Gears of Fate, page 15
part #1 of Forgotten Gods Series
Seneca struggled to get back to her feet. The beast must have sensed easy prey. He grabbed her by the throat. She made strange gurgling sounds as he lifted her higher. His head tilted sideways, curious mechanical eyes widening.
I ran across the field, dragging Jotunn behind me. One foot in front of the other, each passing step brought on an explosion of pain. Are my ribs broken? I struggled for every gasp of air; every move tortured my body. Seeing Seneca’s face change color, purple spreading from her lips, gave me the boost I needed to fight. I had to stop being a child and fight back the pain. I forced my legs to move faster, forced the adrenaline to pump into my veins. Let my anger take control. He had his back to me; he didn’t see me as a threat. He would soon regret it.
As soon as I was within range, I thrust the sword into his back. It cut flesh and bone with ease. The beast dropped Seneca and howled madly. He spun around and knocked me from my feet once more, yet the sword remained lodged in his back. He tried to grab at the hilt, but it was just out of reach. Every time he turned his back toward me, I caught glimpses of ice spreading across his flesh. He fell to his knees and his monstrous howls turned to whimpers of agony. Soon, his whole back glistened with ice. He coughed twice, fell flat on his face, and the half-frozen beast went still.
Seneca came over and helped me up with a genuine smile. “You should have run.”
I approached the frozen beast and pulled the sword free. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because I follow orders just as well as you.” She patted me hard on the back, sending another wave of pain down my spine. I fell down moaning.
We were both in bad shape and with night quickly approaching, we decided to set up camp and regain our strength. Seneca made a small fire and we huddled together trying to keep warm. No matter how close I held my hands to the flame, the cold presence of Jotunn still lingered on my skin.
Seneca nearly died trying to help me. We were just strangers that circumstance put together and tossed into a whole world of craziness, and yet I still felt a sense of trust in her. Something I haven’t had in a long time. I laid back and looked at the sky; the stars sparkled like a road map leading me home.
“Wake up!” Seneca practically shook my arm loose when I opened my eyes. “Zak, we should get going. We’re so close I can practically taste it.”
“Any idea how we are going to get into Puck’s castle?” I asked.
She gave me one of her legendary shrugs. “You know me. I prefer to not think things through. I’m all about jumping into the fray without being properly prepared. It’s part of my charm.”
I got up and stretched the kinks out of my back. My body felt broken, but I would not give up. We continued on our journey because there was no other choice. I officially hated walking through forests. The moist air didn’t agree with my lungs, it made my clothes stick to my skin, and the tree roots kept tripping me up. I felt like I’d reached the end of my rope. I wanted to be back on Olympus where I ruled over the Fringe. I wanted to be done. I even thought about taking a proper job like my father wanted. As long as I could sleep in my own bed at the end of the day, it surprised me how much I could ache to go home.
The forest grew sparse and sickly. The trees, broken, withered things, hung over the trail where the grass turned to a coppery brown and crunched under foot. Rusting pipes jabbed out of the earth here and there among the trees, spewing thick tendrils of black smoke. The pipes grew more numerous the farther we walked, until only a few trees remained in a forest of rusting metal. Stray piping seemed to have merged with trees, creating eerie hybrids of nature and industry. We had to cover our mouths to keep from choking on the filth and soot that in the air. Black smoke polluted the sky, hiding the sun with a thick coat of filth. How could people live like this?
“Where is all the smoke coming from?” I asked.
Seneca tied a scarf around her mouth. “There are factories underground where the Unseelie work day and night forging weapons, armor, and all manner of things. Not to mention the city itself runs on coal and ambrosia.”
“It’s horrible.”
“The creatures that live here don’t seem to think so.” She pointed toward a gravel road. A mechanical horse pulled a carriage made of splintered wood, splattered paint, and cracked windows, toward us. We stood to the side to let it pass. A woman watched us with bored eyes from within, her hair a mess of black and gray, mixed with cobwebs and dried twigs. Makeup covered her face, with a heavy emphasis on black eye shadow. When I caught her eye, she curled her lip in disgust and pulled the shade down.
We continued on the road, soon met by wide range of people and creatures traveling away from the city. None seemed to give us a second thought, and those that did look at us reacted as if our existence annoyed them. Goblins fought over carts filled with wares, a centaur hammered away at a broken down mechanical contraption, and fairies wearing dark armor and bronze wings patrolled the road with crude weapons and wary sneers. Soon, the sights and sounds of all the creatures lost their novelty and I just kept my head down and followed close behind Seneca.
“Where are they going?” I asked.
“Away from here… probably to the Seelie Court. The Unseelie are like cancers, devouring all there is until there is nothing left. Stripping the natural beauty of the earth and leaving all this industrial waste.”
“Will the Seelie fight them?”
“My parents are dead, I’m missing as far as they know, and the Rose armies are astray. The Seelie Court is fair game now.” She took on a somber tone. “But we can’t give up on them.”
“The Seelie Court is just a stop. They plan to march on my home too. We all stand to lose if they aren’t stopped.”
“I hope we’ll be enough.”
