Cold Days
Page 20
And man, does it ever hurt them.
The ogre's wrist burst into a sudden coruscation of yellow-white flame, as bright as that of an arc welder. The ogre howled and jerked its arm away from Sarissa's head as if he'd been a child experimenting with a penny and an electrical outlet.
Sarissa spun on her heel and slashed the little steel rod across the ogre's thigh.
It howled in primal fury and flinched back, sweeping one long arm at her in pure reflex.
Sarissa caught only a tiny fraction of the blow, but it was enough to send her staggering. She fell only a couple of feet away from me and looked up, her eyes dazed.
Her lower lip had been split wide-open.
A large ruby droplet fell from her lip and hung in the air, shining and perfect, and stayed there for half of forever. Then it finally splashed down onto the icy floor.
There was a shrieking hiss as the blood hit the supernatural ice, a sound somewhere between a hot skillet and a high-pressure industrial accident. The ice beneath the drop of blood shattered, as if the droplet had been unimaginably heavy, and a web of dark cracks shot out for fifty feet in every direction.
The music stopped. The Redcap froze. So did everyone else.
Mab rose out of her chair, and somehow in that instant of action she crossed the distance from her high seat, as though the simple act of standing up were what propelled her to the space nearby. As she came, the pallid finery of her dress darkened to raven black, as if the air had contained a fine mist of ink. Her hair darkened as well to the same color, and her eyes turned entirely black, sclera and all, as did her nails. The skin seemed to cling harder to her bones, making her beautiful features gaunt and terrible.
The Redcap flinched away from me and dragged himself back with his arms, getting clear. Give credit where it's due: He might have been a sadistic, bloodthirsty monster, but he wasn't a stupid one.
The furious, burned ogre wasn't bright enough to realize what was happening. Still smoldering, still enraged, it came stomping toward Sarissa.
"Knight," Mab said, the word a whipcrack.
Maeve came to the edge of the platform and clutched her hands into fists, her mouth twisted into a snarl.
I didn't get up off the ground. There wasn't time. Instead, I focused my will upon the advancing ogre and funneled my anger and my pain into the spell, along with the frozen core of power within me. I unleashed the energy as I thundered, "Ventas servitas!"
The ogre was only a couple of yards from Sarissa when the gale of arctic wind I'd called up slammed into the thing and lifted its massive bulk completely off the ground. It tossed the ogre a good ten feet away. It landed in a tumble, dug its claws into the ice, and fought its way back to its feet.
I rose from the ground, acutely conscious of Mab's black presence just over my left shoulder, of the watching eyes of the Winter Court.
I'd toldSarissa this was my first day in prison, and the yard was full of things that could and would kill me if they got the chance. It was time for an object lesson.
I reached down into the cold inside of me. It was painful to touch that power, like throwing yourself into icy water, like emerging from warm covers into the shuddering cold of an unheated apartment on a winter morning. I didn't like it, but I knew how to get it.
All I had to do was think about everyone I'd let down. Everyone I'd left behind back in Chicago. My brother, Thomas. My apprentice, Molly. My friends. My daughter. Karrin. I thought about them and it felt like something in my chest was starting to tear in half.
The Winter inside me was torment and agony-but at least when I was immersed in it, I couldn't feel.
I lifted my right arm, the side that projects energy, focused my will, and shouted, "Infriga!"
There was a flash of light, an arctic howl, a scream of air suddenly condensed into liquid, and an explosion of frost and fog centered upon the ogre. The air became a solid fog bank, a rolling mist, and for several seconds there was silence. I waited for the mist to disperse, and after several long seconds it began to clear away, swept along by the remnants of the gale I had called first.
When it cleared, the entire Winter Court could see the ogre, standing crouched just as it had been when I threw the spell at it.
I waited for a moment more, letting everyone see the ogre standing absolutely still in defiance of Mab's law.
Then I drew forth my will again, extended my hand, and snarled, "Forzare!" A lance of invisible power lashed out at the ogre-and when it struck, the frozen monster shattered into thousands of icy chunks, the largest of which was about the size of my fist.
The bits of the former ogre exploded over several hundred square yards of the dance floor, and grisly frozen shrapnel pelted the watching Sidhe and sent them reeling back with shouts of alarm. The Sidhe gathered themselves again, and every one of those bright eyes locked onto me, their expressions alien, unreadable.
From one of the back corners, I heard a deep, heartily amused chuckle rolling through the air. Kringle, I thought.
I turned to Mab and almost spoke-but then I remembered her other law and closed my mouth.
Mab's mouth twitched in an approving microsmile, and she nodded her head at me.
"If you consent, I would speak to them."
She stared at me with those black carrion-bird eyes and nodded.
First, I helped Sarissa to her feet, passing her a clean white handkerchief, which she immediately pressed to her mouth. I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile. Then I took a deep breath and turned to address the room, turning in a slow circle as I spoke to be sure I included everyone. My voice echoed throughout the whole chamber as clearly as if I'd been using a PA system.
