by King, R. L.
Stone was about to answer her when Edna reached out and gripped her shoulder. “Enough of that,” she ordered, her voice full of that same stern but kind tone she’d used on Stone when he was injured. She fixed her gaze on Carly, tilting the other woman’s chin up. “You listen to me. Look at me.”
Carly’s reluctant gaze came up.
“Of course you’re scared,” the older woman said. “You’d be an idiot if you weren’t. Only idiots would walk into something like this and not feel like they’re gonna piss themselves any minute. The trick is that you have to do it anyway.”
Carly took another ragged breath. “But what if I do screw up? It’s not like I don’t have a lot of practice screwing things up. What if you depend on me and I can’t do it?”
Edna shrugged. “Then you can’t do it, and we aren’t any worse off than we started.” She shook her head. “You want to know something?”
“What?”
“I’m scared to death I’m not going to be able to do it.” She waved around at the rutted dirt road, the trees, and the black, star-dappled sky up above them. “I’m an old woman. I haven’t done any serious magic in twenty years. This isn’t even the kind of magic I do.” She hooked a thumb at Stone. “He’s the one that thinks you deal with problems by kicking their asses. I’m hoping that isn’t what we’ll have to do, but I’m afraid it is, so I’m here. It’s either go up there and give it my best shot, or let that thing run around killing people until it decides it’s had enough.”
Carly nodded, looking down into her lap again. “I hope you’re right.”
“You can do it, Carly,” Stone said from the front seat. “You and Edna aren’t the only ones who are scared. I think it’s a safe bet to say all of us are. This doesn’t get any easier just because you’ve done things like it before.”
“Here,” Edna broke in, pointing. “This is close. Let’s stop here.”
Lopez pulled the truck off the road and shut off the engine and the headlights. For a moment, they all sat there, unmoving, each alone with his or her own thoughts. The darkness out here was crushing, almost a physical thing, and the only sounds were crickets and the occasional creak of a tree branch or the rustle of a small animal running through the carpet of dead leaves.
“Well,” Stone said softly after a few seconds. “Shall we do this?”
In answer, Lopez opened the truck door, bathing the immediate area in light again.
They all got out and stood in the road. Stone held up a glowing hand as Jason and Lopez hunted around in the bed’s toolbox for flashlights. They found three; Lopez and Jason each took one, and gave the last one to Carly. She clutched it like an anchor.
“No packs this time,” Lopez said. “Didn’t have time to throw them in when I got called in. We’ll just have to go with what we have.” He rummaged around and came up with the two machetes he and Stone had had on their first trip. “Still got these, though, if they’ll do any good.” He handed one to Jason.
They set off into the forest. Lopez took point, with Jason trailing behind to watch for anything sneaking up on them. Stone, Edna, and Carly walked in the middle; Stone shifted every few seconds from mundane to magical sight, and noticed that Edna appeared to be doing the same thing. It was a mild night; not quite hot but pleasantly warm, and the walk wasn’t difficult.
“Where are they?” Jason asked under his breath. “I can’t believe they haven’t figured it out yet.”
Nobody answered. They kept moving, each of them tense, expecting someone or something to come crashing out of the trees at them at any moment. Lopez kept glancing up, and Stone knew why: he was no doubt remembering the thick tree branch that nearly crushed him when they’d first discovered the tablets. Stone himself focused on the spaces between the trees, trying not to think too hard about the fact that more than one bear probably called this forest home.
“I feel weird,” Carly whispered after they’d been walking for several minutes.
“Queasy?” Stone asked. He was beginning to feel that way too, and was just about to ask Edna to do whatever she’d done last time to alleviate it. He couldn’t afford to have his concentration compromised by even mild nausea—the various aches and pains from the last few days’ leftover injuries were hard enough to work through without adding extras.
“No. Just—weird. I can’t explain it. Like—everything’s humming. Kind of like when you hold onto the gas-pump hose when it’s pumping.”
