by Izzy Shows
“What? You asked about my experiences.” He grinned.
“I didn’t mean your sexual conquests. Get back to the story, please.”
“Fine, but I’m not editing anything out. You can hear the whole story or none of it.”
I rolled my eyes. Mal was such a tool. The last thing I wanted to hear about was him making out with random women, it just wasn’t something I wanted to know about. I wasn’t in the habit of hearing the detailed events of a friend’s sexual conquests.
“All right, whatever. On with it.”
1924, Riordan’s Estate
The first rays of dawn touched the grounds of the estate as we walked towards the gates. There was a small guard house just to the left of the gate, barely visible yet. I nodded at Aisling for her to go ahead of us to distract the guard.
She leapt forward, running with a spring in her step. It was amusing to watch, she had a carefree spirit to her, not tied down with all the rigid rules the Courts imposed on the Fae that pledged allegiance to them.
We waited for a few moments, out of sight of the guard.
“We’re good to go,” Nuala reported.
Separated though they were by their allegiances, the Fae could still speak to each other on a more secure mental path than she could have generated with me.
I nodded and signaled to the two to move forward. We approached as a group, careful not to speak or to make noise as we moved.
Humans were so noisy when they walked, crunching rocks and breaking sticks, and otherwise making noise that betrayed their position. It was always a relief to work with other supernaturals, capable of masking their sounds.
As we neared the guard house, I could hear Aisling talking to the guard.
“Don’t you think it’s just, like, so beautiful out here?”
“Yeah, it really is. I guess I’m used to it, being out here so much. But you’re right, I should really appreciate it more.”
“And it’s so wonderful that you get to be out in the fresh air for your work! You get to appreciate nature, feel the breeze moving against your skin. Have you ever noticed that it feels like the touch of a lover as it caresses your skin?” She practically breathed the words at the guard’s ear, her technique so obvious to us but to a mere human the effects would be intoxicating.
A Fae standing still, not talking, is a captivating creature to all, but more so to mortals. When one sets their mind on entrancing you, it takes a surplus of mental fortitude to resist. A simple guard would not have that capacity, they were likely in place to filter visitors, not to keep out ne’er-do-well’s or resist the charmed words of a Fae.
We crossed into the grounds unnoticed, the guard having opened the gate for Aisling so that she could come closer to him. We kept going several paces, so that the guard wouldn’t look back and see us after Aisling departed.
“Do you think I could take a walk, see the rest of the place?” I heard her ask the guard.
“Oh, uh, well I’m not supposed to let anyone in that wasn’t invited…but I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm. Will you come back to talk to me?”
She leaned into him, talking breathlessly into his ear. “Of course! I’ll tell you about everything I saw…and felt, out there.”
She left the guard and rejoined our group after only a few more moments, looking quite smug and pleased with herself.
“He’s just a human,” Nuala pointed out. “It’s not like you tricked anyone important.”
“You’re just jealous,” Aisling said with a flounce of her hair. “That it wasn’t you who got us in.”
“Please, I couldn’t care less about you flirting with a mortal man,” Nuala sneered.
I rolled my eyes, aware now that it would be a constant habit for the entirety of the adventure. Nuala was a thorn in my side, admittedly a high ranking Sidhe in the Winter Court, but nowhere near what I had really wanted. She was aware of it, and I’m sure that rubbed her the wrong way. She was accustomed to the praise and respect that her position would normally command when around those of her Court, or the mortals she might herself play with, but not from someone like me.
Not from someone who had known a more powerful Fae intimately.
“How close do we need to get before Aisling can take us down?” Bastian asked.
I looked over at him, taking in how nervous he appeared. He really needed to settle down, or his nerves alone would set off alarms. The estate had to be rigged to pick up any mental or magical energy, and what Aisling would do needed to be focused and shielded as much as possible. We didn’t have the time to worry about whether Bastian was shielding himself properly.
“You need to calm down,” I told him. “Don’t broadcast your emotions so much. We need to get closer to the manse, but not quite against the walls. I’d imagine the compound starts under the main entrance, probably expanding a bit farther out. So, we won’t go right up to the entry stairs, where a servant could see us, but we’ll be getting close.”
“Oh. OK. Right,” he said. He nodded his head several times, as if trying to convince himself that it was all going to be OK.
Aisling threw an arm around his shoulders, drawing him closer to her as they walked. “Don’t worry, I’ll get us safely to the compound. You believe in me, right?”
“Of course!” He looked up at her, I could practically hear the smile in his voice.
“Good.” She smiled down at him. I felt the ripple of calming energy she pushed at him, and chuckled to myself.
Aisling was a good friend to keep around. I had enjoyed her presence before, and was grateful she was here. She kept my temper from flaring too much at Nuala, she’d keep Bastian as calm as could be, and she provided a bit of entertainment whenever Nuala engaged with her, not to mention entertainment of a…more intimate kind when no-one else was around.
