11:8
It didn’t take that long to get from Lady’s Mary’s Home to the docks. Ourton just wasn’t that big. But, it was enough time for Prairie and Gwen to explain what happened in Spiritus and the warehouse and for Dempsey and Abe to give their own accounting of the time which amounted to a whole lot of staring at Prairie and Gwen’s still bodies and a small amount of time losing their shit when Prairie and Gwen stopped breathing. And blah blah saving their lives.
Gwen knew she really did owe them both a big old thank you. Later. When Dempsey wasn’t glaring at her like he cared more about her life than she did. Of course she cared about her own life. She just sometimes didn’t think before she did things. Some would call it a flaw. She liked to think of it more as a strength. Decisiveness. Passion. Good old fashion gumption.
Yeah.
“You died?” Ivan’s voice carried from where he walked in the front of the group, Prairie hastening her steps so she could keep up with Ivan’s much longer stride.
“Maybe?”
“You died!”
“Well,” Prairie trailed off, “for myself that isn’t that uncommon.”
“What?”
Prairie shrugged. Before she could add more Dempsey raised his voice, “It’s on the left. Up ahead. I think.”
Ivan took a mikro to glare at Prairie, his expression speaking volumes, then he turned his head in the direction Dempsey pointed out. “It is.” Halting, he turned to slide his gaze over the group. “Nothing to it but to do it.”
Gwen gave him a thumbs up. Siobhan slid her fingers over her shoulder strap. Patti shot him finger guns. Dempsey didn’t wait for any more responses, instead striding down the street towards the warehouses and leaving the rest of them to follow like baby ducks or be left behind.
The warehouse had a wide set of doors, like a barn only bigger, that appeared to be on some kind of track that would let them slide open. Next to these was a normal-sized door with a worn knob. Dempsey approached this door then paused to send a quick look over his shoulder. He slid his gaze over the group before nodding and twisting the knob. The hinges on the door gave a screech as he pushed inward.
Having lost the advantage of surprise he shoved the door so it flew open, banging against the inside wall. Without looking back to ascertain the position of the others or their readiness to enter, he quickly snatched a short sword from his bag and surged forward into the dimly lit area. Footfalls on the wooden floor behind him told him the others followed close behind.
It took a mikro for his eyes to adjust to the dimmed light in the warehouse. Once it came into enough focus so he wouldn’t stumble and make even more noise, Dempsey moved forward.
Directly across from the door he entered was a wall of tall shelving units, crates of various sizes stacked tight on them. To the right was a closed door with a glass window. Dempsey shot a glance back, meeting Dan’s eye and jerking his head towards the door. Dan nodded and then carefully opened the door so he could poke his head over the jamb. He pulled back almost immediately and shook his head. No one there.
Dempsey nodded and moved along the shelving unit. It was tall enough and the crates were close enough to each other that he couldn’t see over or around. He started when someone bumped into his back. Pausing his steps he looked down at Gwen who was close enough he was able to read the “oops,” forming her lips. Dempsey bit back a grunt then turned back to his careful stepping.
He was reminded of forging a path through a jungle. Only with less humidity. And foliage. And wildlife. And really it was nothing like forging a path through a jungle except in that he had to be aware of how he moved and what he might encounter around the next bend.
At the end of the row he carefully peeked his head around the corner, only to be met by another row of shelves. While the interior was dim Dempsey could see that there was nothing there except shelves so he didn’t slow. A third row of shelves, packed tight, suggested Smythe and Sons were doing a solid business.
Dempsey passed these and came up to another row, this one flush with the left wall, forcing him to turn and follow it back to the right. The serpentine design felt more like a siege layout than a warehouse, but maybe Smythe and Sons had needed to hold off an attack at some point and decided to make a convoluted entry to slow approach. Stranger things happened. All the time.
He paused at the end of the row and leaned in to look around the corner of it. Beyond it was an open space, free of shelves but bisected by wide platforms, several of which had open crates on them.
“Took you long enough.”
The voice drew Dempsey’s gaze to the left. On the last platform, almost too far to see in the dimmed warehouse, a chair sat. And in that chair sat a figure dressed in black. A light fixture streamed a beam of white down on the figure, highlighting them like a performer in a spotlight.
From behind Dempsey, Ivan and Dan surged forward to brace him on either side. Ivan held his shield and Dan had a book in hand, pages open with a finger pressed down to hold his place.