Stone glanced at Edna. “She’s sensing the ley line already?” he murmured.
“Sounds like—or else the energy from the shrine. Makes sense, since it’s tied to her.”
“Is that bad?” Carly asked, sounding fearful.
Stone shook his head. “Actually, it might be good. It could mean you’re attuned, which is what we wanted. Say something if it gets worse, but I don’t think it will. Edna, speaking of bad, could you—?”
She nodded, pausing a moment to put her fingers on Stone’s forehead. “Better?”
“Yes, thank you.”
They kept moving, and eventually the enormous twisted oak tree loomed up ahead of them. As soon as Carly saw it, she stopped, staring wide-eyed.
“Carly?” Edna moved next to her. “Something wrong?”
She shook her head. “Not...wrong,” she said slowly. “I—feel like I’ve been here before. But that’s crazy. I don’t even know where we are anymore.”
“Not surprised,” Stone said. He dropped down near the roots and unzipped his duffel bag. “Let’s get this circle up. We won’t have time for anything complex, but even a basic protective ward will help if we can manage it before anything shows up. Edna, do you want to help me, or watch for anything approaching?”
“I’ll watch,” she said. “Our circles probably aren’t compatible, and I haven’t done one in years anyway. You set it up, and I’ll see if I can add anything to it.”
Stone nodded. “Jason and Stan, stay close to Edna. If anything physical shows up, you’ll have to keep her safe. She’ll handle the magical threats.”
Lopez unsnapped the strap holding his gun in its holster and loosened it, and Jason slid his machete out of its sheath.
“What about me?” Carly asked. She was looking around, trying to take everything in at once in the shifting beams of the three flashlights.
“Stay with Edna,” Stone told her. “If you sense anything odd or unusual, let her know. You might be more sensitive to it than any of us are.”
“Everything around here is odd or unusual,” she protested, but she did as directed and headed over toward Edna.
Stone, holding up a light spell so he could see what he was doing, quickly hunted around in his bag and pulled out the components he would need. He didn’t have everything for a perfectly made circle, but that didn’t matter because he didn’t have time to make one. Circles weren’t about their components anyway, not really. Their effectiveness had more to do with the skill of the mage who cast them than with the materials used: a highly skilled mage could make a circle using only chalk or sand, or even just lines scratched into dirt with a stick, while an inexperienced one could be given access to a stockpile of perfectly prepared components but wouldn’t be able to summon a fraction of the power.
Stone hoped he was skilled enough to pull this off, because you couldn’t draw a circle with chalk on ground covered in inches of dried leaves and mulch. Ideally, he would have liked to enclose the entire tree, but he had neither enough components nor enough time to have any chance of doing that—it would have taken hours. Instead, he settled for using his bags of sand to sketch a circle around ten feet in diameter next to the tree, on the same side as the tablets’ alcove. It wouldn’t enclose the alcove itself, because there wouldn’t have been any way to close it with the roots in the way. Its purpose would have to be, as he’d said, simple protection: something that would—with luck—be able to hold off the
worst of Many Faces’ assault long enough for him, Edna, and Carly to complete the ritual to send it back.
He forced himself to move deliberately; even though his breath was coming faster and sweat ran down his back, he couldn’t afford to make a mistake because something in the back of his mind couldn’t stop picturing the massive form of a bear stalking stealthily through the forest, getting ready to leap out when his back was turned. There’s no bear, he told himself, frustrated. Pull yourself together. They’re counting on you!
Even so, he couldn’t help raising his head. “Anything out there?”
“Clear so far,” Edna replied.
“I don’t see anything either,” Jason said, sweeping the flashlight’s beam out into the trees again. “It’s making me nervous.”
You and me both, Stone thought as he continued drawing the circle. He couldn’t even use candles out here: candles and dry ground covered in leaves were rarely a desirable combination under the best of circumstances, and he was all but certain there would be enough chaos flying around when they started the banishment that he couldn’t risk something getting knocked over and starting a forest fire. They might still get rid of Faces, but burning down half the forest and killing themselves in the process seemed counterproductive to their overall purpose.
