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They hurried down the scar in the land, the castle of the Baron of Chaos far ahead.
Maybe I’m getting used to all the craziness here. It’s less taxing than it was when we first got here. Is that a good thing? Am I just going crazy myself?
“What’s the plan when we get there?” asked Sash. “Something tells me they won’t have signs pointing to his cell.”
“We’ll have to poke around a bit,” said Asp tiredly. “Nothing is easy here. We just have to roll with the punches.”
“Looks like they didn’t roll with the punches,” muttered Jarn.
Asp followed his gaze. Off to the side of the scar was a pile of dead bodies, a collection of mismatched corpses of all manner of beings. As they watched, a great poof! sounded, and the bodies transformed into delicate faeries, which tittered and flew away in spiraling patterns.
Jarn let out a low moan and held his head. His eyes looked wild, and he doubled over, his moan escalating into a scream.
Idunna, please bless Jarn with balance. Give him sanity. This place is wrong, and we need to survive it. Please, restore him. I love you.
From the other side of the scar, hoof beats resounded. Asp turned to face the source of the noise. It was a pure white doe, leaping gracefully along the ground. There was something otherworldly about it; even though the only strange thing about it was its color, the mundanity of the simple creature in this chaotic place felt odd and somehow soothing. It ran vaguely parallel to the scar, then cut off away from it, disappearing over a hilltop.
“What a pretty doe,” Asp said without thinking.
“Where did it come from?” asked Jarn. He began to sniff. “Is that . . . cherry blossoms? Am I going crazy?”
“I smell it too,” said Larkin. “But I didn’t see a doe. You were just staring at nothing.”
Jarn turned to Sash and Steel-Eyes. “Did you see it?”
Steel-Eyes shook his head.
“No,” said Sash sadly. “But I do smell the cherry.”
“Penelope?” asked Larkin, her voice pitching upward. “Where’d you go?”
“I’m right here,” said Asp, waving her hand at Larkin. But she saw nothing where her hand should be. She could feel her arm’s weight, but looking down at herself, she saw she was invisible. “Wait, can you hear me?”
“We can hear you,” replied Jarn. “You sound like you’re close.”
“The cherry blossoms were because I prayed,” explained Asp, trying to not lose her cool over her invisibility. “That happens a lot when I pray.”
“Right,” said Sash. “The blossoms back beneath Lo’Thalas. That was you.”
“Yeah,” said Asp, comforted by thinking about her connection with her goddess. “Gimme a sec.”
She closed her eyes, and under her breath, she prayed. Idunna, why have I gone invisible? Can you please help me understand?
She opened them. Ten feet ahead on the scar stood her mother, glaring directly at her. Her mother’s large blue eyes pierced into her, a look of dissatisfaction on her face. Asp yelped.
“What’s wrong?” asked Larkin. “Are you okay?”
Asp closed her eyes and babbled to herself. “She’s not real, she’s not real, it’s just this place, she can’t be real.”
“You’re back!” cried Larkin.
Asp opened her eyes. Her mother was gone. She looked down at herself and saw her body once more, her child’s blue dress flapping gently in the breeze.
“You look awful,” said Jarn.
Steel-Eyes grunted softly. “Are you okay.”
Asp bit her lip. “I’m . . . yeah, I’m fine. Let’s keep going.” She continued her way toward the castle.
“I know what will cheer you up,” said Larkin. “A song!”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” asked Sash. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
Jarn grinned. “Fireworks, anyone?” He withdrew some paper tubes from a pocket and lit them with a flint and steel. As the fireworks shot into the sky and exploded in dazzling colors, even more elaborate and fancy than those they’d seen in Lo’Enthias, Larkin smiled began to sing:
“Oh, this is a hornkin song ‘bout the best thing
Anybody’s ever heard, it’ll make you sing
When your heart is sad, just fall in with the herder
All you really need is a good little murder
When little hornkin boys and girls feel down in the dumps
They know how to feel better and not be stinky chumps
Just take a knife or club or mace and jam it in their eye
That’s how good hornkins make sure that their foes will die
So don’t be sad and don’t be down and don’t regret a bit
Punch them in the gut and then on their face you will spit
If you’re feeling lonely and you need a little thrill
Don’t forget that what we do is kill, kill, kill”
She finished her song and smiled at Asp. “That’s my translation of my favorite song from when I was a little girl!”
“Very nice!” lied Asp. “Thanks, Larkin. That was great.”
“I’m glad you liked it!” cried Larkin.
Sash pointed suddenly to the side of the scar as they approached the castle. “Hey, that river!”
Sash and their water again, thought Asp with a smile. Of course they recognize some random river.
“It’s a nice river,” said Larkin.
“No, I remember it from when they took us to the castle of the Baron of Chaos,” explained Sash. “That river went directly under, or maybe into, the castle. I think if we follow it, we might be able to find a way in without being noticed.”
“Oh, good idea, Sash,” said Asp. “Let’s walk alongside it and see what we can find.”
The group left the scar and joined up with the snaking river. As they neared the castle, things grew stranger–the creatures here became more and more improbable, the plants more unrecognizable, the sky itself a more confusing mass of colors and textures. But after half an hour’s march, which was far less than they had spent walking away from the castle, or at least, that’s how it had seemed, they arrived quite suddenly at the castle, which allowed the river through a large culvert. The grate at the base of the castle was adjacent to a short set of steps up to a tall metal door with a large lock on it.
“I’ll bash it open,” declared Jarn, picking up a nearby rock and winding up to strike the lock.
“Wait!” cred Asp. “We want a low profile, right?”
Jarn paused and nodded almost sheepishly.
Asp smiled and let out a small laugh in relief. “I can pick it, I’d bet. Just lift me up to the lock.”
Jarn shrugged and lifted Asp by the armpits. She reached into her bag and retrieved her lockpicks and set to work. She could tell right away that the lock was complex, but as she continued to work at it, she realized something more terrifying to any thief–its tumblers changed as she picked. Whatever tumbler she set into place remained, but if she moved between the tumblers to try a different tactic, they were different when she returned. She probed and lifted, exerted pressure on the tension bar, probed again and kept pressing. She was at it for a minute when Jarn grew impatient.
“You need some help?” he asked.
“Almost there,” said Asp through gritted teeth. “This last one is being stubborn.”
“I hate stubborn things,” muttered Jarn.
Asp withheld a chuckle and popped the last tumbler into place. The lock slid open. Asp turned the knob, a large dark grey sphere, and pulled. The door cracked.
“We’re in,” she said.
They began to file through. Sash eyed the door warily. “It’s heavy. Looks like iron.”
Asp slapped her forehead. “Of course it’s iron.”
“What do you mean?” asked Larkin. “Why of course?”
Asp smiled. “My dad used to read me faerie stories when he wasn’t working. Fae can’t touch iron. The lock wasn’t really the defense. Next to nothing in this realm could even touch the door.”
“Neat!” chirped Larkin.
They looked down the hallway beyond the iron door. It was only dimly lit by intermittent lanterns in alternating colors–one blue, one green, one pink, one yellow, another blue, one red, one purple, and on and on without any discernible pattern.
