The Fire King

by Paul Crilley

  William paged through the book. “There’s more stuff here, but nothing else about the Raven King.”

  The three were silent for a moment. Finally Katerina

  cleared her throat. “So … we need to read this spell or whatever it is?” “So it would seem. And it will wake Bran the Blessed. The

  Raven King.” “The Tower of London it is, then,” said William.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  In which London burns and sacrifices must be made.

  Merlin leaned heavily on Nimue’s arm as they all climbed back up the stairs to Cob’s study. As they went, Nimue tried to explain everything that was happening between Titania and Kelindria, with frequent interruptions from Emily and Jack. By the time they reached Cob’s office, Merlin knew as much as everyone else about what was happening in London.

  He didn’t like it. Not one bit.

  “The Fire King!” he sputtered weakly. “What kind of a fool summons such a creature? It will devour the whole of Britain before the week is out. And what if it gets aboard a ship? It can hibernate in a lantern. The whole of Europe could be consumed.”

  “The question we have to ask ourselves,” said Wren, “is how do we stop it?”

  Merlin glanced at him and frowned. “You seem to be going through something of a growth spurt.”

  Emily looked at Wren. It was true. He was taller, about half his normal human height. Plus, his features weren’t so goblinlike. She could easily see his normal features beneath the wrinkly skin. She turned to Jack. He was changing as well. Even as she watched, his hair returned to its original brown color, his skin fading to its normal shading. He smiled at Emily.

  “Nice to have you back, Snow,” he said.

  Emily raised her hands and saw that her disguise spell had also worn off. They were back to their natural forms again.

  “I think you should tell me exactly who you are and why you are here,” said Merlin.

  Emily took a deep breath. Merlin had no idea what he was asking. But it had to be done. If Merlin was to understand the enormity of what was going on, he had to know exactly how they got there.

  Emily told him everything, starting with her stumbling across Corrigan back in her own time, about finding out the information about the Raven King. Everything.

  After she had finished, Merlin and Nimue both stared at them in amazement.

  “And you accomplished all this by yourself?”

  “Not by myself, no.” Emily nodded at Jack. “I had help.”

  Jack saluted her and grinned.

  “Still,” said Merlin. “That is a lot to happen to someone so—”

  “Please don’t say, ‘someone so young,’” said Emily. “I’ve had to be a grown-up for a long time now. Young was when my da used to read me stories in bed. That was a long time ago now.”

  Merlin looked at her sadly. “As you wish,” he said.

  “So how do we stop this Fire King?” asked Jack, eager to change the subject.

  “How do we stop him? Can we stop him? It depends on how much he has fed. The Fire King sends his minions out into the flames. They spread with the wind, growing stronger, burning more and more. And while they do this, he feeds on their power. The more the fire spreads, the stronger he gets. If we want to have any hope of stopping it, it will have to be soon.”

  “You won’t be stopping anyone, meddler,” said a scratchy voice.

  Everyone whirled around to find the Morrigan and the White Knight standing in the doorway. The knight had a heavy crossbow pointed at Merlin.

  “This is what I’m thinking,” said the Morrigan. “I’m thinking you should have sensed us. I’m thinking you’re weak after your little confinement. I’m also thinking that Kelindria is going to be very grateful to find you locked away in her prison.”

  Nimue tensed, ready to attack, but Merlin grabbed hold of her arm. “Not now,” he said in a low voice.

  The Morrigan turned to Emily. “And you. Quite the bonus. Kelindria’s been wanting words with you all day. Now that she’s Queen, she’ll most likely just cook you over a fire. Me, I’d eat you. Slowly. Fingers first. Then the arms and legs. So you can watch yourself bleed out. There’s nothing like a meal with the music of screams to accompany it. Makes the whole thing so much more tastier. Now move.”

  They moved reluctantly toward the door. The Morrigan led the way while the White Knight brought up the rear, her crossbow pointed at Merlin’s back. They moved back through the castle to the room with the Faerie Gate in it. When they were all gathered, the Morrigan pointed at Nimue. “Take the key out. Slowly.”