The ogre's wrist burst into a sudden coruscation of yellow-white flame, as bright as that of an arc welder. The ogre howled and jerked its arm away from Sarissa's head as if he'd been a child experimenting with a penny and an electrical outlet.
Sarissa spun on her heel and slashed the little steel rod across the ogre's thigh.
It howled in primal fury and flinched back, sweeping one long arm at her in pure reflex.
Sarissa caught only a tiny fraction of the blow, but it was enough to send her staggering. She fell only a couple of feet away from me and looked up, her eyes dazed.
Her lower lip had been split wide-open.
A large ruby droplet fell from her lip and hung in the air, shining and perfect, and stayed there for half of forever. Then it finally splashed down onto the icy floor.
There was a shrieking hiss as the blood hit the supernatural ice, a sound somewhere between a hot skillet and a high-pressure industrial accident. The ice beneath the drop of blood shattered, as if the droplet had been unimaginably heavy, and a web of dark cracks shot out for fifty feet in every direction.
The music stopped. The Redcap froze. So did everyone else.
Mab rose out of her chair, and somehow in that instant of action she crossed the distance from her high seat, as though the simple act of standing up were what propelled her to the space nearby. As she came, the pallid finery of her dress darkened to raven black, as if the air had contained a fine mist of ink. Her hair darkened as well to the same color, and her eyes turned entirely black, sclera and all, as did her nails. The skin seemed to cling harder to her bones, making her beautiful features gaunt and terrible.
The Redcap flinched away from me and dragged himself back with his arms, getting clear. Give credit where it's due: He might have been a sadistic, bloodthirsty monster, but he wasn't a stupid one.
The furious, burned ogre wasn't bright enough to realize what was happening. Still smoldering, still enraged, it came stomping toward Sarissa.
"Knight," Mab said, the word a whipcrack.
Maeve came to the edge of the platform and clutched her hands into fists, her mouth twisted into a snarl.
I didn't get up off the ground. There wasn't time. Instead, I focused my will upon the advancing ogre and funneled my anger and my pain into the spell, along with the frozen core of power within me. I unleashed the energy as I thundered, "Ventas servitas!"
The ogre was only a couple of yards from Sarissa when the gale of arctic wind I'd called up slammed into the thing and lifted its massive bulk completely off the ground. It tossed the ogre a good ten feet away. It landed in a tumble, dug its claws into the ice, and fought its way back to its feet.
I rose from the ground, acutely conscious of Mab's black presence just over my left shoulder, of the watching eyes of the Winter Court.
I'd toldSarissa this was my first day in prison, and the yard was full of things that could and would kill me if they got the chance. It was time for an object lesson.
I reached down into the cold inside of me. It was painful to touch that power, like throwing yourself into icy water, like emerging from warm covers into the shuddering cold of an unheated apartment on a winter morning. I didn't like it, but I knew how to get it.
All I had to do was think about everyone I'd let down. Everyone I'd left behind back in Chicago. My brother, Thomas. My apprentice, Molly. My friends. My daughter. Karrin. I thought about them and it felt like something in my chest was starting to tear in half.
The Winter inside me was torment and agony-but at least when I was immersed in it, I couldn't feel.
I lifted my right arm, the side that projects energy, focused my will, and shouted, "Infriga!"
There was a flash of light, an arctic howl, a scream of air suddenly condensed into liquid, and an explosion of frost and fog centered upon the ogre. The air became a solid fog bank, a rolling mist, and for several seconds there was silence. I waited for the mist to disperse, and after several long seconds it began to clear away, swept along by the remnants of the gale I had called first.
When it cleared, the entire Winter Court could see the ogre, standing crouched just as it had been when I threw the spell at it.
I waited for a moment more, letting everyone see the ogre standing absolutely still in defiance of Mab's law.
Then I drew forth my will again, extended my hand, and snarled, "Forzare!" A lance of invisible power lashed out at the ogre-and when it struck, the frozen monster shattered into thousands of icy chunks, the largest of which was about the size of my fist.
The bits of the former ogre exploded over several hundred square yards of the dance floor, and grisly frozen shrapnel pelted the watching Sidhe and sent them reeling back with shouts of alarm. The Sidhe gathered themselves again, and every one of those bright eyes locked onto me, their expressions alien, unreadable.
From one of the back corners, I heard a deep, heartily amused chuckle rolling through the air. Kringle, I thought.
I turned to Mab and almost spoke-but then I remembered her other law and closed my mouth.
Mab's mouth twitched in an approving microsmile, and she nodded her head at me.
"If you consent, I would speak to them."
She stared at me with those black carrion-bird eyes and nodded.
First, I helped Sarissa to her feet, passing her a clean white handkerchief, which she immediately pressed to her mouth. I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile. Then I took a deep breath and turned to address the room, turning in a slow circle as I spoke to be sure I included everyone. My voice echoed throughout the whole chamber as clearly as if I'd been using a PA system.
