Page 7 of The Iron Vow

“That’s not confusing at all,” Puck muttered sarcastically.

“Yes.” The Palefur bobbed her head. “The king’s offerings are powerful. We lose many this way. But we would lose all if the Elder Nightmares disappeared. The king knows. He sleeps, and he delivers glamour to us the only way he can.”

“So that is how the Evenfey have remained alive all this time,” Nyx mused. “The Elder Nightmares are their source of glamour, but they have to kill them to release it.”

“Yes,” said the Palefur again. “The king takes care of his people, even though his dreams are terrible in their grief and rage. We have accepted it. We are grateful for his sacrifice, even though we must fight and kill to survive.”

“Uh, not to alarm anyone,” Puck said. “But...what happens if the king wakes up?”

The horde at our back broke into a storm of alarmed chittering and sounds of frightened dismay. The Palefur bared her yellow teeth at Puck.

“Do not speak of such things,” she rasped. “The king is the only reason Evenfall exists. He is our lifeline—his offerings are the only source of glamour in this entire barren world. If he wakes, there will be no more Nightmares, and thus, we will all Fade and cease to exist.”

I drew in a horrified breath. The gravity of the situation descended all at once, threatening to crush me. If the king’s Nightmares were the only way the Evenfey could survive in a world empty of glamour and magic, what could we do? If we somehow killed the Nightmare King, the Evenfey would die. If he woke up, the Evenfey would Fade.

“Strangers.” The Palefur was staring at us with blank eyes that were suddenly filled with a grim understanding. “You are not from this world,” she mused. “You come from...the other place. A realm beyond Evenfall. But why have you come here, if the balance has not shifted? If your own world is not in danger?” She paused, long whiskers trembling for a moment, before she asked: “Does...does the Nightmare King wake?”

I swallowed. “Yes,” I said simply, and the horde at my back broke into another cacophony of terrified squeaks and chitters. “Something happened in our world to cause a ripple effect that reached Evenfall and the king. He is waking up, and he threatens not only the existence of Evenfall, but our own world in the process. I don’t want to endanger an entire realm of Evenfey, but I must keep my own world safe.”

“The king must be kept asleep,” the Palefur hissed, almost desperately. “He cannot be allowed to wake. Strange queen, you must find a way to put him back into his endless slumber, or we are all destined to Fade into nothingness.”

“How?” Ash questioned. “How do we stop him? Is there a way to put him back to sleep?”

“I do not know.” The old Palefur let out a long breath, seeming to shrink in on herself. “It has been many years since I have spoken to anyone from outside our haven. The Skitterfolk do not dream of grandeur. None of my own warriors have ventured beyond the swamp. I know only that if the king wakes, we are all lost.”

“There must be someone who can tell us more about the king,” I said. “Does this world have its version of oracles or seers? Someone who might know how to help us?”

“None that I am aware of, but...” The Palefur chewed a ragged claw in thought. “There was...a city, once,” she said slowly, as if recalling something long forgotten. “In legend and story, it was a bastion of understanding. A hive of secrets and forbidden knowledge, where information was hoarded like gold, and words were used as currency. The greatest mass of information was said to exist at the very center, a collection of knowledge through the ages. Words written in languages no one can remember...” She paused, twitching her whiskers. “The city, if it still exists, might have the information you seek. Though the name of the city has been lost to time. I do not remember what it is called.”

Nyx straightened. “Hollownest,” she whispered. “I remember.”

“Hollownest?” Puck frowned. “I don’t think I like the sound of that.” His nose wrinkled. “But then again, I don’t like the sound ofanyof these places. Hollownest, the Sinking Swamp, the Forest of Mist. Is there one place in Evenfall with a happy-sounding name?”

“The library,” Nyx said, ignoring Puck. “Hollownest has a massive library at the very center of the city, the largest and grandest in Evenfall. Back when I still lived here, fey would travel from all across the realm to seek the knowledge contained in the library. It was said that there was not an answer to any question the library did not have, if you had the patience to search for it. The librarians were very jealous of that knowledge, however. There were rumors that certain places within the halls were forbidden to everyone. That they held secrets no one should possess or understand.”

“Sounds like a good place to learn how to put the Nightmare King back to sleep,” Keirran said.

“If I can find it,” Nyx said. “I...think I remember where Hollownest is. The city is in a part of Evenfall known as the Grave Lands. If we can make our way to the Grave Lands, we’ll find the entrance to Hollownest.”

“Then you already know where you must go,” the Palefur said. “Find your way to Hollownest, if it still exists. Find the keepers of the forgotten lore. Beware the Elder Nightmares that roam the world, but also beware of those whom the Nightmares have slain, who now roam the land as Nightmares themselves.”

She shot a split-second glance at her own people, clustered behind us, concern in her milky eyes as she shook her head. “It will not be safe for you to journey to Hollownest,” she went on. “But it will not be safe for you anywhere. Rachitik,” she said, glancing at the Skitterfolk who had brought us. After a moment, I realized that was his name. “Take the strangers to the old bridge over the sunken city. It is not the safest way out of the swamp, but it is the fastest.”

The Skitterfolk from before stepped forward with a nod. “It will be done, Palefur.”

“We appreciate your help,” I told the ancient Skitterfolk. “If there is a way to keep the king in eternal sleep, we will find it. We will not let you and your people Fade into nothing.”

“Perhaps you will at that.” The pale rat opened her jaws in a yawn that bared all her cracked, yellow teeth. “I am going back to sleep,” she announced. “In the endless nothing, I feel no hunger or pain. And if I Fade away while I slumber, that is the best any of us can hope for. Farewell, strangers. I wish you luck. Though your quest sounds impossible, I will hope that you will find a way to save this world, and us. And if you do reach the king, remember the Skitterfolk kindly. You might be the only ones who do.”

She turned and slipped back into the dilapidated hut, naked tail sliding over the soggy planks as she ducked through the door and the curtain swished shut behind her.

The Skitterfolk—Rachitik—turned to us with a grave look. “Come,” he said. “I will take you to the bridge.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Puck said. “No offense, but three hundred pairs of beady red eyes staring at you like you’re the last chocolate donut in the box is a little bit unnerving.”

Rachitik didn’t answer. He simply turned and padded away, his curved claws clicking over the rotting planks and his tail dragging behind him. With nothing left to do, we followed.

The red eyes of the Skitterfolk watched us the entire way.

---