Unhooked(44)
It’s heavier than it looks, and though its blade is dark, it has a silvery shine that looks like it’s coming from within the metal.
“This is really all it takes to scare one of those things?” I ask, glancing up at him doubtfully. The metal feels warm in my hand.
“That’s not just any knife, Gwendolyn. It belonged to my mother, the Queen,” he explains. “Long ago the Queen traveled across the boundaries into the human world to find something to defeat the Dark Fey, who so often attacked her court in their attempt to take over this world. She brought back this—a dagger forged in iron and human blood and silver. Together they are deadly to the Dark Ones. To all Fey,” he said, nodding into the mist and taking the dagger back from me.
“She used that blade to kill the King of the Dark Ones and to banish what remained of his court to the far ends of this land so her people could live here in safety. They know well enough what this is capable of,” he tells me as he tucks the dagger securely back into the sheath at his side. “And they’re smart enough to avoid it.”
“Why don’t you just kill them all with it, then?” I ask.
“It’s impossible to kill a shadow, Gwendolyn. The Dark Ones can only be killed when they’re fully corporeal, and they have the inconvenient habit of melting into the darkness they’re born from. Besides, without the Queen to hold them in check, there are far too many of them for any single blade to do the job.”
I frown at his explanation. And I can’t help but glance at the dagger. He’s probably right—there’s no way that such a small weapon could defeat all the Dark Ones . . . But I only need one or two to get us home.
Pan’s expression flickers then, as though he’s sensed the direction of my thoughts and doesn’t approve. “As I was saying,” he tells me, his voice unwavering, “it’s time we go.”
Since he can’t carry both of us at the same time, and the fairy lights seem to have been lost in the fog, we spend the afternoon walking back to his fortress. Once we cross the flat, rocky stretch of land I saw from the air, the terrain begins to climb steeply into the mountainous middle of the island. I worry a little about making it all the way to the top—it’s been so long since I’ve done anything physical, and I’m already breathless only a quarter of the way up. Still, the burning ache as my tired muscles struggle up the incline is almost pleasant. It reminds me of something I’d felt before, something comforting and real from life in my own world. But before I can figure out what it is, Pan stops at a rocky outcropping and leads us through a hidden passageway that cuts directly into the rocky hillside.
As soon as we enter, more of the glowing orbs snap to attention and circle us, but as though realizing we’re not a threat, they simply light our way through the winding curves of the silent tunnel. On and on we go, through a narrow passage that seems endless. The air is close and has a coppery smell that reminds me of old pennies, and the walls often pitch at odd angles, so we have to duck or maneuver around them.
By now, Olivia’s eyes have gone completely glassy. As we walk, she occasionally steals glances at me, but I can tell that when she looks at me, she doesn’t recognize me. From the stiff set of her shoulders and the way she takes advantage of every opportunity to pull Pan’s attention toward her, I don’t think she sees me as anything but a threat.
Eventually, we come to a place where the tunnel we’re following opens into a cavernous room. The dark stone of the barrel-shaped ceiling is shot through with veins of scarlet crystal that glimmer like garnets. With the rocky walls steadily moving around us, it feels as if we’re standing in the middle of a beating heart.
All around the sloping walls, a series of identical openings lead off in different directions. None of them are marked in any way, but Pan doesn’t even slow his steps.
“Where do all of these go?” I ask, glancing back over my shoulder as I try to remember which tunnel we’ve just come through.
“Various places in Neverland. Though I would caution against exploring on your own, my dear. Never can tell where you might end up. This way,” Pan says, gesturing toward an opening on the far right.
Though this new path is drier than the last, the walls are sloped steeply on either side. In certain places, Pan has to crouch to keep moving without hitting his head. And all around us, the walls of the cave are in constant movement. Pebbles rattle, falling to the floor as the rock undulates in its constant dance.
I look warily at the ceiling of the tunnel. “Is it really safe to be down here?”
“We haven’t much choice. There’s no other way to get back to the safety of my home except these tunnels. The entrance we used yesterday would be far too difficult and treacherous of a climb from this side of the island. There’s good reason why the Queen picked this location for her stronghold.”
As we walk on, I think of the thick walls of the fortress, the impenetrable-looking facade. I think of the fairy lights that guard every entrance and the dagger, which is supposedly so deadly to the Fey, and I can’t help but wonder how anyone managed to penetrate the defenses the Queen had built up around herself. If she was all-powerful, I can’t imagine how the Dark Ones rose up and overthrew her after she’d already killed their King.
When the stone walls of the cavern around us tremble with a sudden and unusual amount of force, Pan goes still, his body tense as though readying himself for a collapse.