Fionn practically danced away through the
trees, her silver hair shining bright as a new star as it swirled around her. The little dryad glowed as she flitted back and forth to Danny before running on ahead again. Her soft laugh rustled through the air like leaves dancing in the breeze as she whispered and laughed with him in her soft voice, her tiny thin hands patting him now and then.
Roisin walked next to Maddy as the wolves drifted around them. “Do you think Fionn fancies Danny?” asked Roisin, as she stared at the pair in amazement.
Maddy looked at her with her eyebrows raised. “Oh yes!”
They looked at each other and burst out laughing, clapping their hands to their mouths to smother their
giggles when Danny looked back at them with a frown on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but Fionn distracted him by tugging on his hands.
“Imagine anyone fancying Danny!” said Roisin. “Yuck!”
“Fair play to him though,” said Maddy. “He said just the right thing back there.”
“I know. I’m still in shock,” said Roisin. “Danny being diplomatic for once. I didn’t think he had it in him. I thought he was going to hit her until she said yes. It’s what he always does to me.”
“I don’t think he was being diplomatic,” said Maddy. She dropped her voice to a throaty whisper and wiggled her eyebrows dramatically. “I think he was being
seductive.
”
Roisin nearly choked on her laugh, and Maddy started giggling again until a low growl from Fenris warned them to be quiet. Danny shot them both a filthy look. Maddy hoped he hadn’t heard.
They hadn’t been walking for long when they came to a cleared area of forest that had been fenced off into paddocks. The wolves flattened themselves into the grass. White horses stood around in the paddocks, their bodies alert and their ears pricked toward the tower. Fionn hunkered down, the long grass brushing her upturned nose, and she pulled Danny down beside her.
“Get down,” she hissed at Maddy and Roisin. “Time to be mice again.”
“What’s going on?” asked Maddy.
“We’re going to wait in the trees for a while,” said Fenris. “The elven mounts are dangerous. If they see us, they might jump the fence to give chase, and I’m not risking the pack. We need to get past when they have been fed and are sleepy.”
“They’re only horses,” said Danny. “Let’s go past now—who cares if they see us?”
Fionn waved a long hand and blinked slowly at him. “Not horses, very dangerous.”
Danny looked again. “They look like horses to me.”
Roisin gazed at the paddocks and the animals that littered the green grass like statues, a frown puckering the skin between her eyebrows. “They’re not grazing,” she said after a minute.
Fionn nodded her head. “They don’t eat grass—they eat meat. Watch.”
They all flattened themselves on the ground as they saw lights approaching through the trees ahead. As the sounds of singing drifted toward them, the wolves melted into the shadows and lidded their eyes so they wouldn’t reflect in the lights.
A group of elves appeared from the trees, some of them dragging a wooden cart covered in a rough brown cloth. The metallic scent of blood filled the air, and the elven mounts rushed to the far fence and milled about, snorting and prancing. Maddy could only imagine what the smell of blood was doing to the wolves, whose wet noses were quivering. The elves reached the fence
and threw back the cloth, revealing a heap of raw meat. They began to throw it over the fence at the animals, who reared up and pawed the air. They snapped at gobbets of flesh, before wheeling around to tear at them on the ground. As they ripped and chewed, Maddy could see they were things out of a nightmare—huge yellowed fangs curled in their mouths, while their feet ended not in hoofs, but in paws with wicked claws.
A small female, chased off the carcasses by her bigger companions, snapped her fangs at the elves, her ears flattened against her skull. One elf, his clothes streaked with blood, got too close to the fence, and she reared, lashing out at him with her front legs. The elf screamed and staggered backward, clutching his arm, blood welling up between his fingers, while his companions laughed. He swore at the female, who neighed and bared her teeth, her eyes red with rage. The children lay and listened to the sounds of teeth and claws ripping and tearing, long after the elves had disappeared back up the path.
Afterward, their gleaming white hides splattered and smeared with blood, the mounts lay down to sleep off their meal. The little female picked over the remains of the carcasses, crunching bones for their marrow. Now and then, a sound in the surrounding forest or the movement of some small and frightened creature would catch her attention and her head would jerk up and her mean red eyes would scan the trees while her lips peeled back from her fangs.
“We wait,” whispered Fionn. “Elven mounts are not going to let a stranger slip past—you can’t bribe them with an apple.”