Are you sure that bear isn’t out there somewhere? a small voice asked in his mind. He shook his head to clear it, unsure of whether the voice was coming from somewhere else or from his own overworked subconscious.
It nearly killed you, the little voice reminded him. Do you remember how it felt when those claws ripped into your chest? Into your stomach? Do you remember how big its teeth were as they were about to sink into you? Do you remember what its breath smelled like? Do you remember what your blood smelled like? There’s a bear out there now. It’s close. It’s bigger this time. It’s coming for you. Edna won’t be able to help you.
“Stop it!” he hissed aloud.
“Was that you, Al?” Lopez called. “You okay?”
“Fine,” he got out between his teeth. He closed his eyes for a moment and then forced himself to continue with the circle, even though he was sure he had heard leaves rustling out beyond the reach of the flashlight beam—rustling as if something heavy was making its careful way through them—
It will kill you. It will rip your skin from your body. It will gut you like the helpless prey you are, and it will kill all your friends—
Above him, the tree creaked ominously, almost as if it were groaning.
Something cracked.
Stone didn’t hesitate. Summoning his shield over his head, he leaped to his feet and dived out of the circle toward clear ground.
The limb, at least a foot in diameter and six feet long, crashed into the center of the circle.
On the other side of the circle, someone cried out in pain and surprise, and one of the flashlights spun to the ground.
And then the clearing was full of whirling forms.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Stone rolled back to his feet. “Get over here!” he called. “All of you! And don’t drop your lights!” He hurried back to the circle and snatched up his bag. The branch had destroyed his work—there was no way he’d be able to re-do it now—but he wasn’t about to let the magic tome containing the banishment ritual go.
Jason, apparently the one who’d dropped his light, cursed and yelped in pain as he darted toward it just in time for another branch to come crashing down onto his shoulder. It wasn’t nearly as big as the one that had landed in the circle, but it was big enough.
Carly, meanwhile was screaming in fright. All around them, whirls of leaves rose up like little tornadoes, circling them as they moved closer to Stone.
“Hush!” Edna admonished Carly sharply.
“Jason? You all right?” Lopez was backing up, keeping his flashlight beam focused on as many of the mini-tornadoes as he could.
“Might have broken something,” came his tight voice through the darkness. “Fuck!”
“Get over here!” Stone yelled again. “Hurry!” One of the tornadoes surged forward and tried to rip the bag from his grasp, but he put his arm through the straps and held on with both arms until it subsided, concentrating hard on keeping the shield he’d summoned above himself going.
Carly shrieked again as another tornado knocked her off her feet. The things weren’t large—most of them were no more than five feet tall—but they whipped the leaves around with a mad intensity far in excess of their dimensions. As the others watched, it lifted her from the ground and began to move away from the circle.
“No!” Edna snarled, pointing her hand at the tornado. It seemed to hesitate for a moment, then let Carly down and joined its fellows. Stone used another spell to levitate the terrified woman and bring her back over to their group.
“What do we do now?” Lopez demanded. “The circle’s shot, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Stone confirmed. “We’ll have to do it without the circle. It will be harder, but we have no choice.”
From the forest, a low, growling roar sounded. Stone stiffened, staring in the direction it had come from. It’s out there. It’s coming. It’s coming for me.
“Al?” Lopez looked away from where he was trying to get a quick examination of Jason’s arm. “Hey, man, what’s wrong?”
Carly was having a meltdown. She sank to her knees, shaking and sobbing. “I can’t do this! Oh, fuck, I can’t do this!”
“Al?” Lopez shook Stone’s shoulder hard.
Stone didn’t move. His gaze was locked on the section of dark forest where he’d heard the growl. “It’s out there...” he whispered as Edna dropped to her knees and tried to deal with Carly.
