by Eric Asher
“He’s going to tell Heather you’re here,” the Old Man said.
“I have little doubt Heather already knows I am here. I need to find her, talk to her. Find out just how far gone she is. And if it’s too far, if it’s too far…”
“And if it’s not?” The Old Man asked. “You seek peace with her? You think that wise here in the boroughs on the road to Murias?”
Ward stared at the broken window where the fairy had escaped. He didn’t have an answer for the Old Man.
* * *
They hadn’t gone far when an owl knight strode out of the alley ahead of them. He tripped on a loose stone, and Ward figured the knight was drunk or just exhausted to be so graceless. It was a good way to get yourself killed in the outer boroughs.
The Old Man and Calbach passed the fairy, giving the clumsy figure a wide berth. Ward was almost even with the Fae when Happy growled. The ominous vibration sent a chill down Ward’s spine, and the fairy froze on the spot.
“Ward.”
It wasn’t the fairy’s voice, of that Ward was sure. The lips were a hair out of sync with the speech. The whisper was too loud to be a whisper.
Ward frowned at the owl knight, catching glimpses of orange light around the fairy’s neck.
“You look well.”
“Stay back,” Ward said as Calbach approached the owl knight. “He’s not what he seems.”
The fairy’s lips twitched into a half-mad grin. “No way to speak to your apprentice now, is it?”
“What do you want?” Ward asked.
“To talk. Only to talk. I heard rumors you’d come, but I wanted to see it for myself.”
“Then talk to me face to face,” Ward said, gesturing to the owl knight. “Don’t hide behind these manipulations.”
“They are enough to fool most people. Except for the bear.” The owl knight frowned at Happy.
“I can’t trust what you say without seeing you,” Ward said. “There are too many Fae who could be doing this.”
The owl knight gave him an awkward smile. “You’ve seen the sigils upon this Fae. You know that is untrue.”
Ward twisted his hands together. “You don’t sound like yourself, Heather. Meet with me if you wish to have a conversation of value.”
“You were always tiresome, master. I come to this meeting in goodwill. Should you betray that, I will lead them to you. Find me at your home at the edge of the Golden City.”
Before Ward could say more, or hide his shock at Heather’s words, the fairy in front of him stumbled backward and collapsed to the ground, clutching his head.
“What … where …”
“Too much drink,” the Old Man said, offering a hand to the Fae. “You might want to have another and fully commit.”
The fairy squinted at the Old Man and hopped back as something like recognition crossed his face. “That sounds like an excellent idea.” He brushed off his wings and almost sprinted away from their group.
“She knows where you’re staying?” Calbach asked, watching the retreating shadow of the fairy.
Ward rubbed at his temples. “If anyone walks into that place uninvited, they won’t bother us again.”
“Still meeting in peace?” the Old Man asked.
Ward nodded. “I’ll not be the one to break my word.”
“Are you still staying above that pub with the fish and chips?” the Old Man asked.
Ward raised an eyebrow and looked at the Old Man. “Hungry?”
Leviticus grunted, and led the way off the streets.
CHAPTER SIX
The walk back out of the boroughs wasn’t a short one. It took them past their regular watering hole to a place where the glow of the Golden City was more itself.
“How far out are you staying?” Neil asked. “We passed half a dozen inns.”
“Sometimes it’s nice to be able to sleep without wondering if you’ll have a knife in your throat when you wake up.”
“Sometimes it’s nice not to have to walk half the day,” Neil muttered.
Ward smiled at the fairy. He’d thought about getting a room at one of the inns inside the boroughs, but many of them reminded him of the hostel he’d once visited with Heather. And they’d barely made it out of that alive.
“You aren’t staying at an inn, are you?” The Old Man asked.
Ward shook his head. “Sometimes it’s easier to set down roots.”
“Which brings me back to my original question,” Neil said. “There were half a dozen places you could’ve stayed at.”
“You could’ve stayed above Kat’s bar,” Leviticus said. “She probably would’ve given you a fairly reasonable rate.”
