Page 65 of The Iron Vow

For once, Puck was silent, which was admirable as he was faced with probably the scariest giant bug I had seen in my life.

Other Nyx stepped forward. “Crypt keeper,” she said, bowing respectfully as the huge centipede-skeleton thing loomed over her. “We are seeking the entrance into the castle. We wish an audience with the king.”

“I know you,” the crypt keeper whispered. It bent down until those shiny pincers were barely a foot away from her face. “I have sensed your shadows before. You and your kin once flitted through the darkness, leaving no signs of your passing. But the bones sense the change in the air, the warmth left from a living body. Even you,” it went on, turning to stare at Gilleas. “I know you, and the castle recognizes you as well. But...” It paused, rising up to tower over us again, hollow gaze now fastened on me. “It does not know this one. Because this one does not come from here. This one comes from the other place, the other side of Evenfall.”

“The Nevernever,” I said.

“The mortal world,” the crypt keeper went on, surprising me. It angled its pincers at Ash and Puck. “This one’s companions come from the mirror realm, yes. The Unseelie, the Summer faery, even the child of three worlds is more fey than mortal. But this one...this one was born in the human world and grew up believing it was human.”

“How do you know all this?” I whispered.

“I am the Keeper of Heroes,” the crypt keeper said. “I have been here since the first champion fell. Their bones are stored in these catacombs, a reminder to remember their deeds and sacrifice. The bones tell a story, but not all the bones buried here are from Evenfall. Some are from the Nevernever, fey who crossed into this land and made it their own. And though it has been a very long time since any mortal visited this world, several sets of human bones can be found here as well.”

I felt Ash’s frown beside me. “But faeries who die don’t leave anything behind,” he said, causing the crypt keeper to glance at him, mandibles working. “Our bodies don’t wither and decay like humans do—we just cease to exist.”

“In the Nevernever, that is true,” the crypt keeper told him. “And here, it is much the same. But in Evenfall, the realm of fear and nightmare, true bravery is scarce, and sacrifice almost unheard of. If Evenfall recognizes a hero, their bones will appear in these halls when they finally perish. I keep their remains, and the memories of them, safe.” It paused, looking around the catacombs like an artist studying a gallery of its own paintings. “Granted, there are not many who can be called true heroes,” it went on. “I have been here a long, long time.

“So, I have seen many pass through these halls,” the crypt keeper told us, sweeping its scythe down the tunnels. “I have witnessed the heroes whose bones finally come to rest here. I know humans, and I know Summer and Winter. I have seen mortals, Seelie, Unseelie, Evenfey and those who fit nowhere at all. And I recognize that faint, fragile aura of a hero. Many of you have it,” it went on, gazing around at all of us. “That is the only reason we are standing here, speaking, the only reason your flesh bodies are not lying in pieces around me. The dead do not suffer the living well down here, but this is not the place to end your story. You will continue on, because that is what heroes do.”

“Uh,” Puck ventured, “hang on. This is your crypt, right? You wouldn’t mind pointing us in the right direction, would you? You don’t even have to say anything. Just...waggle a leg or something.”

The ancient Evenfaery regarded Puck with empty, hollow eyes. “I am not the guide of this quest,” it told him. “That part of your story falls to others. In fact, I believe you have so many that they are getting in each other’s way.” I heard a quiet snort that I thought came from Nyx, though I couldn’t be certain. “This portion of your quest is almost past,” the crypt keeper went on. “The dead will not impede you, and the king awaits in his castle of dreams. But...” Its skull face turned and looked directly at Keirran, causing a fist of ice to grip my heart and squeeze. “I sense an epilogue is coming,” it whispered. “A final chapter for some of you. And who am I to stand in the way of a hero’s sacrifice?”

Keirran met its gaze, his expression both hopeful and resigned. “Is that what is needed for this story, then?” he asked softly. “Is it to be that type of ending?”

The crypt keeper backed away. “I will say no more.” It raised a skeletal hand, as if to stop the hundreds of fears and questions rising to the surface. “The final chapter approaches, but it is yet to be written. It is unclear whether the heroes will triumph, or if everything will Fade away. I shall not influence what is to come.”

And with that, the ancient crypt keeper turned and crawled up the wall of the catacombs, hundreds of legs moving together as its segmented body flowed up the bricks. Within moments, it reached the collapsed ceiling, slithered into one of the many dark holes in the roof, and disappeared.

I looked at Keirran. He stood there with his arms crossed, still wearing that thoughtful expression that made my heart seize. He didn’t look troubled or anxious about anything the crypt keeper had told us. If anything, he looked almost eager.

“Keirran,” I said. He glanced at me, and the flash of hope and longing I saw in his gaze was heart-wrenching. I could never express everything I was feeling right then, so I opted for a single word. “No.”

The small smile he gave me did nothing to alleviate those fears. “The ending hasn’t been written yet,” he said simply. “We can’t know what’s going to happen until we get there.”

“But it is close,” said Grimalkin’s solemn voice. The cat leaped onto a stone block, outlined in a single ray of moonlight coming in from the ceiling. “And we cannot turn back now. We must keep moving forward.” His golden eyes turned in my direction, somber and firm at the same time. “To whatever end awaits us, Iron Queen. No matter what we must do when we get there.”

I didn’t see much more of the catacombs after that. I knew they went on, as we followed our guides down one passageway and into another, flickering candles and forgotten lanterns lighting the way. We didn’t run into any more crypt keepers, though I thought I felt eyes on me from time to time, watching us progress through the tunnels. Or maybe that was my own paranoia. I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that plagued me after meeting the crypt keeper and how he’d looked directly at Keirran when he spoke to us about sacrifice.

And Keirran...seemed all right with it. More than all right; entirely willing and ready to accept his fate, and that scared me most of all. After everything we had been through, all the wars and fighting, all the suffering and bloodshed, the anguish my whole family had through...after all that, I was not prepared to lose my only child. Even if he had grown up. Even if he was the King of the Forgotten and knew sacrifice and responsibility better than most. Even if, many years ago, a sixteen-year-old half-human girl had been willing to sacrifice herself to save a race called the Iron fey. I didn’t want that for Keirran. Or Ash. Or Puck, Nyx, the Evenfey, anyone else. How much was enough? We had all given—and lost—so much already.

I didn’t have to look at Ash to know he felt the same.

“We’ve arrived,” Other Nyx said quietly.

I glanced up. We stood in a small stone chamber, a flight of steps leading down to the crypts below. I didn’t even remember climbing the stairs. Before me, two enormous statues, their faces cowled and hidden, stood on either side of an ancient doorway.

I could feel something on the other side. A pulse. A heartbeat. An old, old power, waiting for us to approach.

This is it. The Nightmare King is somewhere beyond those doors. No turning back now.

I put a hand on the ancient doors, feeling cold stone under my palms, gave Ash a single nod, and pushed. The doors swung back with barely a groan, and we stepped into the castle of the Nightmare King.

PART III

Interlude

In her travels through the Nevernever, the girl met many creatures and crossed paths with many strange, frightening, and beautiful fey. But one meeting stands out as the moment that would change not only her life, but her entire future. Up until that moment, the path she was on could eventually have led her home, back to the human world. The steps sounded simple. Find her brother. Return home. Resume a normal life.

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