The Red Rider E-Book

Russell Nohelty

• Herausgeber: Wannabe Press
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

The end is nigh. The Dream Realm will fall. All is lost.

Epialas has invaded the Dream Realm, and his monsters carve a path of destruction from Agrona’s Mountains toward the Emerald City, annihilating everything that stands in their way.

The whole of Urgu’s survival rests on Red’s ability to secure a key that will open the door to Earth and allow Hypnos reentry into his kingdom for a final showdown with his evil brother.

Back on Earth, Rose has found the God of Dreams, and they set out to save his kingdom, but can they find a way back to the Emerald City before Epialas burns everything to the ground?

Find out in the fourth book of The Obsidian Spindle Saga. If you love mythology, fairy tales, magical fantasy adventures, political intrigue, and high stakes action, then you’ll love this series.

Get it now.

Leseprobe

The Red Rider

THE OBSIDIAN SPINDLE SAGA

BOOK FOUR

RUSSELL NOHELTY

Contents

Special thanks

1. Red

2. Nimue

3. Rose

4. Aine

5. Boudica

6. Rose

7. Red

8. Nimue

9. Aine

10. Boudica

11. Red

12. Nimue

13. Boudica

14. Rose

15. Aine

16. Nimue

17. Red

18. Boudica

19. Rose

20. Nimue

21. Red

22. Aine

23. Rose

24. Red

25. Nimue

26. Red

27. Rose

28. Aine

29. Rose

30. Red

31. Aine

32. Nimue

33. Boudica

34. Red

35. Rose

36. Aine

37. Red

38. Rose

39. Aine

40. Nimue

41. Red

42. Aine

43. Nimue

44. Rose

45. Aine

46. Rose

47. Nimue

48. Red

49. Rose

50. Aine

51. Red

52. Nimue

53. Red

54. Aine

55. Rose

Author Note

The Sword Wielder Preview

Gwen

Rose

Also By Russell Nohelty

About the Author

Special thanks

Adriane Ruzak, Amanda Jackson, Angela, Anthony Bachman, Caledonia, Caspar Williams, Celeste and Bryan Cornish, Chad Bowden, Chris Call, Chris Meeson, Christopher C Epping, Christopher Prew, CJ Ives Lopez, Daniel Biittner, Daniel Groves, Dave Baxter, Dave Goldberg, David Chamberlain, David Drummond, David Straube, Desiree Duffy, DJ Inzeo, Ed S, Edward Nycz Jr., Emerson Kasak, Erin Congdon, Gabriella Farmer, Gary Phillips, Hannah Long, Hollie Buchanan II, Jeff Lewis, Jennifer & Charlie Geer, John C. Heller, Johnny Britt, Jon Tugan, Joshua Bowers, Joshua Pantalleresco, Juli, Kimberly Herout, Larry Gilman, Lincoln City Archery, Lisa Homolka, Lisa Lyons, Matthew Johnson, Maxi Organ, Melissa Showers, Michael Kingston, Michael Perler, Mike Jones, Monkey King Comics, Nic Nelson, Nick Smith, Paul Rose Jr., Per Stalby, Rachel Adams, Rhel ná DecVandé, Richard A Williams, Rob MacAndrew, Rowan, S.A. McClure, Salvatore Puma, Scott Kilburn, Stephen Ballentine, Steven "Waffles" Lane, Taiga Char, Talinda Willard (everfai), Victoria Nohelty, and Walter Weiss

The Red Rider

Book 4 of the Obsidian Spindle Saga

By:

Russell Nohelty

Edited by:

Leah Lederman

Proofread by:

Katrina Roets

Cover by:

JV Arts

Formatting by:

Turbo Kitten Industries

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental. The Red Rider. First edition. July 2021. Copyright © 2019 Russell Nohelty. Written by Russell Nohelty.

Chapter1

Red

The Mountain Realm.

Getting here nearly killed me.

But I arrived, and in one piece.

The army from the Nightmare Realm was formidable and hideous, but they were dumb and easy to outmaneuver on foot, especially if you weren’t overburdened with other people. I had abandoned my sand salamander long ago, as the dust and dirt it kicked up gave away my position. The desert was a slog, but once I entered the hilly terrain of the mountains, it was easier to conceal my trail.

Besides, the monsters weren’t looking for me, they were looking for a fight. The Golden Sun of Sekhmet’s troops waited for them at the border between the Mountain Realm and the lion god’s Sandlands.