Happy chuffed.
Ward scowled at the panda bear and scratched at his ruff. “Not you too.”
“How long have you been staying there?” The Old Man asked, his tone growing serious.
“Long enough to set up some defenses. We’ll be safe enough.”
“I’d feel better about that if this wasn’t Heather we were dealing with. You trained her. She knows your tricks.”
“She could have killed us today if she wanted,” Ward said. “Not all of the runes etched on that fairy’s armor were made to manipulate him.” He didn’t tell them more. Didn’t tell them about the twisted sigil that could have turned that fairy inside out and triggered an eruption from the ley line. Heather was messing with forces Ward didn’t think she understood. And if she did understand, she’d lost her damned mind.
Ward slowed down in front of a heavy iron-banded door. It had taken some doing to get the landlord to let him install it. But he was the only one coming in and out of this place.
He placed his hand in the center of the door, and a strip of electric blue runes flashed to life before the lock clicked open. Ward led the way inside. Neil and the Old Man gasped.
Ward glanced back at them. “Don’t worry, there’s furniture upstairs.”
“I’ll wait here,” Calbach said. “Keep an eye out for the riff-raff.”
The others stared at the bleak room as Ward made his way to the staircase. Circles and runes and sigils decorated the walls like some kind of mad mosaic. If anyone came through that door who wasn’t Ward, or accompanied by Ward, they wouldn’t be leaving alive.
“Don’t try anything when you get upstairs,” a calm voice said, echoing through the empty room.
Ward’s steps slowed on the wooden staircase. That was Heather’s voice, Heather’s words. Not some lapdog she’d enslaved with an incantation. She’d kept her word and come in person. A tiny glimmer of hope tried to bloom in Ward’s chest, but then he remembered what she’d done. Who she’d killed. And her alliance with the Unseelie.
As fast as it had brightened, that hope died once more.
Ward heard the blade unsheathing behind him. “Don’t.”
Whether it had been the Old Man or Neil, its hilt clicked back against its sheath.
Ward cleared the top of the staircase. There, sipping from a pewter stein, sat Heather. He hadn’t seen her in person in years. Her hair was shorter, and a few streaks of dark brown had gone to gray. But there was no mistaking her piercing gaze.
He approached the table and pulled out one of the heavy chairs before gesturing for the others to follow.
Heather placed a dagger on the table, as if she’d need that to defend or attack. A dim glow around her neck caught Ward’s attention. Some sort of crystal amulet hung at her throat, but it didn’t fully hide the amplification runes tattooed across her neck.
“So it’s you Edgar’s been looking for,” Ward said as the others settled into their chairs.
“The Watchers,” Heather said with an amused grin. “Not the most savvy bunch.”
“What’s your game here?” the Old Man asked.
“I’m not here for games. I’m here to give you a warning.”
“If you expect us to back off, it’s not going to happen,” Neil said, leaning forward as his hand crept toward his sword.
Wa
rd laid a hand on Neil’s shoulder and pulled him back into his chair. That the fairy had stayed in his Proelium form said enough about the threat he felt in the room.
Happy paced back and forth behind the table. He’d be a threat from any place in the room, and Ward didn’t miss Heather’s eyes tracking the panda.
“And what warning are you here to give?”
Heather’s eyes focused on Ward. “There are more enemies in this game than you know.”
“I thought you weren’t here for games,” the Old Man said.
Heather didn’t acknowledge him.
“But it is a game you’re playing,” Ward said. “Those amplification runes around your neck are how Nudd infiltrated the military of the commoners.”
Heather’s smile didn’t slip.
Ward continued. “But that was Nudd’s gambit. And you are no friend of the Mad King.”
“I got what I needed from Nudd. He can die as he pleases now. The Unseelie have leverage over him, and now control the outcome at the end of his empire.”
Ward leaned back in his chair. They’d suspected, or theorized that perhaps he had leverage over the Unseelie. Regardless, they were allied in this conflict.
