by Anthea Sharp
“Bye, honey.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek as he went out the door.
It was painful, her affection - it made the emptiness when she was gone even worse.
“So what’s up with your system?” Marny asked Tam at lunch.
“Spread out all over the floor, that’s what. The Bug’s working on it though.” The kid was even making some progress, though it was going to be a long time before his rig was playable. If ever. He took a bite of mushy noodles.
“You going to Zeg’s to play, then?”
“No.” He finished chewing. “I’ve been simming at Jennet’s.”
“Ah.” There was a world of understanding in Marny’s voice.
He didn’t have to say that his mom was back, or defend his actions. No explanations necessary.
Marny glanced past him. “Speaking of Miss Fancy-pants…”
“You calling my name?” Jennet asked, setting her tray beside Tam’s.
She sat down and flashed a quick smile across the table at Marny. Then she looked at Tam and her smile tilted a little, unsure.
Marny pointed her fork at them. “You guys simming this afternoon?”
“Yes,” Tam said, at the same moment that Jennet said, “No.”
The other girl raised an eyebrow. “That kind of mutual understanding is really inspiring, you know. Keep it up.”
Tam sent Marny a warning glance, but she just looked at him, like she was trying not to grin.
Jennet touched his arm. “How’s your leg feeling?”
Her eyes were troubled, and he knew she was trying to remind him of how dangerous Feyland was. But it wasn’t her choice. Not only did she need his help, things would get severe for everyone if the Dark Realm opened a gateway between the worlds.
“My leg is great.” He swiped his hair away from his eyes, so that Jennet could see how serious he was. “What are you doing for Halloween? Got plans?”
She stilled and her blue eyes widened. Yep - direct hit. He didn’t think he’d hear any more argument from her about how he shouldn’t play.
Marny was looking back and forth between the two of them. “Planning a party or something?”
She clearly could tell they were talking in layers here, but there was no way for her to guess how very deep they were.
“Something,” Tam said. “We’ll let you know.”
Too bad Marny wasn’t a simmer. She was smart and level-headed - two things that would be assets if she ever set foot in Feyland. But that wasn’t going to happen.
She gave a quick nod, her black hair swinging above her shoulders. “Okay.” Her gaze moved to Jennet. “Whatever’s going on, watch out for each other.”
“We will.” Jennet’s voice was steady, though he knew she was worried.
He’d be worried, too, if he were marked as a human sacrifice.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jennet tried not to glance at Tam too often during the drive to her house after school. Something had changed between them. Or at least, she thought it had. Yesterday, after escaping the Wild Hunt, after Tam finally and truly believed her, she had felt so close to him. She had even wanted to kiss him.
Heat crept into her cheeks and she made herself look out the window so he wouldn’t notice. It was just a crush. And no wonder - he was her knight in shining armor. In a virtual sense, anyway. Plus, they were good together. Solid partners in-game. Getting to be friends, out.
She wasn’t getting the same interested vibe from Tam now, though - not like she had yesterday. Which was good. Really it was. Boy-girl stuff would just make things too complicated.
Maybe later, after they had defeated the queen and figured out how to deal with Feyland, she could go thinking about kisses. But right now it was dumb of her to be so aware of Tam sitting quietly beside her in the back seat. Dumb to notice how his leg touched hers when the grav-car took a corner. Dumb to imagine brushing the hair out of his face and getting a good, long look into those guarded green eyes.
“So,” Tam said. She felt him turn to look at her. “What now?”
She hoped her blush had faded. “We finish the game.”
“No. We win the game.”
“Ideally, yes.” She glanced at the front seat, to where George was piloting the grav-car, then raised her eyebrows at Tam in warning. Better they not say too much where he could overhear.
Tam nodded. “So. How’d you do on that surprise quiz in history today?”
They talked about school for the rest of the ride. It wasn’t until they were in the gaming room, with the jammer on, that Jennet felt secure.