Dempsey eyed the figure in the chair. They hadn’t moved. At all. Not to retreat nor to advance with an attack. Instead they rocked back on the legs of the chair and propped a heel on an open crate near their feet.
The toes of the boot braced on the floor tapped out a subtle rhythm, not so much something Dempsey heard as kind of felt. Or maybe his brain filled in the sound he should be hearing based on the movement. He wasn’t sure. Didn’t seem all that important honestly.
“Come in. I don’t have a lot of time.”
“What’s going on?” Gwen’s whisper carried from behind Dempsey.
“Not sure,” Patti responded, “wall of man in front of me.”
Gwen shoved in between Ivan and Dempsey, bumping Dempsey’s side with her elbow. “I thought–” her words came to a halt as she saw the figure in the chair. She grunted when Patti pushed herself in beside her, forcing Dempsey to take two steps to the left and causing him to bump into Ivan.
“Is that everyone?” The man, it was definitely a man based on the voice though anything else about the figure was indistinguishable in the shadow formed by the light above falling on the hood he had pulled up over his head, asked.
Footsteps sounded on the wood floor as Siobhan, Kim, Prairie, and Abe stepped in and around the group so they could see the figure. They lined up in a straight line, which from a strategic point of view made no damned sense. Dempsey frowned. Why weren’t they advancing on the guy? Shouldn’t they be advancing on the guy?
There was a long pause then the figure said, “Good. That is everyone.”
The tapping of the toe of the guy’s boot held Dempsey’s attention. The sound of it carried in the empty space, the rhythm matching the rhythm of the blood pulsing in Dempsey’s ears. A rhythm he hadn’t even noticed until it matched the patter of that toe on the wood.
He frowned and shifted on his feet. Or tried to shift on his feet. They didn’t move. His heart surged and he looked at Ivan.
“Can you move?”
Ivan frowned then shifted his shoulders. “Yes?”
“Take a step.”
Ivan’s frown deepened. His knee bent and it was clear he was trying to pick up his foot. Then he shook his head hard. “Can’t.”
The metronome of the figure’s foot falling against the wood sounded loud in Dempsey’s head. No. Sounded loud in the warehouse. Too loud. It was just a foot on wood. Or was it?
The rhythm didn’t falter as the figure shifted their weight so the front legs of the chair came down on the floor. Didn’t falter when they leaned forward to rest their elbows on their knees. Didn’t falter when they lifted a hand, pushed back their hood, and revealed a featureless black mask.
And there was no shift in the rhythm as they reached a lean fingered hand up and removed the mask to reveal the face of a man who looked like he belonged sipping some frothy drink in the shadow of an awning at some trendy coffee bar. Bar, not shop. That’s how trendy it would have to be to match this guy with his neat goatee and man bun that didn’t seem to have been so much as ruffled by wearing a mask and a hood.
Ivan stiffened next to Dempsey. “Al?”
Trendy dude shot a finger at Ivan. Dempsey noted he kept up the toe tapping.
“Al!”
Ivan surged forward. Or his upper body did. His feet moved nowhere which caused him to topple forward. Only quick thinking on Dempsey’s part, snatching the back of his jacket, kept him from doing a very awkward and likely damaging face plant. Dempsey didn’t imagine falling straight forward while your feet stayed in place was great for the ankles.
Kim threw her hands out and a fire coyote shimmered into shape from the air. It looked to her and she said, “Go!” while gesturing at Al. The coyote took three lunging steps forward, its steps apparently not constrained as Dempsey and the others’ were.
Before it got further what could best be described as a sea of river rats poured out of the shadows along the back wall of the warehouse and engulfed the coyote. The smell of burning wet fur announced the fates of the first rats to attach themselves, but the cooking of their fellows did not seem to hinder the rest of the burgeoning wave of vermin.
Kim’s eyes widened. “Rats.” She shook off a shudder. “Glad Ben isn’t here.” Waving a hand she summoned another fire creature, this one what could only be described as a dire wolf with a back that reached around four feet from the floor. She gestured towards Al who tutted and shook a finger at her. “There are a lot more rats in this area. You won’t get me with your elementals. Or anything else anyone throws at me. Step down.”
Kim shifted her gaze to the rat-covered coyote, then to the dire wolf. She bit her lip then made a drawing motion with her fingers. The wolf took two steps back and dissipated into the air. The mound of rats collapsed, no longer having a coyote to layer over.
