Then the choking blackness unfolded itself from them; Donna was relieved to once again see a fleeting glint of moonlight through the tall trees. And there was the Old Path, with trees lined up along either side and the green canopy overhead that made it feel more like a tunnel. Dry leaves and branches rustled and cracked underfoot as she took the lead, despite Xan’s protests. They walked down it, toward the clearing where she knew Navin was waiting. The thought of confronting the dark elves made her stomach tighten and her heart beat faster, but she tried to calm her breathing and think only of her best friend. He needed her.
The leafy roof finally opened out, and they stepped into the large clearing. Donna caught her breath as the sky appeared above her once more. It looked different, somehow, as though something in the world had shifted and they were on another continent. It was still nighttime, and the moon peeked out from behind the clouds with stars scattered haphazardly around it, but everything looked closer to the ground—as though she could easily reach out and touch that velvet sky.
The clearing was empty, the ivy-draped throne standing in the center as though it hadn’t been occupied for years. Moss crept up its wooden sides and into the seat, and Donna wondered if it was possible for time to move at a different rate here. There was an ageless, untouched quality to the air, as though it hadn’t been breathed for centuries and Donna and Xan were disturbing it just by their presence.
She turned slowly in a circle, foreboding making her stomach cramp and her throat dry. “This is weird. I expected it to be the same as earlier. I thought she was waiting for us.”
Xan nodded. “And she would know the minute somebody breached the door between our world and the Elflands.”
Donna walked toward the throne, frustration building within her. Was Aliette playing games with them? Had she lied? “We don’t even know where they’re keeping Navin, so what should we do?”
And then a shaft of moonlight fell onto the far side of the clearing as the Wood Queen entered, flanked by her six guards. They simply materialized among the trees and walked slowly forward, the pale glow of the moon making their gray-brown skin look sickly and old. They seemed less substantial than before, somehow. Weaker. Perhaps the queen hadn’t been exaggerating about their decline.
Then Donna cried out, recognizing Navin being prodded out from beneath the trees by one of the wood elves. His hands were bound behind his back and he looked tired and worn, but he was there. She desperately wanted to go to him, but knew that it was pointless to even try. Not yet, she thought. Be patient.
His dark eyes lit up at the sight of her. Donna tried to smile reassuringly, but she could only manage a half-hearted effort—her throat seemed suddenly too tight and she had difficulty swallowing past the lump there.
“Donna, you shouldn’t have come back here,” Navin called, his voice surprisingly strong.
She shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. I would never leave you!”
His familiar lopsided grin flashed. “Yeah right, Underwood. That’s what you told me Saturday night before leaving me high and dry with the Geek Squad.”
Donna burst out laughing; she couldn’t stop herself. The relief that he was actually cracking jokes—even bad ones—was just so wonderful.
The Wood Queen swept onto her throne and settled herself regally, waiting for her minions to gather more closely around her. Two elves pushed Navin forward until he stood to one side of her carved wooden seat. The creature who seemed to be in charge of the prisoner planted twiglike fingers on Navin’s shoulders and pushed him to his knees.
“Have you brought it?” The queen’s brown face seemed more lined than before, and her black eyes were dull and sunken. There was something undeniably tired about Aliette. Donna suddenly realized that since the elves had been walking easily in the iron world, holding elaborate glamours in place, they must get their power from her. The Wood Queen was the main source of energy for her kin—but where did she get her power?
“I have it, your majesty.” Donna’s voice rang out clearly. She thought of her mother and tried to catch a glimpse of the locks of hair hanging from Aliette’s belt, but the shadows made it difficult to see.
The queen leaned forward, unable to contain her eagerness. “Then give it to me, girl, and you can take the boy and leave.”
Xan glanced anxiously at Donna and she flashed him a reassuring look; she knew how much he wanted to secure Maker’s freedom, too.
“We won’t leave without both Navin and Maker,” she said. Her voice was steady. Once again, Xan’s hand rested in the small of her back, giving her comfort.
