Pixie Noir (Pixie for Hire Book 1)

by Cedar Sanderson

  Chapter 22 - In Case of Fire...

  They came out of the shadows in the hall from the wrong direction: the one we had come from.

  “Damn. Bella, stay with me!”

  I didn’t even slow down, just turned and headed down the dark hall, in the wrong direction. She ran at my elbow, or rather, flew, as I realized her feet were only hitting the floor every so often as she loped along next to me.

  “What are they?” She shouted, as the war cries of the mob behind us rose to a shrill peak.

  “Goblins. It had to be goblins...” I hated the little monsters. Born and bred in the dark, they served no masters, but occasionally did dirty jobs for the Low Court.

  “Where are we going?”

  Valid question. It had been a while since I had explored down here. Right now, I was looking for someplace we could get back upstairs, and the only thing I could remember was down another level and over about three hallways. We ran down the shallow stairs, and the goblins paused at the top of the steps. That made me look back to figure out why they had stopped. Bella shrieked. I snapped my head around, and saw why the goblins had stopped. They had herded us into the troll’s lair.

  I snapped the spell I’d been carrying in my hand toward the nearest troll, and pulled my weapon. Bella had her gun in the wrong hand, and was throwing spells with the other one. I started to correct her, and then realized that the troll facing us was falling. He threw his hands up as he fell through the massive hole that had suddenly appeared under his feet, and I saw a ridiculous look of dismay on his face as he went. The next spell dropped a lot of the ceiling on the other three standing trolls. The one I had hit with a fireball was rolling on the floor in agony.

  “Great job! What the hell was that?”

  “Um... an excavation spell?”

  I laughed out loud, standing there in the dusty mess. We couldn’t keep going, the trolls would get free of the debris in moments. There was a mess of goblins at the top of the stairs. But I wasn’t worried. We might be surrounded, but that just meant better range of fire.

  “Don’t hold back! You don’t want the goblins to take you alive.”

  She set her shoulders against mine, her wings folded tightly, but still a ridge next to my backbone. The trolls were still down, a slow thrashing all I could see of them. The old beams and plaster had more heft than I’d thought.

  The goblins were dancing at the top of the stairs, jeering and gibbering. I couldn’t catch most of what they were saying, and was grateful Bella didn’t speak goblin.

  “What now?” She asked me.

  “Well, I don’t think the structure is sound anymore in the direction of the trolls. So...”

  “Got it.” She spun round, her wings snapping open, and both hands flicked out, tossing an arc of spells up the stairs.

  The spells she threw glowed redly, and when they hit, they splashed fire. Upwards, where it stuck to everything. Bella had created a napalm spell. She threw another handful, and this time, the goblins scattered as the orbs fell among them. The screams of those already burning replaced the chanting and jeering.

  “Why did you do that?” I shouted, leveling a shot at the first troll to stagger to his feet.

  “In case of stairs, use fire!” She caroled gleefully, flying higher and throwing more spells.

  “How are we supposed to get out of here?” I demanded, trying to hit the troll’s eye this time.

  “Like this.” She threw another spell, this time in the direction of the trolls, with her eyes closed.

  “Holy mother Titania, woman, learn to aim!” My voice went up at least an octave as I tried to backpedal without getting into her sticky fire. The last of the goblins were in full retreat. The floor under me was starting to creak ominously between the holes and the burning stairs. My britches were getting warm.

  The big blue spell bounced off the troll’s head and hit the ceiling above him, where it detonated. I got a little confused at that point, because when the shockwave hit me, I hit the ground. Hard, and on the seat of my pants. I was afraid at first I’d fallen in the fire, and then realized I was just seeing stars from the force of the blow. Then the floor tilted and I grabbed for something, anything, to keep me from falling.

  I got Bella’s arm. She was saying something, but I couldn’t hear her over the ringing in my ears. She bellowed and I got the message, “Hold onto me!”

