Authors: Scott V. Duff
“All right,” I agreed, then waved over my shoulder for the Authority. “After the trial. I want this dreary thing off me. Let me see if I can shorten this. Basically, you were scared and didn’t know who you were dealing with. Instead of following proscribed ways, you overreacted and for that, there will be a price. Adding to that price is the claim of ignorance of Hospitality. The druid clans are Accorded. Even though you attempted to murder a Lord of Faery, I will not demand the full payment of death to all. Instead, I think twenty years of charity work will suffice, in addition to anything your people already do. The amount will depend on our continued relationship, somewhere between a quarter and a full tithe, at my discretion. So mote it be.” It was an easy compulsion for the Authority to write, even full of conditional statements as it was. The compulsion burst into a thousand directions at once and suddenly the Authority was gone.
“Ryan,” I called over my shoulder. “You should see this a little closer, so why don’t you keep time?” The snipers were still collecting, as discreetly as possible, the minutiae of their trade that I’d scattered across the ground. “Now, this is not a crafting that you should ever attempt on your own. It’s very subtle and very powerful.” I saw the three tiny sparks take root in them inside their protective circle as it fell in a whimper.
“It will be immediately noticeable by your companions, but you’ll get there a little slower,” I said, watching the roots grow. “And what’s your name, sir?”
“I’m Andy Elkins. I’m the spokesman for … for…” the second man started to get confused about what he was saying, but at least he knew his own name.
“What about you?” I asked the third man. “What’s your name?”
“Elijah, Elijah Thomas, of Kentucky,” he said confusedly.
“Family men, the three of ya?” I asked congenially, looking past them to the murmuring crowd of druids.
“Yes, sir,” Noonan said proudly. “I have four sons and two daughters.”
“Yes, I have a large family, too,” Thomas confirmed.
“I–, I– can’t remember,” Elkins said softly.
“Four sons, Mr. Noonan!” I congratulated him, glossing over Elkins even as his daughter watched in distress from twenty yards away. “Any grandchildren, then? Any of those sons strong enough to follow in your footsteps?”
“Grandchildren? No, no, don’t think so,” he grumbled thoughtfully. “Got to have your own kids to have grandkids.”
“Pa!” a man’s voice from the crowd yelled. “What are you talkin’ bout? And Jacob and John both initiate next year!” The younger Noonan tried to push through the crowd, but they held him back.
“No, let him by,” I said. “You can all come closer. There’s no danger here.” I turned and walked a short distance away. The
huri
came to me and the druids enveloped their spokesmen as they realized just how deeply ingrained their instructed magic was. Ryan watched intently, having never seen such a thing, but since I’d witnessed the real thing in Lucian, I wasn’t interested in anything beyond a cursory watch. Even though they understood what was happening to their leaders, the druids still attempted their normal comforting pulses of calming energies to help the frazzled nerves. The junior Noonan was more shocked than anyone that their nature magic just rolled around his father, Elkins, and Thomas. Ryan signaled when the time was up so I released their memories.
“Jeb!” Noonan yelled immediately and clasped his son in a bear hug. I let them have a few minutes to compose themselves.
“That was… curious,” Ryan said softly, still watching the mild confusion. “I think you’ve done that before.”
“Maybe,” I grunted, sitting down in the grass. He chuckled quietly and plopped onto the ground beside me, stretching out. Nil and Naught idly wandered about us, their attention on everything. Brian stayed nearby, closer to us than to the druids, and as Ryan and I chatted about where we were in the country and general information about the countryside, he edged closer and joined us, amicably laying out on the ground with us.
“You grew up in this country, right, Seth?” Ryan asked. “Your accent is Southern?”
“Did you?” Brian asked, sitting up on his elbows. “I thought we knew all the American magicians, Uncle.” I glanced up to see Messrs. White, Noonan, and Elkins approaching.
“Yep, Southern as they come,” I drawled naturally.
“We do,” White answered gruffly. “There are no McClures in our registry, though. None in the foreign registry, either, that I’m aware of.”
“Not that I can recall,” Elkins agreed. I snickered, looking up at them. Nil and Naught decided they had come close enough and appeared in between us on either side and sat cross-legged in the grass, facing the druids.
“I think Seth is suggesting you looked quite specifically for him, quite recently, Mr. Elkins,” Ryan said smiling. “He’s a hard one to pull one over on, in case you haven’t seen it yet.”