“I can barely see in here,” moaned Asp.
Steel-Eyes stepped forward. “Dwarves see fine in dark.” He began to amble down the hallway.
When they passed further down, Asp was able to make out the shapes of large, arched doors as they drew even with them. The first they encountered had another similar but not identical one across from it. Steel-Eyes stood before the door on the right and looked at it. He grunted and muttered a spell. It was unclear what he meant to accomplish with it, as the door did not change, but he turned invisible.
“Steel-Eyes?” asked Larkin. “Where’d you go?”
“Steel-Eyes is here,” said a voice from where he’d just vanished from. He tried another spell and reappeared, this time with his entire body glowing a pale green. He mumbled something that Asp assumed was a dwarven swear and pointed his finger at the doorknob. A jet of yellow light shot from his fingertip into the knob.
“Ow,” said a husky voice Asp didn’t recognize.
“You okay?” asked Sash.
Steel-Eyes turned to face them. “It was not Steel-Eyes.”
Jarn narrowed his eyes. “Did that door just say ‘ow’?”
“Hi, door!” cried Larkin. “Will you open for us?”
She was met with silence.
“Door?” she tried again. “Please will you open?”
Again, the door said nothing.
“Can you pick it open?” Jarn asked Asp.
She inspected the plate around the knob. “No lock,” she said, shrugging.
Steel-Eyes frowned. He put a broad hand on the knob and twisted. It swung open easily.
"It was open," muttered Steel-Eyes.
Before them stood a small room, less than five by five feet, lined with shelves which were covered in sacks. Larkin reached into one of the sacks and withdrew the biggest onion Asp had ever seen–it was as large as a watermelon at the peak of summer.
“It’s a pantry,” muttered Jarn. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”
Larkin grinned and chomped down on the onion, taking a huge bite. The stinging odor of the onion wafted through the air, and Sash and Asp’s eyes watered heavily.
“Stupid door,” said Steel-Eyes, punching the knob. But the knob opened from the center and closed around his fist. Asp and Larkin recoiled in surprise, but Steel-Eyes just laughed as the knob harmlessly gnawed on his hand. “Mimic,” he chuckled. “But no teeth.” He yanked his hand free and closed the door with his foot.
“Gimme a second,” said Asp, wiping an onion-induced tear from her eye. “I don’t think blind searching is going to serve us.” She closed her eyes and prayed.
Idunna, we need to find Kast. Can you please tell me where he is?
Nothing happened. Her mind was blank except for the notion that finding a person was complicated. She set her jaw. Can’t find a person. Hmm. A person is too much, but maybe an object. What object would help me find Kast? What does he always have with him? She smiled.
Idunna, can you please tell me where Kast’s talisman is?
In an instant, Asp could sense on a deep and intuitive level that Kast’s talisman was above her, by what she reckoned was one floor’s height, and several hundred feet to the right of the hallway, which she believed should be north if there was any reason in this realm.
“He’s upstairs and that way,” she said, pointing. “Let’s try to only go through doors that might lead that way.”
But the group was already opening doors. Jarn wrenched open a door on the left, which held boxes and barrels. Steel-Eyes tore open a door on the right, and a maul sprang forth from the door, the giant multi-headed ax coming down hard on Steel-Eyes’s shoulder. The dwarf grunted in pain. The group formed up on the door and looked inside. A human in heavy steel armor stood in the room, wearing a helm with a point like a horn over his forehead. Long dirty blond hair sprouted from the back of his helm, and he held a heavy maul in one hand and a huge shield in the other. He was lowered into a battle stance, and his eyes were wide in surprise. Ten feet behind him was a drop in the floor, the sloshing of water coming from it.
“No one attacks my friend!” screamed Larkin furiously. She drove into the room, swinging the ancient sword wildly at him. He seemed unsure of how to dodge or block the erratic strikes, and she quickly thrust the blade forward, catching him in the gut where his plate armor turned to chainmail.
Sash placed a hand on Steel-Eyes and uttered a few words in the elven tongue, pale blue light surging over the dwarf. Through the crack in his pauldron, Asp could see the tear in Steel-Eyes's skin stitch closed. “You okay?” asked Sash.
“Fine,” said Steel-Eyes, gritting his teeth. He charged the man, clobbering his shield with a hammer until the man was off-balance, then clanging a mighty blow on the man’s head. The pointed helm seemed to absorb most of the attack, but the human was even more disoriented now. Behind Steel-Eyes, Guy swept in and tried to punch hard into the human’s chest, but the man recovered and blocked the incoming metal fist with his shield, crumpling part of Guy’s arm with his parry.
Through the chaos, Asp dodged to the side to get a better angle, biting her lip and aiming her crossbow. Why must we always fight? I don’t want to kill this guy. Why does it always come to this? She aimed for the lower half of his face, which was uncovered by his helm, and pulled the trigger. The bolt whistled through the air and struck him in the throat. He gasped and nearly clutched at the projectile, but stood firm, trying to protect himself from the incoming attacks of Asp’s allies.
The human shouted in rage and fear and launched a desperate attack against Steel-Eyes. He swung his maul this way and that, but in his confusion and despair, his attacks went wide, and Steel-Eyes was able to easily sidestep them.
Jarn howled and sprinted toward the man. He pitched his pickaxe at an odd angle, trying to catch the man square in the chest with the point of the pick. It struck the man hard, but his armor held, and the pickaxe remained lodged in his chestplate. But it was too much force–Jarn slammed into the man and forced him over the edge and into the water below. The two went kicking and shouting into the pool.
Sash immediately dove into the water. It was clear they were in their element from the moment they touched the surface of the pool, swimming nimbly around Jarn and grabbing the man. They wrapped arms around the heavily armored man and dragged him further down into the water.
Back on dry ground, Asp and Larkin were unsure what to do. The pool was not large, and with Sash, Jarn, and the armored man in the water locked in a struggle, there was little they could reasonably contribute to the fight. They stared on in anticipation as Jarn and Sash fought the man underwater. Steel-Eyes too was with them and unable to contribute to the combat, so he laid a hand on Guy and muttered a spell, causing Guy’s arm to reshape and Steel-Eyes to slightly float.
“The magic!” cried Asp. “Every time we use magic, something chaotic happens! Stop using magic, and we’ll have more control over the situation!”
Beneath the water’s surface, the man struggled and broke free of Sash’s grip and tried to swim to the surface. But Jarn held on tight, and bubbles rose from his mouth. A pale green light flashed under the water, and energy flowed from the man to Jarn, who turned invisible.
Fuck! He can’t hear me underwater! I just have to hope nothing too crazy happens before they kill him.
Sash swam fast at the man, arms braced and ready to attack. But the man moved quickly, spinning so that Sash collided instead with his shield. Sash absorbed the momentum and sprang back in the other direction, turning for another approach.
Larkin growled in frustration and dove into the water to help.
“Wait!” Asp cried. But it was too late. Larkin was already splashing into the water above the man. Steel-Eyes and Asp watched helplessly.
