by Nova Nelson
“And I knew,” Sprinsong said, taking up the story, “the only way to ensure neither one of us followed in the same fate as Dean and Aria was to take the High Priest out of the picture completely.”
“I see,” I said. “You did what you had to do.”
She nodded. “Oh yes, but don’t let that fool you into thinking I didn’t enjoy the act of watching the life leave him. I did, quite a bit. I won’t bore you with the gory details, because they unfortunately weren’t all that gory. I had to make it look like a natural death. I’m not sure I did a very good job, but luckily the magical examiner at the time was—”
“You,” I said.
I felt Eva perk up in the chair next to mine. I hadn’t mentioned that detail in my summary of the events, and it seemed she was finally getting a sense of how deep this cover-up went.
“Was there an investigation into his murder?”
“No,” said the mayor. “Because it wasn’t ruled a murder. Oh, I think Bloom had her suspicions about it, but she wasn’t the biggest fan of the man either. It was only a matter of time before his poor health or his poor treatment of others caught up to him.”
These two made sure of that, at least.
“Are you aware,” I asked, slightly changing the subject and hoping to catch one or both off her guard, “that the portal through which the Culpeppers traveled, and presumably the same one through which I entered Eastwind, is currently open?”
I watched closely for signs of surprise but came up empty.
Springsong shrugged leisurely and sipped her tea before saying. “I wasn’t aware, but it does explain quite a few things.”
“Ruby said you might know more about it. The portal, that is.”
“I don’t know about that one specifically, but in my exhaustive studies, I’ve learned many things about portals.”
“And what have you learned that leads you to be so unsurprised by the fact that the one to my world is open again?”
She inhaled, readying herself with dignity that seemed entirely pointless following a murder confession, and then launched into it. “Portals form naturally. They are nature’s best tool for restoring balance. They allow the flow of energy to pass between realms, diffusing it where needed and infusing elsewhere. Exact balance is impossible, of course, but there are tolerated fluctuations before nature grows desperate and opens a pressure valve. However, both Cordelia and I have seen the imbalance growing stronger and stronger these last few months—the howling Winds of Change are further evidence of it—and we’ve been trying, albeit without much success, to set things right. But I’m afraid we’ve officially lost that battle. I think we lost it the moment your circle formed. You’ve amassed too much power into one place, and nature cannot compensate without opening up another portal. Actually, I’d be surprised if it was just one. There could be tears all throughout our realm as a result.”
Not eager to have that on my conscience, I asked, “What about established portals like the one to Avalon? Are you telling me that one could shut at any moment if Eastwind becomes more stable?”
The High Priestess shook her head. “While that one did form naturally, it’s held open now by a great force of magic. It’s possible for such spells to work over the long term, but it’s rare. It can cause quite a bit of damage in both realms, but over time they settle and neutralize. It’s highly regulated, though, by many wise and powerful beings. Making those decisions is no simple matter. Most of the portals in Eastwind come and go completely unnoticed. Some stay open and eventually become permanent, but it’s anyone’s guess which will make the cut. Only Mother Nature knows the fate of each.”
“And do you know how to close a portal?” I asked.
“There are two ways,” she said. “One is by magical force. This is only advisable if you opened the portal by magical force to begin with. The other way is simple in theory, complicated in practice, and that is to fix whatever is off kilter, to remove the element that has caused the portal to open up in the first place. When nature is satisfied, it will shut the portal.”
After so much silence, Eva finally spoke. “Why are you telling us all this? I know you’re not trying to help us.”
The grin that spread across Springsong’s face reminded me of a fissure in the earth. “Very true. I have no interest in helping you. But I do have an interest in helping my home world survive. And if that means providing outsiders like yourselves the information you need to fix the mess you’ve made, then I’m happy to be of service.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “Any idea how exactly we ‘fix the mess’?”
Her grin widened. “I have a guess. It might even be a very good guess.” She left us hanging while she poured herself a fresh cup of tea and leaned back in her chair, cradling it with both hands. “Nature isn’t happy about your witches circle, clearly. But the Winds of Change appeared before that ever formed, didn’t they? So I ask myself what entity that runs counter to nature has appeared in Eastwind recently? Hmm…” She tapped a finger to her lips mockingly. “Ah yes. How about the Fifth Wind? It doesn’t take the sharpest of minds to answer the question of why the portal you presume is open again leads to the only world where Fifth Winds are created. Your world wants you back, Nora Ashcroft. If you want to shut the portal, I believe it’s quite simple. You must leave Eastwind. Forever.”
Chapter Seventeen
Leave Eastwind forever? No way. I had nothing to go back to. Everyone at home thought I was dead, and probably no one cared.
Could I leave Tanner and Ruby and Grim and everyone else?
My gut answered immediately: No.
It was a selfish answer, but what did it actually hurt if I stayed? Sure, the Winds of Change were obnoxious, but they weren’t dangerous. At least not yet.
I could feel the eyes in the room on me.
I should say something.
But what?
I opened my mouth to force something out, hoping it didn’t betray my selfish reaction to this revelation, but before even a squeak could make its way from me, Eva jumped in.
Bless her.
