"He"s a big boy. He can make his own decisions." Ermentrude motioned to Knot and walked away from the group.
So the dragon thought she could charm anyone? Ha. She"d been less charming every minute Keelie had known her. Since Knot seemed to be on her side, maybe Coyote had an idea of what to do to keep the dragon from terrorizing the locals. Keelie looked around, but Coyote wasn"t anywhere to be seen. He had a way of showing up and then disappearing. She hoped he hadn"t gone back to Queen Vania. She hadn"t been too happy with them.
"If you can get us home, then do it fast." Elia sat on a rock and closed her eyes. "I feel really weird."
Ermentrude looked at Keelie and grinned, exposing teeth that lengthened as Keelie watched. In seconds, Ermentrude had super-long fangs and her back was hunched.
Keelie watched, fascinated, as Ermentrude turned back into the huge dragon who"d first crashed into the High Court"s great hall. Going from red-haired woman to flamethroated, scaly monster lizard took a matter of seconds. In dragon form, Ermentrude stretched her throat and roared fire into the sky.
Keelie felt the trees around them recoil in horror. It"s okay, she"s a friend, she said in tree speak. She won"t hurt you.
The trees weren"t convinced. The entire mountainside seemed to tremble as if a small earthquake had struck.
An orange blur streaked past her and leaped onto the dragon. Knot dug his claws into Ermentrude"s scales as she extended wings the size of picnic pavilions and launched herself into the sky. The dragon flapped her great wings until she was high in the sky, then wheeled around and disappeared over the other side of the mountain.
The roar of a motor sounded behind them, and Keelie turned to see the SUV that had picked them up at the airport. It stopped and the driver"s side window slid down. Miszrial stuck her head out and stared open-mouthed at the dragon flapping out of sight.
Good thing, too. With their personalities, Ermentrude and Miszrial would have hit it off like a lit match and a stick of dynamite.
Miszrial jumped out of the car and ran toward them, still staring at the sky. "Was that a dragon?"
Duh. "Yes, she"s helping us. How long have we been gone?" Keelie noticed that Elia was standing still, listening intensely.
"Almost a month. Things have not gone well while you were in the High Court." Miszrial looked unhappy. "Your father is here, and he blames Lord Terciel for endangering you. He is meeting with the Council now, to prevent Lord Terciel from destroying the doorway to the fae world." She glanced around nervously. "The forest lord alerted me that you were here. The dark fae have never contacted us before. I came as soon as I could."
If Herne had told Miszrial where they were, then he was certainly connected to this mortal plane.
"The town of Big Nugget has been evacuated," Miszrial continued.
"Evacuated?" Sean had been listening closely.
"There have been earthquakes, and some of the buildings are unstable. Plus, the humans say its been overrun with rats, but it"s really goblins."
"I don"t understand." Keelie wanted to shake her, to get the whole story out at once. Her father and Sir Davey would be frantic. Uncle Dariel was probably beside himself.
"Much has changed since you left." Miszrial looked around nervously. "We must hurry. Please, into the car."
Elia waddled quickly toward the vehicle, looking scared. Keelie followed, with Sean behind her.
"I think we need to get Elia out of here," Sean said in a low voice. "I think she needs to return to Dariel, not go to the Healing Hall."
"I agree. I need to connect with the trees and my father, since he"s close enough to hear me now."
Sean hugged her, then strode over to Miszrial. She smiled, or what would pa.s.s as a smile, at Sean.
Keelie opened her tree sense. How is the forest? Are you well?
All is well in the forest, but things go badly for the walking creatures. The goblins have come from the deep, summoned here by the watcher.
Who is the watcher? Keelie had never heard of a watcher.
He who watches. He watches you now. The trees sent Keelie an image, relayed over the forests. She saw a meadow, with a tiny creature standing next to a car. It was her, as the trees around saw her. She saw the green of her tree magic surrounding her, and in the forest at the other side of the meadow, a dark smear. She"d seen darkness like that before, in the Redwood Forest, where the tree Bloodroot had been contaminated by goblin blood. She pulled the image closer and saw a familiar figure.
Peascod. Just fabulous.
She hurried to the car and climbed in. "Elia, we"ve only been gone a month. That"s a good thing, right?"
Elia turned haunted eyes to her. "But I"m so much bigger. What has fae magic done to my child? With Dariel being a guardian of the forest, I"m afraid that the baby is going to ...
"Have some unicorn traits?"
Elia nodded.
"Do you think Ermentrude"s magic did something to the baby? Or the trip through the vortex?" Keelie felt bad for bringing it up and she didn"t want to make Elia worry, but they had to make sure the baby was safe.
"I don"t think it was Ermentrude. She gave the baby a blessing. There was no malice intended, or I wouldn"t have let her come near me."
Keelie knew that good intentions mixed with magic could have disastrous results. At least they did in fairy tales.
