"How can I convince you of my innocence in her death?" Herne did not look at Keelie.
"You cannot. I have searched for the one thing that would prove the guilt of my sister"s killer. On the day of Linsa"s birth, our father forged a quicksilver heart in the fires of the Earth"s core. Her birth gift, as mine was my scrying room. That heart could not have been taken from her in life, and when she died, it should have returned to me, yet it has never appeared.
"I know of the heart. Linsa showed it to me," Herne said. "It did not return to you because it was no longer hers to give. When we bound our true hearts together, she gave me a token of her unending love. I have Linsa"s heart."
Keelie gasped when she saw the silver heart hanging from a chain around Herne"s neck. He removed it and gently held the heart in the palm of his hand. Ribbons of light and magic flowed through the quicksilver. A slight fluttering from the center of the heart made it appear as if was alive and beating.
Vania reached out with trembling fingers. "Give it to me.
Another rumble from the ground, and the fairy queen almost lost her balance but steadied herself. Sean reached out for Keelie and stabilized her as she swayed to the left.
Herne protectively clasped Linsa"s heart. "She gave it to me as a token of her undying love."
Vania scowled angrily. "That heart belongs to me."
He draped the chain back around his neck and hid it beneath his shirt. "It was freely given to me by the one I love."
Vania blasted Herne, pinning him to the ground with a mighty wave of magic. Keelie sprang back and watched, amazed and terrified. Pulling strands of wild magic from the air, Vania wove an invisible net that held Herne.
The clash of metal on metal signaled that another battle was taking place nearby. Keelie heard her father"s voice call to her. "Dad!" she screamed. She saw the elven army turn the corner, her father at its head.
Above them, Avenir dove into view, a sinewy silver streak mirrored with the colors of the aurora borealis. He was beautiful, and his questing gaze fell on the Lord of the Forest. His wings swept back and he prepared to dive.
"Dad, look out-Avenir at eleven o"clock!" Keelie"s voice echoed in the rubble-strewn streets.
Dad looked up, and the elven archers around him nocked their arrows.
Vania whipped around and gestured toward Keelie. Strands of magic wrapped around her, burning, taking her oxygen. Her vision faded, and then all was black.
Keelie was hot, and the air had a heated mineral smell that reminded her of the hot springs she"d visited with her old friend Laurie when they were in eighth grade. She opened her eyes, but she wasn"t in California. The dark cavern"s soaring ceiling reminded her of Under-the-Hill, but the red light that flickered against the walls was from only one source, and the searing steam cooking her right side came from a vent in the rock that burbled with a hidden, molten river.
Vania was standing near the vent, as if the heat did not bother her. Fala stood before her in fanciful armor that seemed more decorative than useful. Knowing the fae, it was probably enchanted.
"Take your army and wipe out the elves. I will handle Herne."
Fala"s expression did not change. "He is injured, your majesty. Surely we can pick him off easily?"
"He is a G.o.d once more," Vania said, sounding grumpy. "The wild magic has restored him. Peascod has failed. Must I do everything myself?"
"What about the girl?" Fala"s eyes flicked toward Keelie, but then quickly back to the queen.
Fala knew she was awake, but he hadn"t betrayed her. Yet. Would he really fight against the elves? Keelie wondered if Dad was still alive or if the dragon had killed him. In any other forest, she would have felt him; he would have spoken to her mind-to-mind. The trees would have talked of nothing else. But here ...
Vania walked toward the vent in the rock and looked in, seeming to enjoy the blast of heat. "Leave her. I"ll need her later."
Fala bowed to the queen and left just as Peascod and his large band of goblins spun up from beneath the earth, dirt spewing everywhere. A glow of magic shone over their avocado skin and their eyes were bright with madness. Keelie could feel that they were much stronger than they had been. They pulsed with energy from the wild magic.
She very carefully reached for the rose quartz clasped at her belt loop. She was going to need all the magical backup she could get, because another battle was about to take place. As she stretched her mind to the trees, pain ripped through her head-she felt strong magic blocking her telepathic connection. It was like the dampening field she"d experienced earlier. She cried out from the sudden headache.
