changeling chronicles 03 - faerie realm (23 page)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

We walked for five minutes. I’d expected the path to lead us to the Lady of the Tree, but Faerie seemed intent on leading us around in circles instead. Sneering faces peered from the trees only to vanish whenever I looked at them. Ominous noises echoed through the woods for no good reason. Snarls, random clicking, and horrible screeching sounds were par for the course. Sometimes they meant a nasty monster waited off the path. Sometimes Faerie was just screwing with you.

There was a good reason few people dared wander too far into the forest. As the alternative was being Avakis’s pet, some of the prisoners had risked it anyway. I hadn’t seen any hellhounds yet, but they’d most likely fled into the forest after I destroyed Avakis’s castle.

“Bloody elusive old bitch,” I muttered. “Where’s she hiding? We can’t walk around the whole of Faerie.” I was fairly certain nobody knew how big this place actually was, but we didn’t have all day. Even an hour might mean losing half a day in the mortal world.

“So she sneaked in here when the veil opened,” said Vance. “She never did go to Summer.”

“No. The Seelie court would never have her back. We’re in a totally different realm to Summer or Winter. I doubt it’s possible to get there from here. Even a lord like Avakis couldn’t, and he could cross into the human world.”

“So can she,” he said. “I’m trying to make sense of her plan. She mentioned… gods.”

“Like the shifter story,” I said. “The necromancer dude told me this realm was created when the Sidhe exiled their gods. They sent them to Death. That’s why the Vale and Death are linked, and you can reach the Grey Vale…”

“…by walking through Death.” His expression remained calm, but I sensed the threat brewing under the surface even here. “The Sidhe used their magic to exile the gods?”

“Apparently. He said the Sidhe lords know but nobody else does, and I doubt they’d tell humans
or
half-faeries. But suppose someone’s messing around with the power belonging to these gods—I mean, humans everywhere have multiple versions of the same legend. What if the god the shifters believe in and the one the faeries exiled are the same god?”

His eyes flashed. “Yes. It’s possible. Godlike creatures did once walk between the realms. It’s known in mage lore, too.”

“And witch legends,” I said. “But… Jesus. That means this realm and Faerie have been connected way longer than the invasion. And the mortal world, too.”

“Of course they have,” he said, with the same odd calmness. “The Sidhe knew how to use the Ley Lines to cross realms during the invasion. They might not have been openly involved in our world for centuries, but I suspect they’ve been watching us.”

“And could they have left the body of an ancient god behind?”

“Yes,” he said. “Most legends are based in truth.”

“Er.” I didn’t know what to make of his entirely-too-accepting tone. “Giant god potentially buried outside town. Doesn’t that worry you a little?”

“We’ll worry about escaping this realm first.” He rested a hand on his blade. “We need to kill her. When she’s dead, we can deal with the shifters. I doubt she could awaken a god put to sleep by the Sidhe. She might have claimed the power of one of them, but she’s no true Sidhe.”

“Neither am I, and I managed to use an Invocation without dying,” I said. “She… hinted that she needs
me
to help her. And not just to cross over here.” A chill raised gooseflesh on my arms. “Feels like I’m giving her exactly what she wants. She wanted to bring me here. What if she’s blindsiding us like Velkas did?”

“Then you’ll kill her.” He looked into my eyes, his steady gaze grounding me. “You’re more than capable. If she dies, she won’t be coming back.”

I swallowed and nodded.

“Touching,” said a female voice.

The Lady of the Tree stepped out from behind a nearby oak, wearing a fluttering emerald gown and a wide smile.

“You’re right,” she added. “This is exactly where I wanted you to be, Ivy Lane.”

The path disappeared, transforming into a leaf-strewn hill. All the leaves were tarnished silver, the hilltop crested by a tree so tall, its peak pierced the canopy, disappearing out of sight.

“So you want to resurrect an ancient evil god.” My heart thudded, my sweat-slicked hands gripping Irene’s hilt. “Except you wanted me here. Why go to the trouble and come back into the mortal world when you knew you wouldn’t be able to get here again? How long have you known I can cross the realms?”

“Long enough,” she hissed.

“I’m detecting a flaw in your plan,” I said. “You want revenge on Summer, but to open a way back, you planned to blow open the gates to
this
place. If you were eavesdropping on our conversation, you’d know there isn’t a way to Summer from here. Otherwise all the exiled lords would have been able to go back.”

