THE QUESTERS, PART XVII

How Jonah's family came to employ a Lockjaw was beyond me. They're so rare that many think they're mythical. However, his presence would be very useful.

"Everyone gather around," Jonah instructed. He had a hand on Ed's neck and was ruffling the fur there. Ed was panting eagerly, with his massive tongue hanging well below his lower jaw.

Everyone did just what Jonah had asked - even Saida.

"Oh, hell no," I told her. Saida shot me the stern look of a woman not used to being told what to do.

"Seeker Rahne..." she began impatiently.

I interrupted her. "If this doesn't work, we need somebody to tell the world what's happening. Seek out my father. Find the Spider-general, the Sorceress Supreme, and the Sword Priestess Militant. Try to get them to cooperate and to continue the hunt for the book."

Saida hesitated... and then nodded and stepped away from Ed. Ed gave her a sympathetic look. I suppose to a creature like him, being denied the right to travel as you wished would be a hard thing.

"And tell my father that he might even need to call the Blood to war," I added.

That was not something I said lightly. Everyone around me stiffened. Alex and Smit forget their dislike for each other long enough to exchange startled looks.

"Yes, Lady Seeker," Saida replied quietly.

Then Ed took us away.


The scars of the great war between Folk and Wilder have not left us. There are more than few shattered cities in our world. And even the still-living cities often have large expanses of ruins - twisted, broken, and sometimes partially-melted skeletons of rust, stone, concrete, and glass.

Washton itself is breath-taking. Monumental remnants of white stone are everywhere, many still beautiful despite the way they've been ravaged by war. The great, burning, city-slaying weapons of the Old Folk were not used in Washton. Instead, there was a full-on battle using the powers of the Wilder versus the technological mastery of ancient Folk soldiers. Mile after mile of Washton is wreckage and ruins - the battle must have been huge.

We appeared near the tumbled wreckage of the great structure that was once the center of Washton. The rent remnants of an iron dome still graces what's left of that building. The iron is rust-red with age, and protected from scavengers by superstition, tradition, and the stern laws of centuries of Blood lords.

As most of us stared, Alex and Smit moved out to our flanks, carefully keeping watch all around. Everyone else stayed near me.

Ed looked around, made a mournful sound, and shuffled up against Jonah. His eyes on the ruins, Jonah automatically put one of his real arms around Ed's shoulders. "It's okay, boy," Jonah said softly.

"I hate places like this," Beck said grimly.


East of Washton's great domed structure are the swampy remnants of what was once a vast pool. On the far side of the pool, there is the broken base of a massive stone spire. When the spire toppled, it fell to the south, leaving a linear mound of shattered stone. That stone is slowly disintegrating as rain and vegetation break it apart. Someday, there will nothing left by a long grass-and-brush-covered mound.

Faye, Rose, and I had seen Washton before. The others had not and were suitably amazed. Our world is a world of ruins, but none that I've seen are quite like Washton.

Rose looked at me and raised her eyebrows. But she said nothing.

"We'll wait for signs," I told her. Morgan hadn't exactly given me clear instructions of what to do once we got to Washton. The book was supposedly somewhere to our south. But south of Washton is much of a continent and an ocean.

Rose nodded and then turned to the others. "Form a perimeter!" she called out with easy authority.

Our party of police and soldiers instantly did just that. I've always respected Rose's ability to take charge, but what else would you expect from a child of the Lehnsherr line? After all, her great ancestor came razor close to conquering the world - and some say he came even closer to destroying it.

There was a ripple of ghosts around us, but none seemed inclined to manifest. Sometimes the deaths of vast numbers seems to somehow mute the voices of the dead. I wonder if they're all talking to each other.

I found a flat chunk of table-sized rubble, swept the dust and debris from it, and then sat down cross-legged on top of it. After that, I closed my eyes and waited.


Faye was sitting next to me on the rubble. The others were spread out in a wide circle, silently watching for any threat.

"Anything?" Faye finally asked. She gets impatient with waiting for signs.

I kept my eyes closed. "Well, I was about to drift off into a nap, but you interrupted me."

I could sense Faye's unabashed smile. "Sorry. Want me to find you a blanket and a pillow?"

"That sounds good," I answered. "Some warm milk would also be nice."

"Ben eats me out when I can't sleep," Faye added thoughtfully.

I tried not to grin. "Is that an offer?"

Faye chuckled. "Sorry, no. I was just reminiscing."

"I understand. I miss my husband too."

Faye moved behind me and put her arms and legs around my body. She's a very physical person. I leaned back into her as she rested her chin on the top of my head.

