The Iron Warrior

  Kenzie edged up, peering over my shoulder. I felt her shudder. “Annoying isn’t quite the word I would use,” she said, as Razor gave a soft buzz of agreement. “Creepy, disturbing, absolutely terrifying—those all come to mind before annoying. I vote we get out of here before the killer clowns show up.”

  “We can’t.”

  Kenzie and I both stared at the Thin Man in horror. He sighed. “The places Between are intangible, eternal. They do not conform to regular space, nor do they have boundaries. Once you stumble upon these pockets of reality, you are trapped in them. Unless there is a trod that leads outside—very unlikely—or unless you find and destroy the anchor.”

  “Great.” I glared into the fairgrounds, feeling my skin crawl. I did not want to venture through this B-rated horror set; I absolutely hated clowns. But I certainly wasn’t going to stand here and wait for them to pop up with balloon animals and carving knives. “So where can we find this anchor?”

  “In the center,” the Thin Man said, nodding toward the carnival. “The land changes, spreads out and is conformed around the anchor, so it is always in the very middle.”

  “Of course it is,” Kenzie said, echoing my thoughts. “So that means we have to go into the creepy-ass carnival that probably has a bunch of creepy-ass killer clowns, because creepy carnivals always have killer clowns, and look for this anchor that could probably be anything...” She paused, gazing around a moment, then sighed. “And of course, Grimalkin has disappeared.”

  I shook my head. “Come on,” I muttered, and drew my swords. “Nothing we can do now except find this anchor thing and destroy it. The cat will show up when we get out of here, I’m sure. Let’s get this over with.”

  Warily, we started toward the carnival grounds.

  The earth sucked at my shoes, making squelching noises as I walked through mud and puddles, watching for any signs of movement between the tents. I didn’t spot any indications of life. I did spot a lot of weird, disturbing shit—bumper cars that had long spikes bristling from the hoods, roller-coaster tracks that twisted in crazy, unnatural patterns, even tying themselves into knots, teddy bears with skulls for faces, and so on. There was a popcorn stand where I was sure I saw a tentacle vanish beneath the kernels, one whole wall of porcelain dolls with shrunken heads, and a bright red balloon that hovered in midair, except it wasn’t attached to anything.

  “Who lives here?” Kenzie muttered, eyeing a poster that advertised some sort of freak show in the main tent. Come See the Bearded Lady, it read, only the “bearded lady” had a gaping mouth that could easily swallow you whole and huge barracuda-like fangs. “Did someone actually conjure this entire place on purpose? What kind of crazy would do such a thing?”

  “I believe you have just answered your own question, my dear,” the Thin Man said, his long legs easily carrying him over puddles and patches of mud. “The Forgotten know how to move between worlds, sliding through the Veil like fish through water, but there are cases of fey and even a few mortals who have become lost in the Between. No one knows how it happens. It could be that a trod is unstable, or sometimes, though very rarely, it just vanishes on one end, and the traveler never makes it to his destination. And he is never seen again. Because once you are lost in the Between, you wander for eternity. After so long, their minds simply...snap.” He snapped his thin fingers for emphasis, making a sharp, quick sound that echoed through the silence. I winced at the noise, hoping it wouldn’t attract attention, though it probably sounded louder than it really was.

  The Thin Man continued to address Kenzie, waving a hand at our thankfully still silent surroundings. “What you see now are the remnants of a fractured mind,” he stated. “If we do stumble upon the owner of this place, there will be no reasoning with them. Whether they be mortal or fey, their world has become as dark and twisted as they are, and they do not realize that it traps them as much as it does outsiders. Thankfully, this world appears to be rather new. I suspect it has not been here long, which is why it seems deserted. Still, whoever lives here will not be happy with us trying to destroy the anchor. I suspect we will see the worst of this place when we try.”

  “Oh, well, that’s something to look forward to,” I remarked. “Haunted carnival that sprang from the head of an insane faery, what could be better?”

  Razor poked his head out of Kenzie’s hair, enormous ears twitching back and forth. “Razor hears music,” he said solemnly.