We walked a bit further in silence. I was a little surprised that Nuala had no more barbs to throw at Aisling for the moment, she seemed ready to snap at her whenever the opportunity presented itself, and I would have thought that Aisling chumming up to Bastian would have been one of those opportunities. After the way she’d reacted to Aisling charming the guard, it made sense she wouldn’t have enjoyed watching Aisling and Bastian.
She was quiet, though, and for that, I was truly grateful.
Finally, we reached the spot which I judged to be above the compound. I signalled for them to stop. “All right, Aisling. Time to get to work.”
She nodded, letting go of Bastian’s shoulder and moving to stand slightly in front of the group. “Place your hands on my shoulders,” she instructed us, and we all did so.
She began to chant in the tongue of the Fae, arms extended downwards, palms up, and her skin began to radiate with an autumn green color.
Her form began to shimmer, and I looked at the other two and noted that they were as well. Good, it was working.
Teleportation, whatever you want to call it, has a weird effect on the body. Kind of like the drop of a rollercoaster, the blood rushes to your head, your stomach drops out, the feeling in your legs diminish to the point of numbness. It all comes back to you once you’re standing on ground again, but for those brief moments you’re literally falling out of space.
Time travel is even worse.
The world solidified around us again and we were standing at the entrance to the compound. Stairs were behind us, leading up into further darkness, and before us stood a door. It wasn’t a bank vault style door, that would likely come later, but it was large and made of steel.
The Fae wouldn’t be able to touch it at all.
Nuala hissed, having appeared too close to the door. Not quite touching it, but the skin of her hand had steamed a bit from the proximity. She moved a few paces away and cradled her damaged hand while it healed.
“You didn’t mention it was made of iron,” she said, staring at me as if I had built it myself.
“I didn’t know what it was made of, and I hardly see the point in mentioning it. What difference wou
ld it have made? Aisling couldn’t have steered clear of it, she didn’t know its exact position,” I said.
“He’s right. It sucks, I hate being this close to something that massive, but he’s right,” Aisling said, shaking her head with her lips set in a hard line.
“I had a right to know what I was getting into,” Nuala said, refusing to give it up.
“And I told you everything I knew that we were getting into! Stop acting like you didn’t sign up to be a part of this, like you’ve somehow been forced into this position. You wanted to be here.” I threw up my hands, pacing in a small circle. “I’m getting really sick of your shit, Nuala.”
“And I yours,” she said, quietly. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I do!” Aisling said, grinning. “You were thinking, ‘oh this is my perfect opportunity to prove Malphas he’s wrong about me, that I’m a perfect Winter Fae and he can stop being hung up on a girl long since gone.’ That’s what you were thinking. Well guess what, Nuala, you’re wrong. You’re never going to be her, so get over your own little crush.”
I stared at the two of them, mouth agape for a moment. I don’t shock often, but that was an interesting revelation. I had never picked up on any signals from Nuala, though I suppose my mind had been closed off to anything that wasn’t inherently shallow.
If Nuala wanted something substantial from me, my subconscious would have ignored it.
To her credit, Nuala didn’t say anything either, she just stared at Aisling with hatred in her eyes before she set her shoulders and faced the door again. “Let’s get on with it.”
I nodded, happy to leave that little outburst alone. Aisling looked pleased with herself, but I did find myself wishing she had kept that information to herself. It wasn’t something I had wanted to know.
“All right, buddy. It’s your go,” I told Bastian, gesturing towards the door. “Mist out.”
He looked shaky, no change from the way he’d looked the entire time, and every time I’d been around him so far. He didn’t have a lot of confidence in himself or his position in this group, it was plain to see. That would come with age, with accomplishments, and I knew that he could get there.
Just not as quickly as I wanted him to.
His face took on a look of concentration, eyes shut tight, lips set in a grim line, brow furrowed. I could practically hear him thinking in front of me.
He dissolved slowly, bits of him disappearing at a time until there was nothing but a cloud of mist in the space where he had once been. This was not the first time I’d seen a vampire mist out, and I was used to it being a lot faster. Age goes a long way, I suppose.
He separated himself, bits going under and over the door, and through the keyhole.
We waited, Nuala tapping her foot against the marble floor impatiently. I rolled my eyes but didn’t say anything; trying not to think too much on what her prior agitation might have meant now that I knew more. Her annoyance last night had certainly been jealousy in retrospect, I hadn’t thought of that at the time. She was probably dying to get this over with and go home.
I was ready for her to be gone too.
The door swung open slowly, I knew it was a heavy mass but I would have thought that the vampire’s heightened strength would do more against it. Maybe I had underestimated the weight of the door.
Finally, he stood in front of us, panting ever so slightly. He wore a proud smile on his lips and was laughing just a bit.
“I did it! Did you see me? I’ve never done that for something important before, just for fun. That was so cool!”
“You did a great job, Bastian.” Aisling beamed at him, walking forward to clasp him in a hug.
“All right, there will be plenty of time to celebrate everyone’s achievements when this is all over. Come on. Let’s get this party started,” I said.
I headed into the vault, followed closely by the gang.
