Page 76 of First Snow
“Just great,” Arttu grumbles.
“Don’t worry, darling.” Jareth opens his palm and sets the little werelight free. It whizzes into the tunnel, illuminating the darkness in front of them. “Briar’s magic is going to lead us straight to him.”
Arttu’s hand settles on the grip of his service weapon, which he’s carrying hidden in a shoulder holster under his winter coat.
“Fine. Let’s go get the bastard.”
The air is getting colder the deeper they venture into the caves. Ice crystals begin to cover the walls, and the ground is becoming slippery. The stench of rotten magic increases with every step.
“The tunnel is getting wider,” Jareth whispers. “I can see a light.”
“Finally,” Arttu grumbles, his breath condensing into small clouds. Jareth loves seeing him like this, all focussed and ready to fight. The hunt suits him unfairly well.
Silently, they creep up to where the tunnel ends in the mouth of a cave, and gaze into the large opening in front of them.
“A fucking ice palace,” Arttu whispers.
“Indeed.”
The cavern is much larger than Jareth would’ve expected, and it’s covered by a crystalline dome. In the bluish light, shadows move among the ice stalagmites. Jareth didn’t notice that he and Arttu had crossed a threshold like the one separatingRhosyn Keepfrom the human world, but this place is clearly built at least halfway in the Kingdom Beyond. Jareth summons his blade to his hand.
“Briar is here.”
Nodding, Arttu follows him towards the cave’s center, where the light is brightest.
As they approach, Jareth is reminded of the basement where he had his brief encounter with Mikael Laine, for the space between several large pillars of ice is filled with antiquities. Magical artifacts of various power levels have been carelessly dropped everywhere. Even taking into account that some of them are fake, a fortune is piled up on the cold floor. Jareth spots Lord Briar scurrying among the objects like a rat.
He gestures to Arttu to stay hidden in the shadows, and, before his beloved can protest, Jareth steps into the light.
“Searching for something in particular?”
Briar whirls around.
“Lord Blackrose—”
“Surprised to see me?”
Briar gulps. He looks worse than a few days ago when they met at his party, eyes sunken and face ashen. The rotten magic must be taking its toll, not only on his mind, but on his body as well. Briar’s eyes flicker back and forth nervously. “I’m always pleased to welcome you, Lord Blackrose. Can I interest you in one of my treasures?”
Carefully Jareth approaches the man. Something isn’t adding up here. He can sense the same awful presence he felt when Ajatarattacked them, and which was also palpable in Lord Briar’s private room, albeit more muted. But here it’s so potent it clogs Jareth’s senses and makes it hard to breathe. It doesn’t seem to come from the elder Briar directly, however.
“Where are the remaining spell books?”
“Burnt,” Briar hastens to assure. Clearly a lie.
Something moves at the edge of Jareth’s vision.
“Freeze!” Arttu yells.
A black shadow lunges at Jareth. Three shots ring out, making the attacker falter long enough for Jareth to bring up his blade.
He buries his sword in the chest of the thing coming at him. It resembles Ajatar,only this time the apparition lacks the crooked branches, consisting only of gray rags and black smoke. The pure evil energy it exudes takes Jareth’s breath away and threatens to overwhelm his magical defenses.
Jareth shouts a counter spell, and Arttu shoots again, making the apparition shy back. Jareth uses the short reprieve topushagainst malicious power. He has no idea how Arttu managed to slow down the ghost with a non-magical weapon, even though Tuulia claimed she enchanted the bullets.
Throwing all his strength into the fight, Jareth tries to destroy the malicious spirit. It’s so much harder than the last time to wrestle it down into the abyss. Jareth realizes that Ajatarpossessed only a fraction of the power this creature has. He isn’t sure he can defeat it.
“Eloise Briar! You’re under arrest,” Arttu shouts.