  We all froze. I gripped my swords and moved closer to Kenzie, holding my breath as I listened hard. A faint, barely audible melody drifted through the aisles and the fluttering tent flaps. It sounded bright and cheerful, reminding me of the tune the ice-cream truck would play as it cruised down the street, luring kids out of their homes like a modern day Pied Piper.

  Yep, I was definitely creeped out.

  “This way,” the Thin Man whispered, and turned down a tent aisle. We trailed him through the narrow cloth corridor, following the elusive sound of music as it faded in and out through the tents. Of course, the tents didn’t conform to logic, either, and we soon found ourselves in a maze of red-and-white cloth, trying to find the one path that would lead us out.

  “All right, this is ridiculous,” I growled, as we turned another corner and found ourselves in yet another narrow hallway of candy cane stripes and canvas walls. “I say we stop now, and I start hacking through tents. Who’s up for that?”

  Abruptly, the Thin Man came to a halt in the center of the aisle, causing Kenzie to pull up sharply. I slid in the mud to avoid running into her, grabbing one of the poles to steady myself.

  “What the hell—”

  The Thin Man raised an arm, silencing me. Edging forward, I peered over Kenzie’s shoulder, gazing between Razor’s huge ears, to see the rest of the aisle.

  A body stood at the end of the corridor, its back to us. It was very broad, especially its shoulders and girth, and long brown hair fell in waves down its back. It wore a purple spangled dress that glittered in the dim light, and just as I was thinking that I’d seen that same dress somewhere before...it turned around.

  “The Bearded Lady,” Kenzie whispered in horror, as the woman, a thick brown ruff sprouting from her jowls and chin, opened a fang-filled mouth wide enough to swallow a basketball and screamed.

  “Run!” said the Thin Man, whirling around, and we did, scrambling down narrow, twisted aisles, hearing the heavy footsteps of the Bearded Lady splash through the mud after us.

  Tearing around a corner, I skidded to a stop. Somehow, we’d come to a dead end, the looming tent walls flanking us on every side. I turned, but there was no time to go back; the gasping snorts of the Bearded Lady were coming closer, and her shadow fell over the striped red-and-white walls.

  “Dammit,” I growled, and slashed at one of the tents. My blade sank easily into the canvas and sliced a long gash in the wall, parting the fabric. Orange light spilled through the crack, and I gestured to the others. “Kenzie, through here, hurry!”

  She ducked through the opening, and the Thin Man followed, vanishing briefly as he turned from sight. I had just enough time to see the Bearded Lady lurch around the corner, gasping, the fangs gleaming in her huge mouth, before I dived through the tear after my companions.

  Music greeted me as I looked up, panting. We now stood beneath a large, open tent, shadowy and dark except for the middle. Bleachers lined the perimeter of the room, facing an enormous open circle in the center, and the smell of sawdust, manure and cotton candy hung thick on the air, making me gag a little. The bleachers were empty, as was the open circle, though it had been set up for some kind of show. Colorful hoops, stools and barrels sat in the sawdust, awaiting performers, though there was no one here but us.

  A snorting shuffle echoed through the tear from outside, and we quickly headed deeper into the room. Sliding behind a set of bleachers, I watched to see if the Bearded Lady monster
would follow us into the tent, but a purple spangled dress passed briefly by the opening in the tent wall and continued down the corridor.

  “Okay, I officially don’t like this place,” Kenzie whispered, and Razor nodded vigorously in agreement. “If that was the Bearded Lady, I don’t even want to think about the clowns. Let’s find this anchor thing, kill it and get the hell out of here.”

  That sounded good to me, and I was about to say so when the lights beneath the tent clicked out, plunging everything into darkness.

  I swore and pressed closer to Kenzie, raising my sword. “Dammit, now what?”

  A spotlight flickered on in the center of the ring, which was no longer empty. A lone figure perched on a stool, gazing out over the “crowds.” It wore a bright red coat and tails, black trousers, and shiny knee-high boots. Which were abnormally long, because the figure’s legs were twice the length of a normal person’s and as thin as a broomstick, making him tower over everything else. His face was not just pale, but white, with painted black lips and dark triangles beneath his eyes. Reaching up, he plucked the top hat off his head and flashed a toothy smile that stretched, quite literally, from ear to ear.