"How many people do you suppose died here?" she asked after a while.

I shrugged. "I've heard numbers so big that they don't make sense."

"What kind of numbers?"

"Do you know what a million is?"

I could feel Faye shake her head. "No."

"It's a thousand thousands"

Faye snorted. "Okay, now you're pulling my leg."

"I wish I was."

"That's how many they say died in the battle here? A... a... milayun? Is that the word?"

"Some say it was even more than that."

Faye was silent for a while. Then she sighed and said, "Remind me never to get educated. The past is strange and scary. It may be better for me to just stay a dumb Greenie brawler."

"Don't talk about yourself that way," I scolded. "And besides, intelligence and education are not the same thing."

Then I heard a flutter of wings.

"Rahne... maybe you better open your eyes," Faye told me. It sounded as if something had caught her interest.

So I did as she'd asked.


Once again, the sign was a Sea Eagle. He was beautiful, sleek, and perched on a stunted piece of scrub as he watched Faye and I.

We actually weren't that far from the Tomac river - which leads to the Lant ocean. But Sea Eagles don't usually stick around ruins, so while his presence wasn't freakish, it was unusual. However, it was definitely odd that he had parked himself within a group of people.

As he continued to gaze at us, I had the impression that he was amused.

I got to my feet and the Sea Eagle immediately took off in a powerful tumult of flapping wings.

He headed south and east. However, he didn't soar high into the sky and continue onward. Instead, as I watched, he vanished into a set of ruined buildings.

"Let's go," I told the others. Then we began following the eagle.


The building was small and made of ancient, crumbling, brick. And it had a definite tilt to one side. Frankly, I was surprised that it was standing. It struck me as an out-structure that had long ago been roughly converted into a home.

The eagle was perched on the roof, giving us a look I can only describe as skeptical. I could tell by scent that someone was inside the house.

"One person. An older man. Probably Folk," Alex told us after he sniffed the air. Smit nodded in wordless agreement and began working his way around to the rear of the building. For two men so sure that they were doomed to someday fight to the death, Alex and Smit worked together rather well.

Jonah launched himself onto the roof. He landed with surprising silence, but the eagle screeched at him and took off.

"Don't be a jerk," I heard Jonah mutter to the angry eagle.

I stepped onto the front porch but Faye quickly got in front of me. Then she shoved the front door open and entered.

I followed. Beck and Rose were backing me up. Ed waited on the porch.


The man inside fit Alex's description. He was a dark and elderly Folk, painfully thin and with a fringe of white hair around a prominent bald-spot. The old man was sitting at a table that was piled high with books. The room itself was walled with overflowing bookshelves.

As we entered, the old man looked up from his reading and frowned at us.

"Hello," he said calmly. The old man had a surprisingly firm and deep voice.

"Hello," I replied. "My name is..."

"Rahne..." he interrupted thoughtfully. "The Lady Seeker. Adopted daughter of James Loganborn and the slayer of the unjust Lord Washton. As a woman seeker, you are the only one of your kind - unless perhaps you count Lady Laura herself as a seeker."

"Well... you obviously know me," I replied. "And you, sir, are...?"

"My name is Fury," he said as he carefully marked the page in his book and then closed it.

Faye spoke up. "This is a dangerous place for a man to live alone, Mr. Fury."

"I know secrets," Fury told her. "That's the only reason anyone would come to visit me. And it's also why people with ill intent leave me alone. Secrets can be dangerous, and many consider me to be some kind of wizard."

Then Fury looked back at me. "Sit down," he said as he nodded to a wooden chair that was across the table from where he sat. "And tell me what brings you here."

"Actually, a ghost sent me," I told him after I sat. "But he did tell me that there was a secret to be had here."

Fury didn't so much as blink at my words. And he kept looking at me. There was a sudden shift in the room's light as the sun came out from behind a cloud. Out on the porch, I could hear Ed beginning to snore.

In the now better light, I could tell that something was wrong with Fury's eyes. They appeared oddly curdled. Off hand, I would have said that he was blind. And yet he was sitting in a room full of books, with a book on the table in front of him.

"What do you know about the Darkhold?" I continued.

Fury sighed, closed his eyes, and shook his head.

Then he opened his eyes again. "I know it would be best not to go looking for it. The book itself is deadly to the human soul, it's ferociously guarded, and it's sought-for by many horrible creatures."

"I understand that the book holds a great secret," I said. "A secret that could do much good for the world."

"Such as the destruction of all vampires," Fury added flatly.

I nodded.

