All's Fair (Fair Folk Chronicles Book 4) (7 page)

Chapter 13: Caution and the Wind

For a few minutes, Megan didn't even care about the almost-waist-deep snow or biting cold by the time they emerged from the caves and out into the bright, clear Winter day. She rushed out into the light, half-blind from adaption to the dark, taking deep breaths of icy air.

The not-caring didn't last long, between Lani dragging her back to the edge of the cave mouth, and greater awareness of things beyond simply being out of the echoing dark setting in.

"Not sure I can entirely feel my toes. Might be a bad sign."

"You think?" Lani asked.

Justin moved out a bit more cautiously, scanning the area around them. As soon as he gave an all clear, Ashling and the Count took off to do a more thorough scouting run.

"How cold do you think it is out here?" Megan asked, watching her breath.

"About a third as cold as it could be?" Lani replied.

Megan frowned, starting to forge ahead through the snow, moving towards one of the higher hills to try to get a better look around.

Justin stepped ahead of her, breaking up the snow somewhat with the sword, even if he kept it sheathed to avoid the extra glow. "Not as cold as it will be when we're not shielded from the wind, either. Be careful," he said.

Ashling and the Count returned. Lani set to wrapping the Count up in a towel from her pack to help him warm up after the flight, while Ashling started her account. "So, first, I found Jack Frost. He froze to death a little ways ahead," she said, gesturing off ahead and to the left. "That valley really catches the wind. Anyway, there's also one of the Fomoire handlers out there, with two of their monster-things, sniffing around."

"How far is the city?" Lani asked.

"Still a couple miles," Ashling said. "We can get there in a day, but it won't be fast."

"There's a lot of cover, and a lot of open space. Can we avoid the guy up ahead?" Megan asked.

"I can find us a safe path as far as half-a-mile out from the city," Ashling said. "Avoiding him and other things out here isn't hard. But just because a path is safe now doesn't mean it'll stay safe. If those things get our scent, or he stumbles onto our trail, we're in trouble. They'll move a lot faster than we can."

"Then we'll need to deal with him," Justin said. "And what about the city itself?"

Ashling shook her head. "The Count can't fly very far in this without needing to warm up. I know the ground flattens out again half a mile from the city. Straight shot, in the wind... and visible from the walls. Granted, the walls looked pretty quiet, but we'll need to get closer to be sure."

"Then we'll get closer. But first, is it safe to get to that hilltop?" Justin asked, pointing ahead.

"If we hurry, yes," Ashling said. "Any particular reason?"

Justin started breaking up the snow again, leading the way while he continued speaking. "Because if he catches us in the open, we're in trouble. We need to deal with him, and I'd rather do it on our own terms."

Justin saved the breath to explain further until he was no longer fighting through the snow while simultaneously breaking it up so it would be easier for others to follow. They fought their way to the top of the hill, and, as Ashling had warned, out into the wind. Justin, Lani, and Megan huddled together for warmth.

"This won't be safe for long," Ashling said, pointing out three moving figures amidst the blowing snows below. "As soon as they get downwind of us, they'll be coming."

Justin smiled. "Which is why we're here, setting an ambush for them. Well, somewhat we. Right now, mostly Lani."

Lani glanced at him, then caught on, doing her best to get into her tools without taking her gloves off, while studying the rocks atop the hill.

"I thought you were wanting to sword things to death," Megan said, staying huddled up to Justin while Lani started work.

"And I will, but efficiently," he said. "With Cassia, the leopards, all of us, the Sword of Light, Ashling, and some luck, we managed to deal with a few Fomoire and monsters before. And we had people injured every fight. We can't afford that here. It might be just one handler, and a couple of their magical monsters, but if we don't do everything right, that's plenty to kill all of us."

Megan nodded, studying the movement in the distance again, resisting the urge to tell Lani to hurry. "What do you want me to do?"

"Winds. Try to keep them from coming at us in numbers. If we have to fight all three at once in close quarters, we lose. One at a time, with a trap or two, maybe we have a chance." He paused there, and the pair moved to help Lani, following her instructions.

The work took far longer than it should have, with breaks to warm hands back to functionality by the warmth of a partially drawn Sword of Light, and a few small warming enchantments from Ashling. Lani declared the work as good as it was going to get just a couple of minutes before the figures below turned, moving back towards the hill they had settled on at high speed, the ten-foot-tall handler racing after the pair of trackers.

