Forged in Fire

by J. A. Pitts

  Anne’s eyes went wide. That was not what she expected.

  That shocked Nidhogg as well. “She is not yours,” she said, her voice icy. “When will you free Qindra? When will you fulfill your bargain?”

  “I built you the gate you requested,” I said, trying to breathe through the anger. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked since Qindra fell.”

  “And you are still lacking,” she said. “You are not worthy of Qindra’s shadow. Do your task. Bring her home to me. Then we will discuss your fate and the fate of the renegade child.”

  The phone cut off, and I sat staring at the lawyer, my mind numb with shock. She disconnected the phone, rolled the headset around her fist, and took a pair of wire cutters from her briefcase. She cut the wires into several pieces and put them into a plastic baggie. Then she took the battery out of the second cell phone and dropped the shell on the floor. With one quick stomp, she shattered the face of the phone and swept the pieces into the bag with the battery.

  Finally, she took out the notebook again and began writing.

  I sat there, breathing, trying to find my center. I wanted to pick the table up and throw it through the wall.

  “You do not lack for chutzpah,” Anne said. “Do you intend to harbor this waif?”

  “Absolutely,” I said. “You heard Nidhogg. She’s not welcome there. Not until Qindra is rescued, if ever.”

  She nodded, pulled out several pieces of paper, and slid them in front of me. “Sign these. This will grant you temporary custody of the child until the rightful guardian can be contacted.”

  They were full of legalese, but I scanned them, making sure I wasn’t giving away my kidneys. Basically, they gave me power of attorney over Jai Li. For the interim, I was her legal guardian. It was temporary, but there was no specified end date.

  The documents were real enough, but how legal they were, I had my doubts. I signed them, of course. What else could I do?

  “What now?” I asked.

  She took them, pulled a metal contraption from her briefcase, and crimped the signed pages, notarizing them. Then she signed them in several places, each signature different—forgeries. Some laws were meant to be bent, I guessed.

  “Simply speaking…,” she said, separating the papers into two piles. The first she placed in a battered manila folder and slid it across the table toward me. The rest she slid into her briefcase. “You are now the child’s temporary guardian. Have been for the last six months.” She smiled at me, a toothy shark’s grin. “Legal in the state of Washington. Don’t try to take the girl out of the country or across state lines. Other than that, take her home, give her a bath, read her a story, and tuck her into bed.”

  She stood and held her hand out to me. “Congratulations. You’re a mommy.”

  She swept out of the room, leaving a cold wake behind her. Ice princesses could take lessons from this woman.

  I took the papers back into the observation room and sat next to Katie. Jai Li was lying on the floor, playing with some building blocks that had appeared while I was gone.

  “Officer Simpson brought them,” Katie said, taking my hand. “How was the lawyer? What’s the plan?”

  I brushed the hair out of her face and kissed her gently. “Looks like we’re mommies,” I said, handing her the papers. “At least until we get all this straightened out.”

  She looked at them for a moment, then hugged me. “Oh, God. Are we ready for this?” She got up and paced around the room. “Jimmy will freak. What about work? And all this crazy stuff going on.” She whirled to me, lowering her voice. “What about that serial killer? Will she be safe with us?”

  I got up and walked to her, enveloping her in my arms. “We can take her out to Black Briar. Camp out there for a few days. Until things settle down, you know?”

  She didn’t look completely convinced, but I could see something in her, a hunger, perhaps.

  “Wow,” she said, looking over at Jai Li. “She’s so tiny.”

  “And,” I said, squeezing her, “she’s amazingly talented in some areas.”

  Katie looked back at me.

  “But she hasn’t had a normal childhood,” I said. “I’m not sure how well she’ll adapt to what passes for normal in our lives.”

  We stood there, watching her. This was a moment I wanted to last. That child needed me, and I think we needed her—at least for a little while.