From the base of Agrona’s Mountain, I was sure I could see the fight raging in the distance, but it was impossible. My mind was playing tricks on me. The fighting took place beyond the horizon, two days' journey behind me. Even my perfect eyesight could not make out fifty miles in the distance.

As I took a moment to catch my breath, a hot wind blew past my face. The trees above me quivered, signaling a massive monster making its way through the forest. I rolled behind an exposed rock. The branches above me snapped, and a giant molten foot smashed down onto the ground with a loud crash. Another foot smashed down in front of it slowly, plodding, without any sense of urgency. There was no need to be urgent when every step the lava golem took carried it a hundred yards forward.

Three more steps and the quaking around me stopped; the golem shrank in the distance. I didn’t know what kind of beacon called the monsters of the Nightmare Realm to the border of the Sandlands, but every monster I came across was making a beeline for the battlefront. Their singular focus made it easier to avoid them.

I clasped Sekhmet’s necklace tightly in my fingers and closed my eyes. She told me the necklace would protect me from the horror of the Nightmare Realm, and so far I had been safe from attack, but I would never know if that was because of my own prowess or because of the charm given to me by the lioness.

“Please, please, please,” I mumbled to the charm. “This has to work. Gods of Urgu, protect and guide my steps.”

There was a long way to go before my quest was over. I needed to make it over the mountains and into the Land of Oz, and then dive into the water past the Emerald City where Nox made her home under the sea, protected by the vicious mermaids. I once thought that the mermaids were protectors of the Obsidian Spindle, but had come to understand that they served Nox, goddess of the dark. They were guardians of a key that Sekhmet required to end this war between Urgu and the Nightmare Realm.

Nox was also the mother of both Epiales, god of nightmares, and Hypnos, god of dreams and true ruler of the Dream Realm. He had long abandoned us; he hadn’t been seen in the Dream Realm in a hundred years. Epiales was taking advantage of that fact. In the Dream God’s absence, the god of nightmares worked to take control of Urgu, and everything it touched. Without Hypnos, the only being who had more power than Epiales in the Dream Realm was Nox, and thus it was my quest to find her. I could not fail. If I did, then we would all be doomed.

It would not be easy. Getting to the Land of Oz was hard enough. The terrain was tough and unyielding and once I managed to traverse it, I would have to climb the Wall of Itherium, a 300-foot high border meant to fend off magical beasts and gods alike, and one of Hypnos’s best defenses to protect his throne in the Emerald City from harm.

There were ways through the Wall, though. I knew of one, and my friend Gyda, who lived high atop the trees in the Mountain Realm, used to speak of another that sounded like it was easier to traverse. I just hoped when I got to her house she was still there, and that I could finish my task before Epiales’s grasp on Urgu was complete.

I dropped my grip on the necklace and stood, craning my neck to view the mountain above me. I could not fail. The Dream Realm would not fall while my soul stood intact. I pushed up from the ground and rushed through the gap the lava golem had made. Screams erupted from higher on the mountain as I disappeared into the trees. The monsters were still coming, and nothing could stop them, except for Nox.

Chapter2

Nimue

I was sick of the Nightmare Realm. Every moment I spent on the odd, ethereal plane ruled by the mad god Epiales was one too many. And now, there were not even the sounds of the creatures that went bump in the darkness to distract my wandering mind. The demon Etsop told me they had all been conscripted to fight in the Dream Realm. Their moans had always been unsettling, but the silence was worse.

There was an odd stillness to the Nightmare Realm, too. There used to be not only sounds, but also the wind that brushed across my face and through the abundant neon flowers. The wind now was as still as the Nightmare Realm was silent.

I wanted to get out. I needed to get out. The only reason I lingered here was because of the plan Etsop devised to send me to Earth. He got the idea from Rose, the Dreamer who apparently made it back to Earth and woke up from her unconscious stupor. Most Dreamers were not so lucky as to wake up and remained in their dreams until their bodies faded away. Etsop claimed I could possess one of them, as he had once possessed a human, and locked me inside its body.

However, that required him to be on Earth to procure a body, and my soul could not transfer there without vaporizing. So, I was left waiting in the open meadow where I once stood with Esther, the Gorgon monster—at once my mortal enemy and the only real friend I had made in a thousand years—as we searched for Epiales. I killed her when she learned that I was not her daughter’s friend, but her sworn nemesis.

