“Fair Folk are starting to arrive. The Gathering starts when the sun goes down tonight. or tomorrow. You know what I mean.”
Kim tipped her wings forward and they rose higher. The island became more and more indistinct below. Brendan looked around and saw other Dawn Flyers dipping and diving, their wings silvered by the moonlight. The sky was remarkably clear, especially so high up and out of the reach of the city lights. The stars twinkled with cold brilliance.
Kim hung in the air, slowly turning in a circle, like a hawk lazily floating as it waited for prey to break cover below. Brendan became keenly aware of her arms wrapped around him. Her body was pressed against his back, and he could feel every tiny adjustment she made with her shoulders and legs to keep them aloft. For the second time in the past week, he was close to a very attractive girl. Even as he savoured the sensation, he felt a weird pang of guilt. Only a few days before he had held Charlie and comforted her, and now here was Kim with her arms wrapped around him. Why did he feel guilty? He didn’t know; he just did, that’s all.
“Are you sure this thing can hold two people?” he asked.
“The Artificers guarantee them. But don’t worry, if we start to lose altitude, I’ll drop you and save myself.”
“Thanks, Kim. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
They were silent for a long time. The wind whistled an eerie tune through the flier’s rigging. He took in the stars and the moon hanging almost full in the sky. He looked over his shoulder and saw the city shining below. Brendan suddenly laughed out loud.
“What?” Kim asked.
“Nothing,” Brendan said. “It’s just… this is awesome!”
Kim laughed. “Yeah.” After a moment she said, “I wanted you to see this. I wanted you to see… ”
“What?”
“I wanted you to see that there are great things about being one of us, Brendan. It isn’t all bad. It isn’t all Proving and tests and Quests and trouble. It’s beautiful, too.”
Brendan thought about that. He looked out over the lake and the city. He was seeing it in a way he never would have if he hadn’t met Kim and learned about his Faerie family. And it was beautiful.
He realized something else, too. He hadn’t been aware of how much he’d missed Kim. He felt bad.
“I’m sorry, Kim.”
“For what?”
“I haven’t been there for you at all.”
“You have a lot to worry about. Don’t sweat it.”
“I have a lot to worry about and so do you. But more than that… ” He swallowed. “I’ve… I’ve missed you these past few days.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” she said, but her grip around his chest tightened slightly. Brendan hadn’t thought she could hold him any closer than she already was.
“Holy stars,” Kim said sharply. “Look.”
Out over the lake, there was a loud rumble followed by a clap of thunder, reminding Brendan of a fighter plane at an air show breaking the sound barrier. An explosion of bright light erupted about a mile above the lake, igniting the sky in a flash. The glow started moving across the sky like a comet, cycling through every colour in the spectrum, a hot swirl of shifting light that grew in intensity as it approached. “What is that? A plane?”
“That’s no plane,” Kim called in his ear. “That’s the Wild Hunt! Pukh has arrived.”
“The Wild What?” Brendan cried. He was having trouble hearing Kim. He became aware of a high keening not unlike the sound of a jet engine.
“The Wild Hunt. When Pukh travels outside the realm of Tir na nOg, he always brings his retinue,” Kim explained. “They travel as the Ancient Faerie Lords once did. Pukh, or Lord Pukh as he prefers to be called, tries to keep the Old Ways alive.”
The light drew closer, descending from the sky like a comet with a rainbow tail trailing behind. As the Hunt approached, Brendan saw it was composed of many Faeries, at least fifty of them. They were attended by countless Lesser Faeries who swarmed around them in a glittering crowd.
The Faeries were dressed in clothing that Brendan thought wouldn’t have looked out of place in a fantasy movie. Cloaks and capes of brilliant hues streamed out behind them. The men wore tunics of rich brocade and beautiful patterns that changed as the light caught them. Elaborate jewellery of gold, pearls, and glittering gems dripped from their throats and wrists. They rode their mounts with casual grace that was beyond any Human’s ability to imitate.
The animals were another shock. Some of the Faeries rode horses that glowed faintly in the moonlight. Others came on powerful stags bedecked in tack and harness, their massive racks of antlers beribboned and hung with delicate silver bells. The stags put Brendan in mind of Santa’s flying reindeer, but these creatures were not benevolent and lovable. Their nostrils flared and smoked. They tossed their heads and rolled their eyes as if the beings on their backs terrified them. Brendan felt sorry for them.
At the front of the cavalcade rode a trio of Faeries. One was a woman so small that Brendan thought she was a child until he looked at her face. Her eyes were wild with a mad intensity that filled him with dread. She grinned, displaying teeth that had been filed to points, and shrieked in a wild lament that made Brendan’s hair stand on end. On a massive horse, the biggest that Brendan had ever seen, sat a freakishly tall man with long silver hair and cold blue eyes. Slung loosely under his arm was a long lance, its tip flashing in the starlight. His face was long and grim.
Between these two bizarre figures and slightly ahead rode a dark Faerie with long chestnut hair caught up in a clasp of gold and diamonds at the back of his neck. He wore a light suit of silver armour that rippled like the surface of a moonlit pool. He threw his head back as he laughed out loud. His slightly slanted eyes and cruel mouth were smiling as if he was enjoying the spectacle he was making.
“Holy cow,” Brendan shouted. “Is that… ”
“Lord Pukh has arrived,” Kim confirmed, a sneer in her voice. “In all his pompous glory.”
Brendan could sense the disapproval in her voice. He watched as the Wild Hunt swung wide over the city, descending swiftly toward the Ward’s Island below to disappear beneath the trees.
“It’s time to get you home,” Kim said in his ear.
Brendan was about to protest when he saw that the horizon to the east was growing pale. He would have to be back before his parents awoke. He nodded to Kim and she banked away toward the city, dropping toward the lights below.
Kim landed them in the park near Brendan’s home. They swooped down over the snow and slid to a stop amid a stand of trees, managing to avoid smashing into any tree trunks. Kim removed the wings and laid them on the ground. At her direction, they piled snow over the bundle. Satisfied that the wings wouldn’t be discovered, they walked together through the park and crossed the street into the alley that led to Brendan’s house.
“You’re quiet,” Kim said.
“Yeah, I guess. I suppose I don’t know what to say. The Proving and the Gathering are tomorrow. Seeing the kind of people who’ll be judging me doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.”
They reached the back gate. Kim grabbed him by the arm and turned him to face her.
“Brendan, I know you must be worried. Maybe even a little scared
…”
“Try pants-crapping terrified.”
“But I know you can do this.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Kim smiled her lopsided smile. “I know a good heart when I see one.”
Brendan didn’t reply. Charlie had said the same thing in his dad’s music studio. Did a good heart matter in this insane world he grappled with? He hoped Kim and Charlie knew what they were talking about.
Then Kim did something totally out of character. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Brendan was so surprised that he just stood there looking at her.
She laughed. “I’ve missed your silly face. Charlie’s a lucky girl.”