From down the row Patti started humming. Loud enough it carried. Sass joined in, their high-pitched tone harmonizing with Patti.
Hum. Hum. Hum. Then she broke into song, “I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.”
Trendy dude, that was “Al”, turned his gaze on Patti. A look of speculation flitted across his features. “Very good, Siren. I’ll lead you in a dance, said me.”
“But your–” Gwen trailed off. “You work for Ben?”
The guy nodded. “I do.” He looked over his shoulder for a mikro then back at the group frozen in a line in front of him. “Details can wait. My time is limited. Your necromancer,” he looked to Prairie, “took out Mary and bravo,” he gave a polite golf clap that managed to pick up the rhythm beaten out by his foot, “for that. Until then I wasn’t sure you were more than another nuisance.” He waved a hand, encompassing them all. “Your whole group. Not just you, Necromancer.”
“Prairie,” Prairie offered in a small voice. “Not necromancer.”
Al hummed and it also matched the pattern of his toe falls. “Oh, I know. We know all about you.”
“What do you want?” Ivan snapped, drawing Al’s attention.
“I want your help.”
“What?”
A shrug. “Your help. I want it. Need it you could say.” He got a far away look. “Unfortunately time is up. Mary’s waking up from what the necro- Prairie did to her. I have to go. I’ll be at Stripped in two days time, an hora before opening. Bring Ben. Where is he? I was expecting him here.”
“None of your beeswax!” Gwen replied.
“Uhm, yeah, that,” Kim added.
Al waved a negligent hand. “Doesn’t matter. I have to go. ARFA is trying to help but my master calls.”
There was a distinct bitterness to his tone that was reflected in the hardening of his jaw. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out an object. Dempsey instantly felt drawn to its Magick signature. A quick flex of his Magick and he knew it to be a pen. Glass. Fountain. Closed with a screwed cap of gold. Inner reservoir. An empty reservoir that filled with Magick as Al unscrewed the cap.
Humming the same tune Patti had earlier, Al rose from the chair and strode across the raised platform. He jumped off on the far side and slashed the pen across the air.
The air parted like it was being unzippered. Then the edges unfurled like rifled pages of a book, peeling back until there was a gap large enough for Al to step through in the center. From the other side, light streamed and a hazy landscape took shape. Al started through the gap then stopped his steps and turned to look at the group.
He framed his goatee with the fingers of one hand as he gave them a measuring look. Then he reached into the interior of his jacket and pulled something that held a very small Magick presence from it. He quirked a brow as he saw Dempsey fix on it.
“Oops!” Holding Dempsey’s gaze Al let the object cascade from his fingers.
Three things happened at once. The object landed with a dull thunk. Al stepped through the gap in reality. And Dempsey felt the sucking release of Magick against his boots.
The rest of the group must have been released from Al’s Magick at the same time because Dan lunged towards the gap in the air, Abe within a finger’s length of him. Even with his quick instincts and the speed that he cleared across the floor by the time Dan reached the space the gap had all but closed, the light from the other side a bright line like an electric bulb’s filament marring the darkness of the air.
Dempsey surged forward, vaulting over the platform to land on the other side next to Dan who stabbed his fingers into the light. They sank in to the knuckle. Hope stood out stark against his knuckles, the light from the gap highlighting them like a spotlight. He dropped his book and stabbed his other hand into the space. And then he pulled. The line of light got a little wider. Still a line, but a thicker one. Dan shot Abe a glance.
“Can you see it?”
Abe squinted. “Yes.”
“Can you help?”
Abe nodded. “I think I can?”
That said they reached their blackened right hand into the space under Dan’s two hands. The black on their skin rippled as they made contact and then the slash in the air widened more. Dan grunted and leaned into his arms, pulling the opening to the left. Abe reeled to the right, throwing their slight weight into the motion, and the gap widened.
“Can I help?” Dempsey asked.
Dan grunted. “Don’t think so. Bibliomancy.”
Dempsey nodded. The object Al dropped on the floor called out to his Magick from slightly to the left of Dan’s feet. With nothing else to do to help Abe and Dan, he stooped down and scooped the object up.
