Shadow Magic (18 page)

The Twilight. The land between the living and the dead. The realm of restless spirits.

All color drained from her uncle’s face. “What do you mean?”

“I never got to say good-bye to my mother and father. If I could see them, speak to them, just for a second…” It was possible. She knew it now. She’d brought Custard back, and she hadn’t even been trying. “We’d do it here, away from everyone! Don’t you want it, too? To see Father again?”

“Enough!” Uncle Pan snatched his hand free. “The Twilight? What do you know about the Twilight? What if you’d not summoned…whatever it was you
did
summon, but instead brought forth a specter? You know what a specter is, don’t you?”

“Of course,” she said, head bowed. “The blackest of spirits. The ever hungry.” They were ancient ghosts of rage and hate and the most terrible dwellers of the Twilight. If even one had passed into the world of the living, it would have killed and eaten souls, and there would have been no way to stop it.

“Imagine what it would have done to you, Lily.” Pan put his hand on her shoulder and made her sit down. “Listen to yourself. Bringing back the dead. Don’t they deserve peace?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Give me the key, Lily.”

“What?”

“The Skeleton Key. Give it to me.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think? To stop you from any more foolishness.”

Pan was just trying to protect her. He’d brought her up when her parents had been too busy, which was all the time. He’d been more of a father to her than her real father had been.

He’d been her hero, once. Back when his eyes had been bright and his laugh deep, before he’d swapped stories for drink.

“Remember the tales you used to tell me? When you explored the Shardlands, searching for treasure, and fought manticores and hydras?”

“Enough, Lily.” He opened up his hand. “The key.”

He wasn’t going to change his mind, not this time.

She put it in his palm.

Pan sighed with relief. “That’s a good girl.”

“Is that it?” she replied coldly.

Pan frowned. “One more thing: I don’t want you mixing with those two boys.”

“Why not?” They were the only friends she had!

“Thorn’s a commoner, and you are a noble. How do you think it looks with you running around with an uncouth lout? The boy needs to learn his place.”

“You will not touch Thorn.”

“And K’leef? Do not trust him, Lily.”

“But he’s helping me.”

“Helping you? By teaching you magic? Are you blind, child? He knows the price you’ll pay if you are ever found using it. He wants to brew as much trouble as he can between you and the Solars, because that would give his father breathing space. He’d love it if we destroyed each other.”

“Thorn and K’leef are my friends.”

“As you said, you’re Lady Shadow now,” Pan replied sadly. “You cannot have friends.”

T
yburn wanted to see Thorn. The executioner hadn’t shown interest in anything Thorn had done since they’d arrived and now, the night after they’d been caught in the Shadow Library, Tyburn wanted to see him.

I am dead.

How would Tyburn do it? Take him up to Lamentation Hill and add Thorn’s head to those five up there already?

This is all that Lily’s fault.

He should have stuck with Wade and gone to see the fair being set up. Instead, he’d ventured down into the pits of Castle Gloom and…

Seen amazing things. Not just the Shadow Library but K’leef weaving fire through his fingers and Lily summoning a ghost. A real made-of-mist-and-memories ghost.

All right, Lily’s not so bad.

But that didn’t make seeing Tyburn any easier. He trudged up the stairs to Tyburn’s quarters, his legs moving as if made of lead and his heart just as heavy.

The door was already open, and Tyburn was writing at a desk. He glanced up. “Come in.”

Thorn wasn’t sure what he’d expected, maybe skulls and skeletons and walls filled with weapons. Tyburn’s quarters were…comfortable. A rug covered the bare stone and embers smoldered in the fireplace. Sure, there were a few weapons, but this was a castle after all.

The only sound was the scratching of Tyburn’s quill.

“I want you to go to Graven,” said the executioner.

“Is that why you called me?”

Tyburn put down the quill and narrowed his eyes. “Were you expecting something else?”

“Er…no. Of course not.” Thorn hoped his sigh of relief wasn’t too loud. “Where’s Graven?”

“You know those big mountains to the south, the Three Princes?” asked Tyburn. “On the other side of them. I need you there and back, by dawn.”

“Ain’t gonna happen. Them rocks are over a hundred miles away. No horse can cover that distance.”

“I wasn’t thinking about you taking a horse.”

“Then what…” Suddenly Thorn grinned. “Oh. Hades.”

“The bat should have you over the mountains in a few hours. Follow the Cleft Way and you can’t go wrong. Graven’s the last village before the border with Lumina, on the bank of the River Lacrimae.”

This would be a real test of flying. Thorn’s escape from the caverns had been more luck than anything. But taking Hades on a journey, navigating, that was special.

Tyburn tapped a pile of sealed envelopes on the desk. “You know what these are?”

“Trouble?”

Tyburn put them in a satchel and handed it to Thorn. “Coded messages. They allow me to know what’s going on, here in Gehenna and beyond. My usual messengers are busy with Halloween duties, so I’m asking you. I want these delivered to Captain Wayland. He runs the patrols on the border. He’ll have messages for you to bring back.”

This was a big deal. Thorn knew it, and Tyburn had to know it, too. Thorn bet he didn’t usually trust stable boys with this sort of work. So why was he trusting him? “What’s to stop me from just taking Hades and flying off home?”

“You don’t know the way and neither does your bat.”

“I could ask someone.”

Tyburn leaned back and looked at Thorn. “Yes, you could. And who knows, eventually you might even make your way back to Stour. To find me waiting. Can you guess what might happen next?”

Thorn gulped.

“Just get going,” said Tyburn. “And keep your eyes open for anything unusual.”