Justin raised his hand to signal waiting until they'd nearly reached the bottom of the hill. He nodded to Megan, and she started the lead-in to her best storm song, letting it build up, and feeling her control over the winds around them growing. The beasts below howled in confusion, but kept coming. Soon, they'd started ascending the hill. Megan finally figured out why Justin had picked the location he did, as the face the Fomoire and his creatures were approaching from was steep and icy, slowing their approach.

As the winds picked up, Ashling and the Count tucked themselves further in to Lani's pack, to avoid either of them being picked up in the storm.

While the handler and one of the pair stumbled, the other found its footing, the twisted bear-spider-sabretooth thing coming bounding up, six-inch claws finding purchase in the ice. Justin stood and swung at the base of the rocks, setting off the first of Lani's traps, and sending icy rocks tumbling down at it. While the monster avoided the first few, it stumbled amidst one some of the smaller bits of slippery rock, losing its footing long enough to be unable to avoid one of the largest rocks, which crashed into it head on, sending the monster tumbling back down the hillside with a howl of pain.

As the handler and the other beast, this one looking more like a cross between a two giant scorpions and a black panther, started up, Megan raised her volume, sending the winds and slow flurries at them. The advance turned into a slow, determined trudge against the wind, with the handler having to shield his eyes as the already howling winds turned into a full blizzard, driving snow and ice at him.

After falling to the bottom of the hillside, the bear-spider-sabretooth creature righted itself and started coming up at them again, with a heavy limp, and a few of its eight eyes swollen shut and bleeding. Despite the injuries, it kept coming, howling and hissing all the way.

Megan tried to keep her focus on the closer pair, the windstorm at full intensity. Justin remained standing, sword at the ready, drawing attention. When the two-tailed scorpion-panther thing hit the right spot, all its attention on the young knight with the fiery sword, its front legs broke through the ice hiding the shallow pit. The three teens hadn't been able to dig deep enough into the rock and ice to make a proper deadfall, but the sharpened points lining the bottom of the trap still punched through its front feet.

Justin nodded to Lani, who removed the block under more of their rocky cover, sending more stones tumbling down at the beast and handler. The scorpion-panther failed to move in time, with large rocks breaking the carapace on impact, and snapping at least two of its legs, along with carrying it back down the hill.

The handler took a couple of impacts himself, but managed to set his feet, knock one of the rocks aside as he weathered the impact, and again start forging his way up the hill against the storm. He initially tried to use his whip against Justin, but quickly found Megan's storm made lashing with the weapon difficult, so he dropped it, drawing his secondary weapon, a sword that was bigger than Megan. His first sweeping attack with the weapon cut right through the remaining rocks, forcing all of the teens backwards away from the last of their cover.

Justin managed to block the second attack with the Claiomh Solais, but even with an indestructible magic sword, the impact still drove Justin backwards, almost taking him off his feet.

Megan nearly lost the storm-song amidst scrambling out of the way, but picked it right back up, trying to drive the Fomoire handler back down the hill. He kept coming, but the driving wind and flying ice coming at his face still limited his effectiveness, and the winds did force the bear-spider-sabretooth to hunch down and dig its claws in, keeping it from joining its master for the moment.

Justin made repeated efforts to get inside the reach of the Fomoire, while Lani and Megan just tried to stay out of reach, but for all of Justin's skill, the handler had not only his vastly superior strength, but speed and experience. He kept forcing Justin back and keeping him on the defensive. In the few moments Megan could manage to look away, the creature was still coming as well, though at least the other remained still amidst the fallen rocks. It was a small blessing, since they were already struggling to handle just the single Fomoire.

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught Megan's attention. Before she could quite register what she was seeing and shout a warning, Ashling had crawled free of Lani's bag. The winds caught the pixie, and while she couldn't steer with any precision, she didn't need functional wings: the winds still sent her hurtling at the Fomoire's face. Focused on Justin, the ten-foot-tall creature didn't notice her until she had crashed into his forehead, hanging on as best she could with one hand, using the other to drive a knitting needle into his eye. The handler screamed, clutching at his face as Ashling jumped free, scrambling down his chest. That gave Justin the opening to step in and drive his sword into the Fomoire's leg. The handler tumbled forward, letting Justin drive the Claiomh Solais into the Fomoire's throat as he was trying to rise again.

