“The Court of Dawn is where we’re headed. Ever since Cuthbert Brightwater showed up on my office and announced that I had to appear for my Naming Day Ceremony things have gone straight to hell. I’m convinced that nothing that has happened is coincidence; it’s all part of some larger scheme. I just don’t have all the pieces yet. I think we’ll find them there.”
“How are we to get there? I was under the impression that all the crossings would be under surveillance.” Dalia seemed a little confused. I put it down to shock.
“Well, yes. All the safe crossings will be covered. But the riskier ones won’t be. We are headed for Texarkana in general and the Nassoni temple mound specifically.” I turned off Interstate 20 and onto state highway 59. I figured that we were about 2 and ½ hours from our destination.
“Nassoni?! We can’t go there. It’s haunted.” Dalia’s eyes were wide and her face was pale.
Marty chuckled. “I think we can handle a few ghosts.”
Dalia turned a hot gaze on Marty and I could tell that she was pissed. “Excuse me Marten Obromowitz, I did not realize that you were such an expert on the world you just entered this morning. I am sure that you know all about the forces of the Adversary and other unclean things that might make such a place a lair. By all means, tell me how you will deal the restless army that prowls the Nassoni mound.”
Marty started to respond, but I interceded before this discussion got out of hand. “She’s right about this Marty. It’s not a joking matter. Nassoni is a dangerous place to be, especially at night.”
“You’re serious about these ghosts? I thought she was joking.” Marty thought for a moment. “Of course you’re serious. What’s ghosts to deal with? Especially after finding out that the Fey are traipsing all over Houston. Maybe you better fill me in on exactly what the story is with this place.”
“Dalia can probably tell you the story better than I could.” I signaled to change lanes. “Besides, I need to concentrate on what we are going to do when we get there. It’s been a while since I went through there.” Marty turned to look at Dalia, who was calmer than she had been.
“I apologize Marten Obromowitz. I sometimes overreact when a more clever response is needful. It was that very trait that has led to my current predicament. If had kept closer guard on my tongue, I would not have been made a pawn of.” Dalia lowered her gaze waiting for Marty to accept her apology.
“If anyone should be sorry it’s me. When I’m uncomfortable or out of my element I use humor to try and force things back into a mold I can deal with. The idea of ghosts, ogres and hit squads makes me very uncomfortable.” He paused and looked back at Dalia. “Please, tell me what I need to know about this Nassoni mound place.”
“Very well. I will tell you what I know of this cursed place and any details that I miss or gloss over, Jake will be able to fill in with luck.” She opened a bottle of Evian and took a long drag.
“The first thing you have to understand Marty is that this place has been a crossing point for centuries. Even after the Compact was signed and my kind quit this world, we still came at invitation. The people of the New World as your folk called it often sought our guidance. Often we would appear as totem animals to them and some spirit quests were actually forays into our world. For this to happen, a spot where our worlds can touch must be found. These places can occur naturally, but often a path can be made with the work of craft users on both sides of the veil. Nassoni is one of these places.”
“The Indians who lived near the Nassoni mound had lived there for over a thousand years and built a temple mound for their religious services and this mound, like the fairy mounds of the Old World provided us access to this world. The arrival of the Europeans in the 18th century put an end to this. The Caddo were friendly and so were the French explorers and traders who came through the village. Unfortunately, they brought diseases which over the course of a half century killed nearly all of the population. The pitiful remainder fled to swamps. The expedition that came through the village in 1806 found the village abandoned except for the dead, unburied and rotting”
“So this place is haunted by Indian spirits?” Marty had been drawn into her tale. “It’s terrible, but what would they care about us?”
“It’s not just Indian spirits, Marty, there are also the forces of the Adversary involved.” I glanced back at Dalia and said; ” Just give him the short version of the War with the Adversary. It’s too long to go into now.”
“Very well. The Faerie have been involved in an ongoing struggle with the Adversary for centuries. He is the great evil. A force of darkness that shadows all. In your world he has many names and forms. Lucifer is one of them, but he has others. No culture is left untouched by him. In our world, to name a thing is to have power over it, so his true name is unknown to us as is his precise nature. To us, he is simply the Adversary.” She paused and I twirled my fingers in a “go on” motion and she continued.
“One of the reasons for the Compact was to help the two factions of the Bright Kingdom consolidate their enmity against the Adversary. It has, for the most part, worked quite well. The Court of Twilight and the Court of Dawn have been willing to put aside differences whenever the Adversary stirs and he always does. Over the centuries he has made many attempts to end us all. He has a unique advantage. He has no interest in conquest other than that it gives him opportunity to kill as many of us as possible and sicken the land beyond hope of recovery. Even when we win a battle against him we will lose a little. His minions’ blood is poison that stains the lands and kills it beyond death. ”
“The last pitched battle occurred on the very site we are heading to. It is an ill-omened place in any event just because of all the deaths that occurred there, but a battle between an army of infernal forces and the Bright Kingdom could only make it worse. The energies liberated there, both dark and light, have the effect of lens, intensifying each malefic spirit as well as each lingering ghost. Tragedy on both sides of the veil have made this a terrifying place to go through. The Nassoni Temple mound is avoided by nearly everyone because it is a very dangerous place. Only the criminal and those with nothing to lose would consider it as passage between the veil.”