“We have the rest of the month to get to Court and defeat the queen,” she said. “It’s going to take three, maybe four game sessions. Provided we succeed at each level, and don’t get in serious trouble.” Like running into the Wild Hunt again.
“Two weeks.” Tam frowned and leaned against one of the gaming chairs. “That’s cutting it close, if what Thomas said is true.”
“And how ‘true’ was your gnawed-on leg, yesterday? Or have you forgotten that part?” Worry circled in her stomach.
“Ok.” He pushed his hair out of his eyes, only to have it fall back down again. “Obviously the game is interfacing with another world. One that can affect our reality, at least a little.”
“More than a little,” she said. “The day I came over to your place and met, um…” She didn’t want to mention his mom, and by the shuttered look on Tam’s face, neither did he. “Anyway, on the way there, two zombed-out guys tried to give me trouble.”
“Hell.” He fisted his hands. “Did you run?”
She tasted her remembered fear. “No, they had me boxed in. But - and this is the weird part - my mage staff appeared.”
“Your staff? As in, a long piece of wood with a crystal on the top?”
“I know. I didn’t believe it either.”
“What did you do, whack them with it?”
“No. I blasted them.”
Tam had a way of drawing his eyebrows slightly together when he was thinking hard. She could just see it behind the scrim of his hair. Abruptly, he straightened. Concentration clear in every line of his body, he held out one hand, fingers curved.
“Are you - ?”
“Shh,” he said, his hand still extended. After another few, silent, moments, he shook his head. “No luck.”
“You were trying to summon your sword?”
“Yeah. Maybe it only works if there’s great need.”
“However it happened, it saved me. I knocked one guy out, and the other one took off. Maybe, like Thomas said, the boundaries between the worlds get thinner around this time of year.”
He let out a low breath. “I’m still trying to get how Thomas - or his spirit, whatever - could be inside the game.”
“He’s not in the game. He’s in the Realm of Faerie, but can interact with us through the game. You read that book I lent you. Faeries are great at enticing humans into their world. And their realm is every bit as real as ours.”
Tam got that thinking look again. “So, Feyland is just an anteroom between our world and the Dark Realm of Faerie?”
“You have to admit, it makes a weird kind of sense.”
He nodded. “Then, after we save you, how do we make sure the door on our side stays locked?”
It was an excellent question.
“Maybe Thomas will have some ideas,” she said. “Because I sure don’t.”
“We’ll figure something out.” He slid into the sim chair. “Come on. We have a game to win.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Tam relaxed as the game’s golden light surrounded him. The moment of disorientation he felt when entering Feyland made sense now. It wasn’t some trick of the visuals. It was an actual transition from the real world to - what had Thomas called it? A between place.
This time, they arrived in a ring full of twilight shadows, with not even a hint of sunlight. That was good, right? Jennet had said the darker the level, the closer they were t
o the court. The thought sent a shiver through him. A dream-fragment caught in his memory; the satiny texture of the Dark Queen’s hair, her midnight voice whispering forgotten promises.
“Tam? Are you coming?”
He gave himself a mental shake and looked up. Jennet had already stepped out of the mushroom ring and was watching him, her head tilted. The crystal on the end of her staff shed a bluish glow, illuminating the pale forest around them.
“You brought a flashlight,” he said. It was a weak joke, but she smiled anyway.
“No following wisps this time, okay?”
“I expect you to poke me with that if I do.” He nodded to the staff. “Lead on.”
The pale trees grew farther apart here, interspersed with clearings full of silvery grasses. They hadn’t walked for long when Tam became aware of a sound - a humming buzz coming from up ahead. Jennet halted.
“Do you hear that?” Her voice was hushed.
“Trouble?”
“I… I don’t know. I’ve never seen this place before. Everything in the game is changing.”
He set one hand on the hilt of his sword. When she started walking again, he was at her shoulder. If something jumped out at them, he could get between her and it in a heartbeat.
