Page 10 of The Iron Vow

The wolf’s expression didn’t change. “How long?” it asked.

“My memories are scattered,” Nyx replied. “Many of them have faded, but now that I’m here, they’re slowly coming back. I remember Hollownest as a thriving city of thousands. It was underground, but there were lush forests and icy caverns and lakes so deep no one had ever seen the bottom. It was hard to believe how big it was. All roads and paths eventually led to the very center of the city, where the Great Library held all the secrets of Faery collected over millennia.” For a moment, she sounded wistful, her voice soft and distant. But then she shook herself and turned back to the wolf. “Those are my memories of Hollownest,” she said. “Are they different from yours?”

The wolf stared at her in blatant disbelief, then gave a snort and bared its fangs. “Are you certain you have been here before?” it asked. “The city is empty, except for roaming Nightmares and the mad. No one goes there willingly, and those that are taken never return to the surface. It has been that way since before we can remember. The Hollownest you describe has never existed.”

Puck scowled, but Nyx just gave a somewhat sad smile. “It was...a very long time ago,” she murmured.

“Regardless,” Ash broke in, “we need to get there. Is there any way into the city without having to be dragged beneath the earth?”

Both wolf and child blinked at him. “If you truly wish to find Hollownest, you must travel to the sunken city,” it replied. “In the center of an ancient temple, it is said there is a winding staircase without a bottom. Supposedly, it goes down to the void, but passes through Hollownest on its way. Beware, though. The sunken city is also full of Nightmares. Occasionally, one will stray beyond the borders, and our pack is able to bring it down. But within the land itself, there are too many Nightmares to handle. The risk of attracting more than one is very high. If you do reach the sunken city, tread carefully, lest the very earth collapse beneath your feet.”

I nodded. “We appreciate your help,” I told the wolf.

“We return to the hunt,” it said, and the shadows around us melted back into the trees, making no sound as they did.

In seconds, the wolf creatures were gone, and we were alone.

4

CITY OF CROWS

Istood in the doorway of a ruined tower, gazing out into the endless night of Evenfall. It had been hours, or maybe days, since we had run into the Wolfling pack and learned that we needed to head toward the sunken city. Fortunately, Nyx knew where she was going, though she admitted to not remembering an entrance to Hollownest within the city itself. But Evenfall was different now, and it was the best lead we had, so we’d take it.

We encountered no more fey or Nightmares as we pushed through the forest. Eventually, we stumbled upon an ancient stone tower beside a cold mountain spring. After making sure nothing lived in the tower, we stopped to catch our breath. The tower was crumbling, and moss grew on the walls like a fuzzy carpet, but the second floor had a few beds that weren’t completely disintegrated. To my complete delight, Puck even managed to scrounge up an extremely hard wheel of cheese, some rock-like bread, and a string of jerky packed in salt. In the mortal realm, any food in a tower this old would be rotten or nibbled away by rats or bugs. But time was a funny concept in Faery, and often didn’t work the way you thought it should. It seemed Evenfall followed the same rules. Or lack thereof.

The bread was hard and tasteless, and the jerky strips were like chewing on salty leather, but it was leagues better than flesh mushrooms or eyeball berries. I would never complain about boring rations again.

Later, gazing out into the forest, I wondered what kind of normal creatures had roamed Evenfall, and if they still existed. I hadn’t seen any deer or rabbits or even birds flitting about the forest as we traveled. Did the Evenfey need regular food, or did they survive completely on the glamour from killing Nightmares? I thought of the Skitterfolk, and the Wolfling pack we’d encountered. Both groups had been wary but helpful, not like the mobs of violent, maddened fey that had come pouring out of the unsealed portal into the Nevernever. The fey that the Elder Nightmares had killed and turned. Was that the fate of all Evenfey, eventually? Or would they simply Fade and cease to exist?

I felt a presence a moment before Ash slipped his arms around my waist from behind. He didn’t say anything, just drew me to him and held me close. I closed my eyes and leaned against him, letting his solid presence soothe some of the tension pressing down from all sides. In the mad, chaotic sea that was everything Faery, no matter how stressed or angry or upset I was feeling, Ash was my rock.

“Where are Puck and the others?” I asked, keeping my voice barely above a murmur.

“Upstairs,” was the equally quiet answer. “Currently in a debate about who should take watch tonight. I think all three are trying to convince the other two that they should try to get some sleep while they can.”

I chuckled. “Who do you think will win that argument?”

“Given how stubborn those three are? Hard to say.” Ash shook his head in amusement. “But I think it’s fair to assume that the only one who will get any sleep tonight is Grimalkin.”

I smiled at the ridiculous truth of that statement, then leaned into him with a sigh. “Well,” I mused. “Here we are again.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve done this before.” I gestured out the doorway, indicating the eternal night beyond the frame. “Another prophecy. Another realm on the brink of destruction. And us, having to venture into the unknown to somehow stop the end of the world and save Faery.”

“We do seem to end up at the forefront of all of these catastrophes,” Ash agreed, sounding vaguely amused. “But this is no different from the war with the Iron fey or the Forgotten. Another type of fey has risen up to tear down the structure of what we know. It’s either stop them, or be destroyed ourselves.”

“But that’s my point,” I said. “This keeps happening, Ash. The Iron fey, the exiles, the Forgotten, and now the faeries of Evenfall. They were all part of the Nevernever once. None of them wanted what happened—they were trying to survive, too. If the Iron fey had been accepted by the courts from the beginning, would Machina have felt he had to destroy Summer and Winter to exist? If the Forgotten hadn’t been ostracized and ignored, would they have turned to the Lady and her promises to save them? And the Evenfey have been hurt the most. The Lady and the sidhe of old sealed off their entire world, hoping the Nightmare King and all his subjects would Fade away. And for what? Because shethoughthe was going to destroy them. Because she was afraid that he was becoming too powerful. All of this misery has been caused by Faery fearing and shunning anything that is different.”

Ash stroked my hair, cool fingers sliding through the strands. “I’ve seen it in Tir Na Nog as well,” he murmured. “The eternal war between the Summer and Winter fey always leaves someone wronged or swearing vengeance. But we can’t change the past, Meghan. What Machina and the courts and the Lady tried to accomplish...it’s already done. We can only deal with the present as best we can and hope our actions can stop what others have set in motion.”

I didn’t reply, pondering what he had said and the events that had led us here. I knew he was right. The past was the past, and we could only keep moving forward. But there had to besomethingwe could do to stop this kind of event from happening again. Faery didn’t like change, especially the centuries-old, stuck-in-their-ways kings and queens of the Nevernever, whose laws existed simply because tradition dictated “this is how it has always been.” But something had to give. Or were we destined to repeat the same mistakes for the rest of time, until one of these doomsday prophecies finally came true?

Maybe it already had.

I sighed and reached back, sliding my fingers into my husband’s dark hair. “At least you’re here,” I mused. “I don’t have to do this alone. I can stand against any monster and Nightmare if you’re beside me.”

“Always,” Ash murmured, pressing his lips to the side of my neck. I turned in his arms and kissed him, feeling his arms tighten around me. In this world of horror and fighting for our lives, I would take advantage of these moments when I could; I didn’t know how many we would have.

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