“Jus, keep back!”
A spell stabbed at her from above. Escalla rolled aside, but the magic had never been intended to hit her. Instead it lanced into the fern beneath, which instantly sprang into life and caught the girl about the waist. Struggling, Escalla became visible as she fired a shower of little missiles into the plants and blew them apart.
She flung out a hand and scythed a spell into a patch of empty space. A female scream echoed in the woods, and a small form smashed into the autumn leaves, flickered, and instantly became visible.
It was Escalla in mirror-image: small, lithe, blonde, and winged like a dragonfly. Dressed in white lace, the faerie had a face and hair that could have been Escalla’s own. With a vicious screech, the newcomerscrabbled to her feet and threw a killing glance at Escalla.
Escalla hissed, whipped open her hands, and the blinding sizzle of a lethal spell flashed into life. The other faerie snarled at her, matching Escalla’s motion and wreathing herself in dancing electricity. The twogirls were about to open fire, when a sudden imperious voice pealed out from above.
It was a voice that hit with a tidal wave of matronly power. On the forest floor, the two young faeries jerked sullenly back as though struck a blow. Unused combat spells leaked off into the ground.
“Escalla! Tielle! Cease this at once!”
A regal presence shimmered into being above the two glaring girls. Lean and arrogant, blonde and beautiful, it was a female faerie dressed in icy splendor. Her body had a wild hauteur that almost stung the eye.
Other figures shimmered into view-faeries, male and female,in hunting costumes and in gowns. Their fashions were exquisite, their faces arrogant. Here and there, tiny dragons buzzed and hovered at a faerie’s side.
Looking stark in her black leathers, Escalla stood and coldly wiped the spell taint from her gloves. Standing proud and arrogant amidst her peers and keeping a good grip upon her battle wand, she stared at the magnificent woman floating above and gave her a look that dripped poisoned icicles.
The woman looked down at Escalla as though examining a found beneath a log.
“Hello, Escalla.”
Escalla matched the woman gaze for gaze.
“Hello, Mother.”
5
It was a world where dreams had taken shape into reality, aplace of strange colors and spaces that shone like alien stars. A titanic tree stump made an island, and above the island, the sky shimmered with little drifting points of light. A dark, cool pool stretched off into the distance. Wooden stepping blocks stretched off across the lake to other islands, far and near.
The light-motes reflected in the water, showing the shapes of fish and giant water beetles far below. Bullfrogs pealed from the shadows, while nightingales flitted between strands of alien flowers. All about the pool, nature had been put into good order, arranged as a careful piece of art.
It seemed to be night. The sky was dark and starry, and yet everything shone as clearly as in the light of day. Sitting sourly on a pillow at the center of a little isle, Escalla swatted at a nightingale as the stupid creature twittered by.
The garden upon the tree stump isle had been sculpted perfectly. Plants had been shaped into tables, chairs and couches, all overlaid with silk brocades. A satyr daintily served tea and scones, while plates of food and flasks of wine stood gleaming in the light. Surrounded by dreamlike plenty, Jus, Polk, and even the mule all remained frozen in shock.
The satyr bowed, proffering jam and cream. Escalla ignored the creature until it went away. Sitting alone with her knees hugged to her chin, the faerie kept her eyes carefully away from the scenery. She tossed a glance at the feast then turned away.
“Don’t drink the wine,” she said without looking up, “anddon’t eat the food.”
Polk jerked his hand back, already reaching for a scone. “It’s enchanted?”
“Polk, don’t drink the wine. Don’t touch it. Don’t sniff it.Don’t even touch the damned cork!” Escalla sat with her knees hunched beneathher chin. “Unless you’re a faerie, faerie wine’s instant suicide. Makes youdrunk as a pickled thought-eater in seconds three.”
“Oh!” Polk eyed the wine glass nearest him, half tempted togive it a try. “Really?”
“The hangover comes about ten minutes later, Polk. Rumor saysit’s like having a pair of exploding wolverines mating inside your skull.”
Even Polk, inveterate drinker that he was, shrank away from the wine. “Wolverines?”
“Yeah, especially the vintage sixty-three. Gives you violenttremors and convulsions in less time than it takes to scream.”
Polk kept a distance between himself and the nearest plate of scones. “How about the food? Poison?”
Escalla shrugged and said, “No.”
“Should we eat it?”
“No.”
Blinking, Polk scratched his skull. “Why?”
“Because we don’t want to give my mother any leverage!”Escalla sat back against a rock and tossed a pebble at a nightingale. “If shefeeds you, she can ask for a favor in return. When she comes back, watch what you say. Don’t give her any information she can use.”
“But she’s your mother!”
“Killer amoebas have mothers, Polk. I’m not going to embraceany of
The faeries had opened a door in the empty air of the forest and had led Escalla and her companions into this eerie fantasy land. They now sat amid the songbirds and the frogs, surrounded by a ring of ghostly elf hounds that kept them trapped in an unwinking gaze.
Jus reached into his belt pouch, brought out a chunk of hardtack and split it three ways between himself, Polk, and Escalla. At his side, Cinders lay nose to nose with an elf hound. The hell hound leaked sulphurous steam from his nostrils, and the elf hound bristled, bared its teeth, then broke into a vicious growl. The growl turned into a yelp of panic as Cinders’ spewed a jet of flame that scorched the elf hound’s back.
Of all the travelers, Cinders was the only one with a grin.
Kicking at the scenery, Escalla stood and paced, watched by a dozen elf hounds as she walked. She stood at the shore of the island and stared off across the dark, reflective pool.
“They redecorated.”
Jus joined her, sitting at her side, his hand resting too casually upon his sword and aware that the walls could have ears.
“So this is the Seelie Court?”
“Ha! They wish!” Escalla gave a flick of contempt. “This isjust a pocket above the forest, a tiny alternative realm. Tons of places have them. Think of it as Flanaess plus one. It runs about, oh, a mile wide.” Escallalooked about. “The forest is still there. Any tree you find in here with an archof branches is a gate to somewhere or other.”
Jus weighed the information, still wondering just exactly where they were. He carefully scanned the starry sky, checking the constellations.
“Does time move differently here?”
“No, although on other planes it does.” Escalla used herhands to show her friends the horizons of the eerie faerie world. “This is justa citadel. Thirty faeries, three hundred servants, and a ton of these damned hounds.” Eyes narrowed, the girl carefully watched an elf hound that slunkwatchfully nearby. “Try not to look straight
