Shattered: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book Seven (9 page)

I have noticed over many centuries of relationships that a corollary to love is worry. They sort of come together as a matched set, and it’s nigh impossible to ditch one without the other. I don’t mean worry in the sense of a constant hand-wringing or an outward show of anxiety but a silent panic, always there but flaring up on occasion until one chokes and cannot see through a sudden veil of tears, panic that what you cherish most will be scarred or lost or taken away forever.

I worry about Granuaile a lot.

That’s not to suggest I lack confidence in her abilities. She can handle most anything. But Laksha Kulasekaran is one of the few things she might not see coming in time to defend herself. I’m sure Granuaile thinks Laksha would never hurt her. I used to think that way about Leif Helgarson too, right up until he betrayed me.

At their cores, Leif and Laksha are the same: They must prey on humans to ensure their continued existence. They are predators, and we mustn’t forget that.

When we shifted to a banana grove near Thanjavur, Oberon passed judgment without much deliberation.

Oh, come on, it’s not that bad
. I thought the air was pretty clean, due to what had obviously been a good shower overnight. The ground was soft and I could see standing water in places below. The morning sun banked off the surfaces and glinted in my eyes.

Maybe a little. We have to find Granuaile and Orlaith, and meatless air isn’t registering high on my threat dial. The temple is a couple miles away, so let’s go, and stay close, okay?

Oberon said, loping along beside me as I descended from the grove,

I imagine you would have to travel many miles
.

Which one?

The deejay was talking to Butterfly, and she said, “And I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I eat.”>

Ha! No, Oberon, it was “miles to go before I sleep,” and the movie was actually quoting a poem by Robert Frost
.

The Brihadeeswara Temple was built in 1010 by the Chola emperor, and I figured it hadn’t moved very far since then. But when I checked in with the elemental Kaveri, just to let her know I was visiting, she responded with the news that she knew precisely where Granuaile was and she would lead me to her. Going to the temple was no longer necessary.

A tightness in my chest relaxed with the confirmation that Granuaile was still alive. We found them to the south of the city in the rural farming district, walking wearily along a ridge bordering
a rice paddy. Oberon and Orlaith said hello to each other and began to play.

“Thank you for coming,” Granuaile said, giving me a quick hug. I think both of us would have shown more emotion had we been alone—well, I know
I
would have. Laksha was capable of truly frightening magic besides her already-creepy body-snatching, and Granuaile wasn’t protected from it as I was, so myriad worst-possible scenarios had run rampant through my mind, like kobolds in a mine shaft. What I wanted was to squeeze Granuaile close and say how glad I was to see her, but instead I gave a tight nod to Laksha, which she returned, and then replied to Granuaile as if I’d never been worried.

“Of course. You look wiped out. What happened?”

“We’ve been working all night, exorcising these demons in an attempt to lure my father out of hiding. So far it hasn’t worked, and we are exhausted. We decided to take a break and continue after we’re rested.”

“Good plan. Catch me up; I’ll walk with you.” The hounds trotted behind us, making happy growling noises and nipping at each other.

Granuaile recounted their night and explained their exorcism process to me, and I asked for clarification on one point. “Why is water effective again?”

“The rakshasas are of the ether, and their powers are drowned in it.”

Something about this was familiar. “But they have to be submerged for this to work, or would taking a shower be sufficient?”

Granuaile looked to Laksha for help, and the witch supplied the answer.

“The rakshasas are attacking the heart chakra, so they must be submerged, preferably up to the neck.”

“But telling everyone to take a bath wouldn’t solve the problem.”

“No. The rakshasa would merely move to the head until the victim got out of the tub—and that’s more for comfort than necessity. Surrounding it with water cuts off its access to the
ether but doesn’t kill it. It is the same as when you are cut off from the earth.”

“Oh, okay,” Granuaile said, nodding her understanding, and I did the same. Those were terms we could understand.

“In other words, the water wasn’t affecting them once they moved to the heads of the victims?” I asked by way of confirmation. “They had access to the ether, and so it was the noise, the smells, the chanting, and the cold iron that drove them out?”

“Precisely,” Laksha said. “But it was a close thing.”

“Right. So that’s not going to be enough when you find her father. Anything that can summon and control the rakshasas down to the method of how they kill their victims is going to require something more than what you’ve managed so far. Is the raksoyuj also a thing of ether?”

“Yes. Even more so. It cannot take its own physical form, like the rakshasas it summons, but rather must possess a body.”

“In theory, then, water magic would harm it?”

“What are you thinking?” Granuaile asked. “Involving Manannan Mac Lir?”

“Indirectly, yes. Well, maybe. Laksha, let us say that I know of a weapon made of ice that will not melt and that holds an edge like steel. It is made of water and bound by water magic. Would such a weapon harm the raksoyuj—say, if applied to the proper chakra?”

The witch’s eyebrows climbed up her forehead. “Such a weapon exists?”

“Yes. Five of them, maybe more.”

“You never told me Manannan had something like that,” Granuaile said.

“He doesn’t. Gaia lets him draw energy from the water, but his magic is still of the earth.” I addressed Laksha. “And I should probably confirm: As far as affecting the raksoyuj goes—and I’m asking because you are more familiar than I am with them—this would be different from getting stabbed with an icicle, right? Or anything that I bound together with the power of the earth? Because I can smoosh ice together into whatever shape I want,
and so can any other Druid, but I can’t make it hold an edge and I can’t prevent it from melting. That’s a different kind of juju from mine.”

