Descent into the Depths of the Earth (9 page)

It was a world where dreams had taken shape into reality, a
place of strange colors and spaces that shone like alien stars. A titanic tree
stump made an island, and above the island, the sky shimmered with little
drifting points of light. A dark, cool pool stretched off into the distance.
Wooden stepping blocks stretched off across the lake to other islands, far and
near.

The light-motes reflected in the water, showing the shapes of
fish and giant water beetles far below. Bullfrogs pealed from the shadows, while
nightingales flitted between strands of alien flowers. All about the pool,
nature had been put into good order, arranged as a careful piece of art.

It seemed to be night. The sky was dark and starry, and yet
everything shone as clearly as in the light of day. Sitting sourly on a pillow
at the center of a little isle, Escalla swatted at a nightingale as the stupid
creature twittered by.

The garden upon the tree stump isle had been sculpted
perfectly. Plants had been shaped into tables, chairs and couches, all overlaid
with silk brocades. A satyr daintily served tea and scones, while plates of food
and flasks of wine stood gleaming in the light. Surrounded by dreamlike plenty,
Jus, Polk, and even the mule all remained frozen in shock.

The satyr bowed, proffering jam and cream. Escalla ignored
the creature until it went away. Sitting alone with her knees hugged to her
chin, the faerie kept her eyes carefully away from the scenery. She tossed a
glance at the feast then turned away.

“Don’t drink the wine,” she said without looking up, “and
don’t eat the food.”

Polk jerked his hand back, already reaching for a scone.
“It’s enchanted?”

“Polk, don’t drink the wine. Don’t touch it. Don’t sniff it.
Don’t even touch the damned cork!” Escalla sat with her knees hunched beneath
her chin. “Unless you’re a faerie, faerie wine’s instant suicide. Makes you
drunk as a pickled thought-eater in seconds three.”

“Oh!” Polk eyed the wine glass nearest him, half tempted to
give it a try. “Really?”

“The hangover comes about ten minutes later, Polk. Rumor says
it’s like having a pair of exploding wolverines mating inside your skull.”

Even Polk, inveterate drinker that he was, shrank away from
the wine. “Wolverines?”

“Yeah, especially the vintage sixty-three. Gives you violent
tremors and convulsions in less time than it takes to scream.”

Polk kept a distance between himself and the nearest plate of
scones. “How about the food? Poison?”

Escalla shrugged and said, “No.”

“Should we eat it?”

“No.”

Blinking, Polk scratched his skull. “Why?”

“Because we don’t want to give my mother any leverage!”
Escalla sat back against a rock and tossed a pebble at a nightingale. “If she
feeds you, she can ask for a favor in return. When she comes back, watch what
you say. Don’t give her any information she can use.”

“But she’s your mother!”

“Killer amoebas have mothers, Polk. I’m not going to embrace
any of
those,
either.”

The faeries had opened a door in the empty air of the forest
and had led Escalla and her companions into this eerie fantasy land. They now
sat amid the songbirds and the frogs, surrounded by a ring of ghostly elf hounds
that kept them trapped in an unwinking gaze.

Jus reached into his belt pouch, brought out a chunk of
hardtack and split it three ways between himself, Polk, and Escalla. At his
side, Cinders lay nose to nose with an elf hound. The hell hound leaked
sulphurous steam from his nostrils, and the elf hound bristled, bared its teeth,
then broke into a vicious growl. The growl turned into a yelp of panic as
Cinders’ spewed a jet of flame that scorched the elf hound’s back.

Of all the travelers, Cinders was the only one with a grin.

Funny!

Kicking at the scenery, Escalla stood and paced, watched by a
dozen elf hounds as she walked. She stood at the shore of the island and stared
off across the dark, reflective pool.

“They redecorated.”

Jus joined her, sitting at her side, his hand resting too
casually upon his sword and aware that the walls could have ears.

“So this is the Seelie Court?”

“Ha! They wish!” Escalla gave a flick of contempt. “This is
just a pocket above the forest, a tiny alternative realm. Tons of places have
them. Think of it as Flanaess plus one. It runs about, oh, a mile wide.” Escalla
looked about. “The forest is still there. Any tree you find in here with an arch
of branches is a gate to somewhere or other.”

Jus weighed the information, still wondering just exactly
where they were. He carefully scanned the starry sky, checking the
constellations.