“Hazard of my job, unfortunately,” I said and moved to mimic Ryan’s more comfortable position. Then I brought the lawn chairs from Mr. White’s patio garden for the druid elders. “Why do you track magicians?”
“To insure we stay off their radar, so to speak,” Elkins said. “Avoid detection, stay out of their way, that sort of thing.”
“Not too complete a list if you missed my parents and my brothers and me,” I said. “Makes me wonder who else you missed.”
“That’s actually why we assumed you were Fae,” White offered.
“And why are you so intent on hiding from the rest of the magical world? Especially being Accorded?” I asked.
“We can’t withstand another elf war, pure and simple,” Elkins said. “The legendary battles between Merlin and the Modred devastated the druid clans over a millennium ago. It took us centuries to rebuild after Merlin banished the Modred. And after the split, it has taken us centuries again to rebuild our families and traditions. We just don’t want to risk our lives needlessly.”
“Well, I have news, some good, some not,” I said. “And you’re getting the short versions from me, the privilege of being Lord of Gilán. First, the secret’s out. The cat’s out of the bag. The world knows druids exist, at least the magical world. Currently the damage is limited to the Hilliard clans in England, but I don’t believe that will last. People will go looking now and you should consider limiting the damage or even changing your goals with public knowledge in mind.
“Second, according to the Hilliards, the elf-liege I killed
was
the Modred,” I told them, watching the snipers scamper away with their gear shoved into pockets and slung over shoulders. I didn’t bring any carrying cases. “The Queens of Faery say they are involved in only one war at the moment. It is
not
with the druids. As this was taken from a conversation out of context to this situation, I asked a representative of each court specifically if they were at war with the druids and they said no. So, no future elf-war for the druids, providing you don’t start one with tricks like that.” I waved my hand in the direction of their now-defunct snare.
“Third, there’s a war on magic users right now and your list is highly suspect as are your motives for keeping it,” I said. “That’s not saying anything about the way you found them. Does privacy mean nothing to you?
“And most importantly, blood magic of any kind is coming under scrutiny by various powerful entities, including all of the councils of wizards,” I said darkly, sitting up again. “This affects you all directly, of course. Now, I have set a schedule for the Hilliard clans to learn how to complete their normal ceremonies without spilling blood. You will have to learn the same things. Please don’t tell me it’s not possible. I know better.”
I sighed and looked up at the sky, now clearing nicely to pale blue with fluffy, non-threatening clouds. “Have I forgotten anything? I feel like I’ve been talking all day long.”
“You have been!” Ryan said in a guffaw. “Not that it hasn’t been necessary. I didn’t know most of that.”
“Yeah, Nil and Naught didn’t know parts either, but nobody can know everything,” I admitted. “I still feel like I’ve forgotten something.”
“Does it have anything to do with Mr. Thomas’ absence, Seth?” Naught asked sweetly. Not quite what was nagging me, but certainly a good question. Looking around the glen, Thomas was gone.
“Yes, where is Mr. Thomas? Did I upset him?” I asked concerned.
“Elijah shouldn’t have come today,” White said, sadly. “And he should have bowed out of that spell. He’s retiring next month but his replacement couldn’t get here fast enough.”
“That was a hell of an experience, even for five minutes,” Elkins said, his voice wavering and his eyes haunted a bit. “You were right, too, about how ingrained it all is. My wife, my kids, their kids, my parents–I forgot them all.”
“Not something I want to repeat, ever,” Noonan said emphatically. “The land was dark and cold to me. I can’t live like that.”
“Trust me, it’s not an everyday, follow-a-recipe-type spell,” I assured them. “It takes a certain kind of ability.”
“A faery ability?” Noonan asked quietly.
“No, though I imagine the Queens could manage something similar,” I said. “In any event, it will take some time before anything comes of this and I’d rather you be moving in peaceful directions in that time. Not that you aren’t peaceful–I just want to avoid any chances of misunderstanding. Give Nil and Naught your contact information and I’ll have someone in touch with you sometime next week to get some talks started, introductions, that sort of thing.”
“And how do we get in touch with you, Mr. McClure?” Elkins asked, reaching into his front pocket for his wallet.
“Difficult to do, I’m afraid,” I said. “Nil, do you have one of Mike’s cards?”
“Yes, Seth,” Nil said, happily as he accepted cards from Mr. White and Mr. Noonan. “I also have cards for Steven and David.”
