by Jim C. Hines
“I know,” said Snow. She clapped her hands, and the glass crushed together. Danielle saw the face flinch, and then glittering powder streamed to the floor.
“Your mother?” Danielle asked.
“She already knew I was awake,” said Snow.
“You’re taunting her?” Talia asked.
“She’s impetuous when she loses her temper. I want to be sure she comes out to face me.” Snow turned toward the door. The stone dwarf leaped like a jack-rabbit, driving her fingers into the wood and ripping it apart, just as she had done to the floor.
“You could have just opened it,” Talia muttered. She drew her knife, then glanced at the ceiling, where her tiny spindle whip still swung over Snow’s coffin. She hadn’t been carrying it when she used Trittibar’s magic to restore herself. “I don’t suppose—”
Snow snapped her fingers, and the whip pulled free of the plaster. By the time it flew to Talia’s hand, it had regained its full size.
“Nice.” Talia’s face was grim as she wound the line back around the spindle.
The hallway was empty. Snow followed her dwarves through the door, leaving Talia and Danielle to follow.
“What are they, really?” Danielle whispered.
“The dwarves? They’re not good, if that’s what you’re asking. They tortured Snow’s mother before they killed her,” Talia said. “She told me about it once, after drinking way too much ale. Wind and magic held Rose in place while fire consumed her from the feet up.”
Danielle glanced at Charlotte’s door as they passed. Thankfully, neither Snow nor the dwarves slowed their pace. Despite everything her stepsister had done, Danielle had no desire to see her tortured to death. If Charlotte did manage to work free, Danielle hoped she would be smart enough to stay hidden until this was over.
“Much of Snow’s power came from her mother,” Talia added. “She tries not to use the darker spells, but sometimes her magic ventures to the shadows.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what she fears more, having to face her mother again, or becoming her.”
CHAPTER 14
THE WIND RUSHED them along, pushing Danielle from behind so that every step felt like she was flying downhill, ever on the verge of toppling head over heels. Even Talia looked disconcerted.
Twice they were attacked by darklings, and both times Snow’s dwarves made short work of their attackers. Danielle tried not to watch. The dwarves were fierce and gleeful in their destruction.
“There,” said Snow, pointing to an irregularly shaped door at the end of the corridor. Unlike the other doors, this one appeared to be made of stone. There was no handle, and the hinges were mounted on the outside. A square of brass framed a tiny keyhole on the right side of the door.
“That will take us into the main cavern,” said Talia.
Snow lowered her voice. “My mother is waiting. She’ll try to destroy us the moment we emerge.”
Talia knelt by the keyhole. “Hey, glowboy. Stick a finger in this lock so I can see what I’m dealing with.” She peered into the hole as the dwarf of light squatted beside her, forcing Danielle to avert her eyes. “I should be able to get us past this. Looks like a typical fairy mechanism. Six tumblers on both sides. Tricky, but—”
Snow touched Talia’s shoulder and gestured for her to move aside. The stone dwarf ran her fingers down the door. The screech of stone raised the hairs on Danielle’s neck and arms.
This dwarf, like the rest, lacked any recognizable facial features. They were like unfinished dolls. Yet the bulge of her chest was clearly female, as was the roundness of her hips. Danielle wondered if that was a deliberate choice on Snow’s part, or simply the nature of the dwarves.
“Be ready,” Snow said.
Danielle nodded, trying to remember the things Talia had taught her about swordplay. She forced herself to relax, loosening her grip on her sword. “Small, precise movements,” she whispered.
Stone fingers slipped into the crack on the side of the door. Rock crumbled, bringing a shower of dust and dirt.
Danielle tried not to think about the last time they had fought Rose and Stacia. “What will they do when we go through the door?”
“We may have more darklings to fight,” Talia said. “The darklings don’t seem to have much independence, and they obviously don’t have any qualms about attacking humans. Or Rose may conjure up something new. Sometimes it’s better if you don’t try to guess what’s coming. You’ll prepare yourself for the familiar, and the unexpected will run you through before you realize you guessed wrong.”
