by Morgan Blade
Ride ‘em, cowboy!
All of the treehouse and gardens were inside a white brick wall. Beyond lay the great golden plain. Beyond that lurked a hazy stretch of charcoal forest. Past that, reared midnight-purple, bruised-looking mountains. I visualized soaring high over my domain, staring greedily down on a kingdom that would look very much like a dragon’s eye peering back.
Not too far from this place was a nearby village of refugees I’d taken in. I had a mountain keep on the border to the Winter Court, but this location served as the official capital that foreign Lords and Ladies visited.
Seeping up my legs, the energy of my kingdom filled me, a surge of affection. Just being here relaxed and soothed me. Breathing felt easier. The land welcomed me with her attention. I felt my tie as a not so distant part of me.
“Woah, way cool!” Colt stood transfixed, staring up the bole of the great tree, at the mansion it supported. The wrap-around rooms and decks looked hand-crafted, though this was all formed by magic. The main building had diamond-paned windows. The walls were rare and precious woods, laid in abstract mosaics. There was a magic-driven lift here that raised a round platform up to the largest deck, but we weren’t going to use it today. This was just a quick stop on the way to a series of burglaries.
I went to the throne and placed one hand over the seat. Closing my eyes, I called to the tie that lay buried a hundred feet down under this marker. In moments, a yellow crystal tear rose up out of the throne, coming into my hand. I held it, pouring affection into the stone that linked me to the Land. I stepped back from the throne. A midnight green shadow rose out of the throne, sitting on it. A female shadow with creamy jade eyes. This was the Poetess aspect of the Goddess, representing the mystery and beauty of the unknown. She sat there, legs crossed, a smile on her lips.
Colt came over to stand beside me. He smiled at the shade. “Hi there. I’m Colt Deathwalker.” He stuck out his hand in manly fashion, apparently not having learned his lesson with Kellyn and Izumi.
The shade gripped his wrist and tugged him closer as she leaned forward on the throne. Her arms slid around him as she pressed her forehead to his, their eyes very close. “There is purity and power in your soul, an innocence rare in any age. You are not of the land.”
“I’m from the Red Moon.”
She smiled. “You are the angel of the Blood Moon?” Her face pulled back. She slanted me a look. “He is your heir?”
“He’s my son. His mother Selene is a former dragon that ascended to goddesshood after horrific ordeals. You may remember the Crimson Lady’s legendary battle with the Wild Hunt here in Fairy. She kicked their ass.”
“Mom says you owe me a dollar for each bad word,” Colt said.
“Did she really?” I asked.
“She thought it would keep me in pocket money.”
I found my wallet, took out a couple hundred dollars, and offered him the cash. “Let me know when that’s used up. I’ll give you more.”
The shade released him from her light embrace so he could take the money. He snatched it before I could change my mind, and stuffed it into his hoody pocket. Just because he was “innocent and pure” didn’t mean he was stupid.
“So, are you going with us on this job?” I asked her.
“No need. I’m only here to make sure you know how to align the ties as you find them.”
“Colt,” I said, “Take the Winter Court tie out of your backpack and hold it in front of you.”
He did as I asked. I held my Dragon’s Eye tie out. The crystals touched with a light clack. And came apart again, not reacting to each other. “Okay, so there’s a trick to it. What do I do?”
“In your mind, picture a heart-shaped crystal. Then, loosely hold the ties against each other. Imagine them sinking into the heart, filling part of it in. Then channel some of your dragon’s life into the ties.”
I tried it. “Nothing.”
The shade didn’t look surprised. “It means those two pieces were never touching in the original design. Don’t be discouraged. Just keep gathering ties. Eventually, they will unify.”
I nodded, slipping both ties into Colt’s back pack. “So when all the ties are united, they will shape the crystal heart. And I can use that to claim all of Fairy.”
The shade shook her head, a no. “The Heart won’t be complete. Remember the splinters of crystal we gave you? United, they form the tie to the Storm Court. You were the one that broke that tie.”