I didn’t want to kill her. In truth, I hadn’t ever wanted to kill anyone, but my hands had seen much violence. While I had no bloodlust in my veins, I had a certain…survival instinct. Survival means power, and power means fear, and fear means the death of my enemies.

In a flash and a crash, Etsop’s shop appeared before me. Made from mortar and brick, it glowed a haunting green around the edges, and yet, while it glowed, it did not stick out against the vibrant neon of the rest of the Nightmare Realm.

The back door cracked open, and a tall, gangly man with deeply sunken eyes stared out at me. His smile was unnatural, as if two hooks pushed up the creases on the outside of it against the will of a perpetual frown.

“Thank you for waiting,” Etsop said in a scratchy voice. “It took longer than I expected.”

“I’ll say,” I said in a snit. “It’s been several days, not a couple of hours.”

“Hours, days, months, years...it’s all the same to me. What matters is I have procured a vessel for you. If you’ll come with me, we can get started.”

I followed him through the door into his haunted pet shop. Every cage rattled on my way to the back counter, each one filled with the wild, twisted beasts of nightmares. Unlike the silence of the Nightmare Realm, the beasts inside the shop cackled, howled, and rattled their cages as I passed. Perhaps once I would have feared them, but after days of muted silence, their squawks were a welcome respite from the onslaught of my own thoughts.

“Please, lay inside the outline,” Etsop said, gesturing down at the floor. “Be very precise. Otherwise, it won’t work.” He had moved aside a shelving unit in the middle of the store, and where there used to be feed and pet toys, there was an empty space on the floor with the outline of a human being on it, drawn in red.

“Is that blood?”

“Yes, yes, dear. I’m a demon, you realize. Most of our magic is made with blood.”

“I hear blood magic is the most powerful in the world,” I replied, thinking back to Esther, who had shared that tidbit with me. My old Gorgon friend racing across my mind caused a twinge in my stomach.

“That it is, my dear,” Etsop said with a gentle nod and gestured again at the floor. “Now, please.”

I stepped into the outline and moved to the ground, sliding onto my back. I extended my arms and shifted my feet until I was perfectly inside Etsop’s outline. I was a queen once, before I became an outcast lying on the floor in a pool of blood. If it sent me back to Earth, I would put up with any degradation. All I had wanted since entering the Dream Realm was a chance to go back to Earth, to feel the true grass under my feet, and to taste the sweet taste of real food; to be rid of the artificiality that made up both the dream and Nightmare Realms, where everything was a poor imitation of the real thing.

“Where is the girl?” I asked.

“Well, I couldn’t bring her with me, dearie. Bodies are fragile. She would never withstand what I was trying to do to her in this realm. She will barely survive it on Earth.”

“Chelle made it through with a body,” I mumbled. Chelle was the half-Gorgon daughter of Esther, and she began the downfall of my reign when she entered the Dream Realm to find her girlfriend Rose, the Dreamer.

“Well, yes, but she wasn’t using blood magic nor layering it with soul magic, both of which have a habit of going pear-shaped in this place.” Etsop waited for a moment before continuing. “Besides, this realm becomes less stable by the day. I only hope it survives the war.”

Esther had made blood magic once. She had used the blood of a bullfrog to find Epiales’s cave, but it was very simple magic, not the kind of magic we were trying to execute. Instead of arguing, I decided to just smile at him.

“What kind of girl is she?” I asked.

Etsop shrugged. “You all look the same to me. She looks like you, I suppose. Or maybe not, but enough that you will be happy, I think. I’m not sure. Please don’t fill my head with trivialities. I have much more important things to do.”

As long as I didn’t look like Etsop, I would be happy. Of course, I would never say that out loud, but part of me thought he might be able to read my mind, because a sneer ran over his face.

“Don’t move,” he said. “The slightest twitch could destroy the process.”

“Where is the girl?”

“She’s nowhere and everywhere at once. I created a pocket dimension on Earth which will pop the minute you inhabit her brain and I return to the Earth realm to retrieve you.”

“Sounds lovely.”

“It won’t be, but she’s in a coma so it makes no difference to her,” Etsop said. “Now that you are here and you’ve agreed to this, there are some things I need to tell you. First, you will be in my debt until such time as I release you. Agreed?”

“What does ‘in your debt’ mean?”

