"What was that? Where are we?" Sean pushed her behind him, ready to defend her against an invisible enemy. He looked up, amazed, at Under-the-Hill"s seemingly endless sky, its eternally reddish dusk illuminating the tall black spikes of the haunted forest.
"We"re in Under-the-Hill by the grove, the trees I want to study." Keelie"s voice came out in a whisper.
"How ... ?" Sean didn"t have a chance to finish the question. Knot popped in beside Keelie, his fur sticking out in different directions. His tail had a kink in it.
"Serves you right for bringing us here without a warning," she told the cat. She knew better than to touch him. He looked grumpy and might bite her to make himself feel better.
"Knot brought us here?" Sean asked. "I thought this was Herne"s doing."
She didn"t tell him that if Herne had been responsible, Sean would still be standing outside the No-Tell Motel. "I need for you to keep a cool head. I need your help in persuading him to join the alliance. We all need to put aside our differences to make it work."
Sean tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "I will. For you."
Goose b.u.mps dotted her skin and her knees felt loose. They were definitely about to enter a new stage in their relationship, or maybe it was the influence of Under-the-Hill. She stepped away from Sean so that she could think.
"This is the grove that Linsa and Herne planted together. It symbolized their relationship. They brought the trees from Earth and used quicksilver and different combinations of magic to keep them alive."
"Maybe the trees will give you some insight as to why we"re here?"
Keelie opened her tree sense. Nothing but a rumbling from the roots, which quickly grew into a loud roar. She stumbled at the onslaught of magic and energy that crashed into her.
Sean rushed to her. "Keelie, what was that?"
"The trees. Magic," she gasped.
A familiar discordant jangle ripped through the air as Peascod stepped from behind one of the trees. "Not what you expected?"
Sean moved forward, but Peascod threw a gla.s.s sphere filled with a swirling green glow, which expanded and flowed across Sean, then sealed into a perfect bubble again, enclosed around him. It was as if he was stuck inside an upside-down fish bowl. Keelie saw him shouting and pounding on the gla.s.s.
"Let him go."
"I"m afraid I can"t have him going around being all heroic." Peascod laughed. "It was a good thing I didn"t kill you. I have a new plan for you."
"I don"t care why you"ve had a change of heart." She wouldn"t let him see how frightening he was to her.
"I don"t have a human heart, so don"t become all sentimental. Let"s just say you"ll be useful to the end. Your end. Now, I need for you to focus your attention on the trees."
Keelie flicked her eyes over at Sean, who was now pacing back and forth. If she cooperated with Peascod, it would give Sean more time to find a way out.
"What"s wrong with the trees?"
"Can"t you tell by touching them? And you call yourself a tree shepherdess."
"You call yourself a jester, but I haven"t laughed yet."
He scowled.
"One question, though. This is Herne"s garden. I thought he banished you."
"He did, but with the magic leaking, I"m becoming stronger. So much stronger that I can travel between the realms." He tilted his head. "And Herne is ever so weak, as you"ve discovered. Seems he needs you, too."
The ground rumbled beneath Keelie.
"No more chitchat. Let"s get to work."
"What do you want with me?"
"We need you here to release one of our own."
"A goblin? I thought you had plenty of those."
"We have a surplus, no thanks to you and your killing kin, but buried beneath the roots of the trees, one of our comrades has awakened. He wants to be set free, but for that we need a tree shepherdess" special magic."
"What are you talking about?" Keelie felt the ground rumble and wondered if there was a volcano below them. Hadn"t Ermentrude mentioned that fire blossoms grew at the edge of the volcanic pool? They might be standing in the middle of a time bomb. The rift was probably making it unstable.
She saw that Sean had gone still, his ear was pressed to the bottom of the gla.s.s...o...b.. Fear had widened his eyes. He met her gaze and mouthed a word that chilled her.
Dragon.
Fear washed over Keelie as she realized what was making the rumbling underneath the ground. "You"re releasing a dragon."
"Clever girl. I didn"t think you would figure it out. But not any dragon. This is Avenir."
"And the trees are dead." Keelie realized that the consciousness she"d been feeling before, when Herne had brought her here, had been the consciousness of just one being. She hadn"t been talking to trees. The dragon had answered her queries.
"Funny thing about Avenir. Your history is tied to hishe was once the mate of a dragon friend of yours. And your Sean is descended from his captor. He will be so pleased to see Sean o" the Wood." Peascod laughed. "You should see the look on your face. I can read you so easily. No, there was no love lost between Ermentrude and Avenir."
"I"m not going to help you." Keelie shuffled her feet to maintain her balance as the ground roiled, something below desperately trying to surface. Unearthly screams came from the walled merchant town, and the air was full of confused dark fae.
"He"s getting impatient. Let"s help him, shall we?" Peascod grabbed her hand. Keelie pulled against him, but the jester was strong and dragged her away from the trees, then pulled her hand open and slashed a knife blade across her palm.
Keelie screamed as pain seared through her hand. Blood dripped in a steady stream onto the soil. The dirt opened like a mouth to suck the blood in.
Something pushed her to the ground and she kicked away from the slurping mouth in the dirt. A black stag stood over her, facing Peascod with lowered antlers.
