Elemental Flame

by Phaedra Weldon

  "Oui."

  I thought of Hob's garden and the world twisted once again.

  TWENTY

  A few tense muscles relaxed when Bastien and I landed in exactly the same place. In fact, I was pretty our feet were in exactly the same place mine and Ben's had landed.

  I turned to look again at the iron gate and the grotto just inside. I didn't see any movement past those bars as a warm breeze moved the purple and green leaves of the gnarled trees framing the entrance. Dandelion seeds floated in the air, spinning but never quite landing on the ground. The grass reached to my thighs, and I stepped aside but kept my hand on the staff. I was a bit too close to Bastien.

  But when I tried to pull Bastien's hand from mine, he held it tight. "Let go."

  "Not till I know what that small is."

  I sniffed. The only thing I smelled was Arcane, which to me, smelled like rotting, raw chicken. "Maybe it's the Arcane? The place is made of it." I looked at the ground again to see if I could find any of the sparkling black dust I'd been warned about. I didn't see anything through the thick grass.

  He finally let go of my hand and I jerked the staff out of the ground. I felt the vibration again and the circling purple sparkles disappeared. Somehow I knew I'd shut down the staff.

  Holding the staff, I realized carrying it around was going to prove cumbersome. I wasn't a staff user. Didn't much care for them, though I'd seen a few Ceremonial Magicians who thought they were cool. "This is going to get in the way and I'm not about to leave it somewhere."

  "Oui. Can you change it?"

  "Change it?" I looked past the staff to his face. Bastien looked worried, evident by the deep crease between his brows. "What's wrong?"

  "Je sais pas," he said as he straightened and sniffed the air. "I sense something…familiar."

  Uh oh. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. But I needed to somehow make the staff easier to carry. Holding it in front of me, I could feel the Arcane moving inside of it and I could hear its song.

  -You must consider the request deeply.-

  "Request?" I stared at the staff.

  "Ce qui?"

  I put my finger to my lips to indicate quiet and decided to keep the discussion in my head.

  Request?

  -The staff's matter can be changed only once. Choose a tool you can use as a staff can be used.-

  That sounded a lot like a riddle and I didn't have time for riddles. "Bastien, what other tool can be used the same as a staff? I'm thinking knife or sword."

  The crease between his eyes deepened. "Oui."

  I didn't know anything about swords. But a knife could be useful.

  A knife.

  -Is that your final decision?-

  And of course the voice questioning me set me on the road to doubt again. Yes. A knife.

  Abruptly, the staff collapsed into a swirling funnel of black glitter. I backed away and moved Bastien with me. "Faerie dust," I said so he'd listen. We watched as the funnel shortened and then dropped into the high grass.

  I dove in after it and retrieved it. But when I held it up, Bastien laughed. "A wooden knife?"

  That's right—the sucker had changed its shape and mass, and though the carving of it was intricate and quite lovely—it was a wooden knife.

  "Okay so, I won't be hurting anyone with that. Put it in my backpack." I handed it off to him and turned around so he could slip it in. Once that was done, I took a step to the edge of the grass and looked out over the wastes.

  "What is this place?" Bastien stood beside me. "There are fires in the distance. Is that a city?"

  I could see the spires of what I believed was the Obsidian Palace. Medbh's home had been somewhere near it. "They call it the warlands."

  "It looks as if the Earth itself is in pain," he knelt down and put his hand on the edge of the grass and then drew back quickly. "It's hot!"

  I did the same thing and realized he was right! "This sucks…we have to get across this to get to the palace." When I needed to venture across the warlands before, I'd used ley lines. Points that allowed me to move instantaneously between places. I looked up, expecting to see a floating sign pointing to where the line started.

  It wasn't there. I moved along the grassy edge but nothing appeared. "Well," I put my hands on my hips. "I'm assuming Brendi removed the ley line pathways. The sign is completely gone," I turned to look at him. "We have to get to those spires."

  "Are you sure that's where Crwys and Ivan are?"

  "I'm not sure of anything, but it makes sense. Brendi apparently has Crwys close by and the impression I got from Kathy was that others could see him."

