CHAPTER Twenty Six
I picked myself up, blinking in the unexpected sunshine. Corrigan’s roar of rage was still echoing in my ears. I turned back to the portal, half expecting an enraged were-panther to come leaping through, but the purple shimmers were frozen. Clearly Alex had managed to immediately reseal the barrier as soon as I had entered. I felt grimly satisfied. At least the failure or success of my mission would be down solely to me and I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else coming through and getting in my way. Corrigan would realize Alex’s complicity straight away but I knew that the mage would be aware of that and would make himself suitably scarce. Let’s face it, no-one would want to hang around to see the full wrath of the Brethren’s Lord Alpha. I dismissed my thoughts of him.
Surveying my surroundings, I was very much aware of both the vast differences and surprising similarities between this plane and my own. The sky here was so very blue, in fact such a deep rich shade that I’d never before seen anything like it in my life. The air felt cleaner and purer than even Cornwall’s fresh salted scents, and the grass too was greener, with an earthy base. And yet something felt completely wrong about it all. It took me a moment to work out that it was because there was a total absence of sound. No insects, no birds, no gentle whistle of wind. The whole place was completely devoid of life.
I was stood on top of a small grassy knoll. There were undulating hills off in the distance, and what looked to be a deep valley cutting into the landscape some miles away on my right. But there were no trees, no plants, nothing apart from the grass, the ground and the sky. It was just as well that Alex had cast the locator spell on the black bolt of fabric or I had the feeling that I’d end up trudging through this blue green desert forever.
Pulling it out of its side pocket in my backpack, I held it out in front of me, trying to ignore the smell. Almost immediately a thin blue smoky tendril rose into the still air and then snaked its way towards the valley I’d spotted before. To the right it was then. I slung the cloth over my shoulder and began to walk.
The uncomfortably unfamiliar sensation of fear had disappeared from the pit of my stomach. I was glad that it had gone. It could sharpen my focus and keep me alert, but feeling frightened meant that I was also more than likely to fumble and fail once I finally found Iabartu. It also proved to myself that what I was doing was the right decision. It might be lonely out here in this barren land but I felt confident that I was doing what was best for everyone. I began to whistle as I walked. The slightly off tune sound seemed to carry away from me leeching through the quiet atmosphere much in the same way as the blue trail. Let Iabartu hear it, I thought grimly. With the total absence of cover anywhere there was no doubt that I had no chance of the element of surprise. The least I could do was make her feel nervous at my apparent nonchalance.
As I continued to walk, part of me felt irritated that the best my part Draco Wyr blood could do was make me feel hot and fiery inside. It would definitely be handy right about now to be able to sprout wings and fly. Especially when I was going up against a demi-goddess of the sky. I wondered about what Tom had said, about how on earth a dragon mated with a human in the first place. Perhaps they could shift into human form? And had it been my great-grandfather or great-grandmother who was a lizard? I considered the fact that John had known all along what I was, dismissing me when he’d heard about my bloodfire, trying to turn me into a real pack shifter when I was eighteen, training me to fight. I fervently wished that he’d told me what I was. Then I could have asked him more about my mother. He’d known her; she hadn’t just been some strange human who’d turned up out of the blue one day. Somehow they’d had a history and she thought she could trust him with my life. Instead, my presence had taken his.
I frowned, trying to push the thoughts away. I’d get my revenge when I found Iabartu, one way or another. Even if the effort killed me, the least I could do would be to hurt her as much as I possibly could first. The familiar coil of heat asserted itself inside me at the thought and I concentrated on keeping it there. It would help when I finally uncovered whichever hole she was hiding in. My temper would at last do me some good.
I walked for what felt like hours. My senses were completely alert the entire time but I could feel myself becoming dangerously bored with the green and blue monotony. I tried to amuse myself by playing I-spy in my head for a short while, but there were only so many words I could come up with for grass, sky and valley. Although it wasn’t particularly hot on this plane, I could feel the trickle of sweat soaking into my t-shirt and backpack. The straps were starting to rub against the skin of my shoulders and I realised that the stench of my humanity was becoming vastly obvious. I supposed it was just as well that I wouldn’t be returning to Cornwall. The Brethren would never know the truth and the pack would be safe, not just from Iabartu but from me. I hoped that Tom wouldn’t be too hurt that I’d not told him my plans but I was sure he’d understand. And with any luck Julia would pull through too.
