The Faerie War

Chapter 15

Fifteen

Ryn leaves me alone in the room with nothing but the echo of a slammed door and Filigree’s twitching squirrel face peeping from the half-open top drawer beside the bed. I flop down into the armchair with a groan. “This is such a mess, Filigree. I need to fix it.” A meow makes me look up. Cat-formed Filigree, black with one white paw, sits in the middle of the bed and watches me. “Are you also angry with me?” I ask. He blinks and flicks an ear. “Well, I’m not quite sure what that means, but I’ll take it as a ‘yes.’ And I’m sorry, Filigree. I really am. I didn’t mean to desert you.”

I tilt my head back and close my eyes. I should go after Ryn and apologize. Perhaps I should give him a little more time, though. I don’t want him to end up shouting at me again. My thoughts turn to Jamon. I realize I haven’t seen him since we got here. Hopefully he’s catching up on sleep instead of getting stressed out by the fact that he’s surrounded by guardians.

My eyes pop open as something occurs to me. If I can find Jamon using this ability I supposedly have, then I won’t have to guess what he’s doing. I take a breath and let my eyelids slide shut again. I think of Jamon and try to picture the base around me. I’ve only seen a little bit of it, so most of the picture is imaginary. I relax, try not to feel completely stupid, and let my mind wander. It travels along corridors, brushing against people. It begins to soar, gaining speed as it rushes past more and more people and shoots out through a waterfall and over a river. On and on, streaking so fast I can’t make out the land below me. The next instant, I feel like I’m hanging in midair. I start to drop.

I open my eyes with a gasp. I’m still safe in my armchair in Ryn’s room, my fingers clutching at the armrests. “That can’t be right,” I mutter. I should be seeing Jamon somewhere in this base. I guess I did something wrong and my imagination took over to fill in the gap.

I push myself up and head to the door, waving goodbye to Filigree before I leave. I don’t have a clue where Ryn might be, so I ask the first person I come across if she’s seen him. After two negatives, the third person I pass says he saw Ryn in the dining room. I follow his directions down one level and into a large hall humming with chatter. Rows of tables and benches line the floor. People carry trays of food to and from a serving area. Above the hatch on a white patch of wall, words form as though painted by an invisible hand:

Make sure your amber has the latest anti-tracking spell embedded in it before contacting anyone. Visit the second floor below ground for anti-tracking updates.

The words vanish only to be replaced by another message:

DO NOT use mirrors for communication with the outside world. If you have no other option, visit the second floor below ground for supervised mirror use.

I start walking around the edge of the hall, searching for Ryn. The words on the wall change again.

Lunch will be over in 10 minutes.

The ten starts ticking down, but moments later the announcement is replaced by yet another message. Something about flying trays being dangerous. I ignore it and continue searching. A shock of white hair catches my attention amongst the colorful heads. Fin. I look further down the same table and see Ryn along with the rest of Team Troll’s Butt. I smile to myself as I head toward them; I can’t even think the name without wanting to laugh.

I reach the table and notice that Jamon isn’t there. He must be sleeping like I thought. Ryn stands when he sees me. “Um, can I talk to you?” I ask. I feel awkward now that everyone at the table is looking at me.

He nods and heads to the edge of the room. I follow close behind. He leans against the wall and pushes both hands into his pockets. “Sorry about slamming the door on you,” he says. “That wasn’t my most mature moment. I … well, I kept telling myself I wasn’t blaming you for this, but when all those words flew out of my mouth, I realized I was.”

“And you were right. There isn’t anyone to blame except me.” I twist my hands together. “I’m sorry, Ryn. And I mean it this time. I don’t know what I was thinking when I took that potion, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t do it to forget you.”

He looks down at the floor as he nods. “Yeah. I know.”

“So … can we put an end the shouting?”

“You know what’s funny?” Ryn says without answering me. “When we were fighting in my room, that felt more like the real us than any conversation we’ve had since I found you.”

“Really?” I feel my eyebrows pinch together. “So … we used to argue a lot?”

“‘A lot’ would be an understatement.”

I nod as I try to figure out what kind of relationship Ryn and I had. I find my nod turning into a shake. “That doesn’t really sound … healthy. Or enjoyable.”

“There was a lot of kissing too,” he adds with a grin. “And, once we got together, the arguing was generally of the good-natured kind.”