Justin barely got the sword free in time to block an attack from the monster as it crested the hill and rushed at them. The swipe injured one of the monster's front legs, but still disarmed the knight, sending the Claiomh Solais spinning through the air to land several feet away in the snow. Megan went racing after the sword to recover it. As she was running, Justin got his shield in the way of the next swipe, but two claws still punched through the metal in spots, leaving long tears in the shield, and knocked Justin down.

Ashling was still clambering free from where the handler had fallen, and without a steep hill to climb, the creature seemed able to get through the storm winds just fine.

Lani bought a little time, picking up a frozen rock. She managed to come at it in a blind spot, where a couple of the many eyes were shut with frozen blood, smashing it in the side of the head. The impact had little effect, but got the creature's attention off of Justin for a moment.

Megan took that moment to toss the sword back into Justin's reach. As the creature was whirling to deal with Lani, but before it could strike, Justin thrust the flaming sword into its side. There was a crunch and moment of hesitation as the blade met some sort of armored hide under the fur, but he managed to drive the blade through into its chest. Justin twisted the sword, pulling it free and going diving out of the way. Lani did likewise, both barely avoiding being cut in the monster's violent death throes.

As the group was struggling to catch their breaths and tend small injuries, Lani finally looked towards Ashling. "I don't carry knitting needles."

"You have ever since Robin Goodfellow. I needed an enchanted weapon, and figured his sweater was done, so he wouldn't need it," Ashling said with a shrug. "Figured it might come in handy."

Chapter 14: Barrow

Megan looked out from the hilltop, trying to get some kind of idea how far away the city might be. Through the blowing snows, she could get only the faintest idea. "You guys are going to hate me."

Lani was still putting the last of her tools away, but paused to look back towards Megan. "Why would we do that?"

"Because," Megan said. “We need to stop by the Fishing Hole. Ashling, which way is that, and how far?"

"I have good news and bad news," Ashling said. "Which do you want first?"

Lani looked from Megan to Ashling and back, before answering. "How about the bad news?"

Ashling nodded. "It's a slight detour, and more time in the wind...I think. Got a funny feeling about it. Like something may have changed. But in any case, a slight detour that way." Ashling pointed—and fidgeted, frowning as if something itched. “So. Yes. Suddenly topographically questionable, but that way.”

Lani groaned. "Hopefully we can at least find somewhere we can get cover and warm up. But you said you had good news... which had better not be about your cholesterol or car insurance rates."

Ashling shook her head. "The good news is that, man, is that safer than going into the city! It's like none of the Fomoire really want to hang out by the place they were imprisoned for more than a thousand years.”

"Wait," Lani said, "How does stopping by the lake first make going into the city any less dangerous?"

Ashling spent a few seconds looking deep in thought, before shaking her head. "It doesn't. Same risk. Well, except that with the detour, your odds of frostbite rise exponentially."

Lani looked back to Megan. "You're sure about this?

Megan sighed. "I'm sure. We need confirmation that Inwar really did bury divine hazardous waste to destabilize the Fishing Hole. We've decided we can't trust the guy running the show when we get back home. We can't pass up the chance to check the evidence.” The pixie's confusion about terrain changes certainly already seemed to be backing it up, though. “Ashling, can you find us someplace along the way to camp, maybe even with enough cover to light a fire or something? Let's try to infiltrate the enemy city with all of our fingers.”

Ashling thought about that as well. "We're back to just bad news. That would make the trip less safe, but yes. I can find a place."

"Do it, then. I'll trust the Huldufolk magic to help us a bit longer."

They risked the light from the sword a couple of times along the way to keep feeling in their hands, but kept it as minimal as possible. Ashling led them through the hills to the ruins of a small, walled fort. The remnants of the walls of one of the barracks provided cover from the wind, while other ruins of the mostly wooden structure provided ample firewood. The group huddled around a small fire. Megan kept expecting some criticism of the detour, but didn't get so much as a questioning look as the small group sat and warmed themselves.

Megan finally broke the silence, looking to Ashling. "How much further to the lake, and what did this used to be?"

