The Fire King

by Paul Crilley

  She studied the children as they approached. They were all armed, gripping knives and short swords. This surprised Emily. The swords looked like they were worth something. Why didn’t they sell them for money?

  “What do you want with us?” asked Emily. “We haven’t harmed you.”

  “You’re a traitor,” said Katerina. “And we hunt down traitors. It’s our job.”

  “What are you talking about?” snapped Jack. “A traitor to who?”

  Katerina blinked in surprise. “To the human race, of course.”

  “The human …” Jack looked around to see if anyone else knew what Katerina was talking about. Emily simply shrugged, her eyes scanning the ranks of children for a gap through which they could run. She caught sight of movement on one of the roofs. It was the white raven, perched on a broken chimney and watching them with its unsettling blue eyes.

  There was a flutter of wings, and from out of the clear sky came a second white raven. It landed on the chimney next to the first. They leaned toward each other and bumped heads as if in greeting, then turned their attention back to what was happening below them.

  Strange, thought Emily absently. She’d never seen a white raven before today, and here she was seeing two at the same time. They must be from the same family, surely?

  “You seem pretty caught up on etiquette,” said Jack to Katerina. “So why don’t you explain to us exactly why you think we’re traitors.”

  Katerina leveled her knife directly at William. “Because of him.”

  William’s eyes widened in surprise. “Me? What have I done?”

  “Stop playing the fools,” snapped Katerina. “You know perfectly well who I’m talking about.”

  And then it struck Emily. She scanned the faces that surrounded them. The angry, fearful, hateful faces. They weren’t looking at William. They were all looking at one thing, and one thing only.

  Corrigan.

  They were talking about Corrigan.

  “You can see Corrigan?” exclaimed Emily. How was that possible? Humans couldn’t see the fey unless they were given the second sight. A few, like Emily, had natural talents, but not so many as now surrounded them. It didn’t make any sense.

  “Why do you want to hurt him?” asked William, stepping out from behind Emily. “He’s done nothing to harm you.”

  “Give me a chance,” muttered Corrigan. “I’ve only just met them.”

  “He doesn’t need to do anything,” said Katerina. “His existence is crime enough. Our fight is against all the fey. And against those who associate with them,” she added pointedly. “That is our charter.”

  Emily was about to ask about this charter when an odd sound distracted her. It was like a sheet, billowing and rippling in the wind. She looked up to where the noise was coming from and took a fearful step back.

  The sound wasn’t a sheet rippling in the wind. It was the sound of wings. White ravens, hundreds of them, were descending from the sky to settle on the roofs of the dilapidated structures all around them. As soon as they landed, they furled their wings and gazed at the confrontation taking place below them, their blue eyes alert.

  Katerina followed Emily’s gaze. As soon as the girl spotted the ravens (and as soon as the ravens had seen her spot them), they started snapping their beaks as the first one had done when trying to get Emily’s pastry. Click-click. Click-click. Click-click.

  Emily shivered. It was an unsettling experience, to say the least. The white ravens staring down at them while the clicking and snapping eddied through the ranks of the birds like a wave in the ocean.

  “Oh, that can’t bode well,” said Corrigan, staring up at the birds.

  Katerina whirled back to face her gang. “The enemy is upon us!” she shouted. “Ready yourselves.”

  The order was hardly necessary. As soon as the birds had been spotted, Katerina’s gang broke away from the circle they held around Emily and the others to find positions that weren’t so exposed. And while they readied themselves, the click-click sound rained down on them from above, getting louder and louder as more and more white ravens descended from the sky.

  “I don’t know what’s going on here,” Jack said, “but now would be the perfect time to leave, don’t you think?”

  Emily nodded. Jack pointed to a gap between two of the old sheds and was just about to cross the dusty lane when the clacking noise suddenly stopped. The abrupt silence seemed to echo around them, the absence of sound louder than anything that had come before.

  Emily looked up at the ravens.

  They had all turned to stare toward the end of the avenue, where the lane turned aside and followed the muddy banks of the Thames.

