Rise of the Darklings (39 page)

T
he morning mist was beginning to writhe around their legs as Ravenhill dragged Emily across the bridge and into sight of the tree where she had first met the Dagda.

The Faerie Queen and the Dagda waited on either side of the ancient oak tree that stood at the bottom of the hill, framing it between them. The Queen wore a wispy cloak, woven from strands of silver and gold. Its edges were kept above the wet grass by three unkempt human children. The Dagda was staring at something in his hands.

They both looked up as Ravenhill approached.

“What have we here?” said the Queen, clapping her hands with delight. “Emily Snow. You must tell me where Corrigan is so I can cut out his treacherous little heart.”

The Dagda studied Emily calmly. “Have you come to fulfill our deal?”

“What deal is this?” asked the Queen sharply.

“None of your business,” said the Dagda.

“She has the key,” said Ravenhill, cutting across the Dagda’s words. He gave Emily a shove, so that she stumbled forward and fell onto her knees. The Dagda looked down at her in disappointment.

“What? She has it?” The Queen cast a quick look at the Dagda, then turned back to Ravenhill. “What are you waiting for? Take it from her!”

“She says she has hidden it.”

The Queen strode forward and pulled out her black dagger. But just before she brought it to Emily’s face, the Dagda grabbed her arm.

“Do not be foolish,” he said.

“You dare?” gasped the Queen. “The Dark Man—”

“The Dark Man has to stay hidden until the Order attack. You know that.”

The Queen glared at the Dagda, intense hatred clear across her face. The Dagda merely smiled, then released her arm.

“Emily, would you come over here, please?”

Emily swallowed her fear and stood up. She hurried over to the Dagda.

“You have it?” he asked. “The full key?”

Emily hesitated, thinking of Sebastian’s words. Whom could she trust? Then she realized it didn’t really matter. The key was hidden, so she didn’t have to tell anyone where it was if she didn’t want to.

“I have it,” she said.

The Dagda let out a slow breath. “Then this is for you.” He opened his hand and Emily saw that he was holding an elegantly carved gold pocket watch. He released the catch and the cover slid smoothly open. But instead of the watch face Emily had been expecting, there was a small mirror. Emily hesitated, then leaned forward and looked deep into the glass.

At first, all she saw was her slightly worried reflection. Then her face faded from view and she suddenly found herself flying through gray clouds, over rocky hills and highlands covered with white and purple flowers. A distant shape appeared on the horizon, a huge castle that soared up into the air, its spires reaching impossibly high toward the clouds. Strange creatures flew around the turrets, and as she drew closer Emily saw that they were dragons, huge creatures that crisscrossed the sky above the castle.

The picture zoomed toward a window in the castle and entered a small room. The room held only a table, chair, and a bed.

Seated at this table were Emily’s mother and father.

Emily gasped. It really was them. They looked a bit older, but it was definitely them. They sat at the table and held each other’s hands. Then, as if sensing Emily’s gaze, they both looked up.

The Dagda closed the pocket watch and held it out to her. “For you. A gift.”

Emily reached out and took the watch with trembling hands. She placed it carefully inside one of her pockets.

“Now you must fulfill your part of the bargain,” said the Dagda.

Emily looked up sharply. “You said you would help get them back.”

“And I will, but your parents are lost in time. I do not know how this was accomplished, but it is a fact. Give me the key and we will search for them together.”

Emily still didn’t say anything.

“Don’t you want your family back, Emily? Your mother, your father, back where they belong. No more responsibility for you. No more looking after your brother all on your own. Their fate lies in your hands, Emily. You can save them.”

The urge to tell the Dagda where she had hidden the key was almost overwhelming. It would be so simple. She was being given a chance to bring her family back, the family she had long feared dead.

But at what cost?
whispered a voice in her head. The Dagda had said he would send the Queen through the door with all her court, but what if something went wrong? What if the key ended up in her hands?

What if Sebastian was right? What if the Dagda really did plan on bringing his own armies through?

She wanted to trust him. But when you were promised everything your heart could possibly want, you had to ask: what was the catch? Emily squeezed her eyes shut.

“Emily,” repeated the Dagda. “The key. Where is it?”