Fury was silent for a long moment as his strange eyes looked into mine.

"It actually happened once," Fury said almost conversationally. "The Ancient One - the Sorcerer Supreme who finally died just a few years ago - used the book to destroy the vampires in this plane of existence. It actually eliminated the very ability of vampires to exist here. But somehow... somehow... that didn't quite take with the most powerful vampire. Yes, he seemed to vanish for a while, but then he came back and took the Darkhold for his own. And after that, within a few years, the world had vampires again. That was all a long time ago."

"But the Darkhold was eventually lost to the vampires during the War of the Night," I said.

Fury nodded. "And then Morgana Le Fey somehow acquired it."

"And you know where it is?" I asked.

Fury was still for a moment. "I cannot talk you out of searching for the Darkhold?"

I shook my head.

Fury looked unhappy, but he gave me an answer. "Go south, along the east side of the Tomac river. There is a long stretch that the locals call the Empty Shore. Have you heard of it?"

I hadn't, but Rose spoke up. "Nobody lives there," she answered softly. "Nobody except the Monster in Red Iron."

Fury nodded. "You'll have to deal with him if you want the Darkhold."

"Shit..." Rose whispered to herself in disgust.

"Look, just what the hell are you?" Faye asked Fury. Her voice was cold and her eyes dangerously narrow.

Fury's smile was grim. "I told you, little Hulk-girl. My name is Fury. And I know secrets."

Then his smile became coldly broader. "And I've just given you a big one. I hope it doesn't kill you."


Rose had a long talk with Ed. It involved a lot of scratching behind Ed's ears as she sat on Fury's porch and Ed lay next to her. Mostly, it seemed to be Rose reminiscing about the time she helped rescue some shipwrecked boatmen from a forbidden place, but actually Rose was putting a mental impression of a location into Ed's mind.

It was mid-afternoon by the time Ed took us to the northern edge of the Empty Shore.


"Wow," Jonah said. He was looking around and he didn't seem impressed by what he saw.

The Empty Shore was just that. There was literally no sign of any kind of humanity.

Alex, Smit, and I were perplexed by the scent. It was pure wilderness. There was nothing - no fire or habitation - anywhere to the south of us.

"People don't come here," Smit said. "Not here. Never here."

The idea seemed to bother him. And I noticed he was back to his oddly repetitive habit of speech.

"This the northern edge of the Empty Shore," Rose said grimly. "It goes like this all the way down to the sea. River traffic doesn't stop here if they can avoid it. They just row right through and trade cargo on an island just off the coast."

"And this is all because of that Red Iron guy?" Jonah asked.

Rose nodded. "Yes."

"What do you know about him?" Alex asked. His claws were out and he was flexing his fingers automatically.

"He's an immortal armored giant," Rose responded tensely. "Even the Blood don't hunt him. It's said that he's killed whole packs of Ronin and Wilder."

Beck spoke up. "What's the chance that Fury is just getting rid of us by sending us into a massacre?"

"I was thinking that myself," Faye said. She was in her full Green form and popping her knuckles ominously.

"And we're supposed to talk to him?" Beck added skeptically.

"Let's go," I said quietly. Then I began walking southward, slipping from tree to tree. That wasn't me trying to be stealthy. There was simply no roads or path to follow - not even deer trails.


It was an hour or two before nightfall when we finally found the Lord of the Empty Shore. He loomed out of a reed-filled pool that was part of a tributary to the Tomac river. One moment, there was nothing to see, but then he suddenly lifted himself out of the water.

He was huge - well over eight-foot-tall and yet so broad that he seemed almost square. He was clad in some kind of thick, red-colored, metal armor. And he was wearing a bizarre helmet that sloped up smoothly from his shoulders and chest. I'd never seen the like. Through narrow slits in his helmet, I could see his eyes. They were stupid and violent, yet somehow tragic and lost.

Several of us cursed simultaneously. I think I was one of him.

"Are you from that Morgana broad?" he asked. His accent was thick and strange. I'd only heard the like in the most isolated holdings and villages, usually spoken by very old Blood. In fact, get a few drinks into my father and he sometimes lapses into something like it.

"As far as I know, Morgana Le Fey is dead," I replied carefully.

The giant's eyes narrowed as his helmet tilted dangerously downward. He was on the verge of making a berserk charge.

"She can't be dead," he rumbled. "She's the only one who can free me."

"Who are you?" I asked cautiously. "What's your name?"

"Bitch, I'm the Juggernaut," the giant figure growled at me.

Then, moving like some implacable force, he charged us.