“Empire?” Neil scoffed. “I’d hardly call what he’s done an empire.”
“Wouldn’t you?” Heather snapped. “How many Fae are under his rule? How many Fae has he killed? How many commoners? How many died when he pulled Falias into another realm? There have been longer-lived empires that spilled far less blood.”
“Enough,” Ward said, his voice flat. “Speak your piece.”
Heather spun the stein in her hand and took another sip. “Always so pragmatic. You’re right about these.” She ran her fingers along the runes on her neck. “But it won’t end the way Nudd expects. His people will be found, if they haven’t been already.”
“You’re no friend of Nudd, working with the Unseelie,” Neil said.
“Things have changed. Murias is coming in force. Nudd can’t stop the Unseelie. They own him.”
“Perhaps you’ve forgotten his madness.” Ward picked up one of the steins from the center of the table and took a long drink. The pewter itself was warded against poisons, and he knew if Heather had tried to slip something into it, it would have gone off like a grenade. “Nudd has cut down more than one ally in his time.”
“Murias is not an ally.”
“Why tell us? I’ve known you long enough to see the fear you’re trying to hide behind this façade.”
“This is why. To see the same upon your face. Your passive oath not to kill. I’ve seen you break it myself. You were a fool to even attempt it in these times.”
“The girl’s right about some things,” the Old Man said. “I’ve seen your wards kill.”
Ward’s fingers flexed around his stein. “And each time it takes a little piece of my soul with it.”
“Take your coin,” Heather said.
Happy growled at that, the voice of the ghost panda rattling the foundation of the building they sat in.
Heather eyed the bear. “No place is private here. Every wall, every door, a set of ears listening to everything you say.” Her voice lowered. “Save your destroyer. Throw Nudd down and make way for the rightful rulers of Faerie.”
She stood up, her chair scraping against the wood floor. “You’re a fool of a teacher. But I have no desire to see you dead.” She pulled at the choker around her neck, giving Ward a glimpse of the runes that sat beneath it. He knew the pattern. He had taught it to her.
“A friend of ours stands guard at the front door,” Ward said. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kill him.”
“Calbach?” Heather asked. “I always liked the old iron-touched.” She gave Ward a small smile and made her way to the stairs.
They sat in silence as the door squeaked open on the first floor, and Calbach’s gruff voice echoed up. The door slammed a short time later, and Ward heard the footsteps of the iron-touched coming to meet them.
“How did she know about the coin?” the Old Man asked.
Ward blew out a breath. “Spies, perhaps.”
“Spies where?” Neil asked. “Inside Zola’s circle? I doubt that very much.”
“Agreed,” the Old Man said. “If anyone is letting spies in undetected, it’s not going to be Zola.”
“I’ve no reason to doubt your appraisal,” Calbach said as he sat down in Heather’s empty chair, “but is she not the friend of the Sanatio who didn’t know the Sanatio was Nudd’s wife?”
The Old Man slid a stein closer. “That’s not her fault. And Cara had her reasons for keeping secrets. If people outside Falias knew who she was, she would have been a target. And anyone around her would have been collateral damage.”
“A target of her own husband’s schemes?” Calbach said. “He truly is mad, isn’t he?”
Happy bumped up against the table and snorted before lifting his snout toward the ceiling.
Ward frowned and followed the bear’s gaze. “Someone on the roof?”
Happy chuffed.
Something deep and basso made a horrific sound like the distorted blast of a trumpet, followed only by the dying screams of the Fae above.
Ward took a sip from his stein. “Not anymore.”
“You truly don’t believe Heather is working with Nudd?” Neil asked.
Ward tapped on the rim of his stein. “Not directly. If she sees a path to her goal, she’ll likely walk it. No matter how distasteful it is to her.”
Neil sighed and took a long pull from his drink. “That’s not disconcerting in the least.”