Peascod laughed again. "My impotent lord. Come to see my triumph? Your little mongrel will be Avenir"s first meal, and her power will seal your doom."
One of the dark trees fell, its branches cracking the gla.s.s...o...b..that held Sean. He pounded his shoulder against the crack and broke free, racing toward them with drawn sword.
"Keelie," he shouted, "run."
She couldn"t. The earth buckled and shook, and huge rocks fell around them. A huge silver claw scratched through the ground and was soon joined by another. Avenir was twice as big as Ermentrude, and she"d only seen two of his toes.
Herne dissolved to his humanlike form and turned to Keelie. "Grab Knot and touch a tree, then think of the maypole in Big Nugget. The cat will get you there."
Sean rushed toward Peascod. The jester laughed, then reached within his pockets and pulled out another gla.s.s sphere. He tossed it up into the air, and when it landed in his hand, he disappeared. The tree trunks were beginning to crack, and the ground all around them burbled. It reminded Keelie of the time when Alora had emerged as a huge tree.
She wished she knew more about dragons. Remembering her dragon magic book, she reached into her jeans pocket. She opened the teeny-tiny book just as another claw erupted from the ground. The rumbling was becoming stronger. Sean stumbled over to her. He ripped a strip of material from his shirt. "I need to wrap your hand."
Keelie could read the dragon script, but it was super small. She finally saw that it seemed to be a spell to turn a dragon into its human form.
Herne s.n.a.t.c.hed the book from her hand. "Clever girl, but you must leave this battle to me." He turned to Sean. "Go with her, elf, and make sure that she"s safe."
The dragon"s head emerged among the broken tree roots, dirt and boulders showering from its ma.s.sive jaws. He roared, and a spray of flame illuminated Under-theHill, making it look even more h.e.l.lish.
"Leave the battle? Really?" Sean was already drawing his sword.
Keelie agreed with the sentiment, but before she could look for a weapon, Knot snagged her leg and ripped his way up her body.
"Yeow leave!" His claws dug deeper and Keelie staggered toward one of the strange trees and grabbed its trunk.
The dragon lifted h.e.l.lish dinosaur jaws and roared again, flaming the cavern roof. Flame arched back down and licked at Sean"s hair.
"Come with us, Sean!" Keelie reached an arm toward him, but he only glanced at her, nodded to Knot, then turned back to face the dragon, sword lifted, arms in the air, blade dangling behind his back as he readied it for a mighty swing.
A strange look came over Sean"s face. Next to him, Herne had the book open and was shouting the words on the page as streamers of magic poured from the fingers of his upthrust hand. The magic swirled around him, and as the body of the dragon rose from the pit, it transformed into a man. A tall, broad-shouldered man with long silver hair, in full armor. From the smoke rolling from his ears, he was ready to murder. He howled and ran toward them.
Sean stalked toward him, sword still raised, as Keelie felt the whoosh and Under-the-Hill disappeared.
Light exploded around her. For a half second, Keelie thought the dragon had flamed her, but then she realized it was the sun. She was on the street in Big Nugget, by the remains of the Crystal Cup. Her relief was short-lived, however. A goblin jumped onto an overturned car, followed by another. Three more came around the ruined building, and all had their eyes fixed on her. Knot hissed at them and grew taller, his claws out and a sword appearing at his side. He drew it.
"Knot, what"s behind us? I"m afraid to look." The back of her neck itched.
Knot leaned forward, slashing his sword at the goblins. Keelie threw a quick glance behind them. Nothing. The goblins rushed.
"Run," Knot yowled.
Keelie backed away quickly, just as a rumble vibrated through the street. Exactly what she needed-an earthquake. She a.s.sessed the area for earthquake safety, ingrained in her from her California childhood. Except for the attacking goblins, the treeless spot where she stood was the safest. Too bad.
She turned and ran, then fell hard to her knees as the ground came up to slap her. Knot tripped over her and landed on her back. She wheezed and watched, amazed, as the street before her buckled and flattened like a tablecloth being shaken. The light poles that lined one side of the street fell over, gla.s.s exploding as it hit the hard ground.
"What"s going on? Earthquakes don"t last this long," Keelie yelled. The ground still shook. She lay flat, looking back toward the goblins who were also hugging the ground, eyes wide. One of them leered at her, then got to his feet and staggered toward her.
"Meow mask shop, hurry." Knot tugged her up, and something pulled at her hair-a bhata. Others flew ahead, and the air was suddenly bright with pinpoints of pixie light. The lights flew behind them, back toward the goblins.
Across the street, the mask shop door hung open, held there by a mound of sticks. The hhata had come to help them. The doorway would be a safe spot until the earthquake was over, and then they could barricade themselves inside until help came.
If help came. Keelie"s feet bounced on the ground as she moved forward; it was like dancing on a trampoline with a mind of its own. The middle of the street ruptured, chunks of payment flying upwards then landing around.
The crack in the ground widened, and as Keelie grabbed the door frame, she wondered how Sean was. Everything was happening so fast. Knot pushed her inside and blocked the door, sword raised, but the goblins hung back, maybe still freaked out by the earthquake. The little bhata crowded inside with them.