  I clung to her waist, and she took off like a rocket for the hole she’d blown in the ceiling. I went along for the ride, looking down at the destruction as we made our escape. I was about to unlimber my wings, when she had us up, and into a deserted hallway for a light landing. I sprawled on the floor and tried to catch my breath. Bella crouched over me.

  “Lom! Are you OK?”

  “Put it out! Put it out, put it out!” I gasped, trying to sit up.

  “What?”

  “The fire! Do you have a water spell or an extinguisher in your bag of tricks?”

  I flailed frantically. Bella had no idea what she had done. The halls might be covered in earth, but they were largely wood, and tapestry, and... I was sending message spells spinning off my fingertips, and she had a look of dismay on her face as what she had done sunk in.

  She might have saved us for a moment, but if the fire went out of control, the whole of Court could be lost. She took to the air again, and dove into the hole.

  “No! That’s not...” I threw myself flat on the floor as close as I could get to the hole and looked down. “What I meant, “ I finished softly, knowing she couldn’t hear me.

  The heat and smoke in my face caused my eyes to tear up. I couldn’t see where she had gone, so when I felt a hand on my shoulder I rolled over quickly, on alert, but didn’t point my weapon. The Majordomo was on one knee next to me. I relaxed minutely.

  “Lom? Are you injured?” he asked loudly enough I could hear him. The ringing in my ears was starting to subside.

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so. The fire...”

  “We’re on it.”

  “It’s not just that, there are goblins and trolls down there.” I pointed, and finished, “Bella is down there, too.”

  He looked alarmed. “She is fallen?”

  “No, went to try and put the fire out. It got started while we were fighting them off. But warn your men, I don’t know how many are left and they are likely crazy mad.”

  He nodded grimly and stood to call directions to the crew arriving with spells and tools to fight the fire.

  I tried to stand, and sucked in my breath at the pain. Somewhere during the battle, I had been hurt. I gave it up, and lay back down. The Majordomo bent over me.

  “I’m sending the healer to you. Stay put.”

  I waved him off. I wasn’t likely to move anywhere right now, and I still didn’t know where Bella was. “Go find Bella, Joe. Please... I can’t right now.”

  His gnarled face softened. “Got it, Lom, don’t worry, I’ll see that she’s safe.”

  I closed my eyes, and opened my Sight. Underhill, it was not usually as useful as it was above. There was just too much clutter, unlike the human realm where magic stood out like a flare. I knew what Bella’s magic signature looked like, and if I couldn’t go to her, I could at least help find her. She wasn’t far from me, I figured out quickly.

  From the position just slightly under me, and to one side, I guessed she was... standing on the ceiling of the hall below me? That was peculiar, as was the positioning of the crew Joe was holding back, below me, and in front of her, which I was guessing was well back of the top of the stairs where the goblins had been. I saw a few ragged green magic flares that were the verminous creatures trying to slip away past the crew. I saw one of them blink out, killed on the spot, I guessed. But why wasn’t the crew fighting the fire, and what had happened to the trolls?

  I gave it up, and with a grunt of effort, rolled over so I could see down into the floor below. It was still hard to make anything out through the smoke, and now, steam. The ragged hole
that gaped in the floor below explained what had happened to the trolls. They had fallen at least one level, and were either disoriented or had decided to leave the crazy fairy alone. I didn’t think we had killed any of them, my pistol shots were unlikely to have hit a sensitive place at that range in the chaos. Bella had been trying to slow them down or divert them with the spells she had used.

  The goblins, on the other hand, had died in droves. I could see blackened bodies on the stairs, now that whatever Bella was doing to suppress the fire was working faster. There were no more flames showing, just lots of steam rising. Unfortunately, the hole I was looking through was acting as a chimney, and it meant I couldn’t see again.

  The wood elf healer came and touched my arm, helping me roll away from the hole. He spread a spell over me, and I could feel the warmth and a slight tingle as it sank through my body.

  “You have cracked ribs, here,” he spread his fingers over my chest. “Your tailbone is badly bruised, which I will help with, so you can walk.”