  “I know you’re out there,” he called in a shockingly high-pitched voice. “Come forward, visitors, don’t be shy. Welcome to the greatest show on earth!”

  The Thin Man shook his head.

  “Poor lost creature,” he murmured, his mouth set into a grim line. “You’ve built your world, and you don’t even know you’re a prisoner here. Now you are trapped in this role forever.”

  “Yeah, well, I’d kind of like to make sure we don’t get trapped here forever,” I whispered. The walls of the tent were only a few yards away, and I took a step toward them. “Come on, we can sneak out through here.”

  “Come, come now!” the ringmaster called as I reached the wall. “No need for that, honored guest. This is my circus, and I know exactly where you and your little friends are. If you do not step forward to see the show, I will have to convince you another way.”

  Crap. I raised the sword and sliced down the fabric, tearing through the wall like before.

  A massive white hand shot through the opening and grabbed my arm. I yelped and tried jerking back, but the fingers on my wrist didn’t budge as an enormous clown stepped through the tear. It was thick and broad-shouldered, with a bloated belly and curved yellow nails that dug into my skin. Its painted mouth stretched into a wide, toothy smile as it lumbered forward, reaching for my shirt.

  Shit! Well, there are the clowns. I lashed out with my second blade, swinging at its thick neck, but a second one appeared, identical to the first, and grabbed my arm, squeezing tightly. Snarling, I kicked one of them in the gut, but it felt like my foot hit a wall of Jell-O, and the clown actually chuckled.

  Grunting at each other, the two clowns turned, put their hands under my arms and lifted me off my feet to dangle in the air. Helpless, I looked up to see Kenzie in the grip of another clown, while Razor buzzed furiously and gnawed on its gloved hand. It frowned at the curls of smoke rising from its fingers, seemingly too thick to realize it was being hurt, and flicked the gremlin away like a bug. Razor bounced to his feet again, hissing, and tensed to attack once more.

  “Razor, don’t!” Kenzie ordered. He froze, looking up at her, and she jerked her head. “Just run! Get out of here! Go!”

  With a despondent wail, the gremlin bounded away, scuttled up a pole and disappeared. Desperate, I looked around for the Thin Man, but he, too, had vanished. I did notice a fourth clown walking around the bleachers scratching his head, as if he was sure he’d seen something a second ago, and it was no longer there.

  Dammit, I’m tired of faeries disappearing on us when there’s trouble, I thought, as the fourth clown lurched up and stripped my swords from my grasp. Grimalkin, the Thin Man; hell, the only one that ever sticks around is the freaking gremlin. I had no idea what the Thin Man could’ve done against four giant mutant clowns, especially when Kenzie and I were captured. But he could’ve done something. At least he didn’t get caught. But I swear, those two had better be doing something to get us out of this.

  “Excellent, excellent!” The ringmaster’s voice echoed from the center of the tent. “Come forward, lovely visitors! Please, don’t be shy! Come forward and see what we have for you.”

  Still carrying me by the arms, the two clowns lumbered toward the front, while the third trailed behind holding Kenzie by the wrist. I tried craning my head back to look at her, hoping she wasn’t freaking out, but my gorilla-like captors gave me a shake that made the world go blurry for a second. By the time my vision cleared, we were at the edge of the circle, and the ringmaster was beaming down at me.

  “Hello, little ones!” he said, raising his arms as if to welcome us all. “So happy to have you at the show! And it’s your lucky day. We have front-row seats just for you.”

  He pointed with a skull topped cane, and the clowns turned to a row of seats at the edge of the ring. Unlike like the wooden bleachers surrounding the tent, they looked like theater seats. Though the leather was cracked and rotting, and I saw a few suspicious dark smears that I hoped weren’t what had become of the last visitors to this crazy hellhole.

