Naming Day (Jake Underwood Book 1) (18 page)

“It would take an enormous amount of effort to clean it, if I understand what I was told after I used it. Besides, it’s not worth it to anybody. It’s geographically remote from human population centers on this side of the Veil and in the wilderness on the other side of the Veil only the foolhardy or the desperate use it. Supposedly a few smugglers have used it from time to time, but it’s just too remote and too dangerous to bother with.”

It was quiet in the Crown Vic and I wondered if I had laid it on a little too thick. It might be worse for them to face the passage though the veil terrified than it would be for them to face it unprepared.

“Look, I know this is frightening, but I did make it through. It was a nasty trip, but not an impossible one, obviously.” I paused and made sure that they were listening. “Just…stick with me if you have problems. I will get you through. It should be a piece of cake. Really nasty, unpleasant cake, but still edible despite the smell. Okay?”

Dalia looked confused and Marty smiled a seemed to relax a little. Looking back at that ride through north eastern Texas, I wondered what I would have done if I had known exactly how awful it was going to be.

The rest of the drive to the temple mound was pretty quiet. Marty was tunelessly humming something beneath my hearing and Dalia spent her time looking at Texarkana and the surrounding countryside. I was thinking about what we should do once we crossed over. I don’t have a lot of resources on the other side. I knew a few Fey that I could trust to put us up for a little while, but not many that I wanted risk with a declaration of becoming unclean.  I thought I had a pretty good idea of what was going on, or at least who was doing what, but I wasn’t completely sure what I could do about it.

I wished that I could call Sergeant Bermuda, but that seemed risky. First, I wasn’t sure exactly what his role in all this was and I wasn’t sure exactly which side he was playing for. Second, if I called him in, I would lose what little control I had of events and I couldn’t risk that until I could see how all this was going to turn out. If I turned all this over to him, I had no guarantee that Dalia would be safe. At some point, over the last few days, it had become very important to me that I protect Dalia and that she be safe.

I hadn’t realized just how much I missed having family until she had arrived unannounced in my life. She may have been “only” a second cousin, but she was mine and I wasn’t going to lose her. It made me wonder if I had other kin that I didn’t know about. I had avoided my Father’s family like they were direct agents for the Adversary and would never have expected that someone as sweet as Dalia could possible exist in our family. I had to admit, however much it stung, that I might have been a little unfair to those unknown kin.

Still, it was just as likely that they were like my father. My father, who couldn’t have been bothered to find out if I was even born or what had happened to my mother. My Grandfather told me how, after my birth, she had lain on her bed, in a pool of sweat and blood and called for him. He didn’t come. He never came. All the time that I was a child and trying to come to term with the things I saw and felt, things that none of my pure human friends could see, he was a big, father shaped hole in my life. When I finally, did come to the Court of Dawn, he wouldn’t see me. He told me through messengers that his honor would never let him come to me. Oh, he offered me money, blood money bought with my mother’s life, but I wouldn’t touch it. I never had. I guess I should have been grateful that he never disowned me. He certainly could have had he chosen to do so. But this time he would see me. I would give him no choice. He had connections I needed and I would use him to save Dalia and to bring Kevin’s killers to justice, however much I might have to risk his precious name.

I spent the remainder of the drive working out exactly what I thought would bring all this to a reasonable conclusion and if I was correct about what was going on, it wouldn’t be easy. Like I’ve said before, when the Court reaches out into the mortal world, it’s nothing but trouble. When both Courts reach out, it becomes a disaster. My only hope was that I could ride the waves to safety and take Dalia and Marty with me.

Marty. Marty was another issue entirely. If I could extract myself from this mess, he would be fine, if not he was probably screwed. The best he could hope for was a mind wipe and nightmares for the rest of his life. The worst was hard to consider, but I did it anyway.

If I failed, and it was only too likely that things could go that way, Marty could end up in some Fey’s noble service, doing whatever little task he deemed Marty suitable for. It was oath to me that made him vulnerable. As an unsworn human he would have had protection under the Compact. But as a liege man, a different set of rules applied. He could be claimed by any member of my family, even my father. I could wish that it hadn’t come to this, that Marty could been content without knowing so much about what was going on, but with him it was hopeless. He was too good at finding things out and I had owed him the truth for a while. It was a little late now to be worried about it, but I should never have involved him in this mess.

