The City on the Edge

“Welcome to my forest.” Liva beckoned them to her.

Ronnie scrambled to her feet and helped a dazed Sebastian stand on shaky legs. “There are mermaids in that lake?”

Liva smiled. “Not mermaids. Sylphs. Cousins.” She looked at Sebastian. “Man-eaters. I’m not surprised you can’t tell the difference. The mermaids retreated to the Coral City during Marla’s Battle, an age before you were born.” Liva turned her gaze to the sylph. “Unlike mermaids, who could once walk on land without perishing, sylphs have always been confined to the waters. Look.”

She gestured to the boulder. Ronnie hadn’t noticed before, but the sylph’s legs weren’t legs at all. Instead, they were streams of water that simply connected to the rest of her, forming a waist and body. The sylph caught them watching and hissed loudly, her watery hair waving wildly through the air.

“She’s trapped and starving in this lake. You just stole her first meal in months.” Liva spoke casually, unconcerned that the sylph was dying.

Lorna breathed out, horrified. “You won’t help her?”

“And do what? Feed her live people? Travelers lost in my forest? This is nature, little witch. It shall take its course.”

Sebastian came back to himself slowly, the sylph’s song fading from his mind. He made a choked noise when he saw Liva and turned his gaze very pointedly away from her. His embarrassment bloomed in Ronnie’s chest, swallowing up anything else he might have been feeling. Ronnie didn’t understand at first. She took in Liva’s appearance and after a moment it dawned on her.

Her nudity embarrassed him.

Liva seemed to understand as well. She reached up with long fingers and clasped the top of her cloak together. The cloth covered her chest and nothing else.

“This is as accommodating as I’ll be, human. One’s form is nothing to be ashamed of. It is only nature.” Her green eyes sparkled as she spoke, clearly taking pleasure in his blushing cheeks. “Follow me.” She turned and started away, stepping lightly over the sharp rocks as if she didn’t feel them.

Ronnie chased after her. “We need to ask you-”

“I know why you’re here, Veronica.” Liva looked over her shoulder. “You look just like your father, do you know that?” Ronnie’s jaw snapped shut with an audible clack of fang on fang, making Liva laugh. “And you have his attitude.”

A chittering noise came from above them, louder than before. Ronnie’s head shot up, scanning the trees. A long slithering body of silky white fur descended from a branch in lazy spiral, like a leaf falling from a tree. Its sharp rows of teeth chattered together, the three horns on its head spiraling up.

“A slink!” Ronnie made a move to rush forward, her claws out, but Liva held up a hand to stop her. She raised her other arm over her head and the slink wrapped around her wrist like a bangle, winding down her arm until it came to rest around her shoulders. The demon purred, licking at the overlarge fangs that protruded from its bottom jaw. Liva stroked its head and gazed at Ronnie.

“He’s harmless. He’s already eaten today.”

“Eaten what?” Lorna asked, taking a step away. Even she didn’t trust a slink so close.

“You mean who. Sometimes, people get lost traveling through the forest,” Liva said simply as she turned away. She beckoned them to follow her.

Ronnie was happy to leave the lagoon and its resident sylph behind. Lorna fell back with her and Sebastian, wary of the slink around the witch’s shoulders. Liva would reach out and brush a hand over a tree or shrub, bringing it to full green life in an instant as she passed by. Lorna watched her with a twisted expression. The display of magic was incredible, especially on such a grand scale.

Like Ronnie earlier, Lorna had already come to the conclusion that Liva sustained the entire area of forest and the fog with her own magic, a feat that should have had her as old and haggard as Hazel, but she stood before them a picture of youth and beauty. Ronnie could practically smell the envy wafting off of Lorna, though she didn’t blame her. What witch didn’t dream of wielding their magic like Liva, without fear of the consequences? To have their own power back in their hands again?

“We’re here,” Liva called back over her shoulder.

Ronnie frowned, casting a look at Lorna, who mirrored her expression. “This is it?”