“I don’t believe that was the arrangement,” grated the Wood Queen. The surrounding elves made loud clicking sounds in their throats and seemed to crouch lower, their black eyes staring at Donna with unnerving malice.
“You didn’t honestly think I’d leave Maker here, did you?” Donna asked, swallowing her dread. “Either we leave safely with both of them, or you won’t be getting anything from me.”
Aliette sneered, her cracked face looking more than ever like the bark of an old tree. “And what—foolish child—is to stop me from taking the elixir from you?”
“Because I happen to know that what I’ve found is all that remains. The final drops of the elixir of life. If you force me to do it, I’ll make sure you never get your hands on it.”
The queen’s eyes narrowed to ebony slits, her lipless mouth opening in an ugly gash of rage. “How dare you threaten me!”
Her voice scraped along Donna’s nerves and made her stomach clench; the ache in her hands increased, but she refused to show any sign of fear.
Stepping forward, she shook off Xan’s restraining hand. “Either you let us all leave safely, or I’ll destroy it.” She desperately hoped her face held absolute conviction, and that the queen couldn’t hear the frantic beating of her heart.
The trees whispered and shook their leaves as the Wood Queen rose from her throne. She grabbed Navin by his thick black hair and wrenched back his head. She was holding a dagger carved out of some sort of dark wood; it looked smooth and sharp, its handle elegantly shaped in a curve that wrapped around her gnarled fingers.
Donna gasped and tried to run forward, but her way was immediately barred by two crouching, hissing wood elves. She felt Xan’s arms wrap around her waist and pull her back, her feet dragging in the cold earth as she tried to resist. “Let me go!” she yelled.
Xan’s grip was firm and he shook her, whispering fiercely in her ear. “Stop it, Donna. She won’t do anything while we’ve got the elixir.” His mouth was virtually touching her earlobe, his cheek brushing against strands of her hair.
She wrenched herself from his arms, gasping, then stood still as a stone, gazing in horrified fascination as Aliette stroked the strange blade along Navin’s exposed throat, his vulnerable flesh stretched taut across his Adam’s apple.
“Well, well.” The Wood Queen’s expression might have been a smile, if she’d possessed a human face. “Perhaps you can be persuaded to be reasonable after all, Donna Underwood.”
Navin was breathing heavily, but his dark eyes met Donna’s without fear. “Whatever they want, don’t do it. Not for me,” he murmured.
Donna ignored him and tried to get her expression under control. “If you harm my friend in any way, you will never get what you want.”
“It appears we’re at an impasse,” replied the queen, in her voice of dead leaves. “How unfortunate.”
“It’s only unfortunate if you hurt any of my friends.”
Xan nodded, joining her. “Including Maker.”
“Right,” Donna said. “We don’t even know if he’s safe.”
The Wood Queen sneered, but gestured to the creature closest to her. She whispered something in their strange language of clicks and scraping sounds, and the elf ran back into the trees.
Moments later, Donna’s eyes lit up as she saw Maker being pushed forward. The old alchemist seemed unharmed on the surface; he walked with a pr
onounced limp, but that was normal for him, and he looked grubby and tired, with bits of leaf and twig stuck to his gray hair and beard, but other than that he looked remarkably healthy. Donna almost smiled—Maker was a fighter, there was no doubt in her mind about that, as he had proven time and time again when they’d argued over her treatment and rehabilitation.
“Maker!” she called.
The old man’s eyes fell on her and widened in shock. “Donna! What are you doing here, child?”
She almost rolled her eyes at being called “child” by yet another person, but she was too pleased to see him to really care. “At the risk of sounding like a clichéd movie, I’m here to rescue you.”
Maker didn’t get the reference, but she could see the battle between concern and relief playing out on his exhausted face.
The queen swept her hand wide. “See? Here is your Maker. Unharmed, despite what he would do to my kin.”
Donna tried not to show any reaction, biting her lip. What did Aliette mean? But before she could think about it any further, the Wood Queen rose to her full height and looked down on the small group gathered around her throne.