Still, I hadn’t realized at the time how complicated it was all going to become. No, that was a lie. There was a moment, after Kevin had been killed and Marty had broken into my place and ate a sandwich when I should have cut him out. I knew that it could get a lot hairier but I was tired of being alone all the time. When Kevin was murdered, I realized how few people would actually give a shit about my death and it hit me hard. I realized that I wanted it to come to this, that I wanted Marty to know, I wanted someone to share my secret with. I admit, I was ashamed of my weakness. I had endangered my friend because I was lonely. At this point there was nothing to do but play it out and do what I could to keep Marty and Dalia safe. It wouldn’t make up for my carelessness in involving him in the first place, but maybe it would be enough. I certainly hoped so. Marty was looking at me and I stopped woolgathering and brought my focus back to the present.

“Marty, once we get on the path that leads to the passage through the Veil things will start happening pretty quickly, so let just tell you a few things that you should expect.” He nodded and his smile faded and he his intent gaze told me that he was as ready as he was going to be.

“First, we have to ditch whatever iron we might be carrying. It’s considered a mortal insult to be carrying iron on the other side, kinda like some guy strolling down in the fifth ward in a KKK outfit with a rope on his shoulder.” Marty laughed and I was glad to see that he still had that in him. Wish I felt like laughing.

“Second; the guns. We can take them, but they aren’t always reliable so don’t bet your life on them. There are many places that are spelled against them, specifically the accelerant that’s inside the shell casings. If we had more time I would load us up with something right off the R&D boards. Stuff that is so new takes time for the Fey to adapt their spells to protect against new tech.” He nodded.

“I will try and let you know when it’s safe to use them, but there might not be time, so plan accordingly.”

“What about the Black Watch? Won’t they have the same problems?” Dalia had been listening.

“Unfortunately, no, they won’t. Their weapons are spelled as exceptions to most warding spellcraft. It’s heavy magic and illegal for the general population to own such a weapon. So we aren’t likely to find any for our own use. True, there are ways around the warding spellcraft, but not very many. Assume that if the Black Watch shoots, their guns will fire and they will hit. They don’t miss very often. Even if they don’t use guns, they spend decades in unarmed and melee combat. They are deadly with just about any weapon you care to name. If you see them and they don’t see you, keep it that way. You have to be very good or very lucky to put one of them down and I ain’t feeling that lucky. It’s fortunate for us that there aren’t many of them. It would be luckier still if there weren’t some already looking for us.”

“Got it, we’re going into the lion’s den bare as when we were born. I love it when a plan comes together.” He grimaced. “Are there any pluses?”

“Yeah, there are a few. First, I’m a sneaky bastard and so are you. We’re going to be underestimated by most of the Fey we meet and dismissed as less of a threat. Plus, I don’t think anybody will be expecting us to show up at all, despite this Naming Day thing. Only an idiot would stick his head in a noose.” I smiled.

“That’s true. I’m doing it and I can’t believe it myself.” He smiled.

“We also have another advantage. Nobody knows about you. You are my ace in the hole.” Marty nodded and I continued. “Look, if I didn’t think there was fair to equal chance that we could succeed, I would just take us to ground. But with a little highhanded behavior and some luck I think I can get us out of it and more important dump some of this crap on the parties who earned it.”

“Do you think that you will be able to restore my position at the court of Twilight or in my father’s good graces?” Dalia asked, doubt and need filling her voice. “I don’t think that will be as easy as getting you and Marty free. Despite everything, I broke my parole. There is no disguising it or excusing it. Even if I did it for the noblest reasons, it is still a stain on my personal honor.”

“I don’t know Dalia. A lot will depend on how much of what is going is general knowledge. But I’ll tell you this; whatever is going on is pointlessly complicated.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s too fancy and too tricky. There are too many things that can go wrong. Whoever is behind this is a little too clever for their own good and that gives us an opportunity to turn the tables.” I finished on what I thought was a hopeful note. Apparently, I succeeded.

“I hope you are correct.” She smiled. “I would redeem myself and the only way that can done is by vindication.”