  Fifty-two

  Deidre was already asleep when we got back, and Jimmy didn’t wake her. “She’ll flip,” he said as he made up the couch for Jai Li to sleep on. Katie and I would sleep on an air mattress by the couch so Jai Li would feel safe. We got bunked in, and Jai Li went to sleep as happy as I’d ever seen her.

  Jimmy and I sat up, drinking coffee for a bit longer. I was watching the clock. I wanted to be ready before midnight. Katie needed to go to work the next day, so she was fast asleep. Or faking it well.

  I gave him the rundown on Jai Li, and he kept looking over at the living room.

  “She’s so damn small,” he said finally.

  “Yes. We’ve noticed.”

  “Smart-ass.”

  It was nice to be talking to Jim again like normal people. He was relieved that the tiff with Katie had blown over, and I got some of the credit for that.

  “I need a favor,” I said. “Nothing huge, but important.”

  He nodded. “Sure, what?”

  I explained about walkabout, let him in on all the events around that of late. “I want to go out to Chumstick, set up with the squad out there. Have them watch over me.”

  “Trisha and her crew are on tonight,” he said.

  “Who’s watching the twins?”

  “Gunther, actually. A bunch of folks rotate in and out, but he’s spending more and more time out here with Anezka.” He grinned with half his mouth, raising the opposite eyebrow—like a Vulcan shrug. “Can’t see what he sees in her, but he’s a grown-up.”

  “You only have eyes for Deidre,” I said, patting him on the hand.

  “Deidre’s one helluva woman, that’s for sure.”

  He lapsed into silence, his mind churning. I let him work through it.

  “Skella will be here in about thirty minutes,” he said, looking at the clock.

  “I’ll need her to take me home first. I need some things.”

  “Ask her,” he said. “Tell her to put it on our bill.”

  “Thanks. But we need to think about some options there. We’ve been working her too frequently, wrecking her sleep patterns. Might want to think about driving some crews out for a few days, give Skella a break.”

  He looked thoughtful. “Good point. I’ll call a meeting with her, negotiate some downtime.”

  “Good. She’s so eager to help out, I’d hate for her to start feeling like we are taking advantage of her.”

  He laughed. “You helped negotiate a damn good rate for her,” he said. “She’s making bank.”

  I thought of the irony of a young elf from deep in Stanley Park, Vancouver, making “bank.” It’s not like she had a lot of material needs. Jai Li, on the other hand, had more needs than I’d even begun to fathom.

  “I’m worried how Jai Li will react if I’m not here when she wakes up.”

  “Sarah. She lived with a dragon. She’s small, but she’s not naive. We’ll cover things if you aren’t back before Katie has to go to school.”

  “Thanks,” I said, getting up.

  I crept into the living room and kissed Katie, grabbed my kit, and headed out the door. I needed to chat up Trisha before Skella got there. Make sure everyone was on board.

  She was in the kitchen part of the barracks, making sandwiches, when I walked in. Frick and Frack were in the back, asleep, and Gunther was asleep in the room with them, sacked out on one of the bunks.

  “Hey, Trisha,” I said quietly when I went in.

  She waved at me with a knife covered in peanut butter. “What’s going on up at the big house?”

  I stepped into he
r assembly line, helped put a stack of sandwiches together. “Katie and I have gotten temporary custody of a kid.” I didn’t want to tell her she was one of Nidhogg’s. Trisha had real anger issues with dragons. Not that I could blame her. She’d been stabbed a bunch. Only Qindra’s magic had saved her in the end. I was still pissed at the dragons myself. It was complicated.

  Trisha glanced back to the sleeping quarters. “Kids are great,” she said, smiling. “They teach you so many things.” She pointed at me with that knife again. “Like for instance, did you know young trolls can eat damn near anything?”

  “Like grown-up food?”

  She laughed. “Yeah and alcohol. They love alcohol, and I can’t see it affects them in any way. Frack snuck out of bed one night, only time it’s happened, mind. We were getting ready for another shift out at Chumstick, and he took a half-empty beer Benny had left over and drank the whole thing down before we could stop him. He’s strong, the booger, and fast. We got him cornered, and he went into total baby mode, crying and wanting me to pick him up.”