“It means you will owe me considerably. Usually I ask for a single favor, but this is a very big ask, so I will require your help in matters…until such time as I no longer need you.”

“What if I die?”

“That matters little,” he said. “You can be very helpful in death. I dare say you would be more helpful in death than in life.”

I didn’t have any other choice. Not if I wanted to return to Earth, and I desperately did. “Fine. I agree.”

“Very good. Very, very good. Now, the second thing is that this poor girl’s consciousness will not want to let you overtake it. It will fight to remove you like a virus. You must show it you belong, and that you are the boss of it. Show no mercy.”

“How do I do that?” I asked, watching him pace above me.

“You seem to be very good at wielding power, from what little I know of you. Use that to your advantage, but do it more gently than I do,” Etsop said, pointing to himself. “Reason with the body. Make it understand who you are and what you want with it. It is waiting for its master, and you must prove that you are better than its master. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“I cannot help you. I can only show you the path. You must walk it.”

I nodded. “I get it. I understand. Can we get on with this already?”

“Very well,” Estop said with a tilt of his head. “Close your eyes. Remember, lay perfectly still.”

I closed my eyes tightly. The next time I opened them, I would be on Earth. A smile tried to creep across my face, but I fought against it, heeding Etsop’s warning to be still. He was mumbling over me, and through my eyelids I saw a looming brightness. I held myself completely still, and the brightness fell onto me. Its heat consumed me, and I fought against it, crying out in pain. Had Etsop betrayed me? Or was this part of the process?

As quickly as it came upon me, it was over. There was a cool breeze and I felt the floor fall out from under me. Instinctively, I opened my eyes and saw that I was falling in the darkness, suspended by the nothingness, gone from Etsop’s shop and everything I once knew. Now, I was truly on my own.

Chapter3

Rose

“Let’s go save my world.”

Those were the last words Hypnos said to me and Jamil before he stood, took a step forward, and collapsed in a drunken stupor. Hypnos was nothing like the regal, majestic god from my memory, the shimmering god who met me in the clouds above the Emerald City and gave me his blessing—nothing like this lush at my feet.

I was used to disappointment at this point, though. Why should a god be any different? Jamil and I each grabbed one of his arms and threw it over our shoulders, hoisting him up. I placed the pink dream orb in my pocket.

When we originally entered the casino, Gwen and I both thought it was a dump, full of cobwebs and mold. Jamil, a dryad, was able to see through the illusion meant to fool humans and recognized that the casino was filled with opulence and mythological creatures.

I had been sent there to deliver a package as part of a quest given to me by the demon Etsop. Once we arrived, Gwen, a former “quest girl” we’d met along the way, opened the package to reveal a dream orb, the currency of the Dream Realm where I was once both prisoner and queen. The dream orb allowed me to see the casino as Jamil had, which was how I found Hypnos in the first place, though I had no idea why Etsop would want me to.

“Stay with him,” I said to Jamil when we finally got Hypnos into his suite. He was sloppy drunk, by human or divine standards, and Jamil caught him as he mumbled and slid off the bed.

“Screw this, man,” Jamil said. “I’ll help you get him sober, but then I’m out. I don’t need this noise.”

“You can’t be out!” I replied, spinning around to her. “We need you. The Dream Realm needs you.”

“Girl, I don’t care about the Dream Realm, and I didn’t sign up for any of this. You remember what Gwen said about quest girls? I ain’t about that life.”

Gwen had been a quest girl in her past. She said that gods and creatures choose broken, wounded people for quests because they could be easily manipulated and had little to live for besides a little excitement. Gwen said it fit her to a tee, especially now since her best friend was dead and her boyfriend was in a mental asylum.

“Fine,” I said. I didn’t want a fight. “Just don’t leave before I get back.”

“Don’t worry.” Jamil’s voice dripped with bitterness. “I won’t leave the drunk.”

“I’m not drunk!” Hypnos said, snapping out of his sleep for a moment before collapsing back on the bed.

This was stupid. Still, if I wanted to find Chelle again, I needed to get back to the Dream Realm, and Hypnos was my best shot. Everybody said that I was an idiot for wanting to go back. Everybody I met in Urgu would give their life to return to Earth, but Earth meant nothing to me without Chelle, and she was stuck in the Dream Realm. Even with Chelle I barely cared about the world, but without her, it was meaningless.

I walked out of the suite and back down to the casino, taking the orb from my pocket and squeezing it in my hands. It gave freely, like a stress ball, and I could manipulate it in my hands, but it never broke.

