nineteen

Keelie raced on, passing through the caverns that she’d explored earlier. The labyrinth room was empty, and she crossed the bridge over the silent black river and dashed through the empty workroom, wondering where Barrow and his parents had gone.

She was in unfamiliar territory now and still she sped on, not daring to stop. She passed ruined palaces and places where feeble sunlight shone into abandoned, thorny gardens. After a while she realized that no one was chasing her, and she stopped. Under-the-Hill was enormous, and she had no idea where she was.

She stood at a stone-floored crossroads, the cool, mineral smell of the rock cavern mingling with an earthy scent, as if she’d gone deep into Mother Earth herself. Her pink quartz glowed dimly through her pocket. She pulled it out and held it up.

The light cast tall shadows all around and Keelie quickly dropped her arm. Too creepy. She turned slowly, holding out the light at waist height. Three steps to the right and the light brightened.

She started walking in that direction, thinking that Sir Davey would be proud of her. Before long she heard voices speaking in a strange tongue, and she hurried, spurred on by the fear of being alone.

The passageway curved, and then she was on the outskirts of an underground town. Dwarf homes, their facades cut into the living rock, were interspersed with workshops.

Small, stout people were walking briskly, packages under their arms, while others worked in their shops. Keelie recognized Barrow.

He gave a start when he saw her and hurried over. “Everyone’s talking about the elves coming Under-the-Hill. What happened?”

“They were waiting for me when I went back up to—” She faltered, not knowing what word to use to mean her own world.

“Aboveworld?”

“Yes. And I jumped back down, but they followed me. I’m not sure when they quit chasing me, I was running too hard.”

Barrow put a hand on her arm. “I think instead of going back up there, maybe you should come to our hardware store in town.”

In town. The elves would never think of looking for her there. She frowned, remembering Dad and Jake and Elia. What would become of them? She had to get back to the village as soon as she could. With Sean and the aunties’ help, she could get to the Lore House and free the prisoners hours before the trial was to begin. Then she had to get Alora to the aunties and retrieve the book from them.

Barrow led her through busy market streets. It was strange being two feet taller than everyone else. It was unusual for the Underworld dwellers, as well. They stared at her and whispered as she went by.

They turned down a narrow street, and Keelie slowed. The smooth stone lane ended at the door of a wooden building, the only large-scale use of wood she’d seen so far in Under-the-Hill.

“Here we are.” Barrow grinned at her. “It doesn’t seem so far, does it? It’s like that in Underworld. Don’t trust distances, or time either. Both get tricky down here.”

He opened the door and motioned her in. She stepped across the threshold cautiously (oak, from nearby, but very long ago), followed by Knot. They found themselves in a narrow storeroom filled with boxes and bins bursting with tools, casks of nails, and folded tarps.

Barrow closed the door behind them. “Go straight up these stairs, Keelie Fae Friend, and you will be back among the humans.”

They climbed the stairs, Keelie in front. “Fae Friend. That’s a new one.”

Barrow took her hand, blushing. “I hope you don’t mind. You are a true friend of the fae, Keliel. You treat all creatures alike. I would also call you Dwarf Sister, and proudly.”

Tears prickled in her eyes. “Thanks.”

They reached the door at the top, and Barrow twisted the knob and pushed the door open. “Well, gotta get back before the old man finds out I’ve ditched work to bring you here. See you later.” He skipped back down the stairs and disappeared into the dark storeroom.

Keelie entered the back of the shop and closed the door carefully behind her. Would this be like one of those magic doors, where everything changes when you reopen it? She opened it quickly and looked. Same dark stairway, same smell of damp stone and rusting nails.

She closed it once more and walked quickly through the shop toward the front door, waving cheerily to Barrow’s astounded mother behind the cash register.

“Where have you two been all night? Where is Barrow?”

“All night?” It seemed just an hour or so since she’d slid under the aunties’ roots and Under-the-Hill. “Barrow just said ‘bye’ at the base of the stairs.”