The man turned and faced Jarn, planting a foot on Jarn’s chest. He kicked hard, allowing him to dislodge the pickaxe stuck in his armor, and he swam to the surface, taking in huge lungfuls of air.
Seeing an opportunity to strike, Asp quickly raised her crossbow and aimed at the man’s exposed neckline. She fired. The bolt sailed through the air and struck him between the shoulder and the neck. He screamed and tore at the bolt.
At the same time, Steel-Eyes leapt into action. He threw his hammer hard at the man, and it shot through the air and clattered into the other shoulder. The man yelped and did his best to stay afloat under the weight of his armor.
But it was no use. Still underwater, Jarn grabbed the man’s boots and yanked him below the surface. Sash darted in and fixed the man in a headlock. Together, they dragged him down deeper, all the way to the floor of the pool.
Larkin bobbed at the surface. She looked behind Asp and shouted, “Behind you!” Larkin screamed a spell, but rather than firing off to behind Asp, a glitter of yellow light surrounded Larkin, and the cuts and scrapes along her face and arms healed.
“Get him,” commanded Steel-Eyes. Guy turned and looked behind Asp, running and wrapping his arms around a figure Asp could not see. At least, who she could not see until Guy grabbed it–a small dark humanoid shape writhed in Guy’s arms, visible only now that it was not hidden against the dark wall it stood before.
Meanwhile, Sash wrapped their arms and legs around the torso of the armored man, who flailed at the bottom of the pool. He eventually struck Jarn with a blow of his maul to Jarn’s side; Jarn grabbed his ribcage and let loose another bubbling incantation. A blast of red-purple light slammed into the armored man, and Jarn sprouted flowers from his scalp which waved back and forth in the water of the pool.
The armored man stopped moving. Sash let go of him and swam to the surface, breathing in deep, calm, measured breaths. They bobbed there next to Larkin, who happily remarked, “Wow, Sash, you’re good at holding your breath.” Sash smiled and nodded.
Steel-Eyes muttered a spell, and blistering orange light appeared around the armored man’s head. His helm began to contort–it was melting under the extreme heat of Steel-Eyes’s spell. Steel-Eyes shone under a blue light that made his features look curved and smooth, as though he were an oversized faerie.
No one’s listening. They’re all still casting spells, thought Asp in a panic. Oh, please don’t let anything bad happen. She stared at the dark figure in Guy’s arms. There was something oddly familiar about it that unnerved her. She simply watched as it writhed in Guy’s grip.
Jarn swam up from the surface and looked at the armored man’s body as it floated to the surface. He scowled. Placing his wrists together, he shouted a now-familiar spell, and a blast of orange light struck the man’s body. In an instant, all of the adventurers–even Guy and Bird–went invisible. The armored man slumped forward and rose the rest of the way to the surface.
But as he reached it, he began to frantically swim for the edge to regain dry ground. Asp would later, free from the pitch of battle, come to believe that not seeing his foes made the man believe he could escape. But in the thick of it, Asp saw only an opportunity to strike unseen. She slung her crossbow on her back as she ran towards him, drawing her dagger as she went. At the edge, where he began to lift himself up, she drove the blade down into the same wound she had left when she shot him moments before. The second she made contact with him, she became visible once again. He stared terrified up at her–they had all been gone, and his freedom and safety were within reach, and without warning, a knife had cut deep into his wound, and a slightkin in child’s clothing loomed over him with fear and rage in her eyes.
Sash grabbed his feet and yanked him back into the water. He crashed back into the pool with a splash and fumbled to regain control. He fought valiantly and managed to break free from Sash, making one last attempt to climb out of the pool.
But he was surrounded. All at once, the entire group attacked him. In the chaos of the fray, Jarn, Sash, and Larkin, still in the water, were unable to do much more than stun him. But Asp’s blade tore into his right eye, and Steel-Eyes’s second hammer collided with his temple just below the line of the helm. He sank down to the bottom of the pool and did not move.
—
Jarn and Larkin climbed out of the pool. Sash swam to the bottom and retrieved the dead man’s maul, bringing it back up to the surface and giving it to Steel-Eyes. Asp turned to face the dark figure in Guy’s arms, and Jarn joined her.
“What have we here?” he asked, approaching the figure menacingly.
“Let me talk to it,” said Asp. She was surprised by how commanding her tone was. Whether it was adrenaline from the battle, fear that Jarn would slaughter the thing without a word, or newfound confidence, she could not tell.
Jarn smiled and held up his hands. “Be my guest.”
Asp padded up to Guy and the figure in his grip. She inspected it closely. It looked like her in shape and form–small, slight, wiry–but its surface was pure black. It was not like the sundered elves, whose skin was black; it didn’t seem to have skin. It was more composed of smoke, aside from its teeth. Its mouth was filled with sharp, needly teeth that seemed to leer at her. And yet, it was held in Guy’s metal arms, so it seemed to have corporeal form–just the appearance of formlessness.
“Who are you?” she asked gently.
It didn’t speak.
She switched to the slightkin tongue. “Who are you?” she repeated.
It remained silent.
Sash spoke to it in elven as Steel-Eyes began to search the room, hefting the dead man’s maul.
The figure smiled menacingly and responded to Sash in elven. Sash sighed and turned to Asp. “It says it’s a spy for the Baron of Chaos. It watches these halls to make sure nothing happens.”
Asp narrowed her eyes. “Will it take us to the prison?”
Sash translated, and the creature replied in one word.
“It says no,” said Sash.
Asp considered the thing. “I think it will.” She reached into her bag and drew a length of rope, tying a quick slipknot. “Hold it.”
Guy lifted the thing and forced its arms down to its sides. Asp, with some difficulty, slipped the rope over its legs and tightened the rope at its waist. “Somebody strong hold it,” she said.
Jarn took the rope. The thing resisted for a moment, and Jarn yanked the rope hard. The figure fell to the floor and let out a yelp. It got back on its feet and stood in place.
“He was in here for weeks,” said Steel-Eyes, lifting a tattered book which he was reading. “Probably trapped.”
“You mean he wasn’t guarding this room?” asked Larkin.
Steel-Eyes narrowed his eyes as he read. “No. He was prisoner.”
“Why in the gods’ names would he attack us then?” thundered Jarn. “We opened his door, and he just came at us.”
Asp turned and looked at the pool. She bit her lip. “He was scared, wasn’t he? He thought we were coming to kill him.”
“He was right in the end,” said Jarn with no affect.
Asp turned and glared at him. He didn’t seem to notice. “We need to get going.” She turned to Sash. “Tell it to take us to the prison.”
Sash translated, and the figure looked up at Jarn. It shrugged. It walked toward the door back into the hallway. The group followed behind. The figure headed down the hallway and passed dozens of varied doors.
“Limit your magic,” said Asp. “Every time you cast something, something else unpredictable happens.”
“We need magic,” said Jarn. “Besides, nothing really bad has happened.”
“When something chaotic happens, the Fae are more in their element, and we’re less in ours,” replied Asp. “I’m not saying ‘no magic.’ I’m saying ‘less magic.’ We can’t tell what will happen if we keep doing it.”
