books 1 - 3

by Ella J. Smyth

  Florice’s face turned grim. “I have my reasons. One of which is that she thinks that Honi is your master. I know better. You far surpass him in your abilities, and sacrificing you to make use of his gift doesn’t help either realm.”

  He hesitated before taking hold of her hand. Adi blinked in surprise, torn between the urge to pull back and her desire to find out more information.

  “Don’t misunderstand me, Adi. Faeries know no love the way humans understand it. We don’t fall in love, not even with our own kind. We live far too long for this kind of fleeting emotion—your lifespan is so ridiculously short that humans die before their love runs out. We value other things—loyalty and commitment can endure centuries without waning. But even loyalty to our ruler can be superseded by their stupidity. And what the queen is doing is supremely stupid. Sacrificing you for base revenge. Forcing me to share my body with you, then having you killed—it doesn’t sit right with me.”

  His hand touched her hair and brushed the dirty strands away from her face. Adi didn’t know what to think. There this man was, kneeling in front of her, telling her with one breath that he wasn’t capable of love, yet saving her under flimsy pretenses and showing her affection with every touch and look.

  She waited for him to continue until she finally had to ask. “Help me out here. Even if I believe you and you take me back, how would I not still be vulnerable to another attack? Surely if the queen wants me dead, she could just come after me again.”

  Florice shook his head. “Not really. You have become too powerful. That’s why she tasked me with abducting you rather than having you assassinated. In Faerie, where she is stronger, she can torture and kill you. In your world, she has to rely on trickery to beat you. As long as you are careful, you should be fine.”

  The faerie warrior stood up and looked down at Adi. “We need to hurry, though. Once the alarm is raised, we have very little time to get out of Faerie. The guards are not due to bring you water for another hour, but you never know. Let’s get going.”

  He pulled a pair of leather sandals from his small bag and handed them to Adi. Once she’d pulled them on, she struggled to her feet, ignoring his outstretched hand. “How will I get home?”

  “There is a gateway between Faerie and your world in the forest just outside Heidelberg. Once we travel through it, I’ll take you home, and you can forget this ever happened.”

  Florice’s tone was so reasonable that Adi felt a lot calmer. When he turned away and walked along a barely visible forest track, she followed wordlessly. He seemed to know exactly where to go, turning left and right, finding gaps between the trees and undergrowth that would have left Adi hopelessly stuck.

  Eventually he stopped so suddenly she nearly ran into his back. He turned and pointed at the ground.

  “Here’s the entrance.”

  Adi stepped around him and stared at a square hole in the ground, surrounded by roughly hewn rocks the size of a baby’s head. It looked like an ancient well.

  “Sorry, is this a joke?” she said, grimacing at the damp smell emanating from the depth. “Do you expect me to climb down here?” She turned towards Florice, her eyebrow raised in challenge.

  He grinned. “No, not climb down.”

  Then he pushed her hard in the chest. Her arms windmilling, she desperately tried to keep her balance. He pushed her again, and she cried out before tumbling backwards into the dark hole.

  Her shoulders scraped past the rocks, and she instinctively tried to grab hold and brace herself on the sides. She didn’t have a chance against her bodyweight and gravity acting against her. Screaming, she fell deeper and deeper, the square of daylight above her receding and becoming smaller and smaller.

  23

  “Goddamn faeries,” Adi grumbled as she sat up. She’d been so panicked that she might have passed out for a few seconds. She’d woken up very quickly, though, when her butt had hit the leaf-covered ground she now sat on. Gingerly, she rubbed the backs of her legs before looking around. Next to her, Florice lay on his side, grinning at her.

  “You ass!” Adi shouted before slapping his chest with the back of her hand. “You couldn’t have given me some warning, could you?”

  Florice laughed. “And ruin the surprise?”

  Adi glowered for another moment before remembering that without him, she’d still be locked up in the queen’s dungeon. Her eyes followed Florice as he got up and stretched.