“Yes, I think you are right,” Laksha said. “If these weapons are truly forged with magic born of water, strikes to the fourth and sixth chakras—the heart and the third eye—should break its hold. It would be forced to leave the host.”

Granuaile raised her hand. “I have a problem with this plan to stab my father in the head and the heart.”

“No, no,” Laksha said, a rare smile blooming on her face. “We are merely severing the ties, fouling the chakra points with water magic so that the raksoyuj cannot hold on. Breaking the skin will be sufficient. You will have to draw blood and he may scar, but he will heal, and he will not be able to be possessed again.”

“Then what happens?” Granuaile asked. “I mean, after the ties are severed?”

“The raksoyuj will be forced to leave your father, and it will try to possess someone else—but I will not allow this. I will fight him in the ether and I will win.”

That was bold, but Granuaile asked what I was thinking.

“How do you know you’ll win?”

“I have been doing this for quite some time now. He has never had to fight out of body, but I have.”

I didn’t think that necessarily guaranteed a win, but I kept my mouth shut. I also tried to conceal my elation over the fact that Laksha was teaching me how to defeat her, should it ever become necessary. She was a creature of the ether too.

Granuaile decided to let Laksha’s assertion pass without comment and asked me, “So where do we get these five ice knives?”

“I doubt you’ll be able to get more than one. You need to go to the Himalayas and ask a yeti.”

Oberon broke off his play with Orlaith to interject,

“You’re being serious?” Granuaile asked. “Because you told me the bigfoot thing was one of your shenanigans.”

“Yes, Sasquatch is dead, if he was ever real to begin with. But yeti have been around for about twelve hundred years now, and they speak Old Irish.”

“What? How is that possible?”

“Not a word of this to anyone else, okay?” I held up a finger. “I need an oath from both of you.”

“Wait,” Granuaile said. “Before you say anything, did you make a similar oath?”

“Fudge. Yes. Yes, I did. But I think he’ll grant me an exception in your case. It shouldn’t take long. Wait here?”

“We will wait in my home,” Laksha said. “We are tired and need to eat.”

“Ask Kaveri to direct you to the house when you get back,” Granuaile said. “And hurry. If I have to go to the Himalayas and back to beat this thing, I want to get started.”

“I’ll hurry,” I promised, and together with Oberon I jogged to the banana grove and shifted planes to the tree nearest to Manannan Mac Lir’s estate in Tír na nÓg. We were fortunate enough to catch Manannan as he was walking from his hog pens back to the house. A mild look of concern settled like weights on his expression when we flagged him down.

“Siodhachan. Well met, I hope.”

“Well met, Manannan Mac Lir. I must speak with you in private. Could you shroud us from ears and eyes?”

The mild look of concern deepened into worry, but he spoke the binding that provided us with a small bubble of soundproof air and shook out his Cloak of Mists to hide us from lip-readers. His estate was infested with faeries who lacked discretion at best and were outright spies at worst.

“I come to ask you to grant an exception to my oath. I need to tell Granuaile the true story of the yeti.” He listened in silence as I explained why Granuaile needed a yeti ice knife, and he gave me permission to tell her and Laksha, provided they took the same oath of secrecy.

“You’re going to need something. Come with me.” He led us back behind his hog pens, where there was a butcher shop, and on the way told me the quickest way to get to the yeti. He wrapped up a few pounds of the miraculous bacon of youth in brown paper and handed it to me. “They’ll be expecting that.” He gave Oberon a ham bone with plenty of meat on it and another for Orlaith. My hound could barely contain his excitement.

When we shifted back to India after saying our farewells, I listened to my paranoia and paused by the tree, waiting to see if anyone had followed us. A flying pixie with yellow wings shifted in after a minute and flew right into my chest. She rebounded, and her face had time to register her death before she crumbled to ash, destroyed by my cold iron aura.

“Damn. I wanted to question her first.”

I smiled at my hound.
All right, off we go
. Kaveri directed us to a modest house in the city, with a vegetable garden in the front yard, and I did my best to quash my worries on the jog there. It was a gorgeous morning, and Oberon quite properly observed that it would be a shame not to notice how good we had it right then.

You’re right, Oberon, I shouldn’t
.

That’s truth
.

Laksha answered the door when I knocked, and she invited us in.

He had both ham bones in his mouth, with the meaty parts hanging out to the sides.

Of course
. I relayed the message and Orlaith came over, tail wagging, and barked a greeting. She opened her mouth and grabbed on to the one on Oberon’s left. He let it go and she set it down on the floor briefly, then delivered a couple of licks to the side of his muzzle. He was so excited about this that he dropped his bone and barked.

Yeah, I saw it, buddy, but I’m not sure you can conclude—

Oberon, I think your ego is getting the best of you here
.

The two of them lay down side by side on the floor, blocking the door, and began to gnaw away, their tails wagging and slapping against each other in a joyous duel. I left the hounds to their meal and joined Laksha and Granuaile at the round kitchen table. Laksha announced that we were having fruit for breakfast. There were three lit candles in the center of a flat round platter, flickering and offering whiffs of vanilla and spice, and arranged around them were small bowls of sliced melons, bananas, and berries, each with its own set of tiny tongs. A pitcher of cream, presumably representing the fruit of a cow, waited to be poured on top of whatever medley we chose to assemble for ourselves. I went for blackberries and honeydew and thanked Laksha for her hospitality, then had them swear not to repeat the secret origin of the yeti to anyone. That chore completed, I began.