“I still have my fire,” she promised. “I’m still whole.”
“Something of Liana’s borrowed energy lingered though.” My voice remained low, but the strange trembling was gone. The mess my grandfather had started was beginning, finally, to make sense.
“How does Liana reach the energy of the ice lands when no other fey can?” Steed asked.
Ruby stood. “She doesn’t feel entirely fey. None of the changelings do. Maybe it has to do with their ability to shift form.”
“They think they can break free,” I said. “That’s why they were trying, because they think if they get free of the base magic, they can reach other energies elsewhere.”
“Maybe they could. Or maybe Asher was only risking it to get what he wanted.” Ruby shrugged. “Doesn’t matter now.” She clapped her palms together, and the sound echoed through the room. “Let’s try out this staff, shall we?”
Grey gave her a flat look, but Ruby’s eyes skirted his face. She’d been avoiding so much as glancing in his direction since she’d woken.
I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d been a fool. For far too long, I had heard the elders’ warnings that the humans would consume us. As we stood, the humans and however they were tied to the land were eating away at the base magic the fey required to live. And it was coming our way. I had always assumed those warnings referred to me, to the part of myself that was not light or dark, not elven at all. But the warning still echoed, and even as I understood there was far more to the humans than any of us had known, it did not seem so far off that the cautions may have pointed to Asher’s larger plan. It would explain why my mother’s connection to the humans and my own human heritage terrified the elders. Because we had been under Asher’s command.
“If the spellcasters opened the vein at Hollow Forest, then the magic of the source would still be bleeding out,” I said.
Chevelle and the others remained at my back, but I let my gaze take in Ruby, Rhys, and Rider, those who had been studying this problem from the start.
“It has to be drawn into use,” Ruby answered, “by someone capable of moving it in that capacity.”
A powerful spellcaster. Someone like Pitt. Someone like Asher. Cold dread settled in the pit of my stomach.
Ruby’s hand shifted to her hip, where her slender fingers curled over the handle of a black-leather whip. “The spellcasters are dead.” Her tone said it was over. It said there was no reason to consider what might have happened if the spellcasters had not been caught. She gestured toward the staff. “Now,” she said, “let’s get this over with so you can introduce me to that dragon.”
24
Ruby
“How long are you going to ignore me?” Grey’s tone was even and not unkind, but his question was too blunt to disregard entirely.
Ruby frowned, not turning from her task. “Until I’m ready.” His answering hum sent a strange feeling through her. She tightened her hands into fists. “Soon. Just let us get through this.”
Grey’s silence seemed to say the what-ifs she did not have room to think about. What if we do not get through it? What if there is no more time? She wanted to turn and glare at him, but she didn’t think she could look, because there was a chance those things were not what his expression would say at all. There was a chance she was entirely wrong.
She snapped the chunk of ironwood bark she held into two pieces then ran her blade down the edges to smooth the fray. She shoved the dagger back into its sheath, sliding the ironwood pieces into her belt and grabbing an apple from the table before she spun to follow the others out of the room.
Frey had decided it was not safe to toy with fey energy inside the castle. “Outside,” she’d snapped. “It has to be outside.” Ruby was pretty sure Frey was stalling, though everyone could see she was itching to have the staff back in her own hands.
Ruby walked through the arched stone doorway, a place she’d passed countless times when training a bound Frey. The corridor was cool and dark, and when Ruby realized it was too quiet behind her, she stopped and gritted her teeth. She would not look back, not yet. “Are you coming?” she called.
Grey did not answer, but he moved with his signature speed, the heat of his body coming up behind her as quickly as a whip. Her lip trembled with the urge to speak, but she bit down on it, forcing her feet to move instead. They strode through the corridors, pace set to catch the others who’d gone ahead. The castle staff went on about their duties, but Ruby could feel their eyes on her as they passed. Word must not have spread that she’d been awakened, that the last of the Seven had been returned to the high guard.