“Take care, then. Come by for supper sometime.” Madalyn was headed toward the stairs in back—Barrow was in trouble.

Knot waited for her on the sidewalk outside, warming himself in the morning sunshine. Keelie took a deep breath of tree-scented air. All of the town trees spoke her name, and she sent out a warning.

Tell no one I am here.

Tree Shepherdess, the Dread Forest calls for you.

Keelie frowned. She couldn’t hear the trees of the Dread Forest. She did have to hurry back, but how? She looked around the quiet streets of the sleepy town. They didn’t even have bus service here, and it would take hours to hike up the road to the elven village.

A brightly colored sign drew her eye. Of course. Keelie hurried toward the tattoo parlor.

Through the glass door, she saw Zabrina seated behind her counter, wearing a tank top that read, “Come to the dark side. We have cookies.” Her hair was intricately braided and she looked beautiful. It made Keelie very aware that she was scratched from Knot’s water ride on her head, and that her clothes were stiff with drying mud.

At least Knot was muddy, too, and his fur was a mess. If he’d used magic to make himself look good, Keelie would have been angry at him. She opened the door and stepped in, noticing a sticky feeling all over as she passed through. Zabrina was sketching in a book, her left hand loosely clasped around a cup of coffee. She looked up quickly and stared, open-mouthed at Keelie. “How did you get in here? That door was warded.” She stood up as she noticed Keelie’s muddy clothes. “What happened to you?”

“A lot. I just took a tour of Under-the-Hill, thanks to a mutual friend of ours, Barrow.”

“You’ve been Under-the-Hill?” Zabrina gasped. The little fairy tattoo lifted from her shoulder and hovered, wings trembling. “And you walked through my warded door as if it was nothing. What are you?”

Keelie shrugged. “I’m still figuring that one out.” She pointed to Zabrina’s mug. “You have any more coffee?”

“Sure.” Zabrina poured Keelie a cup and handed it to her. “Tell me everything.”

Keelie sat on a stool beside her new friend and told her as much as she dared, leaving out the part about Jake being a vampire.

“Time passes differently Under-the-Hill,” Zabrina explained. “A few minutes can turn into days Above-world.”

That meant Dad hadn’t heard from her all night. He was probably frantic. “I need your help, Zabrina. Can you drive me back to the Dread Forest?”

Zabrina grasped the edge of the counter as if seeking support. “I can’t go to the Dread Forest.”

The tattoo fairy buzzed around the shop, agitated.

“The elves don’t want us there. They can’t even see the lesser fae, and I’m like, an abomination to them.” Zabrina glanced up at Keelie. “And you’ve been messing with fae magic—very risky. Look at what’s happened to you. Look at your eyes. You’ve changed.”

Keelie hadn’t been near a mirror, and figured that her muddy clothes drew attention enough. She ducked her head to look into the mirror on the counter by a display of earrings.

Her hair stood out in mud-caked elf locks, and her pointed ear was scratched and bleeding. Long scratches radiated from her scalp, thanks to Knot, but it was her eyes that made her mouth drop open. Their leaf green was now flecked with bright metallic gold, and a wide ring of gold circled her pupils. Would they ever return to normal?

She forced her attention back to the real urgent matter. “I need your help. My father, my uncle, and Elia are in danger.”

Zabrina’s face paled. Keelie could tell she was on the verge of saying yes, but she was afraid. She put her hand on Zabrina’s arm. “Innocent people are in danger. I might fail, Zabrina, but I want to know that I did everything in my power to help them. I’ll accept the consequences.”

Zabrina sighed. “And I have to live with those consequences, too. You’re very powerful, Keelie. Lucky for you, I’m used to bratty girls with lots of power.” She reached underneath the counter for her car keys and glared at Keelie. “Didn’t you say that your mother was a lawyer?”

“Yeah.”

“It must be in the blood. Come on. Do your thing, Molly.”

