The Tainted Web (The Godhunter, Book 7) (8 page)

“
Well done, Danal,” King Cian nodded. “Everyone split into your units and be sure to have your amulet ready. Our group will lead the way and then once inside Under city, we will split into the four directions, clear the city, and meet at the base of the castle at its center.”

The High King turned and led the way through the castle, Queen Meara by his side, dressed in shiny red armor. I took a deep breath and followed. We walked straight back, alongside the river, and out to another outcropping behind the castle. Here, the little islands angled downwards into two tubes of thick glass, the tubes themselves descending into a vast sea.

The surface of the sea was calm and smooth but it was broken in the center by protrusions. I frowned at them and at the total lack of land in all that water. The only land to be found was what we stood on and the ring of cliffs which seemed to hold back the sea.

“
What are those things out there,” I pointed at the protrusions.

“
Air shafts,” the High King looked out at them grimly.

“
Could some fey fly in through the shafts?” I looked back at him.

“
They're too small,” he shook his head, “only a flying pixie would fit and frankly, the small ones are useless without us.”

“
Oh, right,” I frowned, looking once more across the ocean. There was water as far as I could see but in the distance straight ahead of us, I could barely make out a bit of smoke. “Is that smoke on the horizon?”

“
From the volcano,” King Cian nodded.

“
Oh, right,” I remembered something Arach had told me. “Each kingdom ends in its elemental opposite, the element that doesn't border it.”

“
Yes,” the High King smiled, “it's a way of completing the circle of magic. The volcano actually flows beneath the Forgetful Forest and back to the Kingdom of Fire, just as a river of water flows underground from the Tine that borders Fire, and returns to the Kingdom of Water. With the Earth housing them and the Air above, everything meets at the heart of Faerie, through the Castle of Eight, and is joined by Spirit.”

“
Wow,” I thought about the waves of energy I could usually feel in Faerie. It was because of the brilliant use of the elements.

“
King Fionn,” The High King called, “King Cahal, please take your groups across the bridge and down through the left tunnel. We will meet up at the outpost and go forward together from there.”

The Kings nodded and led their groups across the bridge that crossed the river.

“We'll go through this one,” King Cian said to the remaining groups. “After the outpost, the way condenses to only one slightly larger tunnel and then the Under city will be next.”

My heart started beating rapidly. Was I really going to go down there, a pane of faerie glass the only thing separating me from all that dark water? Oh hell, I guess I was. I walked forward grimly, morbidly fascinated with the smooth transition the tunnels made from land to water. The edge of the tubes followed the line of the water's surface, cut so that it looked as if the water was held back by the will of the air. In no more than five minutes, we were completely enclosed in deep water, sunlight only a fond memory as it tried to penetrate the weight of the ocean.

Thankfully the tunnel came equipped with floating faerie lights, glass orbs that hovered around the ceiling like mini blimps, or we'd have been stumbling around underwater in the dark. Gasp. My heart raced just to think about it, even though I knew my lion eyes probably wouldn't fair so badly.

“
Is this a special kind of glass?” I trailed a finger along the cold wall of the tube.

“
It was made with the help of Fire,” Arach grimaced.

“
Each of the kingdoms helped make the others,” King Cian said a little reproachfully. “Faerie exists partly due to the harmony of the elements. It's why the kingdoms are placed as they are. Air receives its hot and cold currents by the melding of Fire on the right and Water on the left. Fire is fanned by Air and fed by Earth on its right. Earth is renewed by Fire and nourished by Water on the right. Water is restrained by Earth and circulated by Air to its right, and in the center of it all, Spirit holds them together.”

“
That's kind of beautiful,” I said quietly. So there was even more to the magic, Faerie was full of layers it seemed.

“
Yes, it is,” the High King smiled. “It's also why we must take action fast against Queen Dubheasa. We can't allow her to throw off the harmony of Faerie. There has always been fighting between the Houses but never has an attempt been made against a ruler. That is unacceptable and threatens the stability of the realm. Queen Dubheasa will have to be replaced.”

“
Who decides on her replacement?” I wondered aloud.

“
Her people, of course,” King Cian smiled. “Who better to decide on a leader for them?”

“
How surprisingly diplomatic,” I murmured.

About half a mile in, we came to the outpost. It was some kind of military checkpoint and they were prepared for us. Even prepared though, they didn't stand a chance against the combined forces of the Houses of Spirit, Fire, Air, Earth, and the gods. The fight was over in moments but this time there were no survivors to restrain.

“We can't just kill all the water sidhe for following orders, can we?” I asked the High King.

“
We will try not to,” his face was set in serious lines. “I admit, it brings me no pleasure to lift sword against my fellow fey but they know they commit treason when they lift theirs against me. We will do as we must but do not worry, there are plenty of non-confrontational water fey. We will not kill the element.”

The tunnels had connected to an oval dome for the outpost, which housed only barracks and supply buildings. There were also strange tubes coming in from above and descending at several points. I stared at them, trying to ignore the large shapes moving languidly behind the glass.

“Those are doorways,” Arach came up beside me. “The water can be let in after a fey enters the tube, and then they can swim out.”

“
So Dubheasa could have escaped into the sea already.”

“
Yes, it's possible,” he frowned.

“
But not likely,” the High King added. “Unless it was to get  more quickly to the central city. She may have an advantage in the water but only as far as hiding goes. Combat underwater is difficult equally for all, and she can only hide from us for so long.”

“
Even when she has a whole sea to hide in?” I asked skeptically.