I remembered. The Storm and Autumn Courts had kidnapped Julia, my adopted daughter, to use as a hostage against me. I had punished them severely for that so no one else would ever go after Julia again. It had broken the Storm Court, driving hundreds of thousands into madness and death.
“So, I have to remake the Storm Court tie.”
“I wouldn’t. If I were you, I’d hang onto them as bargaining chips. There may be a few ties that you—with your best efforts—can’t steal.”
“That’s not very likely.” Colt’s voice swelled with pride. “My Dad can steal anything!”
She smiled at him. “Never-the-less, there are some very old fey in the Wildlands, steeped in ancient magic, twisted by it until they’re hideously powerful. Some of these may be used by various Lords and Ladies to safeguard their ties. You may need to bargain with a lord for his tie. Ties are the source of their power over their court. You may have to offer them something more to get the tie.”
I had a bad feeling about this. “Like what?”
She stood, leaving my throne. “They will give up power for greater power, or at least a chance at it. Trade a sliver of crystal for the tie. Tell them those with such tokens will all be given an equal opportunity to impress the Heart-of-the-Land, and claim it all.”
I sighed. “I’d prefer a sure thing, with only me in the running.”
She shrugged. Then steal every tie without fail, and such a contingency won’t be necessary.”
“You can do it, Dad,” Colt said. “I’m helping you, after all.”
I swung my arm around and settled my hand on his shoulder. “Then I suppose we should get busy.”
“Good luck, to both of you.” Her feet sank into the ground. She was returning to the earth she’d come from.
“Hey,” I said. “How come you’re not talking in rhyme anymore?”
“I save that for formal occasions.” The ground was up to her thigh. For a moment, she and Colt were level, exchanging glances. She gave his hair a final ruffle. A moment later, the ground closed over her head.
Colt furiously brushed his hair back into place. “Why do people keep doing that?”
“Your cuteness overwhelms their control.”
He stared up into my face. “I’m not cute! I’m a manly man, like you. I have a Mustang…and a harem!”
“Had a harem,” I said. But the first and only girl you chose turned out to be a psycho killer, and we had to put her down, remember?”
“You’re right! I need to get some more.”
A small, high pitched voice fell out of the sky, “I’m available!” A tiny pixie fluttered down. She wore green and tan leathers, and a man’s emerald ring on her head like a crown. A miniature silver sword was sheathed at her side like a fancy hors d'oeuvre skewer.
The pixie buzzed past my head, looking over the green agate crown I’d stolen from Reggie. “Hey, that’s nice.”
I grinned. “I only steal the best because I’m worth it.”
Colt stared at the woman as she zipped around. His eyes were huge. “It’s Tinkerbe—”
“Hell no,” I said. “Don’t finish that name. We’ll get sued by Disney over trademark infringement.”
She settled on Colt’s shoulder and sniffed delicately. “That’s not my name anyway. I’m Silverwynd, your father’s chief spy.”
She was all of six inches in height with clattering wing casings like those of a beetle. Her translucent wings were prisms, fracturing light into pastel tones when she flew. The man’s gold ring she wore had a comp
lex rune carved on the emerald, an enchanted item that fortified her, making her harder to kill than a cockroach on steroids. Her slate-green skin was deigned to blend into forest tones, different from how her kind were often “whitened” by the entertainment media. And her female figure was realistic, none of that anorexic look popularized by Barbie dolls.
A crafty look stole over Colt’s face. “You said you were available?”
“Always wanted to be pampered in a harem. What’s the pay? Do I get a credit card?”
I suppressed a smile seeing my nine-year-old negotiating for a concubine he’d only pal around with; watching anime, using her to make grilled cheese sandwiches. He had no idea what a harem was actually for; he was just trying to keep up with his old man.
I said, “I don’t pay for it. My harem is with me because I’m irresistible.”
Lying softly languid in my pants, my somnolent cock muttered sleepily: Because I’m irresistible.