Relief flooded through Keelie as she realized Zabrina was going to help her. Molly, the tattoo fairy, blended back into Zabrina’s skin, and they walked out of the shop followed by Knot.

“Hold on while I lock up and reset the wards you trashed.” Zabrina grinned at Keelie. “You don’t know how powerful you are, do you? Kid, I had the strangest feeling when you walked into my shop. I felt that my life was never going to be the same.”

If she had power, Keelie knew that she would need every bit of it to help Jake and her father; against Niriel, Keelie felt that she had only her wits to help her. She hoped it would be enough.

Zabrina unlocked the passenger door of a faded blue Volkswagen Beetle that looked a hundred years old.

Knot jumped in, and Keelie sat on the cloth seat gingerly. There was a hole in the floorboard.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Zabrina said cheerfully as she jumped in behind the wheel. “Vlad’s seen everything. A little mud won’t hurt him.” She patted the dashboard. “Vladimir’s a survivor. Except he sucks oil like a vampire. I always have to keep several quarts with me.”

Keelie shivered.

“It’s a joke.

Keelie grinned. “Vladimir the VW Vampire. Now I’ve heard it all.”

With a grinding of gears and a belch of acrid smoke, they took off down the street. Keelie prayed that they’d get back up the mountain in time to stop Niriel from poisoning the minds of the Elven Council.

Zabrina turned onto a two-lane highway and headed north. Ahead loomed the Dread Forest, an impressive wall of dense green woods.

Suddenly a gray barrier loomed before them. Zabrina shrieked and wrenched the wheel. A roar filled the air as the VW spun, the world looping around, and came to rest on the black earth at the side of the road.

Keelie closed her eyes, willing the world to stop moving, then glanced at Zabrina to make sure she was okay. Zabrina was staring, open-mouthed, at the massive vehicle that had swooped onto the road in front of them.

“I hate it when these tourists with their castles on wheels think they can hog the road,” she said in an angry tone.

It was a deluxe RV, an immense square box on wheels, stone gray. “Sir Davey!” Keelie pulled off her seat belt and flung her door wide.

The door to the driver’s side of the RV opened and a small figure climbed down. The man had a neat goatee and luxurious, long dark hair.

His glare turned to surprise and he hurried toward Keelie. She bent down to hug him. “Oh, Sir Davey I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I had calls from my brother, then from Radorak while en route. What on earth is happening? I ruined two turbocharged crystals getting here, but I made it.”

“We don’t have a minute to lose. Leave the RV here and come with us.” Keelie pulled him across the street toward Zabrina, who was standing next to her car watching them warily.

“Zabrina, this is Sir Davey. Or Jadwyn.” She looked down at her teacher and friend. “What do you go by here?”

“Davey will do.” He extended a hand to Zabrina. “How do you do? You own the tattoo shop, right?”

“Yes. I think we’ve met. I’ve seen you around town, and at the harvest festival too.”

“Chat later, drive now,” Keelie commanded, and dove into the front passenger seat. Davey climbed into the back with Knot, then Zabrina scrambled in. Vlad the VW was crowded now. They probably looked like clown-car refugees from a circus.

Keelie gritted her teeth, impatient. Who knew what was happening up in the forest? She smacked her hand on the edge of the car door. “The trees!”

Zabrina and Sir Davey stared at her.

“The trees can tell me what’s going on.”

“Do you have your tektite, lass?” Sir Davey was sitting in the center of the rear seat, hands on the backs of both front seats. Knot prowled the little car’s back deck like a pumpkin-colored caged tiger.

“I do, but I don’t need it or my rose quartz. The Dread’s gone. Totally broken,” Keelie told him.

Davey closed his eyes for a second, as if feeling for it, then his lids sprang open again, framing his eyes against his hairy eyebrows. “How is this possible?” he whispered.

Keelie told her story for a second time that day, this time leaving nothing out. When she got to the part about Jake being a vampire, Zabrina shot her a wide-eyed panicky stare and the car fishtailed.