I smile, but I feel hollowness forming inside me. Is that all I had with this guy? “Arguing and kissing,” I say slowly. “Was our relationship about anything more than that?”

“Of course,” he says with a laugh. “Way more.” I watch his face grow serious. Maybe he can tell I don’t really believe him. He comes closer and gently takes my face in both his hands. His eyes won’t let me look away. “It was about growing up together. It was about knowing your fears and dreams. It was about forgiveness. It was about making you laugh and being there when you cried. It was about knowing that even if we lived for centuries, I’d never get tired of having you at my side.”

I don’t know how to respond. I’m terrified he wants me to feel the same way. I carefully remove his hands from my face. “Look, I don’t know what to tell you,” I say gently. “I know we were together before The Destruction, but I don’t know you anymore. You can’t expect me to feel the same way you do. It isn’t possible.”

He steps away, releasing me—finally—from his magnetic gaze. When he looks up at me again, it’s with a smile that almost makes me wish I did still feel the same way. “Are you telling me I have to win your heart all over again?”

I’m pretty sure that’s not what I was telling him, but when he smiles at me like that I think it might not be such a bad idea. So I shrug and say, “I guess.”

The smile curls higher, making his eyes sparkle. “Challenge accepted.”

“What? No, that wasn’t a—”

“Hey, Ryn, I just got us a new mission.” Ryn looks over my shoulder. I turn and see Em standing there. “A mission of epic importance,” she adds.

“Great, what is it?”

“Uri finished the latest version of his cure for the mark, and guess what?” She leans over and does a drum roll on the nearest table. “It worked! That prisoner we brought back last week is a fully functioning guardian once again. But Oliver wants a team to go out and find other marked people to test the cure on.”

“And he wants to send us?”

“Well, not exactly.” Em pulls a face. “He was busy telling someone else how he wanted to send a team of older, more experienced guardians, but they’re all out on missions. I happened to be eavesdropping at the time, so I volunteered Team Troll’s Butt.”

“Thanks, Em. You’re awesome.”

She lifts a shoulder and grins. “What can I say? It’s my default setting.” She spins around, then looks back over her shoulder. “Oh, and Oliver said Vi can join our team. He figured she’d want to.”

“I do. But wait, Ryn.” I grab his arm before he can follow Em back to the table. “Don’t we need to find this Star person? Isn’t that the most important thing at the moment?”

“Well, it’s not like we’re about to face Draven right now. Let’s check out this cure first, then we can find the Star.” He weaves his way through people carrying empty trays to a hole in the wall beside the serving area.

And let’s hope Draven doesn’t spring a surprise attack on us tomorrow.

I reach the table as Ryn says to his team, “So, where are we heading to test this cure? The closest marked guardians we know of are in Creepy Hollow, right?”

“I feel another magic carpet ride coming on,” Max says with a grin. He stands and starts piling empty trays together.

“Yes, I think Creepy Hollow is the best option,” Oliver says, appearing at our table. He has a rectangle of amber the size of a book balanced on one arm and a stylus in his other hand. “Two guys coming off a lookout shift said they saw a man hiding in the trees about a day from here. But if he’s on Draven’s side, he’ll be able to use the faerie paths. He’s probably gone already.”

“What’s someone doing so close to our base?” Ryn asks. “Shouldn’t we be concerned about that?”

“It’s probably a coincidence. And it was only one person.”

“So he could be a survivor,” Em says.

“Could be. I’ll send someone to check that out.” Oliver writes a note on his amber. “And your team is off to Creepy Hollow.” He makes a flicking motion across the amber’s screen with his stylus, then writes another few words. “Remember to collect a set of cures from Uri before you leave.”

“Oliver,” I say as something occurs to me. “If Draven has brainwashed guardians on his side, doesn’t that mean he knows exactly where we are? Any one of them could tell him about this place.”

Oliver shakes his head. “Guild regulations state that only one Council member from each Guild should know where the safe locations are. Two of us survived and are now here. Every other person who had access to that information was at the Creepy Hollow Guild meeting the night of The Destruction. None of them made it out alive.”

I swallow. It’s devastating to hear about so many deaths, but it’s also a relief to know that we’re safe here.

“Right, off you go then, Team … what was it, Em? Troll’s Butt?”