  Nimue did as she was instructed.

  “Bring us out at the Hyde Park Gate,” said the Morrigan. “Kelindria’s place isn’t far from there.”

  Nimue rearranged the tiny branches and shoots of the key.

  “Put it in the gate.”

  Nimue looked at Merlin, but the old man just nodded wearily. He looked exhausted, as if the walk up the stairs had taken all his meager energy.

  Nimue placed the key into the wooden circle, and the wall behind it was replaced by roiling clouds.

  The Morrigan gestured at Jack. “You go first. Then come back.” She looked at Nimue. “Just in case you’ve opened the gate into one of the Forbidden Lands.”

  “Um …” Jack looked deeply uncertain. “Forbidden Lands?”

  “Don’t worry,” said Nimue. “It opens into Hyde Park.”

  Jack still hesitated.

  “I’ll go,” said Emily, stepping forward.

  The Morrigan grabbed her by the arm, her black nails digging into Emily’s skin. “You’re not going anywhere, little one. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  “Fine,” said Jack, He stepped into the gate.

  They waited, and a moment later he came back through again. “All clear.”

  The Morrigan nodded. “Let’s go, then.” She pushed Emily forward. Nimue helped Merlin limp into the gate. Emily followed behind, stepping into the clouds.

  Darkness washed over her. Emily’s stomach lurched. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. She staggered, almost falling. The Morrigan released her grip.

  And then she was falling to her knees on the dry grass of Hyde Park. Emily pushed herself to her feet and looked around. It was the same tree where she had met the Dagda back in her own time. The tree where the battle had been fought and she and the others had escaped. The Morrigan stepped through the gate, followed quickly by the White Knight.

  The Morrigan had the key in her hand. She tucked it away into a pouch on her belt, then held out her hand to Emily.

  “And yours.”

  Emily had no choice but to hand her key over. She watched in anguish as the Morrigan pushed it into the same pouch. “Now follow me,” she ordered. “And if one of you so much as breathes in a way I don’t like, you’ll get a crossbow bolt through your neck. And I don’t think you want that. Besides the difficulty breathing, you’ll get blood all over your nice clothes.”

  She cackled and headed off through the park. Jack moved forward to walk next to Emily. “What are we going to do now?” he whispered. “We can’t just let them lock us up. That will be the end of everything. The Fire King will win.”

  Emily had been thinking exactly the same thing. But so far she hadn’t managed to come up with any kind of plan. “I don’t know what we’re going to do,” she answered. “Just keep your eyes open and hope something turns up.”

  It took them an hour to walk through London, and all the while Emily couldn’t take her eyes off the orange glow that lit up the southern sky. She’d already known that Kelindria had released the Fire King, but to see the flames actually casting their eerie glow against the smoke and clouds made her realize just how badly they had failed. The Fire King was free. His hands were spreading out across London, burning everything they touched, claiming everything to feed his hunger.

  What surprised Emily most of all was that there was no panic in the areas they passed through. Everyone was aware
of the fire. People were out in the streets, watching the distant flames and discussing how much of the city they thought would burn. But none of them seemed overly alarmed. They had seen it all before and had survived (according to those she overheard) much bigger blazes than the one that had started up just after midnight.

  Emily wanted to scream at them, to tell them to pack up and leave, but she knew it would be pointless. She was just a girl, after all. They would look on her with pity, pat her on the head, and tell her not to worry. That the grown-ups would deal with the nasty fire.

  By the time they reached their destination, Emily could hear the distant crackling of the flames, could see the sparks bobbing and weaving up into the night sky, pushed higher and higher by the fierce, hot winds that breathed extra life into the flames, urging them farther and faster through the dry alleys and streets of the city.

  It was hard to focus on her own problems with everything around them cast in dark shades of orange and red, but when Emily finally looked at the house the Morrigan had brought them to, she realized she had been here before.

  It was Kelindria’s dwelling, where Emily and the others had been captured and locked away.