“Thanks. I feel so much better.” She tried to think about Armand and their son. Whatever Stacia and Rose sent against them, she had to survive.
“Stay close to me,” Talia said. “I’ll do my best to protect you. Look for a way to reach the Duchess’ tower. Hopefully, the dwarves will keep them busy while we sneak in to get your husband.”
The stone dwarf stepped back and brushed her hands together. Much of the rock had been gouged away from the left side of the door, exposing black hinges. The dwarf dropped to a crouch and surged forward, slamming her shoulder into the door. The sound was deafening. Even Snow winced and covered her ears.
After two more such assaults, the great door slowly toppled outward. The stone dwarf stepped through the doorway, followed by her companions.
“Subtlety was never Snow’s strength,” Talia said. Danielle could barely hear her over the ringing in her ears.
Snow was already hurrying through the doorway, with Talia close behind. Taking a deep breath, Danielle raised her sword and followed, climbing over the fallen door and hopping down onto the metal walkway outside.
The last time Danielle was here, she had been trapped by Stacia’s curse. With her head bowed in obeisance, she hadn’t fully absorbed the sheer size of the Duchess’ cavern.
They stood more than halfway up the side of the cavern. From this height, the figures scurrying about at the base of the Duchess’ tower were little more than insects. The tower itself made her gasp. It rose like a stalagmite from the center of the lake, nearly as broad as the castle back home. The tower narrowed somewhat near the middle, then expanded again to merge with the rock overhead. Railings and platforms circled the tower, along with several light, narrow bridges which stretched from the tower to the cavern walls. Other bridges had been raised like drawbridges, pressing flat against the tower. If the Duchess wanted, she could raise every bridge, leaving the tower inaccessible save from the lake below.
Danielle’s sword reflected the blue sparks of the water running through the walkway beneath her feet. The walkways were little more than wide gutters with open grates over the top. The light of the water illuminated the path as it flowed, spiraling down the walkways into the lake. Walkways and pipes and support beams lined the walls of the cavern, like the work of an enormous metal-spinning spider.
The huge door the dwarf had broken had smashed the railing and dented the walkway itself, so a stream of water now trickled over the side. Danielle could hear the metal straining under the weight of the other dwarves.
“Watch the enemy, not the scenery, Princess,” Talia snapped. She pointed her knife past Danielle.
A short distance down the walkway, a handful of darklings fidgeted and danced. They appeared to be waiting.
“So, the brave Sleeping Beauty returns.” Stacia stood farther up the walkway, near one of the few lowered bridges. “Shall we begin with you, Princess Talia? Throw yourself over the—”
Snow clapped her hands. A pounding sound echoed in Danielle’s ears, blocking out the last of Stacia’s words.
Talia rubbed her ears. “Is there a less obnoxious way to do that?”
Snow grinned and turned back to Stacia. A wave of her hand sent the dwarves of flame and light streaking ahead. Stacia fell back a step, her eyes wide. Perhaps the ghost of Rose was remembering the last time she had seen these creatures.
Stacia recovered quickly. An invisible blow knocked the dwarves back. The figure
of light simply stopped, but the dwarf of fire landed on his back. Steam soon shrouded them from view.
“What’s she waiting for?” Talia shouted. The darklings still hadn’t moved.
“Rose knows I can protect us,” said Snow. She began to walk toward Stacia. “She won’t waste any more power on attacks that would only fail.”
As the steam began to dissipate, Snow’s dwarves returned to her side.
Stacia backed away, moving to the foot of the bridge. “Tell me, Daughter, do you still hear your lover’s screams when you sleep? Do you think the anguish of your friends will overpower that memory, as I sear the skin from their bodies?”
Snow took a step, but Talia caught her shoulder. “If you join her on that bridge, she gains a tactical advantage. She knows most of your dwarves can’t fly. Neither can you, for that matter. She can. Go to her, and all she needs to do is shatter the bridge. She transforms into a bird, and you fall to your death.”