I felt relief that I and my inner dragon were the only ones who heard him. If he could enter general conversations, I’d have been slightly embarrassed and hugely annoyed. Private parts need to stay private.
I said, “Anyway, she already works for me, Colt. No poaching my employees.”
Silverwynd sniffed again. “If there’s no cash involved, count me out. I’m saving up for a dowry to one day draw a respectable marriage.”
“So, what are you doing here?” I asked. I thought you’d be with your people, helping them settle in at the Dragon’s Eyrie?” Her people had recently taken oath with me and had moved into the woods surrounding my mountain keep.
“They’ve got our new village and the winery coming along well. They don’t need me for that. And you are paying me. I thought I’d see if you had any jobs lined up.”
“Come along with us,” Colt offered.
“It will be wildly dangerous,” I said.
“I laugh at danger. I am the Silverwynd of Justice; my sword knows no fear.”
Really?
I smiled. “We’re going to be stealing ties from the other Lords and Ladies so I can be high king of all Fairy.”
The little pixie didn’t actually pale with her slate-green complexion, but it was a near thing. “Steal ties…from all the kingdoms?”
“We have the blessing of the Land,” I said. “And others will be doing it if we’re not the first. A threat to my status as a Lord of Fairy is a threat to those that are sworn to me.”
She put her tiny hand on the hilt of her tiny sword. Fire flashed in her hard stare. “We have our own place Under-the-Hill once more. I will let no one take that away.”
I nodded approval at her courage.
“If we’re all going together,” I said, “I’m going to need a new spell to make it work.”
Colt nodded. “The new barrier spell so we can all travel into the land after the ties.”
“Yeah, you guys don’t have my bi-location spell or experience with tie energy navigation.” The pattern of my barrier spell wrote itself out on my chest. I added to it, blending in details from a pocket dimension spell I’d recently been playing with. By transferring part of our physical natures into a fabricated pocket dimension—the kind used by Time Lord phone booths—I thought I could pull it off.
Doctor Who has nothing on me.
I added a deck inside the protective shell and expanded the whole thing for group comfort.
“This is a new, untested spell?” Silverwynd asked.
“Always a first time,” I said. “You in or out?”
She sighed, knelt on Colt’s shoulder, and gripped his hoodie tightly. Her wings folded against her back, vanishing under the hinged casing. “Fine, but if you get me killed, I’m going to be very pissed. Just so you know!”
EIGHT
“All my risks are calculated.
I take them anyway.”
—Caine Deathwalker
The Dragon’s Eye domain had been a left over, amoeba-like scrap of the Land before I’d claimed it, a sprawl that served as a buffer zone between other people’s kingdoms. A lot of it still served that purpose, flowing out from the central domain I’d shaped here. That meant I could focus and know when people were traveling abroad. I could interfere with such movements if I wanted, though that would just piss everyone off and bring me trouble faster.
It also meant that—with just a little thought—I could appear without warning on any kingdom’s border.
Magic is good stuff.
Concentrating, I channeled golden dragon lifeforce into the shadow-drawn pattern on my chest. A red shell of light appeared around me, Colt, and Silverwynd. The shell had an inner floor so we didn’t slide around on the ball’s inner curve. I redirected my golden magic to the Demon Wings tat inked across my upper shoulders. A minor change in my shield spell tied it into the You-Don’t-See-Me spell. This meant those in the shell didn’t need to keep physical contact to see each other. The cloaking spell would only affect those outside the barrier.
I explained this to Colt and Silverwynd.
“Cool,” Colt said.
“Okay, I’m feeling better about these snatch-and-run missions,” she said. “Who are we going after first?”
“The stronger courts first. If I do this right, I don’t have to fight them all for what I want.”
Not counting the Storm Court, I made a mental list of the ones I still needed: Summer Court, Autumn Court, Phoenix Court, Nightmare and Dream Courts, Shadow Court, the Phantom Court, Bone Court, Thorn Court. And then I go for the tie of the Wildlands which have no allegiances to any court.