“Does time move differently here?”

“No, although on other planes it does.” Escalla used her
hands to show her friends the horizons of the eerie faerie world. “This is just
a citadel. Thirty faeries, three hundred servants, and a ton of these damned
hounds.” Eyes narrowed, the girl carefully watched an elf hound that slunk
watchfully nearby. “Try not to look straight
at
anything. Try to look
past the surface. Most of it’s an illusion. You can get the knack of telling.”
Escalla sounded sour. “Careful of the wildlife. Anything about the mass of a
faerie probably
is
a faerie. No trout is a trout, no cat’s a cat. The
bored ones can get pretty strange. Don’t stare, or they’ll try and get pushy.”

“Hmph,” the Justicar grunted. “What if we’re attacked by
one?”

“Cut it fast and hard. Give it time to throw a spell, and
you’re dog meat. But don’t do it. I’m almost out of spells.” The girl shrugged.
“They have a dueling code—one on one fights are your own affair if you make it a
formal challenge.”

“Are they all magic-users?”

“Yeah.
All
of them.”

Jus rippled his finger tips along the hilt of his sword.
“Should we try to bring in Enid and have her bust us out of here?”

“Not yet.” Escalla’s antennae stayed stiff and high, testing
magic currents in the air. “I need a way to get you guys clear of here before I
do anything cute.”

Heaving a frustrated, angry sigh, Escalla paced, drawing Polk
and Jus down beside her. Polk had filled his moustache with hardtack crumbs. He
seemed to regard Escalla with newfound awe.

“So this is a faerie palace! A gateway to adventure!”

“Yeah.” The girl gave a sneer. “And I’m a princess.” Polk and
Jus both gave her an appraising look. Escalla angrily waved her hand. “I told
you that when we first met! A faerie princess, I said! No one believes me! No
one ever believes me!”

“Can’t imagine why.” Jus scratched his head and left it at
that. “All right, so what’s the story? Why are they after you? Why are we here?”

“Well they weren’t shooting to kill, so that means they want
to talk.” Escalla ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. “I hate this
place! I hate these people!” She turned her face away. “Here’s the run-down.
This is Clan Nightshade, my clan. They’re exiled from the Seelie Court over some
crap you and I could care less about, so Clan Nightshade is a rogue. Fought
their way through three different planes and ended up here, holed up on the
Flanaess.” Her voice was toneless. “Faeries usually live in a sealed society—the
Seelie Court. It straddles several planes of existence—very old, nine clans
always stabbing one another in the back. Spawned a dark goddess once and has
kept out of mortal affairs ever since.”

She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“Nightshade is
trouble.
They are my clan, so don’t
underestimate them. We learned magic the hard way.” Escalla kept her face
neutral and guarded, her eyes flicking left and right for signs of scrying
spells. “The Seelie Court clans are a lot more inbred, more reclusive, more
formulaic.”

Jus slowly stroked his fingers through Cinders’ hair. “But
these are all faeries like you, right?”

Escalla gave the man a sharp stare. Small, slim, and somehow
sinister with her pointed ears and tilted eyes, she suddenly seemed no joking
matter.

“Clan Nightshade is personally responsible for neutralizing
and imprisoning a goddess.” The girl narrowed her eyes. “You’re still thinking
of elves and pixies.
Don’t.
Faeries are the
true folk.
Imagine a
race of magic-using, flying creatures that can change shape and go invisible at
will.” The girl bitterly pitched a piece of grass into the wind. “Elves are to
faeries what skinks are to black dragons. Don’t make the mistake of thinking
that just because something’s short, it can’t splay your lungs all over the
grass.”

Polk recoiled, looking Escalla indignantly up and down. “But
you’re not nasty! You’ve got honor and guts and good intentions!”

“Polk, I’m the girl who didn’t fit in and ran away.”

She hunched over, cradling her head in her hands. The
Justicar dragged Cinders over beside Escalla. Heaving a tired sigh, the little
faerie reached out to scratch the hell hound’s ear.

Cinders look after faerie.

“Thanks, man. You’re my favorite pooch.”

Sensing that some of the plants were clearly spies, Jus
looked at Escalla as he spoke. “What happens now? Why are we here?”

“I have a few suspicions.” Escalla’s hand tightened on
Cinders’ fur. “I’m eldest daughter to the clan head. Whatever they want, it’s
no good news for me.”

