The Iron Traitor

“Au contraire,” Puck said, lifting a finger. “You’re just not looking in the right direction.”



And he pointed straight down, into the frozen lake.



Below our feet, cracked, blurred and distorted by the ice, an enormous shadow lay stretched out on the bottom of the lake. It was probably close to fifty feet long, and though it was hard to see from this distance, I thought I could make out thick stumpy legs, massive shoulders and a broad, armored head. I couldn’t tell if it was dead, frozen or just sleeping, but I did know one thing: it was huge.



“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered. Puck shook his head.



“Nope. There’s your spirit of the Frozen Wood, right there. So, can we go home now? I was going to say how impossible this task was, but I figured it would be better to let you see it for yourself. Obviously, waking that big guy up would be a bad... Uh, Prince, what are you doing?”



I looked at Keirran. He stood with his eyes half-closed, his hand raised in front of his face. And he was glowing. Like the night in Mr. Dust’s office, only this time, instead of the cold, frozen aura of Winter, he flickered and pulsed with light. Like Annwyl, shedding fragments of sunlight, it melted the ice at his feet and turned the air around him to steam. His eyes opened, glowing amber, and his voice was calm and matter-of-fact.



“Waking it up.”



He knelt, driving his fist into the ice. There was a flash as he flared painfully bright for a second, cracks spreading out from his hand, and a spear of light shot toward the thing under our feet.



“Well, that’s torn it.” Puck sighed.



A rumble went through the ice around us, and the ground started to shake. The cracks Keirran had put into the ice widened, spread out, sprouted new ones that raced over the lake. Icicles and stalactites fell from the ceiling, smashing to the ground in ringing cacophonies, and I struggled to keep my balance.



“Right, I vote we do not stand here anymore,” Puck offered, and we scrambled away, fleeing to the edge of the lake as sounds of cracking ice grew deafening and the ground began to heave.



The ice exploded, surging up like a frozen geyser, before raining sharp bits of icy shrapnel down on us. A huge, stony foot emerged from the hole, smashing down onto the ice. Another followed, and a monstrous creature of ice and stone lurched onto the surface of the lake, shook an enormous blocky head and roared.



Okay, so it was even bigger than I’d first thought, probably stretching close to eighty feet from snout to hindquarters, looming up to an impossible height. It was shaped, vaguely, like some huge bear, with a little porcupine thrown in. Its head, back, shoulders, legs and sides were covered in stone, like a bulky suit of armor, and huge icicles jutted out from its shoulders and down its back, sharp and lethal. Beneath the stony hide, a frozen blue light pulsed through the joints in its armor, and two giant glowing eyes shone beneath its helmeted head.



“Oh, good,” Puck remarked as the colossal beast turned toward us, shaking the ground. “We get to fight a mountain.”



“Kenzie, take Razor and get back!” I called as the giant creature spotted us and lurched forward with a roar. Its mouth opened, glowing blue light spilling from its jaws, as it breathed a blast of frigid air toward us. We ducked behind a stalagmite as a jagged line of icicles surged up where the creature’s breath passed, stabbing into the air. I yelped as a cold, frozen tip jabbed into my arm, ripping my sleeve and drawing blood.



Puck grimaced, peeking out from behind the stone, watching the monster through a cage of ice spears. “Right,” he muttered. “So, I’ll be the distraction again, while you two decide how we’re actually supposed to hurt that thing. Sound like a plan?”



Without waiting for an answer, he darted out from behind the stalagmite, sprinted a few feet away and blew out a piercing whistle.



“Oy, Rocky! Over here! Turn your big stony ass this way!”



The thing roared and blasted Puck with icicle wind, which ripped him apart in seconds. But a flock of screaming ravens emerged from the chaos, spiraling into the air and circling the creature like a dark cloud. It bellowed and shook its head, looking more annoyed than anything, but its attention was not on us anymore.



I drew my swords and took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”



“Ethan, wait!” Kenzie grabbed my hand while Razor gibbered terrified nonsense from her shoulder. “Don’t,” she whispered, sounding terrified, while I stared in disbelief. Something had finally given her pause. “You can’t fight that thing. It’s huge—you’ll be killed!”



I glanced at Keirran, who watched us with impassive eyes. He had already made up his mind. He was going to battle that massive, moving fortress, with or without my help.



I sighed and squeezed her hand. “Remember what I said about me standing in front of the dragon for you?” I told her softly, trying to smile. “I wasn’t kidding about that.” She took a breath to argue, and I quickly overrode her. “I’m doing this, Kenzie,” I said, making her slump. “I have to. We can’t turn back now.”