There was nothing but an enormous tree with roots that were as wide as Ronnie was long. The tree towered over them at such a height that Ronnie struggled to make out the top when she craned her head back. Liva disappeared into the hollow of the tree, lifting a hanging sheet of soft moss and vines. Lorna went first and Ronnie followed with Sebastian right behind her.

The hollow smelled strongly of earth and moss, comforting to Ronnie’s senses. It had been too long since she’d been in the forest. Her boots sank with each step- the dirt was much softer in the hollow than it was outside. Liva had crafted a home for herself inside the ancient tree. Thick vines criss-crossed the inside, dotted with colorful blooms the size of Ronnie’s head. Mushroom heads had been turned into makeshift tables, holding journals and glass vials and other trinkets that Ronnie didn’t recognize. She wondered if Lorna knew what they were.

Liva took a seat on a leafy bed of shrubbery and gestured for them to sit with her. Sebastian sank down stiffly beside Ronnie, looking anywhere but at Liva.

As soon as Lorna sat, the questions poured out of her, gushing at the display around her. “Did you make this home yourself? Do you oversee the entire forest? How have you not aged with all the magic you’re using? How is all of this possible?”

Liva accepted the questions patiently and when Lorna finally ran out of air, she answered. “I’m certain that the ones who sent you here have already answered those questions for you.” Her words held no accusation, just a statement of fact. “How is Jack?”

“He’s fine, I guess.” Ronnie shrugged. She didn’t really know him all that well. “Actually, he’s more than fine. He can stand in the sun without dying.” She watched Liva closely. “Just like you can use magic without aging or losing your mind.”

Liva leaned back, tapping her lips with a finger. “You want to know about the essence beneath the Marble City.”

“We want the key that got you into the vault and the key to the iron gates.”

Liva’s brows raised, a curious smile spreading across her lips. “What makes you think I still have them?”

“Jack told us you took them with you when you came to live in the forest.”

“Jack wasn’t the one who saw me off. It was your father. Strong and handsome Taven,” Liva purred as she trailed her fingers down between her breasts, stopping at her navel. “Always there for a friend. You know, he was the one who suggested I retreat into these trees. He said I would find peace here. Purpose.”

“Did you?” Sebastian asked, keeping his gaze on the ground in front of him.

“You refuse to meet my eyes, human? I will not cover to suit you. Your shame is yours alone.” Liva unclasped her cloak and let it fall to the leaves beneath her. “To answer your question, though, yes, I did. I found a forest to reinvigorate. I found a pack of lost boys who needed a mother.”

“Do you…” Lorna gestured at Liva’s naked form, “with them?”

Liva’s face clouded, her lips pulling down. “What a disgusting thing to insinuate. A mother does not lust after her children. I am free in this body, but it my body alone. I share it with no one. Especially not my children.”

Lorna stared down at her hands, embarrassed. “Sorry.”

“The keys?” Ronnie reminded Liva. “What happened to them?”

“What will you do when you have them?” Liva countered.

Ronnie shared a look with Lorna. “The plan is to open the vault,” she began, “to unleash the essence of magic. As a witch who already benefits from that experience, wouldn’t you want to share it?”

Before Liva could answer, a resounding howl echoed through the forest. It shivered down in Ronnie’s core and she jolted in place, rocked by a sound both familiar and strange. Sebastian grabbed her hand, the only reassurance he could offer.

“What is that?” Lorna asked.

“Hellhounds. They’re out hunting.” Liva seemed entirely unconcerned. “I don’t think they’ll bother you, Veronica. Shifters and hellhounds are practically family.” Ronnie raised a brow, the disbelief evident on her face. Liva laughed at her, “I know it seems like a lie, but hellhounds were the first supernatural hybrid, born of rage and privileged want. The offspring of a demon and a shifter. The hellhounds now are still hybrids, but of a different sort.” Liva sighed sadly. “They’re a dying breed, I’m afraid. Such a pity.”

“There are no more hybrids. Purity exterminated them a long time ago,” Sebastian cut in, surprising both Ronnie and Lorna. Neither of them expected him to know anything about supernaturals.