“I could fly if I wanted to,” Snow protested. “Probably.” But she stopped walking.
Talia touched Danielle’s arm. “Find another bridge.”
Danielle stepped to the railing. Most of the bridges had already been retracted to the tower. She spotted one lower down, where a group of hunched dwarves led a mule-drawn wagon toward the tower, but it would take far too long to get there. Another, high overhead, was already swinging upward, chains clanking.
Several crowds had gathered to watch the confrontation. Danielle saw a group of goblins on one of the tower platforms, all pointing and staring. A handful of dwarves stood on the walkway below. Danielle couldn’t hear them, but it looked like they were making wagers.
Once again, Snow sent the fire dwarf toward Stacia, and once again Stacia knocked him back.
“Stacia is afraid of water,” Danielle shouted.
Snow grinned and pointed. The water dwarf began to disappear. When Danielle looked closer, she saw that the dwarf was melting through the metal grate, joining the water below. Snow’s brow was wrinkled with concentration. “This would be easier if Stacia were standing downstream,” she said.
Thin, scaled vines shot up from the grate. They wrapped around Snow’s leg, yanking her to her knees. The vines looked like a cross between plant and animal. They moved with the speed of angry serpents, but sharp thorns protruded from beneath the scales.
“Snow!” Talia started to grab Snow, and then the darklings charged from behind.
“I’ll slow them down,” Danielle shouted. “You help Snow.”
Danielle stepped away, raising her sword as the darklings ran toward her. She counted four, no, five of the foul creatures. What on earth had possessed her to face the darklings alone? Clearly, she had spent too much time with Talia.
The lead darkling crouched to attack. Danielle tensed.
Blinding light seared her eyes, and the darklings screamed. Snow’s dwarf batted two of them over the railing before they could move. A glowing fist smashed a third against the stone wall. The remaining two fled, sprinting down the walkway like frightened rabbits.
Danielle turned back to Snow, who had already used her knife to cut most of the vines from her legs. The thorns had tattered her pants, but the white skin beneath was untouched.
Talia snorted and stepped back. “Maybe we’ll just watch. Let us know if you need any help.”
Snow pointed toward Stacia. Like the vines had done, the dwarf of water reached up from the walkway to seize Stacia’s legs.
Stacia screamed. The dwarf climbed up, lifting Stacia over her head to throw her from the walkway.
“She can fly, remember?” Talia snapped. “That’s not going to do us any good.”
Snow barely even blinked. The dwarf turned around and walked to the end of the bridge, preparing to smash Stacia’s body against the cavern wall.
Stacia plunged her hands into the dwarf’s back.
Snow gasped and staggered backward. Talia dropped her knife and caught Snow’s arms.
Danielle watched as the sparkling water of the dwarf grew cloudy and still. Frost spread across her body, and her movement slowed. Stacia twisted free and dropped to her feet, keeping one hand sunk into the dwarf’s frozen back. The dwarf tried to reach her, but Stacia thrust her hand deeper. Soon even the dwarf’s fingers had frozen stiff.
Stacia stepped back, pulling her hand free and clutching it against her chest. Another group of darklings swarmed forward, hoisting the dwarf up and pushing her over the railing. She tumbled down and shattered on the rocks by the lakeshore.
Snow jumped at the impact, then drew a deep breath. “That stung.”
The dwarf of wind began to blow. Danielle’s hair snapped back, and she grabbed the railing to keep from stumbling. Snow wasn’t directing her wind at Stacia, but at the tower. “What are you doing?”
“The seventh dwarf has found Armand,” Snow shouted. “Be ready.”
Talia looked around. “Ready for what?”
The stone dwarf put one foot on the railing and leaped. The wind rushed with her, nearly sucking Danielle over the edge in its wake. She stared open-mouthed as the flailing statue flew like an arrow to slam into the side of the tower. The dwarf slid downward, landing on one of the platforms. The goblins on the platform drew weapons.
The fight was a short one. Danielle turned away, remembering poor Diglet guarding the hedge into Fairytown. It wasn’t long before the bridge began to creak away from the tower.