"I do think the baby is much further along, though. I may be close to my time." Elia bit her lip. "What will I do? I need to get back to the Dread Forest. I need Dariel."
Keelie wondered if the baby was in unicorn form inside Elia. She wondered if it could shapeshift in utero. The Compendium didn"t have anything on cross-species reproduction, pregnancy, or delivery.
For the trip back, Elia crawled into the back seat and slept, and Sean sat next to Keelie, his fingers intertwined with hers. Keelie yawned and put her head on his shoulder, thankful to have him here with her. When this was over, she"d sleep for a week. She hoped Coyote was safe, and that Knot hadn"t fallen off the dragon ... although knowing Knot, he might sprout wings. He was always a surprise.
As they drove into Big Nugget and through the remains of the Crystal Faire, the change that Miszrial had warned about became apparent. Many of the shops were empty, and the raucous party atmosphere had vanished. Instead, it was like a ghost town, although Keelie felt a strong surge of energy all around her. They pa.s.sed the mask store, where she was startled to see eyes form behind the open sockets, watching them as they drove past. Magic haunted the streets, and except for a hand on a twitching curtain in an upstairs window, Keelie saw no sign of life.
"Why are we driving so slowly?" Sean seemed anxious, too.
"I don"t want to draw attention to ourselves." Miszrial"s voice shook.
Keelie looked out the window. Ahead, she saw frantic movement by the maypole, but it wasn"t humans who were dancing around it.
"Goblins." Miszrial failed to keep the fear in her voice under control. She stopped the SUV and popped open the glove compartment, rummaging frantically. A look of relief crossed her face as she pulled out a baggie full of chopped green herbs.
At Keelie"s raised eyebrows, she said, "We"ve started to keep some of this mixture about. It will cloak our presence, keeping us invisible to the goblins as long as we don"t get too close."
Sean leaned closer to look at the bag. "That"s enough for the entire vehicle?"
"Let"s hope so." Miszrial hung the bag from the rearview mirror.
Keelie shivered. In the Redwood Forest, she"d dealt with Tavyn, a half-goblin elf who"d told her they"d make a wonderful pair. Maybe he"d made his way up here, where Herne protected his dark fae.
"This is the doing of the fae. It"s all their fault the wild magic is loose and the goblins are attracted to it." Miszrial glanced accusingly at Keelie, who cut her eyes toward her, then turned away, troubled.
"It wasn"t the fae, just their queen," she said, unsure of how much she should tell Miszrial before speaking to the Council. "We must all work together to heal the rift in the Earth, so that the magic will be contained once more." Keelie felt wearier than ever.
Goblins ran up and down the streets, lounged in the shop doors, and looked down from rooftops. Luckily, Elia was still asleep in the back seat. The sight of the goblins would have panicked her.
Sean clenched his fists. "Why are they here? What do they want?"
"They"re attracted by the magic, just like everyone else." Keelie said, rolling down her window for a closer look.
The armored goblins danced, and despite their gruesome black eyes and avocado leathery skin, they seemed almost comical in their revelry. But there was a dark danger about them as well. It was in the air, as unpleasant as their music, which sounded like bad heavy metal. Even in the magically protected SUV, Keelie felt it. It was as if their dance was some ritual, and by dancing it created more magic. She thought about Johnny O"Hare"s fiddle playing, and how it had made her want to dance a jig.
In the street next to the dance, market stalls had been set up. Armor and swords were for sale. She glimpsed huge horses breathing flames standing next to their goblin masters. Then Keelie heard a discordant jangle and grabbed her head. Pain lanced her mind with each repeated shake of the jester"s magical bells.
"Keelie, stay still." Sean reached over to roll up the window.
She waved her hand toward the macabre scene of frolicking goblins. "Peascod is out there."
"How do you know that?" Sean asked, peering through the window.
Keelie blinked as if it would clear away the pain. She needed aspirin and a nap.
"It"s because she has fae blood flowing through her veins," Miszrial said.
Sean turned to her. "And by the end of all this, you and yours will be glad that she does."
"Terciel thinks she"ll be influenced by them. How can we trust her?" Miszrial asked.
"Because Norzan trusts her, and I would think that would be enough," Sean answered grimly.
They were moving away from the goblins, and the dance was over. The discordant jingling faded away. Keelie knew from experience that Peascod was up to no good, but she didn"t want a face-to-face with the jester.
"Herne rules over the goblins?" Keelie asked. "He was scary, but he didn"t seem evil. I need to talk to him." Maybe he would know what had gone wrong with their attempt to heal the rift.
The car stopped suddenly. A dragon was blocking the road, wings tented to either side. Knot was perched between her eyes, claws clutching the scales on her forehead.
"Great Sylvus!" Miszrial cried, awed or frightened, or maybe both.