It was round and metal to his physical touch. The Magick within it snapped at Dempsey’s fingers. He raised it closer to his face to get a better look at it. In the increasing brightness from the gap in the air the item glinted, the light bouncing off to reveal a crown of copper roses exquisite in its detail with tiny thorns that pricked at Dempsey’s callused fingertips. He turned it to the light, twisting it so the shine danced over the metal.
“What’s that?” Gwen’s voice came from Dempsey’s left. He turned to answer her and bumped her shoulder with his arm. She was that close.
“Crown.”
“I see.”
“Magick.”
“You don’t say.”
Kim crowded in from Dempsey’s other side and craned her neck so she could look at the crown. “Why drop it?”
Dempsey shrugged. “Don’t know.”
Dan let out another grunt and the light from within the gap brightened more, drawing Dempsey’s attention to the widened space that appeared to be big enough to step through if you weren’t Dempsey or Ivan’s size or maybe even Dan’s.
“C’mon, c’mon,” Abe mumbled and took two big steps back and to the side, pulling the gap open further. Their features showed the strain of the motion, highlighted by the light from within the gap.
Dan’s arms shook with the power he was pushing into them, whether his Magick or physical or a combination. “Not sure how much longer we can hold it. Seems to be fighting us.”
“Then,” Siobhan said from behind Dempsey. “Let’s go!”
“Don’t need to tell me twice,” Patti muttered as she pushed past Dempsey.
“Wait.” Dempsey held up a hand. “Shields first.”
Patti nodded and hefted her punch shield. “Yep.”
Ivan slid in next to her and flicked his wrist to expand his metal shield. “Got it.”
Dempsey slid the crown into his bag and pulled his shield from the strap on his back. Situating it over his arm, he nodded. As if he’d waited for that, Ivan stepped through the gap in the air, shield out, with Patti two steps behind. Then Dempsey stepped through, his shoulder brushing both Abe and Dan as he turned slightly sideways to fit through the space. The air seemed to resist his forward motion momentarily, like he was pushing against a thin membrane, but then it gave and he stepped through.
After the dim interior of the warehouse the light on the other side of the gap burned his eyes. Dempsey lifted his shield a bit higher and ducked his head behind the edge of it to blunt the effect. From behind him he heard Abe say in a strained voice, “Quick!”
Despite still being partially blinded he took the risk of stepping to the side so the others could get through the gap. Luckily his feet found solid ground and nothing else. Something shifted under foot, suggesting they did not land on a floor. And there was the smell of pine so likely the shifting was pine needles. His eyes still hadn’t adjusted enough to confirm by the time he felt and heard the others exit the tear.
Abe called out, “That’s everyone!”
“Okay, together,” Dan answered.
Birds chirped. Leaves rustled. Bugs made bug noises which usually Dempsey would just kind of filter as background but going from the muffled false calm to the unfiltered sounds the bug noises seemed distinct. He held his shield at the ready, still largely in front of his face, and braced his feet in case anything or one took the opportunity to attack while he and the others were adjusting to their new environment. It wasn’t exactly disappointing that nothing did but it also felt a bit like overkill to be braced and ready when absolutely nothing came at them except environment sounds.
Slowly his vision resolved and he was able to confirm his initial impression that they were somewhere with trees and pine needles underfoot. He looked around quickly, determining the position of the others and orienting their proximity to the elements of the forest.
The trees around them grew tall and had thick trunks suggesting many anos of growth though impressions, he’d found since joining this entourage, could be misleading. Still the trees grew tall enough they blocked the majority of the light. What was there was filtered and fell in wavering rays that eked between the tree limbs crossing high above.
Beneath his feet was a thick carpet of pine needles interspersed with fallen leaves. They gave off a rich aroma when he shifted from toe to heel then shuffled a bit more to the side to make room for Prairie and Gwen who came up to either side of him.
Gwen planted her fists on her hips. She didn’t release her grip on the plunger she used as a ridiculous – and surprisingly effective – weapon, so it jutted out at an angle from where she pressed it to her thigh. Blowing a swathe of wavy hair out of her eyes she looked around the forest before pursing her lips and tilting her head back to look up into Dempsey’s face. He quickly turned his chin slightly so he didn’t get caught staring but by her expression he fooled no one.
Not that he’d admit it to anyone but himself – and even then sometimes not himself – but there was something compelling about the woman. He found himself watching her often. Not just because she was likely to do something dangerous or insane or dangerously insane like suck all the pain out of the group so she could lessen their burden like she had earlier.