  “‘Preciate that, Melcar.” I told him. We had worked together many times, when I had come home busted up after a job. “What’s going on below?”

  “Ah, it is progressing very quickly. Princess Bella has the fire almost out, the crew is damping hotspots, and clearing... debris.”

  I knew from the distaste in the last word he meant goblin bodies. “Anyone else hurt?”

  “I will look at Princess Bella as soon as she will let me. I think she has some burns, but she refuses to leave until the fire is declared out.”

  “Tell the crew to be careful with goblin weapons. They put nasty crap on the edges that can posion you.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I will pass that along. This is, you know, the closest our ancient enemy has come in generations.”

  “Yeah.” I tried sitting up. Still hurt, but not as badly. “It’s not happy-making.”

  I didn’t think any of them had had time enough to truly process how close the Court itself had come to being under attack. If Bella and I had not been out here, and tripped the offensive before they came to the inhabited halls, who knows what would have happened. Folke don’t have armies, and Court doesn’t even have trained fighting men in any great number. Melcar helped me get all the way to my feet, and although I swayed a little, I was standing.

  I looked down at him, feeling every year of my age. “Better check on Bella. She’s stubborn, and running on adrenaline.”

  He nodded, and rustled away, the leaves woven in his hair wilted from the heat of the fire. I followed more slowly. Getting down to the stairs wasn’t too difficult, over a hall and down a set of servant’s stairs I hadn’t known were behind a blank panel. As I took the steep, narrow stairs cautiously, I wondered how many more of these there were, and if the goblins knew where they were.

  At the foot of the stairs was a young sentry. His eyes widened when he saw me, and I realized I must look a sight. I gestured toward the hall behind him.

  “All clear out there?”

  He nodded, “They say the fire’s out, sir.”

  I grunted and walked out into the chaos. Joe’s crew was systematically cleaning, at this point, stacking bodies in one spot on a tarp of oilcloth for removal, and one guy with a pushbroom was shoving what appeared to be watery suds along the floor and down the stairs. There was soot everywhere. Another two were cutting down the wet, ruined tapestries from the walls extending some twenty feet back from where the fire had been stopped. I would have felt guilty, but I knew what condition they had been in to begin with.

  I looked for Joe and Bella and didn’t see them, so I started moving toward the stairs. They were surprisingly undamaged, with some fire-marked craters where I supposed the spells had initially hit and burned, but the old wood had not ignited wholesale. Bella’s spell had been more restrained than my first impression of it was. I spotted her and Joe on the edge of the troll hole, looking down into it.

  “Bella.” I greeted her wearily. “Are you all right?”

  She looked at me blankly for a second, her hair plastered to her cheeks and forehead, sooty streaks on her skin from shoving it out of her eyes. She looked exhausted.

  Chapter 23 - Aftermath & Punishment

  “Lom. Oh, thank goodness.” She held out her arms and I hugged her without thinking, feeling my ribs protest, but not caring. She was alive and whole. She let go after a moment and looked intently at me. “Are you hurt badly?”

  I shook my head. “Are you?”

  She showed me her left arm, which had a streaky burn from wrist to elbow. “It doesn’t hurt too much. Yet. I wanted to make certain the fire was out. And we’re wondering where the trolls have gone.”

  I looked at Joe, who was regarding us thoughtfully. “I think they will have retreated. Trolls don’t like fire, or opposition, for that matter. We embarrassed them more than anything. I don’t think you want to send a team after them...”

  He nodded agreement emphatically. We both knew that was a good way to get people killed. I went on, “but there should be sentries at the stairs from now on. If there were some goblins, there will be more, and the trolls might come back.”

  “I’ll take care of it. You two, go get some rest and clean-up, then the King will want to see you.”

  “I’d think he would want to see us now.” I pointed out, not that I was arguing with some time to recover. I was swaying on my feet again.

  Joe nodded. “He understands there are injuries to heal. Melcar...” Joe looked over at the little wood elf, who was coming with bandages in his hands. “Take care of Princess Bella, and then see they get to their rooms.”