“
Her fey can locate her with a type of underwater telepathy,” King Cian explained. “They sing and it travels through the water, covering great distances very quickly, until it finds whomever they're after. They can give us an exact location in moments.”

“
Hmm, kind of like sonar, but will they help us?” I still wasn't sure. Her people had seemed more than willing to die for her so far.

“
Like I said before, they're not all soldiers, Queen Vervain,” King Cian smiled gently. “There will be many who will surrender and obey the wishes of their High King. Of that, I have no doubt. We fey can be very practical.”

“
Yes, that I remember,” I grimaced.

Chapter Eight

“
What in all of creation is that?” I pointed at the thing sliding along the side of the tunnel like a cat rubbing fondly against its human.

It had an eel-like body, the width of which was greater than my height, split at one end into several heads. Each head looked in a different direction, undulating through the currents. It was a dark indeterminable color, even with the lights hovering close to it inside the tunnel, maybe deep green or gray. The faces were humanoid, with wide mouths displaying rows of needle-like teeth and round unblinking eyes, but only a flat expanse where noses should have been.

The lack of a nasal ridge didn't hinder the horror of their almost-humanity though. You could see the wrongness of the creature clearly. It had a face for land, brachycephalic instead of sleek and pointed for water travel. It just plain didn't make sense but then Faerie didn't need to make sense.

“
It's just a water creature, pay it no mind,” Arach waved his hand as if he could erase it.

“
Pay it no mind?” I stared at it and it seemed to stop and stare back at me. “Nope, I don't think it needs any more minds, looks like it's got several already.”

Then its tail whipped, all of its heads coming together to form a point, and it propelled itself speedily away. So I guess it did make sense. After its sighting though, I was beginning to loose my senses. We kept spotting more and more underwater creatures that belonged in a horror flick instead of my life. Yet even that wouldn't have been so bad, if I didn't have the added worry of possibly going out into that water and getting snuggly with them.

Then I saw the gate. It was a massive arch of shining green stone, carved with images of strange sea creatures. A heavy gate of black metal was lowered but through it, I could see a glowing city. The buildings were made of the same stone as the gate but the roofs and walls were mottled with some kind of moss, or probably algae, that glowed bright blue. There were also floating faerie lights scattered around but really, they were unnecessary, the glow of the moss was enough to light all of Under.

Water fey were walking about, going about their daily business, but when they spotted us, they all ran for their homes. Mothers scooped up children, men lowered panels over windows, and the sound of wooden bars sliding into place rang out in rapid staccato.

“We're here,” the High King made some hand motions and the gate lifted. Our huge group split into four. Three of them headed out, marching down an angled seashell-lined path into the Under city. Thankfully, our group waited to survey their progress before embarking ourselves. I needed the time to gawk.

Once through the gate, I was able to see the length and breadth of the city. It was massive, its perimeter set by a solid wall of green stone and its ceiling supported by several pillars of the same stuff, obviously the foundation of Water city. It was no wonder why King Cian wanted us to spread out, we'd never make it through it all in one day if we didn't.

The glowing city spread out with no seeming logic to it, just buildings built willy-nilly, like a giant child had strewn his toys about. Among them were stunning white fountains and pools, hemmed in by strange rubbery plants. Then in the center of it all was a brilliant white castle, its walls disappearing right into the domed green ceiling that was also spotted with the glowing algae.

A central path led up to the castle in a winding manner, ending in the main gate, which was open to allow for the line of troops that was making its way steadily toward us. The High King didn't seem concerned at all that an aquatic army was heading our way after we'd just sent three quarters of our own to search the city for Dubheasa.

He just led us boldly down the path to meet them and when we got within twenty feet, he stopped, crossed his arms over his chest, and waited for them to come to him. It was a bit intimidating, and the officers at the head of Dubheasa's army weren't immune to it. They approached warily, glancing at each other before closing the distance.

A water sidhe with pale green hair and dark blue skin broke the silence but he spoke in the fey language until King Cian stopped him and bade him speak in English for our benefit.

“I am Guirmean,” he continued in English, “leader of Queen Dubheasa's troops and this is Luag, second in charge.”

A kelpie, I'll never forget that seaweed hair, bowed to King Cian. He wasn't smiling as Kael had been, I wasn't even sure if he could smile, his face was so serious, but then who could blame him? We were there to kill his Queen after all.

“Do you dare stand against your High King?” King Cian got right to it.

“
No, King Cian,” Guirmean swallowed hard. Poor guy, what a position to be put in. “My Queen bade me attack you to buy her time to get away but we both know her capture is inevitable and I refuse to sacrifice my men for a woman who cares more for power than her people. Dubheasa be cursed,” gasps from the fey of our party but oddly enough, no outrage was heard from his army. “I will not protect her.”

“
I pardon you for going against your Queen,” King Cian said gravely. “It's a hard thing to deny your leader for the path you know to be right. I commend you for your honor and I will not expect you to aid us, as long as you do not hinder us in our pursuit.”

“
High King,” Luag the kelpie sighed before continuing. “We've already decided to help you locate her. There's no sense in allowing you a lengthy search when we could help make it quick and less painful for all of those involved. We will take you to her but we'll also accept your offer to refrain from the fight, if there be one. No one here wants to raise hand against their Queen.”

“
Understood,” King Cian nodded. “I'm greatly relieved that needless bloodshed has been avoided. I thank you all for remembering your true loyalty, to the House of Spirit and Faerie above all.”