A horn sounded from the hilltop and echoed from the buildings that still stood. Knot froze and lifted his face to sniff the air. He grinned, showing his fangs.
"Who is it? The good guys?"
He nodded, holding onto the door frame as another tremor shook the building. A panicked group of goblins sped by the door, barely glancing at them. At their heels, axes and pikes swinging before them, came the dwarves, armored and scary looking.
They pounded past, then down the street. Excited, the bhata followed them.
Keelie pushed Knot aside and went out. "That was weird. Come on, let"s see how far the hole goes down. There must be a fault here."
Knot growled, but let her walk toward the edge of the creva.s.se that split the street down the middle for two blocks. A sound like the metal-on-metal of bad brakes filled the air. Keelie covered her ears and looked over the edge. Two goblins were holding on to rocks on the side of a deep pit, their claws scrabbling for purchase. Suddenly, one let go, and his scream faded as he vanished into the darkness below. The other one tried to pull himself up onto a boulder, then slipped. He, too, fell into the abyss.
A surge of magic hit Keelie from below. She fell back, her hand on her rose quartz to shield herself from the Earth magic that now filled the air. A sharp-nailed hand closed over her arm and hauled her to her feet.
"Avenir has torn open the rift and brought it with him to this world." Vania stood next to her, tall and queenly, her eyes flashing like jewels in the reflected aurora borealis light.
From behind a row of buildings, hunting horns sounded and the battle cry of the dwarves floated like banners over them. The goblins were on the run, but there were so many of them that Keelie was sure they hadn"t seen the last of them.
A sulfurous stench rose from the abyss. Horrified, Keelie saw a giant, silver-taloned dragon paw clutch the edge of the remains of the town road. A wing tip taller than the surrounding buildings rose behind the paw, and then Avenir was among them.
He had grown huge on the rift"s magic. "Ermentrude," he bellowed. Fire charred the remains of the maypole. Keelie tried to back away, but Vania held her fast.
"He will not harm us," the fairy queen said. "His battle is with Herne."
"Why Herne?" Shocked, Keelie struggled to free herself. "We have to help him."
Vania laughed. "He"s a forest G.o.d. He can help himself. Do you think the magic can be drunk only by the dragon? Do you not feel it, Daughter of the Forest?"
Keelie looked down at her arms, which were covered in waves of colored light that seemed to be coming from inside of her. She glowed with power. But it was wild magic that she didn"t know how to use.
A movement behind the dragon"s ma.s.sive leg drew her attention. It was Sean, dragging himself to his feet. b.l.o.o.d.y, but still armed, he stabbed at the back of Avenir"s knee, searching for a vulnerable spot.
Avenir roared and swatted at Sean, knocking him into one of the shop walls. He got back up, but Avenir"s attention had turned to the huge stag that now faced him. Herne"s deerlike body was huge, muscles rippling under the smooth reddish hide, and his antlers were broad and thick, ready for battle. His hooves trailed magic, and wherever he stepped, green life sprang up.
The dragon magic book flew out of the creva.s.ses and slid to a stop at Keelie"s feet. Vania shrieked, but Keelie reached down and s.n.a.t.c.hed it up before she could take it from her. She tossed it to Knot, who sprang away with it in his furry arms.
Avenir roared again, spread his wings, and turned his long head to examine Herne. Big as he was, the forest G.o.d looked puny next to the G.o.dzilla-sized dragon. The battle definitely looked uneven.
Elven war cries sounded, and Keelie hoped Dad knew she was alive. A flight of silver-tipped arrows. .h.i.t the dragon, and some stuck, like sewing pins, in his hide. He screamed with fury and flamed the street in the direction of the pharmacy.
Keelie smelled burning wood and paper. If the humans ever returned, they would have to rebuild.
"Let"s get someplace safe to watch the fun." Vania tried to drag Keelie away.
Sean had gotten to his feet and was bracing himself with one arm against the wall. He looked up at Avenir, then at Herne. He sheathed his sword, then took a deep breath and launched himself at the dragon"s leg, crawling up swiftly, from scale to scale, until he reached his back.
Avenir was so huge, and his focus was so entirely on Herne, that he didn"t seem to notice the elven knight between his shoulders. Keelie held her breath as Sean drew his sword and slashed downward, causing Avenir to scream and try to reach him, to no avail. Sean held tight to the sword and rode it, tearing, to the edge of the dragon"s wing before being once more dashed to the ground.
Keelie fell back against Vania as Avenir"s wings buffeted the air. His injured wing dragged, but finally the dragon was able to fly. Flapping painfully, he made his way toward the mountains.
Elven victory cries sounded from the other side of town.
Herne turned his majestic, antlered head and walked toward them, morphing with every step, becoming more human looking, until finally he stood before them, the forest G.o.d once more. He was breathtaking, and Keelie could see why her human ancestors had paid him homage.
"Unhand Keliel Heartwood, Queen Vania. She is not your enemy." Herne"s voice was deep and resonant. A G.o.d"s voice.
"You cannot command me. I am not the besotted fool my sister was." Vania lifted her head.