“Like what?” There was plenty unusual in Gehenna. What was considered normal at home might be considered weird here. Like parties. Like smiling. Like not summoning ghosts.

“If I knew, then I wouldn’t need you to go and have a look, would I?” Tyburn’s attention returned to his letters. This conversation was over.

Before long, Thorn found himself in the ruins of Murk Hall.

It was bigger than the Great Hall. How could humans build such things?

Maybe they hadn’t. He’d been here long enough now to know that the ancient necromancers had commanded devils and demons and performed magic beyond the boundaries of his imagination.

The roof had fallen in a long time back. There were broken columns lying across the shattered flagstones and a tree grew in the southwestern corner, its roots weaving over rubble.

But even with the sun in the sky, the hall was reluctant to let in the light. Dense shadows filled the corners and alcoves.

“Hades? Are you here?”

The bat unfurled his wings and sniffed the air as Thorn approached. His huge ears twitched and rotated, and he yawned. His ivory fangs glistened. Remains of dinner hung from his teeth, and in between, wedged in the gums, were chunks of stringy flesh.

Thorn rubbed the beast’s chin. “All right, boy? Fancy a trip?”

Hades blinked slowly. His eyes were small compared to his head, and he thrust himself closer to Thorn so they were almost nose-to-nose. He sniffed loudly.

“Sounds like a yes to me,” said someone from behind him.

Thorn spun around to where Lily sat among the shadows, less than ten feet away.

“Sorry, did I scare you?” she said, smiling.

“You’re a strange, strange girl.” Thorn frowned. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here. Not after what happened in the library.”

“This is my castle, Thorn.” She stood up and joined him in gazing at the monstrous bat. “Beautiful, isn’t he?”

“Not the word I’d use.” Thorn picked a string of what looked like sheep’s guts out from between Hades’s teeth and tossed it aside. “More…majestic?”

“Majestic. I didn’t know you knew such words. But yes, majestic.” Lily didn’t come closer; she seemed wary of Hades. “You’re going out on him, then?”

“Yeah. Tyburn wants me to take him to Graven.”

“Then you’ll be needing something to sit on, won’t you?” Lily took his hand. “I have just the thing.”

She led him over to a large leather object—shiny, and smelling of polish—on the floor. Straps hung from it in loops, and there were buckles of exquisitely engraved silver.

Thorn nodded in appreciation. “That ain’t for no horse,” he said.

Lily patted the flat, wide seat. “This is Faustus Shadow’s saddle. I found it at the back of the armory. The whole thing was tattered and covered with cobwebs. I had it cleaned and repaired. What do you think?”

Thorn inspected it. Now
this
was beautiful. “What are these?” He checked a row of straps on the side.

“Stirrups aren’t any good on a bat; you need to buckle yourself in so you don’t fall out, no matter what.”

“Makes sense. Fall off a horse, and all you get is a bruised backside. Fall off him, and…” He whistled. “Kersplat.”

“I’ve read Faustus’s old diary. It explains how to saddle Hades. Want me to show you?”

Thorn slung the saddle over his shoulder. “Sure. That way, if it slips off, I’ll have someone to blame.”

Lily moved closer, but Hades snapped his teeth at her. His eyes narrowed and he hissed.

“Er…maybe you should do it, Thorn.”

Hades sat patiently as Thorn saddled him. The beast even shifted to make it easier for Thorn to get under his wings to buckle the belly strap, as if Hades remembered the old routine.

Thorn inspected the bat’s old scars: puckered white marks where the fur hadn’t grown back. There were arrow wounds, cuts from sword and ax. This was one tough flying rat.

Lily watched. “How do you manage it? Being so good with animals? I heard you rode Thunder, too. No one but Tyburn can ride Thunder.”

“Got it from my dad. He says we just smell right. I dunno.”

“Smell right?”

“Of the earth. Of bark. Of leaves and grass. I’ve spent so much time in Herne’s Forest I think I just sort of became part of it. Carried the smell with me, you could say.”

“That must be helpful if you’re a hunter.”

“Yeah. The best hunters are the ones who blend in.” He stepped back to admire his handiwork. “There. All done.”

Hades beat his wings and rose to his claws. The wings stirred the dust and fallen leaves into the air, and hordes of smaller bats clouded around him with excitement.

Yeah, I know just how you guys feel.

Thorn checked that his satchel was buckled and buttoned up his coat. “Time to be off.”

“Wait, Thorn.”

Lily looked up at him with those gray eyes of hers. The reflection of the moon shone in them and starlight, too. They were strange eyes, and just a little frightening.

“Yeah, Princess?”

“Be careful. Not just tonight, but all the time. You’ve got powerful enemies here. We all have.”

“This is about Gabriel, ain’t it?”

She patted Hades’s chest. “He’s near the top of the list. But there may be others. Others we don’t know about.”

“It’s kinda nice, having the ruler of Gehenna watching my back.” He bowed from his saddle. “I feel safer already.”

Thorn settled himself and felt the bat quiver with anticipation. He ran the reins through his fingers, testing them. The pommel was in the shape of a skull, of course.

What knight ever had such a mount? A lightning bolt of thrill shot up his spine, raising every hair so they stood on end. Any more excited and he’d be covered in sparks. “How do I look?”

Lily’s grin split her face from ear to ear. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

Thorn pulled up the reins, pointing Hades skyward.

Hades didn’t need to be told twice.

Bats swirled around them and the stone columns blurred past. Cold night wind snatched the breath out of Thorn’s lungs. He felt himself slide back, but the leg buckles creaked, then locked him in.