"This used to be a ten-second head start," Ashling said. "Because the lake would be within sight if the wind were blowing the snow around just a little less. This was one of the Fishing Trippers' camps."

"Ten-second..." Megan started, then cut herself off, remembering the Fomoire assault. Barring heavy enchantments, she was sure wooden walls wouldn't mean much against the Fomoire, beyond providing a small morale boost via their presence. "All right, so we'll check out the lake, and come back here to figure out the best time and path to the city." Megan finally said.

Justin did his best to hide the site of their fire and their passage through the walled areas, since the wind and blowing snow had covered their tracks everywhere at all open.

The lake was only a short trip from the camp. Just far enough for the numbness to start creeping back into Megan's fingers and toes. If anything, Lani looked even more miserable, but kept up.

“Is this where it felt different?”

"Yeah. Can you settle down the winds a little so it's clearer?"

"I don't know. I haven't really tried that as much. But I think so," Megan said, starting to sing, focusing on calming the winds, and channeling them around the area. The results were mixed, but Ashling and the Count stayed aloft, managing a fifteen minute scouting run. The Count settled back into the offered towel, which was then put back into Lani's bag while Ashling reported.

“There's a stone down there that should be covered in snow. Instead, it's rolled away just a little. I can see the entryway. Looks like someone has been here recently."

"I thought you said this place was safe."

"It is. They aren't here right now," Ashling said.

"But if one of the Fomoire were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing," Justin said, "Then this would be the perfect place for discretion."

"Right where none of the Fomoire want any kind of reminder of being," Lani said. "You're right. Let's take a look."

Megan let Ashling guide them to the stone, then helped it further out of the way. Justin drew the sword and led into the darkness, down a rough stone stairway.

Like the mounds they'd fought the wights in, the space was huge, needing columns to help support the roof and all the weight of the snow above. Unlike the wights' mounds, this was all one, single burial chamber. There were a handful of carvings on the walls, and some shelves carved into side walls, but most of the space was taken up by the single body buried here.

Balor's massive body was set on its side, with the floor partially hollowed to keep him settled that way. The eye was pointed in the direction of the lake, head tilted slightly upward. Even from near the entrance, Megan could feel the heat from the eye, warming the chamber. Some, but not all of his seven shrouds covered the burning eye.

Were that not bad enough, the body was regenerated past where Megan had last seen it. The healing wasn't proceeding nearly as fast as when she'd battled O'Neill, or even at any kind of visible rate, but there was muscle on the bones, and skin had begun to cover it in places.

“We can't just leave the body like this,” Lani said. “Any complete solution to this war—aside from Inwar's solution—is going to involve this lake. It can’t be permanently destabilized.”

“I...think somebody else might agree with you about not just leaving the body like this,” Megan said. "Whoever has been visiting knows that it's, well, not just a skeleton with an eye anymore. First things first though, let me check something. Or, well, Justin, you're more fireproof with the scabbard and all. Can you go check those shelves? I have a suspicion."

True to her guess, the remaining shrouds were neatly folded, and set near the body. Under her direction, Justin applied them to the eye, blocking off the rest of the heat and danger from Balor's poison gaze.

"So what does all of this mean, and what do we do about it?" Lani asked.

"I think it means Robin was right. Inwar had Balor's body brought here and set it up to sabotage the ice. He really is trying to bring on the final battle," Megan said.

"Do you think Inwar had something to do with this recovery?" Lani asked.

Megan shook her head. "I don't think so. Someone tied in with the Fomoire has been visiting. This is also a lot more like their kind of magic. From what I've heard, though, I'd bet Indech doesn't know about it. Sure, Balor followed the guy, but it sounded like kind of a mercenary arrangement."

Justin nodded. "A reasonable thought. So, we've stopped the eye,” he said. “What now? As Lani said, we can’t just leave this situation as it is."

"We have to, for now,” Megan said. “We need more information before interfering in necromancy. But we make sure, when all this is over, that this is dealt with, and he gets a burial with whatever honors he was promised, and all the wards and things to make sure he finally stays dead. Somewhere else."

"All right, so if we've done what we can...?" Lani said, looking towards Megan.

She nodded. "Then we head for the city, with even more reason to find the spear now..." She glanced again at Balor's partially skeletal, partly muscled form, remembering the hand starting to move, and the heat of even being near the eye. "Just in case."