The memory of the blood coursing down her face made a ball form somewhere between his stomach and chest. It might have been in his heart. Probably in his heart. She seemed to have a death wish – or a hurt wish – that inspired something in him he hadn’t felt in a long time. Or ever.
To a certain extent this entire group of heroic idiots made him feel more protective than he had in, well, ever. But this Gwen chick? Yeah, she punched him in the chest regularly.
Even when she acted aggressively. And literally punched him in the chest with a fist. “Do I have something on my face?”
Especially when she acted aggressively. He could admit it. He looked down at her with her legs braced and her fists on her hips and her plunger jutting at an angle and he had to suppress the smile butting at the back of his teeth. Who knew what she’d read into it with a smile from him? Probably that he was in need of a smack with a plunger.
Kim sidled up next to Gwen. She stared around the landscape then rubbed her chin. “This forest isn’t right. I’d swear I saw the inside of a room through the gap when Al went through.”
Movement behind them drew Dempsey’s attention as Abe and then Dan rushed through the gap they’d held. It closed with the soft pop of displaced air, leaving no evidence of the gap and no way back to the warehouse even if they’d wanted to abandon their hunt. And then the sounds of a forest came in, louder, like everything had been slightly muffled and unreal before the gap closed.
“I saw a room too.” Abe’s words proved they’d been listening while maintaining the gap. “There was a fireplace. A rocking chair. A small table with a book on it next to the chair.”
Siobhan looked at Abe. “You saw all that?”
“I was pretty close. Yes.”
“So,” Ivan lowered his shield and turned to look at the group loosely gathered in a circle. “We are being messed with.”
Patti turned to the group and planted her fist on her hip. “Seems like.”
Gwen frowned. “If it’s changed how are we supposed to know where to go?”
Sass scampered up Patti’s bent arm and settled on her shoulder then let out a series of trilling notes before pointing in the direction they’d entered. Dempsey looked that way with a frown. There was nothing that seemed specifically interesting there. Just more trees.
“I’d like to try something,” Prairie said.
Patti looked at Sass with cocked head then sang a few notes. Sass replied with several more.
“Anything to share with the class?” Ivan asked.
Patti shook her head. “Sass thinks someone went that way.”
Prairie raised her voice. “I’d like to try something.” When the group looked at her, she lifted her chin and then projected into the surrounding area, “It would be really nice if we had an idea of where to go.”
Patti gave Prairie a confused look. “It would–”
“Was that castle there before?” Dempsey turned at Abe’s question. Abe was pointing in the general direction of ‘up ahead’ where a castle stood some distance away on a slight rise.
It did not surprise Dempsey at all that the castle looked like something from a fairy tale. He’d gronked that theme ages ago.
It was some distance away but it appeared to be made of stone that was almost entirely carpeted over with greenery. Because of the distance it was hard to be sure of the exact greenery but if this was the Sleeping Beauty story which was implied by Bria’s tale then probably it was roses. Three towers struck up from it, pennants fluttering at the top of spires upon them. And it had definitely not been there a mero ago.
As Dempsey stared a road unfurled down the hill the castle stood on. It couldn’t be a path or he wouldn’t see it that far away. One blink to the next the road flowed through the landscape. The trees moved away from it, branches gliding back so the sky appeared a ribbon of blue above the road. Beams of sunlight fell upon the road, making the stone it was made of glisten almost as if it was wet.
Dempsey jumped back when the stones glided right up to his toes. The motion continued, the road flowing under his boots so he was lifted gently. He darted a glance over his shoulder, watching as the progress of the road came to a stop beneath Siobhan and Kim’s feet where they stood to the back of the group.
Siobhan eyed the stones then prodded them with the toe of her boot. “Well, you don’t see that every day.”
Kim frowned next to her. “It feels like stone. It felt like water but now it feels like stone. Weird.”
“Weirder than a castle suddenly appearing?” Gwen asked.
Kim shrugged. “No. But I’m used to earth feeling like earth and water feeling like water and air feeling like air. You get the point, right?”
“It’s weird.”
“Yes.”
Siobhan turned and cast her gaze around to the side of Dempsey where Prairie still stood. “Prairie?”
“Yes?”
“Explain what you just did? This is new.”
Prairie shifted to stick her head around Dempsey to look at Siobhan. “I think we are in The House. Or ARFA. Sunny or Maise, I can’t remember which, said ARFA likes us. I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask for help.”
