The Seven (Fist of Light Series) (37 page)

“If Razor is supposed to spread Peace, we’re doomed,” Jas supplied.

“Peace can be achieved through might and force of arms much more readily than a placid word,” Jeeves filled in. “I would much rather have another sword at my side, rather than a pacifist.”

“He’s got a point there.” Jas nodded in agreement.

“Have you spoken with the Fist of Darkness?” I queried, eyes narrowed distrustfully.

“If I had, then I would not be so inclined to tell you. Unless,” she appraised me, “you have something to trade for that information.”

“Has the Fist of Darkness admitted an extra-dimensional being into my world? Surely, you can answer that.” I crossed my arms stubbornly, waiting for an adequate response.

Aurelia’s eyes were inscrutable. “The one you will know as Kasper, or the Fist of Darkness, has long since brought a creature of the deepest, most despicable Darkness into this world. But it is no more, for he has consumed its power. I am required to tell you nothing more, unless you have something that is of value to me.” She smiled enticingly.

“I have nothing to give in trade.”

“Ahh, but that is where you are wrong, my dear boy. Your power is intriguing. Let me siphon off a portion of it, and I will tell you what you wish to know. What do you say?” Aurelia tapped a finger to her lips, daring me.

Jeeves began to speak, but I interrupted him. It wouldn’t do to have him stand up for me; I would be viewed as easy prey. “I’ve no desire to give you any of my power. Where I’m going, I’ll need it. Is there anything more you’ve agreed to tell me and have left out?”

“Oh, very well then, it is your loss. That is all. Do with it what you will. Now, I have a Realm to run. Feel free to escort yourself back the way you arrived. You will be transported back to your domain without being maltreated by my hand.”

It would be appropriate to say I wasn’t that well versed in politics. “That would be greatly appreciated,” I replied cordially.

Aurelia’s face darkened ominously and all three of us backed up a step, raising our hands nonthreateningly. The glamour she was sporting flickered for a moment, allowing me to glimpse her true for the space of a millisecond. Although I couldn’t come to grips with the image in time to process it, I still got something out of the exchange. Her power blew me over backwards, and it suddenly felt like I was standing amid the eye of a hurricane, being pulled and torn asunder from every direction.

“You know, I think it’s about time we were leaving.” I gulped.

“People are probably wondering where we are, and all that,” Jas added. “I think it’d be best to be getting back before they become overly worried.

Mocking laughter filled the air. “It is likely we will meet again, and next time I won’t be under any constraint to keep you breathing. Remember that, in the future. I wish you luck in your pursuits.” Aurelia disappeared in a billowing cloud of smoke and melodious laughter.

“That is one freaky woman,” Jas concluded.

“That,” Jeeves replied, “is the ruler of this gleaming paradise, and she is the most terrifying
woman
you will ever meet. Step lightly and hope that you don’t have the misfortune to meet her again.”

“If I see her coming, I’ll be skedaddling pronto,” Jas admitted. “No offense, Caleb.”

Jeeves snorted. “You realize this is not the time to dally, as we aren’t out of the woods yet. She specified only that you would leave unmolested by her own hand. There was no guarantee that repercussions wouldn’t befall upon you from another source. These immortals take offense easily, and Fae aren’t known for their straightforwardness. I believe your natural personalities were quite abrasive, from her perspective.”

I looked around casually, but in reality my level of paranoid had been bumped to Code Red. “This information would have been exponentially more helpful a couple of minutes ago,” I snapped.

“It just occurred to me.” Jeeves grinned apologetically. “Do not sprint until you have entered the tree line.”

I tapped into my power in case there was trouble brewing. I mimicked Jas and began trekking casually to the arch that signified the entrance to the pathway and our getaway. Looking over my shoulder, I took some mental photos of the fortress behind me, doubting that I would be seeing anything close to its grandeur outside of this demesne. One had to hand it to the Fae; they really were master builders. Granted, they probably had millennia to perfect their craft, so they had an unfair advantage over the rest of us poor mortals. Bringing my mind to bear on the task at hand, I surveyed the multicolored trees before us. They didn’t seem to be active in their quest to eat us at the moment, and that was probably all that could be asked for.

I ducked my head reflexively as we entered the carnivorous forest, despite the fact that it would do next to nothing if one of the buggers tried to take a bite out of my hide. After berating myself for being a fool, I removed the protective barrier that my arms represented and focused on running full pelt for the portal. There was no doubt in my mind that Aurelia wasn’t going to play nice. I should have seen it earlier without Jeeves’ intercession, but the flood of knowledge that had been threatening to overwhelm me had distracted me. There were things I would have to sit down and think deeply, but for now thought it best to keep my eyes on the road. Jas hadn’t shifted into anything as I had expected he would, but was sprinting admirably nonetheless.

I could still catch Jas, with a little assistance from Air. After kicking it into gear, the gap between the two of us slowly narrowed. The land around me began to blur, the landscape around me becoming no more than a rainbow-hued haze. Jas was still visible ahead, though I was almost upon him. I hardly expected him to be able to keep pace with me, once the remaining ten feet to his person were cleared.

“
Shake and bake
!” I projected, hoping he would pick up on the reference.