Nothing sinister happened, though. Just the noise getting louder until they reached a larger clearing, illuminated by a lantern set on a post. On the far side was a tumble-down hut, and just outside the door sat a bent old woman. The sound they had heard was coming from her spinning wheel.
“Come closer!” the spinner called, not pausing in her work.
The wheel in front of her turned at a furious pace as her foot worked the pedal. She had a handful of something that looked like cloud, which she was feeding into the wheel. Luminous white thread came out the other side.
“Greetings, goodwife,” Jennet said.
The old woman looked at them then, her eyes deep-set and piercing. She nodded her lace-capped head and let the wheel slow.
“Fair Jennet. And bold Tamlin.”
“Greetings.” Tam made a bow, and then glanced at Jennet, waiting to follow her lead. Was this a threat, or just a diversion? It was impossible to tell if this was originally part of the game, or if it was all Faerie, or a combination of both.
The old woman let out a cackle. “Which of you will help me spin, thus further in the world to win?”
“I will.” He took a step forward. It seemed that the old woman was their next quest-giver.
“Tam, no.” Jennet caught hold of his arm. “It’s too dangerous.”
“All the more reason for me to do it.”
A half-remembered bit of story snagged at his brain. Something about pricking a finger and falling into a deep sleep. Well, if he did, Jennet would just have to blast the old spinner by herself.
“We’ll do it together,” she said. There was a stubborn set to her jaw that said she wasn’t backing down.
“Heh!” the old woman said. “Four clever hands will lead you into faerie lands.” She stood and gestured to the wheel.
Tam perched on the stool and set one foot on the pedal. His booted foot looked cumbersome and strange beside the delicate wood. Hopefully he wouldn’t break the thing.
“Ok.” Jennet took up the downy stuff the old lady had laid aside. “Ready?”
He nodded and pushed down with his toes. The wheel began to spin. Jennet eased bits of the fluff forward between her hands, a look of concentration on her face. The thread they made wasn’t smooth, but lumpy and awkward-looking. As it wound onto the wheel, it was obvious where the old lady’s spinning had stopped, and theirs began.
“Faster,” the crone cried. “Spin and turn, spin and turn.”
Tam swore he wasn’t pressing any harder, but suddenly the wheel sped up. The humming noise began again, vibrating down to his bones.
“Tam!” There was a panicky note in Jennet’s voice.
“Keep going,” he said.
Somehow he knew that if they stopped, they failed. And they couldn’t afford to lose.
The wheel was a blur of motion - everything around them was twirling. He heard the old woman’s voice, as if from far away, call, “Round and round, then reach the ground.”
The stool vanished from beneath him and his teeth clacked together as he sat down hard. It was completely dark. He felt around in front of him, but the spinning wheel was gone.
“Jennet?” Fear stabbed through him. If they were separated….
“Here.” She sounded breathless.
A moment later, bluish light bloomed as the crystal from her staff illuminated their surroundings. Rough-hewn rock enclosed them on three sides. The fourth led into the shadowy dark of a tunnel. Jennet stood beside him, both hands wrapped around her staff. He was sitting on a dirt floor, next to a heap of bones.
“Nice. Any idea where we are?” He clambered to his feet and nudged the pile of bones with his boot. They didn’t look human.
“Some kind of cave - and I don’t think much of the décor.” She made a face at the bone-pile. “Let’s get out of here.”
Side-by-side they stepped forward into the dark opening. The tunnel was big enough that Tam didn’t need to duck his head, and wide enough that their shoulders just brushed as they walked. He kept one hand firmly on his sword.
The way twisted and turned, and they came to a place where the tunnel split. There wasn’t a clear choice - both tunnels were equally wide and dusty.
“Which way?” He kept his voice low. Just because they hadn’t run into any creatures yet, didn’t mean they were alone in here.
“Hm. Maybe this will help.” Jennet extinguished her staff’s light.