“No promises,” said Jarn.
Asp seethed but said nothing. The figure came to a spiral staircase and began to climb. They filed up after it. At the top of the stairs, the figure turned to the left and began to walk down a hallway.
“This is where Kast should be,” said Asp.
“How’d you learn that?” asked Jarn. “Magic?”
“How many times a day do you try to blow something up?” she shot back.
They both continued to follow the figure in silence.
The doors they passed began to change. Less and less were they tall and arched with thick wood and metal braces. More and more were they squarish and barred. Eventually, they passed one with a prisoner who was elven and who wore the armor of Lo’Thalas.
“Please,” he said, “help me.”
Asp eyed him and said nothing, but her thoughts were churning. They want a little chaos, we want a distraction for saving Kast. We could do both with a jailbreak. We’ll be back, soldier.
They continued. They came upon more and more prisoners. Some were soldiers like the first, and others were Fae. Some begged for help; others shouted threats; still others simply sat in their cells as if the group weren’t there.
“We’re gonna help them, right?” asked Larkin. “They need help.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” said Asp. “We free Kast, then let all these prisoners out. It’ll cover our escape, and it’s the right thing to do.”
“Some threaten us,” muttered Steel-Eyed. “Not predictable.”
“But they need our help,” reasoned Larkin.
“We shouldn’t go looking for a fight,” said Jarn.
Asp spun around, furious. “I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a jail cell, but let me tell you this: the threats are desperation. They’re furious because we’re not letting them out. We free them, they owe us their lives. It’s worth the distraction alone, and I can promise you, no one’s attacking us.”
“You’ve been in prison?” asked Jarn. “Little healer spent time in jail?”
“I’m full of surprises,” spat Asp. “Let’s keep going.”
The roped figure led them to an intersection and stopped. It pointed to the rope and spoke to Sash.
“It says we’re in the middle of the prison,” they translated.
“My prayer told me he’s just this way,” said Asp, pointing down a short hallway that curved immediately to the right. “Tie it to a cell.”
Jarn shrugged and fastened the other end of the rope to an empty cell’s bars. Asp led the way down the hallway and followed it as it curved. In a moment, they stood before a heavily fortified cell. The sense inside Asp she had followed to find Kast’s talisman was just past the bars beyond.
But before the door stood six monstrous creatures. They were vaguely humanoid, but their bodies were composed of stained glass panels that jutted out in every direction. They were dazzling in their mix of colors and somehow intensely threatening though unarmed. Each was predominantly one color–red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and purple. The stained glass golems began to advance.
“Here we go again,” said Jarn.
Before he could lower himself into a battle stance, a portal appeared beside him. From it sprang two Fae, who wore long black robes. Seals hung from their necks, the seal of the Baron of Chaos burned into them. They grabbed Jarn by the arm and wrestled him into the portal, which closed as soon as they passed through.
The stained glass golems took a few more steps forward.
Fuck.
—
The red and blue golems lunged forward. They meant to strike Sash and Larkin, but the adrenaline was still coursing through their veins from the fight with the armored man, and they easily dodged the attacks. The orange and purple golems struck too, the purple missing Asp as she ducked under its blow, and the orange catching Steel-Eyes in the gut. He wheezed and stumbled backward.
Larkin narrowed her eyes. She clapped her hands, and a thunderclap erupted from her palms. The blue golem who had attacked her reverberated from the sound, cracks appearing through its glass frame. A cloud appeared over Larkin’s head, pouring rain down on her.
The yellow golem struck at Asp. She was paying attention to the purple golem and avoiding its strike, so she only noticed the sweeping motion of the yellow just before it collided with her feet. She leapt. It barely caught her foot, and she went spinning through the air. She landed on her feet, but she ached where it had caught her. She told herself it would have been much worse had she not jumped.
The green golem swept towards Larkin, her thunderclap having attracted its attention. Asp steadied herself and fired her crossbow at the green golem. The bolt shot through the air and struck the golem in the chest. Several segments of glass shattered and fell to the floor in tiny pieces. The golem swayed from the attack and had to steady itself against a wall.
But the purple golem was still coming at Asp. She gritted her teeth. There’s two of them on me. I need help. Shit. Limited magic. She closed her eyes for just a second and prayed. Idunna, please help me fight. I love you. She opened her eyes and saw the purple golem racing towards her. Before it could reach her, a glittering silver longsword appeared in the air before her. It had a pink and white handle, and it immediately turned on the purple golem. The sword swung itself through the air and crashed into the golem’s side, shattering a few panels of its glass. Asp felt something fall onto her shoulder. She reached a hand up and felt her hair come away in a clump. My hair fell out? Shit. She turned to the approaching yellow golem and stood ready.
The orange golem continued toward Steel-Eyes. It swung a sharpened arm, and Steel-Eyes raised a gauntleted hand to block it. The block threw off the golem’s momentum, and Steel-Eyes used his other fist to pound the golem’s torso as it wheeled. Tiny cracks appeared in the orange golem’s frame.
Meanwhile, the red and blue golems charged Sash and Larkin. The golems ducked to opposite sides, feinting attacks, then turned the other way in a symmetrical set of strikes. Both Sash and Larkin were cut along the shoulders, the glass of the golems scoring deep wounds into them.
Larkin scowled at the pain and pointed a finger at the blue golem which had just cut her. She shouted a spell. Flames appeared around the blue golem, and its glass began to distort and slightly melt from the heat. Fearing a side effect from the spell, Asp watched in horror as the stormcloud over Larkin’s head grew and grew. It let loose bolts of lightning that arced across the room, striking the red, orange, and green golems.
She gets helpful lightning, and I lose my hair?
Sash grabbed onto the red golem which had slashed them and threw them with great force against a cell door. Pieces of glass shattered and fell from the golem’s frame with a loud crash and clatter.
The green golem had apparently grown afraid of Larkin and her lightning and decided to try its luck on Steel-Eyes, joining the orange golem who had already struck him. Together, the green and orange golems dove towards Steel-Eyes and Guy, and the dwarf and his assistant were taken off guard, the glass golems piercing holes into their opponent’s stomachs.
Larkin drew her ancient sword and ran toward the blue golem. She took a great swing with the sword, but the golem dodged to the side. The golem reared back to attack, but Larkin shoved her palm forward, crying out another spell. White lines of force sprang from Larkin’s head into the glass frame of the golem, and it vibrated for a second before shattering completely. Larkin smiled and opened her mouth to cheer, but only pink bubbles came floating out. Her eyes went wide. She tried again to speak–more pink bubbles.
Oh, Larkin, no–I said limited magic! Now you can’t cast a spell at all!
Asp returned her attention to the yellow golem coming at her. It made an aggressive attack, throwing itself off balance. Asp easily stepped aside and shot it with her crossbow at point-blank range. The bolt tore through several panels of glass, leaving a pile of mostly yellow fragments of glass at her feet.
Meanwhile, the floating longsword remained busy. It smacked into the side of the purple golem, which was approaching Asp from the side, sending more pieces of glass flying, then plunged through the yellow golem just above where Asp had shot it. More yellow glass fell to the floor, clinking as it struck the ground.
