Page 47 of The Iron Raven

“What are you talking about?”

I waved a hand at the massive stone arm coming out of the water. “There is a lost city all around us, prince! One that hasn’t been seen since before the formation of the courts. Aren’t you curious? I think we should do a little exploration. Who knows what treasures are buried down here?”

For a moment, I could see the spark of intrigue in his eyes. He was curious, just as curious as me. That thirst for excitement, to explore and uncover new things, to push himself and see what was really out there, was even stronger than his hatred for all Summer fey. I sensed a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, even as his eyes clouded over and he turned a sneer in my direction.

“I have a better idea, Goodfellow. Why don’t I kill you right here, and then take all the treasure back to the Winter Court, where it belongs?”

“Well, that’s just impractical, ice-boy. How are you going to carry it all yourself?”

A splash echoed somewhere out in the water.

We both stopped talking. When I glanced back toward the lake, a chill that had nothing to do with temperature skittered up my spine.

A pale, unearthly form hauled itself out of the black waters a few yards away and rose, staring at us with empty, glowing green eyes. It might have been a dwarf once; it had a tangled beard that was full of algae, and it was shorter than either of us by several feet. Much like the rock dwarves of the mountains or even the deep dwarves that lived far below the earth and hated sunlight. But there was one massive difference between them and the figure staring at us now.

It had no skin. Or organs, or blood. A skeleton stared at us from the edge of the black waters, clad in a dented breastplate with a rusty helm perched on its skull. A decaying battle-ax, clutched in one bony hand, scraped over the pebbles as the creature took a few shambling steps forward, its eyes burning with malevolent green fire.

Ash drew his sword with a flash of blue light, and I leaped to my feet, pulling my daggers. “There’s your answer, Goodfellow,” the Ice Prince snapped as the skeleton let out a chattering noise that raised the hair on the back of my neck. “If you want to stay and explore the city, you’re welcome to it. I don’t think you’re going to get very far.”

Behind the shambling creature, the waters rippled and more skeletons began lurching out of the blackness. “Oh look, ice-boy,” I said as we retreated up the beach, putting our backs to the cliff wall. “The whole city has come out to greet us. Don’t you feel important?”

He shot me a sideways glare and raised his weapon. “If we get out of this,” he growled as the first wave of skeletons reached us, “I’m going to kill you.”

“Pfft, bet you’ll never say that again, ice-boy.”

The undead hordes were endless. I lost track of how long we stood there, side by side, fighting the skeletons that crawled out of the lake. There were hundreds of them, maybe more, and they came at us with single-minded purpose, unflinching and unswayable. They swung at us with rusty swords and axes, poked at us with broken spears, or sometimes just grabbed at us with clawed, bony hands. That they could shamble at us from only one direction made it possible to stand our ground, but there were still so many of them. If it wasn’t for the solid rock wall at our back, we would’ve been swarmed in seconds. But even with our combined skills and magic, there was no end to the horde rising from the lake.

“I think a tactical retreat is in order, ice-boy!” I panted, blocking the broken haft of a spear thrust at my face. The skeleton wielding it rattled its skull at me, and I kicked it in its bony chest, shattering the rib cage and flinging it back. “Personally, I’d rather not stand here and fight the entire city, if it’s all the same to you.”

Ash swatted aside a double-bladed battle-ax, then returned with a quick swipe across the skeleton’s neck, cutting the skull from its body. “There is no visible way out, Goodfellow,” he snapped, slicing another undead in two with the snapping of bones. “Where do you think we can go?”

“Well, I would suggest up.” Something flew by my face, hitting the rocks with a clink and leaving a stinging gash across my cheek. “Ow, dammit, now they’re shooting arrows. We should leave now, ice-boy! Just keep them off me for two seconds and I’ll find us a way out of here.”

Ash snarled. Taking a step back, he gestured sharply and with a flare of glamour, a wall of ice rose from the ground between us and the undead. Immediately, the skeletons on the other side began clawing and hacking at the frozen barrier.

Ash, standing with his arm raised and his jaw set with concentration, shot me a split-second glare. “I can’t keep this up for long, Goodfellow,” he warned.

“And yet, you still have the strength for talking.” Turning to the cliff wall, I put a hand against the cold, damp rock and closed my eyes, calling up my glamour and searching for what I needed. Even in the cold, hostile lands of Winter, I could still find aid with my Summer magic.

Hello, trees, roots, plants. Would you mind doing us a favor?

Buried deep in the earth, the roots of the forest above responded sluggishly, frozen in eternal hibernation. I poured my glamour into the land, trying to thaw it with the warmth, thinking of sunlight and crackling fire and hot tea, everything not cold.

“Puck!” Ash’s voice rang out behind me, though it seemed to come from a great distance away. “They’re breaking through!”

Sorry, trees, I can’t be polite anymore. I need you to respondnow.

I pulled, and with rumbles and the cracking of stone, roots and vines broke through the cliff wall. They slithered and curled into view, forming handholds and a ladder of sorts all the way up the rock face.

“Let’s go, prince,” I called, but as the rumbles of shifting rock faded away, a new tremor shook the ground beneath us.

The water parted, and a massive head rose from the dark surface, looming high in the air. An enormous reptilian skull with horns and spikes and teeth the size of your boots, but as skinless and skeletal as the undead around us. Rearing up, the undead dragon opened its jaws and roared, green flames blazing to life in its eye sockets, before turning a terrifying gaze on us.

“Okay, it isreallytime to go, prince!”

Ash didn’t argue. He turned, flinging himself at the cliff face, just as the wall behind him shattered. Undead poured in, and we fled up the roots, scrambling for handholds and branches. The skeleton army followed, swarming the rock wall like ants, using their own bodies and numbers to start the climb. The horrible undead dragon heaved itself onto the beach, water and algae dripping from stark white bones, and began a slow, ponderous walk toward the cliff face.

“Keep going, ice-boy!”

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