The Iron Legends, Page 22

  wild hunt: A faery hunt led by fey hounds that does not end until the prey is run down and killed. No mortal has ever escaped a wild hunt without fey intervention.

  will-o’-the-wisp: A small faery seen as a glowing light, famous for luring unwary humans into danger and probable death.

  wiremen: Spindly Iron fey whose bodies are made of twisted wire. They are fast, nimble and have lethal talons that can slice through most anything.

  wire nymph: A shy Iron faery that lives in places where there is lots of technology.

  Witchwood arrow: The arrow created from the heart of the Elder Dryad’s tree and given to Meghan Chase to kill Machina, the Iron King.

  wood sprite: A small, lively faery that dwells in the woods.

  wyvern: A cousin of the dragon, not as large or intelligent, but extremely dangerous and ill-tempered. They are covered in scales and have a poison stinger at the end of their tails that is highly potent.

  Realms of the Nevernever (And Beyond)

  The world of Faery—the Nevernever—exists parallel to the human world, and the two affect each other in ways humans may not be aware of. Human dreams and inspirations fuel the glamour that is the essence of the Nevernever. Faery wars and the exchange of the Scepter of the Seasons affect the weather and emotional climate of the human world. The rise of technology over the past few centuries has seeped into Faery and given rise to the Iron fey—and until a queen arrived to balance this new glamour with the traditional fey magic, all of Faery was in danger of being poisoned.

  Should you somehow set foot in the Nevernever, the following are the places and the fey you might see. Proceed with caution.

  ARCADIA

  (the Seelie Court, the Summer Realm)

  Arcadia is the land of Summer, of powerful storms and lush foliage, of natural beauty and fierce passions. Filled with music, feasts and warmth, Summer is ruled by King Oberon and Queen Titania and is home to all the sun-loving fey.

  The following are Meghan Chase’s first impressions of the Summer Court, as described in The Iron King.

  The entry to Arcadia:

  We broke through the tree line, and ahead of us rose an enormous mound. It towered above us in ancient, grassy splendor, the pinnacle seeming to brush the sky. Thorny trees and brambles grew everywhere, especially near the top, so the whole thing resembled a large bearded head. Around it grew a hedge bristling with thorns, some longer than my arm. The knights spurred their horses toward the thickest part of the hedge. I wasn’t surprised when the brambles parted for them, forming an arch that they rode beneath, before settling back with a loud crunching sound.

  I was surprised when the horses rode straight at the side of the hill without slowing, and I clutched Grimalkin tightly, making him growl in protest. The mound neither opened up nor moved aside in any way; we rode into the hill and through, sending a shiver all the way down my spine to my toes.

  The Summer Court:

  A massive courtyard stretched before me, a great circular platform of ivory pillars, marble statues and flowering trees. Fountains hurled geysers of water into the air, multicolored lights danced over the pools, and flowers in the full spectrum of the rainbow bloomed everywhere. Strains of music reached my ears, a combination of harps and drums, strings and flutes, bells and whistles, somehow lively and melancholy at the same time.

  The Throne Room:

  The forest grew thick on the other side of the gates, as if the wall had been built to keep it in check. A tunnel of flowering trees and branches stretched away from me, fully in bloom, the scent so overpowering I felt lightheaded.

  The tunnel ended with a curtain of vines, opening up into a vast clearing surrounded by giant trees. The ancient trunks and interlocking branches made a sort of cathedral, a living palace of giant columns and a leafy vaulted ceiling. Even though I knew we were underground, and it was night outside, sunlight dappled the forest floor, slanting in through tiny cracks in the canopy. Glowing balls of light danced in the air, and a waterfall cascaded gently into a nearby pool. The colors here were dazzling.

  A hundred faeries clustered around the middle of the clearing, dressed in brilliant, alien finery. By the look of it, I guessed these were the nobles of the court. Their hair hung long and flowing, or was styled in impossible fashions atop their heads. Satyrs, easily recognized by their shaggy goat legs, and furry little men padded back and forth, serving drinks and trays of food. Slender hounds with moss-green fur milled about, hoping for dropped crumbs. Elven knights in silvery chain armor stood stiffly around the room; a few held hawks or even tiny dragons.

  In the center of this gathering sat a pair of thrones, seemingly grown out of the forest floor and flanked by two liveried centaurs.

  Another feature of Arcadia:

  The Hedge

  The Hedge is a tamer section of the Briars that lies within the Summer Court. Unlike the wyldwood, the Hedge is quite predictable and will usually take a person wherever they’d like to go within the court.

  Denizens of Arcadia:

  Tansy

  This female satyr befriends Meghan during her time in the Summer Court. She has large hazel eyes and matching curly hair, and is at least a foot shorter than Meghan. Tansy is a bit skittish, but seems to warm to Meghan, acting as her guide in Arcadia and warning her about the rules and politics of the faery world.