I walked down the steps into the casino and spun to avoid an orcish barmaid with a plate of drinks in her hand. I had left Gwen on a bench in the lobby. With any luck, she would still be waiting for me.

I placed the dream orb on the ground and the casino immediately dropped away from me, all its glamour vanishing into gray blandness. In place of the chiming slot machines and glittering chandeliers there was nothing but overturned chairs and rotting wood.

Gwen, who was sitting on the same bench where I left her, kicked her legs under her and combed her pink-streaked black hair with her fingers. When I materialized in front of her, she skittered up to the wall, fully freaked out.

“Holy crap!” she shouted. “Where did you come from?”

“I was here the whole time,” I said, quietly, trying to calm her nerves. “We all were. There’s an illusion around this whole place that makes it look like a dump.” I grabbed her hand and moved it to the orb with mine. “Here. See for yourself.”

The darkness melted and we were again surrounded by the beauty of the casino. Gwen frowned until her bright green eyes were slits between her eyelids. “Of course. Stupid magic.”

She dropped the orb and we were again in the dark, dank, drabness of the decrepit casino. I smiled at her. “I mean, it was a little cool.”

“That’s the problem with magic. It’s all a little cool and a little stupid.”

“So, does that mean you won’t help us with Hypnos?” I searched her face.

She sighed. “No. It doesn’t mean that, because I’m an idiot, but I’m not doing it for free. I want something out of the deal.”

“I have nothing to give you,” I replied.

“Not from you,” she said, indignant. “From Hypnos.”

“Hypnos is a bit indisposed at the moment. I don’t know if he can grant favors, and I certainly can’t.”

Gwen folded her arms. “Then I’m not helping.”

I grumbled to myself. “Fine. I hope this works.” I grabbed Gwen’s hand and the orb. The stale, moldy casino disappeared and in its place was the busy, beautiful one. I turned back to see Gwen staring all around her. “I guess it worked.”

“I guess so, unfortunately.” Gwen grimaced. “I was hoping I wouldn’t be able to help and could go home, but I guess I’m in it for the time being.”

I dragged her upstairs to Hypnos’s suite. When we entered, I heard laughing coming from the bedroom. Two sets of laughter, guffawing at something uproariously funny. When I walked into Hypnos’s room, I saw him sitting on the bed drinking a glass of water. Jamil was wiping her eyes, still laughing.

“You’re back!” Hypnos said.

“You’re…sober,” I replied.

Hypnos shook his head. “I was never drunk, my dear, or at least, not like you think. I just had about fifty billion dreams crash into me at once. That’s enough to make anybody dizzy in the head. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“I wasn’t worried,” I replied, but nobody was buying it. “Okay, so maybe I was a little concerned. Sue me.”

“No plans to. There’s work to be done.” Hypnos cocked his head at Gwen. “And who is this lovely creature?”

“That’s Gwen,” I said. “She’s an ex-quest girl, and she’s willing to help in any way we need her, for a price.”

“Well, not ‘in any way,’ but in many ways,” Gwen corrected me. Her voice was terse.

“Do we need her help?” Hypnos asked, giving her an appraising look.

“I think so,” I replied. “She’s already been very helpful for free. I can’t imagine how helpful she would be if we paid her.”

Hypnos cocked an eyebrow. “I’m intrigued. All right, wow me. What can a mortal do to help me?”

Jamil chuckled. “Exactly. You’re a god.”

“A god who’s only been on Earth a year, and now needs to go home,” Gwen said. “Do you know how to get home?”

“Of course, I just have to find one of the doors my mother left for me, and everything will be fine. No problem. Barely an inconvenience. I’ll be back in the Dream Realm by noon.” He stopped for a moment and scratched his chin. “Of course, there is the case of my brother in the Nightmare Realm. I left him chained, but if my visions are true, he has escaped and is waging war. There will be a great disturbance in the balance of power. Epiales has grown strong—perhaps too powerful for me to take on myself.”

“I know somebody who can go between the Nightmare Realm and Earth. Perhaps he can help gain you support in the Nightmare Realm,” I said. “Do you know the demon Etsop?”

Hypnos spat on the ground. “A ruddy demon if I ever knew one.”

“He’s the worst,” Gwen said. “But he could be helpful. I’ll track him down and try to bring him to our side…for a price.”

“Name it,” Hypnos said.