“She either imbued a Fae with the power of those amplification runes around her neck, or quite likely the commoners have more than one Fae in their ranks.”
“The Fae we heard about who was entrenched in Park’s unit wasn’t Unseelie,” the Old Man said.
“Exactly. I don’t think they found their insider yet. I think our allies are in far graver danger than they know.”
Something thudded above them. Power crackled along the ceiling only to recede in a whispering whumpf.
“I’m afraid your oath will die in earnest today,” the Old Man said as darkness cut its way out of the scars on his forearms, the flesh of gravemakers becoming the most repulsive gauntlets Ward had ever seen.
Ward drained the last of his stein.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ward eyed the small gray box on his shelves as footsteps echoed across the ceiling above them again. Whoever it was had given up on stealth, and Ward could hear the attacks on the roof, likely breaking apart the sigils of protection carved above them. That meant Ward didn’t have time.
The urgency of the steps above them increased, only to cut off a moment before the timbers of the ceiling splintered in a shower of stone and wood.
In the cloud of debris, Ward made out at least two shadows. He only knew the third body was there because their wings displaced the dust and plaster smoke in a pattern that was wrong for only two sets of wings.
Ward shrugged out of his cloak as Neil snapped into his smaller form and shot to the ceiling.
Calbach grinned as a fairy with the white hand of Nudd across his chest closed on him. The point of Calbach’s warhammer cut into the leather armor, only to rebound in an explosion of electric blue sparks.
Happy lunged, and though the fairy dodged the worst of the blow, a shredded wing still hung from the panda’s jaws.
“You’ve broken your word, Heather!” Ward shouted as his splayed fingers slapped against the carved skin of his chest. He slashed at the nearest fairy, his hand parallel to the floor so each band of power would slam into his enemy in sequence.
The fairy raised a gauntlet, and those deadly lines of power crashed into him, barely leaving a scratch as the shield wards burst into life. “The human has left you, Old Man. Her alliances are not ours.”
“I’m not the Old Man,” Ward said, stepping back.
The fairy frowned a split second before Leviticus hi
t him like a cannon shot. Wards ignited across the fairy’s body as the Old Man ripped away weapons and armor. Leviticus’s cunning was a terrifying thing to behold. He didn’t attack the plates of armor; he went straight for the fasteners and leather straps holding the suit in place.
The instant the pieces began to fall away, the blackened flesh of the gravemaker reached out to savage the fairy’s exposed flesh like a sentient serpent.
It was only then that Ward registered the fact these two Fae weren’t Unseelie. But the third, that came to skewer the Old Man, was most assuredly Unseelie.
Leviticus roared as the blade took him in the shoulder, but he didn’t let go of the first fairy. And to Ward’s horror, the flesh of the gravemaker shifted its focus. The Old Man didn’t even look behind him, the scarred flesh simply swam over the wound and held the sword tight while he tore his first target to pieces.
The Unseelie Fae hadn’t expected that. The fool tried to free the blade once, twice, and that gave Ward enough time to touch a rune on either side of his chest and slam his hands together. The wave of power threw the fairy across the room where Happy bounded after his armored form.
Calbach grunted and exchanged blows with the third fairy, one who looked almost as exhausted as the iron-touched himself. But the slower reaction time played to Calbach’s strengths. He let the hammer pull his body forward, using the spiked head like a pendulum, the inertia cracking through a wood railing before Calbach pulled it close and spun.
The motion kept the head of the hammer concealed from the other fairy until Calbach let his arms extend with the momentum of the swing. And then, halfway through the turn, the spike of the weapon’s head sliced deep into the fairy’s hand.
Neil dove the instant Calbach’s foe hit the ground. His sword was embedded in the fairy’s throat a moment later, having pried the edge of the fairy’s helmet up just enough to circumvent the wards. The fairy thrashed and pawed at his neck as blood poured onto the dusty hardwood floors.
“It would be best if you waited downstairs for a moment,” Ward said, not taking his eyes off the remaining Unseelie Fae.