She bared her teeth, slinking forwards. Her dress swirled around her, feathery-textured with a fallen-leaf pattern. It clung to her like a living thing, the colour emphasising the unnatural gleam in her eyes. Keeping one eye on her blade, I moved forward. Green light emanated from the sword, and from the Lady herself.

Her emerald eyes bored into mine. “Summer will take notice. The god’s power will be mine, but first I have to earn it. I need the power of a Winter Sidhe. I know this realm gives you life, the same as it does to me.”

“You’re deluded. I won’t let you hurt anyone else.” Crap. She was right. My magic was at home here. But like hell would I let her get her hands on it. “Let’s duel for it, under the laws of the Seelie and Unseelie courts. If I win, I get your magic. I lose, and you get mine.”

The metallic sound of Vance’s blade added extra punctuation to the end of my speech.

“The Mage Lord stays out of it,” she said. “I’ll duel you, Ivy Lane. You’ll lose. Give me your power.”

“Think you have enough already.”

“Never enough,” she said quietly. “Never. Your realm poisoned me, stole decades from my life, cut me off from my home. I’ll never forgive any of you. As for
you,
the power you wield never should have been yours in the first place.”

“Tough shit. I didn’t choose to have it, but I won’t let you fuck over our realm and this one for a twisted shot at revenge, either.” I raised my blade, magic flickering around me.

“Not the iron sword. You’ll fight me with your magic, or not at all.”

“Already made the vow,” I said. “You can’t take it back. I know how your games work.” Sure, my magic was strong, but I wouldn’t leave Irene out of our fight.

The Lady unsheathed her own sword in a waterfall of green light. “You’ll regret mocking me, Ivy Lane.”

“I’d dramatically add your name to the end of every sentence, too, except I don’t know what it is.” I talked fast to cover the dread crawling up my spine. Her magic shone ten times as bright as mine, and my path already left Vance behind. If I lost, he’d have to watch me die. “Unless you really are called ‘Tree Lady’, which—”

She brought her sword down in a slashing motion, sending a whipcord-like thread of neon-green magic at me. I couldn’t duck so I jumped to the side, knowing even my iron blade wouldn’t stop her attack. She was too powerful. For whatever reason, iron didn’t work on her.

Not that I’d be letting go of Irene. I gathered magic in my weapon-free hand and hurled a handful of bright blue energy at her.

The Lady blurred, then reappeared several feet closer. A grin lit her face, her dress streaming around her in a way that should have impeded her ability to move, but didn’t. The leaves on the ground rose, the trees bent and swayed, and roots burst from the ground, burrowing towards me. I jumped, my magic-enhanced speed carrying me ten feet into the air, and landed in front of her. The Lady, however, had vanished.

I spun around to see the roots gaining on Vance.

“Hey! Cut it out.”

The energy-whip yanked on my wrist, pulling me back and preventing me from going after him. Layers of tree roots enclosed Vance, locking him out of the fight.

“If you hurt him, I’ll rip you to shreds and feed you to the death stealers,” I growled under my breath.

The thread pulled on my wrist again. I wielded an energy stream of my own, but my wrist began to burn underneath the strain. Crap. To get her away, I’d need to let go of my sword. Which was no doubt her plan. The iron ought to be burning her, if she was this close.

“Neat,” I said, knowing she was behind me. “Iron-proof shielding.”

“Iron is a weakness we need to overcome if we want to survive,” said the Lady, appearing next to my shoulder. Goddamned faerie glamours. “It’s a poison that needs to be eradicated.”

“So are you,” I retaliated, kicking out to the side. Had she been a normal human, the kick would have connected with the side of her knee and likely broken her leg. The Lady, however, spun in a circle, surrounded by a halo of energy. The whipcord dragged me forward, pushing against Irene’s hilt. She didn’t want to kill me yet. She wanted to force me to let go.

I dug my fingers in harder and swung the blade at her head. The Lady vanished. Big surprise.

“I’m not impressed,” I said loudly.

A growl sounded from behind me. The air hummed with a burst of energy, and my magic reacted, flaring blue-white. I turned my head, but the energy stream—also brighter—pulled me the other way.

The Lady reappeared, swinging her own blade at my neck.

