Page 37 of The Iron Sword

I stifled the rising anger and gripped the hilt of my blade. “Yes.”

With a pulse of iron glamour and a faint click from within, the door unlatched, then swung open with a creak.

I tensed, expecting something to come leaping out of the shadows at me, perhaps a creature with three mouths and a face twisted into a grotesque parody of anything sane. But the space beyond the door was eerily silent, though gazing through the frame, a chill skittered up my back.

The narrow hallways and twisted corridors of InSite had disappeared, and the double realities had vanished. Beyond the frame, the ancient, moss-covered stones of the forgotten ruins could be clearly seen. Giant pillars and crumbling walls surrounded the chamber we stepped into, leaving the shadow of the real world behind. The door behind us closed, and though it remained standing upright on the rocks, the hallway and office building disappeared, and the ruins were all that surrounded us.

We eased forward, gazing around in growing horror. Overhead, the roof had mostly fallen in, revealing a strange night sky through the opening. I didn’t recognize the stars in this part of the Between; they were almost too bright, pulsing like distant fires that had grown too fast and were about to burn out. Through the ruined ceiling, a bloodred moon, bloated and ominous, hovered low in the sky. It shone a sickly crimson light into the chamber and the eerie scene surrounding us. Enormous trees grew through the stone floor, but they were odd, twisted things. Along the wall, one tree stood frozen and glittering, but the icicles dangling from the branches dripped with red, and the faces of several screaming fey could be seen within the ice. Another tree bloomed with flowers, but if you looked closer, the trunk and most of the branches were the twisted bodies of hundreds of dead animals, all covered in moss and bark. Nightmare piskies perched in the branches of the trees or stared at us from atop broken pillars and shattered stone. Except for the occasional buzz of their wings, everything was unnervingly silent.

I could feel the energy here, the anger and fear and hate, pulsing through every tree, every stone and leaf and scattered pebble. I breathed deep, and felt my Unseelie side rise up in response, more powerful than it had ever been. The corrupted glamour swirled around us, but the core, the center of it all, came from a raised stone dais in the middle of the chamber. The circular platform radiated a faint light, as the edges were surrounded with glowing sigils that flickered red in the eerie luminance of the blood moon.

Cowled, hooded figures stood around the edges of the platform with their backs to us, faces hidden from view. They weren’t chanting, or whispering, or even moving; they remained motionless around the perimeter of the circle with their heads bowed; if it wasn’t for the slightest ripple of their robes and sleeves, they could have been statues.

But I could feel the power coming from the dais, pulsing against an invisible barrier, an angry giant trying to smash free. I could sense that strange glamour, different yet still similar to my Winter magic, throbbing like a wound from the center of the platform. Rage. Fury. Fear. Hate. With every pulse, the runes flared, sending flutters of glamour throughout the chamber, waves of negative energy against my skin.

“You are too late.”

The robed figure at the top of the steps turned to face us, gazing down at us with empty eyes in its deer skull face. The light from the blood moon cast its long shadow across the floor, antlers reaching for us like grasping claws.

“You will not stop it,”the Evenfey whispered.“The ritual is almost complete. All the anger, all the fear and despair and hatred of the human world has flowed into this spot, strengthening the sigils, empowering the spell. It is nearly complete. Can’t you feel it?”It raised thin arms, black as pitch, toward the broken ceiling.“When the moon reaches its zenith, the king, the bringer of nightmares, will finally be summoned. Can’t you feel the anger?”it breathed, sounding as if it was in ecstasy.“The hate? It calls to him. Stirs him from his sleep. He is almost here. And when he comes, the entire world will succumb to darkness and terror. Mortals and fey alike will understand true fear, as the Nightmare King will make himself known once again.”

“The Nightmare King,” Puck echoed, and glanced at the rest of us. “Well, that doesn’t sound like something we want to happen.”

“No,” Meghan agreed, as power flickered to life around her. “It’s not.”

I drew my sword, adding an icy blue light to the sullen red glow of the chamber, as the Iron Queen stepped forward, gazing at the creature atop the steps. “You have one chance,” she told it, as I clenched my fingers impatiently around my sword hilt. “Stop the ritual now, or we will end it ourselves.”