  Slowly, ever so slowly, Emily followed their gaze.

  A dark figure was rising from the water, a figure draped in a black, sodden cloak. The figure rose to its full height and pulled the hood back to reveal the wrinkled face of an old crone, her eyes the cold, uncaring black of the deep ocean.

  The murky river water dribbled from her mouth and nose as a second figure rose up behind her, its slimy, lank hair framing a skeletal, pale green face.

  Emily felt her breath catch in her throat.

  Black Annis and Jenny Greenteeth.

  CHAPTER TWO

  In which Emily discovers that the enemy of her enemy is not necessarily her friend. Enemies old and enemies new.

  Black Annis and Jenny Greenteeth waded slowly out of the Thames, the brackish water dripping from their rotting clothing. Jenny smiled, baring her sharp black teeth as she stared hungrily at Katerina’s gang.

  Strangely, the sight of them gave Emily a brief surge of hope. How had they managed to follow her here from 1861? Was there another way besides the Faerie Gate in Hyde Park? And more important, did that mean she could use the same method to get them all back home?

  But her hope was short-lived. Black Annis carefully patted down the slimy, decaying hood of her cloak, her oily black eyes passing over Emily without a hint of recognition. That was when Emily realized that this Black Annis and Jenny Greenteeth belonged here, in 1666. They hadn’t evenmet her yet.

  “Hello, my poppets,” called Annis.

  Emily turned to see Katerina’s response. There was no surprise in the girl’s face. Fear, yes. But no surprise. Which meant Katerina had seen Black Annis and Jenny Greenteeth before. None of this was new to her.

  Yet another puzzle to add to an already long list.

  The street children formed into a line across the lane, their knives held ready before them. This meant Emily and the others were caught in a slowly constricting vice, with Black Annis and Jenny Greenteeth approaching along the path from the right, and Katerina’s gang unmoving to their left. Emily glanced at Jack and William. On an unspoken signal they all took a few steps back, leaving the lane altogether and sheltering between two of the deserted shacks.

  “What’s going on here?” Emily whispered to Corrigan. “How can they all see you?”

  “What are you asking me for?” replied the piskie. “I have no idea.”

  Jack frowned at him. “How can you not know? This is your history, isn’t it?”

  “Not mine. I only came to London in the eighteen hundreds.”

  “Where were you then—now, I mean?” asked Emily.

  Corrigan shrugged. “All over. Eire. The mainland. Doing the bidding of the Cornwall Spinster Queen. There were other battles to fight.”

  “Stay back, Annis!” called Katerina. “You know we can hurt you.”

  Black Annis smiled. “I don’t think so, poppet,” she said. “Times are changing. We’re taking London back.”

  “Not if we have anything to say about it,” snapped Katerina—rather bravely, Emily thought.

  “Oh, but you don’t have anything to say about it. You and your little gangs are finished. I’m going feed you all to young Jenny here. She needs a good meal, don’t you, Jenny?”

  “I do, Black Annis. Their fear makes me all shivery. I like to eat their screams.”
>
  Black Annis fondly stroked Jenny’s seaweedlike hair. “Of course you do, poppet. That’s all they’re good for.”

  Emily looked over her shoulder, searching for a way out. But their hiding place backed straight onto a wall of earth. If they wanted to get away, they would have to leave their cover and head back onto the lane. Emily turned back …

  … and saw something that made her blood run cold.

  “Behind you!” she screamed without thinking.

  Katerina and the others whirled around.

  Stalking out from a small lane that ran between the sheds on the other side of the road were three … Emily wanted to call them dogs, but they were too big to be dogs. They were the size of small ponies, black wolflike creatures with eyes the color of congealed blood. They slunk out from the alley, huge muscles bulging and rippling beneath dark, matted fur. Heavy black chains were wrapped around their necks, the chains disappearing back into the dark lane from which they had appeared.

  “What are they?” whispered William fearfully.

  “The Hounds of the Great Hunt,” said Corrigan, in a worried voice.

