Page 45 of The Iron Vow

Empathy is a difficult thing for the fey to understand. It requires putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, trying to see things from their perspective, and the fey are terrible at sympathizing with any perspective not their own. This isn’t entirely their fault; faeries are born into the world without a conscience, so they have nothing to tell them that what they are doing is wrong, selfish, or hurtful. In a world where cruelty and capriciousness are the norm, it can seem like a weakness to show kindness, to look beyond the exterior and see the heart of the matter. Especially if you are dealing with an enemy or someone who wishes you harm. But it is never a mistake to be kind, and you never know...someday it might save you from a giant raven attack.

Or it might change the mind of one of the greatest pranksters in the world.

16

INTO THE MOUNTAINS

The fog ended at the base of the mountain.

“This is where I leave you,” the Pale Rider stated, stopping his mount at the edge of the mist. Several paces beyond, a sheer wall of jagged rock, earth, and stone rose into the night sky. A narrow trail, barely wide enough for a single person and seemingly carved right into the rock, snaked its way up the cliffs. The wailing was much closer now, echoing off the mountain walls and rising into the wind.

“The moment you step onto that path, you will be in the Wailing One’s territory,” the rider continued. Its mount shifted, as if being this close to the cliffs made it anxious. “Remember,” the rider went on, gesturing to a trickle of water flowing down the side of a rock. “No matter how thirsty or wounded you become, do not touch the water—it is a poison. Those who fall into the water or try to drink it suffer unimaginable torment.

“I wish you luck, strangers,” the rider continued, as his mount began silently backing away into the wall of mist. “You will not see us again. But if you do manage to kill the Wailing One and bring silence back to these peaks, we will sing your triumph to the winds. Farewell.”

A ragged curtain of white drifted between us, hiding the rider from view, and when the mist cleared, both rider and mount were gone.

Puck snorted. “Someone’s been taking lessons from Furball.”

“Do not be ridiculous, Goodfellow,” said the cait sith’s voice behind us. “I am far more subtle than that.”

He was, of course, sitting on a rock at the edge of the trail, staring at us with haughty disdain. “I do not see why you had to go chasing after dogs,” Grimalkin said, his tail thumping an agitated rhythm on the rock. “Even if the Whisper did speak to you, you are going to smell like one for days. But at least we are back on track. I trust that whatever the Whisper told you was useful.”

Other Nyx titled her head at him. “You are from the Nevernever,” she said, looking puzzled as Grimalkin gave her a lazy glance. “You have never been to the Howling Peaks, or seen the Pale Riders. How is it you know about the Whisper?”

Grimalkin yawned. “I am a cat.”

He hopped down from the boulder and sauntered up the trail without looking back. Other Nyx glanced at me.

I gave her a wry smile and shook my head. “You’ll get used to it.”

Ash took my hand, cool fingers curling around mine. Together, with Grim and the assassins leading the way and Gilleas a lean shadow at our backs, we started up the narrow trail into the territory of the Wailing One.

“What kind of beasties do you think live up here?” Puck asked a few minutes later, ducking a dead branch that poked out over the trail. Ash pushed it aside as well but held it up until I had passed beneath it. “I haven’t seen any giant spiders so far, and believe me, I’ve been looking.”

“Searching for trouble, Goodfellow?” Ash asked, continuing to hold the branch back for Keirran and Gilleas, though the tall Evenfaery nearly bent in half trying to duck beneath.

“Me, ice-boy? Never.” Puck paused and looked back at Ash. “But this place is supposed to be crawling with baddies, and I’d kind of like to know what type of baddie they’re crawling with. Normally, I assume giant spiders, because that’s how it usually works, but I haven’t seen anything around here at all. Also, I love that everything is so quiet—you can appreciate how loud the Wailing One really must be, to reach this far.”

I listened to the distant howling coming down the mountain and shivered. “The Whisper said we need to find and destroy the Nightmare’s core,” I mused, thinking back to the conversation at the waterfall. “Gilleas, do you know anything about that?”

The tall Evenfaery scratched his bony chin. “Bits and pieces,” he replied. “I never thought I was going to need to know how to kill a named Elder Nightmare. But in my research of the king and his Nightmares, cores and essences have cropped up a time or two. It is thought that the core is a physical item that holds a bit of the Nightmare’s power, something not attached to the Nightmare itself, but hidden away. The ‘essence’ of what the Nightmare is. In mortal terms, I suppose it holds a bit of the Nightmare’s soul, if Nightmares had such things.”

“Oh, great,” Puck said. “So, we have to find and smash a soul jar. That sounds fun.”

“And this Nightmare will be unkillable until we do?” Keirran asked.

“Sounds like it,” Ash muttered.

Another scream rang out, sounding far too close. For a moment, fear prickled, and I shoved it down. “I think we need a plan,” I told the others. “This Nightmare isn’t going to let us walk up and destroy her core. She’s going to do everything she can to stop us. We might be able to sneak in, but it’ll be difficult to avoid notice with nine of us, and if the Wailing One already knows we’re coming, she’ll be on the lookout. I think we’re going to have to fight her either way.”

“Some of us could distract her,” Ash mused, looking thoughtful, “while the others go after the core. It’ll be dangerous, but it’s better than all of us running around and the Nightmare picking us off one by one.”

“Sounds like a job for us, ice-boy,” Puck said. “You, me, and Nyx can take on the Nightmare while everyone hunts for the soul jar. We’ll just have to avoid getting squashed by the unkillable monster until then.”

“I have a better idea,” Varyn said abruptly.

He sounded almost angry. Surprised, I glanced at the two assassins trailing us, meeting Varyn’s hard gaze. “None of you know what you’re facing,” he said, and gestured to himself and Other Nyx. “So, let us take care of it. We’ll get in and destroy the core before the Wailing One even realizes we’re there. We can even soften her up a little for you. Then, you Neverfey can come in and finish her off while she’s weak.”

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