47. Farron
Farron
“In Summer, we fight to death in the arena, and we still have more dignified entertainment than the Below,” Dayton growls under his breath.
My stomach twists as I force myself deeper along the narrow boardwalk of cages.
Cryptgarden’s menagerie is less a zoo than a prison.
A decrepit ironwork sign looms overhead, the last E in MENAGERIE hanging by a metal thread.
Broken, charred cobblestones line the way, cages crowding in on either side.
Unlit lampposts jut like iron bars along the route.
The whole cursed place presses inward, claustrophobic and grim.
The cages lean against stony walls, and the path ends abruptly at a jagged cliffside.
Though we’re in the open—or as open as it gets in the Below—the only hint of freedom comes from the swirling, misty excuse for a sky.
We’ve walked the entire length of the menagerie, that sickening feeling in my gut growing stronger with each cage.
There is all manner of depressed-looking creatures, from winged horses to dire foxes, each one seeming in worse condition than the last. The bowls of water have green film, and some contain bones long past the point of gnawing.
Worst of all, when one of the creatures meets my eye, there’s decades of sadness in their gaze.
“Sira will pay for this,” Dayton snarls.
The twins, lagging behind us, give grunts of approval.
“One of many things,” I agree. “But first things first. No Kel. They must have moved him.”
I run my hands through my hair, mind spinning for our next move. I wish Ez were here, always so decisive, never overthinking as I do. But we separated from him and George in the tunnel right outside Cryptgarden.
Once we reached the city, it became clear we had at least one advantage: Cryptgarden is empty. From our vantage in the tunnel, we could spot Sira’s tower, Nether Reach, in the far south. It appeared as if a great celebration was being held, and everyone’s gone to attend.
We couldn’t pass up such an opportunity. Ezryn and George headed to Caspian’s palace to search for Rosalina and the rose while Dayton, the twins, and I made for the menagerie to find Kel.
“Don’t get into trouble,” I said to Ez as we separated.
“You’re telling me that?” he responded, and I could practically see his brow arching from behind the underfae helm he wore.
We made it to the menagerie without incident. There’d been the odd goblin guard, but whatever’s happening at Nether Reach has pulled the entire city’s attention.
Approaching the very edge of the zoo, we stand on the cliffside and peer down. There are a few jagged outcrops of rock, but after that, nothing. What’s deeper than the Below?
I turn to my party, their faces solemn. With no one around, we’ve ditched our underfae getups. Now Dayton and my brothers wear matching weary expressions.
Without Ez, I’ll have to decide where to go next.
“Kel’s not here. If we hurry, we can meet up with Ezryn and George and help search the palace.
” I walk away from the edge of the cliff and start making my way down the path, trying to block out the moans of the creatures, the stink of feces and blood.
Dayton steps in stride with me. “Or we could investigate the celebration at Nether Reach. Something’s happening there, and I bet Caspian’s involved.”
Dominic shadows my other side but stays silent, head downcast.
“Let’s get out of here—” I begin but notice someone’s missing.
Turning around, I see Billy standing rigid in the middle of the pathway. “Come on, Billy.”
“We can’t,” he says. His hands have formed tight fists.
“What are you talking about? Let’s go,” I urge.
He crosses his arms and shakes his head back and forth. “We came to the Below to save people, didn’t we? Well, then that’s what we have to do. Nobody gets left behind.”
Understanding dawns, and I look over at the cages. A wave of defeat hits me square in the chest. “I hate this as much as you do, but we don’t have time.”
Dom skitters from my side, running over to stand with his brother.
“Rosie would make time. No one gets left behind with her. Not the people of Hadria, not the soldiers on Voidseal Bridge.” He points a finger to a cage where a gryphon is curled in the corner, tattered wings wrapped around its body. “No one gets left behind.”
I take in a deep breath, the scent of neglect heavy on the air. Rosalina’s love hasn’t only touched me. It’s changed them, my brothers. Of course it has. Stories of the Golden Rose have spread across the realms.
And isn’t this what she’d want? These creatures have been left to rot and be tormented for how many years. What would Rosalina tell me?
Compassion is stronger than hate. And when we lead with love, we become all the more emboldened by it.
I turn to Dayton and raise a brow.
He shrugs. “Your brothers. Your call.”
I flick my gaze to the fierce faces of the twins. Little brothers. Boys. These words seem diminutive for the men they’re becoming. “Alright,” I grumble. “But if you free anything with teeth…run.”
A chorus of roars, hoots, and whinnying fills the air. I’m surprised all of Cryptgarden hasn’t come down on us by the racket we’ve made. Whatever’s happening in Nether Reach has stolen their attention.
I squat back on my heels, panting. My hands are still hot from melting so many locks, and fur and feathers stick to my clothes. I wonder if this is how Aurelia felt when she first created the Vale with all its inhabitants.
We are surrounded by creatures. Even the ones that make my hair stand on end, like the giant blue spider with its eight spying eyes, seem docile.
Maybe they’re all weak and underfed. But a part of me thinks they understand we’re trying to help.
A giant queen’s winter fox, whose soiled fur I imagine was once a stark white, rubs up against Billy, nearly knocking him off his feet, while Dom sits on the ground, picking thorns out of a gryphon’s paw.