The orange golem swung a sharp arm at Guy, and Guy stepped out of the way. Steel-Eyes drove forward and tried to slam it with his hammer, but the golem ducked under it. Steel-Eyes used his momentum to toss Guy the hammer; Guy caught it and struck the golem hard in the chest. A jolt of electricity erupted from the hammer and flew into Larkin’s arm wound, which rapidly healed.
The red golem squared with Sash. It jabbed at them, but Sash leapt backwards to avoid the thrust. Taking advantage of the moment, Sash placed their hands on their own shoulders and uttered an incantation in elven. The wounds they had gathered fighting the stained glass golems and the armored man disappeared in an instant. But as the injured healed, three shadowy images of Sash appeared beside them, wavering slightly before the red golem.
The yellow and purple golems attempted a synchronized attack against Asp. The yellow struck downward at her head; the purple swung sideways at her chest. Asp rolled backwards, narrowly avoiding being struck by either. She was getting closer and closer to the wall behind her, running out of room to avoid their attacks.
The green golem gave up on Steel-Eyes for the time being and swung at Larkin, now unopposed. She caught the attack with her sword, sending it bouncing back. She swung the sword back at the golem, and it used its arm to catch her attack. The two tried to overpower one another for a moment, and the green golem stepped back, releasing the lock they had been caught in.
The purple golem saw that Asp had nowhere to go and lunged forward with a sharpened arm. The blow was coming right for her chest. She dodged to the side but could not avoid the strike completely. It plunged into her right arm. Grimacing, she lifted her crossbow with her left hand and shot the golem in the neck. Shards of glass flew behind the bolt, which carried through its frame. The golem pressed forward harder, cornering her against the wall.
But the floating longsword came to her rescue. The blade of the sword clashed against the back of the purple golem’s head. It collapsed forward. Asp shoved its arm out of the wound in hers and ducked to the side, new room to retreat to behind her. The longsword spun and struck the yellow golem hard in the chest. It looked to be in bad shape, half of its glass now in shards on the ground.
The orange golem struck at Guy. Guy tried to avoid the blow, but he did not anticipate the golem changing the trajectory of its attack in mid-air. The golem’s arm struck hard against Guy’s chest, denting his torso in with a horrible crunch. Steel-Eyes muttered a spell, and Larkin’s newest wounds closed, but the tail end of Steel-Eyes spell came out as pink bubbles.
“Thanks!” cried Larkin. She opened her mouth in a joyous smile. “I can talk again!”
The red golem slashed through two of Sash’s doubles. They disappeared in a puff of smoke. The golem charged the real Sash and drove its bladelike arm into Sash’s stomach. Sash groaned in pain and threw a powerful punch at the back of the golem. The blow glanced off harmlessly. Sash raised their other fist and pummeled down on the golem’s back. A shock of white light shone where they had struck it, and a large section of the stained glass in the golem’s frame shattered.
The green golem realized its proximity to Guy–Larkin and Steel-Eyes had been fighting towards one another for several moments–and turned to strike the metal man. Guy, still recovering from the crumpling blow to his chest, was taken unaware. The green golem slashed at Guy’s arm and left a wide cut that sent Guy stumbling backwards.
Larkin surveyed the scene, the attacking green golem distracted by Guy. She spoke a few calm and soothing words. Asp could feel her arm mend, and she glanced at the wound to see it heal completely. Looking up, she saw that Sash and Steel-Eyes had likewise been healed significantly. Larkin suddenly rose in the air, levitating a foot above the ground.
The fray had been chaotic and had ended up with all the combat taking place in a few tight feet at the center of the room. Asp saw the red golem closing in on Sash and fired her crossbow at it. Just as the golem lunged menacingly toward Sash, Asp’s bolt caught it square in the head. The panes of glass that made up its head fell to the ground, and the golem’s body crumpled to the floor in front of Sash.
The floating longsword, meanwhile, kept the yellow and purple golems at bay. With great swinging chops, the sword struck them each once hard in the torso. More fragments of glass fell to the floor, but neither golem appeared to have any second thoughts about pursuing Asp further.
The green golem reared and plunged its sharpened arm towards Larkin. But she was too far out of reach, and the golem fell forward, crunching hard against the floor. Steel-Eyes raised his hammer over the fallen golem and smashed down, crushing its head into dust. The limbs of the golem fell flat, and a jolt of electricity leapt from Steel-Eyes’s hammer into Guy, whose chest cavity reformed a bit to regain a mostly convex shape.
The orange golem dove at Guy. Both its sharpened arms plunged into Guy’s chest, and Guy fell backward onto the ground. The golem leapt to its feet and turned its attention toward Steel-Eyes, who watched for Guy to rise again. But Guy remained where he was, a dented and torn pile of metal on the floor.
Sash closed on the orange golem. They struck it hard with their trident, catching it in the lower torso. The golem writhed for a moment, and Sash withdrew the trident, striking again. But the golem leapt to the side and avoided the strike, throwing its weight into an attack aimed at Sash. Sash used the momentum of the trident to step forward and out of the way of the blow.
Larkin ran and knelt by Guy. She ran her hands over his damaged body and began to chant a spell. But before her spell had any effect, she blinked out of existence.
“Are you invisible, Larkin?” called Asp, facing off against the yellow and purple golems. She did not answer. Asp turned. “Larkin?”
The yellow golem brought its arm down hard on Asp’s right shoulder. She could feel blood trickling down her arm. She spun. The yellow golem loomed over her, the purple golem close behind. Enraged, Asp raised her crossbow in a split second and fired. The bolt tore through the yellow golem’s head, and it crumpled to the ground.
The floating longsword swept through the air. It struck the purple golem hard in the back, sending shards of glass flying towards Asp. Then it spun end over end and plunged into the orange golem’s side.
“Larkin?” cried Asp. “Where are you?”
Steel-Eyes tore his eyes away from Guy’s beaten frame and placed a hand on Sash, muttering a spell. Sash’s remaining wounds began to close, and as Sash was healed, Steel-Eyes began to shrink. He shrank more than half a foot before he stopped, now standing well below Sash’s eye level, though still well above Asp’s.
Sash turned to the orange golem. They turned their trident upside down and ran at it. They leapt and placed a foot on the golem’s upper thigh, leaping again and placing their other foot on its opposite shoulder. Sash seemed to hang in the air high over the golem for a moment, then placed their feet on the bottom edge of the trident’s points. With all their body weight, Sash rode the trident down into the golem, carving large pieces of glass from it as they came down. The golem fell to the floor, and when Sash landed on their feet, they lifted the trident and began to bring it down again on the fallen golem. But the golem rolled out of the way, and Sash’s trident clattered against the floor.
The orange golem rose to its feet and took advantage of the way Sash held their trident. It leapt and kicked Sash in the chest, bringing a heavy blow of the sharpened arm down on the side of Sash’s neck.
Suddenly, Larkin appeared next to Sash. She clapped a hand on Sash’s neck wound and spoke a few magic words. Sash’s neck closed up and stopped bleeding. But Larkin disappeared again.