“Where is the elixir of life?”
Maker’s eyes grew wide under his bushy gray brows. He glanced at Donna, but she refused to meet his gaze. “I’ll give it to you as soon as you let the prisoners go. They will wait for me at the door, and then we’ll all leave together.”
The Wood Queen hissed. “I have shown good faith—I gave you your human boy and the old magician. You have not yet proved to me you even have the elixir.”
Donna swallowed. Okay, that was true. But Aliette had taken her friends in the first place—she’d replaced them with doubles and was willing to do anything in her quest to save her people. Still, there was something to be said for good faith.
Slowly, Donna reached into her pocket.
As soon as she moved, the hissing elves slid forward, closing the gap between them until she felt almost claustrophobic.
“Wait,” she said. “I’m just showing it to you.”
She felt cornered. They were so close to escaping, but they had one final—and potentially deadly—obstacle to overcome. Donna now knew that there was no way she could give the elves something so potent, no matter what doubts she had about the Order. None of that mattered; not if the elixir really did heal and create new life, or even bestow immortality on those who drank it. The whole situation seemed crazy, even with the upbringing she’d had—but then again, she’d seen a brass statue of a guy’s head scream today. Her life had just reached a whole new level of crazy, and she wasn’t going to take any chances.
She licked her dry lips and grasped the pouch inside her pocket. With her forefinger and thumb she squeezed once, quickly and with just enough pressure to achieve what she hoped … She only had one shot at this, and if she’d miscalculated even slightly, it was over for all of them. She held her breath as she carefully drew the vial out of the pouch, holding it up so that the moonlight glinted on the red liquid inside. It looked like it contained a tiny blood sample after a finger-stick test.
Maker lurched forward, horribly unsteady on his feet without his cane. “No! You can’t give it to them, Donna.”
Feeling hot guilt well up within her as Maker stumbled to his knees, Donna couldn’t help thinking that the old alchemist’s fear would help her case. Surely the Wood Queen couldn’t doubt, now, that she really intended to hand over the elixir.
Her eyes pricked with tears of relief as she saw Aliette pass her dagger to a waiting wood elf so it could use the blade to free Navin’s hands. Maker was pulled to his feet and dragged over to join Donna. He limped slowly toward her.
“Maker,” she whispered as he reached her. She tentatively reached out to him and he gripped her velvet-clad hand in his own surprisingly strong fingers.
“It’s good to see you, child. I just wish I knew what you have planned.” His intelligent blue eyes seemed to look right inside her, and she had to resist the urge to throw her arms around him. “You do have a plan, don’t you?” he continued under his breath.
“Trust me,” was all she had time to say before turning to Navin, who was carefully picking his way across the undergrowth to reach her. The bruise on his face was starting to show more—purple and black against his brown skin—but his dark eyes were clear.
She ran to Navin and collapsed against his bony chest, tears running down her cheeks as he wrapped his arms around her. She buried her nose in his shoulder to better smell the familiar fake leather of his jacket. It was torn on one arm, but to see him standing there in one piece wearing it—to be holding him in her arms—made her so happy she could almost forget where they were and the danger they were still in.
“Donna,” he said, his mouth resting against her hair. “Are you all right?”
She pulled away from him for a moment. “Me? I’m fine—what about you?”
“Dude, I am so much better now,” he replied with feeling.
“Xan!” Donna called. “You have to get them back to the door—wait for me, but not for too long … ” Her voice trailed off.
Xan’s eyes flashed with barely suppressed anger. “I won’t just ‘wait’ for you, Donna. If you don’t arrive at the door within five minutes, I’m coming back for you.”
Donna blew out a frustrated sigh. “You have to wait, Xan, that’s the deal. You go on ahead—you’ll need to help Maker—and I’ll deal with the Wood Queen. Then I’ll follow. It’s simple.” She lifted her chin as though daring anyone to argue with her.
Then Maker spoke, surprising them. “Donna, you don’t really have the elixir, do you?” His tone was low, as though he was trying to speak only to her.