The children nodded, dumb with fear, and crept back into the trees with the Amaguks to discuss tactics. “We’re hungry, and there is plenty of meat left scattered in those paddocks,” said Nitaina. “Some of the pack will go in and carry out the leftovers. The mounts won’t like it, but they are used to our scent and will leave us be. Later, when they sleep, we will slip past them, with you four crawling on your hands and knees among us. Our scent is on your clothing so they will not pick you out from among us and raise the alarm. We have all been walking for a long time, so I suggest we get some sleep while we wait.”
A few of the pack slipped away with Fenris to brave the paddock while the rest curled around Nitaina. Fionn followed Danny to sit at the base of a bald oak tree. She wrapped her thin arms around one of his, leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. Danny sat stiff and awkward, glaring at Maddy and Roisin, daring them with his eyes to say something.
Maddy sat on the cold forest floor next to Roisin, who had her arms clasped around her knees and her face tilted up to the turquoise sky, where a few stars had begun to twinkle in the shadowy edges of the sky’s bowl. George was curled against her feet, his belly rising and falling with deep breaths, his paws paddling as he chased rabbits in his sleep. Maddy put her head
in her hands and tried to relax. But the fear she had been living with ever since they had stepped through the mound was still humming through her, and she knew she would not be able to sleep. She thought of the tower and its unnatural stillness as she had inched her way toward it over the ice. Nothing had moved in the light-filled rooms, no sounds had drifted through the air, but it had still felt full of life. Teeming, evil, alert life. She had felt a thousand minds, leaning forward in the tower, focusing in on her single heartbeat as she had struggled on the frozen surface of the lake. Fionn had told them to be like mice. Fachtna had called them insects. Maddy had never felt so small, so lost, even when she had been told her parents were dead.
She sneaked a glance at Roisin and was surprised to see a small smile hovering on her lips. She looked happy and peaceful. The shadows from the trees lay velvety on her face, staining the closed lids of her eyes and her lips almost black. Maddy felt a spasm of guilt. She realized Roisin was the only one of her cousins who had ever actually tried to be friends.
“I’m really sorry, Ro,” she whispered.
“Hmmm?” said Roisin, opening her eyes and blinking at Maddy sleepily. “What for?”
“For dragging you into all this,” said Maddy.
“Don’t be,” said Roisin. “I’m glad I’m here. Well, the threat of death is a bit of a pain, and I’d kill for a burger and chips, but how many people get to see the Land of Eternal Youth?”
Maddy stared at her, open-mouthed. “Roisin,” she said, “this place is a hellhole.”
Roisin laughed. “It’s not, you know. It’s really not. We’ve been so scared, and we’ve been on the run pretty much ever since we set foot in here so we haven’t had time to look around us. Remember how we felt when we first opened our eyes? This place is the dream of a faerie, Maddy. Forget about Liadan, just for a second, and listen.”
Maddy sat and listened and tried to figure out what Roisin meant. At first all she could hear was the sound of the forest around them, the rustle of small warm bodies creeping through the undergrowth, the creak of the trees as their topmost branches swayed in the breeze.
And then she heard it. That strange singing that had been there in the background ever since they stepped off the mound, now getting stronger as night fell. There were no words to the song, just high, sweet notes that trembled and ached at the very highest reach of her hearing. It swooped and trilled and soared with such joy that Maddy felt her own heart grow lighter as she listened to it.
“Who’s singing?” she whispered to Roisin, her own voice thick with tears of happiness.
Roisin slipped a hand into Maddy’s. “Look up,” she whispered.
Maddy tilted her face to the darkening sky. The sun had finally sunk beneath the horizon, its last rays pale
against the dark land. The sky had turned a deep sapphire blue, and the stars were shining boldly now. One in particular stood out bigger and brighter than the rest, and as Maddy watched, its celestial light throbbed and pulsed with the rise and fall of the song. She felt a thrill of surprise going through her, and she squeezed Roisin’s hand. Roisin squeezed back and laughed softly.
“See?” said Roisin. “The stars really do sing here.”
“They do,” said Maddy. “I just hope Cernunnos can slow time enough for us to make it home. I don’t want to listen to them sing forever.”
Maddy must have dozed off at some point
because she was woken up by a pain in her neck from lying on the forest floor and George’s licking her face. A full moon hung bloated above them and bathed the ground in silvery light. She disentangled her hand from Roisin’s and climbed stiffly to her feet, an excited George bouncing around her. Icy leaf litter crunched under the rubber soles of her sneakers. Sleepy birds crooned as they huddled together on the snow-crusted branches. Now and then an eye blinked at her from the rough bark. Small childlike shapes scampered away from her, swallowed up in an inkling by the dark beneath the trees.