“Do we know exactly when the Winds of Change began?”
“They came into town around the middle of August, I believe,” said Springsong. “Perhaps a bit sooner.”
“They were in the Deadwoods before that, though,” I corrected. “Ted reported hearing them not long after Lunasa.”
Eva nodded, as if that confirmed some suspicion she held, but what that suspicion was, I didn’t ask. I respected her right to silently formulate a theory. She would likely tell me about it as soon as we’d ditched the other two.
“So,” I continued, “you believe that—”
I was interrupted by a loud thunk to my left. I turned and found the source. A small goblin, who I’d regularly seen attending to the needier High Council members, had just entered the chamber and stumbled to get his balance. His round eyes were wide, and he was panting. “Mayor, High Priestess—you must come at once!”
Esperia jumped to her feet and Springsong, while more graceful and deliberate in her movements, set down her cup and strode over to the small man. “What is it, Krakow?”
Between his desperate inhales, he managed, “Horrible! They’re everywhere. Not sure how to stop them.”
She placed a hand on top of his head to help steady him. “Speak sense! Not sure how to stop what?”
“The serpents, High Priestess! And more! I don’t know what to call them!”
Her head jerked around to look at each of us, and the fear in her eyes disarmed me. Eva, Grim, and I were on our feet now, and I nodded at Springsong to let her know I understood her unspoken question and my answer was yes.
Yes, I knew this was probably my fault, and yes, I would do what it took to fix it.
That moment of selfishness disappeared on a breeze once I realized Eastwinders might be in real danger… and it was likely because of me.
But I had no idea of just how bad it was until we left the quiet room and entere
d back into the Emporium.
“Nightmare” didn’t even cover it.
When Krakow said giant serpents, he wasn’t kidding. The things were thicker than a car and when they reared up, their heads were even with the tops of the surrounding buildings.
“Where did they come from?” Eva asked, clearly as stunned as me.
“If I had to guess, I’d say that giant tear in space-time.” I pointed to the other side of the Emporium where it looked like someone had drawn back the curtain of reality, and between the fabric poured more and more unnamable things. Not just snakes, but brutal hairy creatures and ghouls with more heads than limbs.
A portal had opened in the middle of the Hallow’s Faire.
Did I feel like a terrible person for, only a moment before, deciding not to act when I knew what needed to be done?
Hellhound yes, I did.
For every Eastwinder who fled, at least two stayed to fend off the foul things.
Liberty Freeman blasted one of the fast and furry creatures, making it explode in a puff of pink sparkles. Man, I was glad we had him on our side.
“No sir!” came a shout to my left, and when I turned, I saw Ruby blast a wave of ghoulish monstrosities back fifteen feet using nothing but her hands.
Note to self: never pay rent late.
Bloom swooped overhead, conjuring giant golden spears out of thin air and hurling them at the heads of the serpents. And then, flying in from behind her was what looked like a cloud of fire. As it neared, however, I realized it was actually more like a flock of fire.
Ted’s phoenixes.
And holy spirit, had he boosted the population. There had to be hundreds of them, and they began dive-bombing the nightmares pouring from the portal, setting each one alight before shooting back up again.
And it was in the face of so many Eastwinders pulling out all the stops (I glimpsed Count Malavic fighting a green thing with nearly a dozen legs, and my mouth fell open when I saw giant black claws extend from the tips of the vampire’s fingers just before he sliced the monster in two), that I realized just how completely useless I was here.
And yet, if my assumptions were correct, I was the only one who could stop this.
“Ready for a trip to the Deadwoods?” I asked Grim.
“I dunno. For once, staying in town seems like the best way to get myself killed. Again.”
“Where are you going?” Eva called after me as Grim and I sprinted away from the chaos. I tried not to think too hard about how it would look that I was running away from danger, not toward it.
I didn’t answer Eva but kept on running.
She chased after us, and a moment later I heard her whistle and Zola emerged from the shadows. The mountain lion could have easily caught up with Grim and me, but she stayed right by Eva’s side.
I tried not to look at Medium Rare as we sprinted through the Outskirts. I’d never get to see it open back up. Would Tanner reopen it once I was gone, or would he sell it?
For a moment, I thought someone had actually run a sharp object through my chest, but it was just the brutal realization of what I was leaving behind. Who I was leaving behind. Tanner may understand on some level—after all, he knew about self-sacrifice for the sake of others—but I had a feeling he’d never fully forgive me.
I’d probably never forgive myself for hurting him.
I slowed as we reached the Deadwoods, and Eva and Zola finally caught up to us. It was clear we were facing headlong into the Winds now. How had I never noticed that they always blew from this direction?
“You’re going to have to take the lead,” I said. “I have no idea where this thing is.”
“I’ll do my best.”
While the impulse to run was still strong, the only smart time to sprint haphazardly through the Deadwoods at night was if something was chasing you. Otherwise, it was best to watch your step and make as little noise as possible. You know, so that nothing ended up chasing you.
Thankfully, telepathy was a silent act, so I could chat with Grim to my heart’s content. It was just unfortunate he wasn’t always great conversation. But I wasn’t in the mood for small talk anyway.
