Silver Hollow (53 page)
“You’ve done well, lass,” Henry rasped as he struggled for breath. “Morcant, we must reach the haven
.
”
Morcant chewed her lip thoughtfully, but did not hesitate to obey. Had it truly come to this? The haven was the literal foundations of Wenderdowne, where the first structure had been built in antiquity. For Henry to retreat there would mean their deaths.
“But Master, there is no such place, is there? Tis only myth!” Underhill’s voice squeaked annoyingly and she tripped
on
multiple occasions. Morcant fought the urge to blast her to smithereens.
If the little goblin gets us killed tonight…
“Master! Rachel!” Alastair Dearborne rushed to them once they had reached the bottom of the staircase facing the main entrance hall, saving Henry from answering any more nonsensical questions. He stopped short
,
catching sight of his master wrapped in Morcant’s arms
,
she
smiled happily back at him.
I should much prefer to see you fed to the wolves as well, Dearborne.
“Master, we saw the little mistress escape, but them brutes do be begging for a good fight. Knocked in three beastly heads already, meself.” He chuckled.
Morcant rolled her eyes. “Can you not see he is severely injured and we are wasting time with your incessant chatter? Carry him, Cook!”
Underhill
narrowed her eyes, shifting her bodice in effort to look more menacing, but was stilled by Cook’s hand. He did not acknowledge Morcant, only nodded to their master. “It’ll be al
l
right, lass. Give
’
em over, then.”
Finally free of his weight, she was at last free to lead them. She threw up a few more traps behind them for their cursed cousins, just in case. Deeper and deeper into the castle’s bowels they tread, through passages that had not been disturbed in centuries. Morcant repressed the onslaught of tears more than on one occasion. They had played hide and seek here countless hours as children. Nothing but ghosts remained here,
w
ights
and spirits, Morcant and Henry.
Henry was required to sit up a bit to lift his hand and press against the handprint engraved into the wall. Instantly the ancient door began to creak as gears grinded together. A fire was already lit at the center of the room, and everything inside reminded Morcant of their origins. Here was where the truth had been long kept, if anyone had a mind to seek it.
Suc
h knowledge would be true power.
Fighting the urge to plunder the rows of scrolls backed against one wall, she sank to Henry’s side and grasped his hand. Underhill was pacing
in
front
of t
he door to the fire pit, rubbing her hands together while Cook tried to reassure his female.
“Alastair! We should nay have left her. Should have snatched her up and brought her with us!”
“And what good would that do,
love, if they make it past these walls? Our only hope is if she survives. They can nay blight us
as
long as she’s left to come smash them back to human-land.”
Underhill
at last turned into his ready embrace with a sigh.
“Oh Alastair, what a
brimbled
snap-dragon I’ve been!”
Morcant returned her focus on the broken
Sidhe
with his head in her lap. As the goblins embellished their fears, she had been hard at work finding a water source and ripping pieces of her favorite dress away. It was no surprise to her to find a small well at the bottom of a castle. There was an entire world beneath its foundations, a world they had once inhabited. Human legend remembered this realm as the Underground.
Now that her attention
was
on Henry, she tried to ignore the fact she had been listening in on the goblin’s chatter. It was none of her concern what they said or thought. But she was envious of the closeness they so obviously shared. Staring through tear-veiled eyes, Morcant couldn’t help the pangs of regret she felt, or wistfully praying to the Creator she had turned her back on, that after this, she and Henry might at last find true love with one another.
“Wasn’t strong enough…” Henry choked on his own tearless sobs, wretched in his sorrow. His blood ran so fast, struggling to push away her
nixy
bindings.
“Shh,” Morcant urged, wiping the sheen of sweat on his forehead with another ripped piece of her dress. “Never admit defeat, my love. This is what makes us stronger than them.” Henry shook his head, unwilling to give into her ministrations.
Seeing the despondency in his gray orbs made her grab his face between her palms. Firmly, but gentle as a unicorn’s kiss, she pressed her lips to his and willed him to share in her determination. “You listen well to my words, Iudicael Oberon Wenderdowne. I have not fought so long and so hard, have not worn masks I detest, done all this and more for
us
, to see ye give into despair now! You are mine, I say, and I shall ever be yours.”
Squeezing his eyes shut, he reached up a surprisingly strong hand to cover hers against his cheek, his tears wetting their palms. A roar shook the foundations of the house, so deep and penetrating
, instantly instilling fear
. T
here was only one possible source. They all froze, Morcant and Henry holding one another now as the beast’s voice rose up again.
“You know I forgave ye years ago, for telling Drustan about Dameri and I,” Henry said in a rasping voice.
Morcant choked back a sob, squeezing her eyes shut, burying her face in his neck and determined never to forget this moment.
Dear Creator, forgive me for what I’ve done to her, to them, t
o myself. Let the child be safe.
Moments in a person’s life seem
ed
have been built up by everything leading up to it. Amie knew whatever came next was going to shape the rest of her existence. The one comfort she took was that soon she would be in Dearg’s arms, in the sanity his warmth and calming nature provided. If she didn’t reach the stables soon she knew she might black out from fighting off the will of the ring and inherently the castle. Air was harder to come by the faster she ran, even with her heightened senses.