  She had a wistful look on her face. “Totally makes everything worth doing, you know?”

  “I’m learning,” I said.

  “Like this stuff out at Chumstick. I’m keeping the world safe for them, keeping the bad things away from those I love.”

  I knew the sentiment, trust me. “Sacrifice anything to save those you love.”

  “Damn right,” she said, screwing the lid back on the jar of jam. “Not like you. No offense,” she said, looking a bit embarrassed. “But not all of us are bad-ass dragon slayers.”

  “You played your part,” I said.

  “Whatever.” She shrugged at me, but I could feel some resentment. “There are some damn scary things out there,” she said. “Having some power wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

  The frustration was palpable. I shared it. There were so many things I couldn’t fix—like my family. I sighed and rubbed my face. My hands smelled like peanut butter.

  “I need to come out with you tonight,” I said. “I need to do a scouting mission of a different sort.”

  While she got in her armor and collected her weapons, including swords and guns, I told her my theories on walkabouts.

  “That’s pretty damn cool,” she said once the team had assembled in the rec room. “We’ll definitely help out.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate it. Now to break the news to Skella when she gets here.”

  Benny laughed. “That one’s a wild child.”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” I said.

  Skella took Trisha and her crew out and brought back Jonathan’s group. They were tired and cold to the bone. It had been snowing out in the mountains, and the fire they kept going just didn’t do enough to beat the cold.

  Skella and I popped over to my place, where I traded my city clothes for long johns and other things I’d wear while camping out in this weather. Then I put together a box of things I’d need to infuse the tea to help me trigger walkabout, even though it would give me a headache the next day. While I could sometimes shift my sight, going full astral was not happening without some assistance. Finally, I grabbed Gram. I could go walkabout with her; I’d done it before. I wanted her with me in case something went wrong and I got sucked into the house. That was not someplace I wanted to be unarmed.

  Fifty-three

  Benny and Nancy were out chatting with the local sheriff when I got there. He was part of Nidhogg’s in-crowd. He didn’t mind us being out there, as long as we kept him informed.

  Trisha and I walked across the road to stand in front of the dome.

  “It’s easy to see once you know to look,” she said, quietly. “Sometimes I can see things moving inside. Spirits and such.”

  I stared into the dome. Things did move inside, and I’d fought some of them. Destroyed a bunch, but more and more flowed out here from all over. Who knew how far the spirits were traveling, drawn here like a moth to a flame?

  “I’ve wondered,” Trisha said, staring into the dome, “if any of the Black Briar crew are in there. Maybe Chloe or Bob?”

  Her pain was raw still, and who could blame her? She’d lost her lover and her best friend less than a year ago. It was all pretty rough.

  “I don’t think so,” I said, patting her on the shoulder. “When I was in there, I got the impression that only the more malevolent spirits were drawn here. Hungry things, big and angry.”

  “I’m pretty angry,” she whispered. “All this watching isn’t helping either. I want to do something.” She looked at me, her face full of desperate hope. “You know what I’m talking about. I have to protect Frick and Frack. Keep them safe. The world is full of monsters, Sarah. And it sucks being so fucking powerless.”

  I put my arm across her shoulders and stood there. She leaned her head on my shoulder and we let the cold settle into us as we watched the spirits bump along inside the dome.

  “I wish I was powerful,” she said.

  “You are mighty,” I said, squeezing her. “Don’t kid yourself. I’ve seen you on the field. You have the fire.”

  “I need magic,” she said. “Magic and might. Just to keep us safe.”

  How could I argue? I totally understood.

  “Tell me about this new beau,” I said.

  “He’s nice,” she said, her eyes staring at the dome, unfocused. “He’s really kind to me. Listens to me, ya know?”

  “That’s important,” I agreed.

  “He makes me feel important,” she continued. “Like maybe I could be somebody.”