“Yes, sir.” Em salutes Oliver as a horrified look crosses Fin’s face.

“I cannot believe you told him that,” he murmurs.

“Oh, lighten up, Fin,” Oliver says, clapping Fin’s shoulder. “You’re far too young to be taking life so seriously.” And with that he heads off into the bustle of the dining room.

“Well, forgive me for thinking The Destruction and everything that’s happened since is something that should be taken seriously,” Fin mutters.

Em touches his arm. “We do take it seriously, Fin. It’s just that for people like Oliver and me, if we didn’t laugh we’d probably cry. That’s just the way we roll.” She stands on tiptoe and gives Fin a quick kiss on the cheek. “You should try a smile once in a while. It would look good on you.” She pats his arm, then picks up the empty lunch trays and carries them away.

“Okay, everyone get ready. We’ll meet down on the transportation level,” Ryn says. He nods for me to follow him out of the dining room.

“Hey, I should probably tell you something,” I say once we reach the corridor and head toward the stairs. “I tried the finding thing earlier, and it didn’t work. I looked for Jamon and my imagination conjured up an image of somewhere in the air way above the ground.”

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Jamon’s on a pegasus right now.”

“What?” I stop walking.

“Yeah, sorry.” Ryn closes his eyes for a moment and shakes his head. “I was supposed to tell you. He left earlier for the reptiscilla hideout with one of our Council members. They’re going to discuss the possibility of bringing all their warriors here to the base.”

“He left without saying goodbye to me?” I know we’re not that close, but I wouldn’t have expected him to leave without saying anything.

“You were sleeping. He didn’t want to wake you.” Ryn climbs the stairs, and after a moment’s pause, I follow him.

“You didn’t seem to have a problem with waking me.”

“Well, the things I needed to talk to you about were actually important.” We reach Ryn’s level and he heads to the left.

I roll my eyes and start climbing the next set of stairs. “Whatever. I’ll see you down by the magic carpet.”

“Bring extra weapons if you’ve got any,” he calls after me. “You never know when they might be useful.”

The magic carpet ride is just as much fun the second time around—well, except for the beginning. Ryn takes off so fast the rest of us shoot backward and land in a heap, pressed up against the dome-like shield covering the carpet. After Max and Fin attack Ryn and the carpet almost steers itself into the river bank, we settle down for a comfortable ride.

We’ve got several hours to kill, so Max, Em, and Fin fill me in on their stories. Em’s parents, like mine, were killed on assignment before she graduated. Instead of scaring her off, it made her even more determined to be a guardian. Oliver is the only family she has left—he’s her father’s uncle or something like that—and she’s been with him ever since The Destruction.

Max picks at the laces of his boots as he tells me what happened that night. He had to watch Draven’s army carry away his parents and girlfriend, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it unless he wanted to wind up with the same fate. He hasn’t seen them since he joined up with Oliver and Em, but he still believes they’re alive. They were excellent guardians, he says. Draven would want them on his side.

Fin doesn’t want to talk, but he nods when Em asks if she can tell me what happened. He lost everyone he cared about. He was the only guardian in his family. His parents, older brother, girlfriend, and her family were crushed inside their homes when Draven’s enchanted inferno swept through the Estra forest and destroyed everything. He wanted to end his own life, but decided ending Draven’s would be more satisfying.

We sit in silence after that, each of us lost in our own thoughts.

Late into the night, with snow falling thickly around us, we arrive at Creepy Hollow forest. We glide above the trees until Ryn judges we’re close to where the Guild was before The Destruction. We descend slowly, everyone looking out for possible threats. We pull our jackets, coats, and hoods on—which I notice with a smile are all white now, just like the cloak Natesa made for me—and climb off the carpet. An icy breeze permeates my clothes immediately. I blow into my hands to start the charm that will heat me up while Ryn sends the carpet into the air above the trees to wait for us.

“Are we marking our hands?” Max asks.

Ryn shakes his head. “Not necessary this time. We’re not trying to gain anyone’s trust to get information. We just want to knock someone out and give him or her the cure. Let’s go this way.” He indicates for us to follow him. I pull my hood further forward to keep the snow from falling into my eyes. “And don’t worry about elevating yourselves this time,” he adds. “The falling snow will fill our tracks.”

