled one last time, she realized the buildings weren’t as tall as they had first seemed. They were all constructed to look taller from the ground than they actually were. The words forced perspective meant nothing to Ferra, but if she had known them, she would have recognized the “city” as a perfectly engineered illustration of the term. Once on the street, she looked up. If she had not seen the illusion the builders had created, she would have believed she was truly in a much larger city that went on forever.

  “What in the nine hells?” she exclaimed to herself as she looked up and down the street. The horses trotted, each gait perfect and in time with all the other horses. The people all walked at the same speed, although some led with the left leg, some with the right. Ferra didn’t peer too closely at faces, knowing in advance they would be identical. Instead of making the city seem more authentic, the clockwork people and animals just made it that much more unreal. But why go to all this work?

  That exact moment the people on the street froze and orientated on her. Up close Ferra could see their flesh had long since torn and f
aded, leaving the mechanical parts beneath clearly visible. She was being stared at by half-a-dozen metallic skeletons dressed in fine suits and dresses.

  “Intruder alert,” they all stated at once. “Intruder in command pod.”

  Ferra formed her armor and spear. “I know what that means.”

  Seconds later they attacked her.

  “SO EVERYONE has an adventure buddy?” I asked after we’d triple-checked our belongings and our strategies for the fifth time.

  They all looked at me like I was stupid.

  Nothing new there.

  “Oookaaay, then. Ruber, Kor, Ater, you’re with me,” I said, reluctantly leaving Hawk’s side so my group could stand together.

  “I am too,” Demain reminded me, smiling.

  “No. You’re going for your own purposes. Let’s not start lying to each other this soon in our relationship.”

  Her smile vanished.

  That left Hawk, the rest of the gems, and Olim on the other side of the room. Although his expression was calm, Hawk hadn’t stopped sending me reassurances and reminding me how much he loved me. I thought the same back to him, although I knew I didn’t look calm at all.

  “I will remain here,” Woogie added, hovering in between our two groups on his little wings. “I won’t keep the portals open, but I will keep them active. If you need to retreat, simply rub the gem in the middle of your palm.”

  I’d opened my mouth to ask “What gem?” when I felt something press against the center of my hand. I looked down and there lay a flat emerald that looked like it’d been part of my palm forever. I clenched my fist and watched the gem fold neatly on itself.

  “This way, even if you are tied up, all you need to do is rub it with your fingers and I will know to pull you back.”

  “I don’t have hands,” Ruber piped in after a second.

  Woogie glared at him. “Very good! You have mastered basic anatomy. What do you think you will focus on next?” I had been Ruber’s friend long enough to know he was winding up for a scathing reply, possibly accompanied by lasers. Undeterred, the tiny dragon explained, “I assume all of the gems can send a magical signal out to get my attention. The gem signal was for the noncasters. If you like I can put a gem on you.”

  Ruber said nothing in return. After a moment Woogie sighed and turned back to all of us.

  “I am sending the Wolflands group with a time sync so they will be experiencing time one to one ratio. The Earth group I am sending without a sync, which means roughly one hour over there will be one day here, which is the current difference. If any of you Beings is thinking of using your powers to move from one world to the next, I suggest you don’t. Moving from a synced world to a nonsynced one or vice versa can cause a temporal breakdown, which is… messy.”

  “What’s ‘messy’ mean?” Demain asked, shocked.

  “It means ‘don’t do it,’” Woogie said, giving her a sidelong stare.

  No one had anything to say to that.

  “We will be as quick as possible,” Hawk said to our team. “Just delay my father but try not to engage. He is not to be trifled with.”

  “Got it,” I said with a smile. “No trifling your father.”

  He tried to shoot me an angry thought, but he failed. The thought sounded much more like “Take care of yourself and don’t let me come there and find you dead” than “You are an idiot.”

  For a few seconds, we all stood, uncertain whether to set out, wanting only to have our tasks done and quickly. Finally, Caerus said to the group, “Since Ferra isn’t here, let me say it for her. Logos go with us.”

  Kor’s head snapped up. “Don’t waste breath on prayers that won’t be heard. That have never been heard. It’s insulting.”

  The silence was uncomfortable.

  “And with that,” Woogie said, pointing both index claws straight ahead and opening the two portals we would need, “we’re off.”

  “I love you,” Hawk thought at me.

  “Prove it,” I thought back. “Save your mom and then haul ass to me.”

  I felt him smile, and our souls and minds embraced one last time.

  And then as one, we walked into the portals.

  Act Two: The Rise and Fall of the Big Bad Wolf

  “There are people who have survived

  the wolf at their door. But ask any of them;

  they’ll tell you they wished they had been killed instead.”