“Summer’s first, the strongest of the courts of light.” I closed my eyes and concentrated on the green agate crown I wore. As if my nervous system were extending from my body, through my land, to all the others, I felt the heart-like throbs of the remaining ties. Somehow, their varied energies crossed my tongue with assorted flavors: maple, cinnamon, lime tartness, brackish shadow, the iron of blood, the dry dust of decay…and others not quite as definable.
I focused on warm honey, the flavor of summer, isolating it from the others, and opened my eyes.
My land at my back, ahead, through the red tinting of my barrier, I saw the Summer Lands: muddy mauve fields and wild flowers rolling forever under a bright purple bowl of sky. Clumps of trees formed woodland parks. Nowhere did I see fey villages. I heard bird song and crickets rubbing legs. And a stir of wind lifted a storm of white butterflies into the air.
Wearing the crown, I sensed the Summer Court tie. I willed the red sphere to roll like an armored vehicle toward it. We zipped through the grass at high speed. As we traveled, I focused on the landscape, prodding it to sweep us toward our goal. It was a risk. While my magic should shield us, the odd stirring of the land—apparently on its own—could arouse suspicion.
“I could just portal us directly there,” Colt said.
“If our movements draw attention,” I said, “we may do just that. I want to give stealth a chance first. Just settle down and enjoy the ride. Should just be an hour or two.”
We splashed across a shallow creek, and continued, sliding through a few of the woodland sections as they got in our way. In one of them, nymphs were dancing round their trees, singing to pan pipe playing satyrs, cutting up the turf with sharp hooves. None of them gave us a glance which told me my cloaking spell was working.
As we went deeper into the Summer Lands, the hills became more pronounced. They looked like giant grass covered bumps, like prehistoric monsters had lain down for naps and become buried by time and maybe magic. It was a fanciful thought that I hoped wasn’t true. Fairy had the power to surprise over and over, no matter how long you lived here, and could even weave thoughts into reality. I preferred Fairy without dinosaurs.
Eventually, we passed plastered cottages, and shops. Fey commoners wandered about their business, many carrying barrels and boxes. There were carts drawn by oxen and mules. Smiles were everywhere. The population didn’t act like they suffered much under the rule of the
Summer Court.
We rose uphill, slowing, and approached a ridge lined with stone villas. The buildings were made from pink and white marble, brick walled for privacy. The place was laid out so the aristocratic community could only be accessed by a single, wide gate that had a guardhouse beside it. Sitting in the shade of his shack, the guard guzzled from a wine bag.
Total slacker. They must not get many serious threats.
I stopped the sphere just outside the posts of the open gate. They concerned me more than the guard. There were runes of power etched in the pillars. I pointed them out to Colt.
“Spell warded. Going through may or may not set off an alarm.”
“How close are we to the tie?” Silverwynd asked.
“Very close.” I looked up to the top of the hill altering my eyes to enhance their focus. A palace squatted there; part pantheon, part pavilion: a lot of white pillars and unwalled chambers. The lower villas broke below the crest, flowing around, cupping the very top, not at all hiding its splendor. This whole area had the feel of an exhibit, laid out to impress visitors.
“I sense the tie inside the hill, under the palace.”
“Then let’s go for it!” Colt said.
“Sure.” I willed the sphere to roll through the gate. As we passed the pillars, the etched symbols warmed with a washed out ginger ale color. We cleared the gate and the symbols faded, never having quite decided if there was a threat present or not. The brief stirring of power escaped the guard’s attention.
Must be some good wine. After our visit here, they’ll probably flog him to death with a wineskin.
“This is too easy,” Silverwynd said.
“The weakness of arrogance,” I said. “They can’t imagine someone stealing from so strong a lord. Therefore, they will not have taken formidable precautions. Once word gets around about what’s happening, defenses will get tighter, tougher.”