“
Copy that. On it
!
Anything to get out of this place before we get eaten
.” Jas’ form split up and reformed into a red-tailed hawk.

With a flap of his wings and a swish of tail feathers, Jas swooped above and then behind me, catching the wind stream admirably. A ball of apprehension formed in the pit of my stomach as the two of us moved onwards, and my senses were going haywire. It probably had to do with the fact that we were in a flesh-eating forest, situated in a parallel universe. My feet smacked the glowing pavement with rhythmic speed, my long strides putting me an ever-increasing distance from the fortress. Sweat beaded on my forehead as the trees began to sway dangerously inwards. They didn’t seem to want to give me a hug for remembrance, so I figured that that evasive action was necessary.

“
It would behoove you to proceed to the dimensional gateway before the trees consume your soul
!” Jeeves’ laughter emanated from his cubbyhole.

“
I’d like to keep my soul where it is, thank you
,” I relayed to him.

“
Although there will most certainly be repercussions for any action taken against Aurelia’s prized forest, it might be unavoidable, in this instance. They are hypersensitive to iron, like all things Fae. In point of fact, you have no iron, but like most all trees, they don’t cope well in the presence of fire
.”

The sound of cracking and colliding branches filled my ears, stoppering them up with their thunderous sound. A red branch swung toward me at chest level, and I avoided it with only minor difficulty. That’s when things began to get hairy, and I could only cross my fingers and hope that Jas was doing as well as I was. A near-impenetrable barrier of trees began to form on the trail, and I figured it was about time to bring out the big guns. If the Fae weren’t going to fight fair, then neither was I, and damned the consequences that might befall me in our next meeting. If it became impossible to keep myself moving forward at a consistent pace, I would also risk Jas shooting past me. A rocket-propelled hawk maneuvered right into the gleaming appendages of the trees ahead.

Although it wasn’t a piece of cake to chew gum, run, direct Air, and summon up some Fire to barbecue the trees around me, I was something
special
. My fire, although it was highly unfocused and largely amateur in style, nonetheless spewed forth with deadly intensity. Instead of burning the entirety of the forest to the ground, my attention was focused on the trees that were barring the path. I was getting dangerously close to hitting some branches while continuing to weave through and around those that were in my way. More power was directed toward superheating my Fire, and that did the trick. Shrill screams and billowing smoke were the first reaction to be savored as the flames made contact with the carnivorous trees.

An extensive expanse of foliage withdrew from the path, just as the flames were beginning to touch the multi-colored array of branches. Scared trees. That’s a strange sight in an already strange place. I brought up my hands and directed the smoke that had been created as an unavoidable byproduct to flow around me, rather than allow it to hinder my progress by blinding me. Just in case the trees decided to get smart with me, I kept a steady flame burning maliciously before me. The high-pitched, whining screams that sounded much like nails upon a chalkboard turned even more gruesome in a split second. Hisses emanated from multiple directions, although no further action was taken against us. Apparently, there were limits to what a tree would do in the line of duty for the Fae. Chuckling between gasps and heaves, I tried to get some bearing as to where the portal was situated.

A collision forced me airborne for a few seconds, and on the way I was hopelessly thrown for a loop by the branches of a low-lying shrub. Fully expecting the worst, I peeked ahead of me, to get a clear view of what I was likely to collide with. That something was one of the largest black bears I had ever had the misfortune of encountering, and I slammed into its cushioned form with a highly audible
thwack
.

I
sat up slowly, careful of any injuries that had been sustained, and took a good look around me. Jas was the first thing that coincided with my line of sight, and he was busying himself with running toward the site of my little accident. If you think I should have been worrying myself with silly things like man-eating bears that don’t like being hit with a human torpedo, think again.

A Southern accent broke through the quiet solitude I had been enjoying. “There’s been a search party out for you two for the past night and throughout this day. Are you two out of your ever-lovin’ minds?!”

“We’ve been MIA for almost a day?” I asked incredulously. “I could have sworn we’d only been gone for a couple of hours!”

“That’s right. And I think it’d be for the best if we took ya to the Meetin’. They have need of your presence there,” he informed me.

Jas labored into view, slightly out of breath from the recent happenings. “You okay, Caleb?” He winked. “And your name is?” Jas asked.

“Clyde’s the name,” he responded cordially. “And this here’s my crew,” he motioned with his beefy arm, pointing out a dozen snuffling and snorting bears.

All of them were massive, their immense forms obviously muscular, although there was a layer of fat evident, which no doubt protected them from being ravaged by the elements. Black, bristling fur was the most prevalent to be seen, although there were some other colors mixed in as well. Hairy appendages extended an impressive number of feet and vicious teeth were sported all around. The attending party made some more questioning snuffles and growls, but Clyde quickly silenced them.

“These here are the one’s we’ve been looking for, boys. Let the others know we found ‘em, so we can all get some grub once we’re through.”

It was disconcerting to be escorted by a pack of lumbering bears, and it went against all my instincts to stand there passively. I had to remind myself that I was in the presence of allies before my paranoid nature was placated. There was much to keep my mind busy with before we arrived at the Meet, but there were more pressing matters that demanded my attention to be considered first. A thorough check of my body and its condition was performed, and everything came out clean, for the most part. There weren’t any broken bones to be seen, and nothing felt out of place.