“Larkin?!” shouted Asp. “Can you hear me?”
No answer came.
The purple golem inched toward Asp and brought both arms down hard on top of her. Asp knew as the strikes came down that backwards was no option–she was in too close to reach a safe distance–and side to side wasn’t either–its arms were out far enough to catch her in either direction. Thinking quickly, she darted between the golem’s legs and turned to face its back.
The orange golem was closing on Sash as they healed. Asp’s eyes widened. In this distracted state, Sash was vulnerable. The purple golem had hounded her from the start, but she was safe for now. She aimed her crossbow at the orange golem and fired. The bolt struck the golem’s head. Glass flew everywhere. But still it stood.
“That one!” she screamed at the floating sword. The weapon Idunna had sent her shot through the air and cleaved through the neck of the orange golem. It crumpled. Before it had completely fallen, the floating blade soared back and swung at the purple golem. But this time, the golem saw it coming. It stepped aside as the blade came at it, and it spun to face Asp.
Steel-Eyes grabbed his hammer from the floor and charged the purple golem. He smashed at it twice, sending shards of glass raining to the floor. An electric jolt flew from the hammer’s collisions with the golem’s frame to Asp, and she could feel her body strengthen as her wounds closed up.
Sash charged with their trident. They rammed the points of the weapon into the golem’s back, a loud crack sounding as veins of damage spread through the remaining glass of the golem. It fell, and Sash smashed it again. But as Sash withdrew their trident, it rose again.
Larkin appeared behind Sash. She pushed past them and ran her sword through the golem's torso. What little glass remained on the golem was in its arms and head, only a framework of black copper wires. She shoved it to the ground, and it smashed against the ground, some of its arms crumbling.
But it stood once more. It reared back and lunged toward Asp. She gritted her teeth and aimed the crossbow as it came at her. She made sure that the sights were on its head and pulled the trigger. The bolt flew the scant, decreasing space to the golem’s head. It tore through, sending shards of mostly purple glass flying. The golem sank to the ground and did not stir again.
Asp stood panting. She surveyed the scene. There were six shattered stained glass golems littering the floor. Steel-Eyes was tending to Guy’s mangled body. Sash was still lightly bleeding from their wounds, and they wrapped a cloth around the small cut on their neck. Larkin was staring at Asp, eyes wide.
“Don’t like killing, huh?” asked the hornkin. “You sure are good at it.”
Asp waited for the sting, the self-hatred she’d come to expect from enacting violence. But her eyes fell on the fortified door they had fought to reach.
“Leonarra was right,” she said breathlessly. “You get used it.”
—
Cheers went up once the room was quiet. The prisoners called out from their cells, proclaiming the adventurers heroes.
Larkin walked to the nearest cell. “Where’s Kast?”
The prisoner in the cell didn’t answer. No one answered. It was silent apart from Steel-Eyes’s tinkering.
“It’s gonna be this one,” said Asp, staring at the fortified door. She hadn’t taken her eyes off it. She was trying to catch her breath and stop seeing glass golems charging at her. She shook her head to clear it and approached the door. “See? Six different locks. No window in. Six horrifying guards posted outside. Where else could he be?” She spotted a small circle of glass most of the way up the door. “There’s a peephole. Can someone look in? Or give me a boost?”
Larkin crossed the room and lifted Asp like she was a child. Asp peered in. She saw a magnified image of her own eye.
Asp sighed. “It’s not for seeing in. Weird. You’d think the prison guards would want that for them, not the prisoner.”
Larkin put Asp back on the floor.
“Your hair fell out, you know,” said Larkin lightly.
“I know,” replied Asp. “Here’s what else I know: a vampire took Kast and brought him here. He gave Kast to the Baron of Chaos, who locked him up. He’s behind that door. I found his talisman through magic. There’s no way Kast doesn’t have it on him. I also know that some frightening-ass dudes stole Jarn, and I know my hair fell out, and I know I just killed a ridiculous amount of colorful glass monsters. And you know what else I know?” She breathed deeply. “We’re getting into that fucking cell, and we’re taking Kast home.”
A clanking sound behind them caused Asp and Larkin to turn. Guy was rising to his feet. Steel-Eyes had more emotion on his face than Asp had ever seen the dwarf express–he was proud and scared and hurt and hopeful, all at once and mixed up together.
“Guy!” shouted Larkin, rushing toward him. “You’re okay!”
Steel-Eyes smiled. “Guy is okay. Steel-Eyes fix.”
“I’m glad,” said Asp. “Look, I know I’m being kind of a drag right now, but we need to figure out these locks. Can anybody help before I go sticking things in them?”
Steel-Eyes nodded. He walked to the locks and began to inspect them. He whispered a spell and turned, frowning, his eyebrows five times the length they’d been when he’d gone to inspect the locks. “Dwarven. The tumblers rotate. Will be very hard.”
“Possible?” asked Asp.
Steel-Eyes shrugged. “Maybe possible. Very hard.” He returned to tending to Guy.
Asp rolled up her sleeves. “Gimme a minute.” She pulled out her lockpicking tools and got to work on the lower right lock.
Larkin went up and down the row of cells. “Who are you?” she asked the first prisoner.
“I’m Ana’Hiel,” said one, an armored elf. “Been here a long time.”
“That’s a pretty name,” replied Larkin.
The elf shook his head. “It’s not my name. I’m a member of the Ana’Hiel. I’m one of Faerian’s chosen.”
“Oh cool!” cried Larkin. “I have Sariel's bow. They're friends, right?”
The elf narrowed his eyes. “You what?”
Larkin produced the Bow of Sariel. “See? Pretty bow.”
The elf fell to his knees. “Sariel be praised.”
Larkin tittered. “Yeah, we’re gonna break you out.”
The other prisoners started to murmur.
“One down,” said Asp, moving to the next lock.
“So why are you locked up?” asked Larkin. “What’re ya in for?”
The Ana’Hiel laughed ruefully. “It does not matter to the Baron of Chaos. Besides, it is my place to be in this cell.”
Larkin frowned. “Hmmm . . . That’s weird. Don’t you want out?”
“I do not aim to alter the way of things unless it is my duty,” said the Ana’Hiel.
“Okay. We’ll probably let you out since you’re so important, though,” said Larkin. “But we gotta get our friend first, though.”
Sash joined Larkin as she passed to the next cell. “What about you?” she asked. “What’s your story?”
“I displeased the Baron of Chaos,” said a Fae whose head was a turtle and whose body was equal parts rabbit and badger. “He said I was disrespectful.”
“Two down,” called Asp.
“Were you?” asked Larkin.
“I didn’t mean to be,” said the Fae. “I was only asking for help.”
“Asking for help isn’t bad,” said Larkin thoughtfully.
“What did you ask for help with?” inquired Sash.
“There were incursions,” explained the Fae. “My home wasn’t safe.”
“Safe from what?” asked Larkin. “What kind of incursions?”
“From the realm of order,” said the Fae.
“Is that bad?” asked Larkin.
“It’s bad for us,” replied the Fae. “They tried to take over my home.”