Shifting the damp straps on my shoulders slightly, I continued on. My watch had stopped at the moment that I’d come through the portal, which wasn’t particularly a surprise given what I already knew oh how time on other planes worked. I wondered how many Earth hours I’d already been here for. Or maybe it was days, or even just mere seconds. As long as I could find John’s bitch of a murderess before she sent anything else through to attack my pack then it didn’t matter.
I was so intently wrapped up in my thoughts about how I’d go about ripping the head off her shoulders, that I didn’t notice for a while that there was something up ahead. The valley had been getting steadily closer but what I hadn’t spotted before now due to the curve of the steep slopes was that there was something stood there in the middle of the grassy floor. From where I was it looked like a dark hole of black, incongruent against the other colours of the landscape. The blue smoke seemed to disappear into the middle of it. At last I was getting somewhere. I began walking a bit faster, feeling the lick of flames inside me rise ever so slightly.
As I got closer, I realised that the patch of black had very straight edges. This was definitely not a natural occurrence. It had to be either man or monster made. In fact it looked suspiciously like a door. When I was a scant hundred or so yards away, I realised that that was exactly what it was. There even appeared to be a doorknob, just as black as the rest of it. I checked it for signs of a letterbox – perhaps I could drop Iabartu a little note, I thought sardonically, but there was only the door shape and the doorknob itself. I couldn’t work out what material it was made out of. It didn’t look like it was anything solid and, as I could actually circle round the whole of it, I noticed that it was paper thin along the edges. As the trail leading from the cloth went straight into it, and didn’t appear on the other side, this had to be the way I was supposed to go.
I shrugged to myself and used the corner of my t-shirt as a barrier between my skin and the doorknob to twist it open. There was a prickle across the length of my arm as I did so and then the door swung open. There was nothing on the other side, other than the rest of the valley, but the blue smoke went through it one way and didn’t reappear on the other side, so it had to lead somewhere. I tugged out the silver dirk and clutched it in my sweaty palms and took a deep breath then stepped through.
And went nowhere. The smoke might have disappeared through the doorway but I certainly didn’t. I was in exactly the same valley and in exactly the same place, just on the other side of the stupid door. That wasn’t meant to happen. I frowned and tried stepping through in the opposite direction. Again, nothing. I hopped back and forth through the frame, irritated. What kind of stupid magic door was this? I had the horrible feeling that somewhere Iabartu was watching me on some otherworld version of CCTV and absolutely pissing herself laughing.
I wondered if it was just me. I knelt down and pulled on a tuft of grass, crying out in surprised pain as it cut deep into the edges of my palm. A few drops of blood welled up, jewel-like. Cursing, I wiped the blood onto my jeans and used the dirk instead, gingerly holding the tips of the grass blades tight. Even though the dirk’s blade was razor sharp, I still had to saw through to free them from the ground. That was…different. I definitely wasn’t in Kansas any more. I stood up, still pinching the tips of the blades of grass and taking care not to cut myself further then flung them through the open doorway.
Like the blue smoke, they disappeared in midair. Huh. Rooting around in my bag, I found a bottle of water and unscrewed the lid, taking a long swig. Then I threw the bottle cap. It vanished as soon as it passed through the black edges of the frame. So it wasn’t a case of just being something substantially from another plane that couldn’t pass through. It was just me that couldn’t pass through. Perhaps it was to do with carrying silver. I was extraordinarily reluctant to leave my best weapons behind, but they’d do me no good stuck here in the middle of nowhere with no-one to fight anyway. I took the backpack off my shoulders and removed the arrows, placing them carefully on the ground next to the dirk, then experimented first by waving a hand and a leg through the doorway. They didn’t seem to go anywhere. There was only one way to know for sure. Casting a forlorn look at the grounded weapons, I tightly closed my eyes and jumped.