  “You can’t keep us here,” she said. “The fire is coming. We’ll be burned alive.”

  The Morrigan chuckled. “Maybe better for you if that did happen, but don’t worry yourself. The Fire King will leave Kelindria’s places alone. He knows better’n that. Fact is, this is probably the only safe place left in London. Once the Fire King gets going, he’s going to eat his way through everything.” The Morrigan grinned. “So take a good look around. It’s the last you’ll ever see of your precious London.”

  The Morrigan pushed open the gate and entered the garden. The White Knight herded the others through. Merlin and Nimue walked in front; Emily, Jack, and Wren behind them; with the White Knight bringing up the rear. The Morrigan walked confidently along the overgrown path that led to the house. Emily hesitated, staring around the weedchoked garden. The White Knight prodded her in the back.

  “Move,” she said.

  Emily reluctantly stepped forward. It wasn’t just because she didn’t want to be locked up. It was because the last time she had been in this garden, they had been chased by the Sluagh and had only just managed to escape with their lives.

  A movement in the shadows beneath an ancient willow tree froze her in her steps. The shadows shifted, a dim outline moving against the darkness.

  And then it came, drifting toward them, a roiling, heaving mass of dark cloud and shadows.

  “Walk,” repeated the knight.

  The Morrigan paused to see what the problem was. When she saw Emily staring at the Sluagh, she waved her hand in irritation.

  “I have permission to be here. Just stay on the path, and you’ll be fine.”

  It seemed she was telling the truth. The Sluagh stopped before crossing the path’s border. Emily stared at it in horrified fascination. She could see the faces inside, bobbing to the surface every now and again like rotten apples in a stagnant lake. The faces were snarling, angry, snapping at the air.

  But they didn’t attack. They were held back by Kelindria’s instructions.

  The Morrigan turned away again. Emily felt the White Knight push her in the back, sending her stumbling forward into Jack. She steadied herself, grabbing onto his arm, then looked up …

  … to lock eyes with Nimue. Tears were coursing down her face. She nodded respectfully at Emily and gently disentangled herself from Merlin. She gave him a trembling smile and mouthed the word good-bye.

  Then she stepped from the path directly into the Sluagh’s embrace.

  There was a moment of frozen horror.

  “No!” Merlin shouted. He tried to follow after her, but Wren had enough presence of mind to grab the old man and hold him back. The Morrigan stared at the Sluagh, her mouth hanging open in amazement.

  They all heard the hissing. It grew in volume as the cloud formed into tendrils, spinning around Nimue like a whirlwind. The tendrils entered her mouth, pushed into eyes, slid into her ears. Then it settled over her face like a funeral shroud. Nimue’s features were still visible through the thin layer as some of the tendrils formed into a large funnel hanging above her. It paused there for a second, a snake ready to strike, then dropped over her like a mouth devouring its prey.

  A moment later Nimue was gone.

  Merlin stared at the cloud, tears rolling down his cheeks. Emily didn’t know what had just happened. Why had she done that? Why sacrifice herself? Was she running away?

  Was she a coward? Had she taken what she thought was the easy way out?

  But no, that wasn’t it at all, and Emily soon felt utterly ashamed that she had even entertained such thoughts.

  The cloud was agitated. The faces were rising and falling quicker and quicker, jerking, snarling, and hissing as if in pain. It was as if the faces were trying to escape, trying to pull free from the seething darkness.

  Then the cloud seemed to turn in on itself, the outer mass pulled in toward the center. There was a pause, then it pushed out again, like a great breath releasing.

  One face rose to the surface, a face of smoke and highlights.

  It was Nimue.

  Emily drew a shocked breath. The face turned to her, and she suddenly realized that she had seen Nimue like this before. It was here, when they had escaped Kelindria’s cells. It was Nimue who had saved them as they ran through the garden, Nimue who had stopped the Sluagh from taking Emily.