  Sirus Sus

  Sole survivor of the Sus Family Slayings

  Wolflands General History

  Chapter Six

  AS SOON as we arrived, we were attacked by a pack of fairies.

  It occurs to me I might have to explain that sentence to you.

  My people are known as Faeries because we are the native inhabitants of Faerth, but we are not actual fairies. Fairies are magical creatures of the Fae.

  You don’t know what the Fae are, do you? This is so much easier when I can just think it to Kane.

  The Fae is a middle world—an in-between realm that you would call another dimension—that is the source of the primary magical energy of the Nine Realms. The creatures born there are fairies. From Kane’s memories, I see small humanoid forms with wings; that image is close but not quite right. For example, Kane’s images completely leave out the sharp little dagger teeth and claws that have a paralyzing venom in them.

  Suddenly it’s not so easy to think happy thoughts, is it?

  As I was saying, Woogie’s portal deposited us in a clearing at the edge of a small wood in the Wolflands, and soon after that we were waylaid by a pack of mean fairies. Are we all in the same book now?

  Oh, on the same page. My apologies. It’s harder to share Kane’s memories this far away.

  Gods, just thinking about how far away he is makes my soul ache, literally. I should be there! My father is a monster, and if….

  Stop. Hawk’keen, stop.

  I have no time for this kind of indulgence. Kane is as capable a person as any being I have ever met. And I know Ater will not hesitate even a second to plunge a dagger through my father’s eye if he has the chance. I have no other choice but to forge on and save my mother.

  What was I talking about?

  Mean fairies. Thank you.

  We had barely reoriented ourselves in the clearing when a pack of mean fairies rose from the low wild grasses that carpeted the ground and attacked us. Direct assault is not normal behavior for them; fairies are usually much subtler. They are tricksters, manipulating the victim’s own desires and fears against them. Then once their prey is confused, they attack. For them to be so brazen is unheard of, at least by me.

  Occupied with fending off the fairies’ attacks, none of us noticed that the grass that had hidden the fairies also served as one of their weapons. Within seconds it grew high enough to touch my shoulder; in a minute it had trapped several of the ambers and swept them toward the ground, sprouting again when a blast of amber magicks managed to destroy one clump.

  It was quick, I will give them that. My arms were bound before I could summon Truheart. The enchanted stuff covered Olim’s mouth and bound her arms to her sides. For good measure, it covered her eyes as well.

  Unfortunately for the fairies, most of the gems had eluded capture, the captured freed themselves easily, and none were affected by the clinging, choking stuff.

  Caerus and the ambers had begun to stun small groups and single fairies with their magicks when Adamas let out a bellow.

  “Partez!”

  A wave of crimson exploded from the diamond and the fairies were gone as if they had never been there. Freed from the effect of their magicks, the grass returned to its natural state, allowing us to remove our bonds.

  “Are you insane?” Caerus’s voice was sharp. I had been sure these gems possessed only controlled shadows of emotion because of Ruber’s reserved attitude. Obviously I had been wrong because the sapphire was clearly furious. “You can’t cast that level of magic.”

  “Why?” t
he king yelled back. “Because I am fragile and might break?”

  I expected the female… I assumed she was female since Ruber used the term sister when referring to her… so female. I expected the female to retreat or at least give some ground, but instead she flew closer to him. “That is one reason, but the more important one is that a spell of that magnitude can be sensed miles away. If we had any chance of surprise, it is ruined now.”

  Adamas said nothing.

  “They were fairies! Other than that toxin they carry, which is easily taken care of, what possible harm could they have caused?”

  More silence from the diamond.

  “From this point on we have to assume we have been detected,” she said to the other gems. “Girasol!”

  An opal faded in from its position in the formation and bobbed deeply in front of her. “Reporting for duty,” it said.

  “Scout ahead, but have a care and return undetected.”

  “It will be done.” Another bob, and the opal sped toward the Wolf King’s lair, fading to invisibility within a short count of two.

  “Are you taking command?” Adamas asked after a few seconds.

  “If you continue to jeopardize this mission? Then yes.”

  He said nothing, and the silence became uncomfortable.

  I knew Kane would say something to lessen the tension. Anything to lessen the tension.

  “Do fairies normally use their magicks like that? I don’t remember ever reading about something like those grasses happening before. Is this new?” I asked Olim.

  She shook her head. “They have simply adapted to the law of the land.”

  I had no idea what she was talking about, but I kept my face impassive so as not to show my ignorance. Of course, she read through my expression easily. Her own expression remained somber.

  “I can see you have never been here before. The Wolflands are ruled by only one law: the strong survive. If you want something and can take if from someone, do so. If you want to cook and eat children? Then be a strong enough witch not to be thrown into your own oven. Want to slaughter and eat a whole village of sentient pigs? Be strong enough to blow down their doors in one breath.”

 

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