Peascod grinned at her. A cold forboding slipped through Keelie-it looked like she was going to be on her own. It wasn"t a comforting thought, even as the pain eased. The goblins surrounded her, and Keelie saw no way to escape. She had to come up with a plan.
Vania tried to motion toward her with her hand, but it seemed she couldn"t move it. Panic flashed across her face.
"I wouldn"t do that, Your Majesty," Peascod chuckled. He was holding a bright green cut-gla.s.s container. Its quicksilver lid pulsed with magic. One of the goblins reached over and grasped the queen"s wrists. It smiled, exposing horrible rows of sharpened teeth.
"You dare touch me." Vania kept her steely gaze level with the goblin"s. "You"ll die," she whispered.
The goblin licked his mud-brown lips with his serpentine tongue as if he was antic.i.p.ating the first taste of death. "You"ll die first!"
As the goblins crowded around Vania, relishing her fear, Keelie glimpsed a shadow creeping up on her. Fed up with being dragged around, she jumped up in a karate kid pose, then dropped her arms as she realized that it was Ermentrude, finger to her lips, beckoning for her to follow. The dragon woman looked into her eyes for a second, then nodded, satisfied at what she had seen.
Goblin screams filled the cavern, sounding like bad brakes, and Peascod cursed. "Hold them!" he ordered.
As the goblins charged toward them, Keelie and Ermentrude sprinted into a corridor. Their footsteps echoed oddly in the s.p.a.ce, as if they were five hundred people instead of two. As they reached an intersecting tunnel, a wave of elven soldiers and dwarf warriors poured out and ran past them.
"Dad! Where are you?" Keelie cried. She let go of Ermentrude and ran after the soldiers. Intent on the battle ahead, they didn"t listen when she asked if Zekeliel Heartwood was still alive.
Behind her, Ermentrude huffed and puffed. "Maybe I should cut back on the smoking."
The running army clashed with the armored goblins in the huge cavern. The echoing sounds were deafening. Ermentrude pulled Keelie to safety on a jagged boulder near the vent. Keelie scanned the scene below for her father and Sean, but it was impossible to tell one fighter from another. Drums sounded as more goblins poured into the cavern.
"This is the caldera," Ermentrude yelled in Keelie"s ear, pointing at the vent. "The rift starts here."
Keelie looked down at the opening in the rock. This was the rift, the source of the wild magic. She could see the golden river that sloshed and bubbled beneath it. No wonder it was so warm in Big Nugget now, and there were earthquakes-they were in a volcano!
Panic rushed through her as she saw Avenir charge into the fray. His human form was mighty, almost as scary as his dragon shape. His gaze fell on Ermentrude. Cutting a swath through the warriors, he fought his way toward her.
Ermentrude shoved Keelie behind her. "This might get ugly, kid."
Might get ugly? A war was raging around them, and it wasn"t pretty. It smelled even worse. Keelie wanted to cry or run away. At the same time, she wanted to grab a sword and hack into some goblins.
Then she saw Peascod, flitting behind Avenir and looking around anxiously. He stopped and straightened his mask. Keelie followed his gaze and saw that the fae army had arrived. They were doomed.
Fala raised his sword and called to Queen Vania. She smiled and extended her hand to him from across the carnage of the cavern floor, just as if they were in the High Court"s ballroom. Fala saluted her with his blade, then stepped aside to reveal Herne, in his man-form, fully restored.
"Traitor!" Vania screamed. "You betrayed my army to the enemy?"
Avenir stopped his surge toward Ermentrude and turned to face Herne. "You," he bellowed. "I thought I had killed you for good."
Herne laughed. "I was here long before you, lizard. I will be here long after."
Avenir roared and instantly began to change into his dragon form. His mighty, clawed feet extended and the goblins ran to safety. The elves and dwarves turned their attack toward him. At Fala"s signal, Salaca led half of the fae army to flank the dragon.
"Don"t kill Herne," Vania screeched. "The fool has Linsa"s heart and has not declared to whom it should go. Give me the heart, Herne. It belongs to me."
Peascod stepped away from the dragon as fire blazed out of the caldera. The gash in the rock was widening. Fire encircled Avenir"s body, which had grown huge within seconds. Instead of burning him, however, the magical flames seemed to empower him as he finished his transformation. The elves and dwarves froze, unsure of how to attack. Peascod smiled with pleasure.