  The clowns plopped me onto a seat and, before I could react, tied my wrists to the armrests with strips of red-and-yellow cloth. They did the same to Kenzie a couple seats down. When they left, I flexed my arms, trying to loosen the bonds holding me to the chair. But the knots had been tightened by gorilla clowns with melon-sized hands. I wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.

  The ringmaster did a strange little dance, grinning like a demonic Cheshire cat. “Ladies and gentlemen!” he called, as if speaking to a room of hundreds instead of two very reluctant teens. “Welcome to the show! Welcome, one and all, to the circus! Let me tell you of the wonders you will see tonight!”

  “Kenzie,” I muttered, as the ringmaster rambled on, “do you know where they put my swords?”

  “I saw the clown drop them on that barrel over there,” Kenzie replied, nodding to a bright blue barrel with a yellow star painted on it. My swords gleamed atop it, and I narrowed my eyes. “Do you have a plan?” Kenzie asked, sounding hopeful. “They took my backpack, too. I really don’t want to stick around for the show. I’d feel a lot better if you told me you had a plan.”

  “Working on it,” I muttered. “If I can get to my swords, I think I have a chance. Still struggling with phase one, though.”

  “What’s phase one?”

  “Not being tied to a chair.”

  The ringmaster suddenly stopped his speech, giving me and Kenzie a very exaggerated pout. “Oh, dear, I think we have someone who isn’t entertained,” he stated. “We can’t have that, now, can we? We want everyone to have fun tonight!” He flung out his arms, speaking to his imaginary audience. “What can we do to make the show more entertaining? Ah, I have it! For this first act, I think we need...a volunteer.”

  Oh, no. Panic shot through me as the ringmaster turned his head back and forth, as if scanning the audience. “Anyone?” he called, raising a hand. “Come now, it’ll be fun! One brave volunteer is all we need. No reason to be shy.” His eyes traveled down, toward the row where Kenzie and I were sitting. “Nobody? There must be some brave soul willing to step forward.”

  “Me,” I rasped, as his gaze finally reached us. “I volunteer. Take me.”

  “Ethan, no,” Kenzie whispered, looking at me sharply. I ignored her, holding the gaze of the ringmaster. He blinked at me, then deliberately turned his head to smile at Kenzie.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, as my heart tightened in horror. “I believe we have our volunteer. Let’s all give the young lady a hand!”

  “No!” I yanked on the ropes, struggling to free myself, as the clowns closed on Kenzie. “Leave her alone!” I yelled to the ringmaster. “I’ll v
olunteer. Take me instead!” All of them ignored me, as the clowns cut Kenzie’s restraints, grabbed her by the arms and pulled her into the ring. I yanked harder on the ropes. “Hey!” I called, refusing to give up. “Look at me! I’m talking to you, dammit. I know you can hear me!”

  The ringmaster snapped his fingers, and a bright red cloth was suddenly forced into my mouth from behind. “Ladies and gentlemen, please restrain your enthusiasm,” he said calmly, as the clown tied the gag around my neck. “I realize this could be frightening for younger children, but if that is the case, please respect your neighbors and take them outside. We do not want anyone ruining the show now, do we?”

  Sickened, I watched them drag Kenzie to a large wooden disk sitting upright in the sand like a giant bull’s-eye, push her back against the surface and fasten her wrists to the leather straps near the top. Grunting, they stepped away, leaving her bound to the center of an enormous target. My heart seized up with the realization.

  I moaned and doubled my efforts with the ropes, as a bony creature stepped into the ring, facing Kenzie. It wore a black-and-red vest that showed off its sunken rib cage, and copper throwing knives were strapped everywhere to its skeletal body. Its head was a mummified bird’s skull, empty eye sockets blank and dark as it regarded the girl several yards away.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I need your complete silence for this act,” the ringmaster said in a dramatic voice. “Absolute concentration is necessary for Bull’s Eye Pete not to impale our lovely volunteer through the heart, or worse. We don’t want her to end up like his last assistant, do we?” He laughed, and it made my skin crawl. “Remember, Pete, you’re supposed to hit the bull’s-eye, not the girl’s eye. Make sure you remember the difference.”