“If Richard knows about this deep shadow realm, others could too,” I said. “So I don’t see any reason to wait around . . .”
| | | | | | | | |
The next morning found us in the Chilterns.
I sat on bumpy ground, my back resting against a tree. It was a type I didn’t recognise, with serrated leaves and a narrow dividing trunk which spread out into branches almost as soon as it left the ground. The tree and a dozen like it formed a hangar, and the hangar was on top of a hill, green grass falling off into hedges and fields. A few scattered houses were tucked in between the trees in the valleys below, but for whatever reason, this particular spot had never been chosen as a site for buildings or paths, and here up on the hilltop, we were alone. Despite the morning sun, the air was cool, and a steady breeze blew from the west, ruffling the grass and the leaves on the trees. Above us, a kestrel hovered in a blue sky.
It was a beautiful view, exactly the kind that people picture when they think of the English countryside in the summer, and the sight of it had raised my spirits when we’d arrived. Shadow realms tend to have associations with the locations they reflect in the real world, and I’d optimistically hoped that no shadow realm tied to a spot like this could be too bad. Now that I’d had the chance to reconnoitre, I wasn’t so sure.
Variam was sprawled on the grass a little way away, a tiny spark of fire jumping between his fingers. He knew not to interrupt me, but he was obviously impatient for the action to start. Behind him, I could hear the murmur of Luna and Anne’s voices; I couldn’t make out the words, but I knew they were arguing over who was going into the deep shadow realm and who was staying in the Hollow.
Of course, before we could reach the deep shadow realm, we had to survive the Hollow.
I sighed and rose to my feet. Variam looked up alertly. “We ready?”
“We’re ready.”
There were two big sports bags next to Variam’s resting place. “Black bag or blue bag?” he asked.
“Black.”
Variam grinned. “Thought so.”
I unzipped the black bag and took out my body armour, then started putting it on. “But we’ll take the seed as well.”
“Why?” Variam said, donning his own armour. My armour is an integrated set of mesh and plate, an imbued item that’s alive in its own way, and I could feel its presence as I sealed the jacket, alert and watchful. The pieces Variam was putting on were just regular body armour, but then Variam can shield.
I buckled my sword belt onto my waist at its usual hole. It slid down my hips and I tightened it a couple of notches. I’d lost a fair bit of weight since I started training with Anne. “Arachne put a lot of work into that thing.”
“So when are you going to use it?” Variam asked. “Before this haberdasher thing starts trying to kill us, or after?”
“Hamadryad. And she’s still got free will. That means she’s got a choice.”
Variam rolled his eyes. “If you say so.”
Anne and Luna walked in just as I lifted a gun from the black bag. It was a H&K MP7, a compact, nasty little assault weapon that I’d taken off a guy who tried to kill me a few years back. “So much for the diplomatic approach, huh?” Luna said with a glance at my weapons.
“I thought we were trying to talk to her?” Anne said.
“Let’s just say that the odds aren’t good.”
“And you think walking in like that is going to help?”
“I’m going to have my shield up too,” Variam put in.
“Not helping.”
“Maybe I should get some armour like that,” Luna said. She reached into a case strapped to her belt and produced a slim white wand, which she held like the handle of a whip. “Could take the pressure off my curse.”
“It’s dicey against bullets,” Variam said. “Anything fast enough will just go straight through.”
“Alex?” Anne asked.
“This isn’t for Karyos,” I said. “I don’t want to kill her if there’s any possible way to avoid it, but I don’t think we’re getting through without a fight. Now.” I looked around. “Here’s what we’re going to face.”
Briefing and final preparations took a little longer, then at last, the four of us were ready. I looked at Anne and Luna. “You decided who’s going in?”
Anne and Luna looked at each other. “If you two still can’t make up your minds—” Variam began.
“No,” Anne and Luna said at exactly the same time.
“Come on, guys,” I said. “We already agreed on this part. Two people to guard the gate, and one to go in with me.”
“This place is supposed to be kind of like Elsewhere,” Luna said. The tone of her voice sounded as though she’d made the argument before. “I’ve had more practice.”
“I’m the one whose job it is,” Anne said.
Variam threw up his hands. “Can you just flip a coin or something?”
“You know what, that’s as good a way as any,” I said. I dug into my bag and pulled out a fifty-pence piece. “Who’s calling?”
“Heads,” Luna said.
“No!” Anne said.
Luna looked at Anne. “What?”
“You’re not calling it.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” Anne said, “whatever face you call is going to be the one it lands on.”
Variam laughed and Luna rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not letting Alex do it,” Luna said. “He’ll know what face it is right after it lands.”
“Oh, for crying out loud,” I said. These are the kinds of ridiculous arguments you get when you’ve got a chance mage and a probability mage in the same group. “Vari flips, Anne calls.” I tossed the coin to Variam. “Okay?”
“Okay,” Anne said.
Luna looked reluctant. “Fine.”
“Do I get a say in this?” Variam asked.
“No,” both girls said in unison.
Variam rolled his eyes. The coin flashed silver in the air as he flipped it, then caught it midfall and slapped it onto the back of his wrist. He looked at Anne. “Call it.”
Anne stared at his hand for a long moment. “Tails,” she said at last.
Variam took his hand away to see the coin. “Tails it is.”
“That’s not fair,” Luna objected.
Variam rolled his eyes. “What, you think I rigged it?” He strode away towards the centre of the hangar. With an annoyed glance back at Anne, Luna followed.
Anne was about to go after them, but a small movement from me stopped her. “I saw you looking at Vari’s hand,” I said.
Anne looked back at me.
“I’m curious,” I said. “How accurate is that lifesight of yours? Enough to see impressions in skin?”
“You’re not the only one who doesn’t want to put other people in danger,” Anne said quietly.
“Hey!” Variam called back at us. “You coming or what?”
| | | | | | | | |
Getting into a shadow realm can be very hard or very easy. This one was somewhere in between. None of us had visited the Hollow before, meaning that we had to make a bunch of educated guesses rather than simply opening up a gate and stepping straight through. On the plus side, the place didn’t have wards. When mages move into a shadow realm, typically the first thing they do is set up a bunch of restrictions on gating into the place, kind of the magical equivalent of changing the locks. Common methods include password systems, requiring a keystone, or simply barring all gates that aren’t made from a specific location. That was why I’d had to go to that school in Plymouth yesterday to reach Vihaela’s shadow realm—if I’d tried to gate there from anywhere else, then the gate simply wouldn’t have worked, and I was willing to bet that there were a bunch of nasty security measures waiting for someone to try to force it.