  Except for a brick building nearby, the forest looked exactly the same as the one in Faerie. Tall gray-barked elms, elegant birches mixed with stately oak trees. The distinct sounds of a woodpecker’s beak clamoring for insects broke the silence.

  “Where are we?” she finally asked.

  “This is called Heiligenberg, the hill of saints. There’s been a gate to Faerie for thousands of years. Humans see the hole in the ground but don’t understand why it exists. They make up strange stories about heathen sacrifices, Celtic worship, Catholic executions, but none come even close to guessing its true purpose.”

  “Thanks for the history lesson, but where are we?” Adi asked again, running out of patience. Florice grimaced at her tone, but frankly, after what she’d been through, he could deal.

  “We’re two hours’ walk away from the center of Heidelberg,” he grumbled.

  “Let’s go, then,” Adi decided. “I really need to get out of these clothes.” She lifted her arm to her nose and sniffed before gagging again. A kingdom for a shower!

  By the time they crossed the Old Bridge in Heidelberg, it was dark. Adi kept her head down and followed closely behind Florice to avoid any undue attention. She was a little underdressed for the time of year, and shivers ran through her every now and again. Florice had put a cape over her shoulders that covered the sorry state of her tunic. They couldn’t do anything about the stench surrounding her like a cloud, but between the darkness and her concealment, they covered the fifteen minutes’ walk from the bridge to Adi’s flat without any trouble.

  Her strength was close to running out, and her stomach felt like it was digesting itself. Florice helped her climb the four flights of stairs. Thankfully, there was no sign of Gerald or Lukas. Adi stripped as quickly as she could and reveled in a hot shower for as long as it took to clean herself. She had to shampoo her hair three times before the water finally ran clear.

  In the meantime, Florice had fixed a quick meal for her. When Adi emerged from her shower, clean and dressed in fresh clothes, she shoveled the cheesy omelette into her mouth as quickly as she could. The gooey, salty mix was just what she needed.

  Florice sat opposite her at the kitchen table and watched her eat. When she was done, she licked the plate, and he grinned.

  “Do you need some more? I don’t want you to get sick, though. Maybe you’d like to rest a little before eating again?”

  Adi opened her mouth to argue when a huge yawn escaped her. He was right. The ordeal had tired her out, and while she could have eaten a lot more, her eyes were falling closed of their own accord. She’d be fine if she only rested her head on her arms, just for a moment, she thought, before the world drifted away.

  24

  Honi leaned back in his chair and stretched to uncoil the stiff muscles in his back. He interlinked his fingers and turned his palms toward the ceiling, enjoying his shoulder joints popping. His stomach growled. When was the last time he’d eaten? He’d quickly grabbed a sausage in a bun with a bit of mustard some time ago. After wiping his greasy fingers on a paper napkin, he’d rushed back inside the library.

  That was hours ago. He’d come across the mention of a possibly pre-Celtic well in the forest of Heiligenberg. Reading the few lines of reference in yet another bawdy love song had raised the same goosebumps on his skin as finding the pale woman in Geltar’s illustrated panel.

  He’d tried to research online, but typing in “hole in Heidelberg forest” yielded some very odd results, some of which were censored by the library’s adult Internet filter. He’d even approached the
grumpy librarian, who’d just glared at him when he’d tried to explain.

  Ho’neo had disappeared after keeping him company for most of the day. The spirit wolf had gotten bored after being ignored for too long. Honi sighed. Time to give up and see if Gerald might be able to help. Honi began closing his books when a shadow fell across his table. He looked up into Rasul’s smiling face.

  “Good evening, Honi,” the man said in his oddly formal English.

  Honi blinked. A shiver ran over his skin. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he pulled himself together. Coincidence. Nothing more.

  “Hey, there,” he replied.

  Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “What are you doing here in the library?” Oh, for goodness’ sake, he immediately censured himself. Way to be rude to the man. Not his fault Honi had found a lookalike in an ancient, medieval manuscript, he told himself sternly.