They rounded the final corner to a long corridor, where Steed leaned casually against the open gate. Early-morning sun filtered through a thick haze outside, and Ruby could just see Anvil and the others making their way across the courtyard beyond. She made the mistake of letting her gaze fall off track, and Steed reached out to snag her wrist. She spun, feeling Grey move past, and Steed grinned as he tossed Ruby’s apple, which he’d just stolen from her, into the air before catching it with his free hand.
She couldn’t bring herself to glare at him, so she only placed a hand on her hip. “We have a duty to attend.”
He held her gaze for a long moment, just looking at her. “Aye.” He sighed as if satisfied at his inspection then tugged Ruby close for a quick hug. He was so much bigger than her, and she was lost to the outside world in the cocoon of his embrace. “I wish you’d stop fooling around and risking your life,” he whispered. Her heart stuttered, but Steed let her loose and flashed a smile as if he’d said nothing sentimental at all, tossing the apple aloft as he turned to go.
Ruby stared after him as she caught the apple in her trembling hand. Had that hug been one instant longer, it might have torn her apart. But Steed knew her, maybe better than she knew herself.
She slipped the apple into the pouch at her side and followed him over the courtyard stones.
In the center of the open courtyard farthest from the castle walls, Frey stood before each of her Seven and accepted her altered staff. Ruby wasn’t certain how the brothers had managed to bind the energies together or if they’d only bound each to the ironwood and the magic inside, but she hoped it would hold. Frey would need to be able to wield her own magic while using the stone to access fey energy. They needed to seal Hollow Forest and create a new boundary to keep the deadening of magic from spreading. Because as much as the fey might enjoy it, no one was going to eradicate the humans on the off chance it might prevent the barren lands from expanding.
Ruby sidled up beside Chevelle, but before she got a word out, he gave her the look. She crossed her arms over the leather chest plate of her uniform. Ruby was tired of that look. She’d seen it the entire time Frey had been bound. It said don’t push her. It said she’s volatile. When Frey had been bound, Ruby supposed Chevelle had been right. He was the expert on spellcasting, after all. But Frey’s bonds were broken, and even if her mother had gone mad at the hands of Asher’s torment, that did not mean the tremors in Frey were going to cause her to crack.
If anything would do it, it would be the overwhelming amount of power that swam through Frey’s being. And there was nothing to be done for that.
“So,” Ruby said, “what does it feel like?”
Freya turned, her black hair loose in the wind and her dark eyes lit with tension as her fingers flexed around the ironwood staff. “It feels right.”
Ruby grinned. Right was the answer they needed.
Frey drew a long breath as if letting the energy roll through her, her gaze never leaving Ruby. “Now,” Frey asked, “what’s the plan?”
Ruby uncrossed her arms, itching to throw her fire—which she’d not been able to do the entire time she slept. She hoped she hadn’t, anyway. She stepped forward. “We go to Hollow Forest to seal off the fissure so that no one can ever access it again.”
Frey nodded as if she had confidence in that part, at least.
“We restore th
e boundary so Finn and Keaton don’t have to stay with it, constantly shoring it up with their energy.” Ruby strolled around Frey so that her gaze could linger on Chevelle as he watched them both. “And we create a new boundary for the fey lands, where Isa holds the humans at bay.”
Ruby’s eyes were on Chevelle when Frey asked, “How, precisely, do I build these boundaries?”
Ruby smiled at the head of the high guard.
Rider spoke up from beside Frey. “They will be spellwoven with each of your energies. If we are right, then the construction will prevent the deadening or any other threat from breaking through.”
“Will the fey be trapped inside?” Frey’s tone sounded more like curiosity than concern.
Rhys answered, “Assuming all goes as planned, no. The fey will be able to come and go as before. The boundary will take no more than the energy required to cross, and the fey will have no access to the base energy once they cross and are off of their own lands.”
“Woven,” Frey said, “with spells.”