“Eyes on the road,” Keelie and Davey said simultaneously. Zabrina clenched her jaw and leaned forward, concentrating.

The fairy tattoo peeled away from Zabrina’s shoulder and fluttered near Keelie.

Sir Davey arched an eyebrow. “That’s something I’ve never seen.”

The little fairy turned her head coyly and batted her eyelashes at him, just as she had with Dad.

“She’s a little flirt.” He laughed.

“Her name’s Molly.” Zabrina pushed down on the accelerator and Vlad’s engine groaned with more effort. The tires crunched on the gravel.

Before them, the Dread Forest loomed, a primeval woodland of tall trees whose uppermost leaves seemed to brush the sky. Underneath the canopy, the air was green and the ground was carpeted with moss and small plants. Every inch of this world was alive.

Keelie rolled up the window to keep out the toxic cloud of burnt oil that roiled around the car like an angry storm cloud.

Molly mimed a small, delicate cough. She fluttered around Sir Davey’s head. He didn’t seem to appreciate her, but was tolerating the little fairy’s presence just to be nice.

Knot climbed into Keelie’s lap. She put an arm around him to keep him from falling off. He snorted, then sneezed on her.

“Do not hork up a hairball,” she warned him.

He purred.

They went deeper into the forest, and the tires crunched less as the road turned into softer ground. Keelie opened her mind to the trees. She needed their soothing green presence in her thoughts.

Tree shepherdess, the poison cloud makes us ill. The trees, mostly spruce, that grew along the road spoke in unison.

Keelie glanced behind them at the spinning exhaust plume behind Vlad the VW. Ooops. No wonder they were upset.

The poison cloud will be gone soon. It brings help for the Tree Shepherd.

The trees seemed confused. As Zabrina drove past, Keelie saw the shocked faces in their trunks.

Trust me.

The scent of evergreens filled her mind.

“The Dread is well and truly gone.” Sir Davey’s voice was thin with awe. “That Zabrina can get this far into the forest is surprising, and you’re not feeling the effect at all, Keelie.”

“It’s far worse than that. ATVs have been getting in. Dad fears it could become like the Wildewood. Look.” Keelie pointed at crisscrossed tire tracks and flattened foliage on both sides of the road, and gashes in the tree bark. She made a mental note to tell Dad and return to heal the trees.

Zabrina shook her head. “That rotten stinker of a mayor. He’s been pocketing money from some of these so-called recreational vehicle companies who want him to open up the trails. If I had anything to do with it, motorized vehicles would be banned from the woods.”

In between the trunks of two large spruces, Keelie caught a glimmer of silver. Niriel would have guards out looking for her. He wouldn’t give up.

She opened herself to the trees. Show me the location of the jousters.

Images of armored and searching jousters on horseback came back to her from all across the Dread Forest. Other images flashed across her mind: the village green surrounded; the Lore House protected.

The aunties called to Keelie. You need the treeling. She will help you save your uncle, Tree Shepherdess. Without her, there is no hope.

“Stop,” Keelie shouted.

Zabrina slammed down on the brakes. Vlad squealed to a stop and they all lurched forward.

Knot flew off of Keelie’s lap onto the floorboard. Molly was flung into the windshield. She looked like a parking sticker for a rock and roll concert.

Sir Davey clung to the passenger seat, his knuckles white with fright.

“What?” Zabrina flung her hands up in the air.

“We need to get out. I think the jousters have spotted the exhaust. The trees will cover for Sir Davey and me.”

“So, this is where we part ways.” Zabrina seemed sad that her part of the adventure was over.

Something thunked the hood of the VW and bounced off the chrome strip in the center.

“What was that?” Zabrina stared at a crease that now ran across the VW’s hood.

“It’s a lance.” Sir Davey said grimly.

The jousters approach, Tree Shepherdess. We will try to stop them, but cannot for long.