Liva didn’t seem as shocked, pinning him with a hard look. “Hardly. There are plenty of hybrids that don’t know it. I thought you would know all about that, Sebastian King. How many hybrids did your grandfather slaughter, I wonder?”

Lorna stared at him, a deep anger burning in her glare. “Your family is a part of Purity?”

Liva laughed again, cruel and cold. “As I understand it, the Kings were the founding family of that particular genocidal force.”

“How do you know all of this?” Ronnie asked, tired of the witch’s laughter.

“You would be surprised what the trees tell me,” she answered, reaching out to stroke the tree behind her. She plucked a blossom from a nearby vine and held it to her ear, closing her eyes. “We can hide our secrets from each other, but nature is always watching and listening.” She opened her eyes to look at Ronnie. “I knew when you were born, Veronica. I knew when your home was attacked. I knew when your father was arrested and thrown in the Cavern. I knew when you were near death and your mother exchanged her youth for your life. I know where she is, at this very moment.” Liva flicked her eyes too Sebastian. “I knew when you imprinted on this human, breaking hearts just like your father did when he imprinted on your mother.”

“My mother is dead.” Ronnie ground out.

Liva arched a brow. “Is she?”

“…how can you know all of this? Is it magic?” Lorna kept her voice quiet.

“Magic and nature are one and the same. The fairies knew that when they tried to share with us. They’ve always known how to tap into the energies around them.” Liva held out the blossom for Lorna, who took it after a moment of hesitation. “Go on. Listen.”

Lorna looked to Ronnie before slowly raising the blossom to her ear. She waited for several long minutes, her brow knit and her eyes closed. She started to shake her head, admitting failure, when her eyes snapped open, a look of shock on her face. “I heard something!”

“What do you hear, child?” Liva watched her intensely.

“It sounds like…marching.” Lorna held the flower to her ear again. “Voices. Crackling, like something burning. I can hear a woman singing.”

Ronnie opened her mouth to speak but Liva silenced her with a sharp glare. “What is she saying?”

Lorna listened, the strain clear on her face. “It sounds like…mine to yours in these waters.” Her expression softened. “It’s lovely.”

Liva reached out and took the flower back. She held it up to the vine and Ronnie watched, amazed, as it melded back onto the vine like it had never been plucked at all. “Magic is an incredible force,” Liva said.

“What are the humans keeping that vault?” Ronnie asked. “What is the essence?”

“A tree. As I said, magic and nature are one and the same. I ate the fruit it bore, as did Jack and your father. It released us from the bonds that the humans had placed on us. It returned our power to us.”

“Jack said there were four of you there and a human you trusted.”

Liva scoffed. “A human he trusted. But yes, there were four that night. One of us didn’t make it.”

Ronnie scrubbed a hand over her face. “How are we supposed to move a tree?”

Liva arched a brow at her, a smile on her face. “You can’t. You can’t move the essence of magic.”

“But, the humans did. Alukorra said they took the essence from the Glowing City.”

Liva shook her head. “Not exactly. The humans took part of the Glowing City for themselves. They built the vault around the tree. If you want to free the essence of magic…” she trailed off.

“We’d have to bring down the city that was built around it.” Sebastian finished.

They fell silent, processing the new information. Did Alukorra know that it was going to come to this? Even in Ronnie’s imagination, taking down the Marble City, literally bringing down those towering walls, seemed impossible. The city was crawling with the Red Guard and the elite Black Guard, flanked by the Iron City on one side, the Glass City in the front and the Glowing City on the other side. Three armies prepared to rise up and defend the humans if need be.

Maybe. Would the fairies help? Ronnie was certain that the elves and the dwarves would support their human benefactors. It was a lot to take in at once. It seemed like Ronnie kept landing in front of one daunting task after another.

She flinched as a sudden barrage of hard emotions plummeted in her stomach, dropping like heavy stones. She looked at Sebastian, his face drawn and tired. He stared at the ground unblinking, no doubt pondering the fate of his home and the role he would play in its destruction. If he stepped into that role at all. It was a lot to ask of anyone, human or not.

