I stood very little chance of surviving this. And that was assuming I could actually bring myself to kill my son, my best friend, and the woman I loved. They were shadows; logically I knew they weren’t real. But knowing and making myself destroy the ones I’d sworn to protect was a different story. Everything about this twisted reality felt like my own personal nightmare. Nothing they said was untrue, nothing was out of character. If the day came where Meghan, Puck, and Keirran decided that I needed to die, this was exactly how it would play out.
I felt the ripple of glamour at my feet, and threw myself aside as a cluster of ice spears erupted from the place I’d been standing. Rolling upright, I sent my own storm of ice daggers back at Keirran, but they passed through a wall of Summer glamour and transformed into tulips before they could reach him. Puck leaped at me, daggers flashing, and for a second it was like old times, fighting desperately, trying to kill each other though we wished it could be different.
But this wasn’t the same. This wasn’t a simple feud with my best friend. Puck pressed in, his strikes coming fast and vicious, giving me no time to recover. I parried, dodged, and struck back where I could, as the Great Prankster continued his relentless assault, grinning as he came forward.
“What’s the matter, ice-boy?” Puck said, dodging a stab to his chest and coming right back with a vicious swipe at my face. I knocked it away, but instantly had to duck as he spun with the second dagger, cutting at my throat. It had been years since I’d fought Puck with serious intent; I’d forgotten how lethal he was when he was really trying. “Stop playing around,” Puck went on, as we continued to trade blows. “We always knew it would end like this. With one of us actually killing the other.”
Anger flared. I could feel the energy pulsing under my feet, the dark glamour of this place calling to my Unseelie side, urging me to reach out for it. I resisted the urge, shoving back the anger. “You’re not real,” I told the false Puck. “My feud with Robin Goodfellow ended years ago. You’re nothing but his shadow.”
Puck’s grin was vicious. “Then why are you holding back?” he snarled, as something rose from the ground behind me. I whirled, throwing up an ice shield, as the Iron Queen’s blade smashed through the barrier and stuck me in the shoulder. I stumbled, and one of Puck’s daggers got through, plunging into my ribs, just as Keirran hit me from behind, his blade slicing across my back.
With a shout, I released my glamour in a burst around me, icicles surging out like spears. Meghan and the others jumped back to avoid being impaled, retreating several paces away as the ground around us erupted with ice daggers, becoming a carpet of needles.
I staggered, gasping, then sank to a knee, feeling my wounds throb, seeing my blood dripping slowly to the ice. My vision blurred in and out, my mind spinning from the realization. I was going to be killed by the shades of my family and best friend. They were more than copies, more than shallow images; they had come from my memories, my emotions, the secrets I kept safe about them all. They weren’t the real Meghan, Puck, and Keirran, but they were real. In another life, if things had been slightly different, this scene might have come to pass. Mercilessly killed by those I loved, because I had become a monster.
Anger flickered, and that power called to me again, dark and seductive. I could become a monster. I could become the thing they feared, the ruthless creature who destroyed the Nevernever and slaughtered everything he came across. Ash the Winter King.
I looked up, and found the three of them surrounding me. Their weapons were still drawn, but none of them seemed eager to deal the finishing blow. Puck stepped forward, his face pulled into a grimace of pain. “Stop fighting us, ice-boy,” he pleaded. “This is already killing me. Don’t draw this out any further than we have to.”
“Father, please,” Keirran added, and his voice shook as he spoke. “How many more have to die before you are satisfied? How much more blood and chaos can the Nevernever take? Let us end it quickly.”
I looked at Meghan. There were tears in her eyes, streaking her face with the spatters of my blood, but she stood firm with her blade at her side. “I’m sorry, Ash,” she whispered again. “I love you, I will never stop loving you, but I can’t allow this to continue any longer.” She raised her other hand, white-hot energy strands flickering at her fingertips. “As queen of the Iron Realm, I must sentence you to death. Close your eyes,” she ordered softly. “This is over.”
My arms trembled. I ached, the pain from my wounds like fiery bands across my whole body. The mist coiled around me, and for just a moment, staring into the anguished gaze of my queen, my wife, I almost did what she asked. My body slumped, and my eyes started to close, surrendering to the inevitable.
No, I will not die here. If the shades of Meghan, Keirran and Puck killed me now, what would happen to my real family? What would happen to the Nevernever if the Evenfey summoned the Nightmare King? I remembered the nightmare piskies swarming the warehouse in the real world, trying to get to Keirran. I remembered the tooth goblins and the horror of the ogre creature in the hall. If any of those Monsters got into the Nevernever, there would be chaos and terror and death, which was what the Evenfey wanted.
I clenched my fist against the blood-spattered ice, and opened myself to the rage. Power surged through me, cold and furious, stirring the Unseelie within to life. I drew that anger to me, feeling the power of Winter freeze my wounds, turning the blood in my veins to liquid ice. Strength flowed into me, killing any weakness, doubt, or regret. I was Ash the Winter prince once again, and I would not be defeated.
I felt the shift in the air as the others realized what was happening. Puck gave a curse, pulled his daggers, and lunged at me, intending to take my life then and there. I rose, power and hatred swirling through my veins, and hurled it like a spear at Puck. There was a flash of blue light, and Robin Goodfellow froze instantly, becoming a statue with his weapons still raised to strike. With a cold smile, I clenched a fist, and Puck shattered, bursting apart and raining to the floor with light tinkling sounds. His daggers hit the icy ground and stood there, hilts up, glittering in the eerie light.
Keirran gave a shout of despair and came at me, ignoring the Iron Queen’s cry for him to stop. I didn’t move, watching as his blade swept down at my head, then calmly raised a hand with a pulse of Winter glamour. Ice formed in the air between us, right before a huge ice spike surged from the ground, punching into Keirran and impaling him through the torso. His mouth gaped, the sword dropping from his fingers, as the spear carried him high into the air. Keirran slumped, his body going limp against the ice, as his blood streamed down the frozen surface and puddled at the base of the spike.
For just a moment, staring at the motionless body of my son, the horror I felt threatened to consume me. But then the frigid emptiness of Winter rose up, stifling the despair, freezing it entirely. It’s not Keirran, I told myself. Not the real Keirran. This is a world of nightmares. Do not falter.
Then, Meghan screamed, and it was the most terrible sound I had ever heard, causing the mist to writhe and the blood in my veins to freeze. I turned to face the enraged form of the Iron Queen, her eyes filled with fury and sorrow, glaring down at me from several feet overhead. Glittering metallic wings spread out from her back, the edges barbed and razor-sharp. Her hair floated about her shoulders, blue eyes glowing with anger, as lightning flickered and snapped around her. She hovered there like an avenging angel, and for just a moment, for the very first time in my life, I was afraid of the Iron Queen.