“I guess it’s a good thing that we fall into both categories at the moment, huh?” Marty had a wickedly large smile. I couldn’t be sure but it looked like Marty was either actually enjoying all the intrigue or he didn’t really take what we were saying seriously, despite what he had been told and had seen. Well, I thought, if he didn’t take it seriously yet, he would soon enough.
“So. What can we actually expect when we get there?”
“I am not sure. I have never attempted passage through such a place. I am not well traveled and even if I was, I would have come through a better regulated and peaceful passage. Perhaps Jake is best to answer this question.” Dalia nodded her head at me and I considered the last time I had used the Nassoni Temple passage. It had been quite a few years ago and it had been pretty awful. Marty turned to me and his eyes asked the question.
“I don’t know for sure what it will be like. I think it is different for everyone who uses it. If I tell you what I experienced it may not serve you very well as a guide. I’m afraid that you will either take my story too much to heart and freeze when the moment to cross comes or what you experience will be so different that you will be too much at ease. Both reactions can be fatal.” I paused for a moment and considered what I actually could tell them as I made my way up state highway 59 towards Texarkana. We were already starting to see more buildings and I knew that we only had about an hour or more before we got there.
“Marty, you’ve never crossed the Veil before so you won’t have anything to compare it too. In some ways, that’s a blessing because it means that you won’t have any expectations about what’s to come. Dalia, All I can tell you is that it’s like a regular passage but more so. Just remember that no matter how bad it feels, it will pass.”
“The main problem is going to
be actually getting to the passage itself. The mound is surrounded with the psychic remains of a horrific battle and the restless dead of the plague victims. It’s the voices which you must beware of. No matter what they say, you must ignore them. They’re not real. Or least they aren’t real in the way we think of reality. Whatever actually lives there now will pluck at your thoughts and try to make you lose your way. It’s not very far from the edge of the site to the passage as a crow flies but we ain’t flying. It might seem like a long time just to get there, but we have to get there and make the crossing. If you wander off or lose focus, you will have an ‘accident’. It’s the reason that the State of Texas has never allowed many people onto the site and tries to keep its actual location secret.” Marty started to ask a question but I stopped him.
“No. They don’t know why it’s so dangerous just that people seem to have a very bad time there and that accidents seem out of proportion with the normal park. The WPA group that tried to excavate the mound suffered a collapse that killed 5 workers. They gave up after another worker fell head first into a campfire and burned to death.” Marty was silent, considering what he had gotten into. It was the best thing I could hope for. He was starting to take this seriously.
“Are there any questions?” I asked. Dalia shivered and shook her head no. It was worse for her. She had some idea of what to expect and she was obviously nervous, bordering on terror. I suspect her wound wasn’t helping.
“About a million,” Marty said, “But only a few that really matter. If this passage is so dangerous, why doesn’t someone do something about it? Maybe quarantine it or clean it, like an EPA super site or something.”
“It would take an enormous amount of effort to clean it, if I understand what I was told after I used it. Besides, it’s not worth it to anybody. It’s geographically remote from human population centers on this side of the Veil and in the wilderness on the other side of the Veil only the foolhardy or the desperate use it. Supposedly a few smugglers have used it from time to time, but it’s just too remote and too dangerous to bother with.”
It was quiet in the Crown Vic and I wondered if I had laid it on a little too thick. It might be worse for them to face the passage though the veil terrified than it would be for them to face it unprepared.
“Look, I know this is frightening, but I did make it through. It was a nasty trip, but not an impossible one, obviously.” I paused and made sure that they were listening. “Just…stick with me if you have problems. I will get you through. It should be a piece of cake. Really nasty, unpleasant cake, but still edible despite the smell. Okay?”
Dalia looked confused and Marty smiled a seemed to relax a little. Looking back at that ride through north eastern Texas, I wondered what I would have done if I had known exactly how awful it was going to be.
Chapter Twenty
The rest of the drive to the temple mound was pretty quiet. Marty was tunelessly humming something beneath my hearing and Dalia spent her time looking at Texarkana and the surrounding countryside. I was thinking about what we should do once we crossed over. I don’t have a lot of resources on the other side. I knew a few Fey that I could trust to put us up for a little while, but not many that I wanted risk with a declaration of becoming unclean. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what was going on, or at least who was doing what, but I wasn’t completely sure what I could do about it.
I wished that I could call Sergeant Bermuda, but that seemed risky. First, I wasn’t sure exactly what his role in all this was and I wasn’t sure exactly which side he was playing for. Second, if I called him in, I would lose what little control I had of events and I couldn’t risk that until I could see how all this was going to turn out. If I turned all this over to him, I had no guarantee that Dalia would be safe. At some point, over the last few days, it had become very important to me that I protect Dalia and that she be safe.
