Page 61 of The Iron Raven

“I am with you, Your Majesty,” Coaleater said, almost before she finished speaking. “Whatever you must do, whatever needs to be done, I am here to aid you in all your decisions. That has always been the Iron herd’s promise.”

Nyx bowed her head but shot a quick glance at me before she did so. “I stand with the Iron Queen,” was all she said.

“Where are the treants coming from?” Meghan asked, turning back to the Thorn Sister. Guess that meant we were going to chop down some talking trees. Or at least try to have a friendly conversation with them. Fine by me, I’d been wondering when the Briars would start getting interesting.

“Many of them have gathered in the Green Darkness,” the elf replied, pointing a long finger in a random direction. “It is a pocket of wood that is deeper and more tangled than most, and lately the very land has started turning against us. We don’t dare venture close anymore. Sometimes the treants wander as far as the borders of our camp, but most of them seem to return to that area.”

“All right,” Meghan said, stepping back. “We’ll go check it out, see what has the treants so agitated. Until we can, I would have your people avoid the Green Darkness. With any luck, we can turn things back to normal soon.”

“We appreciate it, Your Majesty.” Rising, the Thorn Sister bowed again, then turned and swung atop her stag mount. “You have the gratitude of the Thorns. May the ground under your feet be clear, may the brambles never hinder your path, and may all your hunts be fruitful.”

Meghan nodded. At a word from the leader, the group of mounted elves turned and leaped silently into the brambles, passing through the thorns as easily as a fish tossed back into the river. With the faintest of rustles, the briars closed behind them, and they were gone.

“Okay,” I announced into the sudden silence. “Marching into hostile tree territory, nothing we haven’t done before. Though I feel like I’m going to need an ax. A magic one preferably. Anyone have one of those lying around? They’re usually gold, with a nice leather handle, and sometimes they sing.”

“The treants should not be this hostile,” Ash said with a slight frown, ignoring me. “Not without reason.”

“Yes,” Meghan agreed. “If something has angered them, then we need to find out what it is. That means we’re going to try talking to them first. And let’s hope they’ll be interested in answering our questions, because I don’t feel like fighting a mob of giant trees in the middle of the Briars.”

“They will not attack the Iron Queen,” Coaleater said, frowning at me but sounding a bit confused as well. “Even I have heard of the treants... They are among the oldest and wisest denizens of the Nevernever and have always recognized the kings and queens of Faery. To even think of threatening the queen is profane. It would be akin to the Summer knights turning on King Oberon or Queen Titania. Unless we are at war, Faery does not raise its hand to the rulers of the courts.”

“Sorry, Rusty, but I think the fishpeople in the swamp would disagree with you. That might’ve been true before, but it seems all bets are off now.”

“Yes,” Meghan said gravely. “Which means we need to be very careful.”

“Yep,” I said. “But I still want an ax, just in case they’re not interested in talking. Then I can really ‘ax’ them a question.” I grinned and looked around at the somber faces, before rolling my eyes. “Really? Nothing? You guys suck.”

“Have you noticed all these dark, tangled places have very nearly the same names?” I asked as we made our way deeper into the Briars, following the path the Thorn Sister had pointed out. “The Green Darkness, the Deep Tangled, the Dark Tangled Woods of Everdark and Gloomy? We never get to go to the Friendly Briars or the Cheery Tanglewood. Although, now that I think about it, that might be even scarier than the Dark Tangled Woods of Everlasting Doom.”

“Goodfellow,” Grimalkin sighed from up ahead. The cat had appeared once the stag riders had disappeared, announcing that he knew the way to the Green Darkness, because of course he did. “Must you make noise simply for the sake of making noise? How is any of this relevant?”

“Oh, come on. Where would you rather plunk down a nice cabin, the Dark Tanglewood or the Smiling Forest of Too Many Butterflies—”

Of course, that was when one of the many enormous trees we were passing beneath reached out and swung at me.

The party scattered, leaping back as a huge, moss-covered limb came crashing down right in the center of us all. It rose as the giant creature it was attached to stepped out of its perfectly camouflaged hiding spot and towered over us, thirty feet of gnarled, moss-covered tree person with clawlike hands and hollow eyes peering out of a lined, walnut-colored face.

“Leeeeeaaaave,”it rumbled, glowering down at us. Its legs made the ground shake as it took a step forward, looming over us and blocking out the sky. “Leeeaaave, or I will crush you alllll.”

“Forest guardian, stop!”

Meghan stepped forward, power snapping around her like lightning. “We are not your enemies,” she called up to the living tree. “We are not here to hurt the forest or disturb any of your charges. If something has angered you, we want to set things right. Please, tell us what is wrong.”

The treant’s lined, gnarled face twisted in a grimace of disgust and rage.

“Unclean,” it rumbled. “Infected. Flesh pods. Spreading your filth. Destroying all that is green.” It swept a tree trunk limb into the air menacingly. “Leave this place. Leave.Leeeeeeeeeeeave.”

The limb came crashing down toward Meghan, who threw up a hand as Ash tensed to spring at it. Summer glamour swirled around her, causing flowers to sprout and grass to grow at her feet. The treant’s giant arm slowed, then came to a shuddering halt in midair. Its beady eyes bulged, and it strained against the magic holding it back, but it seemed to have hit an invisible wall. Or the magic of the Seelie King’s daughter. The only being more powerful than Meghan when it came to Summer magic was Oberon himself.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Meghan said, her voice slightly strained. “Please, stop this. We only wish to talk.”

The treant roared. Dark purple-black thorns erupted from its back and shoulders, and its beady eyes turned red. Reeling back, it sank spiny fingers into the ground, and the earth around Meghan erupted with thick black briars that curled over her like a giant fist. I caught a split-second glimpse of Meghan throwing out her hands, and Ash going for his sword, before the spiky branches clenched shut and they disappeared beneath.

“Okay, peace talk’s over!” I drew my blades as Coaleater let out an angry bellow and charged, fire streaming behind him. I felt my glamour surge to life, felt my body dissolve into dozens of tiny, feathery bodies that spiraled into the air and flapped angrily toward the tree man.

The treant turned toward us, red eyes blazing, and howled. One giant limb swooshed toward me, but the swarm of my bird selves veered aside. The few that did get caught exploded into small clouds of black feathers that drifted lazily toward the ground. The rest of them came on, cawing angrily as they swooped around its head.

From the bramble knot on the ground, there was a pulse of frigid blue light, a moment before the branches turned to ice, then shattered. Splinters and frozen thorns flew into the air, and an angry Ice Prince stepped from the frozen rubble, sword glowing blue in his hand. Behind him, Meghan shook brambles from her hair, brushing away leaves and twigs as she followed.

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