“Why not?” I let my hand find its way to the hilt of Jotunn. “We’ll have to be.”
She laughed but didn’t bother to say more. She stopped and nodded off at the sprawling city before us. This whole time, I expected to find a castle atop a mountain range, or surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge like in the storybooks. What stood before us was a mockery. Massive smoke spewing chimneys, rickety mills, and crude factories made of glass and rusted bronze all meshed in one horrible sight. The sky looked like a blacked hole over the highest tower, where the bulk of the smoke and smog congregated into an infinite tunnel of darkness. I could make out the distant images of people climbing up and down towers of ash, and running in and out of the buildings.
“It’s horrible,” I said.
“It’s called Helheim.”
“How do we get in?”
“Zak, haven’t you realized by now I always have a plan?” Her smile and wink weren’t the least bit reassuring.
Chapter Fifteen
The inn near Helheim reminded me of the Back Alley Den. People sat around lost in drink while selling and buying secrets. Green smoke lingered in the air and mischievous giggles whispered around every corner. Seneca marched into the midst of it all with an arrogant stride. It impressed me. Clearly, these were the type of people who preyed on weakness, and she knew how to walk the walk. She looked around as if she wanted to find someone specific. It wasn’t too long before I heard a familiar voice.
“Kid,” Gharis shouted from across the inn. “Over here.” He and Alana sat at a table looking on impatiently as Seneca rushed over to join them. I have to admit I was happy to see them alive and well.
Seneca sat near Alana. “Glad to see you made it here on time.”
“On time?” Alana huffed. “We’ve been waiting on her for days. Not to say I don’t mind spending my days here drinking while you run up a tab. I’m still charging you, you know?”
“How’d you guys get here?” I asked.
“Once you two jumped to your doom, the Unseelie lost their will to fight.” Gharis took a hefty drink and wiped the froth from his mouth. “Not without losing a large amount of their numbers to my blade.”
“Didn’t Seneca tell you the plan was to meet here should we get separated?”
I gave Seneca a questioning look. “No… so when you wanted to jump ship, we weren’t just abandoning them?”
“I’m not stupid. I knew Puck would have me followed. So you know, being that I’m wildly clever, I had a backup plan.”
“Which included us jumping into the ocean in the middle of nowhere?” I growled.
“And everything worked out perfectly.” She playfully punched my arm.
“It did take you two a lot longer than we originally planned to get here.” Alana said.
Seneca nodded with a huge grin. “It all worked out perfectly!”
“We’ve had our men watching Helheim closely.” Gharis said. “We think we’ve found a way for you to get it unnoticed.”
“I take it you still refuse to come?” Seneca asked Alana.
“I feel like you still don’t quite get that I don’t like you,” Alana said.
Seneca pulled the Scavenger captain into a huge hug. “I know you don’t like me, you love me!”
“You may be the Seelie princess, and we may at times find ourselves allies, gods know why. However, with war coming to these lands, we must remain neutral. Picking sides during a war is never good for business.” Alana pushed her off with what seemed a great deal of restraint.
“Alana,” I said. “I wanted to ask you about my mother.”
“Fortune?” A little girl called from across the way. Her curly red hair barely covered tiny horns that poked out from her forehead. She had round black eyes, and her face seemed to be a strange mix of human and deer. I pointed at myself with a questioning look. She nodded and trotted over. She wore a pretty dress decorated with strands of vine and green leaves. The fabric seemed soft and flowed like air over her body. Her steps made an odd clicking noise. I looked down and caught a glimpse of hooved feet peeking out from under her dress.
“You’re new around here,” she said. “I’ve never seen you. Want to know your fortune?”
“Sorry,” I said. “But I haven’t got much money.”
She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment and sat near me. “My fortunes are free,” she whispered and the way she shot glances back and forth around the bar made me think her lying.
“Why would you read my fortune for free?”
“Why should I charge you to know your own future?”
“That’s a good point,” Seneca said.
I shrugged with indifference. “Everyone needs to make a living.”
“I live here in the stables. Fenton, he owns the inn and lets me live here for free. All I have to do is tell him his fortune every night before he goes to sleep.”
I leaned on the table and got a better look at her. “That seems awfully generous.”
She giggled and leaned in closer as well. “A Night Wraith put a death curse on him for hunting stags in a blessed area. He was meant to die a week later. Fenton being the wise businessperson he is, bought me off a slaver after I told him how he was to die. Now death is constantly at his heels, trying to take back what was denied. Every night I tell him how he is to die, and he is able to avoid it and live another day. Today, he’s getting run through by a unicorn. He took the day off and locked himself in the basement.” She giggled.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s see what sort of skill you got.”
The Fortune Teller reached into a small purse hanging loosely from her shoulder, shuffling around through various magical trinkets I’m sure. She took out a pair of small dice, numbers etched on each of the six white sides. After blowing on the dice and giving them a good shake, she let the dice fall onto the table. I leaned over so I could get a better look. The numbers four and three stared back at me. I couldn’t see how these would be able to tell my future. I startled when she looked up with glazed-over white eyes. Her body went rigid and her fingers traced invisible lines in the air.