I hadn’t realized just how much I missed having family until she had arrived unannounced in my life. She may have been “only” a second cousin, but she was mine and I wasn’t going to lose her. It made me wonder if I had other kin that I didn’t know about. I had avoided my Father’s family like they were direct agents for the Adversary and would never have expected that someone as sweet as Dalia could possible exist in our family. I had to admit, however much it stung, that I might have been a little unfair to those unknown kin.
Still, it was just as likely that they were like my father. My father, who couldn’t have been bothered to find out if I was even born or what had happened to my mother. My Grandfather told me how, after my birth, she had lain on her bed, in a pool of sweat and blood and called for him. He didn’t come. He never came. All the time that I was a child and trying to come to term with the things I saw and felt, things that none of my pure human friends could see, he was a big, father shaped hole in my life. When I finally, did come to the Court of Dawn, he wouldn’t see me. He told me through messengers that his honor would never let him come to me. Oh, he offered me money, blood money bought with my mother’s life, but I wouldn’t touch it. I never had. I guess I should have been grateful that he never disowned me. He certainly could have had he chosen to do so. But this time he would see me. I would give him no choice. He had connections I needed and I would use him to save Dalia and to bring Kevin’s killers to justice, however much I might have to risk his precious name.
I spent the remainder of the drive working out exactly what I thought would bring all this to a reasonable conclusion and if I was correct about what was going on, it wouldn’t be easy. Like I’ve said before, when the Court reaches out into the mortal world, it’s nothing but trouble. When both Courts reach out, it becomes a disaster. My only hope was that I could ride the waves to safety and take Dalia and Marty with me.
Marty. Marty was another issue entirely. If I could extract myself from this mess, he would be fine, if not he was probably screwed. The best he could hope for was a mind wipe and nightmares for the rest of his life. The worst was hard to consider, but I did it anyway.
If I failed, and it was only too likely that things could go that way, Marty could end up in some Fey’s noble service, doing whatever little task he deemed Marty suitable for. It was oath to me that made him vulnerable. As an unsworn human he would have had protection under the Compact. But as a liege man, a different set of rules applied. He could be claimed by any member of my family, even my father. I could wish that it hadn’t come to this, that Marty could been content without knowing so much about what was going on, but with him it was hopeless. He was too good at finding things out and I had owed him the truth for a while. It was a little late now to be worried about it, but I should never have involved him in this mess.
Still, I hadn’t realized at the time how complicated it was all going to become. No, that was a lie. There was a moment, after Kevin had been killed and Marty had broken into my place and ate a sandwich when I should have cut him out. I knew that it could get a lot hairier but I was tired of being alone all the time. When Kevin was murdered, I realized how few people would actually give a shit about my death and it hit me hard. I realized that I wanted it to come to this, that I wanted Marty to know, I wanted someone to share my secret with. I admit, I was ashamed of my weakness. I had endangered my friend because I was lonely. At this point there was nothing to do but play it out and do what I could to keep Marty and Dalia safe. It wouldn’t make up for my carelessness in involving him in the first place, but maybe it would be enough. I certainly hoped so. Marty was looking at me and I stopped woolgathering and brought my focus back to the present.
“Marty, once we get on the path that leads to the passage through the Veil things will start happening pretty quickly, so let just tell you a few things that you should expect.” He nodded and his smile faded and he his intent gaze told me that he was as ready as he was going to be.
“First, we have to ditch whatever iron we might be carrying. It’s considered a mortal insult to be carrying iron on the other side, kinda lik
e some guy strolling down in the fifth ward in a KKK outfit with a rope on his shoulder.” Marty laughed and I was glad to see that he still had that in him. Wish I felt like laughing.
“Second; the guns. We can take them, but they aren’t always reliable so don’t bet your life on them. There are many places that are spelled against them, specifically the accelerant that’s inside the shell casings. If we had more time I would load us up with something right off the R&D boards. Stuff that is so new takes time for the Fey to adapt their spells to protect against new tech.” He nodded.
“I will try and let you know when it’s safe to use them, but there might not be time, so plan accordingly.”
“What about the Black Watch? Won’t they have the same problems?” Dalia had been listening.
“Unfortunately, no, they won’t. Their weapons are spelled as exceptions to most warding spellcraft. It’s heavy magic and illegal for the general population to own such a weapon. So we aren’t likely to find any for our own use. True, there are ways around the warding spellcraft, but not very many. Assume that if the Black Watch shoots, their guns will fire and they will hit. They don’t miss very often. Even if they don’t use guns, they spend decades in unarmed and melee combat. They are deadly with just about any weapon you care to name. If you see them and they don’t see you, keep it that way. You have to be very good or very lucky to put one of them down and I ain’t feeling that lucky. It’s fortunate for us that there aren’t many of them. It would be luckier still if there weren’t some already looking for us.”
“Got it, we’re going into the lion’s den bare as when we were born. I love it when a plan comes together.” He grimaced. “Are there any pluses?”
Naming Day (Jake Underwood Book 1) Page 19