  As he talked, one of the hounds tried to leap ahead, but there was a sharp tug on the chain and it jerked back, snarling into the air.

  “Who’s holding—,” began Emily. But she didn’t get a chance to finish, because following the hounds were three massive horses. One was white, one was black, and the other was a deep crimson. Sitting on the backs of these horses were three knights, each wearing armor matching the color of his steed. The Crimson Knight held the chains that were attached to the hounds. The Black Knight held a long metal lance, while the White Knight held a massive spiked ball hanging from the end of a chain. He swung the chain in lazy circles, the spiked ball whistling through the air.

  “Corrigan?” said Emily in a trembling voice, unable to tear her gaze away from the massive horses and the knights. “Who are they?”

  Corrigan nervously licked his thin lips. “The Three Riders,” said the piskie. “Huntsmen. And if they’re here, then

  she isn’t far away.”

  “She? Who are you talking about?” asked Jack.

  “The Morrigan,” said Corrigan quietly, his voice filled with foreboding. “The Phantom Queen.”

  As he spoke her name, a cold wind gusted through the deserted sheds, whipping dry earth and dust into the air. The wind formed tiny tornados that danced and skittered across the ground. One of the whirlwinds passed in front of them, and from inside it, Emily thought she could hear a high-pitched howling and shrieking. The white ravens cawed their displeasure, ruffling their feathers and gripping the roofs tight with their claws to prevent being blown into the sky. One of the shacks started to creak, then collapsed in on itself with the rumble and crack of splintering wood. The Three Riders moved to the side of the lane. They waited, silent, as the wind grew stronger. Another shack collapsed. The hounds strained against their chains, howling and snarling, but the Crimson Knight effortlessly held them in check.

  Then the wind suddenly stopped, debris pattering to the ground in the sudden silence.

  A tall figure emerged from the lane. She wore a dark red cloak, the hood drawn up over her face. She walked forward until she had passed the Riders, then paused and looked slowly around, taking in the scene before her.

  “Children,” she said in a quiet and menacing voice, “should be boiled alive at birth and fed to the crows. You are like little fleas, always biting, always there, an itch that never goes away.”

  She reached up and lowered her hood. Emily stifled a gasp as her face was revealed. It was as though someone had taken every storybook witch, every terrifying painting created to scare a child, and combined them to form the woman who stood before them. Her nose was long and curved, covered in red veins, the nostrils flared in a way that reminded Emily of Ravenhill. At the same time, her chin was long and misshapen, curving upward so that the tips of her nose and chin almost touched. Her skin was wrinkled and creamy white, giving her the coloring of a week-old corpse. Her eyes were black and set against her anemic skin, they burned with feverish light.

  “We should leave,” said Corrigan firmly. “Now. This is going to be a slaughter.”

  “They’ve still got their weapons,” said Emily. “They’re made of iron, aren’t they?”

  “Doesn’t matter. The hounds can only be killed by witchbane. Their knives won’t make a lick of difference.”

  Katerina and her gang were still standing defiantly, their weapons held defensively before them. They obviously had no idea that their knives and swords wouldn’t work against the hounds. Without another thought, Emily stepped out of concealment and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Run!” she shouted. She was vaguely aware of Black Annis turning sharply in her direction. “Your knives won’t—” she started to shout, but at a sharp signal from Black Annis, every single white raven cried out at once, cawing and flapping their wings, creating such a racket that Emily’s words were swallowed by the din.

  Black Annis was now staring directly at Emily. The old hag smirked at her and waggled her finger in a no-no gesture.

  Emily ground her teeth in frustration. There was nothing else for it. She wasn’t about to let Black Annis and her stupid birds get the better of her.

  She ran straight for Katerina.

  “Snow!” shouted Jack, but Emily ignored him and kept going. She sprinted forward and grabbed hold of Katerina’s arm. The girl whirled around, knife raised to strike. Emily held her hands up to show they were empty.

  “You have to run!” she gasped. “Iron doesn’t work against the hounds. Only witchbane can kill them.”