“Three down!” cried Asp.
“I just thought maybe he could help,” said the Fae. “I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.”
Larkin shrugged. “Sounds fair to me. Sorry about all that.”
“You’ll help me, right?” asked the Fae. “Please?”
“In a minute. Penelope's busy,” replied Larkin. She and Sash strolled to the next cell. “What’s your deal?”
“I’m a guard from Lo’Thalas,” said an elf. “I was told that I was to see if I could return to the mundane world.”
Larkin raised her eyebrows. “Could you?”
“I could not,” said the guard. “I was stranded here without a portal to return.”
“And they locked you up for that?” cried Larkin.
“He’s an outsider here,” said Sash.
Larkin slapped her leg in frustration. “But I’m an outsider here! And at home, too!”
“This place doesn’t operate on fairness,” said the guard. “But you can set things right.”
“Two to go!” shouted Asp.
“We should help him,” said Sash.
“Oh absolutely we should,” agreed Larkin. She tried the cell door. It didn’t budge.
“Here, let me try,” said Sash. “I found a key over there.” They tried the key in the cell’s lock. The door still didn’t move.
“Hey, let me out too!” called a voice from another cell. “I can help you!”
They walked to the source of the voice. It was a slightkin man in pauper’s clothes.
“You can help us?” asked Larkin.
“I can,” he said. “If you let me out, I can take you to the Summer City. They can help you.”
“Tell me about this Summer City,” instructed Larkin. “I hope it’s not as hot as it sounds.”
“Not summer like that,” he said. “Summer like the height of strength and bounty and beauty.”
“Sounds nice,” Larkin said to Sash conspiratorially.
“It’s amazing,” the slightkin went on. “You could have everything you need.”
“Do they have our friend?” asked Larkin. “That’s why we’re here.”
“Last one!” cried Asp.
“I don’t know about your friend,” said the slightkin. “But they could help you find your friend. Just let me out, and I’ll take you there.”
“Well, he’s probably in the room down the hall,” said Larkin. “So we may not need that.”
“No,” said the slightkin, his voice growing desperate. “I promise you. Free me, and I will take you to the Summer City. I guarantee it will be everything you need.”
“That’s a big promise,” replied Larkin. “What do you think, Sash?”
Sash shrugged. “Have we met anyone else in the In-Between who said they would help us without us doing them a big favor?”
“That’s a good point!” chirped Larkin. “Okay, guy, I’m gonna let you out, but no funny business.”
“Fucking tumblers moved right as I was about to get it,” called Asp. “One more minute.”
“No funny business, I promise,” said the slightkin. “I swear my life on it.”
Larkin glanced at Sash. “That’s a good promise. But I think that the Ana’Hiel’s gotta get out first.” She went to the lock of the first cell she’d visited, the slightkin crying out for help all the while, and she studied it for a moment, then shrugged. She muttered a spell, and a bolt of purple light shot into the lock. A gallon of water appeared beside Larkin and fell to the floor, running across the stone. But the lock clicked, and the door swung open. The Ana’Hiel remained inside.
“Got it!” shouted Asp. She flung the door open. In the doorway, she could see her own reflection staring back at her. Behind her, Steel-Eyes tinkered with Guy, and behind them, she could just barely see Sash and Larkin outside of a cell. “Came this far,” she said to herself, and stepped through the shimmering image before her.
Inside was a dark jail cell. A shoddy cot hung from the wall, and a meager table and chair sat in the middle of the room. It was hard to see much more than the basic shapes of things.
“Kast?” she called. “You in here?”
Steel-Eyes stepped through the shimmering doorway to join her. “He’s not in here.”
“No, I did the spell. His talisman is in here. He always wears it. I’ve never seen him without it. Gimme a second.”
Idunna, can you please tell me where Kast’s talisman is?
She had the same sense as before. It was right in front of her. She reached down in the darkness and felt along the surface of the table. She felt a cloak, a sword, a band attached to a round metal object. She grasped the metal surface, running her fingers along it. It was Kast’s talisman–she was sure of it.
“Fuck.”
“He’s not here,” said Steel-Eyes gently.
“No, no, this can’t be right. He was here. He was taken somewhere. He didn’t plan to leave. They took him by force.”
“Here’s not here,” repeated Steel-Eyes.
“Godsdamnit!” she screamed. She reached to pull at her hair and found nothing but smooth scalp.
“Penelope,” said Steel-Eyes.
Asp growled in anger. “You don’t get it, Steel-Eyes! I am standing here, bald as a baby’s ass, in a jail cell, which I spent forever breaking into, for fuck’s sake, and I just don’t understand.”
Steel-Eyes grunted. “Understand what. He’s not here.”
“I fucking know he’s not here,” she fumed, the weight of the mission and its complications and butting heads with Jarn and being ignored by her companions and being stuck in a realm of chaos too much for her. “I swear, a week and a half ago I was making a new life. I was a hero! There was a fucking statue of me in the city I was trying to make my home. And now I’m on another fucking plane of existence, surrounded by people who don’t understand anything, and I’ve given up my whole life, my whole fucking life, Steel-Eyes, and I’m standing here in a jail cell again, only there’s no fucking reason for it this time. I have given up everything for nothing, and I just don’t understand. I was trying to do the right thing. I was trying to be a good person. And now I have nothing.”
Steel-Eyes grunted. He turned and left the cell.
Asp sank into a pile on the ground and cried. She didn’t know how long she spent there, wretchedly sobbing, but she knew it was long enough for her well of tears to begin to dry up. When she could cry no more, she looked directly up and spoke to the ceiling. “I’m gonna try this one more time. And if it doesn’t do something that matters, I can’t promise I’m ever gonna do it again.” She closed her eyes and prayed.
Idunna, I don’t know what this is all for. I have tried so hard. I have given up everything that ever made me comfortable. And my life has been harder than it’s ever been as a reward. Please tell me there’s a reason for this. Please tell me there’s some purpose I’m working towards. Please make this all worth it, or let me walk away. I– She inhaled and exhaled deeply. I love you.
Asp sat in the dark. Over the course of a few seconds, a few things changed. Her face, stinging with the residue of tears, felt clean. Her breathing, ragged and uneven, became calm. Her mind, spinning and unsettled, felt peace. Before her eyes was a floating image of a daisy, now familiar. She heard no otherworldly words, but her own thoughts seemed to be guided–hers, but hers like one's mind is one’s own when watching a play–inspired.
A setback is a setback. I’ve never given up before. I can’t leave Kast out there. It’s time to get up. It’s time to go help my friends help our friend. I can do this. Even if I need help, I can do this.
She stood. Something brushed against her cheek. Her hand sprang to her head. She had chin-length hair. And then shoulder-length hair. And then her hair was cascading down her back, just as she had always worn it since she was a little girl. And it had a beautiful scent. She smelled her quickly growing hair.
It smelled like cherry blossoms.