  Bastien turned to face the iron gate and nodded, indicating the grotto in the distance. "There is someone in there who could answer these questions, no?"

  "There was an Urisk that lived here. But with the time thing," I walked to the gate's edge and touched it. "I don't know how long ago that was." I tried pushing the right side of the gate inward like I had a year ago.

  A thick, brown snake charged up the iron and wrapped itself around the two end poles, securely locking the two sides together. "Hey!"

  The snake stared at me and stuck out his tongue. "Hey yourself."

  Oh. I blinked. "You can talk."

  "So can you. But I'm betting I'm more surprised than you," it tilted its head. "What do you want?"

  "Is Hob at home?"

  "Hob? The Urisk?" the snake snickered. "He hasn't been here in a long time. The Winter Queen had him arrested for aiding and abiding a fugitive."

  "Arrested?" Oh no. "Did you see another one like us? Tall, dressed like us, with black hair?"

  "I saw a skinny one. Not as big as the wolf," the snake did this weird nod toward Bastien. "He was here. He wanted in the gate too. But the guard took him away."

  "The guard?"

  "Yeah, the Queen's new guard. Oh, here they come now. Tootle-loo!" The snake transformed into iron and became still.

  "I am very sure we are no longer in Kansas," Bastien said. "But this is biblical, no? You and I, and a tree and a snake?"

  I jabbed him in the stomach with my elbow and turned to look out over the wastes. "He said the guard was coming. Bastien, I don't know if it's a good idea to be caught by the guard because they might take us to Ivan, or if we should—"

  "Hide, hide!"

  Bastien and I both jumped and turned to look behind us. The high grass and a few bushes moved but we couldn't see what was shouting. It bumped into my leg and then I felt it reach around my calf. "You can't stay here!"

  That's when I recognized the voice. "Cordy?"

  "Yes, yes! Follow Cordelia!"

  The little Boggart had reverted to being invisible after I banished her. She let go of my calf and we could see her crushing through the tall grass. "They're coming!"

  As if on cue, I heard and felt the beat and thunder of horses' hooves on the ground. It was the same sound I'd heard earlier with Ben. And they were getting louder. I grabbed Bastien's hand and we followed the crashing invisible Boggart into the thick brush past the entrance. We skirted the edge of the fence protecting Hob's grotto and kept our heads low before we hit solid rock.

  "Cordy?"

  "Sshh!" came her answer and she was beside me, smelling of vervain and juniper. "They can't see past the gate so Cordelia stays here until they go."

  "Who are they?" Bastien asked as he crouched behind us.

  "The guard. See? See them coming? Now we must be stone."

  I sort of interpreted that to mean we had to be still and quiet. So I settled in and made sure Bastien and I were both below the top of the grass. I could just see where we came in, the gate and the edge of the mound where the grotto was to our left.

  The guard turned out to be about seven armored Faeries on top of horses. The group of them reminded me of the contingent of soldiers Brendi had with her in Couturie Forest the night she took Medbh's essence. For all I knew, it might be the same group.

  But the larger differenc
e here was they could actually dismount and walk along the ground. And they did. I felt Bastien's hand slide into mine as I watched all but the one in front jump off their steeds and scour the high grass around the iron gate.

  "None sir. Same as before," one of them said as he faced the guy still on his horse.

  "Something is toying with us, Lainor. Three times in one day the alarm sounds. But we find only one intruder?"

  "Should we tell the Queen?"

  I held my breath. They found an intruder. Ivan? Where did they take him?

  The seated Faerie looked around the grotto for several seconds, maybe thinking he could see something his soldiers couldn't. Finally, he shook his head. "No. We have the one Witch in captivity. The Queen will deal with him soon enough." He turned his steed and waited for the others to mount before they took off back across the wastes. But I noticed just a few yards out they vanished.

  "Whew," Cordelia said as the grass moved and I felt her brush my arm. "That's too many visits today."

  "Cordy, do you mind if I make you visible?"

  "But then Cordelia can't hide," the little Boggart whined.