“Hey! Over here!” Dayton calls. “There’s one more.”
I follow his voice behind a couple unlit lampposts and a tree crafted of obsidian. A small glass tank looms in the dark, so dirty the water appears black. But I catch glimmers of light within.
Dayton wraps on the glass. “Hello? Come to the surface if you can.”
Slowly, a pale face, two pink eyes, and stringy hair appear. With her now motionless, I can make out a tail through the gloom. A siren.
“Are you really here to help?” she says, her voice low and raspy. Her gaze flicks over the pathway, filled with meandering creatures.
“We are,” Dayton calls. “What’s your name?”
“Megaera.” She pulls herself up to the lip of the tank, then peers down, her eyes like glass orbs. “I know you. Son of Ovidius. Your father used to sail our waters.”
“And I will return you to such waters as soon as possible,” Dayton responds.
My eyes catch on her arm, hanging over the side. A steel band emblazoned with waves and stars winds around her forearm. A bargain circle.
“Are you trapped here?” I ask.
Her tail snaps with nervous agitation. “I made a bargain with a piece of scum that I’d sing on command until my feet touch land.” A breathy laugh escapes her. “They haven’t let me out of the water in years.”
I push the sleeves of my tunic up to the forearms. “Let’s see what we can do about that.”
Pressing my hands to the glass, I move my palm in a circle.
Orange light beams from between my fingers.
Heat radiates through my body: the warmth of a bonfire, the dappled glow of sunlight through leaves.
The glass begins to melt. With a crack, the heated circle fractures, shatters, and water surges out, pouring over our boots and the cobblestones.
Megaera yelps, swept into the current, gushing through the hole and spilling onto the pavement in a heap of pink fins.
Dom, never able to resist a lady in need, rushes over with an old blanket and lays it over her. I catch a glimpse of her tail shimmering into pale legs, the blanket twisting around her as she lifts her arm. The steel band evaporates away like water droplets on a pan.
She stares at her skin as if gazing upon the sun. “My bargain… It’s broken. I know a thousand songs, and none will ever capture this moment.” She peers from Dayton to me, then to Dom and Billy, who has run over to join him. “Thank you. How can I repay this?”
“Maybe you could tell us, have you seen a man?” Billy asks. “White hair? Kind of looks like a giant mixed with an abominable snowman?”
“He was kept in the cage on the edge of the cliffside. But they moved him for the revelry day party at Nether Reach.” Megaera winces, turning her gaze to the south.
“Sira’s throwing a celebration at her tower.
And if I’m not the entertainment, then someone else must be. Go there to search for your friend.”
Dayton helps her to her feet. “That’s what I was afraid of. But we’ve got to figure out a way to get you all out of here.”
She shakes her head. “You’ve done more than enough.
There’s a tunnel that leads to an underground river at the very back of the Gem.
I remember it from many years gone by. It’s a long road, but we can follow the riverbank.
Eventually it flows into one of the lochs outside Coppershire.
With the city emptied, I can make it there. ”
“What about them?” I ask, looking to the herd of creatures.
“I will lead them.” She holds her hand out to the spider, which closes its eyes and presses a mandible against her, chittering. “We’ve grown accustomed to one another after all these years.”
“Go then, quickly,” Dayton says, face falling as he too looks to the south. “We don’t know how long Kel will survive as entertainment.”
Megaera grabs my hand. “I’ll find a way to repay you one day.”
“How about this?” I manage a smile and look over all the creatures, holding as many of their gazes as I can. “Should the Golden Rose ever call for aid, you answer. Deal?”
The siren gives me an odd look but smiles. “It is a vow.”
Dayton, Dom, Billy, and I stand solemnly as we watch the strange flock of creatures follow Megaera’s lead out into the city.
When the last of them have ambled out of sight, I turn to Billy and nudge his shoulder. “Look at you, hero.”
Dayton ruffles his hair. “Practically Aeneas!”
“You too,” I say, grabbing Dom around the shoulders. The boys’ faces flush in the exact same pattern, starting from the apples of their cheeks and spreading over their noses.
A sense of pride fills me. My brothers, so strong in their convictions, brave and gentle.
That’s the kind of leader my mother was.
The kind I’m striving to be. Not ruled by fear but by this all-encompassing love.
I put my other arm around Billy and pull them both tight to me. “Thank you,” I whisper.
“For what?” Billy asks, words muffled in my shirt.
“For always teaching me.”
The boys give awkward laughs and push away, but I don’t want to let them go. Not yet—
“Fare?” Dayton’s voice.
I look up from the red thatches of my brothers’ hair.
Dayton’s wandered a few steps down the path, his back to me. “Are you doing this?” he asks.
“What—”
Then I see it. And as a cool shiver runs up my spine, I know it’s not me at all. For one by one, the lampposts of the menagerie flicker to life, burning with green flame.
“Draw your weapons,” I say. “We have to get out of here.”
But it’s too late. We’re pinned by the stone walls and cliffside as one by one, more lights flash green at the entrance of the menagerie. The lights shuffle into focus, and I see they belong to soldiers.
No.
They belong to the corpses of soldiers, wearing Autumn armor.
My soldiers.