I opened one eyelid carefully, peeking first. F*ck. I still hadn’t gone anywhere. Opening the other eye, I kicked the doorway in frustration and felt the same prickle as before run up my leg. Yeah, yeah, so it was definitely a fantastic magic gateway in the middle of a fantastic magical otherworld plane filled with killer grass. It still didn’t help me in the slightest.
I kicked the door again, this time shouting at the top of my lungs. “You wanted me, you bitch! Now I’m here! Come on then!”
The door gently swung shut as if in answer. I paused for a second, hopeful, but nothing else happened. It must have just been the vibrations from my kick. Well this was just great. Here I was, striding into Iabartu’s home turf, ready to take her on and be the conquering hero and I’d end up having to go back to the portal with my tail between my legs. Except then I realised that the portal was sealed shut again so I couldn’t even do that. I imagined Corrigan, shaking his head at me like I was some sort of naughty petulant child. Shaking the image away, I tried to focus my thoughts. Maybe if I destroyed the door instead, then she would come along to investigate.
Picking up one of the silver arrows, I took out my bow and strung it, aiming directly at the centre of the door. I held my breath but the arrow just thudded uselessly into it, then bounced back onto the grass. I kicked the door again, pissed off. Then I scooped up the dirk and stabbed viciously at the black shape with all my strength. It didn’t even make a mark, in fact it was the door seemed completely impervious to the weapon. That did not bode well. I tried again. Nope. My fingertips bristled with angry heat and I dropped and punched the door, scraping my knuckles against the smooth impenetrable surface. The resulting pain reminded me that they were already tender from my battle to escape the faerie ring – and gave me an idea. If my blood was strong enough to break through a Fae’s conjured barrier, then surely it could manage this. And even if it didn’t work, I knew at least that Iabartu wanted me, or rather my blood, for whatever nefarious reasons she had cooked up. It could be that she’d sense it once it was spilled on her land.
I knelt down again and grabbed another tuft of glass sharp grass, wincing again as the blades cut through my skin. Instead of wiping the blood away this time, however, I smeared it onto the door frame and shook a couple of drops onto the ground for further effect. Then I stood back, and watched and waited.
I wasn’t quite sure what I’d been expecting, but I’d been hoping for something rather dramatic. Wyr blood should surely bubble and hiss against nasty otherworld materials. Instead, however, there was the faint smell of burning, that reminded me of the times when Johannes accidentally set his own hair alight when trying to light the ancient gas stove with a match. Nothing else happened. After a few tense moments, I reached out for the doorknob again and twisted. This time, the whole thing disintegrated in my bloody hands until I was left staring at nothing but the empty valley again. The blue trail still vanished in mid air, at the spot where the door had been.
Well, great, I thought sarcastically. Now there wasn’t even a door to try to enter; it was just a blank space of air. Some f*cking saviour I’d turned out to be. Mack Attack wasn’t going to be very successful if there was nothing around to actually attack in the first place.
I was so angry with myself that I didn’t notice it at first, but once it got stronger and began tugging at my ponytail I began to realize that something was happening. Where there had only been still air that lay as flat as that of inside a sealed Egyptian mummy’s tomb, now there was wind. And wind that was getting stronger and stronger. It started to whistle around my ears and ripple the cloth of my t-shirt. The black material that I’d been carefully carrying on my shoulder whipped off and danced away, carried on an invisible current. I felt my backpack being lifted up from behind, pulling at my shoulders as if it was being grabbed by an unseen force, a ghostly mugger who wanted all of my worldly possessions. I tried desperately to keep my balance and steady myself, but there was nothing to grab onto and I felt myself falling backwards, landing on the sharp grass and feeling its points pierce into my skin through my clothes.
At that point a shadow passed over my face. I shielded my eyes from the bright sun and looked up, trying to make it what it was. It was moving at an unbelievable speed, getting larger by the second, cartwheeling and spinning through the sky. I tried in vain to scramble at my feet, but the gale around was too strong. It felt as if I was being pinned to the earth. All I could do was watch. There was a roaring thunder in my ears and, oddly, I thought again of Corrigan’s loud animalistic ire as I’d escaped into the portal. He didn’t matter now though, nothing mattered now. My time was up.