Book One - Chapter Four, Part II
By Stephen Herron

"I'm really worried about Robin. She's just a child," he said softly, as Govain stopped and turned. Her eyes glittered.

"No, she isn't. That is your second mistake. But I like her too. Seamus saw her this morning, being chased by a Chimerical Dragon. He has been trying to find you all day to tell you." Galway's face hardened, and his hand went to his belt. The huge Chimerical Sword glittered. Kestry's faced paled.

"The Smoke Dragon. Damn."

He took his mobile phone out, and tapped in a short series of numbers. Galway looked at him curiously.

"Who are you calling?"

Kestry placed the phone to his ear and sighed.

"The police."

"What was his name?" Lorenzo asked, his voice a sigh. They had been at this since this morning. He was tired, and annoyed, and the little girl seemed to get brighter and more confident at each turn.

"Robert. His name was Robert. He's my brother," said Robin sincerely. Lorenzo shook his head.

"Do you know his name?" he shouted at her.

She glared at him crossly.

"I don't mind you shouting. That will help immensely, and make me much more helpful. Go on! Keep shouting!"

"Kestry was there, wasn't he?" Lorenzo asked with a slimy smile.

"No," said Robin. The Unseelie Duke nodded.

"At last. Straight answers. So he was there."

Robin shook her head. She bit her lip and forced a true answer.

"Yes. I meant yes."

It worked. Lorenzo looked bewildered.

"What? You mean he wasn't?"

"No, he wasn't. Sorry." Her smile was sweet, and made Lorenzo even more confused.

"Okay, forget it. Where is the boy? Where did he go?"

Robin narrowed her eyes, as if she was thinking hard.

"I don't know," she said, forcing another true answer out. It was harder to lie to people who she wanted to like her, but with Lorenzo, as with teachers and other bullys, it was harder to tell the truth. Lorenzo would be assuming that everything she said was a lie, since it was in a Pooka's nature to exaggerate and fib. She might be able to use it to her advantage.

And it was a lot of fun.

"Right, then. Where is he?" he asked, with a pleased smile.

"He isn't in Scotland, now. He wasn't going on the Ferry that night. I don't think he's got family in Glasgow, but I might be wrong."

Lorenzo's eyes lit up, and he scribbled down the information. Robin waited until he had almost finished.

"Nah, I was lying. I don't know where he is," she said lightly.

Lorenzo snapped the point of his pencil on the paper. He didn't look up.

"Do you want your mother never to have another original thought again? Do you?"

His words were firm and angry. Robin's stomach turned again.

"Yes, " she said, feeling the tears coming again.

Lorenzo stood, and slammed the pencil onto the table. He glared at her, and left the room, irritated and annoyed at the game. The door slammed, and the numerous locks spun and clicked.

Robin was alone, for all the good being a bird would do her. She ran around the room, her sharp eyes searching. All she could see and sense was the Glamour surrounding the whole building, which she knew to be Kestry's old Freehold. She wished he was here. He would keep her safe, with Lord Galway punching nasty Lorenzo's face in.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. She sat, cross-legged, where she had been standing. Robin shut her eyes, and gathered her remaining Glamour. Words to a song she had heard once before came to her lips unbidden, and she sang softly.

"You move me, with your buildings and your eyes, Autumn woods and Winter skies, open sea and city lights, busy streets and dizzy heights. You call me."

Glamour whipped out from her, and a warmth filled her as it came back tenfold. The old manor building opened it's soul to her, and began to whisper truths and secrets. Robin listened intently, nodding to the silent voice's instructions and directions. She smiled.

Galway was driving like a maniac through the hills that surrounded Belfast. Kestry held tightly onto the passenger bar in front of him, his thoughts faraway and long ago. He remembered the Smoke Dragon, and the way it drew it's power from the bombs and explosions of the Troubles. It's presence was a harbringer of doom and destruction, and he wondered whether it was Lorenzo's companion, or whether he belonged to it.

"Did you bring it?" he asked Galway. The Troll nodded his head towards the back of the Land Rover. Kestry turned, and saw a long heavy object, wrapped up in rags, and strapped into the back seat.