Keelie opened her door and hopped out. "Ermentrude! Just in time. Did you see goblins while you were flying?"
The air shimmered around the dragon and it disappeared, leaving behind a rumpled redheaded woman with a cat on her head. She batted Knot off and he jumped to the ground, hissing.
Ermentrude"s eyes were glowing bright red. The barbecue smell was back in full force. "The woods are lousy with them. These aren"t Herne"s people, either. Armed and armored, as if they"re ready to do battle. And the humans are gone." She sniffed the air. "Not eaten, though. I don"t smell blood."
"Would Herne know where the goblins came from?"
"I"m sure," the dragon said. "The dark fae answer to him alone. Which makes these goblins all the more dangerous. You should speak to Herne. He"s got a soft spot for you."
"No way." Sean had come out of the SUV and was standing beside Keelie. "She"s in enough danger as it is. I don"t know why the elder elves are relying on a sixteen-yearold human with limited experience and little knowledge of the power she wields. Why aren"t they here at her side to guide her? Instead, they send her into danger-and put me in charge of her safety."
Ermentrude frowned. "Most elves are not my friends. They fear me and my kind, but you are right, Sean. They must be desperate to rely on a child to save us all. Listen to me, young Sean. Your pa.s.sion could be the undoing of the elves."
"You always speak in riddles," Sean said. "Keelie is not safe around Herne."
Keelie wanted to kick him. "Excuse me, sixteen-year-old with limited experience standing right here listening to you. The elves are desperate. Dad is monitoring the other forests of the world, and so is my grandmother and Uncle Dariel. All of them are connected, as are we all, and that"s the point they"re making. I"m supposed to be an amba.s.sador, not a tool kit."
Ermentrude interrupted, exasperated. "Arguing out here is only going to draw attention to ourselves."
Keelie put a hand on Sean"s arm. "We need to stay focused on repairing the rift, and I trust you to keep me safe, but we have to take risks."
Sean tensed. "Taking risks and safety don"t go together. Nor do goblins and elves."
Elia sat up as they got back into the car with Ermentrude. Miszrial, who had stayed in the driver"s seat, stared at the dragon woman wide-eyed.
"What? I promise not to smoke in the car, okay?" Ermentrude sat back and dragged her huge purse into her lap. Knot leaped into the car and rubbed against Elia"s belly, purring loudly.
Elia jumped. "The baby moved. Wow."
Ermentrude looked at Elia. "That"s a very special baby you"ve got there, missy."
Keelie pulled Knot into her lap. "Leave her alone, bad kitty. She"s been through enough." Knot drooled and stretched, making biscuits on Elia"s clothes, still trying to get close to her belly as they drove on.
In the Grey Mantle parking lot, elves in cloaked hoods stood to one side, looking like monks. Miszrial exited the SUV and ran to the elves, leaving everyone else in the car.
Ermentrude"s att.i.tude changed from happy-go-lucky to listen-to-me as she faced the others. "The goblins were doing a battle dance back there, but I didn"t want to let you know in front of that Northwoods elf. The goblins are getting stronger, and they will attack the humans and the elves."
"How do we stop them?" Sean seemed battle-ready.
Ermentrude looked at him. "You have to patrol the area with the other elves. And eventually, you will have to coordinate with the fae."
Sean frowned, but Keelie interrupted his protest. "What about me? How do I contain the magic?"
"The magic can"t be contained by one person. It will take the cooperation of all the magical beings. We have to unite to repair the rift in the Earth and the crack above. That"s where Vania went wrong. She thought she could take a shortcut using you."
"Why can"t you convince everyone to cooperate?" Keelie asked. "A flaming dragon seems like a good incentive to listen. And the elves already know about the goblins in Big Nugget."
"And that is exactly why you need to talk to Herne about helping us."
"Me?"
"Herne will find you. And you can"t delay." Ermentrude glared at Sean. "No complaints. She must do this."
On the other side of the clearing, Miszrial was pointing to the van. The elves lowered their hoods, and scowls formed on their faces.
"She can"t meet with Herne," Sean nearly shouted.
"She has the blood of the fae and he looks upon her as one of his kind. Herne does not trust the high fae, nor the elves," Ermentrude replied. "It is time to join the others."
"What about the elves? Can you convince them to join their magic with the fairies and dwarves?" Keelie asked.
Ermentrude placed a hand on the door handle. "It"s like I told you earlier-the elves will find me charming."
Keelie wondered if it had anything to do with the barbecue smell. The elves might find the scent irresistible. Whenever elves tried to persuade someone to like them or see things their way, they used a charm, a glamour that was accompanied by a cinnamon smell.
Ermentrude strode over to the elves, and Miszrial gestured to them to come over, too. The dragon and the elves bowed to each other, and to Keelie"s surprise, the elves" scowls soon transformed into huge, goofy grins.