The Drowned Tomb (The Changeling Series Book 2) by James Fahy

Author:James Fahy [Fahy, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Venture Press
Published: 2016-08-29T06:00:00+00:00

GOING UNDERCROFT

“I can’t believe she froze Hestia!” Robin said, as he followed the others along the great vaulted tunnel of crumbling, black stone and through the ruins of the Netherworlde’s Erlking.

“Ah, she’ll be alright,” Henry replied, unconcerned. “She needed to cool off anyway.” He was peering around at the dark and silent ruins with undisguised wonder.

“It’s temporary,” Karya called back over her shoulder. “Your tutor is an oddball, Scion, but the keeper of the house meant to stop us.”

“Cool off,” Henry repeated hopefully. “Get it?” Everyone ignored him.

Robin wondered if Hestia would have been right to stop them. Irene would probably not be happy that he was diving off in pursuit of the Grimms, armed only with a haunted knife, an old book and some odd stones. But what choice did they have? They couldn’t wait for her to return. The Grimms could have found the Janus station already. If they did, they’d find the sanctuary of the Undine, and then they’d know where Tritea was buried. The Shard would be as good as Eris’. They had no choice. It was a race to this church.

“I still feel bad about it,” Robin said, skipping over tumbled stones and blocks of glossy masonry as Woad scampered ahead in the moonbeams falling through the broken roof. “She’s never going to let us hear the end of this, you know.”

Henry had removed his school tie and put it in his pocket as they walked. He cut a surreal sight, here in another world in his uniform. It occurred to Robin that his friend had never seen the Netherworlde side of Erlking before. In the human world, it was a rambling old house. Here, it had once been a great and splendid fortress, the home of the King and Queen themselves. Now, it was a vast skeletal ruin, jet black stones. Abandoned, silent, and still. Their scuffing footsteps echoed before and after them as they passed between the many pillars.

“Where are we going?” Robin asked to Karya’s back.

“Outside,” she replied. “I’m not sure I can tear us any great distance across the Netherworlde from within Erlking’s walls. There’s too much residual mana in the air. I need the sky above me and soil beneath my feet, or we’re never going to get anywhere.” She pointed ahead. “There, see, there’s a break in the wall where it’s crumbled away. We can get out, I think.”

There was indeed a gap, where much of the great arching wall had collapsed in a slurry of toppled stones. The moonlight was brighter here, and a sweet, unearthly smell floated enticingly in toward them. It was fresh grass with an undercurrent of cloves, and something rich and spicy. It made Robin breathe deeply and hungrily. The scents of the night-time Netherworlde.

“We could try it from here,” Henry reasoned. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Karya glanced back at him. “Well, the physics of me tearing not just myself, but three others, back and forth not only between the two worlds, but

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