“The help of a dead woman’s little use to us,” Bellum muttered.
“Come with us,” Veleris said. “We will give you what aid we can, within limits. We won’t risk our people’s safety.”
“I understand,” said Danielle. “Thank you.”
“That’s it?” Talia asked warily. “No price, no bargain? What kind of fairy are you?”
Veleris smiled. “The kind who recognizes that the things I want are beyond your power.”
“Or the kind that doesn’t expect you to survive long enough to fulfill your side of any bargain,” Bellum added with a chuckle. “Come along, O short-lived ones.”
The giant led them through another tunnel to a large, rectangular doorway. A dragon guarded the door, this one larger and darker in color than Koren. A thick chain ran from his leather collar to a bolt in the floor. He lay curled on his side against the wall, eyeing them warily as they approached. He must have decided they were safe, because he stretched, then curled his neck down and began to spit tiny gouts of flame against his own backside.
“What is he doing?” asked Gerta.
“Cleaning himself.” Veleris pounded the dragon’s neck as she stepped past. The dragon climbed to his feet and rubbed the top of his head against Veleris’ palm, like a dog begging to be petted. Veleris chuckled as she opened the door. “If I wasn’t with you, he’d already have barbequed you and your friends.”
Danielle wished they had been allowed to reclaim their weapons. Tame or not, the creature was still large enough to rip off an arm or leg with a single bite. Though she doubted the dragon would even notice an attack by anything less than an enchanted blade.
The giant’s room was modest, little more than an oversized storeroom with wood-planked walls and old support beams. At some point in the past, the wooden wall on the back had been torn down and crude shelves carved into the rock. Oversized parchments, each tightly rolled and tied, were stuffed onto the shelves. A dirty curtain partially concealed a smaller cave, where rumpled blankets were tossed over a woven mat. A small oil lantern hung on the wall to the right of the doorway.
“Make sure you shut the door,” said Veleris. “The beast likes to sneak in and steal a snack.” She patted a barrel that smelled of old fish.
“What’s his name?” asked Gerta as she pulled the door closed.
“What gives me the right to impose a name upon another creature?” Veleris began digging through the parchments, scanning small symbols jotted on the ends of each. With a satisfied grunt, she yanked one out and unrolled it across the floor. “Hold that, will you?”
The parchment was the size of a small carpet, covering more than half the floor. Line after line of tiny brown characters were broken only by meticulously precise drawings. Danielle had spent enough time with Snow to recognize various summoning circles.
“What kind of skin is this?” asked Gerta.
“Dragon,” said Bellum. “It lasts much longer than ordinary parchment.”
“My mother trapped the demon within a mirror,” said Gerta. “Bound by a platinum frame. The summoning ring was built into the palace, but it was the mirror that held the demon.”
“Mm.” Veleris scowled. “Your mother summoned the creature in spirit only. Clever. But even so, no simple circle would have held this demon.”
“What would?” asked Talia.
“Power.” Bellum bared her teeth. “There are techniques to trap magic within the metal. Build a forge fueled by the bones of a hundred wizards, quench the white-hot metal in their blood… you might be able to contain even a major demon for a while. But that frame lost its hold when the demon escaped, and it has a body now”
“What does that mean?” asked Talia. “Do we need the bones of two hundred wizards? Give me a week in Kanustius, and-”
“Snow gives the demon physical form.” Veleris grabbed another scroll and unrolled it over the first. “That can be a weakness as well as a strength. Snow White’s power is added to its own, but the demon’s magic is now channeled through her human body.”
Bellum grunted. “Fairy magic would likely resist her power, at least for a time.”
“It does,” said Danielle. “My son… he has fairy blood. The demon’s magic didn’t work on him.”
Veleris stared at her a long time, her face furrowed. “I’m not going to ask.”
Gerta was crouched on the floor, squinting as though she could figure out the language on the giant’s parchment through sheer willpower. “I’ve touched the demon’s power, seen what it can do. How can a young child resist that, even with fairy blood?”
“It’s not what he does,” said Veleris. “It’s what he is.” She pointed to a small illustration of intersecting circles. “Your kind believe demons are creatures of Hell, yes? Made to torment the damned for all eternity?”
“There are some who believe that,” Danielle said.
Veleris smiled. “What hold would such a being have over a fairy, destined for neither Heaven nor Hell?”
Bellum snorted. “Mystic claptrap. Fairies are magic, that’s all. Fairy magic and human magic overlap, as do human and demon, but fairy and demon magic are like oil and water.”
Gerta paled. “That’s why she-why the demon needs Jakob.”
Everyone turned to face her.
“Danielle, when you saw Jakob in your vision, you said he sat upon a frozen lake polished smooth as glass. A mirror of ice. He was playing with shards of ice, and his hands were bleeding. Jakob was born of darkling magic. He has fairy power in his blood, as well as human. What would happen if that blood were mixed into a mirror formed of ice?”
“She’s already used a great many shards from her mother’s mirror,” Danielle said. “She has to be running low. But if that lake serves as a new mirror, every splinter of ice carrying her magic…”The demon would have a never-ending supply of power. One infused with her son’s blood and magic as well as her own.
Veleris whistled softly. Bellum scowled. “Possible,” she said. “I don’t understand human magic that well, but-”
“Snow could do it,” Gerta said. “I couldn’t, but she could figure it out.”
“How much-” Danielle swallowed and forced herself to finish. “How much of his blood would she need?”
“It’s hard to say.” Bellum shrugged her shoulder. “How many drops of poison does it take to kill a man?”
“Depends on the poison and the weight of the man,” Talia shot back.
“She could keep him alive,” said Veleris. “Bleed him each day, taking only what she needs. With care, he could survive for years.”
“Don’t give them false hope,” Bellum said. “More likely, once the demon figures out how to use the boy’s blood, it will kill him and spill it all. Demons aren’t known for their patience.”
“Enough.” Danielle’s voice, trembling from her effort to retain control, cut through their discussion like steel. She jabbed a finger at the parchments. “Tell me how to stop it.”
Gerta sucked her lower lip as she thought. “There has to be a way to summon it out of Snow. Build a new circle, call it here, and kill it.”
Veleris shook her head. “Even if you found someone strong enough to summon the demon, it would drain the strength from your friend when it felt itself being pulled away. She would be left an empty husk, and the demon would only find a new host.”
Talia grabbed the parchments and flung them aside. “The Duchess said you could help us to save Snow White. Either tell us how, or put us in touch with the Duchess so we can tell her you’ve made a liar out of her.”
“We can save your friend,” Veleris said softly.
“How?” asked Danielle.
“With me.” Gerta stood against the wall, staring at the floor. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Snow crafted her, didn’t she?” asked Veleris. The giant rose, both heads studying Gerta. “She’s the key.”
“Gerta can destroy the demon?” asked Danielle. She had to strain to hear Gerta’s response.