“It will be easier starting next week, probably Wednesday,” I said, standing up. Ryan stood with me, sensing it was time to go at last. “I’ll have a standing embassy open by then, I hope, not that it’ll be called that.” A bell tolled in the distance somewhere, a familiar tone that I couldn’t place. “We need to be going. If I have anything further, an agent of mine will be in contact. Nil, give Brian a set of all three then hand out as many sets as you have.” Naught supplied a few additional cards to Nil to round out the five sets he needed.
“Seth,” Mr. White said, stepping closer. “I just wanted to thank you, personally, for what you did for Sara. With what little you’ve told us, I realize that you could have just killed her and been done with this situation.”
“My pleasure, Mr. White, really,” I answered smiling. “I don’t particularly care for killing and neither Margaret nor Sara deserved to be part of that plot.”
“Margaret?” asked White.
“Yes, Margaret Pierce,” I said as neutrally as possible. “Sara was the shell, Margaret was the sleeve or the mask they hid behind, and the blood mage was the glue that held them together and controlled them. Only one could live in the end.”
“Shall I see to your rental or will you be driving it back?” Brian asked.
“Would you? That would save me an hour or two,” I said, pleased. “You can call them and have them pick it up. Or drive it for a few days. It doesn’t have enough miles on it for how far from Cleveland it is.” Nil and Naught rejoined us. “Thanks, Brian. Gentlemen, another day.” I waved briefly, still smiling, then wrapped us in portals and sent us to the London house.
The bell tolled again faintly in the distance. This time, I tried to place it at least, but failed. “Well, Ryan, I thought that would be more interesting and less vicious,” I said, finally pulling Daybreak back into my aura. “This day isn’t going quite the way I want. It’s been mostly entertaining so I really can’t complain. Nil, I’m sure you’ve thought of it already, but let’s make certain that removing the wrought-iron furniture is high on the priority list. Okay?”
“Yes, Lord Daybreak,” Nil answered cheerfully. “Damn, that felt good. I’m sorry, sir, but I really needed that and we are alone now.” Naught was petrified while waiting for my reaction.
“Quite all right, Nil,” I said with a grin and sat down on the stone railing. “Whatever you’re comfortable with when the situation warrants, is fine with me.” Naught let out a small sigh that had been a giggle.
“Actually, I must admit to this being a very interesting afternoon,” Ryan said, taking a position opposite me on the rail. “You’re a fascinating young man to watch, if for no other reason than the unusual methods and how they inevitably seem to go in your favor.”
“What the hell makes you think anything this week has gone in my favor?” I asked, laughing in astonishment at the statement. “A hundred years of responsibility for an entire clan of druids? Another twenty for another clan and I get to baby-sit their introductions into the world. Like I don’t have enough to do with Gilán in its infancy.” I felt the faint whisper of power that once sounded like tin foil ripping. He’d gotten so much better at portals in that one night. “We’re back here, Pete!” I called out loudly.
Taking my yelling in stride, Ryan said, “Hopefully, the druids will be well-behaved. We have been a standing society for centuries, after all.”
“Yes, it was their good behavior that gave them their multiple breaches, I’m sure,” I agreed chuckling. “I’m not too terribly worried about it. After all, I do have a druid high priest on the payroll… Hi, Pete, Dillon!” I stood up quickly, grinning at the new arrivals, and let Ryan mull that statement over for a moment.
“Hey, Seth!” Peter said, smiling distractedly. “Enjoying your day off?”
“Hello, Seth, guys,” Dillon said at the same time.
“Yep,” I answered Peter, watching him look around the patio oddly. “Being lazy. Y’all met Nil and Naught?”
“Naught? You Changed!” Peter exclaimed happily and jumped at her. “Congratulations!” Peter hugged her and murmured, “I couldn’t do this when you were a foot tall.” Naught giggled and hugged him.
“Is there something I should know about here?” Dillon asked, waggling a finger at them in feigned jealousy.
“I doubt that, Master Dillon,” Nil said cheerfully as Peter and Naught broke their hug apart. “His reaction to Lieutenant—”
“Nil!” Both Peter and I shouted together, interrupting him. I waved the
huri
to me and clamped a hand gently on his shoulder, turning him so that my arm was across his shoulders. “Um, the
huri
, being faery, have different sensibilities about privacy,” I muttered, knowing my face was flushed with embarrassment. “And it’s past.”
“He’s enjoying our embarrassment entirely too much, Seth,” Peter said, crossing his arms on his chest and glaring at Dillon, who burst into gales of laughter.
“You’re damn right, I’m enjoying it!” Dillon said, leaning against a chair’s back. “I don’t get the upper hand very often, you know. Do you hear a bell?”