  Rasul obviously didn’t mind Honi’s odd behavior. “In my country, I’m a scholar. In this country, I sell food. We don’t know where our paths take us. Isn’t that the exciting thing about being alive?”

  Honi nodded. Can’t argue with that. “Where are you from, Rasul?” he asked.

  Rasul shrugged his shoulders. “It’s a country not far from here. Not all that different, but difficult to get to.” He looked around the table at the many books Honi still had spread out. “Enough about me. What are you researching?”

  Honi’s gaze was drawn to Rasul’s black eyes. He didn’t know what made him answer the question, and the words flowed out of him.

  “I’m looking for the entrance to the faerie realm. I believe it may be on Heiligenberg, but I have no idea where.” His eyes widened when he was finished speaking. Had he really just said that out loud? Quickly he added, “It’s research for a paper I’m writing on German myths.”

  Rasul nodded. “I know the place of which you speak. There is a shaft in the hill behind Heidelberg, rumored to date back to the first inhabitants of the area. At the beginning of the twentieth century, dark figures were said to be seen crawling out of it, and several citizens lost their lives that night. The next morning, the magistrate ordered the hole to be covered with rocks. Many decades later, it was uncovered again and found to be nearly two hundred feet deep. There are many stories about the Heidenloch, which means ‘heathen hole.’”

  Honi’s excitement increased the longer Rasul spoke. “Oh, man, thank you. You have no idea how important that is to my research. Do you know how to get there?”

  “Sure. Cross the river, walk up the Philosophenweg, follow the signs towards the Bismarck Column, and the Heidenloch will be signposted. It’s an easy walk, you can’t miss it.”

  As they said their good-byes, Rasul’s eyes were sparkling with amusement at Honi’s barely suppressed eagerness to get going.

  25

  Two hours later, Honi was cursing the strange Middle Eastern man. Easy walk, my ass. Rasul had failed to mention that the paved path, edged with landscaped flowerbeds, rose and rose with barely a break in the elevation. He must have climbed a thousand feet already, and still it continued upwards. Ho’neo was head-butting him every few steps as if to push him uphill. He glared at the wolf. As usual it had no effect other than the animal mocking him in his mind. Very funny.

  Honi was in good shape, but the relentless climb left him short of breath. By the time the path finally leveled out, it was so dark, he needed his phone flashlight to look at the sign above him. It was his own fault, of course. He’d assumed, listening to Rasul, that he would get here before dark.

  Honi sighed. May as well have a look at this hole, the Heidenloch, and then come back tomorrow morning. At least he’d be able to sneak back into Adi’s room without running into her flatmates. It would save him having to lie about Adi’s whereabouts.

  He continued on, aiming his light left and right as he went along. He had no idea how to find a large hole in the ground in the middle of the night. What if it was overgrown with brambles? He would fall into it headfirst without ever seeing it!

  His next sweep of his light beam bounced off a red brick building a few yards to the right of the main path. He approached it gingerly, hoping for maybe a wooden sign, common throughout the forests in Germany, with an overview map of the area. Instead, there was an inscription on the wall next to the entrance door. Bingo. No wonder Rasul thought I couldn’t miss it.

  The metal gate guarding the entrance was chained shut, but when Honi rattled the lock, it gave way. Graffiti tags littered the area, so it was likely that teenage vandals had broken into the house. He pushed the gate out of the way and slowly walked into the single room.

  In front of him was an enclosed shaft, some fifteen feet wide. He bent over the enclosure and shined his phone light into the depth. Just when he saw something glint far down in the distance, a high-pitched noise distracted him. He turned around and froze.

  Ho’neo’s feet were dug into the ground, his legs stiff and his fur on edge. His lips were pulled back from his teeth, and his eyes flashed with savage anger. The wolf’s voice dropped to a ferocious growl before lifting back up to a pitiful whine.

  Honi had lived with the wolf’s presence in his mind since he was a young teenager, and he had never been afraid of him. Until now. He slowly straightened up and turned around so he could face his spirit animal full-on. His back to the well, he raised one hand slowly.