I raised my sword to block her, but the energy stream dragged my hand down. In the split second of panic, I called on magic instead.

Her blade stopped, repelled by a wall of shimmering blue light.
Holy shit.
I’d actually repelled the talisman. My veins hummed, even the pain in my wrist fading, and magic lifted me up on its wings.

The Lady smiled at me with her perfect teeth. “Give me that beautiful power, human.”

“Not a chance in hell.” The buzzing noise drowned out my own voice. I pushed against the air, and she pushed back, her blade glowing green. Not hers. Velkas’s blade.

My wrist burned, without warning, and the buzzing in my veins faded enough for me to feel the energy stream digging into my arm. Crap. I needed to get away, but it took every ounce of strength to repel her sword with my power. I couldn’t feel my sword hand. She’d cut the circulation off. The burning in my wrist made my eyes water.

The message was clear: drop my sword or she’d effortlessly rip my hand off.

Shit. Shit.
Sorry, Irene.

I released the sword’s hilt, moving to avoid Irene landing on my feet. Instead, the tendril encasing my wrist jerked free and snatched the sword’s hilt up like it weighed nothing.

“Hey!”

Dammit. I edged closer to her, but she had my sword caught in her energy stream. Both her eyes were on me, her smile positively demonic. Irene spun slowly in the air.

I threw myself flat just in time. My own sword shot at me with the inhuman speed of faerie magic, piercing through my shield. The blade whistled over my head, stirring my hair. My split-second’s distraction let her own blade sever my shield in two.

She moved fast—too fast. The shock of seeing her throw Irene aside cost me precious seconds. By the time I was back on my feet, her sword’s tip pointed at my neck. The skin broke, and all the magic-enhanced energy drained from my body, leaving my limbs weak. Shit. Velkas’s blade. The life-drinker.

I jerked back and collided with solid metal. Irene, airborne, glanced off my jacket and aimed at my heart again.

Trapped between two blades, I grabbed whatever magic I could. Energy rushed through me, building higher as the humming sensation in my body intensified again. My tiredness vanished. My legs straightened.

The Lady’s sword glowed brighter. I swayed, the energy rush draining as quickly as it had arrived. My eyes blurred with the brightness.

Oh shit. She’d tricked me into giving her my power. With magic as my only defence, I had no choice but to use it—and hand the power over to her. Moving out of the way of her sword would land me right in the path of my own.

Behind me, Vance roared.

I closed my eyes against the glare. I didn’t need to see where the Lady was, and I couldn’t move anyway. I had one choice. And it wasn’t a pleasant one.

I let the magic drop, and used the last of my enhanced instincts to throw myself in front of Irene.

I’d needed to pick one weapon to stab me, and I’d picked my own. The blade sank to the hilt in my shoulder, driven by the magic she used to control it. My arm instantly went limp, dull pain thumping through my body.

But magic’s still here.

I twisted to face the Lady, whose sword remained in position where it had been touching my throat. Velkas’s blade radiated power, and from her posture, it took all her strength to hold it still.

She’d taken on more power than she knew what to do with. No—I’d given it to her. The power was meant for a Sidhe lord, and whatever she’d done to claim the talisman, she wasn’t strong enough for it. She stood rigid, both hands clenched around the sword, her beautiful face fearsome and angry.

The power in her talisman could tear the veil to shreds. I needed to get it away from her.

My shoulder tingled, the wound healing from the magic flowing under my skin. I took Irene’s hilt. The Lady’s magic tugged briefly, then let go. She remained fixated on her own sword. Even under the glow, she shook all over with the power.

“You aren’t immortal anymore,” I said, pointing my sword at her. “Give it up.”

I walked closer, skirting around the outstretched blade in her hand. Her shoulders bunched like she’d intended to swipe my head off, but the vibrating sword in her hands held her locked in place.

“Sorry,” I said, moving in behind her. “But you murdered people. You hurt little kids. I don’t forgive.”

I angled Irene to pierce underneath her ribcage, and stabbed.

Magic exploded out from her body in a shockwave that took me off my feet. I slammed into earthy ground, sliding down a narrow slope. I braced my feet, trying to slow my descent. The Lady approached, the slope guiding me towards her no matter how hard I fought. Power pulsed from her hands, giving her whole body a dazzling glow. She glowed brighter than Avakis, brighter than any faerie I’d seen. And the blade in her hands—