The wolves were pacing and stretching. Nitaina heaved her pregnant body upright, shaking grass from
her thick gray coat. Roisin stumbled along behind her, rubbing her eyes, while Danny was patiently listening to a twittering, twitching Fionn.
Fenris growled when he saw Maddy. “At last. I thought I was going to have to bite you to make you wake up,” he said.
“Keep your fur on,” said Maddy. “We can’t have been sleeping that long.” She grabbed a wriggling George and clipped the leash to his collar.
“We need to get moving,” said Roisin. “We have no idea how long we’ve been here. My mam is going to be going mental.”
“Nothing new there,” muttered Maddy.
“I heard that,” said Danny, narrowing his eyes at her.
“You will all have to crawl through the grass so the mounts don’t see you,” said Fenris, as the pack gathered. “We’ll surround you so they will keep their eyes on us. Move quickly and quietly.”
Maddy curled George’s leash tight around her hand and patted him on the head. He was very slowly getting used to the wolves, but he was still tense and cautious. “Be a good boy,” she whispered.
They reached the edge of the trees, and Maddy could see the elven mounts in the paddock. Most of them were sprawled on the grass, dozing, their gleaming white hides still spattered with blood and gore from their meal. As the moon rose higher in the sky, it turned their faces black where their muzzles had been dipped in blood. Their lips twitched back from
their fangs as they dreamed, while the littlest mare slept on her feet, her nose on her chest, slightly apart from the rest of the herd.
Maddy felt ill just looking at them. Danny turned a white face to her. “I want a poker in my hand, going past that lot,” he whispered.
She nodded and carefully opened the backpack, peeling the zipper back slowly. Danny gripped a poker between two hands so it wouldn’t clank against its partner as he pulled it out. Maddy took the other one and decided to bury the bag under a pile of leaves. There were only a few biscuits left anyway, and she didn’t want anything to slow her down as they sneaked past the mounts.
“Are you finally ready?” asked Fenris. Maddy nodded. “Then let’s go. And remember, move quickly.”
The pack formed a tight knot around them as Maddy, Roisin, Danny, and Fionn lay on their bellies and began to squirm forward on their elbows through the long meadow grass, skirting the edge of the paddock. Maddy’s clothes were quickly soaked, and the grass was tickling her nose. George stopped and started as her arm swept forward and back like a swimmer’s with his leash clutched firmly in her fist, but the little terrier didn’t utter a sound.
Maddy didn’t realize how scared she was until she felt her breath catching in her chest in short, shallow gulps. She was using her wrists to try to keep the poker and George’s leash from dragging on the ground and
her arms had begun to ache within seconds. She paused for a moment to slow her heart and take deeper breaths. The wolves halted around her, and she felt sharp teeth nip the back of her knee.
OK, OK
, she thought. She had just started to crawl again when she felt the wolves freeze.
Then she heard it. The slow, even rhythm of feet padding toward them.
She held her breath and turned her head to the left to look at the paddock fence. Between the wolves’ legs she could see a mount’s clawed feet as it walked up to the fence. A muzzle dropped down, and she watched the huge nostrils flare and collapse, flare and collapse as the animal sucked in lungfuls of air, searching for their scent. Maddy saw the nose disappear and then heard the high, enraged whinny. The wolves surged forward. “Run!” barked Fenris.
Maddy scooped George up under her arm and scrambled to her feet, her sneakers slipping on the wet grass. She raced for the trees on the far side of the clearing, the wolves’ rear guard herding her forward. Danny, Fionn, and Roisin were ahead of her, arms and legs pumping. Roisin was the first to reach the trees, but instead of running on, she turned to look back and her mouth became a small O of fear.
Maddy knew she shouldn’t, but at the sound of splintering wood behind them she had to see turn to see what Roisin was looking at. The little female had smashed part of the high fence down and jumped it.
Now she was galloping toward them, clumps of turf flying up from her feet, her neck stretched out and her eyes blazing with hate. Her snapping fangs were virtually on Nero’s tail as he raced for the trees.