  “It’s okay, Ho’neohvovoehnêstse,” he said, addressing him by his full name. “Remember who you are. Remember who I am. We are one.” He chanted the words the shaman had said to him over and over again when Honi had first bonded with the wolf.

  Ho’neo continued whining and growling, torn between rage and fear. Honi had no idea what could have set him off. He didn’t dare take his eyes off the predator in front of him. The temperature in the square room dropped, and a lock of hair tickled his temple in front of his ear.

  Instinctively, Honi brushed the irritating strand away from his face, only to find it blown back. Honi slowly turned his head, one eye still on Ho’neo. A cold draft carrying the smell of lilac blew out of the shaft behind him.

  Then suddenly, everything happened so fast that Honi had no time to react. The only warning he got was the coiling of muscles before the giant animal launched himself at Honi. At the same time, he felt the chasm suck him backwards. He stumbled until his legs collided with the edge of the brick wall surrounding the well.

  The suction from the well increased, and with a yelp, he tumbled into the abyss. Eyes wide in terror, his mouth stretched open in a silent scream, he tumbled, arms wildly grasping for something to hold on to, to save him. There was no rationalizing his situation—he was falling, faster and faster, most likely to his death. When his head hit the side of the shaft, the blinding pain and the blackness that followed provided a merciful release from his stark reality.

  26

  “Oh, what the hell? Ouch,” Honi moaned. His head wasn’t just sore, it ached like a motherfucker. When he rubbed the skin, his fingers touched a knot the size of an egg on the back of his skull. He hissed and pulled his hand back. Squinting one eye open, he looked at his fingertips. Thank God, no blood. What had happened? And to quote the old cliché, where was he?

  He opened both eyes and slammed them shut immediately. Too bright! Right, let’s try this another way. His fingers felt fabric next to his legs. So he was on what, a sheet? He ran both hands over his body to make sure he wasn’t hurt anywhere else. What the—? He inhaled in shock, then both eyes flew open again. He braced himself against the pain. This was more important! Where the hell were his pants?

  Honi carefully turned his head. He was in somebody’s bedroom, and he was naked. Moaning at the sharp stab that threatened to slice his brain clean in half, he tried to focus his vision. When a hand placed a cool cloth on his aching head, he suppressed a relieved sigh.

  A woman knelt next to him, brushing her other hand against his forehead. Where she touched, the pain eased, and he smiled gratefull
y. He blinked to clear his vision—all he could make out was a pale face with the strangest eyes. She seemed familiar but he couldn’t place her. A clear, lilting voice sang of winter and stars, and while he listened, he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  The second time he woke up, the pain in his head had lessened a lot. He sat up carefully, groaning as the movement made him nauseous. Judging by the light coming in through a large window, it was early evening. Had he really lost a whole day sleeping? If he’d suffered a concussion, he was probably lucky to wake up at all, so all in all, he was ahead. He smacked his lips, aware of how dehydrated he was.

  Movement in the room alerted him to someone else’s presence. He turned his head, and the same woman he remembered from before approached him slowly. She held out a cup and said softly, “You must be thirsty.”

  Honi accepted the drink, smiling gratefully, and took a small sip. The liquid tasted of elderflower cordial, sweet and slightly spicy, just like his grandmother used to make every spring. Despite its familiarity, it was different from what he remembered—richer and deeper somehow. The syrupy texture coated Honi’s throat, easing the dryness.

  “Tha…” He had to clear his throat before continuing. “Thank you.” He handed back the cup, and when their fingers touched, the zing nearly made him drop the container. He stared at the woman with wide eyes, taking in her otherworldly appearance, her white hair and irises.

  He remembered. The book. He had seen her before in the Codex Manesse. The white woman with the oriental-looking man by her side. How was this even possible?

  “Where am I?” he asked, wanting to confirm what he already knew.

  “You’re in Emain Ablach, Honi.” When he stared at her, uncomprehending, the woman laughed. “Emain Ablach is what you call the realm of Faerie. I’m the queen, the ruler of this land.”