  Katerina narrowed her eyes, then turned back to face the creatures. Their heads jerked and twitched, lips pulling back in snarls and growls. They were terrifying to look at, but it was the eyes that got to Emily. They were frenzied, insane, hungry for death.

  Katerina hesitated, then stared hard at Emily. “Why are you helping us?” she asked.

  “Because I think we’re on the same side,” said Emily.

  Katerina pursed her lips, then nodded abruptly. “Fine. You’d better stick with me then. Things are about to get confused.” Then she cupped her hands around her mouth. “Scatter!” she shouted.

  Her command was obeyed instantly. The street children abandoned their line and ran in every direction. As soon as they moved, Jenny Greenteeth was after them, reaching out to grab any who came within reach of her clawed hands. At the same time, the Crimson Knight released the chains, letting the metal trail noisily through his gauntlet. The hounds tilted back their heads and howled into the sky, then leapt forward to attack. They moved with a speed that stunned Emily, lunging forward into the chaos. She sprinted back to the others. “We have to follow Katerina,” she said. “She’ll take us to safety.”

  “What are you talking about?” snapped William, casting fearful glances at the avenue, where cries and shouts filled the air. “She was going to kill Corrigan! We should just get away from here. Away from all of them.”

  “No,” said Emily firmly. “We need someone who can tell us what’s going on. We follow her.” Emily felt a brief pang of regret at the look of anger on William’s face. But there was no time to talk him round to her thinking. How could she explain it anyway? She didn’t even know why she was following Katerina. William would just have to deal with his hurt feelings on his own.

  She turned to ask Jack how he felt, even though she thought she knew the answer to that. Jack was always proud of his quick mouth, and Katerina had easily matched him in that department. Which meant he probably hated Katerina already.

  But Jack wasn’t even looking at her. He was gripping the ruined wood of the shed, his knuckles white as he stared out into the street.

  Emily followed his gaze.

  DespiteKaterina’s command, some of her gang—Katerina included—were actually facing up to Jenny Greenteeth and Black Annis, trying to rescue one of their own whom Annis held by the neck. The street
children had surrounded the two hags as they tried to drag their victim into the Thames.

  But doing this left their backs exposed to the attacking hounds. Some of the other street children were attempting to hold off the massive dogs, and while the iron did not have any magical effects, the weapons still managed to draw blood. But it was a lost cause. As Emily watched, one of the hounds leapt forward and bit the arm of a small boy who had strayed too close. He struggled, screaming for help. The others tried to grab hold of him, but the hound was too strong, too quick. It turned and disappeared between the sheds, dragging the boy across the ground like a rag doll.

  His screams soon stopped.

  Katerina had seen this. She shouted something to those closest to her. On her words, they all moved away from Black Annis, fleeing the scene of battle. Katerina caught Emily’s eye and gestured for her to follow.

  Emily faced the others. “We have no choice. We follow her at least until we’re safe. Then we can go our own way if we have to.” She looked to Jack, waiting for him to contradict her. But she was rather surprised when he simply nodded and clapped a hand on William’s shoulder.

  “Come on, squire. Let’s move.”

  They darted from their hiding place and headed for Katerina. The hounds had all vanished, chasing Katerina’s gang between the sheds. The knights and the Morrigan had disappeared as well, moving through the dark lanes as if hunting animals.

  That left only Black Annis and Jenny Greenteeth, but they were both occupied. As Emily threw a quick glance in their direction, she saw them disappearing beneath the water with the girl Katerina’s gang had failed to rescue.

  Emily, Jack, Will, and Corrigan hurried across the road. Emily could see Katerina up ahead, a few of her gang following close behind as they sprinted through the narrow spaces between the ramshackle structures. There was no sign of the hounds or the knights, though she could hear a furious snarling somewhere off to her right.

  It was at that moment that Emily remembered the key to the Faerie Gate. She had left it back in the tannery, hidden beneath the moldy sacking. She staggered to a halt, watching as the others disappeared around a corner. She had to go back for it. She couldn’t just leave it there.