Page 13 of The Iron Vow

Puck stepped forward. “I got this,” he told me, and smiled at the bird creature atop the fountain. “Hey, friend,” he greeted it, and the crow turned hollow eyes on him. “We’re just passing through, but I’m sure we can help each other. Check this out.” He held up a hand, a black feather pinched between two fingers. “See? I’m one of you guys. Practically.”

The crow stared at him, silent. Ash tensed behind me, his voice a warning. “Puck, look at the rooftops,” he said.

I glanced up, and the glittering eyes of dozens more crow creatures stared back. Talons crushed the edges of the roofs and wings fluttered restlessly as the dark clusters of birds peered down at us with murderous intent.

“They’re going to attack,” Ash said, fingers curling around his sword hilt. “Everyone, be ready. They’ll likely swoop down from above.”

“Oh, fine.” Puck sighed, daggers appearing in his hands. “Man, I hate to do this. Crows are usually smarter. But these guys don’t look like they’re going to listen to reason. Watch your eyes,” he warned as the crow atop the fountain opened its beak with a hiss. “If I know crow tactics, they’ll go for shiny things first.”

My heart sank, but I stepped back with Ash and drew my sword. The dim light glittered off the bared blade, and the crows around us started to flap and flutter wildly.

“Stop!”

5

ANIRA

The voice rang out over the courtyard, coming from the sky, a moment before something dark swooped down and landed in front of the fountain. It looked like a massive crow before it rose, pushing back a feathered cowl, and the face of a beautiful woman stared out at us. Her jet-black hair looked like pinions, her eyes were like onyx stones, and a pair of dark wings settled behind her like a cloak.

The mutterings from the rooftops ceased, the fluttering stopped, and the crows became as still as gargoyles. The bird woman gazed around the now silent square, her eyes focusing on the crow perched atop the fountain. With a caw, the creature turned into a cluster of birds, which scattered into the air in every direction, shedding feathers that drifted lazily to the ground. In seconds the flock had vanished over the rooftops.

The woman turned to us. “I apologize for the crows,” she said. Her voice was raspy but not guttural, and the gaze that met mine was sharp with intelligence. “Over the ages, they have become increasingly animalistic, to the point where they have almost forgotten how to be themselves. Please have mercy on them—they were not like this before.”

“I’m glad you arrived when you did,” I told her. “We didn’t want to kill anyone. It isn’t our intent to cause harm to your city.”

“Not my city.” The crow woman shook her head. “But we are all that are left. I am called Anira,” she said. “I have not seen strangers pass through here in many, many ages. Where do you come from?”

“A place called the Nevernever,” I said, and her thin brows shot up. “You have heard of it?”

“The other side of Evenfall,” Anira whispered, sounding faint. “I thought it was a legend.” Her sharp black eyes stared around at us, taking everyone in. “You have all come from the Nevernever?” she went on, sounding incredulous and hopeful at the same time. “I felt something several days ago, a change in the wind. Does that mean...the way is open?”

“I’m sorry,” I told her, guilt stabbing me as her face fell. “The seal was broken, but only briefly. We had to close it again, to stop the Nightmare King from waking up.”

Her expression turned to one of horror. “The king cannot wake up,” she whispered. “If he does, the Nightmares will cease. And the crows will truly lose themselves forever.” She gave us a sharp look, as if suddenly realizing something. “Is that why you are here in Evenfall?” she asked. “Do you wish to slay the Nightmare King and kill us all?”

“No.” I shook my head. “We’re trying to find a way to stop him that doesn’t end in the destruction of the Evenfeyorthe Nevernever.”

“We’re looking for Hollownest,” Nyx added. “We know the entrance is in the Grave Lands somewhere.”

“You’ll be looking for the Sunken City, then,” the crow woman replied. “But without wings, it will be extremely difficult to get to, perhaps impossible.” She touched a delicate hand to her chest. “I have flown over the Sunken City many times—it is a haven for Nightmares and those who have been destroyed by them. Many of my own crows have lingered too long above the city towers—you see the state of their minds, now. Besides the Nightmares, there are even worse horrors, things that crawl up from the earth, snatch the living, and burrow back into the depths. They can feel the vibrations of your passing and track your steps. Touching the ground in that city is a death sentence. You will not reach the entrance to Hollownest if you go in by foot.”

“Would you be able to help us?” Keirran asked softly.

She regarded him thoughtfully, black eyes giving nothing away. “Come with me,” she said, turning back to the rest of us. “It is not safe to talk here. The crows are listening. We will go to a place where we can speak freely.” She paused, tilting her head at us in a very birdlike manner. “I...suppose we must walk there. This way.”

We trailed the crow woman through the old city, following narrow corridors that snaked and twined through the stone like game trails through the forest. All around us, perched on roofs and fences and the shattered remains of ancient statues, the crows watched us pass, beady eyes flat and hungry as they stared down at us.

“Hey, come on, guys,” Puck said as we passed the ruins of another old fountain. The statue in the center was impossible to see through the gang of black feathered bodies perched on it. “We’re good, right? I love crows. I mean, I’m practically one of you.”

The crows watched him balefully, then broke into a cacophony of guttural caws as they scattered. Puck watched them vanish into the city and behind the tops of the shattered rooftops, then grinned. “They’ll come around eventually.”

“Where are we going, if you don’t mind?” Keirran asked the crow woman. She gave him another inscrutable look, then pointed a thin finger toward the rooftops overhead. To the tower in the center of the city.

Keirran followed the pointing finger and blinked. “Is that your home?”

“Our home,” Anira replied. And from the dozens of crows circling overhead as she said this, she did not mean us. “We did not build it, of course. It was empty when I first came to this city. My mate said it once belonged to an old faery who liked to study the stars. We simply moved in.”

“What happened to the stargazer?” Nyx asked.

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