Avenir has to be stopped, Keelie thought desperately. If he killed Herne, then the fae, elves, and dwarves would all perish. She didn"t want to speculate about what would happen if Avenir and the goblins were free to roam the world, killing and destroying.
"Little human child, come to me," Peascod said, striding toward Keelie. Her skin crawled as if the c.o.c.kroaches from Maemtri"s shop were walking on her body.
"Keep away from her," Ermentrude warned.
"I need another blood donation," Peascod continued, ignoring Ermentrude. "I need your human heart, beating with your life force and magic, and this is the perfect place to work the ritual."
Flames danced along Avenir"s wings as he hovered above Peascod. The downdraft blew smoke and ash around the cavern, fanning the flames so that they grew ever larger.
Peascod bowed his head slightly. "The rift will make you invincible."
He had been speaking to Avenir, but Keelie felt the power that filled the room. She suddenly knew that she could work this sort of power, just as Vania had.
"Don"t do it, kid," Ermentrude exclaimed, as if reading her thoughts. "You"ll end up like her."
Keelie slid back, her heart racing. She had to figure out a way to use her Earth magic, not the tempting but dangerous wild magic that was filling the cavern.
Lava erupted from the caldera, spattering the wall. A goblin, splashed by the lava, burst into flames and ran shrieking through the now-silent crowd. Vibrant light surrounded them like a malevolent rainbow. Keelie took the opportunity to slide down the other side of the boulder, closer to the caldera and hidden from Peascod and Vania.
She crouched down and duck-walked across the rock floor to the left, toward the caldera. The heat was unbearable, but she wanted to see what was going on. Suddenly her left foot rolled and she heard a crunch. Keelie fell to the ground. As she scrambled to get up, chills spread over her skin. She was sitting next to a pile of bones that resembled a rib cage. For a split second her mind blanked; then she realized it was a human skeleton. No, not human ... fae.
The bones shimmered. The bony hands were outstretched as if the person had pleaded for his or her life before the end came. Bits of red hair clung to the skull.
"Oh. My. G.o.d." Keelie jumped to the side and gulped down air, which wasn"t a good idea. It burned her trachea.
Peascod sprang up next to her. "Thought you"d hide from me?" He peered down at the skeleton, then bent lower to examine it. "It"s amazing how skin decomposes. You would think that as a fae, Linsa would"ve stayed preserved a little longer."
The blood drained from Keelie"s face. "This is Linsa." Of course. Who else would it be?
Herne appeared on the rock. He looked down and cried out in anguish.
Peascod"s eyes glinted through his mask. It glowed, and ripples of color crossed its shining surface. "Yes, Herne, her sacrifice gave us a lot of power. So much so that we were able to open the rift fully and release the wild magic. Her blood allowed us to control it." He kissed his gloved hand and blew it toward the remains of Linsa. "So sweet were her screams as the life force drained out of her."
Fear coursed through Keelie. Her fate might be the same as Linsa"s.
Avenir swooped over the widening rim of the volcano, unaffected by the lava. He flamed the ceiling again.
Keelie laughed, thinking she was close to hysteria. It seemed ridiculous-the mere idea of stopping a dragon was preposterous, especially when he was the size of a three-story house. Peascod frowned; it wasn"t the reaction he"d been antic.i.p.ating from her. She knew she had to find a way to stall him.
Vania appeared, motioning with her hands, and moved toward the pitiful remains on the ground. Keelie stood up and backed away respectfully. The queen needed a moment with her sister.
To her surprise, Vania just kicked Linsa"s bones out of the way. "She was a fool." She looked up at Herne, who towered over her on the rock, his eyes still on the red-haired skull. "If only she hadn"t given you the heart, it would have come to me at her death. How was I to know?"
Were Avenir and the fairy queen working together? The idea made Keelie queasy. If Avenir and Vania controlled the wild magic, the world would suffer.
Avenir flapped his wings and rose again from the caldera. Hot wind blew Keelie"s hair back and her eyes watered. She blinked several times and swore she was seeing a heat mirage, but she wasn"t-Ermentrude was rising behind Avenir, molten gold in the brilliant light of the overflowing caldera.
