Page 74 of The Iron Raven

With the sound of a million china cups crashing to the floor, the fiend that had terrorized Phaed and the Nevernever, turned me into an evil bastard, and had very nearly killed us all exploded into thousands of glistening crystal shards that scattered throughout the courtyard. There was a rush of wind, a howl that curled my insides, and a choking cloud of darkness emerged through the falling ice, fraying apart as it spiraled up and vanished into the night.

I landed on the broken flagstones, covering my head as frozen bits rained down around me, stinging exposed flesh and plinking off the stones. Sharp bits of hail struck my arms and bounced off my head, but it was ice and nothing else. No blood, bones, or frozen creature parts. The Monster had vanished, as if it never was.

As the rain of crystal shards came to an end, I straightened and looked around for the rest of the party. A few paces away, Coaleater tossed his head, then reared onto his hind legs with a bugle of triumph, pawing the air. At the edge of the shattered flagstones, Meghan let out a sigh and leaned backward into Ash, whose arms came up to support her tightly. And the beast stalked through the glittering remains, nodding his horned head and looking pleased.

I turned, looking around for Nyx, then felt the cool edge of a moonblade against my throat from behind. “Sloppy again, Goodfellow,” the Forgotten murmured in my ear. “Even after a victory, you shouldn’t let down your guard.”

I grinned, shaking my head. “Is this how it’s going to be, then?” I asked, as the blade dropped away and Nyx slid around to face me fully. “Knives to my throat after every major occasion? Is that how your Order said happy birthday or congratulations, you just saved the world?”

“Typically not,” Nyx replied. “It’s just more fun with you.” Her eyes went to my forehead, and cool fingers brushed my hair back. “You’re not horny anymore.”

I chuckled, relieved beyond common sense that I was finally back to normal. I could see my regular, nonhorned reflection in her eyes, feel the lack of fur beneath my pants, and grinned at the Forgotten in front of me. “I could go sooo many places with that.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, it’s getting rather old, so let me stop you right there.”

And she kissed me.

I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around her slim waist as her arms circled my neck. For a few seconds, there was only Nyx, her body against mine, and the sweet feeling of triumph, elation, and relief sweeping through us both.

Suddenly, I became aware of the music, of the sweet, haunting notes of a violin mixed with the melody of a lute and the sound of panpipes. Opening my eyes, I saw the three conjured musicians surrounding us, the Ash double out in front, playing, unless I was mistaken, the theme song fromLady and the Tramp.

Which I certainly hadn’t told them to play.

I jerked my head up and saw Ash, standing with his arms around Meghan, smirking at me over her shoulder. I felt my face heat, even as a laugh crawled up my throat and burst free, even as Nyx gazed at us both in confusion. The lingering anger and resentment that had been buried deep inside me was finally gone; for the first time in centuries, I felt truly free.

“Oh touché, ice-boy. Happy to see you finally grew a sense of humor.”

He smiled. Meghan chuckled and leaned against her husband, resting her head against him with a sigh. “Well, this was an ordeal,” she said, letting a hint of weariness creep into her voice along with the relief. “Everyone, you have our gratitude, and the appreciation of the Iron Realm. That you would stay and fight, even when things looked hopeless...” Her blue eyes flicked to me, her smile a thank-youwithout words. “I’m grateful.”

“It was an honor to fight with you, Your Majesty,” Coaleater said in a solemn voice. “The Iron herd will always stand ready to defend the realm and its queen, from any threat. I am just glad that it’s over.”

“I would not celebrate just yet.”

Everyone turned. Grimalkin sat a few feet away, his back to us, his gaze pointed toward the beast’s huge castle. But his attention wasn’t on the castle itself. The Forgotten we’d left in the tower had come forward, staggering like a drunk across the courtyard, staring at us with its yellow headlamp eyes.

“Not over,” it whispered, taking a few shaky steps forward. “It’s not over yet.” It paused, staring at the place the Monster had vanished, at the smashed stones and broken statues, and gave a violent shudder. “No, this...this was just a fragment, a stray thread of consciousness that escaped from the whole. It sleeps still, barely aware of the world above. But it is starting to awaken. It is starting to become aware, and when it does, the world will crack, and we will all plunge into the abyss.”

It turned huge, maddened eyes on us, raising an arm toward the horizon. “The end has begun,” it whispered. “You cannot stop it. No one can stop it. Evenfall is coming. Faery, and every living creature that exists under the sun, is doomed.”

And before we could do anything, it reached down and drew a dagger out of nowhere, from the shadows that made up its whole form. The blade was obsidian black, seeming to draw in the light rather than reflect it. I jumped as, with a cry, the Forgotten raised its arm and plunged that inky blade into his own chest. He jerked once, twitched twice, and then seemed to fray apart into tendrils of shadow that coiled into the air and faded on the wind.

In the stunned quiet that followed, Meghan took a shaky breath and stepped away from Ash, her expression grave as she faced us all. “All right,” the Iron Queen said, and her voice was steely, preparing for what was to come. “I think it’s time to go home.”

EPILOGUE

The world certainly didn’tfeellike it was on the brink of the End of All Things when we left the Briars and returned to the wyldwood. Everything looked and felt normal; from the piskies that dropped pine cones on my head as they zipped by in the trees, to the large redcap motley that tried ambushing us near the border...until they realized we had the Iron Queen in our party and became very sniveling very quickly.

I myself was feeling rather cheerful, back to my old Puckish self. My horns were gone, and my bottom half didn’t look like I’d done terrible things to a goat. We had just defeated the big bad threatening the Nevernever, I had survived, and all of my friends were alive and well. Best scenario I could’ve hoped for.

But most of all, my senses were still buzzing from the kiss of a certain Forgotten. I could feel her beside me, an elegant, funny, dangerous, beautiful shadow, and holy balls I was in deep, wasn’t I? I hadn’t felt this way since...well, since a half-human princess had broken my heart all those years ago.

Would Nyx do the same, I wondered? Was I in even more danger now? Because not only could she crush my tender feelings, she could also very easily slice my throat from behind, and I’d never see it coming. I didn’t know, but at the moment, I was willing to take that chance. After all, my name was Robin Goodfellow. Flirting with danger was something I was very familiar with.

But even though I was feeling rather optimistic about my life in general, a shadow lingered over my thoughts. The Monster was just a fragment of something bigger, the nameless Forgotten had said, a thread of a consciousness just starting to wake up.

How much bigger, I wondered. Were we talking mountain giant, ancient dragon, or Godzilla? Or something even bigger than that? I remembered the grove of the Mother Tree, how Meghan had recoiled when she’d followed the roots down into the earth. Was that our big nasty? A darkness sleeping under the Nevernever, slowly corrupting everything it touched?

I shivered. Well, whatever it was, when it did decide to wake up and claw its way to the surface, bent on chaos and destruction, it would find all of us waiting for it. I gazed around at the people walking back with me: Meghan and Ash, Nyx, Coaleater, and Grimalkin. We wouldn’t stand by and do nothing, even in the face of prophecy. When the time came, futile or not, we would fight with everything we had. And just like today, if we stood together, we might just turn that prophecy on its head and win.

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