  "She's right." Bastien shifted behind me and sat down in the grass. With his red hair and beautiful face—slap a pair of pointed ears on him and he'd fit right in. "Like this she can be undetected. Maybe we should consider hiding ourselves? What is it called? Glamour?"

  I knew about Glamour, I'd just never really messed with it. "Cordy, do you use glamour to be invisible?"

  "Yes."

  "Can you let Bastien and I see you?"

  "Maybe. Why did you come? You sent me home."

  "I came because I have to rescue a friend. Did you see him before? Tall, dark haired?"

  "Yes, yes. I know that one. Thought he looked familiar. The guard took him. Used a net. Dragged across the wastes."

  What? I swallowed. "They dragged him over the wastes? Why? Why are they taking people who enter here?"

  "Oh, they're taking everyone from everywhere. Summer Palace is empty. Winter Queen take it all." Cordelia shifted and I started to see a faint, transparent outline of her. "Fall and Spring are angry. War is upon us!"

  "Wait," I held out my hand and took a deep breath. "Brendi—the Winter Queen—is taking anyone who enters through a Cairn?"

  "Yes. If the Queen's right can't destroy the Cairn, then the guard watch them and take any and all who come." She was visible now and looked exactly as she had in my shop.

  "The Queen's right? What is that?"

  "The priest!" Cordelia laughed. "He came from your world. Yes, yes, but he smells like home, like you do," she sniffed Bastien. "You smell like dog."

  He growled at her.

  "Cordy," I touched her arm to get her eyes back to me. "Where did they take the one they caught? The tall brunette one?"

  "To the dungeon," she looked to her left and to her right. "It's a nasty place. The queens always forget about them, the ones down there." Then her mouth turned upside down. "My queen is there."

  "Your queen—" I leaned back. "Tzariene is in the dungeon?"

  Cordelia nodded. "But I go and see her. I make her happy."

  "You go and see her?" Bastien said. "You have a way into the dungeon, no?"

  "No?" Cordelia nodded her head. "I mean yes, I do."

  "How?" I asked.

  "It's a secret passage way. But it is dangerous. Very dangerous."

  Great. Danger in Faerie could mean all kinds of icky things. "What's the danger?"

  "The Winter Queen laced the passageways with iron. Tiny, nasty pieces of iron."

  "And iron doesn't bother Boggarts."

  She did a little dance. I was starting to like Boggarts.

  Starting to. We didn't have ignition yet.

  "Can you take us through the tunnels?" I smiled at her. "Please?"

  And she leaned in close with her overly large eyes. "You are here to slay the Dragon."

  "I'm not—"

  "Oui," Bastien said, interjecting into my answer. "That is right."

  "We? You are both here to slay the Dragon?"

  I smirked at Bastien as I said, "Yes, we're both here for that."

  "Good! Yes! Queen say to bring you if you come!"

  "Queen? You mean Tzariene, right?"

  "Yes, yes. She said to guard the Urisk Cairn. Said you would come through here."

  Now, how in the hell did Tzariene know we'd be coming in through this particular Cairn? But what did it matter if it could get us in the palace—wait. "Cordelia, are the dungeons in the palace?"

  "Yes."

  "And the Dragon is in the palace?"

  "Yes."

  "Is the Dragon in the dungeon?"

  "No."

  Yeah, thought that would be too easy. I rubbed at my face. "Where is the Dragon?"

  "He is in the great room."

  The great room. "Throne room?"

  "Yes."

  "Good."

  "Until they move him."

  "Move him? To where?"

  "To the Silver Palace."

  "When is that?" I was getting really frustrated as that ball of anxiety that had Crwys and Ivan's names on it churned.

  "Cordelia doesn't know. They're making ready for the wedding first."

  "Wedding?" I glanced at Bastien. "Who is getting married?"

  "The Queen is to be married to the Dragon!"

  WHAT?!

  "So you're going to slay the Dragon?"

  I glared at Cordy. Here I was risking my life to come and save that prick's ass, and he was getting married? To his captor? "Hell yeah I'm gonna slay him."