Ruby did not have to see Frey’s gaze to know where it landed. Chevelle’s expression went still. Ruby supposed she’d poked at him enough. “Give the staff a shot,” she whispered into Frey’s ear.
Frey lifted the staff a hair’s breadth from the stone beneath their feet then tapped it gently back to the earth.
The stones rumbled as warmth swelled over Ruby’s feet. “Did you mean to do that?” she asked.
Frey chuckled. “I was only making sure I had my own power securely tied.” She tilted the staff toward the outer wall.
“Precise,” Chevelle reminded her.
Frey nodded once then shot a blast of power toward the block. It exploded a single merlon from the battlement into fragments of ash. The strike was impressive and Frey seemed pleased, but her face fell when a screech echoed off the castle walls. “Oh,” she said. “Right.” She took another long breath, closed her eyes, and then opened them to smile at Ruby. “I imagine he didn’t like that much.”
The screech sounded again, and Ruby’s gaze found the top of the keep, spotted with haze and shadowed by the early sun. The shadow seemed to shift and grow before the black mass separated from the tower and dove through the haze.
It dropped toward them with startling speed, and Ruby noticed that only she and Frey kept their footing. The dragon swept past them and over the castle wall, whipping its tail in an arc as it circled back once more. A blast of wind from the beast slammed into Ruby, and she laughed, gasping at its size and speed. Frey stood beside her, both of their heads tilted toward the sky, both of their faces split in wide grins. Frey winced, likely because she knew what was coming, and the dragon picked up speed to swing back once again.
Its drive was incredible in its swiftness, and the dragon skidded to the earth before Ruby had the chance to draw in a breath. The beast came to rest only a few arm’s lengths before them, its chest heaving as it lifted its head to the sky for another bellowing call.
Everyone in the clearing shrank back at the sound, but Ruby danced to her toes. She leapt forward as the beast settled, and the creature angled its head so that one round eye could take Ruby in. She proffered her hand.
The dragon obliged. It lowered its head, shifting back so that its massive snout was near the ground. Ruby reached for it, and though she could almost hear the warnings Steed and Grey wanted to shout, they apparently managed to hold their tongues. Fat lot of good it would have done them, anyway—Ruby was about to touch a dragon.
She laughed again, her palm brushing the thick scales of its snout, still slick with mist and dew. She moved forward, running her hand along and drawing it back with her fingers clawed. The dragon shoved closer to Ruby, and she climbed onto its snout. There were shouts from the onlookers, but Ruby ignored them.
The dragon puffed out a sulfurous breath, hints of dark smoke rising beside Ruby from nostrils that were as big as she was.
She took both hands down the side of its muzzle, scratching long and hard on either side of the thing’s deadly spikes. Ruby slid free while scratching, her feet touching stone as the dragon nudged her to do it again. She giggled, crawling carefully forward as she drew her hip dagger free to the clamoring of her guard below. She flipped the dagger and jammed the hilt of it against the dragon’s skin, running the base of the carved wood shaft in a long line. He snorted and chuffed, and when Ruby slid down again to pat the end of his snout, the dragon gave a contented rumble.
Ruby was snatched from the scales and yanked back by the weapons belt across her shoulder. Steed stared down at her, plainly furious, but he stepped back carefully at a muffled shifting behind her. Ruby tilted her head back to see the dragon once more, its own head turned at just the right angle to give Steed a dangerous look with a single dark eye.
Steed went pale, though surely Freya had hold of the dragon, and Ruby patted her brother on the chest. Steed huffed out a breath, but he let Ruby go. She slid toward the dragon again, leaning back against his snout as the creature settled his head.
Ruby reclined against his warmth, crossing her arms over her chest as she smiled at her watching guard. “I like him,” she chirped, “very much.”
The dragon behind her purred.