“Oh, why did he have to ask for his fortune?” Alana whispered.
“You’ve lost something very dear to you,” the girl said. “Your heart is gone and you search desperately for it. But you’ve also lost your soul…”
“That doesn’t sound good does it?” Seneca mocked.
“But on your journey, you will find someone who has been lost for so long. A lost memory that has shaped your life, and will restore your faith.”
“None of that makes sense,” I said. “How about you tell me how I die?”
The Fortune Teller tilted her head as if listening to something far off. “You will fall saving the one you love.” Her calm demeanor jumped into a wild scream, clawing at her face and rocking back and forth. “Falling! Falling! An endless fall. Everyone is at war and you fall to your doom, through the clouds from the edge of the world.” Finally, she stopped and gasped for air. Shivering still, the white in her eyes cleared like clouds, leaving them black once again.
“That was intense,” Seneca said.
“Please don’t go near the edge!” The girl got up and ran off into the crowd.
“On that note,” Alana said. “We should get going, now that the little fawn has drawn attention to us.”
Gharis settled their tab and we all walked out into the night. We travelled with caution, bandits and all types of violent creatures walked the Unseelie streets. Gharis guaranteed if you didn’t know your way around, you could easily find yourself in a dark alley with a gang of Redcaps ready to steal the flesh from your bones. Because of this, we stuck close to the Scavengers and let them lead the way. One alleyway led to the next and another. We moved so quickly I could barely keep up with all the twists and turns. When we walked around a corner, a shimmering unicorn with steel hooves and horn casually trotted passed us.
“Here we are.” Gharis nodded toward an indentation in the wall. “There’s a switch right there.”
I inspected it and gently pushed the brick in. We all backed up to the sound of gears winding and turning in protest. Seneca and I followed the sound up to a staircase being lowered from a second level.
“Oh, I love secret passageways,” Seneca said. “And this leads to the residential area?”
“To the help quarters. But the residential area is just one floor above.” Alana said.
“And the throne room, is it guarded?” Seneca asked.
Gharis tried not to meet Seneca’s eyes. “Most are marching toward the Seelie court. Those of the castle guards who stayed behind are off drinking or gambling at dice. The throne room is only a couple of rooms over, but you have nothing to fear.”
“Okay… so you’ll keep your eyes to the sky?” Seneca asked Alana.
The Scavenger captain shook her head. “I’d warn you to be safe, but why bother?”
Seneca walked over to the staircase and stretched out her arm, inviting me to go first. “After you?”
I drew Jotunn and took a step onto the stairs. Seneca grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “It’s the help quarters. You’ll draw more attention if you show up with a magical ice making sword.” I sheathed the sword; feeling the warmth return to my hand was a relief.
The stairs scaled the side of the building in a zigzag. The higher we got, the safer I felt. The pull of gravity always calmed my senses. With the wind blowing at my face, I couldn’t help but think of home once again.
Soon this will all be over.
Chapter Sixteen
The stairs ended at a balcony overlooking the whole city. I eased open the doors that led inside. The sweet smell of honey wafted in my nose and beckoned me in. I walked right into a large room with a steaming bath in the center. White tassels and candles decorated the walls, while all the furniture shined with ivory and plush pillows. Women in loose white bathrobes sat across the couches fanning themselves, while others relaxed in the bath. The talking stopped and all eyes turned to me.
Seneca pushed past me. “Is it me or does this look like a bath house?” A moment of silence passed before the room erupted into giggles.
A lady with purple hair and pointed ears jumped to her feet and hooked her arm in mine. “Can I offer you a beverage?” She snapped her manicured fingers and a well-dressed man appeared with a tray of gold cups and a pitcher of purple liquid.
“No thanks.”
I tried to wave off the drink, but she shoved an amply filled cup into my hand and led me over to the couch where she pushed me to sit between herself and another well-endowed woman who leaned in experimentally. I thought of Abby’s reaction if she could see me and leapt to my feet.
Seneca reached for a cup, but the server walked away.
“We should be going!” I said.
Two more women made their way into my circle of admirers, picking at my clothes and touching my face. I stumbled over a cushion trying to back away. This only made them giggle more. It didn’t help that my cheeks felt flush.
“But you’ve just arrived!” one said.
I laughed uncomfortably. “Thing is, I really have to use the bathroom. Is there one near here?”
The purple haired woman pointed out the door. “Down the hall.”
“Okay, we’ll be right back.” I wrestled the hem of my shirt back from one delicate hand.
I grabbed Seneca by the arm and dragged her out into the hall. The inside of Helheim didn’t match the outside. Sparkling white hallways with marble floors and thorny vines decorating the walls made the place look lavish. Paintings of elves and fairies in regal poses hung every couple of feet, separated by stone statues of ferocious creatures. We walked down the hall passing doors at random intervals, none of which seemed promising.
“Maybe we should split up?” I said.
Seneca looked back and forth. “Okay, let’s meet back in the bath house if we don’t find anything. Try not to get hurt. There’s a whole room of women waiting for your safe return.”