Ronnie reached over, trailing her fingers through the dirt until they touched his. He didn’t look at her, but his lips spread in a soft smile and he took her hand in his.

It was enough for now.

“You won’t give us the keys, will you?” Ronnie turned her attention back to Liva.

“Is it truly so important to you?”

“Yes,” Ronnie answered firmly. “This is more important than anything.”

Liva considered her for a moment before standing. “Very well. If you want them, take them.”

Liva stood. She made a wretched sound, like she were choking. Her throat convulsed and something sharp pressed out, the flesh of her throat tenting. Ronnie jumped to her feet, startled. Lorna scrambled away and Sebastian stood slowly, as if afraid to move suddenly.

Liva opened her mouth- a dark metal key sat on her tongue. With thin fingers, she plucked it up, strings of saliva trailing down her chin, and handed it to Ronnie.

“The key to the iron gate.”

Ronnie tucked it her pocket. She hesitated. “And the key to the vault?”

Liva smiled and placed a sharp nail between her breasts, digging in sharply. She drug it down, slicing into her skin like she was cutting a piece of cloth. Drops of blood trickled down like rain on a window, disappearing into the thatch of hair between her thighs. She continued to cut until she reached her navel.

Lorna gasped, climbing hurriedly to her feet and retreating to the entrance of the hollow. The witch dipped her fingers into the wound, grasping the folds of skin and pulling them back like parting curtains. Sitting inside, tucked behind her ribs, was a piece of silver metal, dark with blood.

“Take it, Veronica. But know that if you begin this journey with blood on your hands, you shall end it the same way.”

Ronnie didn’t hesitate. This needed to be done. She reached out and dug her fingers into Liva’s soft insides, pushing through the gap in her ribs, gliding over the smooth bone to wrap around the silver disc. With a wet squelch, she pulled it free from Liva’s insides. Liva released the folds of her stomach and they closed seamlessly as if no damage had taken place.

Ronnie ran her fingers over the bloody surface of the disc. Smooth and lightweight, it didn’t look like much. “This is it?”

“That is half,” Liva said. “To use it properly, you will need the spell.”

“Which is?”

Liva’s lips curved in a mischievous smile. “I’m not telling.”

Ronnie gripped the disc tightly. This witch was without a doubt the most frustrating individual she’d ever encountered. “Why not?” She all but growled.

“I could tell you, or I could send you to your father. He knows the spell. He was the one who traded for the key in the first place.” She looked at Sebastian. “A most curious deal, indeed.”

“My father?” Ronnie asked.

Liva leaned in close. “You told me this was important to you. Now I want to see it. March to the Iron City and demand the spell from him as you have demanded this key from me.”

Another howl interrupted them, closer now and reverberating through the hollow. The surprise quashed any angry retort Ronnie had for Liva. The witch looked past them to the moss, as if she could see through it and glimpse the outside. Liva mothers the hellhounds out in the forest. The pack must know that she has company.

Ronnie had never met a hellhound. She’d only ever heard stories, but if what Liva said was true, and there was a blood relation between the shifters and hellhounds, then she had little doubt that their senses were just as sharp as hers. They had probably picked up the their scent, foreign among the trees. Ronnie squeezed Sebastian’s hand. They had probably picked up a very human scent and were now following it.

“It’s time for you to leave,” Liva demanded, pushing Ronnie and Sebastian toward the hollow’s opening.

“But I still have more to ask you.” Ronnie dug her feet into the soft soil.

“The trees have asked for you. I already know what you inquiries are. This is not the first rebellion to grace the Edge. I tried before, with Jack and Taven and Del-” Liva cut herself off with a shake of her head. “We tried to inspire action in the Edge but I was met with indolence as reward for my battles. I owe those people nothing. They did nothing for me and they cost me my lover, my heart. If you think you can succeed where we failed before, then I bid you good fortune. As for your mother,” Liva ran gentle fingers down Ronnie’s cheek, the first sign of real sympathy in her eyes. “You should ask your father. It was mutually decided between them that the truth be kept from you.”

Ronnie prepared to demand more answers, but Liva forced her out of the hollow where a pack of men waited.