“Looks like it’s going to land one level below us,” Talia said.
Metal squealed as if in pain, and then the bridge was swinging downward, fast enough to smash right through the walkway. But the Duchess’ builders knew what they were doing. The walkway held, though Danielle could feel the impact in her legs even from one level away. Water splashed out of the grate below.
“Snow!” Talia shouted.
Stacia had used Snow’s distraction with the bridge to launch another attack. Thorned vines now circled Snow’s arms, dragging her down to the grate, where another reached for her neck. The dwarf of fire reached out to seize two of the vines. When he opened his hands a moment later, black ash sprinkled the water. He grabbed two more, and Snow was free once again.
Talia climbed over the railing. She lowered herself until she hung from the edge of the walkway. There, she swung her legs back and forth and jumped down to the bridge.
“You’re next, Princess,” Talia shouted.
Danielle moved toward Snow. “Are you sure you can stop her?”
Snow glanced back. Her eyes were bloodshot, and proximity to the flames had reddened her skin. She was crying, but her voice was hard as stone. “She’s better prepared this time, and she knows what the dwarves can do, but I’m not leaving until she’s destroyed. Go with Talia. I won’t let her hurt you. I won’t let her hurt anyone else.”
She turned away, and the dwarves of darkness and light began to charge toward Stacia. At the same time, wind buffeted Stacia toward the edge of the bridge.
Snow’s shoulders shook. “I’m sorry for what she did to you and Armand.”
Danielle stepped back from the railing and grabbed Snow’s arm. “Don’t you dare do anything stupid. We’ll be back soon with Armand, and I am not going home without you. Do you understand me?”
Snow knelt and used her knife to slice away a vine that had snagged her leg. “Go on. Before she destroys that bridge to stop you from crossing.”
Danielle wanted to argue, but Snow was right. She turned back and climbed out over the railing, trying not to look at the rocky shore far below.
She landed hard, the weight of her son throwing off her balance. Talia caught her by the arm while she recovered.
“You’re definitely heavier than you used to be,” Talia said. Before Danielle could respond, a shadow dropped from the walkway overhead. For an instant, Danielle thought it was another darkling. But the figure grew, thinning as it stretched out to cover the bridge in darkness.
“Snow sent one of her dwarves to cover us,” Tali
a said.
They were halfway across when the scream of twisting metal made them stop. Behind them, Stacia had changed tactics. The writhing vines had given up their assault on Snow. Instead, they twined around the walkway itself, tearing away the segment where Snow stood. A long section hung at an angle. Water spilled down to the cavern below.
Danielle pointed to where Snow lay flat, clinging to the broken walkway. Her hair flew as wind helped her to climb back up. Fire assailed the vines.
“She needs help.” Talia took a step back.
Danielle wanted to follow. “We’ll never get to her in time. Snow said she could beat Stacia and Rose. We have to trust her.”
Talia shook her head. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but Snow’s not entirely clearheaded when it comes to her mother.”
Snow pulled herself up, and a gust of wind helped her leap to the undamaged part of the walkway. Instantly, more vines shot from the water, dragging her to her knees and pinning her in place.
“I’m going,” said Talia.
“Wait.” Already Snow’s dwarves had come to help her break free, while the dwarf of light flew at Stacia. Stacia cringed back, covering her eyes.
“She needs help!” Talia shouted.
“I know.” Danielle looked up. This whole place was nothing but an enormous cave. She closed her eyes. Please help my friend.
“What are you calling?” Talia asked.
Danielle blinked. “How did you know—?”
“You bite your tongue when you do your silent summoning routine with the animals. Do you really think rats will be able to fight Stacia’s magic?”
“Not rats.” With a grim smile, Danielle pointed to the top of the cavern, where hundreds of black shapes fluttered toward Stacia. Soon a cloud of bats surrounded her, so thick Danielle could see nothing of Stacia herself.
“Come on,” said Danielle. “Let’s go raid the tower.”