“Are you going to come with me?”
“That depends. How dangerous is it there?”
I thought about it. On the one hand, there was no magic. On the other hand, there were lots of cars.
“If you don’t follow my instructions—”
“You know I won’t.”
“—then it’s extremely dangerous.”
“Perfect. I’m in.”
I hate to admit how much better it made me feel to know that at least Grim would be coming with me. Probably not my first pick of companion for the one-way trip, but it was better than nothing.
“We might not be able to communicate telepathically there,” I warned.
“You can stop trying to sell me on it. I’m already sold.”
It was amazing just how much stronger the Winds of Change were now that we’d passed the tree line. They howled in my ears. Maybe I didn’t need to worry about the noise we made after all.
And at least it was clear that we were getting closer to the source.
Despite the risk it ran of us being seen, Eva lit a flame at the end of her wand, just enough for us to keep from tripping over every fallen branch in our path.
“I know what you’re doing.” Eva had leaned in close at my side to be heard. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Are you going to try to talk me out of it?”
“Wouldn’t dare. But only because I know you’d never listen.”
True enough. “Then why did you come?”
“I’m not letting you go into the Deadwoods alone.”
“I’m not alone. Grim’s with— Really Grim?”
He glanced back at me, his hind leg still raised as the powerful stream splashed against a tree trunk. “What? This is the last chance I have to do this! You think I’m going to let the Deadwoods forget me that easily?”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks,” I then said to Eva.
“You’re going to break his heart, you know.”
I tried not to think about it. “I know.” I paused. Should I have found him and said goodbye? No, there was no time in the chaos. “Will you keep an eye on him for me? Make sure he’s okay?”
“Of course.”
While Grim led the way, Zola prowled around us, occasionally doubling back behind us to switch to the other side.
Though my eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness of the forest, when I heard something rustle in the woods to my right, I knew two things: whatever it was had to be massive to make so much noise, and the flame at the end of Eva’s wand was only keeping me from properly seeing it.
Grim had already stopped, his hackles up, and Eva and I moved close to him as I gently pushed her wand arm lower.
The first thing I saw was Zola’s hindquarters as she backed toward us, crouched low to the ground, ready to spring if it came to that.
She retreated to just in front of Eva, keeping her focus on the darkness where the sound originated, but a moment later, it was clear that we weren’t being approached, we were being surrounded.
And then I heard the first howl.
Swirls.
It was hellhounds.
The first call was met with many more, all within a few dozen yards of where the four of us stood frozen. But maybe Grim could talk them out of eating us like he’d done the last time we encountered them.
Granted, that was only three hellhounds, and he had fed them a lie that probably wouldn’t work again.
“Oh boy,” Grim muttered.
“What do you mean, ‘Oh boy’? They’re your people. Can’t you talk to them?”
There were easily two dozen hellhounds around us, and from the circle, three stepped forward.
“It’s them,” he said. “The ones we tricked.”
“Oh, for fang’s sake…” Of all the times for Karma to catch up with me, this was definit
ely the unluckiest.
“Easy, Zola,” Eva hissed at her familiar, who looked fully prepared to go Kamikaze on the lot of them.
Grim exchanged a series of low growls and muffled yaps with the three hellhounds who’d stepped forward.
“What are they saying?” I prodded.
“They know we lied to them about Acher Lake filling back up if they helped us.”
Figured. “But it did fill up, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, but they said they had to wait until it rained again. And now, with all the recent rains, it’s flooding. They think we made it flood.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Nobody said they were smart.”
“Tell them we had nothing to do with the rain.”
“Don’t you think I already have? They don’t believe me, though. Because, you know, we already lied to them.”
Grim said something else in the canine language, and it didn’t go over well. Instantly, the circle began closing in on us.
“What’s happening?”
Grim backed up closer to me. “They’ve decided to eat us.”
“Can’t you change their mind?”
“Oh, huh. Hadn’t even thought about trying,” he said sarcastically.
The scent of musty dog breath became overpowering as they prowled closer. Why they didn’t just lunge, I wasn’t sure. Maybe they weren’t quite sure of what we were capable of, or maybe Grim had managed to sow enough seeds of doubt about our taste to make them approach with caution.
Closer they came until I could not only smell their breath, but feel the humid warmth of it.
Then suddenly, from behind me came a yelp. Then another yelp. I whirled around just in time to see two hellhounds flying away in a high arc before landing hard on the ground thirty feet away.
More bursts of light from the darkness, and in one of them, I was able to glimpse a face.
Tanner.
The hellhounds closest to those who’d been caught from behind slunk away just long enough for not only Tanner, but Donovan, Landon, and Hera to race forward into the center to meet us.
“Quick!” Tanner said, tucking away his wand and holding out his hands. Eva and I each took one, and the five of us fell into our circle quickly. Perhaps it was the adrenaline coursing through me, awakening my survival instincts and suppressing my cumbersome conscious mind, but my Insight jumped forward immediately. Though I couldn’t see the stars to draw power from them, I didn’t need that. Not on Halloween. The air was charged with the energy I required for my magic to work, and I sucked it toward us.