They came up to a major junction, and Kestry smiled as he saw two RUC cars blocking the roads that intersected onto theirs. Officers nodded at him as he sped past, and he silently thanked Peter for his help.

"Handy," commented Galway. Kestry nodded.

"We'll have a clear road between here and the Manor. The Police think that we're acting on a Kidnapping case. We are, I suppose."

Galway took the Land Rover around a tight corner, and shifted gears as they climbed a hill. Kestry closed his eyes, and began to prepare himself.

Lorenzo walked up to the door of the attic room, and opened the locks. As he opened the door, he shivered at the cold breeze that wafted out. For an instant he was confused, and then, as he realised what had happened, he was furious. The room was empty, except for a flapping panel in the ceiling, perfectly hidden to even Fae eyes before it had been opened.

He turned on his heel, and ran down the three flights of stairs to ground level, shouting and swearing.

"FOLLY! Folly! She's gone! Get the pistols! We'll sort her and her mother out."

The other Sidhe ran out to meet Lorenzo at the front doors. The Unseelie Duke was already weaving another Cantrip. With a hiss like a runaway steam engine, the Smoke Dragon swept down over the house, and circled above the lawn, searching for Robin. It shot off towards Belfast like a bullet a moment later, and Lorenzo smiled grimly.

"Let's go. Get the car."

Robin's wings were beating as fast as her heart. Birds of her size were not designed for long, fast flights. Lots of short bursts were more appropriate. She barely managed to get to a branch before fainting. Noone was looking, so she changed back, sitting in the branches. She puffed and puffed, her head hurting with the exertion. The sun had almost gone down, and she wondered what her mother would be thinking. Far below her was the back road between Lisburn and Belfast, and the most likely route that Kestry and Galway would take if they were going to help her.

"Why haven't they come yet?" she sniffed, wiping a tear from her eye.

She heard the flapping of great wings far above her. Looking up through the bare arms of the tree, she could make out the Smoke Dragon gliding across the sky like an errant cloud. It circled around, and whipped past the tree, making the branches shiver. Somewhere in the distance, from both behind her and in front of her, she could hear cars.

Lorenzo and Folly drove along the back road towards Belfast, the engine of the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost humming like a tuning fork. Lorenzo was leaning out the window, watching the form of the Dragon. It began to circle a few hundred yards ahead, and he narrowed his eyes in triumph. He pulled out an old Flintlock pistol, barely working to the mortal eye, but a dangerous weapon to other Changelings.

"We've got her. Just ahead," he cautioned Folly. The other Sidhe lifted his own Flintlock, and nodded.

Kestry saw the Smoke Dragon far ahead. It was swooping around in the twilight, the setting sun glinting off the dark eyes of the beast. Galway saw it a few moments later, and slammed the breaks. Both men jumped out, and Galway took the long wrapped package out of the backseat of the car. Kestry was already running towards the group of trees over which the Dragon was circling. Without a second thought, he slipped into his Fae Seeming, and began to shine brightly, as if the noon sun was reflecting off his armour and his hair. The long coat vanished to be replaced with clean silver platemail, and his longsword glowed with the perfection of a summers day. He drew it, and shouted at the Dragon.

He could see Robin shivering in the arms of the tree, and he winced at the fear he felt pouring off her. She was desperate to hide from the Dragon, but the only way was for her to slip into the Banality of her human form. She might not be able to change back, and she would forget everything.

Kestry knew that Galway was setting up behind him. It would all be a matter of timing. He was too busy watching the Dragon that he didn't notice Lorenzo step out into the road, just beyond Robin's tree. He raised his Flintlock, and aimed it at Robin.

Robin heard both cars screech to a stop, and saw two people emerge from both. They were on opposite sides of the tree, and she knew that Kestry and Galway had come for her, just in time. Lorenzo and Folly lept out, and began to split up. She couldn't see Folly, but saw Lorenzo watch Kestry run towards her. She looked back at her friend, and caught her breath as he fully came into his Sidhe Seeming. She had never seen anything so magnificent. A thought came to her, and she turned back to try to see Lorenzo. He was lifting his gun, and it was pointed at her. She shut her eyes.