The gathering breeze turns into a wind that sounds like distant screams. Draven must be in a bad mood tonight. I wrap my arms around myself and hug my magically heated clothes.

“Everyone got their extra weapons, just in case?” Ryn asks above the wind.

“Yes,” I say, along with the rest of the team. I’ve got a dagger in each boot and a knife strapped to the top of my right leg.

“Okay, I don’t know exactly what we’re heading toward. It could be a massive ruin, or it could be a brand new, completely hidden Guild. I don’t know if Draven’s people have finished rebuilding. So let’s split up here. Em, Max, Fin—go that way.” He points left. “V and I will go this way. Em, you’ve got those cures I gave you before we left?”

“Yes.”

“If you see someone alone, make them take the cure. Otherwise, stay hidden. Keep me updated on my amber. You’ve all got the voice-activated messaging spell, right?”

More nods.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

I follow Ryn. After several minutes of barely being able to see, the snow ceases to fall and the screaming wind disappears. I brush white flakes off my arms as we walk. “Out of curiosity,” I say, “what exactly do you mean by ‘just in case’? Shouldn’t we always be able to use our guardian weapons?”

“We should, but Zell had this method of blocking people’s magic. I’d be surprised if Draven isn’t doing the same thing to faeries. It’s—Whoa. I think we’ve found what we’re looking for.” He stops and points ahead.

Through the trees I see a clearing. There are shapes that could be broken walls and piles of rubble. Piles a lot higher than the destroyed faerie homes I saw with Jamon. We head toward the clearing, navigating our way over fallen trees. When we can’t go any further without climbing onto the ruins, we stop.

Silence presses against my ears. The snow has returned, but it drifts down in tiny flakes instead of swirling around us in a blizzard. If I let my imagination go, I can almost smell the burning forest the way it must have been that night. The falling snow becomes ash in my mind, covering the landscape in black and grey. But the ash couldn’t bury this much wreckage, and neither can the snow. It’s still here, like a memorial reminding us of what we’ve lost.

“So this is what our Guild looks like now,” Ryn murmurs.

“This is the first time you’ve seen it?”

He nods. “I’ve been Underground a number of times since The Destruction, but I haven’t been here to the Guild.”

I think about how much worse this moment is for him than it is for me. He knows exactly what’s been lost. I can only imagine it. “I wonder how far the damage extends,” I say. It’s not like we can see much past the large amounts of debris in front of us.

Ryn reaches for the nearest branch and pulls himself up into the tree. “If we get high enough, we can see.” I follow his lead and hoist myself up. I could propel myself all the way to the top with magic, but I enjoy the climbing. It feels like something my body’s missed. I advance from branch to snowy branch, following Ryn until we can’t climb any higher.

“Look at it,” he says quietly.

The snow-dusted ruins spread out before us as far as I can see. Silent. Unmoving. “I can’t imagine how this was all hidden inside a tree once.”

“And beneath the ground,” Ryn adds. “Really powerful magic, obviously.” He looks around. “I wonder where they’re building the new one.”

“We’ll have to keep searching.” I start climbing back down.

“Wait, look. Someone’s out there.”

I look up to see where he’s pointing and follow his hand to where three figures are climbing onto the ruins. “It’s the rest of your team, silly,” I tell him. “See Fin’s white hair when he moves past something dark?”

“We should tell them to stay in the trees.” Ryn opens his jacket and reaches inside, probably for his amber. “If we can see them, someone else might be able to—Oof!”

A dark figure slams into Ryn, and he goes crashing through the branches—along with the mysterious figure—toward the ground.

“What the …” I get ready to jump down.

“You’re about to join him,” a voice behind me says. With a gasp, I turn toward the voice. I catch a glimpse of a woman with dark curly hair before her foot connects with my stomach and shoves me out of the tree.

I slow my fall seconds before I hit the ground, which means I have at least some air left in my lungs when I jump to my feet brandishing my bow and arrow. Ryn struggles with his assailant and manages to flip him over his shoulder. The man scrambles on the ground for a few seconds before jumping up. Ryn backs away and slashes a sword through the air just as the woman lands beside her accomplice.

The four of us freeze, weapons ready, each trying to anticipate the next move.

Without warning, Ryn’s sword fizzles and disappears. “Mom?” he says.