“I want my boyfriend’s brain mended. He…touched Chaos. Now all of his memories and thoughts are jumbled together.”

“Chaos is my grandfather, one of the primordial ones. What business did you have with him?”

“I used to be a quest girl. I came in contact with all types of crazy things.” Gwen rolled her eyes and put her hand on her hip. “That’s my price. My boyfriend’s sanity for my help.”

“If you help me—and I expect your help to be substantial—then I will help you fix your boyfriend’s broken brain. I just hope what you find will be worth the cost. If he has been warped by Chaos⁠—”

“He hasn’t,” Gwen said. “Brad would never succumb. I know he’s in there.”

“Very well. If you help me, then I can make it happen for you.” Hypnos reached into his pocket and pulled out two golden strands of silk, which fluttered in the recirculated air. He wrapped one in a piece of string and placed it around Gwen’s neck. Then, he placed another around mine. “This is a single hair from Apate, goddess of illusion and trickery. It will allow you to see what we see, as we see it.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Why do you have that?” Jamil asked. “I mean, what a weird thing to have.”

Hypnos shrugged. “Gods are weird.”

He picked the dream orb from my hand and placed it in Gwen’s. “Show this to Etsop. It is an acknowledgement of my return, and that you speak for me. Do not offer a favor from me under any circumstances. I will not be in the debt of a trickster.”

Gwen nodded. “Got it. After that, I’ll be gone.” She turned to Jamil. “Do you need a lift?”

Jamil shook her head. “No, I think I’m going to stay a while. You kids have fun, though.”

“Very well,” Hypnos said, holding his hand out for me. “Shall we?”

“You want me to come with you?” I said. “I thought I would go with Gwen⁠—”

“She is on her own path,” Hypnos replied. “Is it not your wish to enter the Dream Realm?”

I nodded. “More than anything.”

“Then let us away.”

I placed my hand in his giant paw. He snapped his fingers and we vanished.

Chapter4

Aine

I was a prisoner. Again.

I was once a queen. I suppose I was still a queen, but one without a castle, and without freedom. No, I was not bound in a cell. I was under the ever-watchful eye of Epiales, the god of nightmares, and usurper to the rule of the Dream Realm.

Hypnos had abandoned us 100 years ago, and now we were in the hands of his deceitful brother, who devalued human and fairy kind alike. He thought us stupid and boorish, and I could do nothing when he spoke of his hatred for my people, lest he destroy me with a thought.

Because I was a queen, once and forever.

A queen knew how to be cordial and regal even in the face of a despot. I have known my share of usurpers and despots. They lusted for power as they bellowed and bragged, hoping their boisterous attitude would make up for their illegitimate claim to the throne. I feared despots because they tended to lash out like wounded dogs when questioned. One question would lead to others, and the house of cards that held up their rule would crumble under them.

Epiales took up occupancy in the trickster god Loki’s temple, situated in the center of a misty, stench-ridden bog. Swampy vines twisted and tangled on the walls. He drummed his fingers on the corroded black throne rotting beneath him.

“It will be glorious,” he mumbled to me as I fluttered in the air so I could maintain eye contact with him. Like a mangy dog, you could not break eye contact with a despot, or they will assume dominance and see you as weak. Weakness was death with a usurper. Despots needed strong allies to solidify their claim to the throne. Then again, you could not be too strong, or you would be a threat to their rule, and they would destroy you on the spot.

“What would be glorious, my lord?” Courtesy was the easiest way to comfort a despot. A smile and a gentle tilt of the head went a long way to ease their troubled minds.

He had been silent for a long while, but he often liked to wrinkle his brow and stare off into space, then come back with a proclamation as if he was still trying to convince me he would be a strong ruler. As a strong ruler with no doubt of my claim to the throne of the fairy realm, he seemed to need my approval of him more than he should, given his position as a god.

“My rule,” he said, determined. “This place, Urgu, has never lived up to its potential under the rule of my brother.”

His lip curled into a snarl as he said the word “brother.” I did not know anything about his relationship to Hypnos, but Epiales’s tone when speaking about him indicated hatred. And yet something else behind his eyes betrayed a deep-seated fear at a potential confrontation with Hypnos.

After listening to him for hours, I had gathered that he worried Hypnos was more powerful than he was. Despots could never reveal their fears. They had to appear flawless and perfect at all times, or they faced a takeover from the conniving among them.