—
Asp pocketed Kast's talisman and walked back through the shimmering doorway. Guy stood next to Steel-Eyes, good as new. Beyond them, Sash and Larkin were speaking to a regal-looking elf. The things she had half-heard while picking the locks came flooding back to her. The Fae. The Ana’Hiel. The guard from Lo’Thalas. The Summer City. We need to get out of here.
“What do you mean you don’t want to leave?” asked Larkin. “Who would want to be in jail?”
“Good question,” said Asp, smiling to herself. “So what’s the deal? Don’t they want you back where you came from?”
“There was a prisoner exchange,” explained the Ana’Hiel. “If I were to return to the Summer City, it would be a slap in the face to the Summer Queen.”
“Prisoner exchange?” asked Sash. “For who?”
“Some captive,” said the Ana’Hiel. “Traded in by a vampire, I believe. Myself and my fellow Ana’Hiel cannot leave.”
“Shame,” said Asp. “I guess we’ll have to free everybody but you. Back to your cell!”
Asp and Steel-Eyes began unlocking the cells of the prisoners who did not bear the look of the Ana’Hiel. Asp worked quickly, opening the doors twice as quickly as Steel-Eyes, but she was grateful for his help. Once freed, Fae flocked to the edge of the hallway, and those from the mundane world congregated around the rescuing adventurers. The three slightkin who were present separated themselves from the other prisoners, and Asp went to them once everyone but the Ana’Hiel were set free.
“You all good?” she asked.
The slightkin before her laughed nervously. “Who are you?” asked a teenage girl.
She chuckled. “A formerly very mixed-up person who’s figured a couple things out. All that matters is that I’m here to help. My friends and I are going to protect you for as long as we can, and then we’re going to get you back home again. Okay?”
“Oh bless you,” said another slightkin, an old man with a bristly mustache.
“Other way around, actually,” she said. “But let’s leave that for when a blessing won’t cause chaos. Anybody hurt, though?”
They shook their heads.
Asp offered a reassuring smile. “Good. Stay close to me.”
“What now?” asked Larkin. “Where do we take them? How do we get Kast back from the Summer City?”
“Is Summer City the one that never got closer,” half-asked Steel-Eyes.
“How do we reach it now?” asked Sash.
Asp looked at the Ana’Hiel in his cell and smiled mischievously. “What if we came with a gift?”
“What kind of gift,” muttered Steel-Eyes.
“Well, he says he can’t go back voluntarily,” said Asp. “But if we made him, we’d be returning a powerful person to the Summer Queen.”
Larkin smiled, her eyes wide with excitement. “You think you can talk him into coming?”
Asp grinned. “Something like that. Any objections to this plan?”
“And the prisoners?” asked Sash. “Where will they be safe?”
“We need somewhere no one would ever look,” said Larkin. “We can’t hide almost two dozen people unless it’s a good spot.”
Asp chuckled. She felt as if her mind was spinning with extra efficiency since her prayer. She leaned forward and whispered so that the prisoners could not hear. “I would bet no one’s going to be looking where Ronaan is.”
Steel-Eyes chuckled, and Sash opened their eyes wide. Larkin slowly smiled more and more until her eyes were only half-open. Then she frowned. “Won’t they be, you know, afraid of him?”
Asp laughed again. “Only if we tell them who he is.”
Larkin guffawed. “You are a naughty one, Penelope.”
“All agreed?” asked Asp.
Everyone nodded their assent.
“Showtime, then,” declared Asp. She walked up to the Ana’Hiel who had returned to his cell. “What’s your name?”
“My name is unimportant,” replied the elf. “I am an Ana’Hiel, and that is all that matters.”
“Okay,” said Asp, “but what do I call you if I need to distinguish you from the other Ana’Hiel?”
The elf sniffed. “My name is Trinlias.”
“Perfect. Trinlias, I’d really appreciate it if you guided us back to the Summer City. We were having an awfully hard time finding our way there earlier, and I think you could help us.”
“I cannot,” Trinlias replied. “I am sworn to follow the command of the Summer Queen, and she has traded me for another prisoner.”
Asp leaned in towards him. “Trinlias, I want you to understand something. I am going to get your help. We have come too far to fail now. You are the only thing that effectively stands in my way. So either you come with us willingly, or I make you come with me.”
Trinlias stared down his nose at her. “You are a small, weak thing. I am one of the chosen warriors and thinkers of the Summer City. You cannot make me do anything.”
Asp smiled and exhaled happily. “If you are a chosen one of the Summer City, then why did they give you away for some random prisoner?”
Trinlias flinched. “You cannot play mind games with an Ana’Hiel. I follow my orders, and my role is to be in this prison as the Summer Queen decided.”
Asp pursed her lips. “I’m gonna give you a minute to think that over.”
She closed her eyes. Idunna, please make this man listen to me. Make him guide us to the Summer City. I love you.
She opened her eyes, a cloud of mist around her now. “Have you thought about it?”
Trinlias stood suddenly, purpose on his face. “Of course I’ve thought about it. There’s only one thing I can possibly do, and asking me that is ridiculous. Of course I’ll take you to the Summer City.”
Asp smiled, and Larkin snickered down the hallway. Asp re-unlocked the cell and held it open for Trinlias. “I’m glad you thought things through.”
“There’s no time to waste,” said Trinlias urgently. “We must go now.”
“Then follow me,” said Asp cheerfully. She went down the hallway where the fallen glass golems had come to rest, past the changing doors, down the spiral staircase, down the hallway and beyond the room where they had slain the unfortunate prisoner with the maul, and out the gate. She held it open politely so that the Fae prisoners did not have to touch the iron door. Her allies and the prisoners streamed out of the bowels of the castle and marched away.
Asp, Larkin, Sash, and Steel-Eyes guided the prisoners to the scar in the land. “Follow this to the cave, and wait with the old Ronan’el there,” instructed Asp. “Don’t ask him too many questions. We’ll be back soon.” The prisoners cautiously followed the torn-up and scorched earth. Asp turned to Trinlias. “Now how about that Summer City?”
Trinlias narrowed his eyes. He glanced around him, seemingly surprised. “How did I get out here? I’m supposed to be a prisoner.”
“You broke out of jail with us,” said Asp. “Don’t you remember?”
Trinlias looked betrayed. “I must go back. I must do as the Summer Queen has ordered me.”
Asp shook her head. “Well, that’s gonna be tough. All the other Ana’Hiel saw you decide to come with us, and you’d have to turn yourself into the Baron of Madness, and you just know that he’s gonna say something to the Summer Queen about how you left. At this point, you may as well return to the Summer City so you can help her with other things.”
Trinlias wore a look Asp knew well from playing cards. He suspected that he had been fooled, but was also susceptible to being convinced to go just a bit further. He slumped his shoulders. “I pray that my return will be good news.” He turned and pointed toward the distant, shimmering city on the horizon. “This way.”
They marched a few steps before Asp heard a voice in her head. Given the reactions of her friends, they heard it too. It was a sweet, tinkling voice. It said, “You have an Ana’Hiel in your company. You should come to me in the Summer City.”
Asp looked at Larkin. She winked. Larkin winked back. They went on, following Trinlias toward the city, which drew nearer and nearer with every step.
You can read the next chapter here!
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