  Bella submitted to the bandaging, then Melcar snapped his fingers and before I could protest, we were bubbled and in our rooms. I sank into the nearest chair.

  “I need to examine you, Princess,” he told her. “If you would prefer, in your room?”

  She shook her head tiredly. “Here is fine. Do you need me to undress?”

  “Perhaps the trousers off? They have metal in them.”

  She nodded and peeled her wet jeans off with difficulty. White bikini panties were revealed briefly before the T-shirt fell back down over them. I was in no state to appreciate the long legs revealed, instead seeing the bruising on her thigh already appearing. She’d banged something hard, there.

  Melcar repeated the diagnosis spell he had used on me, letting it melt through her body. She sighed as it did. “That helps right away, doesn’t it? A touch of analgesic?”

  He looked pleased. “Yes, I put a little relaxer in there for the muscles. It’s my own tweak to the spell of my grandfather.”

  “Well, thank you.” She told him with a little smile.

  “You are not injured, there is some bruising and the burn, of course. I put a salve on the burn, it ought to be better by morning.”

  “Magic works better than human medicine.”

  He shook his head, “I combine them, you know. Magic is not always efficacious against some diseases. Although fairy is not as likely to contract cancer, there is so much human intermingled now, it does happen.”

  He picked up the small bag he had carried the bandages and salve in, and made it disappear. “Now, Lom...”

  He advanced on me, and I let him come. I was too achy to move already, and I knew I needed what he had. He set the spell on my forehead.

  “You have ten minutes to get into bed.” He cautioned. “Then you will sleep for at least six hours.”

  “I know.” I tried to stand and groaned. Bella bent over me and offered a hand, which I accepted, and then leaned on her as we headed toward my room. Behind us, Melcar called out “Good night!” before popping off.

  “Damn.” I grabbed the door for support.

  “What hurts?” She sounded concerned.

  “What doesn’t? No, this is about Melcar.”

  “He seemed nice, and very skillful.”

  “He is both. He’s also an old gossip. He’s going to cheerfully announce that we headed off to bed
together.” I sighed. It didn’t seem like a terrible idea, but not when I hurt in every bruise, and was about to be knocked cold by a sleeping spell.

  “Let him. Is Court that Victorian?”

  I could see where she would get that idea, after some of the costumes earlier. “No. Court is... “ I started to slur, and she got me sitting on the edge of the bed and undid my belt. I regarded the top of her head with affectionate amusement. She pulled my pants off. “Court is everything goesh. Like Shummer of free love...” She lowered me back into bed, one arm crooked behind my neck. I was rapidly going boneless. I tried one last thing. “Bella, thanks...”

  I don’t know if she responded to that. I’d like to think the warm lips I felt on mine were her response, but I think I was already dreaming by then. There were a lot of dreams, that night, some exciting and involving her, but those would blend into running from the monsters behind me, and the high note of the Huntsman’s horn ringing in my brain.

  Waking up hurt. Well, not the waking up part. The trying to move part led to me making undignified noises until I got vertical, and staggered for the bathroom. After that, I became aware that bathing was highest priority. It should help with the stiffness, too. I’m not sure how long it took until I was finally ready to face the world, but Bella was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of her when I emerged from my room.

  She gave me a lopsided smile. “I’ll let Joe know you’re up. Coffee?”

  I think I did a reasonable zombie groan, because she chuckled and poured a cup before leaving me to walk over and open the door to the hall.

  I didn’t hear what she said, I was too busy inhaling the black ichor of the gods. She came back and sat down, picking up her own cup.

  “I said to let you get through your second cup and then we would be down to the meeting. He said to tell you no rush. He’s awfully young.”

  I nodded. One thing Underhill had few enough of were youngsters, so it made sense they would be assigned to safe places like our door. The older men would be in the basements holding guard against the darkness there. I finished the first cup, and prepared the second more slowly. Bella was in a chatty mood.