And then she heard Merlin’s voice in her head, as clear as if he were standing right next to her.

You must try and make the decisions that are true and pure. Those decisions might not necessarily be what you want, but such is life. We all have to make sacrifices for the greater good. You are no different
.

Emily opened her eyes and looked calmly at the imposing figure standing before her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t give it to you.”

He didn’t say anything, but the white pupils of his eyes dilated and his eyebrows drew together in a fierce frown. He bared his teeth in a snarl of anger, and that was when Emily knew she had made the right decision.

The Dagda stepped forward and grabbed her arm. “Give it to me! Where is it?”

“I tire of this,” said the Queen. “Ravenhill?”

Emily saw the Queen standing only two paces away, gazing over the park with glittering eyes. “I think it is time to give your signal, Ravenhill.”

An ear-shattering crack exploded through the cold air. Emily jumped in alarm, wrenching her arm away from the Dagda. She turned and saw Ravenhill lowering the gun he had just fired into the sky.

A second later there was an answering shot from the forest. Then the members of the Order broke through the tree line, about a hundred men, all of them charging straight for their position.

Emily looked over her shoulder at the Queen and the Dagda. How were they going to stop them? It was supposed to be a trap, but Emily couldn’t see what they had planned.

The Order drew closer, a silent, heaving line, their breath pluming into the air. Emily could see their faces now. She spotted Mr. Blackmore, and to her surprise he was running slightly ahead of the others, as if eager to get into battle.

And so he was the first to die.

A fey troll, a hulking slab of gray meat holding a long spear, appeared out of thin air. Blackmore ran straight into it, the point punching through his body and out his back.

Emily screamed in horror as the trap was sprung. The fey faded into view, totally surrounding the members of the
Invisible Order. They stopped running and formed into a circle. The battle was joined with screams of wrath and defiance.

Everywhere Emily looked she saw a different face, a different species, all leaping into the fray. A man who had only one of each feature and one of each limb hopped into battle swinging a bronze hammer over his head. Tiny, elflike creatures rode on the backs of crows, bombarding those below with arrows and spears so small they were all but invisible. A tall creature with a long, hairy nose held a sword in each hand, wielding them like a butcher. Another, with huge hands and huge feet, trampled into the ranks of the Order, kicking and striking those around him. Witches stepped out of the bark of trees to grab their prey as they stumbled past. Black Annis grabbed hold of people and lifted them up so that they stared into her cloaked face. Their screams of fear and horror were terrible to hear. Jenny Greenteeth simply grabbed anyone she could and tried to eat them. Emily could just make out a dark shadow crawling between the fighters. As she watched, tendrils of darkness probed outward and wrapped around a member of the Invisible Order, yanking him backward into the shadow of a tree. The Dark Man, hunting his prey.

On the outskirts, Emily saw the dark, painted faces of the Black Sidhe. They darted into the fray with their
spears and fired their elf bolts from the sidelines. Keeping pace with them were tiny human shapes with the heads of rabbits, foxes, and birds. They barked and whistled as they joined in the fight, biting and scratching for all they were worth.

Everywhere Emily looked she saw the fey, Seelie and Unseelie, joining forces against their common foe.

But the Invisible Order was not giving up without a fight. Shots rang out, and the fey collapsed and died with lead-and-iron bullets eating their way through their bodies. Those who didn’t have guns used iron swords, cleaving their way toward the Queen and the Dagda, trying to break through the defenses of the fey to strike down their leaders. Emily saw Sebastian at the forefront of this line, blood from Ravenhill’s blow still coating his face.

And Ravenhill watched it all, an impassive look on his cold face.

Tears streamed down Emily’s face. People were
dying
, and nobody cared.

“Stop!”
she screamed. “Stop it now!” She turned to where the Queen and the Dagda stood, watching the slaughter. “I’ll get you the key. Just stop them!”

The Dagda raised his hand and immediately the Unseelie stopped their attack and stepped back. The Queen’s subjects did the same. The Invisible Order—what was left
of it—looked around in dull-eyed confusion. They drew together in bloodied clumps of humanity, cries of pain and anguish the only sounds in the predawn air.

“Bring the key, Emily Snow,” said the Queen. “Bring it now or we kill every single one of them.”

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY-TWO