  TWENTY ONE

  The secret passage started out as a ridiculously small hole on the side of the grotto. Now the grotto itself, looking at it from the outside, resembled what I'd consider a Faerie hill would look like. It was a mound of dirt and rock, and the outside of it was trimmed in all kinds of growth. I was pretty sure if we looked at it from the air or a distance, we'd see an oasis in the middle of a desert.

  We were gonna have to go in on our stomachs and elbows. Cordelia was first in, easily sliding along the damp, circular walls. I wanted to go in last but Bastien insisted he bring up the rear in case we were attacked. I figured he wanted the back so he could look at my butt.

  But I had to give him credit. He never said a word.

  The trek through the tunnel proved to be uneventful. At first I didn't worry about the darkness since I could still see Cordelia ahead of me. But the further in we went, the darker it became.

  "Wait a sec," I said, stopping and planning to summon my Salamander for light.

  Only…the tunnel became lighter. I looked behind me and could make out the contours of Bastien's face and then I looked at Cordelia. She had turned around and faced me. "Where is the light coming from?"

  "The Earth," Cordelia said as she put her tiny elephant-like hands on the sides of the walls. "Your voice. It's reacting to your power."

  "My power?"

  "Elemental," she nodded, and then turned and started moving further down the tunnel.

  "Don't worry about it, chérie," Bastien said and his voice sounded a bit strained. "Let's move quickly, s'il te plait."

  I seconded Bastien's plea to be free of the claustrophobic tunnels. I could only imagine how uncomfortable it was for him…but didn't wolves make dens underground?

  Sweat trickled down my forehead and into my eyes. I paused a few times to wipe it away with the back of my hand. The air was getting thicker and I was getting really, really tired as an ache and a cramp started between my shoulder blades and worked their way down to the small of my back.

  Abruptly, the tunnel grew a little wider so we didn't have to scrunch up so much. I could actually go forward on my hands and knees, which added to a whole new level of pain.

  I sensed, rather than heard, a distant rumble. A second before Cordelia stopped moving, I felt the vibration and stopped as well. "What is that?"

  "The soldiers," Cordelia said in a hushed voice. The rumbling h
ad stopped. "We're near the palace, under the warlands." She looked up at the ceiling. The Boggart didn't look very happy. "Cordelia doesn't understand…"

  "Understand what?" Bastien came up behind me. He was breathing heavy.

  "They are above us. Lots of them," she looked at me then looked up. "Follow Cordelia."

  I followed her as she continued…and the rumbling followed us. She stopped. We stopped. So did the rumbling. She motioned for Bastien to back up, and he swore under his breath in a very eloquent Acadian dialect as we went backwards.

  The rumbling started again.

  "What's going on?" I looked at Cordelia.

  "They're following us."

  I did not need to hear that! "How?"

  "Cordelia doesn't know! We must run!"

  Run? On our hands and knees? Sweet Lady! Cordelia was already a good couple of feet in front of me before I started moving as fast as I could. And I noticed the rumbling didn't start until I moved—

  Was it me? I stopped. So did the noise and vibration.

  I started toward Cordelia who was far ahead of us now. The rumbling started again.

  "Chérie, what are you doing?"

  "It's me, Bastien. They're following me!"

  And because my life has always been a never-ending adventure through trap doors, something struck the ground above us hard. Bits and pieces of the hollowed ground rained down on us. Chunks of dead roots, sand and sharp things I couldn't identify.

  "Come!" Cordelia called out in the tunnel.

  Another strike but this time something came through the ceiling and skewered the space between Bastien and I. More dirt collapsed on top of him.

  "Bastien!"

  He was going to be buried alive if I couldn't get to him, but the shaft of something hard and metallic was in my way. I summoned my Gnome and pushed my hands against the failing tunnel. I sensed she was there but not in physical form, in the form of something akin to a cousin to the Earth around us. The rumbling stopped as huge, thick worms twisted in the light from the walls. I took a closer look and realized they were the roots of something, writhing as they looped themselves into knots to brace the ceiling.

  I touched the metal, and it instantly shattered into ash as Arcane surged forward. Bastien was struggling to get to me so I folded myself up, grabbed his arm and pulled him with me. I asked my Elemental to give him a shove—and she did. He came flying at me as I tumbled back.