  The cloud surged forward and swallowed the White Knight. She let out a scream of horror, frantically trying to wave the cloud away. She tried to run, but instead tripped over a bush and sprawled onto the ground. The cloud draped over her, settling like a low bank of fog. She continued screaming, but her voice was muffled as the cloud sank into her mouth, filled up her lungs. Her screams turned to chokes. Her feet hammered the ground.

  The cloud settled over her entire body. The noises stopped. A moment of stillness, then the cloud rose slowly into the air.

  The White Knight was gone.

  Nimue’s face turned in the direction of the Morrigan. A ghostly smile formed on her features.

  The Morrigan turned and ran.

  She was aiming for the door to the house, obviously thinking the dwelling would offer her protection. But Nimue moved faster. The cloud darted forward, soaring up into the air and dropping straight down onto her head. The Morrigan screamed in fury, gouging at her face, actually succeeding in yanking strands of the cloud away. But it was not a fight she could win. The Morrigan carried on moving, stumbling blindly along the path. She dropped to her knees, then pushed herself up and moved another step before collapsing once again.

  Emily realized with a jolt that the Morrigan still had the keys to the Faerie Gate. Without their key they wouldn’t be able to go home. She darted forward, ignoring the shouts from the others. The Sluagh had dropped over the top half of the Morrigan. Her screams of anger and fury were terrible to hear.

  Emily stopped just behind her. She could see her pouch hanging from her belt. It was untouched by the cloud, but the tendrils were slowly wrapping around her ribs, moving downward.

  Emily reached out and opened the pouch. But as soon as her fingers touched the Morrigan, the cloud bunched up and a face lunged down toward her, snapping at the air. Emily jerked back. The face snarled and growled, then was yanked back into the cloud to be replaced by the face of Nimue. Emily quickly withdrew the two keys while she had the chance.

  You helped me free Merlin, Nimue said. For that I will always owe you a debt.

  Emily remembered the words Nimue had spoken back in her own time, when she had stopped the Sluagh from attacking her. The words that had so puzzled Emily at the time. My debt is repaid, Emily Snow.

  The words made sense now.

  Go, said Nimue. I am using what power remains to me from Morgan Le Fay, but I am not sure how long I can hold them back.

  The ghostly face of the Whit
e Knight rose to the surface and sank back again. Emily remembered seeing her in the cloud as well. Her and the Morrigan. Although she hadn’t really registered seeing them at the time. They were just two faces among many, faces she was too terrified to take proper note of.

  A hand dropped onto Emily’s shoulder. She looked up to see Merlin standing behind her, shoulders hunched in grief, his eyes locked on Nimue’s ghostly face.

  Emily looked away, not wanting to intrude on his pain. She hurried back along the path and rejoined Jack and Wren.

  “I think we should wait outside,” said Wren, ushering them down the path.

  They opened the gate and stepped outside. Emily turned just as the gate was closing, and saw Merlin standing on the path facing a ghostly image of Nimue. She had forced the cloud into the shape of her body.

  Merlin raised his hand. Nimue did the same.

  They moved their hands close together, stopping just short of touching.

  The gate closed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  In which events move toward their conclusion. An extremely narrow escape.

  Kelindria knew the moment the Morrigan was taken by the Sluagh. She was connected to her guardian, could see what it saw, could feel what it felt. So she heard the Morrigan’s infuriated scream of rage as soon as she died.

  Kelindria closed her eyes.

  “What happened?” she asked the Sluagh.

  The Morrigan pushed herself forward from the maelstrom of spirits suddenly clamoring for Kelindria’s attention, begging to be released.

  It was the girl! raged the Morrigan. She and Nimue rescued Merlin. She has the key.

  Back in the Faerie Tree, Kelindria’s hands gripped the throne until her knuckles turned white.

  “What else?”

  She has a plan, that one. I fear she will be your undoing.

  “Did she speak of the Raven King?”

  She did. She asked Merlin about him, but the old man was evasive. You must stop them, Kelindria. Send the Fire King after them. Send your soldiers. Send everyone. Stop them now before it’s too late. She is pushed by destiny, that child. I could sense it in my bones. If she is not stopped now, hers will be the hand that slays you.