  Sarah Skinflayer

  This troll is tall, green-skinned, with tusks and long brown hair. She runs the kitchens in Arcadia and, under Titania’s orders, begrudgingly puts Meghan to work.

  Lady Weaver

  The tall, spidery seamstress with pale skin and long black hair designed the gossamer silver gown Meghan wears for Elysium.

  TIR NA NOG

  (the Unseelie Court, the Winter Realm)

  The realm of Mab, the Winter Queen, is harsh and unforgiving to humans, with subzero temperatures, blizzards and miles of ice and snow. The fey who live here are cold and cruel, and even more deadly to humans than their Summer counterparts. While Summer fey might keep a human as a pet and play with them mercilessly, Winter are more likely to tear out the human’s heart and freeze it for fun. And then eat the rest of the body. If a human is lucky enough to find favor with Mab, she may freeze them alive for eternity and keep them in her sculpture garden, forever gasping for a breath that cannot come.

  When Puck brings Meghan to Winter for the first time in The Iron King, he introduces the land quite succinctly:

  Puck stepped forward. “Ladies and felines,” he stated grandly, grasping the doorknob, “welcome to Tir Na Nog. Land of endless winter and shitloads of snow.”

  Here is what Meghan sees as she first steps into Winter:

  A billow of freezing powder caressed my face as he pulled the door open. Blinking away ice crystals, I stepped forward.

  I stood in a frozen garden, the thorn bushes on the fence coated with ice, a cherub fountain in the center of the yard spouting frozen water. In the distance, beyond the barren trees and thorny scrub, I saw the pointed roof of a huge Victorian estate. I glanced back for Grim and Puck and saw them standing under a trellis hung with purple vines and crystal blue flowers.

  In Winter’s Passage, Meghan journeys to Tir Na Nog with Ash as his willing prisoner, thanks to the deal they made in The Iron King. This is how they enter Winter on horseback, after being picked up by knights of Winter, and Meghan’s first sight of the Winter Realm:

  The mist cleared away for just a moment, and I saw the edge of the dock, dropping away
into dark, murky lake water. The horses broke into a trot, then a full gallop, snorting eagerly, as the end of the dock rushed at us with terrifying speed.

  I closed my eyes and the horses leaped.

  We hit the water with a loud splash and sank quickly into the icy depths. The horse didn’t even try to resurface, and the knight’s grip was firm, so I couldn’t kick away. I held my breath and fought down panic as we dropped deeper and deeper into the frigid waters.

  Then, suddenly, we resurfaced, bursting out with the same noisy splash, sending water flying. Gasping, I rubbed my eyes and looked around, confused and disoriented. I didn’t recall the horse swimming back up. Where were we, anyway?

  My gaze focused, my breath caught, and I forgot about everything else.

  A massive underground city loomed before me, lit up with millions of tiny lights, gleaming yellow, blue and green like a blanket of stars. From where we floated in the black waters of the lake, I could see large stone buildings, streets winding upward in a spiral pattern and ice covering everything. The cavern above soared into darkness, farther than I could see, and the twinkling lights made the entire city glow with hazy etherealness.

  At the top of a hill, casting its shadow over everything, an enormous, ice-covered palace stood proudly against the black. I shivered, and the knight behind me spoke for the first time.

  “Welcome to Tir Na Nog.”

  In The Iron Daughter, Meghan is Mab’s prisoner and has no idea how long she might be there or what Mab plans for her. This is her description of the throne room when Mab first calls for her in Daughter:

  The corridor ended, opening up into a massive room with icicles dangling from the ceiling like glittering chandeliers. Will-o’-the-wisps and globes of faery fire drifted between them, sending shards of fractured light over the walls and floor. The floor was shrouded in ice and mist, and my breath steamed in the air as we entered. Icy columns held up the ceiling, sparkling like translucent crystal and adding to the dazzling, confusing array of lights and colors swirling around the room. Dark, wild music echoed through the chamber, played by a group of humans on a corner stage. The musicians’ eyes were glazed over as they sawed and beat at their instruments, their bodies frighteningly thin. Their hair hung long and lank, as if they hadn’t cut it for years. Yet, they didn’t seem to be distressed or unhappy, playing their instruments with zombielike fervor, seemingly blind to their inhuman audience.

  On the far side of the room, a throne of ice rose into the air, glowing with frigid brilliance. Sitting on that throne, poised with the stillness of an approaching glacier, was Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court.

  Other notable regions in Tir Na Nog:

  Glassbarrow

  Glassbarrow is a mountainous region in the Winter Realm, far removed from the court, and ruled over by an Ice Baron, known as the Duke of Glassbarrow. The mountains in this territory are inhabited by deadly ice wyrms.

  The Ice Maw

  The Ice Maw is a great chasm that separates the wyldwood and the Winter Realm. It runs for miles in either direction, meeting the Wyrmtooth Mountains in the north and the Broken Glass Sea in the south. The Ice Maw could at one time be crossed using an arched ice bridge, but this was destroyed by Prince Ash while being hunted by Wolf.