I had nothing to counter that statement with so I lapsed into silence. It wasn’t too long before the turnoff to the site appeared and I turned the Crown Vic down the dirt road that led to the mound. About a mile in, the was a chain stretched across the road adorned with a sign warning that this is a historical site protected under national and state law forbidding trespassing. It was scratched and rusted in several places and looked exactly as it had the last time I had been through here. I tried not to think about how awful that trip had been and drew strength from the knowledge that despite the trial it had been, I had survived it. I stopped the car, got out and walked to the chain. It was padlocked with what appeared to be a fairly heavy lock. Most padlocks can be busted pretty easily, but this was case hardened steel and it would take a beating before it gave. I pulled my lockpick set out and went to work on it. Padlocks are actually easier than door locks so it only took a minute or so to rake the tumblers into place and turn the lock. I was rewarded a click and the sight of the shackle popping free. Marty had slid across the seat to the drivers spot and I moved so he could drive the car past the chain which I secured by restoring the lock, another advantage in not beating it to bits. I got back in the car and motioned for Marty to continue up the road.

About two miles from the Farm to market road that we had left and into a lightly wooded area stood the remains of the Nasoni village. I had Marty throw the Crown Vic into park and I opened the door and let the scent of the place fill my nostrils.

‘Stood’ may be too powerful a word. There really wasn’t anything standing but the temple mound itself, at least not to mortal eyes. In the periphery of my vision I could see huts and spectral inhabitants moving about. The unburied bodies of the plague dead were scattered among the ghostly structures and a faint miasma of putrefaction swirled about the dead village.  There was something else there as well. The taint of the Adversary was strong. It was nearly dusk and I wished that I could have made better time in getting here. The place was a horror show during the day, but it was worse at night. Still, we had about a half hour of light left.

I unfocused my vision and allowed the images to fill me eyes. Overlaid on top of the suffering of the Caddo Indians who had lived and died here centuries ago was a mighty battle between the forces of the Bright Kingdom and the Adversary. The blackened armor of the vanguard was spattered with the gore of the unfathomable creatures that the Adversary had set loose. Abominations that owed as much to centipedes as they did apes, grappled in terrible conflict with the nobles of the court. It hadn’t gotten any better since the last time I was here.

I shook my head to clear my vision and the sparsely wooded field returned there was a clear line were a healthy pine forest ended and the village proper started. Past this point, even the trees that grew were subtly twisted and unhealthy looking. Bark had sloughed from the trees and the trunks seemed alive with insects that I couldn’t identify without getting a lot closer than I wanted to. The mound was about three hundred yards away, as inviting as an opened grave.

I motioned for Marty and Dalia to get out of the car. It was clear that they were affected by this place. Marty seemed uneasy, but Dalia was clearly the more sensitive of the two to this place. Marty just shivered a little, as if the air had grown chilled. I actually heard a whimper form Dalia. Being mortal does have advantages and this was one of them. All Marty knew was that he was uncomfortable; Dalia was dealing with the full physic backlash. She was seeing what I had seen, but probably more solid than I had.

There was a palpable sense of ‘wrongness’ about the place was already strong and it would grow much stronger. The air seemed to hang about, cloying and choking as we started through the scrub towards the mound. Thorny brambles caught at our feet and tore our clothes as we worked our way through the ancient dying ground and battlefield. It was then that the voices started.

At first it was like a low murmur. The kind of sound that you hear in a packed theater after everyone has settled in for the movie, but before they start showing the trailers. It started getting louder and we could hear the individual cries of the dying as they clawed and tore at our ears. It whipsawed back and forth around us, like a raging beast, growing louder. I don’t know what the others heard but I heard Kevin asking why I killed him and the stern voice of my grandfather asking how I could turn to my Fey blood after all he had done to protect me from it. I could hear Allison’s burbling moan of terror and pain as she died in my arms, her life’s blood spilling from her wounds and soaking my clothes. All those I had failed called to me to save them, knowing that I had already failed them.

It was worse than the last time I came here. The assaulting voices of horror and recrimination beat on us like waves and while we stumbled, we continued on toward the mound and the tunnel that would lead to Veil. By the time we broke through to the clearing at the bottom of the mound we were drenched in sweat and exhausted. Dalia had tears streaming down her cheeks and thin trickles of blood flowed from her hands where her nails had dug furrows into her palms. Marty was grim and his face paler as we stumbled into an oasis of silence that gather at the base of the temple mound.