  Her fear pained me. She was a strong woman, full of love and courage. “Don’t let a man be your strength,” I said. “He can be a partner, but don’t put everything in his hands. Stand on your own.”

  “Yeah, well…” she turned her head, looking away from me.

  “As long as he’s kind to you, doesn’t hurt you.”

  She flinched when I said that.

  “He doesn’t hurt you, does he?”

  She stiffened and pulled away.

  “I should get back to the station,” she said, turning away. She had an expression on her face I recognized from my own mirror. I’d stepped on something that was none of my business—insulted her. I should’ve known better than to pry. I know how I used to feel about my relationship with Katie. None of anyone’s damn business.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t realize it was a sensitive subject. Forget I asked.”

  We got back to the tents without saying another word. I felt bad I’d made her uncomfortable.

  I took my time prepping the tea on their little camp stove. Getting the water to a boil was easy—the measuring and steeping had to be precise.

  The tea was bitter, but I drank a full cup and lay back with Gram in her sheath across my chest.

  “I’ll be out a few hours,” I said, lying back. I tried to clear my mind. What had I done, exactly, the last time I’d nearly done this without the tea? Think about flying.

  “Be careful,” Trisha said as the world began to fade.

  Fifty-four

  This time it happened much faster. Trisha sat over me, reading a book by a headlamp, and Gary was drinking a cup of coffee. I stood, leaving my body, and slipped out of the tent. Nancy and Benny were making the circuit. Trisha and Gary would go out in a couple of hours.

  I rose, pushing my way out of the tent, and looked out on the crazy. The world was glazed in frost, even from this ethereal perspective. I wasn’t cold, not exactly. But the area hummed with a sort of wildness that was both distracting and energizing. If I wasn’t careful I knew I could get lost here, fade into the background noise of the region.

  The ley line spasmed beneath us, feeble and thin. I could sense the residue of power, feel the earth’s impotence. The flow was blocked upstream. Somewhere under Anezka’s property, the ley line came to an unnatural blockage. Justin’s doing.

  The dome Qindra kept over the property was easy to see. It throbbed with power, a trap for the unwary
spirit. I had to be extra careful. It would totally suck to be drawn into the dome. I floated ahead, crossing the road, edging close, but not too close. I waited three breaths, although technically I wasn’t breathing, and moved ahead a few more feet. There was no pull, no rushing sneaker waves in the black tide that crashed against the dome. It was like a giant roach motel—spirits go in, but they don’t come out.

  I could see them clearly in this state. They were horrific. Some were people, or had once been. Others were so far beyond us I no longer recognized them as anything other than hunger, anger, violence, and fear. They were the nightmares Lovecraft and his ilk drew from.

  I reached over my shoulder and stroked Gram’s hilt. She slept with my body, but somehow she was with me here. How powerful did you have to be to exist in both the physical and spiritual worlds?

  As I got close to the dome, the siren call grew stronger. The ley line tugged on the back of my psyche. Luckily, it was faint enough to ignore. At least for now. I skirted around the dome, keeping my distance. Somewhere to the northeast there had to be an entrance to the caverns beneath Anezka’s property. I’d visited Qindra there during my botched rescue attempt back in October. That’s how I found out about the shield and Justin’s involvement in this whole debacle.

  Twice I had to stop and hold my shit together as something horrible passed close by, heading into the dome. I could sense the barrier, see it in my mind’s eye. It wasn’t a dome, exactly, more like a sphere that went down into the ground, encompassing a great deal of earth. I had a sinking feeling the caverns were inside the sphere.

  I worked my way around as close to Anezka’s back bedroom as I could get without going through the dome and tried to sink into the ground. It was like pushing through oatmeal. The earth was pretty solid stuff, even in the ether.

  “Pathetic,” a voice said from inside the sphere. I stopped trying to sink into the ground and flowed toward the dome. Inside was a man. Unlike most of the spirits he hadn’t given up his original form. I assumed the monsters I saw were the individual spirits taking on the form that best suited their nature—hunters and killers.