“Dillon,” Peter whined angrily.
“Why? Do you?” I asked, my eyebrows coming down suspiciously at Peter’s strange reaction.
“I don’t,” Dillon said dubiously, “but he’s dragged us through three time zones trying to find one.” He waved his hand at Peter.
“Nil? Naught? Either of you hear a bell tolling right now?” I asked, catching Peter’s eyes and holding them, my body going stiff with anxiety.
“No, Lord,” they said, together.
“Just you and me, Pete?” I asked him and he nodded once. “You know what that means, right?” He nodded again. “You don’t have to do this. You’re just holding it for me, after all.”
“He could be just saying ‘hello’ for all we know,” Peter said nervously.
“Maybe,” I answered and sent my consciousness down into my cavern to the glowing icon of the Pact. Leaving Nil, I walked over to Peter and covered his ears with my hands for a moment. In my cavern, I answered the bell by ringing my own very loudly, calling to the third Pact, the only other extant Pact-holder that I’d sensed.
“My
God
, are you loud!” Peter shouted over the non-existent ringing bell once I pulled my hands away from his ears. I grinned as I concentrated on the paths my calling took across the various boundaries and obstructions. Branching and echoing through dimensional membranes and veils became a brief nightmare until Faery mapped in my mind and noise cancellation started occurring. Earth was more difficult. There were a lot more echoes off the atmosphere here than in Faery, with the curvature and all. No easy mapping for me that way.
He answered. “That’s a call for help,” Peter said, anxiously. “Can you find him?” I was already searching, but I’d ruled out Earth.
“Give me a moment,” I muttered. Searching the near dimensions wasn’t an easy task. With the Faery proper mapped that left the Wyldes, the Broken Plains, and the Hinterlands to search through still, before I’d move to others. Watching for disruptions in the second and third waves of my bell toll, I watched for some evidence of the third man in Faery. An echo off a rockface gave it to me.
“He’s in the Hinterlands,” I said, staring at the ground from no reason. We had to go get him. I had the feeling that something was wrong. “Naught, you and Nil should return home. This is a private matter. Ryan, would you drive Dillon home for me, please?”
“Now wait a minute…!” Dillon objected.
“Don’t worry, Dillon. The hot lawyer’s straight,” Peter said jokingly, diffusing Dillon some and no doubt confusing Nil about what he’d said wrong even more.
“Yes, Lord Daybreak,” Naught answered sweetly. “Are there any messages to pass along, sir?”
“Um, yes, tell Ellorn that if my brothers ask about me he’s to say ‘the third bell is ringing’, okay?” I said. “They’ll understand.”
“Yes, Lord Daybreak,” Naught said, smiling. “A pleasure to serve, Lord.” With Nil beside her, they both bowed slightly and shifted to the Palace.
With the Librarian functions of my Pactlock, I could home in on the man’s Pact but not his location, the physical geography that he existed in. I couldn’t open a portal directly. We’d have to go in stages. And that meant if he was in trouble, whatever was troubling him might sense our approach. We felt our magic use so somebody else could. Just because
most
couldn’t…
“Seth, the Hinterlands are in Faery. How do we get there?” Peter asked worriedly. Ryan walked around us to Dillon as I started explaining to Peter in quiet words what we’d have to do. He didn’t like it any better than I did, but he understood. “All right, little brother, let’s go get ‘im.” Peter had that worried but fierce look in his eyes, changed subtly from driving my car in Atlanta to get Kieran and Ethan. Now he was more confident in himself and it made all the difference in the world.
Grinning, I held out my hand for him to take and turned to find a wrinkle in space that would take us on a left-handed turn to the sun. “Ryan, thanks for taking care of Dillon. I’ll call Sunday to make arrangements for Monday’s signing. Sorry about the abrupt departure.” Then I stepped into the torrent of the veil to begin searching for the Hinterlands, dragging Peter behind me.
Suddenly, I was standing on an invisible platform a thousand feet above the hills in the Hinterlands and holding hands with Pete. Everywhere I looked, I instantly knew the terrain, the vegetation, which animals passed recently–a Lord’s presence.
“What happened?” Peter asked.
“Don’t know exactly,” I said, moving the platform by experiment. “When Kieran did this with me, it was more like we were flying in a tunnel of air, which wasn’t very comfortable. Maybe us Lords have it easier.”
“Do you see him yet?”
