With a howl, the great Wolf bounded forward, leaped over the heads of the armies, and charged one looming monster. I watched as his huge shaggy form galloped toward his enemy, launched himself off a crumbled wall, and slammed into the Nightmare’s chest, knocking it back. The monster roared as it stumbled, regaining its balance, but the Wolf darted in, clamped his jaws around one foreleg, and dragged it off its feet.
“They’re distracted,” Meghan said quietly, and glanced at me. “But they won’t be for long. If everyone can push them back, I think I can close the pit. I just need a little time.”
“You’ll have it.” I took a breath, feeling pure, untainted Winter glamour rise up within. “Keirran,” I said, and my son immediately came to stand beside me. I felt the intense glamour of the Forgotten king—Summer, Winter, and Iron—in the air around him, and called my own magic to the surface. “Ready?” I asked, and felt Keirran’s Winter glamour grow even more powerful, overshadowing the other two. He nodded.
Turning back, we each held out an arm, and sent a screaming blizzard into the faces of the Nightmares. Ice formed on the stones, growing inches thick in seconds, shards of frozen daggers pelted the Monsters’ hides, and pointed spears rose from the ground, sinking into legs and stomachs as they pressed forward. An icy wind joined the howling tornadoes of Summer, flinging rocks and frozen darts everywhere, and the Nightmares finally flinched back.
I felt a cool hand on my shoulder, and glanced over to see Mab standing behind us, a faint smile on her lips as she watched the chaos in the center of the ruins. “Let me show you how it’s done, my boys,” she murmured, and a massive flood of power washed through me, adding its strength to ours. The blizzard intensified, screaming winds turning razor-sharp, as the Summer tornado flung debris everywhere and flailing roots lashed out at the Nightmares. Ice coated the ruins, hanging in enormous spikes from pillars and branches, and coating the ground. One of the creatures slipped, digging its claws into the ice to keep from sliding. I saw a flash of red as Puck darted in behind it, slicing its ankle. The Nightmare lost its grip, crashing to the ice, and as its head struck the ground, the Wolf lunged out of the trees and sank his jaws into the side of the shaggy neck.
There was a crinkling sound above me, as Mab raised an arm, and an enormous frozen boulder appeared in the air over her head. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it hurtling into the ruins, and the ice chunk slammed into a Nightmare as it was lurching to its feet, knocking it backward with a snarl.
Slowly, fighting all the way, the Nightmares began falling back, driven by vicious winds, ice, lightning, flailing roots, and the continuous darting blows from Nyx, Puck, and the Wolf. They slid over the ice, claws raking gouges in the frozen surface, giving ground before the fury of Summer, Winter, and Iron.
I glanced to where Meghan knelt, head bowed, hands resting lightly on her sword hilt. I could feel her centering herself, gathering the strength and magic for what needed to be done. Silently, I sent a portion of my magic to her, adding my strength to hers. She breathed deep, and her eyes opened, hard and determined, as she glared at the Nightmares slowly being driven back. Back toward the pit, and Evenfall. Back to where they came from.
The first of the Nightmares reached the edge of the crumbling hole, snarling and digging talons into the stones to keep from moving any farther. But its claws could not find any purchase against the ice, and it tumbled into the darkness with a final howl. A second followed, raking the ground as it slid toward the endless abyss, snarling its rage and hate. Lashing out wildly, it latched on to the leg of a third Nightmare, and both went sliding into the black.
The last Elder Nightmare hunched its shoulders and dug its claws into a stone pillar, bracing itself against the wind and swirling debris. For a moment, it stood there, motionless, as ice and lightning pelted its hide, crawling over its skin and leaving gashes that leaked dark fluid onto the rock.
Then, its twisted, antlered head lifted, blank white eyes fixed on us all, and a chill crawled up my spine. Its jaws opened, and a terrible, droning voice echoed through my thoughts.
“What strange dreams are these?”
I shuddered. It wasn’t the monster speaking. It was him, the Nightmare King, gazing at us through the eyes of his subjects. Not awake yet, but not entirely asleep, either.
Its gaze shifted fully to me, and staring into the eyes of a sleeping god, I suddenly couldn’t catch my breath. The weight of its stare crushed me; beyond anger, beyond rage and loathing and mindless terror. It was pure, unfiltered chaos. I could feel the madness of the Nightmare King clawing at me, chilling my insides to the core. After so long asleep, being sealed away from the world, the Nightmare King had gone mad with his own dreams. Now, all he knew was fury, hate, and destruction.
“I will destroy all.” Even asleep, the Nightmare King’s words made the ground tremble. “All dreams will die. This nightmare I find myself trapped in will finally end. I hear the ripples of the world above. I hear the voices calling. The screams, the anger, they pull me from this dream. Soon, I will be among them. Soon, all will know my rage. All will be darkness, and the ones who betrayed us will know nothing but terror. Wait for me, dreams. I will be there, soon.”
Then Meghan rose, the power of the Iron Queen snapping around her, and raised a hand.
The edge of the pit crumbled, as more roots broke through the stones, coiling into the air. Only these glinted in the shadows and flashes of lightning swirling in the winds; infused with the glamour of Iron, they wrapped around the monster’s limbs, dragging it down. It howled, bracing itself against the pull, fighting the inevitable. The roots strained, on the verge of snapping, the Nightmare’s empty gaze watching us with unfiltered hate.
With shrieking caws, a cloud of ravens descended on the creature, clawing its face and pecking at its eyes, and a flurry of light crescents sliced into its hide. As it flinched, the Wolf thundered forward, lowered his shaggy head, and plowed full-speed into the thick muscled leg.
The Nightmare lost its grip at last, and with a final roar, was dragged into the pit. It clawed futilely at the ground, raking deep gashes in the ice, before its twisted skull vanished over the edge and fell into the blackness.
Meghan raised her other arm, and the Iron roots thrashing at the edge of the pit wove together, forming a knot, a tangle of Iron cables over the mouth of the hole. I felt Oberon and Mab adding their own power to the mix, as tree roots intersected with Meghan’s Iron cables, and a sheet of ice spread over the entire thing.
The winds died down, the icy blizzard ceased, and the tornados spun themselves into nothing, taking the lightning with them. A ragged cheer echoed through the ranks of faeries, from Summer, Winter, and Iron, standing side by side. A few nightmare creatures still prowled the edges of the ruins, but the battle with the Nightmare King’s strongest minions was over. Evenfall was sealed, and the Nevernever was safe.
At least for now.
EPILOGUE