Reckless (Mirrorworld 1)

It hung from the roof of the cave like a sandstone chandelier. Jacob felt quite dizzy as he leaned over the balustrade between two shops to look down at where the stalactite ended in a crystal crown, with its shimmering points reaching into the void.

"Which are the windows of the Dark Fairy's chambers?"

"The malachite ones." Valiant looked around nervously.

There were a lot of soldiers on the bridge — not just the sentries by the palace gate, but also among the crowds strolling past the shops. Many of the Goyl women wore dresses embroidered with stones that matched the color of their skin. The stones were so finely cut that the fabric glistened like snakeskin, and Jacob caught himself wondering what Clara would look like in such a dress. How long will this last?

The Fairy's windows gaped like green eyes from the light sandstone. Barely twenty yards above them was the point where the bridge's metal joists were bolted to the palace wall, but the façade, in contrast to that of the other stalactites, was shiny-smooth and afforded no purchase.

And yet he had to try. Behind him, Valiant was muttering something about the limitations of the human mind. Jacob pulled the snuffbox from his pocket. It contained one of the most useful magical items he'd ever found: a very long single golden hair. The Dwarf fell silent as Jacob began to rub the hair between his fingers. It began to sprout more fibers, each as fine as the silk of a spider. Soon the hair was as thick as Jacob's middle finger and stronger than any rope in this or the other world. But it wasn't just its strength that made it such a useful tool. It had other, even more wondrous properties. The rope could grow to any length you desired, and it could attach itself to the exact spot you looked at when you threw it.

"A Rapunzel-hair. Not bad!" Valiant murmured as Jacob took the rope and looked down at the green windows. "But not even that rope will help you with the guards. They'll see you as clearly as they'd see a bug crawling over their faces!"

In reply, Jacob produced the green glass bottle from his pocket. He had stolen it from a Stilt, and it was filled with the slime of a snail that could make you invisible for a few hours. The carnivorous snails that produced it used it as camouflage to sneak up on any prey they fancied. Stilts and Thumblings bred the snails for the slime, which enabled them to go on their forays similarly undetected. The slime had to be smeared under one's nose — quite an unsavory procedure, even though it didn't smell — and the effect was immediate. The only problems were the side effects, including hours of debilitating nausea as well as, after repeated use, temporary paralysis.

"Rapunzel-hair and waneslime." Jacob heard a trace of admiration in the Dwarf's voice. "I must admit, you're quite well equipped. All the same, I'd just as soon know where your gold tree is before you climb over there."

Jacob was already smearing the slime under his nose.

"Oh no," he said. "What if you've neglected to tell me something, and the King's guards are waiting for me down there? The rope is strong enough for only one, so you get to stay up here. But if the guards spot me, then you'd better find a way to distract them; otherwise you can say good-bye to your gold tree."

Before the Dwarf could protest, Jacob swung himself over the balustrade. The slime already made his body disappear, as if the darkness were swallowing it up. As he climbed down to the iron girders, he could no longer see his own hands. Holding onto one of the struts, he threw the rope. The golden cord wound through the air like a snake wriggling through the water, until it attached itself to a ledge between the malachite windows.

What if you actually find Will behind there, Jacob? Even if you can break the Dark Fairy's spell, he'll still be asleep. How are you going to get him out of the fortress? He didn't know the answer. He just knew that he had to try. And that he could still feel Clara's lips on his own.

Climbing a Rapunzel-rope was easy. The rope adhered to his hands as if it were trying to hold on to them. Jacob tried to ignore the abyss beneath him. All will be well. The stalactite inched toward him, sinewy, like a muscle cast in stone. He already felt the nausea brought on by the waneslime. A few more yards, Jacob. Don't look down. Ignore the height.

He tightened his grip on the taut rope and climbed on until finally his invisible hands touched the smooth wall. His feet found the ledge and, leaning against the cool stone, he took a moment to recover his breath. The green windows to his left and his right shimmered like hardened water. What now, Jacob You can't just break one. That would have immediately summoned all the guards.

He pulled Chanute's knife from his belt and set the blade against the glass. He noticed the hole with the moonstone rim only after the snake had shot out of it. Moonstone as pale as the snake's scales, as pale as its mistress's skin. It wrapped itself around Jacob's neck before he realized what was happening. He tried to ram the knife through the scales, but it entangled him so relentlessly that his fingers let go of the haft, and he could do nothing but claw in desperation at the scaly body. His feet slipped, and he hung helplessly above the abyss like a snared bird, the strangling snake around his throat. Two more serpents slithered out of another hole next to him and wrapped themselves around his chest and legs. Jacob fought for breath, and the last thing he saw was the golden rope coming away from the ledge with a sudden jolt and disappearing into the darkness above him.

38

Found And Lost

Sandstone walls and iron bars. A lizard-skin boot kicking him in the ribs. Gray uniforms in the red fog that filled his head. At least the snakes were gone, and he could breathe. The Dwarf sold me out again was the only thought that penetrated the red fog. When had he done it, Jacob? In one of the stores, while you were waiting like a sheep?

He wanted to sit up, but they had bound his hands, and his throat hurt so much that he had trouble swallowing.

"Who brought you back from the dead? Her sister?"

The jasper Goyl stepped out of the dark.

"I didn't believe it when the Fairy told me you were still alive. That was a well-aimed shot." He spoke the dialect of the Empire with a heavy accent. "It was her idea to spread the word your brother was with her, and you went for it like a fly into the spider's web. Bad luck the snakes aren't even fooled by waneslime. But you did much better than the two onyx Goyl who tried to climb down to the King's chambers. We had to scrape their remains from the roofs of the city."

Jacob pushed back against the wall and managed to sit up. The cell they had thrown him into was no different from the cells in a human prison. The same metal bars, the same desperate scrawls on the walls.

"Where's my brother?" His voice was so hoarse that he could barely hear himself. And he felt extremely sick from the waneslime.

The Goyl didn't answer.

"Where did you leave the girl?" he asked instead.

He surely didn't mean Fox. What did they want with Clara? What do you think, Jacob? Your brother is sleeping, and they can't wake him. That's good news, isn't it? And that Valiant had not given her away proved that the Dwarf really had taken quite a fancy to her.

So you just play dumb, Jacob.

"What girl?"