Avenir turned, startled to see his former mate ready to attack. "Good to see you in fighting form, my love," he chuckled evilly. "You must still love me if you"ve come back for more."
"No more, Avenir! I thought your evil hide had been buried for good."
Ermentrude flamed Avenir, and the two dragons crashed into the ceiling and walls as they battled. The cavern was immense, but dueling dragons require s.p.a.ce. Below them the armies scattered, seeking safety.
Sean broke free from the elven army and rushed toward Keelie, but Peascod stepped in his way. "I"m afraid we can"t let you rescue your Keliel."
Vania grabbed Keelie by the arm. "Her fae blood makes her mine. I command her."
"No one commands me," Keelie shouted. "I am the Tree Shepherd"s daughter." She closed her hand once more around the rose quartz. This time, she felt Earth magic respond to her call. Around the cavern, the dwarves screamed out their battle cry as they felt the pull of the Earth magic, and above them the dragons echoed their cries of fury.
Vania whipped around to face Keelie, shock on her face. Then it turned to delight. "You are so much more powerful than I thought."
Herne pointed to the fairy queen. "You are outnumbered, Vania."
Vania smiled. "You"re a fool, just like my sister. So optimistic. Both of you so in love." She rolled her eyes. "Love is for humans. And optimism will destroy you. Give me the heart, Herne."
Vania looked more beautiful than ever. Keelie felt the b.u.mp of the queen"s magic and realized that it was her glamour. She was using magic to enhance her appearance.
Herne lifted a hand and pixies swirled around Vania, pulling at her hair and pinching her. Vania cursed and swatted at them. A swirl of magic left her mouth, a purple stream of fog that quickly filled the cavern.
Keelie clutched the rose quartz tighter and pulled up an edge of Earth magic, its clean power surging through her. The fog bounced off of her, but all around her, the elves, fae, and dwarves froze in place. Dismayed, Keelie saw that Herne, too, had gone still in mid-motion.
Ermentrude, flying above the fog, screamed as Avenir slammed her into the wall. He caught her in his ma.s.sive claws and dropped her into the caldera.
Keelie couldn"t breathe. They had lost the battle. Numb, she watched as Avenir landed in front of Vania.
"Kill the fae girl so that the magic comes to me," he said, glaring down at her.
"You monster," Keelie yelled. If she could gather enough Earth magic, it would shield her from Avenir"s flame. She felt a strong thread, stronger even than when she"d tugged on Earth magic in the Wildewood. She felt a tickle in her mind and closed her eyes-and the image of the old woman came to her.
Mother Tree leaned on her twisted staff. What are you waiting for? I see the roots.
Keelie scanned the area, but she didn"t see any tree roots. Only poor Linsa"s bones.
Then Keelie felt a tug of magic and turned to see the glowing heart, fluttering beneath Herne"s shirt. Avenir"s neck rippled with muscles as he turned to look at Keelie. His talons clicked against the stones.
Mother Tree"s presence had vanished the minute Keelie saw the heart, and so had the Earth magic she"d gathered. If she didn"t replace it now, she would die. Dad was probably dead, and Ermentrude certainly was. But Keelie couldn"t give up. She would not let Peascod, Avenir, and Vania win, even if it meant her own death.
"If you"re not going to sacrifice the girl, then I"ll eat her. Bones and all," Avenir said in his deep, dark voice.
Keelie drew deep on the Earth magic. The rose quartz, cool in her hand, was a balm against the caldera"s scorching heat.
Vania turned away from examining Herne"s still form. "Bones mixed with magic contaminate the ritual. How many times do I have to explain this to you?"
The now-glowing rose quartz was a pink ball of light in Keelie"s hand. She fixed her gaze on Herne and realized that if the heart was still with him, he must be alive. She saw him nod imperceptibly. He was only pretending to be enchanted, and he"d understood her unspoken request.
She pulled on the wild magic through the rose quartz, and its pulsing light brightened from pink to blinding white. Avenir closed his eyes and staggered back to the edge of the rift. Keelie stared at Herne"s chest as she tightened her hand around the rose quartz.
Herne suddenly pulled the chain from around his neck. Vania gasped. Linsa"s heart dangled from his outstretched fingers. The wild magic surged toward it.
The heart healed all. Would it mend the rift?