1924, Riordan’s Estate…still
We walked quietly down the corridor, the only sound Nuala’s heels tapping against the floor. It bothered me that she wasn’t masking her sounds any longer, but I let it go. There was little point in hiding now, anyone we ran into would have to be cut down.
I relied on the mental map in my head, from the blueprints that had been given to me. Hopefully we wouldn’t have to come back this way once we’d got into the vault—I was banking on Aisling being able to spirit us out of the vault like she had spirited us into the compound—because I was hopeless at rewinding the twists and turns we would have taken.
I’d probably be able to do it if I had to, but I’d prefer not to.
We arrived at the door to the first room in short time.
“Ready?” I asked Aisling.
“Of course,” she said, smiling at me. She placed her hand on the doorknob, gave it a twist, and pushed it open.
The room was empty, looking more like a wide hallway than a room in truth, and at the far end was another door. Standing in front of it though, was a statue.
I glanced at the others and nodded for Aisling to take the lead, walking close behind her so that if anything did spring out, I’d be able to handle it for her. Nothing did, and we were in front of the statue in a matter of minutes.
It came to life as soon as we were a few paces away, its eyes opening and head tilting to the side as it looked at us.
“You have no access to these parts,” the statue said, its voice metallic and reverberating throughout the room.
“What access do any of us have to claim the Earth from those born unto it?” Aisling replied, locking eyes with the statue.
It stared at her for several long moments before it stood a little straighter, nodding its head.
I suppose that was an indication that the fun was about to begin.
“I am life and I am death. One cannot survive without me, but to watch me run free would mean the death of man. My colour cannot be named, for I go by many forms. What am I?”
Aisling remained mute, watching the statue.
I counted the seconds, vaguely concerned that if too much time passed the statue would call it unsolved and destroy us.
“You flow within me and every being that walks the earth. You are blood.” Aisling spoke at last.
I found I dared not draw breath while the statue remained still, waiting to see what the outcome would be.
The seconds stretched out, just as they had when Aisling had waited to give her reply.
“My sword is broken, and my name used to excuse weakness and frailty of the mind. No one has lifted me for a great time, and I grow worried that I will rust in my sheath. What am I?”
“Mercy,” Aisling replied, immediate in her response this time.
It went on like that for what felt like eternity, the statue positing its riddles and Aisling finding the answer, sometimes after minutes and sometimes she queried back without pause. It was exhausting just to watch, for the entire affair was very tense.
One wrong answer and we would have to fight our way out.
I did not speak to the others, concerned as I was that something I said would be taken as a reply to a riddle if it was ill timed. The others seemed to understand this without being told, and I was grateful for that.
I glanced at Bastian, watched him fidget and roll his eyes several times. Maybe he wouldn’t stay silent for long. He looked like he was growing restless.
“I am lost to time. I have no parents. The world weeps for my absence. Who am I?”
I glanced back and forth from the statue to Aisling several times, completely dumbfounded by that question. The others I’d had a slight inkling on, at least had an incorrect guess that I thought had been founded in good logic, but I had no idea where to start on that.
I saw the sweat bead on her brow as she focused, trying to find the answer.
Did she not know it? Was she not capable of figuring it out?
I felt my own panic level rising and did what I could to quash the mental spillover to the other me
mbers of the party, though I could already feel Bastian’s tension rising.
Fuck. I could not handle the lot of us losing our heads over a simple question.
I glanced over at Nuala, she was just as stumped as I was.
What the fuck good are Fae if they can’t figure out the riddle I brought them here for? Had Nuala even been paying attention.
“Who am I?” The statue queried again after several minutes of silence had stretched out.
That was a bad sign. It was going to fault us for the lack of answer.
But what answer was there?
“Jesus!” Bastian shouted, I could hear the panic in his voice and I cringed.
Aisling whipped her head around to glare at the boy. “You fool,” She hissed. “You’ve killed us.”
Bastian turned pale.
I stared at the statue in silence, hoping that he was right but knowing in my heart he was wrong. It wasn’t exactly fair to say that Bastian had killed us, none of us had been approaching figuring out the answer as far as I know—or perhaps Aisling had been close to it? We would never know. The statue wouldn’t tell us if she was right even if she told us the answer later.
“Incorrect.” The statue finally said, delivering the damning word in a mechanical tone.
Of course, the statue didn’t care if we lived or died. It took no pleasure in it.
But it certainly did a lot for draining the morale from you.
Nothing happened for a long minute. The statue did not move, of course, but nothing sprang to attack us. I briefly entertained the vain hope that we would simply be allowed to leave, maybe come back tomorrow and start over.
And then they came.
They were spirits, clad in medieval armor and bearing claymores, they leapt from the walls and up from the floor, appearing everywhere within the crowded room.
“Mist out,” I hissed at Bastian as I called a sword made of malevolent energy into my hand. He would be useless in this fight, unable to combat spirits. The two Fae rushed to my side, forming a triangle with their backs to me.
“Fucking fantastic,” Aisling snapped. “All according to plan, right?”