Eyes watched her from the forest in the form of glowing red lights blinking in and out of existence
,
darker creatures come to reclaim what Amie took back from them. A sound akin to the crackle of lightning was the only evidence of the enemy’s attack on Wenderdowne’s defenses. The Exiled waited still on the
other side, their battle cries dimmed. The skies seemed coated by blackness adverse to light. Still the moon pierced through the
haze of
dark
energy
, casting
enough light for her escape.
Her feet ached in her heeled shoes as she pounded down the trail. Halfway to the stables she nearly tripped and paused to catch her breath and strip her feet of the heels from hell. She frowned when the sky blackened completely then.
Cries of terror came from enemy lines, adding to her confusion. Peering through the darkness she watched them begin to retreat from the castle, though some maintained their
nixing
of Amie’s defenses.
“What the heck are they…” Her jaw dropped when she looked up at the covered moon. The shadow was moving rapidly, picking up speed the closer to earth it glided. When it stretched its wings out fully she laughed. “Dragons? Are they freaking kidding me
?
”
The beast was not only the epitome of every single one of Amie’s expectations, gargantuan, rusty scales, claws, horns and spiked tail between its bat-like wings, but ten times as terrifying. After all it was one thing to imagine such a creature and another to see in real life. She clutched the scar on her chest, a deep settled heat rising to the surface and burning all the skin around it. Amie felt as if she were choking on smoke, as if she too were on fire.
A light built at the center of the beast’s armored chest and then it sp
a
t a steady stream of fire over the enemy. Cutting a sudden turn on the wind, it glided low to snatch a handful of the enemy in its massive claws, flapped higher and unhinge
d
them to fall to the earth.
“Amie!” A voice was calling her name, growling in the near distance and soon closer, desperate for her attention. She cried out when a rope of flames wrapped around her wrist and began to drag her forwards, sending her crashing into Dearg’s strong arms. His eyes were yellow as the sun, his skin bright as hot coals and still it did not burn her.
“Can you run or do I have to carry you?”
“Is that a dragon?” she shouted as they raced for the stable door. She turned for one last glimpse of the ancient creature, but it was already retreating to protect the house. When she blinked again, she could see the house’s first defense crumble. Whoever was fighting with the enemy was powerful as Ben warned her they would be.
Dearg didn’t answer, only glanced briefly at her before blowing out the lantern light and pull
ing
her through the back entrance to the caves. “I know you’ve been through the seventh hell and back,” he said. “But we still have a long way to go and I can nay carry you. Understand? We
need
you, Amie.”
Amie nodded. “What about Faye and Ben?” She took the pack he handed her and followed him to the bridge crossing the cavern his cottage bordered.
“You just worry about your pretty little neck, lass.” He twisted the latch on the other side slowly so she could see how it worked.
“Didn’t know my neck was such a turn on for you,” she teased.
Rushing to catch up to her, he snatched her by the waist and pressed his lips to the uppermost tip of her spine. “I do be rather fond of it.” He urged them past his underground cottage and onto the long bridge crossing the abyss below. She clutched her skirts and Grim’s parchment in either hand before following. In the distance the beasts Amie had only ever heard and never seen were growling and shuffling against their chains.
“The wall broke but I didn’t stop it,” she said brokenly. Her words stuck to the back of her throat but she allowed him to lace their fingers,
careful to keep the parchment in her other hand. Forcing her bare feet to race across the wood with him, Amie clutched the wrinkled
paper
tighter.
“I know. Don’t worry, Slaine can take care of them for now.”
“What do you mean
,
Slaine
can
take care of it? I haven’t seen him all night
.
” She blanched when he twisted his head to meet her eye and his round black iris narrowed into a cat-like slit. “What the crap
,
Dearg
?
”
His voice was raspier when he answered her, “You so sure you did nay see him?” Smoke escaped with his breath and the puzzle at last came together.
“You mean Slaine was the dragon? This is too much…”
“Just focus on breathing for now, aye?”
…
Together they ran deeper and farther than Amie had ever been. The caves were lined with the same glowing spheres of light Emrys had taught her how to make, save these seemed to emanate an eternal fire. They were different, like the Cutterworthys, if
it
was indeed their true name.
I can’t believe I’ve been this stupid…
Answers had been laid right in front of her the entire time. Feather had tried to allude to this every time she visited his library. So she began to ponder, if the truth about Dearg and Slaine had been there all along, what about the rest of the missing pieces? Every time Amie found a revelation she ended up with more questions than answers.
Is that the aim of this place? To make people go crazy?
Eventually they stopped running, because the twists and turns grew narrower and deeper. “Stay close to me,” De
arg cautioned as they came to an even blacker section of the tunnels
. Amie watched in awe as first his skin began to give off a brighter ruby light, then flooded his light through her skin. Holding up her fisted hand she watched the silver blood flow through her veins in detail.
With the roar of the cave’s inhabitants growing fainter by the second
,
her ease returned, along with a pressing weight of the night and what she had done. Her eyes flickered to Dearg, the words on the tip of her tongue. How much could she reveal to him? He obviously had reason to keep his true nature a secret. From what she remembered reading their kind was supposed to be extinct. Of everyone in the Hollow, he made her feel most at ease about her human nature. He was the fire and her calming effect, her solace and comfort.
The narrowed path opened into a room accompanied by the rush of an underground river. As they hugged the edge, Amie glanced into the stream and the lights that swam beneath its
surface. Once, she imagined she saw a pair of luminous emerald eyes peek
up at her from
below the current. When she lifted her chin and turned she realized they had stopped.