“Do you not believe me?” Epiales said, leaning toward me.

“Yes, your majesty.” I replied with the lightest voice I could muster. “I believe every word. Urgu has been without a god to rule over it for too long.”

“And the only logical choice is me to rule it, as my brother is indisposed. Isn’t that correct?”

I nodded. “Of course, your majesty. Only you have the power to rule Urgu properly.”

“Hrm,” Epiales said. “You always say the right things, fairy. I can see why you have maintained power for so long.”

I smiled appreciatively. “I hope to help you rule for an eternity as well.”

“Do you?” His eyes narrowed.

My smile broadened. “Of course, my lord.”

“Good, because there is something I need from you, my dear.”

I swallowed. “And what is that?”

“There is a spell, one that only the fairies know— one which can kill anything at will, even a god.”

The thought of it triggered a memory in my subconscious, but I couldn’t access it. A shiver ran through me as my thoughts drifted to the crack of lightning from my past. “I do not know such a spell.”

“I hope you are wrong,” Epiales said. “For it is the reason you are still alive. It is a secret passed from fairy queen to fairy queen as far back as I can remember, and you are the only queen in Urgu. Even the gods do not know this spell.”

“But you must have other spells that can kill.”

“I do, but I fear they will not work in the coming confrontation, and I need all I can find to gain the upper hand.”

“I will try to remember the spell for you.”

He stared deeply into my eyes. “See that you do.”

Footsteps behind me broke my concentration and I turned to see who disturbed us. In my time in Loki’s Castle I had not seen another visitor. I gulped loudly when I saw the hulking visage of Agrona standing in the hallway. Her glowing white eyes lit up the dank darkness and electrified the air around her.

“My queen!” Epiales said, rushing toward her. He held out his arms and Agrona gathered him into hers and squeezed him tightly, lifting him into the air with a long and passionate kiss.

“What are you doing here?” Epiales said. “I thought we agreed you would stay in your keep until every last monster from my realm was through the portal.”

“This is true, my love,” Agrona said. “But I could not wait another moment without seeing you. It has been a century, and one more second was too much to bear.”

“So sweet, my love.” Epiales smiled. “Can you please put me down now?

Agrona stole another kiss from him. She was a mountain compared to Epiales, easily twice his size. When she had stolen a third kiss, the goddess dropped him, and her eyes turned to me. “What is she doing here?”

“She is my guest, my love.”

Agrona’s steps shook the whole temple as she moved toward me. “She came to me with Hera and took the Book of Souls from me.”

Epiales held up his hand. “And she brought it back to me. She pledged her loyalty.”

“Her loyalty is fleeting and worthless.” Agrona raised her fist over her head. “Let me smash her like the bug she is.”

“Help!” I shouted. The sound eked out of me before I could think. I couldn’t help it. The Mountain goddess had ripped Hera apart with barely a thought, and Hera was the most powerful being I had ever met. The fear coursing through my body was palpable.

Epiales smiled calmly and stepped forward. “My love, I appreciate it, but she has never pursued any ill will toward me, and we need partners if we are to take over Urgu. I would like to have subjects under my rule, which means taking the throne without having to kill everyone. After all, she rules the Land of Oz, and their partnership is essential to avoiding a bloodbath.”

Agrona sneered. “I would sooner kill everything than work with a duplicitous pixie.”

“I know, my love,” Epiales said, running his fingers down her arms. “But it’s just…impractical, you know? Just look at our war with Sekhmet and the Sand People. It’s taking so long to get them to bow to us. I am so bored waiting.”

“They will be beaten into submission soon,” Agrona said with a grunt. “The Djinn keeps the portal open for us and more monsters come through every hour. As long as it stays strong, we will have the army to march against Oz and conquer. The last thing we need is a traitorous fairy in our midst.”

“My dear, I can see this is upsetting to you.” Epiales turned to me. “Queen Aine, can you please give us a moment”?

“Of course.” Epiales hadn’t let me out of his sight in days, which meant that I couldn’t relay any messages to Anansi and the resistance about the nightmare god’s plans. The truth was, he hadn’t shared much with me. But now I knew that Agrona’s keep was unguarded, and if Sekhmet and Anansi could get there and close the portal to the Nightmare Realm, then we had a chance of ending this war.

It would be dangerous to teleport from the temple, but the chance was worth it, even if it meant Epiales would learn that I was a traitor to his cause and kill me.