In front of Prairie’s toes a stem pushed from the earth. A bud formed at the top and then the petals of a daisy unfurled. There were exclamations ranging from surprise to delight at the inclusion.
Dempsey shifted his gaze from the flower to Prairie who gave him a soft smile. She looked down at the flower then whispered, “Thank you.”
The flower didn’t respond. Which was good because that would be taking the fairy tale theme to the point of creepy. Because they hadn’t hit that point five rescues ago.
Ivan snapped his wrist and his shield shifted and folded faster than Dempsey’s eye could follow before snapping into place as a band around his arm. That settled he walked over to offer Prairie his arm. “Shall we storm the castle?”
Prairie’s cheeks pinked. Dimples formed in them when she smiled up at Ivan before placing her hand in the bend of his arm. “Sounds like fun.”
“Does it?” Patti turned to face forward. “Does it really?”
Prairie’s dimples got deeper. “Sure.”
Nothing more for it or as Ivan said “Nothing to it but to do it”, the group fell in to start down the road towards the castle. Something made Dempsey glimpse back for a mikro, his gaze drawn to the daisy in the middle of the stone road. As he watched the stem went from green to black and withered. The head of the daisy fell forward and then the petals turned to ash and blew away on a breeze that Dempsey could not feel.
Well, that was probably not good. He hurried his steps to catch up with the group as they traveled the road. They didn’t exactly relax but they weren’t on high alert. Maybe it was the way the environment had seemed to welcome them. Maybe it was because Dempsey didn’t share the whole flower dying thing. It would just pop the bubble. He decided he’d just be an extra bit diligent. He was used to shouldering the load. What was a little more if it kept the group relaxed so they could conserve their energy to be ready when they needed to be.
Gwen hurried her steps so she could walk beside Ivan. She shot him a quick glance while mostly keeping her attention on the road.
“That was Al? Who works for Ben?”
Ivan’s response was a bit slow. Finally he nodded though he kept his gaze firmly in front of him like he didn’t want to meet Gwen’s too canny gaze. “Yes.”
“Do you know him well?”
“Not well but we’ve met.”
“Must be a punch to the gut that he’s one of the bad guys.”
A long pause then Ivan said in a strained tone, “It is.”
Gwen shot him a side glance. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Ivan drew a breath that could be heard to the back of the group. “Not–” A pause then he said, “yet.”
Gwen shrugged. “Okay.”
After this the group was quiet for a few meros. Each of them was clearly watching their surroundings despite being more casual in not brandishing weapons or holding battle readiness. Ivan, Prairie, and Gwen walked at the front of the group.
The road was wide enough that there was plenty of area around them. It was also smooth with only a very slight grade which made walking easy enough that they could keep an easy pace.
Behind them Kim, Siobhan, and Abe walked and behind them Dan walked to the left of Patti and Dempsey covered the right. He split his attention between the entirety of the group and the forest edging the road. Nothing obvious rustled in the foliage. There was a light breeze and the sun was warm and it all combined to make a situation which could easily lull them into an unhealthy calm.
Yeah, not many people would call calm unhealthy. They’d aim for it with meditation and breathing and exercise and shit. All mindful and stuff. But Dempsey had been in one too many environments where calm came from a predator’s stalking so he determined to not be lulled into any sense of security. Things could go from ‘not a care in the world’ to ‘well, fuck me’ very fast.
The sound of Gwen’s voice drifted back to him, drawing his attention a bit. “So, he’s the Pied Piper?”
Dan lifted his voice to carry to the front of the group. “That’s what Sunny said. If he’s Aleric and all evidence points to that.”
Gwen slowed her steps and Ivan and Prairie matched her so within a few steps the group had grown closer, the better to have a conversation. She turned her head to look back at Dan. “How we couldn’t walk?”
“I’ve got that,” Patti said. “I could feel his song controlling our bodies. Scary shit. Like he didn’t want us to move our feet so none of us did. But he left the rest of our bodies free. The control he has is scary. And he did that by tapping his foot!”
Dempsey keyed into this. “The tapping? That’s what he was doing?”
“Yes.” Patti nodded. “I mean—I think he could do anything to us. The first thing that jumps to my mind are the obvious boogie men. Rape. Assault. But think about this. He could make you stop breathing. Just tell your body to stop.”