“Here, then.” Bowing her head, she reached around her neck and pulled out Guro’s amulet, spinning from its cord. I stared at the disk in surprise; I’d almost forgotten she had it. The metal flashed in the hazy light as Kenzie reached up and draped it around my neck. Her fingers trembled as they brushed my skin. “You need this more than me.”



I tucked the amulet into my shirt, wondering if it would really protect me like it did her. Ghostly shadows springing up to deflect lethal sword blows still seemed too good to be true. But right now, I’d take all the help I could get. “Thanks,” I told her. “I’ll get this back to you later.” If I’m still alive.



She blew out a shaky breath and leaned forward, hugging me around the neck. “Be careful, tough guy,” she whispered in my ear. “Don’t get killed. We haven’t even had our second date yet.”



I held her tightly for a moment, memorizing the feel of her body pressed against mine, three little words dancing on the tip of my brain. I wanted to tell her right now...in case I never got another chance...



No. Not here. I wasn’t going to die here. I was going to kill that big ugly bastard and take Kenzie home. When we were safe, back in the real world with no life-threatening faeries surrounding us, I’d tell her exactly how I felt.



After we killed this thing.



Gently pulling back, I met Kenzie’s eyes and jerked my head toward the edge of the lake. “Go,” I told her softly, and she gave me a desperate look and fled, slipping into the shadows with the gremlin on her shoulder. I swallowed, then looked at Keirran.



“Ready?” he asked calmly.



“If we survive this,” I told him, “I’m going to kill you.”



One corner of his mouth turned up. “You’ll have to get in line, I’m sure.”



We charged. Dodging rocks and giant icicles spearing up from the ground, we sprinted across the lake toward the massive creature in the center. The swarm of birds around its head had vanished, and I could just make out a red-haired figure on the thing’s enormous skull, a speck of color atop a mountain.



As we approached, the creature spotted us. With a roar, it lowered its head and opened its jaws, bathing us in blue light. “Split up!” Keirran yelled, and we veered apart, just as the blast of frigid air sent a line of jagged spikes down the center of the lake. I dived behind a boulder as the creature blasted me again, nearly impaling me as the huge spines curled around the rock. Peeking around the edge, I saw Puck leap from the blocky head, land on the enormous muzzle and drive his dagger into one glowing blue eye.



The creature bellowed, rearing up and tossing its head, and Puck went sailing through the air. He turned into a raven midfall and flapped away, and as the thing came back down with a crash that shook the entire cave, Keirran darted beside it and cut at its chest with his sword.



The blade screeched off the armored hide, and the raspy echo sent shivers up my back. It didn’t seem to have hurt it at all. With a roar, the beast turned on Keirran, smashing at him with a stony paw, and the Iron Prince barely avoided being trampled into gooey paste. It pressed forward, but a big black bird swooped out of nowhere with a screech, flapping right into its eyes, making it flinch for just a second. Keirran dodged back and leaped between two boulders as the beast stomped at him, and the thing bellowed in frustration.



Dropping its head, it opened its jaws and breathed, but this time a cold white mist emerged and rippled over the surface of the lake. I felt the temperature drop, and my skin crawled with cold, even through the effects of the flamefruit.



“Ethan.” Keirran appeared beside me, panting, making me jump. “It’s no good,” he gasped, staring at the monster, still breathing fog over the ground. “Its hide is too tough. I can’t get through.” He narrowed his eyes at the beast, face darkening. “How are we supposed to kill it if we can’t even hurt it?”



“Yeah, well, when I said this was an impossible task, I wasn’t kidding,” Puck added, dropping beside us. “I think this is some kind of ancient elemental. The rocks aren’t a part of the thing. It just uses them for armor. The squishy center is inside.”



“So how are we supposed to hurt it?” I asked.



Before either of them could answer, a scraping, rattling sound echoed all throughout the cavern, making the hairs on my neck stand up. The bits of rock, stone and ice scattered over the lake were moving now, shifting and drawing together where the mist touched it. Slowly, they began whirling through the air, spinning faster and faster, until a brand-new group of eddies rose up from the fog and glided toward us.



“Huh,” Puck commented. “So that’s where eddies come from. Who knew?”



“Great,” I muttered, raising my swords as the first of the swirling creatures rounded the boulder. I smacked a rock away with one sword and lashed out with the other, but then two more eddies swirled toward me and I stumbled away, into the open. I looked up and saw the ice elemental opening its jaws....