The darkness pressed against Tam’s senses. He blinked a few times, to make sure his eyes were open. Then, very faintly, he saw a glow coming from the left-hand side. It was reddish and didn’t seem too friendly, but it was better than nothing. Even if it led to trouble, fighting monsters would be a change from wandering lost in some dark and dusty cave.
He felt Jennet’s hand on his shoulder and he nodded, though it was too dark for her to see. From here, they’d go without a light. No sense in advertising their presence. He stepped forward, keeping his pace slow in case they ran into any obstacles. Her hand was steady where she touched him, and she seemed happy enough to let him lead the way. Ahead, the red glow was a sullen smudge against the shadows.
The light grew imperceptibly brighter with every step, but no more welcoming. The tunnel curved, and he heard sounds - a low thumping, the strange sibilance of a language he couldn’t recognize. A foul reek filtered through his nostrils; rotten food and singed hair. Eerie shadows danced on the rock wall, and the back of his neck prickled. He inched forward and quietly drew his sword. The ruddy light reflected off it like blood. What lay ahead?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Jennet’s hand tightened on his shoulder as they rounded the curve. Tam swallowed, throat suddenly dry, and peered around the corner. His heart was pounding, deep and low, like some big tribal drum. This was like going through the Exe, where at any second bad things could leap out at you. Except that the bad things here were straight out of a nightmare.
His hand squeezed the hilt of his sword and a shiver crawled down his back. He was staring into a huge cave full of grotesque, green-skinned creatures.
Some of them were dancing beside a bonfire filled with bones. Others scuffled and fought, their gnarled fingers clawing, their sharp teeth gnashing. They had long, pointed ears and wore a motley assortment of coverings. Tam saw the tatters of a velvet dress, a crudely-tanned hide with half the fur still stuck on, and the glint of haphazard bits of armor.
They all had one thing in common, though. Every one of the creatures was wearing a skullcap or hood the color of old blood. Behind him, he heard Jennet’s sharp gasp.
“Red-cap goblins,” she breathed into his ear.
Tam nodded, keeping his gaze on the creatures fighting and cavorting. The air was full of their guttural, h
issing language. They looked like they wouldn’t hesitate to tear him and Jennet to bits.
The fire flickered, and the goblins sent up a sudden rough cheer. A second later, Tam saw the source of their glee. There was another tunnel on the far side of the cave, and emerging from it were five goblins, dragging the corpse of a deer behind them. The creatures closest to it leapt on the dead animal, knives and teeth flashing.
A loud command made them back away, and from the right-hand side of the cave a figure rose. He was a little taller than the other goblins - which still made him shorter than Jennet. On his hideous head he wore a crown studded with rubies.
“Goblin King?” he mouthed to Jennet.
She nodded, her eyes wide and scared.
He looked at the far side of the cave again, to the dark tunnel the hunters had come from. That had to be the way out. But how were they going to get there?
The king was making some sort of speech, punctuated by thumps of his wickedly-barbed pike on the stone floor. Jennet pulled on Tam’s shoulder and he slowly backed up until the goblins were hidden from view. Without a word they kept retreating until the red light was no more than a smudge against the darkness. Jennet’s staff shed a faint glow, just enough to see their way.
“We need a plan,” she finally said, her voice low. “Got any ideas?”
“We can’t just fight our way through - there are dozens of them. Even if they’re afraid of my sword, or your magefire, they’ll overwhelm us with sheer numbers.”
“And the Goblin King won’t let us just traipse past, either. Unless…” She pressed her lips together.
“What?”
She shook her head. “I was thinking we could offer him a bribe - but he won’t accept anything conjured, and that’s all we have. Next time, remind me to wear lots of jewelry.”
“Do you think it will come in-game with us?” he asked. “Never mind. Ok. Fighting is out, so is bribery. So somehow we’re going to have to sneak undetected through a cavern full of hungry goblins.”
Jennet took a strand of her pale hair and wound it around her finger. “Do you remember reading something in that book I lent you, Tam? Wasn’t there a way to avoid the notice of evil faeries by wearing your clothing backwards?”