“Could he?” Dan frowned. “Wouldn’t primal instinct kick in?”
“I don’t know but from what I got from his song it doesn’t feel like he has many constraints.”
“Something to ask Maise.” Dan made a quick note in one of his books then tucked it back into the pocket of his vest.
“He tells you not to fight when you want to fight.” Kim’s voice was low, slow, like the words were being drawn from somewhere deep. “When everything in you tells you to fight.”
She stopped. Her features were stark. Her steps faltered but then she turned her gaze forward and kept her feet moving along the road. Or maybe plodding was a better word. But she kept going forward. That was something.
“It’s an awful power,” Siobhan crossed her arm over her chest and tightened her fingers in the strap of her bag. “No one should have that much power.”
“How do we fight someone like this?” The question rose from a dark place in Dempsey.
“Do we?” Abe turned their head to look at Dempsey. Then they looked around the group. “Why hasn’t he just destroyed us at any time before this?”
From the front Prairie answered. “Reserves. Of power.” The group as one seemed to narrow their focus on her. She paused a moment as if gathering her thoughts then continued. “Something Mary said when Gwen and I were in the warehouse made me think they have reserves of power than can run out.”
“Hey, yeah,” Gwen nodded. “I remember that. It was when she was attacking us. Or trying to attack us.”
Dempsey keyed into this. By the way Ivan’s chin twisted so he could look at Prairie it seemed the other man had too. “You were attacked?”
“Yeah.”
“How?”
“The usual way? She came at us.”
“What she tried at first didn’t seem to work. So she called for help,” Prairie added. “That’s when she mentioned reserves.”
“I guess we all have reserves?” Gwen frowned. “And when they are tapped we get the Hunger?”
Siobhan, quiet up until this point, tightened her arms around herself. She seemed to collapse inward as the conversation continued until finally she whispered, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I know we have to but—can we please stop? For now?”
Kim lifted her hand toward Siobhan. It hovered in the air for a moment near her friend’s shoulder and then she very slowly lowered it to pat. The motion was awkward, like it wasn’t natural. But based on her set features, she seemed determined to try to give Siobhan some support. Siobhan’s grip on her own torso didn’t loosen but her shoulder did drop an inch or so beneath Kim’s pat.
“We can circle back. Let’s just focus on the now.” Kim’s words were for Siobhan but a quick look at the others got nods of agreement.
Gwen looked up the road and sighed. Then she pitched her voice to be heard to the back of the group and probably a town over. “It would be great if we could get to that castle faster!”
The road beneath their feet bucked. Not a huge throw you off a bull buck but enough to be noticeable. And then the trees on either side of them were whipping past. Dempsey bent his knees slightly and braced his feet, though bracing on a shifting surface was not one hundred percent the best call. Still instinct demanded it so he gave into the impulse. His hair flicked around in the breeze created by their accelerated movement.
Before he could really feel any concern over the shifting scene, the road stopped bucking and they stopped moving forward at the base of the hill the castle sat upon. Effort was made to smooth hair and clothing and then they continued the short distance up the hill.
Gwen reared back, hands on hips. “That’s a lot of roses. Is there even a door? A window? A convenient coal chute?”
Dempsey eyed the tower, acknowledging it was, in fact, covered with a lot of roses. A carpet of roses. Maybe even a blizzard of them. And those roses grew on vines thick as his wrist – and he had a big wrist. And those vines had thorns. Thorns the size of his hands – and he had big hands. They might have been bigger than his hands.
“Maybe we could climb up the vines using the thorns as handholds?” He offered.
“For what? There’s no window.”
“That we can see. Maybe there are windows under all the roses.”
“Then maybe there’s a door under the roses.”
Gwen darted forward, hand out like she was going to start groping around looking for a door. Dempsey reached out and snagged the back of her jacket. Her feet kept moving for a few steps and she ended up jerking to an abrupt halt with the back of her head smashing into Dempsey’s chest.
She turned, fire in her eyes, and gave him a look that promised retribution. Or a plunger upside his head. “What?”
“Stabbing. You put your hands in there and that’s what you are going to find. Stabbing.”
“You take your hand off me or you might find the same. With a knife!”
“You don’t have a knife.”
She held out a hand to him. “Give me a knife. You have one in your man purse, I’m sure.”
“I am not giving you a knife.”
“Whatever.”