There was a snap-crack of a rifle, and Lorenzo fell to the ground, clutching his arm. Kestry glanced back at Galway, whose Matchlock rifle was raised with a rock steady arm. He was so glad that the Troll was on his side, and such a good sniper. Lord Galway was still aiming, the Chimerical Matchlock rearming itself silently as his eye searched for the Dragon.

Kestry reached the bottom of the tree, and he looked up at Robin. She smiled gratefully down at him.

"I'm so glad to see you!" she cried, meaning every word. Kestry winked at her, and spun around with his sword. It struck Folly, who had been creeping up behind him. The Unseelie Sidhe gasped as the Chimerical Longsword slashed into his Fae form. He staggered back, moaning as the Glamour poured from his unreal wound, the real world encroaching upon him.

"Jump! I'll catch you!" shouted Kestry. Robin nodded, and jumped down into his arms. She planted a kiss on his cheek, and he grinned.

"I wasn't scared, you didn't have to come after me. I had it all under control, " she sniffed as

Kestry ran back towards the Landrover.

"It's not over yet, Robin, " he warned.

The Smoke Dragon screeched over their heads, and a very solid claw raked Kestry's back. He fell forward, protecting Robin as he rolled. His armour had been slit open like paper, and he could feel a damp pain in his back. Robin put her hands around his neck, and summoned up her own Glamour. The price of the Cantrip rose in her mind, and she had to bite her lip to make it come out right. Hopefully, he might think she was living up to her Pooka nature, and was lying through her teeth.

"I like you, " she whispered, just quietly enough that he wouldn't hear. It was the worst bunk she had ever enacted in her short Changeling career. However, it was enough. The magic surrounded him, and Kestry sighed as his wound disappeared.

Lord Galway, one eye shut, watched as the Dragon rushed over the Duke and flew straight at him. He pulled the trigger, and a bright flare of light erupted from the end of the barrel along with a puff of smoke. The Chimerical shot passed through the Smoke Dragon, leaving a trail of disrupted smoke and mist in it's wake. The Dragon soared past Galway, and straight up into the low cloud base, a huge scream echoing into the distance. The air was still once more.

Lorenzo staggered back to the car, and he exchanged a long gaze with Kestry, who stood up, still holding Robin in his arms. Folly limped back to Lorenzo's side, and climbed into the Rolls Royce. Lorenzo followed, and they sped quickly off.

Galway walked over to his friends, and laid a hand on Kestry's shoulder.

"Are you injured, Liege?" he asked in a deep voice. The Duke looked down at Robin, who huddled close to him. He slipped back into his mortal Seeming.

"Yeah. I loved driving that car," he said, watching the Silver Ghost disappear around a corner.

The three got into the Land Rover, and drove back into Belfast.

Robin's mother was very pleased to see her daughter. Peter McKibben flashed his badge at her, and explained that she had been clipped by a bus after school in the City Center. He told her mother how he had been passing, and had taken her to the ER department at the City Hospital. Peter explained, with the help of a forged doctor's letter, how she had just been given a fright rather than hurt, and ended by telling her that Robin was very brave, and should really be kept off school for a couple of days.

He walked back to his armoured Ford Granada, and nodded to Kestry and Galway who sat within it.

"Nice wee girl, " he commented, "but I can't believe she's a...well, one of you lot."

He started the car, and they pulled away from outside Robin's large house, just outside Belfast.

Kestry smiled, and took out a silver harp brooch from within his coat pocket. It glinted in the moonlight, and Glamour sparkled around its' edges.

"This is the symbol of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, isn't it?" he asked.

Peter glanced over.

"Roughly. The RUC badge is a little different. But it's a Harp, yeah. Why?"

Galway smiled, and looked away.

Kestry took a deep breath, and decided just to say it.

"Well, I'm gonna make you an offer you'll probably refuse..."

Peter sighed deeply. It was going to be one of those evenings.