Fury clawed at me, urging me forward, goading me to attack. I didn’t want to talk. I wanted to kill. I wanted to lunge up the steps and drive my blade through my enemy, making sure he would never threaten us or our world again. I could feel the power singing through my veins, fed by the dark energies around us. The legacy of the Unseelie Court.

The Evenfey regarded us with empty black eyes.“You cannot stop it,”it whispered.“The Between knows your nightmares, your deepest, most hidden fears. You are all drowning in anger, fear, regret. Don’t you see?”

It raised a hand, and immediately, the crowd of hooded figures surrounding the circle turned, regarding us from the shadows of their hoods. As one, they stepped forward and began walking down the steps toward us.“I can taste your fear,”the Evenfey at the top of the steps said, as the hooded figures glided around him and came silently down the stairs.“I can see the hidden terrors of your mind, the secrets you keep from everyone. They cripple you, but this only makes us stronger.”

“Fear?” Puck scoffed, brandishing both daggers with a defiant smirk. “Do you know how many scary baddies we’ve seen, antler-head? Granted, your tooth ogre was disgusting, but you’re gonna have to do better than that to scare us.”

“The Between knows,”whispered the Evenfey, as if Puck hadn’t spoken.“You cannot hide your fears from it. It sees all. You cannot escape.”

The cowled figures reached the bottom of the steps and kept walking forward. I raised my sword as one of them angled toward me, hood still lowered, hiding its face. A thought flashed through my mind of another challenge, many years ago. A narrow hallway with hundreds of mirrors, and watching my own reflection step out of the glass to fight me. Only it wasn’t me, but Ash the Winter King. Ash the soulless monster. As the cowled figure came steadily forward, I braced myself to see my own reflection staring back at me. I had slain the evil part of me before; I was fully prepared to face myself again.

The figure raised its head and looked at me straight on.

“Hello, Father,” Keirran said quietly. “I knew you would come.”

14

PERSONAL NIGHTMARES

“Keirran.”

My voice echoed in the sudden, absolute silence. I turned my head and found myself in a vast, frozen wasteland. The ruins had disappeared, and a forest of twisted, frozen trees, bent under the weight of snow and icicles, stretched away into the darkness. The snow coating the ground was spattered red with the blood of countless bodies, lying in twisted piles around me. Most of them were frozen, lips and features blue, though some had been impaled with spears of ice, or cut apart with an icy blade. I spun slowly and saw a figure floating off the ground, a jagged spike thrust through her middle, raising her into the air. Mab hovered there, impaled from behind, limbs dangling stiffly and eyes staring sightlessly at nothing. Snow drifted softly around her, landing on lips and skin before dancing away on the breeze. My stomach lurched, and I took a steadying breath to gather my thoughts.This is the Between, I reminded myself. Reality could be manipulated here, my worst fears and darkest secrets manifesting in front of me. No matter what I saw, no matter who appeared from the mist, I had to remember where I was. The fog curled around me, and my mind floundered. Everything felt hazy and surreal; memories were starting to blend together. It was suddenly hard to recall which images were real and which were imagined.

This is not your world. This is not your reality. Remember that.I shook myself, driving back the confusion clawing at me.Do not forget where you are.

Steeling myself, I turned back and looked for Keirran. He now stood a few paces away, black cloak fluttering wildly in the wind. His silver hair and unsheathed sword gleamed like metal in the unnatural light. His eyes were a mix of fury, grief, and a terrible resolve, and I suddenly knew his intentions.

Despair flickered, and I pushed it down. “This isn’t going to work,” I told the figure of my son. “I know you’re not the true Keirran. Using my fears against me is pointless if I know this isn’t real.”

“Is it not?” Keirran asked quietly. “How would you define what is real and what isn’t? Look around you.” He gestured to the mountains of bodies, all dead by my hand. “This is real, Father,” Keirran murmured. “In this world, the Winter King slaughtered everyone we knew. And now, we all have to face the consequences.”

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