25
Frey
I’d sent Liana ahead with word so that Veil would meet us at the boundary. Together, we might all heal the fissure at Hollow Forest. Ruby had insisted we bring along the dragon, despite my concerns about having it so near the fey. “They aren’t going to do anything with Veil there,” she promised. “Besides, dragons can fight back. There’s a reason the fey chased them off instead of killing them.”
I supposed she was right, but I didn’t need more to worry about, and I’d already gotten attached to the beast. He flew overhead, high in the clouded sky, as I and the seven of my high guard rode through the low grass that led to the boundary between fey and elven lands. Anvil gave me a sidelong glance as Steed let out a low whistle at the carnage along what had been the ancient boundary. The demarcation had once been a small ravine of bedrock and running water, but the recent skirmishes had created a wider, more shallow bed of stones with a shallower-still flow of water. The most recent damage had been done by my dragon, evidenced by charred earth and bare trees.
It was noticeably worse on the fey side, where the boundary wasn’t merely collapsed. The changelings had snuck captured humans in to test their effect on the ancient magic. The deadening that affected the base energy on fey lands was also capable of altering the age-old protections that no fey had been able to touch. It was time to remedy that, but I did not have confidence in my ability to do so in the way Ruby and the others seemed to.
“We should go to Hollow Forest first.” Ruby’s eyes were on the sky, not on the shadowy shape of a giant dragon, but the morning sun low on the horizon. None of us wanted to return to Hollow Forest in the dark of night, let alone be anywhere on fey lands. It was treacherous and deadly in the light, but the darkness was when the worst of the fey came out to hunt and play.
“Word will have reached Junnie last evening,” Steed said. “We should expect her by midday.”
I heard what he did not say, that we would want her there when we created the boundary between the fey and Isa to close off the humans.
Veil and Liana walked from the trees, a dozen of Veil’s new guard behind them in armor and helm. Veil was shirtless, his amber wings tucked neatly behind his back, while Liana wore a long white robe, her hair in silver braids around a pale-gray face. The changeling’s eyes were as black as ever.
“Protections,” Ruby said when the fey drew near.
Veil glanced heavenward. “Are we not beyond this by now?”
Ruby crossed her arms and gave him a look.
He sighed. “Fine. By my word and upon my invitation, I guarantee protection for the elven lord Frey and her Seven by my right as fey lord and so forth and all that such entails.” He gestured vaguely with the words, but they would be binding. His gaze met mine. “I offe
r no such promises for that dragon.”
A smile crept across my lips. “My dragon. Thanks to you.”
“I’ll not take credit for your choices, Lord Freya.”
He seemed annoyed that I mistook his stealing the dragonstone as a clue, but if he’d been less vague or perhaps had simply asked for the stone, none of it would have happened. He’d been so worried about giving anything away or showing weakness to his kind. “Regardless,” I said, “I do not regret it.” The dragon had followed us of its own accord once I’d urged it from the keep. I would let it roam as it pleased unless the fey caused us trouble.
I stepped into the shallow water that moved slowly over the broken stone of the boundary. “Has the changeling filled you in on our plan?”
Veil’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly at my words, though I had no idea why. “Yes,” he answered. “Where would you like to start?” His gaze roamed over me, taking in my wardrobe of black leather—aside from a sword, I wore no steel—then over my newly repaired staff.
“Hollow Forest.”
He nodded at my pronouncement before gesturing toward the men at his back. “Take them,” he ordered. “With haste.”
The fey came forward to seize hold of my Seven as a swarm of pixies swelled from the trees toward Liana. The pixies formed a mass around the changeling, and she rose her arms so that they might more easily carry her. Ruby stepped beside me, and two of the high fey guard moved to our backs to take hold of us by our weapons belts. Veil watched us all, waiting until each of us was airborne before taking flight himself. He kicked off the earth, darting upward before spreading his wings wide. He soared beside us, where we hung not unlike carrion from his fey soldiers’ grips.
The Frey Saga Book VI Page 11