We can’t outrun her,
Maddy thought. She stood rooted to the spot as she watched the mare bear down on Nero. She held George tight against her chest, the little terrier’s heart pounding against her palm. Tears pricked her eyes as she watched the gray wolf bunch his muscles for one last, desperate surge, and she yelled a warning as the mare’s teeth raked his hindquarters. Nero staggered and went down, a blur of gray fur and snapping teeth, as the mare screeched and lunged at him, her claws raking him as he struggled to get up. Two of the pack saw he was in trouble and bent their bodies double to turn back and face the mount, their huge paws crossing daintily as they struggled to keep up their speed. A black shadow blurred past Maddy. It was Fenris, hackles up, racing to the fight.
The wolves leaped and latched on to the mount’s neck and hindquarters, trying desperately to bring her down. She bucked and reared and lashed out with her talons, fresh blood staining her coat, flinging the wolves against the ground as fast as they got a hold on her and trampling them with her feet. The pack were fighting hard, but Maddy could see that they were only slowing the mount down.
Without thinking, she put George on the ground and charged into the fight, dimly hearing Danny and
Roisin yelling behind her. For a split second she wondered what the hell she was doing as the mount shook off Fenris and spun to face her. Her feet were out of control, and she slammed into the mare’s bloodstained chest so hard she nearly bounced off it to the ground. She grabbed a hank of long mane to keep her upright as the mount rolled her maddened eyes and bared her fangs, the stink of her breath rolling over Maddy’s face as she stabbed up with the dull point of the poker. She heard the mount roar with pain and saw the iron pierce the soft flesh at her throat. The mount reared and brought her front legs up sharply, thumping Maddy hard in the chest and knocking her off her feet. Then she raised a leg, spread her claws and slashed down, ripping through Maddy’s jacket and tearing the skin on her back as she tried to roll away. Maddy screamed as red-hot pain lanced across her spine, and she rolled again as the mount slammed a taloned paw into the earth where her head had been just a split second earlier. Maddy tried to back away on all fours, but the mare whipped her head around, jaws gaping and went for Maddy’s face.
Maddy closed her eyes just before someone slammed into her from the side, causing the pain in her back to flare up into agony. She tumbled over in the wet grass as next to her Danny got to his feet and pulled her up with him, his poker held out in front of him. Just as the mount went to lunge again, a little streak of silver sped past them. It was Fionn, who danced right up to the mount’s nose.
“Stupid horsey,” she squeaked, waving her twiggy arms in the mount’s face. “Come and get me.”
Maddy watched in horror as the mount spun and focused on the little dryad. The wolves circled cautiously, waiting for a chance to pounce.
“She’s going to make firewood out of Fionn,” gasped Maddy.
“No, she’s not,” said Danny grimly, hefting his poker and charging at the mount.
“Stay close to her!” Roisin yelled as Danny ran to help Fionn. “Stay close to her shoulder, and she can’t kick or bite you!”
Danny could not have heard Roisin properly because he ran up to the mount, grabbed a handful of mane, and hauled himself on to her back.
“What are you doing?!” shrieked Roisin. “I never said anything about riding her!”
“I’m getting her away from you!” yelled Danny. He kicked his feet against her sides. “Giddy up!”
For a moment Maddy thought it would work. For a moment the mount froze, her ears flicking back as training took over from instinct and she listened to what her rider demanded. Then she remembered who her rider was, bunched her muscles, and bucked hard.
Danny tried desperately to hang on as Roisin, Maddy, and Fionn screamed. He fell forward as her hind feet came up, dropping the poker and wrapping his arms around her neck. The mount bucked again, and Danny shouted as he was catapulted through the air. As he
crashed to the ground, the mount turned back to where Maddy and Roisin huddled together. Fionn ran to them and crouched next to Maddy. Behind the mount, the pack saw their chance and tensed to spring.
This is it
, thought Maddy. She slowly got to her feet and got a better grip on the poker as the mount stalked toward them.
When she attacks, I’m going to shove this right down her throat . . . and hope she doesn’t rip my face off first.
Then something large flew over Maddy’s head. She ducked and blinked as a faerie landed in front of the mount, throwing its hand out. There was a flash of silver, and the mount reared and crashed to her knees, sinking forward on to her face, before slowly collapsing over on one side. Maddy stared in shock as the mare’s hate-filled eyes dulled and turned glassy, her blood steaming in the frigid air as it poured from around the blade sticking into her throat.
A bone-white hand covered in gray tattoos bent to pull the knife from the mount’s cooling flesh.
“Well, well, well,” said a rasping voice. “What do we have here?”
Maddy swallowed as she met a familiar blood-red gaze.
Fachtna.