Two mounted men in armor appeared around a bend in the road, and another, the spear launcher, came at them through the forest. Zabrina laughed. “What a hoot! This is like at the Ren Faire.”

“Yes, but for real.” Keelie didn’t like the look on the jousters’ faces.

“We need to go,” Sir Davey cautioned. “When lances are thrown, in my experience, drawn swords aren’t too far behind.”

“Thanks for your help, Zabrina.” Keelie was anxious to reach her father and Jake. “Will I see you again?”

“You know where my shop is. The luck of the forest to you.

“It will be.” Through the VW’s window Keelie saw the face of a nearby spruce looking down at her. Protect her.

She opened the passenger door and stepped out into the green, springy ferns that bordered the road. Sir Davey clambered out, disappearing into the forest. Knot ran after him, as if he’d had enough of Vlad the VW.

From the side of the road, Keelie watched as Zabrina turned Vlad the VW around in a billowing cloud of sooty exhaust. The two jousters on horseback coughed, then quickly reined their mounts around as the VW charged them, bouncing off trees like an insane pinball game.

Keelie caught up with Sir Davey, who was running toward the village. They slowed to a walk. No jousters were in sight. “Sir Davey, before we go to the trial, there’s someone I have to get.”

“Who?”

“Alora.”

“The treeling?” Wrinkles formed on his forehead. Then Sir Davey said in a panicked voice, “Keelie.”

A cold point jabbed Keelie’s neck. “I found you. If you move, you will feel my blade,” a deep voice rumbled behind her.

She recognized the voice. It was Tamriel. He must have used a shielding spell to hide himself.

“Don’t move, dwarf.”

“Let her go.” Sean stepped out from behind another tree.

“Not this time. Niriel will be pleased that I’ve caught her.”

“I’m his son, so what I say goes, too.”

“Everyone knows you’re smitten with the Round Ear. I listened to you last time. Not again.”

Sean’s eyes widened with alarm as Tamriel pushed the sword blade deeper into Keelie’s neck.

“Ow!”

“Quiet,” Tamriel growled. “We will go to the Lore House. You will not speak to trees, nor summon your birds or cats.”

Keelie looked at Sean. He sighed, as if he’d come to a difficult decision.

She held Sean’s gaze, his green eyes bright with concern and pain. She knew what he was thinking. If he let Tamriel take her, he was following his father’s evil direction. If he rescued her, he would be breaking away from his Dad. It was hard to disown his father, evil or not, even though many lives hung in the balance—and possibly the fate of all the elves.

“Tamriel, release Keelie.” Sean’s voice held no uncertainty.

Keelie cried with relief. She knew she had been right about him.

“What? You would choose a Round Ear over your own father? Over your own kind?”

“Release her.”

Sir Davey waggled his fingers. There was a rumble underneath Tamriel’s boots, and thousands of earthworms began wriggling around his feet.

He lowered his sword and began hopping out of the way of the squirming mass. “What in the Great Sylvus is this? A dwarven curse?”

Sir Davey went in for the tackle like a little football player, crashing into the jouster at the knees. Tamriel toppled over.

Sean grabbed Keelie and swung her into his arms. He held out his sword, the blade pointed toward Tamriel. Tamriel glared at Sean. Keelie clung to her rescuer. He wrapped his arm tighter around her waist. She would remember this moment for the rest of her life.

Sir Davey kicked Tamriel’s sword away, but Tamriel countered by flinging a handful of earthworms into Sir Davey’s face. Davey gagged and staggered in a circle, scraping worms from his hair. Tamriel turned over onto his knees and got up, armor clanging, and ran into the forest.

“I hate to leave you here, but I know you will be protected by Sir Davey.” Sean nodded his head toward the dwarf. Sir Davey nodded. “I need to catch Tamriel before he reaches my father, or there will be worse trouble for your family.”

Keelie watched as Sean ran after the fleeing jouster. She had no idea how much time she had left, and she still had to get Alora.