Wintersmith

The Nac Mac Feegles had exploded back into his room, fighting their way through the storm that had arrived overnight, and now, they said, it was time for him to be a Hero for Tiffany…. Well, he would be. He was sure of that. Fairly sure. But right now the scenery wasn't what he'd expected.

"You know, this doesn't look like the entrance to the Underworld," he said.

"Ach, any cave can be the way in," said Rob Anybody, who was sitting on Roland's helmet. "But ye must ha' the knowin' o' the crawstep. Okay, Big Yan, ye go first…."

Big Yan strutted up to the chalk hole. He stuck out his arms behind him, bent at the elbows. He leaned backward, sticking out one leg to keep his balance. Then he wiggled the foot in the air a few times, leaned forward, and vanished as soon as the foot touched the ground.

Rob Anybody banged on Roland's helmet with his fist.

"Okay, big Hero," he shouted. "Off ye go!"

There was no way out. Tiffany didn't even know if there was a way in.

"If you were the Summer Lady, then we would dance," said the Wintersmith. "But I know now that you are not her, even though you seem to be. But for the sake of you I am now human, and I must have company."

Tiffany's racing mind showed her pictures: the sprouting acorn, the fertile feet, the Cornucopia. I'm just enough of a goddess to fool a few floorboards and an acorn and a handful of seeds, she thought. I'm just like him. Iron enough to make a nail doesn't make a snowman human, and a couple of oak leaves don't make me a goddess.

"Come," said the Wintersmith, "let me show you my world. Our world."

When Roland opened his eyes, all he could see were shadows. Not shadows of things—just shadows, drifting like cobwebs.

"I was expecting somewhere…hotter," he said, trying to keep the relief out of his voice. Around him, Feegles popped out of nowhere.

"Ah, you're thinkin' o' hells," said Rob Anybody. "They tends to be on the toasty side, it's true. Underworlds are more o' the gloomy sort. It's where folks end up when they's lost, ye ken."

"What? You mean if it's a dark night and you take the wrong turning—"

"Ach, no! Like mebbe deid when they shouldn't be an' there's nae place for 'em tae go, or they fall doon a gap in the worlds an' dinna ken the way. Some o' them don't even ken where they are, poor souls. There's an awful lot o' that kind o' thing. There's no' a lot o' laughs in a underworld. This one used tae be called Limbo, ye ken, 'cuz the door was verra low. Looks like it's gone way downhill since we wuz last here." He raised his voice. "An' a big hand, lads, for young Wee Dangerous Spike, oot wi' us for the first time!" There was a ragged cheer, and Wee Dangerous Spike waved his sword.

Roland pushed his way through the shadows, which actually offered some resistance. The very air was gray down here. Sometimes he heard groans, or someone coughing in the distance…and then there were footsteps, shuffling toward him.

He drew his sword and peered through the gloom.

Shadows parted and a very old woman in tattered, threadbare clothes shuffled past, dragging a large cardboard box behind her. It bounced awkwardly as she tugged at it. She didn't even glance at Roland.

He lowered the sword.

"I thought there'd be monsters," he said as the old woman disappeared into the gloom.

"Aye," said Rob Anybody grimly. "There are. Think o' somethin' solid, will ye?"

"Something solid?!"

"I'm nae jokin'! Think o' a nice big mountain, or a hammer! Whatever ye do, dinna wish or regret or hope!"

Roland closed his eyes and then reached up to touch them.

"I can still see! But my eyes are shut!"

"Aye! And ye'll see more wi' yer een shut. Look aroond ye, if ye dare!"

Roland, his eyes shut, took a few steps forward and looked around. Nothing seemed to have changed. Perhaps things were slightly more gloomy. And then he saw it—a flash of bright orange, a line in the dark that came and went.

"What was that?" he asked.

"We dinna ken whut they call themselves. We call 'em bogles," said Rob.

"They are flashes of light?"

"Ach, that one was a long way away," said Rob. "If ye want tae see one close up, it's standin' right beside ye…."

Roland spun around.

"Ah, ye see, ye made a classic mistake right there," said Rob, conversationally. "Ye opened yer eyes!"

Roland shut his eyes. The bogle was standing six inches away from him.

He didn't flinch. He didn't scream. Hundreds of Feegles were watching him, he knew.

At first he thought: It's a skeleton. When it flashed again, it looked like a bird, a tall bird like a heron. Then it was a stick figure, like a kid would draw. Over and over again it scribbled itself against the darkness in thin, burning lines.

It scribbled itself a mouth and leaned forward for a moment, showing hundreds of needle teeth. Then it vanished.

There was a murmur from the Feegles.

"Aye, ye done weel," said Rob Anybody. "Ye stared it in the mouth and ye didna take so much as a step back."

"Mr. Anybody, I was too scared to run," Roland muttered.

Rob Anybody leaned down until he was level with the boy's ear.