Hero

“Sort of?”

“When it doesn’t, he fixes it,” said Betwixt.

“Works for me,” said Saturday.

“And I’ve brought you a change of clothes for that bath I promised.”

“Gods, yes.” Those were the very words she’d wanted to hear. She expected some small retort from Peregrine at her blatant enthusiasm, but when none came, she turned to find him staring at her like an idiot. Seizing the opportunity, she moved to return his earlier favor by slapping him out of his dazed state. He caught her hand before it co

“Don’t start,” he said, shaking off his brief catatonia. “That look on your face just reminded me of . . .” He shook his head again and dropped her wrist. “I’ll explain later. Let’s go.”

Saturday jumped up. “Yes, sir!” She wavered a bit as the blood rushed to her head. That was dumb—she should have remembered to rise more slowly. Mama called it the curse of the tall folk.

Peregrine shot her a look. “Remember who you’re addressing, Woodcutter.”

“Yes, ma’am? Whatever.” Saturday tapped her temple. “Addled brain, remember?”

“Fools,” said an exasperated Betwixt.

“Cats,” mocked Peregrine.

The cat in question stuck out his large pink tongue.

Now that her belly was temporarily sated, Saturday’s muscles complained as she hefted the bags onto Peregrine’s strange cart. It had been stupid of her to faint and lie still on such cold ground for so long—the frost from the unforgiving icerock had seeped into her sinew and frozen her limbs stiff once more. As much as she longed to be clean, she loathed the thought of bathing from a metal helmet-basin the same temperature as the walls, but she’d suffer through it if it meant not having to smell herself for another night. Peregrine might even take pity on her and let her sleep by a fire again. If she didn’t open her gob and screw it up first.

Peregrine’s “wagon” had been cobbled together from what looked like the broken wooden handles of axes, spears, and maces. She’d noticed a dwarf’s hammer or two in the armory before their sparring match, but she wondered what Peregrine had used for nails. The wheels of the wagon were shields, hammered down and reinforced with leather straps. It wasn’t the smoothest device she’d ever pulled, but it was indeed functional.

Once the cart had been filled, Saturday grabbed the handles and began jogging down the corridor. “Where are we off to?”

“Let me carry that for a while,” said Peregrine. “You’ve already done enough for today.”

Why was he being nice to her? She’d been nothing but rude to him, and that was before the pyrrhi had come bearing tidings of doom. When Peter was nice to Saturday like this, it was always because he wanted something.

“I need to stay warm,” she told him. “I’ll hand it back over to you when I tire. I promise.”

Peregrine agreed, silly boy. Peter never would have accepted such a deal. He knew that Saturday never tired.

True to her word she ferried the moss all the way to their destination. Peregrine called out twice to get her to stop and change direction, and twice to pick the mushrooms and moss for her second task.

“Do you think it’s wise to collect these ingredients for a spell we’re trying to stop?” she asked him.

“With the amount of magic at her disposal, thanks to your presence, I suspect the ingredients don’t matter much,” he said. “And fulfilling her task will keep you alive long enough to fulfill your destiny.”

“Destiny” was a kind word for the chaos Saturday was meant to unleash here. She only hoped she found her sword first. It would be a shame to die without it.

Saturday did not recognize any part of these caves. She had no idea where they were. It hurt her head less to concentrate on stretching and keeping her footing instead of the twists and turns around and through as their path gently sloped heavenward.

She was grateful that most of the way had been level and wide enough for the cart—only once did they have to unload and reload the wagon, after moving it to an opening several feet off the ground. The air was considerably warmer here. Her muscles relaxed even as her boots slipped on the perspiring rocks beneath her.

Once Saturday was able to relieve herself of her burden, she looked around and lost her breath at the sight.

They had climbed all the way to paradise.

12

Beyond Saving

OF ALL the nooks and cra

The walls here were solid quartz crystal instead of cloudy calcite and icerock. Ironically, these towering, flowering crystals looked more like ice to him than the rest of the rime-ridden caverns. The ceiling came to a point, creating a clear pyramid, with walls thin enough to let the sunlight through when there was any and the starshine in when there wasn’t. Currently, there wasn’t.

Not that one could track days reliably under this skylight by any means. In Starburn the sun came for summer days and fled for the winter ones, but the Top of the World lay even farther north. If one truly meant to monitor the passing of time, this room would only be good for marking seasons instead of days. Peregrine knew this because, eventually, he had given up on those as well.

He rubbed out the simple ward he’d drawn on the floor to keep the brownies away—something he’d learned from Leila’s book—and led Saturday over the threshold with the wagon. Betwixt carried the lantern he clenched in his beak to a pillar on the far side of the room.

“The garden was here when I arrived,” Peregrine said to Saturday’s stu

Saturday paid him little mind. She focused instead on the gree

“This garden was Leila’s alone; I’ve never heard the witch mention it, and we’ve never brought it to her attention. I suspect it was one of the reasons Leila devised her plan to escape. Being here does make one miss—”

“Everything,” finished Saturday. Her voice filled with more emotion than he’d thought her willing to share. “The Wood. My family. So much work to do.” The wistfulness in her voice trailed away with the thought. She reached out to caress a leaf of the closest plant. “Seeds. Where did you get the seeds?”

“The same place I got the swords and lanterns: from the dead.” She did not shudder at his words as he might have, but she was a warrior, not he.

“Provisions,” she deduced.

“Most of what they carried was rotted to nothing, but some desiccated seeds remained dormant. Whatever dust I found, I scattered here.”

“Any dust is fair game for compost,” Betwixt added. He flew to a crystal outcropping above the garden and stretched out like a sphinx. “Since most of the dust here is of a magical origin, seeds that might never have sprouted were convinced to do otherwise.”

“We had a garden at home,” said Saturday, “and the Wood has its own bounties, but I don’t recognize many of these plants.”

“Nor did I,” Peregrine admitted. “Some are still a mystery. Many times I didn’t recognize the skeletons from which I took them. Some of the fruits of my labors—”