  The Chillsorrow Manor

  The Chillsorrow Manor is a sprawling estate blanketed in ice and snow. Inside, the stairways are slick, the floors resemble ice rinks and the air is frigid cold. The manor is served by creepy, pale-skinned, skeletal gnomes.

  Even more wintery regions:

  The Broken Glass Sea

  The Frozen Bog

  The Ice Plains

  Icefell

  The Wyrmtooth Mountains

  Denizens of the Winter Court

  The Thornguards

  The Thornguards are Prince Rowan’s elite guard, answering only to him and Queen Mab. Along with their prince, they betray their own people and side with the Iron fey, believing they can develop an immunity to the deadly metal and survive when the Iron Realm takes over the Nevernever. They wear rings made of iron that cause their flesh to slowly decay, thorny armor that bristles like giant porcupine quills and carry swords that are black and spiky with razor-sharp thorns running the length of the blade. When the Thornguards die, their bodies erupt into thorny brambles.

  Tiaothin

  This phouka befriends Meghan while she is being held in the Unseelie Court by Mab. They first meet when Meghan is being stalked through the library by a Jack-of-Irons. Tiaothin has dreadlocked hair and yellow eyes, and she can take the form of a slinky black cat and a shaggy black goat, among other things. Tiaothin often jumps from subject to subject while in conversation, and acts as a messenger for Mab and the Winter princes. Meghan often gets the sense that Tiaothin is sizing her up, and though she is the one who discovers Meghan kneeling over the dead body of Prince Sage, she helps Prince Ash rescue Meghan from the Winter Palace by leading the guards on a wild-goose chase. Later, Ash admits he asked Tiaothin to keep an eye on Meghan while she was being kept in the Winter Court.

  Dame Liaden

  An ancient faery who lives in a small, dilapidated cabin beneath two rotting trees in the frozen wood of the Winter Realm. She wears a gray robe and cowl draped over her body like old curtains. She cares for a wrinkled, ghastly baby in a stained white blanket, a hideous child with a deformed head too large for its body, tiny, shriveled limbs and skin tinged an unhealthy blue. She must wash her child in the blood of human infants in order to make it healthy again, if only temporarily.

  Narissa

  This snow faery encounters Ash with Meghan and Puck as they make their way from the Chillsorrow Manor toward the trod to the Voodoo Museum in New Orleans. She overhears that Ash has made a bargain with Meghan and delights in the chance to tell Mab and the Unseelie Court about his potential betrayal.

  THE IRON REALM

  (the Iron Kingdom, the Iron Court)

  When Meghan first enters the Iron Realm, then known as the Iron Kingdom, she sees a blasted wasteland, filled with old technology, scrap piles and acid rain that can burn through human and faery flesh. The encroachment of Iron is poisoning the traditional Nevernever and threatening the balance of Faery. Ultimately, it is Meghan who learns to balance the old and new and how one can complement the other, saving all of Faery and taking the throne as the Iron Queen.

  This is Meghan’s first view of Iron, from The Iron King:

  A twisted landscape stretched out before us, barren and dark, the sky a sickly yellow-gray. Mountains of rubble dominated the land: ancient computers, rusty cars, televisions, dial-phones, radios, all piled into huge mounds that loomed over everything. Some of the piles were alight, burning with a thick, choking smog. A hot wind howled through the wasteland, stirring dust into glittering eddies, spinning the wheel of an ancient bicycle lying on a trash heap. Scraps of aluminum, old cans and foam cups rolled over the ground, and a sharp, coppery smell hung in the air, clogging the back of my throat. The trees here were sickly things, bent and withered. A few bore lightbulbs and batteries that hung like glittering fruit.

  Here is Meghan’s first impression of Machina’s tower in The Iron King:

  At last, the mountains of garbage fell away, and the lead packrat pointed a long finger down a barren plain. Across a cracked, gray plateau, spiderwebbed with lava and millions of blinking lights, a railroad stretched away into the distance. Hulking machines, like enormous iron beetles, sat beside it, snorting steam. And silhouetted against the sky
, a jagged black tower stabbed up from the earth, wreathed in smog and billowing smoke.

  Machina’s fortress.

  As Meghan lies dying at the foot of Machina’s oak tree, her last act, the act that heals her and transforms her into the Iron Queen, is to infuse the combined powers of Summer and Iron into the land itself. Here it is, as described in The Iron Queen:

  Movement swirled around me, flashes of color, showing a land both familiar and strange. Mountains of junk dominated the landscape, but moss and vines grew around them now, twisted and blooming with flowers. A huge city of stone and steel had both streetlamps and flowering trees lining the streets, and a fountain in the center square spouted clear water. A railroad cut through a grassy plain, where a huge silver oak loomed over crumbling ruins, shiny and metallic and alive.