“What’s out there?” Lopez shone the flashlight around in the direction where Stone was looking, but it only picked out more trees.
“It’s coming...don’t you hear it?” Stone couldn’t believe Lopez couldn’t hear it. The rumbling growl rose and fell, as if the bear were prowling back and forth, biding its time.
“I don’t hear anything except those tornado things. What is it?”
“The bear...I hear it growling...”
“There’s no bear out there,” Edna said. “Stone, pull yourself together! If you lose it, we’re all dead!” She was still on her knees next to Carly, but she glared up at him with harsh, glittering eyes. “There’s no bear out there! And keep that damn shield up!”
Stone gathered himself. He didn’t believe Lopez, didn’t believe Edna: it was out there. And it was coming. But something in Edna’s tone got through to him enough that he realized he’d let his concentration on the shield slip. He got it powered back up an instant before something flew through the darkness and hit it hard, making a red flaring crack before crashing to the leaves.
“Holy fuck!” Jason said through his teeth. “That rock’s the size of my head!” He was still clutching his left arm, holding the machete with his right hand. “Al, you’d better get to it soon.”
Edna stood up and got in Stone’s face. “Listen to me, Mr. ‘I Shape the Universe With My Will’! You’d damn well better get to it, or we’re all screwed. Faces knows we can’t hold it off forever.”
Stone drew a deep breath, trying to look past her. “Edna—”
She slapped him, hard, rocking his head back. “Listen! Even if there is a bear, which there isn’t, which you’d know if you bothered to check magically—I can deal with bears. I dealt with the last one, remember? Now damn you, live up to your hype and do this!”
He glared at her, but her words sunk in. “Right then,” he growled. “Help me hold this shield.” The little voice was still there, still trying to serve up grotesque images of massive, snarling bears, but he forced himself to ignore it. He didn’t have time for it. If there was a bear out there, then there was a bear out there. That wasn’t his problem right now. He pointed hi
s hand at one of the mini-tornadoes and blew it apart with a blast of energy, then raised the book and opened it to the page with the ritual.
“What do we do?” Lopez yelled. The rest of the tornadoes were spinning faster now, moving closer, the leaves and twigs and wind providing constant background noise.
“Just—don’t let anything get too close,” Stone said, distracted. “If any of those things get within reach, hit them with your machetes. It should at least drive them back.” He reached down and put a hand on the still-kneeling Carly’s shoulder. “Carly, it’s time.”
She looked up at him with big, haunted, tear-filled eyes. “I can’t—I can’t do it...” she whispered, voice shaking.
“You can do it,” he said firmly. “Come on—just stand up. All you have to do is concentrate. Tell it to go home. Tell it to go back where it came from. If you need to do it out loud, then do that.”
She stumbled to her feet, with Edna helping her up. “You can do it, Carly,” the older woman said, gripping her shoulder. “You can make it all go away.”
Stone held up the book and began reading the words of the banishing ritual in a loud, commanding voice that easily carried over the whooshing leaves in the mini-tornadoes. He gathered his will, forcing himself to focus on nothing but what he was doing: he couldn’t pay attention to the tornadoes, or his friends, or the shield. This whole operation depended on three things: his spell, Edna’s shield, and Carly’s ability to order He of Many Faces to return to its home plane. If any of those three things failed, Faces would kill them. He knew it. He’d rarely been more sure of anything in his life.
The invocation was not a long one, but he was careful to read each word precisely. It was almost never safe to get even one word of a spell wrong, especially when you were dealing with things this potentially dangerous. At best, and most likely, the spell simply wouldn’t work if he misspoke any of the words. However, there were other possibilities—ones he didn’t want to think about because most of them involved horrific and violent deaths for all of them. Avoiding that kind of distraction was one of the things that mages’ masters spent a lot of time drilling into them during their apprenticeships, and fortunately Stone had learned those lessons well.