Siobhan heaved a hard sigh and stepped up next to Gwen. “Let me.”
She reached out a hand, flicked her fingers out and to the side. The vines made a creaking noise and the roses fluttered along their length as the greenery shifted. It didn’t release but it shifted.
“Hmm.” Siobhan pulled a vial from her bag’s strap and glugged down its contents. Then she held out both of her hands and made pushing motions in opposite directions. More creaking. More petal fluttering. And then scratching and snapping as the vines slowly pulled back revealing the sturdy stones of the wall. The roses along their lengths released a heady aroma, perfuming the air.
Siobhan made smoothing motions and the vines slid back across the stone, taking up their positions, no worse for the movement. Humming beneath her breath she walked a small distance down the living wall and did the same thing with her hands again. This time when the vines pulled back the very edge of a lintel showed.
“Got it,” Siobhan muttered under her breath. She held her left hand steady, keeping the vines free of the revealed stone and then moved about the width a door would be and made the pushing motions again. This revealed a door-sized section of a portcullis.
“Okay. Okay. I’ve got this.” She curled the fingers of her left hand, like she was grasping a big chunk of something, then slowly walked to the left, dragging the curtain of vines and roses with her. They gathered like she was pulling an actual curtain of cloth, folding in and around themselves until she was holding back a lump of foliage and fragrant flowers like she might a duvet. A heavy duvet if the way her arms shook was any indicator.
Beneath the foliage was a portcullis of wood and rivets large enough to drive a carriage through.
Siobhan drew a long breath through parted lips then threw a look over her shoulder at the group. “Look for a lever.”
Abe ran over and looked at the section of stone the portcullis was recessed into. Then they leaned forward to peer through the sections of the portcullis. A mikro later they pulled back. “I see it. Inside. We need something to reach through the hole and trigger it.”
“Here.” Kim stepped up next to Abe. She made a come-hither gesture and a transparent woman formed from the air. Kim pointed at the portcullis. She must have done some kind of silent communication with the elemental as it flowed through the holes in the portcullis and a moment later the heavy gate climbed upwards and disappeared into the area behind the stone lintel.
Siobhan grunted and stepped back from the gate. The vines and roses remained pulled back as if held by an invisible sash. “I think that should hold.”
Ivan eyed the heavy curtain of foliage and potential pain. “Think.”
Siobhan shrugged. “It isn’t an exact science but I’m pretty sure the brambles are happy to hold their position. Let’s not test it though.” She made a shooing motion towards the open entry. “Everyone in.”
She retained her position next to the curtain of rose and thorns until everyone had moved past her and through the entry, then she followed. As she stepped through their was a shushing sound and a release of rose perfume. The group turned to see the vine curtain close over the entry point. The portcullis was still open but they were not getting back out that way in a hurry.
“Eh,” Siobhan shrugged expressively, “that is a problem for future Siobhan.”
With that she turned and strode forward along a narrow stone bridge that appeared to span a very steep drop which made little sense considering the castle’s position on the top of the small hill. Dempsey sidled over to the edge of the bridge and looked down.
If it was an illusion of a drop it was a damned good illusion of a drop. He was reminded of several vine bridges he’d crossed with no little trepidation while searching for items in jungles and forests. The bridge seemed to be stone. It felt like stone under his foot. So no concerns about sway or the chance of a structure built from vegetation and good wishes collapsing under his large frame. But it still seemed to be a considerable drop.
Gwen sidled over. “Give me a rock from your man purse.”
Dempsey slanted a glance down at her. “Why would I have a rock in my ma—my bag?”
“Why would you have a sword and fighting sticks and a freaking shield in your bag?” She held out an imperious palm. “Give.”
Dempsey heaved a sigh then reached into the bag. A mikro’s search and he pulled out several small stones and dropped them into Gwen’s outstretched hand. She looked at the stones. She looked at him. She raised her eyebrows. He kept his gaze steady and expression bland.
When she didn’t get a rise out of him, Gwen selected a stone from her palm and dropped it over the edge of the bridge. A long, long, fairly long several mikros passed and then there was a far-away plunk as the stone hit whatever surface was below the bridge.
“So,” she stepped back and handed Dempsey the stones she hadn’t selected. As he put them back in the bag she said, “Don’t fall off the bridge.”
“Uh huh.” Patti made a clear point of walking over to the very center of the stone bridge then started to walk forward.
Enter The Woods 