“No.” The Hinterlands was huge, though, a treacherous stretch of mountains that ran half the length of Faery and bordered both sides, Seelie and Unseelie. Rich valleys were hidden in the deadly landscape but ever-changing paths through the hills and mountains made finding them dangerous at best. And there were a lot of places to hide here, even from my eyes. “Maybe you should ring your bell.”
Peter walked slowly to the side of the dull gray platform then “rang the bell” on his Pact, causing the now-familiar tone to peal through the mountains around us in its mystic non-sound. Again, I watched the energy wave roll through the mountains, waiting for the first to be heard so that the second or third could be answered and disrupted. On the falling edge of the third wave, we got an answer. I moved the platform close over the valley, but stayed high.
“There’s something blurring my view of that area,” I said to Peter, pointing to the dark, ominous pass across from one mountain to another. “There’s something up there, but I can’t tell what. It looks like our boys are guarding that pass.”
“Boys? As in more than one?” Peter asked, looking at the greener valley.
“Looks like maybe three people down there, two real young and one older. The older one might be hurt. Doesn’t look like he’s moved since I’ve been watching.”
“What are they doing down there, you suppose?” Peter asked, peering downward and trying to get a better take on the situation.
“Probably just holed themselves up in a nice idyllic valley to raise a family for a few years and got stuck there,” I said, optimistically.
“Homesteading? In the Hinterlands? You gotta be kidding me,” Peter scoffed.
“Ask your dad about the Wild West and the frontier mentality,” I said, nodding at the cabin absently. “It takes all kinds to make the worlds turn.” A rifle shot echoed through the mountains. A second followed quickly. Sighing anxiously, I added, “I think it’s time to get down there. You want the shooter or the pair in the cabin?”
“If the shooter is fighting something Fae, you have a better chance than I do in taking it down quick,” Peter said and walked off the platform into nowhere.
Seth’Dur’an o’an, that was not funny!
I opened a Named link to my brother and stepped onto the plateau through a portal, just like Peter had. The moment my feet touched the grass I knew the lay of the land and what the shooter was firing on. I should have taken the cabin first so I could have taken control of the wards safely. If I tried now, I’d surely kill her, fool woman. Not that she had much choice, really.
Are you in yet?
Not yet. They’re shooting at me. I don’t want to rush the cabin. It’s heavily warded and I can’t see everything.
At least he was being cautious. I pushed my Pact to the forefront of my aura to make it flare in the ward. The foundation Stone had several layers of shielding floating in space before me and the other weapons were tense around the Pact as I crept silently through the forest. I was looking for an eleven-year-old kid armed with his dad’s Remington M-24, .300 Winmag sniper rifle. His father had quite an arsenal stashed away in a cave a short walk from the cabin.
Show them your Pact. They’ll trust you more at that point.
Another shot fired and I isolated exactly where he was. I ran faster. The plateau turned rocky and mountainous with a sharp drop-off on all sides with only one safe passage. It was the peculiar nature of the Hinterlands that allowed this freaky geography. Now I wish Kieran had spent more time talking about Faery. Information is important. Luckily, I had a very good idea of the plateau, but nothing across the pass. Hopping a portal across the path to stay unseen, I crept up quickly to the rocks the kid was hiding behind until I could see the muzzle protruding about three inches. He popped off another round and time slowed for me.
Before the bullet traveled ten feet, it almost halted in space as I looked forward to see what it would hit: a curse bug. Curse bugs were crawling up the side of the other mountain and trying to cross the pass. There were thousands of them, unmoving, coming one by one to creep slowly along the path until it inevitably walked into the path of the oncoming projectile. I let time go and the bullet hit the bug, splattering into the meat, tossing it onto the rocks behind and rebounding off the side. The next bug started slowly moving up. That would have to stop very soon.
But in the mean time, I could slow them down in a way they wouldn’t recognize. Skewing space over short distances was a specialty of the Fae and I was already good at it. Starting slowly, I stretched the distance from the mountain just a little, increasing the bug’s steps by a few at first, then a dozen, then more. Once I had a fifteen-minute lead-time, I headed for the kid.
He hid atop an outcropping of rocks overlooking the pass. The slot he looked through gave him a limited view of the curse bugs, but blocked the mass of them below the lip of the plateau. Whoever was controlling them was taunting the people here. I stood below the muzzle and pushed myself up slowly to the side of the hole the gun poked out of.
“Hey, kid, come on outta there,” I whispered hoarsely at the hole. “Those bugs are gonna figure out what I did pretty quick. We gotta get out here, fast.” I heard a thud and the muzzle disappeared quickly.