“Are you in danger?”

“Not immediately. It’s not like I broke any laws. Plus I’ve
already taken down some of the clan’s best spell slingers twice today. They know
I’m not quite the same little girl who ran away from home.”

A fanfare of trumpets pealed out across the lake. An instant
later, a row of brilliantly clad little creatures popped into view. They seemed
to be a type of pixie—shorter than Escalla and far, far sillier, with long
cricket’s legs and eyes like an insects. The creatures blew on heraldic horns
then tittered with mirth as they rolled their eyes at Polk and Jus.

“Summon come! Summon come! Come to biggie lord! Leave mortals
to play game with happy grigs!”

Sharing a look of seething annoyance with Jus, Escalla rose
to her feet and said, “Grigs. I hate these guys.” The faerie planted her fists
on her hips. “Now hear this! These are my blood companions. A spell cast on them
is a spell cast on me.” The girl turned dire eyes on the shocked little grigs.
“I mean it! Tricksie-tricksie, pay back doubles!”

The grigs scuffled their feet and pouted.

“Mean!”

“Yeah, well I’m
that
one! Remember me? The mean lady
is back again!” Escalla swatted at the little sprites, who scattered sullenly
away. “Half-wit relatives! You can bet your butt they don’t have to put up with
these little buggers in the
real
Seelie Court!”

Peeking out of cover all around the island were a host of
tiny little shapes—all pixie-like, all small, all less formidable that the pure
faeries Jus had seen. Jus settled Cinders securely into place upon his helmet
and looked at the forest sprites.

“These are all related to faeries? Why so many
offshoots—pixies, sprites, grigs, atomies… ?”

“Chaos wars.” Escalla led her way through the ranks of hiding
sprites. “Lotta pure bloodlines were split up. Goblinoids, giants, dragons.
Faeries took the brunt of it. That’s why we turned reclusive.” The girl had
reached the shore, and here a party of lean, elegant faeries awaited them.
“We’re summoned. Come on. Let’s go meet the family. Keep your eyes open and your
mind straight.”

Jus and Escalla both flexed their hands, each feeling for the
rings that kept them safe from charm spells.

At the water’s edge, Escalla’s twin awaited them.

The newcomer was pure faerie. The lean lines, the
aristocratic face and air of cool intelligence instantly marked her. In shape
and face, she could almost have been Escalla. A little rounder in the eyes, far,
far
plusher in the bosom, but as alike as two sisters had a right to be.
She had dressed herself in tight white lace with a glint of silver on her hand.
Escalla’s leathers looked stark and almost primitive in contrast to the other
girl.

The lace-clad figure sketched a mocking little bow and said,
“Sweet sister.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Escalla turned and jerked her thumb toward
the other faerie. “Guys, this is Tielle, my little sister. A total bitch.”

Polk doffed his cap. Jus merely gave a brief nod of his head.
Turning back to her sister, Escalla stared the other girl up and down. The two
females exchanged looks that dripped with pure disdain.

“So Tielle. You porked-out.”

“Yes. They’re called
breasts
.” Tielle looked at her
sister with a sour laugh. “
Love
the outfit. Is it uncured leather, or is
that smell all your own?”

“Ha! You kiss so much butt, I’m surprised you still have any
sense of smell.”

Looming like a vast black giant above the faeries, Jus
cleared his throat in a bass rumble. It brought the exchange of insults to an
end as both sisters flicked a glance up at the human.

Tielle gave a wrinkle of her nose and said, “You’re summoned
to the clan council.”

Escalla gave a sniff and replied, “Why do I give a damn?”

“Daddy’s asking nicely. And we have visitors.” Tielle clicked
her fingers to summon more faeries. Male and female spellcasters closed in to
surround Escalla and her friends. Tielle’s fingers gleamed as the light fell on
a tiny silver ring shaped like a spider. “Oh, you’ll like it. Mummy and Daddy
have you foremost on their minds… as always.”

Escalla sniffed at her sister and looked scathingly at the
faerie warriors.

“I’m soooo intrigued.” Escalla shrugged. “Nice ring, by the
way.”

Tielle raised a mocking smile and used her other hand to
indicate a line of stepping stones that stretched into the distance. “Get
moving. They’re waiting.”