Page 54 of The Iron Vow

“Yes. That’s where the dream was taking me.”

Our Nyx took a step back, narrowing her eyes as she stared upward. One hand rose, gesturing at something far overhead. “That’s where we need to go, then.”

I followed her gaze, finding a skinny, crooked tower looming over the rest of the castle. It didn’t seem possible that it was still standing. Water poured from the top floor, shimmering in the moonlight as it cascaded down the sides. It was eerily beautiful, deadly as it was.

“I don’t see the Nightmare, though,” Other Nyx said. “Maybe, if we’re lucky, we can get to the highest tower without running into her. Though that seems highly unlikely. If whatever is up there is valuable, the Wailing One won’t leave it unattended.”

“Also, not to freak anyone out,” Puck added, “but I just saw something move. In the window up there.” He pointed, and I caught a glimpse of something pale and ragged flitting across the broken glass. Beside me, Ash nodded and drew his sword.

“Stay together,” he said calmly. “We don’t want to get separated and picked off in this place.”

“And if the Nightmare shows up, ice-boy?”

“We fight it together and give Meghan enough time to get to the top tower and do whatever she has to do.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Puck pulled his daggers, twirling both in his hands with a grin. “Okay, then. I am tired of having no magic. Let’s do this.”

20

THE HOWLING KEEP

The shattered gates loomed in front of us as we climbed the last of the crumbling steps, careful to avoid the many streams of water coming down from the top. After ducking through the gates, we entered the huge castle, a sprawling, ancient mass of broken walls, steps, and pillars that soared to immeasurable heights. Water was everywhere, dripping from the ceiling, trickling down the walls, and running across the floor. I had to be careful where I stepped, as half the keep was waterlogged with the poisonous tears that burned my nose and throat. Surprisingly, despite the state of the castle itself, the interiors were well furnished and almost pristine. Tables, sofas, chairs, rugs, all placed carefully throughout the rooms as if frozen in time. It gave the keep an eerie, almost dreamlike feel, seeing all these signs of life when the keep itself felt hauntingly empty.

Despite the flicker of movement from earlier, I didn’t see anyone. Or hear anyone. Which was even worse. We knew the Nightmare was here, somewhere. Walking through the unnatural silence, I almost wished the Wailing One would show up and get it over with. The more time that passed, the more nervous I became, waiting for the moment when a mass of shrieking faces would come flying out of a dark room toward us.

“Oh wow, look at this,” Puck remarked, pausing in the doorway that led to an enormous dining hall. A massive wooden table ran the length of the chamber, the remains of a great feast covering every inch of the wood. The centerpiece was the skeleton of a boar lying on a golden platter, a withered apple still clutched in bony jaws. Puck wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know if this is creepy or just really, disappointingly wasteful.”

“No one has touched this food,” our Nyx remarked, peering over his shoulder. “It’s just been left here to rot. But that means this place was once inhabited.”

“Or is still inhabited,” Varyn said. “By creatures other than the Wailing One. And they don’t eat food anymore. Or they eat other things.”

“Oh, that’s a cheery thought.” Puck sighed. “Are there vampires in Evenfall?”

Before Varyn could answer, a sound rose into the air, the scrape of a chair being pushed back. Everyone tensed, looking into the room again. At the far end of the table, previously hidden behind a moldering, three-layer cake, one of the dining room chairs had moved. As we watched, a pile of rags that had blended into the clutter rose from the surface, resolving into a figure covered in what looked like ragged sheets. After stepping down from the chair, it glided around the table toward us.

I gripped my sword, watching the ghostly figure approach, feeling Ash and Puck on either side of me do the same. As it drew closer, I saw the sheet was actually a tattered white dress, but so stained and torn it was barely recognizable as clothing. The figure’s head was bowed, so I couldn’t see its face, but dark strands of hair hung from its shoulders. Its hands were also hidden in its billowy sleeves, and I saw a glint of something shiny through the cloth.

“I think it has a weapon,” I warned, just as the figure raised its head and stared at us straight-on.

My stomach twisted. The creature staring at us from the nest of rags was gaunt and skeletal, pale skin shrunk tightly over its bones. Its eyes were hollow pits of black as it stared blankly. Tears poured from the dark holes, making wet trails down its wasted cheeks. It had no mouth. No lips, no gash, not even a slit to show where a mouth might have been. The skin from its nose to its jawline was smooth, though I could almost see the outline of teeth through the nearly translucent covering.

The creature staggered toward us, the bones of its jaw working beneath its skin. I had the sudden, horrible feeling that it was trying to cry or scream, but without a mouth, it could make no sound.

“O-kay,” Puck said, and gave an exaggerated shudder as he stepped back. “Suddenly that full dining table is a whole lot more horrific.”

“Is this an Evenfaery?” Keirran asked.

“No.” Gilleas’s voice was full of horror and pity. “Perhaps it was, once. Perhaps a whole colony or race lived in this castle. But it has been too close to the Wailing One for too long. Whatever it was, it is only a Nightmare now. It cannot be saved. Nothing to do but put it out of its misery.”

The creature covered its face with one hand, the other rising in front of it. Ragged sleeves fell back to reveal an arm as brittle as bird bones, fingers curled around the handle of a cleaver. Without a sound, it lunged at me, and hit both Ash’s and Puck’s blades as they swept forward. Puck’s dagger struck the wrist that held the cleaver, dropping both hand and knife to the ground, as Ash’s sword smoothly removed the head from its neck.

The creature flopped forward, collapsing like a marionette severed from its strings, making absolutely no sound as it fell. There was no blood, only the cleaver clinking against the stones before coming to rest at my feet. The rag-shrouded body shuddered once and went perfectly still.

“Well, that was awful,” Puck muttered as Ash slid his blade back into its sheath. “A little too easy, though, and I mean that literally. It is never that simple. Not in a place like this.” Glancing at the heap of bones and dirty cloth, he wrinkled his nose. “How much you wanna bet that this thing is gonna jump up, headless, and take a swipe at us again?”

The body on the floor rippled. For a moment, I thought it would do exactly what Puck said, but a second later the bones shivered, withered away, and turned to dust. The dress decayed rapidly, until only a few strips of ragged linen were left. A breeze swept through the room, blowing away the rags and causing the lines of dust to dissolve on the wind. In seconds, nothing remained of the Nightmare Evenfey.

“Huh.” Puck sheathed his daggers. “Well, that was unexpected. Lately, Nightmare beasties seem to love coming back from the dead. I was sure we were gonna have to fight this thing again. Happy to be wrong for once.”

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