Donna met his concerned gaze. “Maker, you need to go with the others now.”
“You do realize what would happen if they got hold of it,” the alchemist continued, his voice rising with concern.
Actually, she thought, I don’t know. I don’t know anything. All she could do was trust her heart and hope that she’d made the right choice.
Her eyes and voice were steady as she looked at Navin. “Please help him along the Path,” she said, indicating Maker. “Xan will lead and open the door.” She caught Xan’s eye and nodded at him, hoping he would be able to get everyone to safety.
She didn’t know what would happen after they’d gone, but she was determined that nobody else would be at risk because of her. Not again. This was her chance to make amends for everything that Navin had gone through.
Aliette’s brittle voice cut through the air, making Donna jump. “You are to leave the Elflands and never return.” She fixed Xan with her mossy glare. “I will take measures to ensure the door you have opened remains closed, halfling. Do not attempt to use the Old Paths again.”
Donna saw Navin’s curious glance at Xan and sighed, knowing that if they all got out of this, she would have a lot more explaining to do.
Xan reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze, trying to communicate something. Donna felt sadness weigh her down, but she couldn’t let it stop her. She desperately wanted to say something to him—something significant about how she’d felt since their first meeting. But so much had happened and was still happening—it seemed like there just wasn’t enough time. She wanted him to know how important he had become to her in just a matter of days, but her mouth didn’t seem to be working properly. Their connection spoke of loss and pain, of being part of something greater than themselves, and of all the gifts they possessed, even though hidden under a mask of scars.
And then Nav hugged her and led Maker into the tunnel of darkly whispering leaves. Xan ran to catch up, looking back once and shooting her another of those fierce glances—she knew he was telling her be careful, or else.
So Donna Underwood stood alone, in the center of the Ironwood underneath the carnivorous sky, facing the Wood Queen and six of her twisted elves, as the moon peeked out from between the diminishing clouds.
Give me the elixir,” dema
nded the Wood Queen.
Donna began backing toward the edge of the clearing, trying to put as much distance between herself and the throne as possible.
“Now!”
Aliette’s voice had that fingers-on-chalkboard quality that makes every hair on the back of your neck stand up. Donna cringed as her arms and hands filled with a terrible, stabbing pain; she clenched her fists and held her breath until the spasm passed. It seemed that the more energy the Wood Queen expended, the more Donna’s hands ached. She gritted her teeth and took another step back.
“It’s right here, your majesty,” she said, just barely able to get the words past her chattering teeth. She held out the vial with shaking fingers, terrified that at any moment the glass would crack. She continued shuffling backwards.
The queen’s bottomless black eyes narrowed into cruel slits. “Where are you going?” she howled, the sound almost driving Donna to her knees. But she would not let herself be overpowered—she bit the inside of her mouth and tried to ignore the steady throb in her temples.
She waved the vial. “Here, take it.”
At the Wood Queen’s gesture, one of the elves scuttled forward, regarding Donna with its ancient eyes. It moved crablike, circling around her right-hand side, forcing her to turn with it in order to keep it safely within view. She extended her arm slowly, holding the vial in front of the creature, hoping that for just one more second nobody would notice the precious drops of liquid dribbling from the growing fracture in the casing.
As the elf suddenly moved closer, Donna took a deep breath and threw the vial across the clearing, as far and as hard as she could. Painfully aware that she had just tossed away generations of research and study, she watched as the glass spun in the moonlit sky and then fell into a scrubby patch of greenery. The wood elf scampered after it, and Donna turned and ran back down the tree-lined corridor, gasping as she tripped on a tree root and righted herself just in time. She was plunged into near darkness but still kept going, not caring when her hat flew off, not bothering to stop for it, just running and running along the ancient path, scattering dead leaves and twigs along the way. She ran faster than she’d ever thought possible—cold air sang in her throat and her chest felt stretched too tight. Whatever happened, she would have to start exercising regularly from now on. She tried not to think about what might be behind her, or whether or not she was being pursued.
The Iron Witch Page 19