A Court of Moss and Moonlight

Chapter 9

The Midnight Toast was a dull affair of droning speeches and overly sweet wine, but it served its purpose: it corralled the entire court into the center of the ballroom, leaving the edges, and the exits, exposed.

Brynn, Kael, and Maeve huddled near a pillar wrapped in ivy.

"The King's study is in the West Spire," Kael murmured, his voice barely audible over the applause for a Duke who had just finished a poem about the King's greatness. "Top floor. But the stairwell is guarded by two Onyx Knights."

"I can’t fight two Knights without blowing my cover," Brynn whispered.

"You don't need to fight," Maeve said, smoothing the silk of her skirt. Her face was pale, but her eyes were sharp. "You need to vanish. I will make sure the Guards are... occupied."

"Maeve, don't do anything reckless," Brynn warned.

Maeve smiled, a brittle, dangerous expression. "Reckless is my middle name. Well, actually, it's Seraphina, but reckless fits better. Go. When you hear the screams, run."

She turned and glided into the crowd, heading straight for the buffet table where a precarious tower of crystal champagne flutes stood.

"She's terrified," Kael noted, watching her go.

"That’s why she's brave," Brynn said. She looked at the masked Wolf. "Ready?"

"Always."

Thirty seconds later, a shriek pierced the air.

"SNAKES!" Maeve screamed, pointing at the buffet table. "BY THE GODS, THE WINE IS TURNING INTO SNAKES!"

She threw her hands up. A wave of illusion magic, fueled by pure panic, washed over the table. To everyone in the room, including the Guards, the sparkling wine in the crystal tower didn't just spill; it writhed. Hundreds of translucent, hissing vipers seemed to explode from the glasses, slithering over the tablecloth and onto the floor.

Chaos erupted. Dukes jumped onto tables. Countesses fainted. The Onyx Knights at the West stairwell abandoned their post, drawing swords to hack at snakes that weren't there.

"Now," Kael hissed.

They moved.

They slipped through the heavy velvet curtains and into the servant’s corridor. The noise of the ballroom faded instantly, replaced by the damp silence of the stone halls.

They took the stairs two at a time. Brynn’s lungs burned, but her wolf pushed her forward, fueled by the hunt.

"Third floor," Kael counted as they passed a landing.

"Fourth. The air is getting thinner."

"And stinkier," Brynn noted. The smell of ozone was pungent here, mixing with the metallic tang of oil. It didn't smell like a castle anymore. It smelled like the inside of a server room that hadn't been ventilated in a decade.

They reached the top landing. A massive door of ironwood stood before them. There was no keyhole. No handle.

Just a small, rectangular panel made of grey plastic, mounted on the stone frame. It had buttons with numbers on them.

Kael stared at it, bewildered. "What is this rune? It has no magic signature."

Brynn stared at it, her jaw dropping.

"It's not a rune," she whispered. "It's a keypad."

She stepped forward, her fingers hovering over the worn buttons. It was an old model, something you’d see on a warehouse door in the late 90s. The numbers 1, 5, and 9 were worn down, the paint faded from use.

"He uses a PIN code," Brynn muttered, a hysterical laugh bubbling in her chest. "The High King of the Realm uses a PIN code."

"Can you break it?" Kael asked, watching the corridor behind them.

"If he's arrogant," Brynn said. "And people are always arrogant."

She looked at the worn keys. 1, 5, 9.

She tried 1-5-9-1. A red light blinked.

"Wrong," she whispered.

She tried 1-9-5-1. Red light.

"Hurry," Kael urged. "The illusion won't last forever."

Brynn closed her eyes. She thought about the King. He called himself the First. The Alpha.

She tried 1-1-1-1. Nothing.

She looked at the keypad again. There was a faint smudge on the # key.

1-9-9-5. The year he arrived?

She punched it in.

Beep. A green light flashed. A heavy mechanical clunk echoed inside the door, followed by the hiss of hydraulics.

The door swung open.

Kael looked at her as if she had just grown a second head. "You speak the language of the metal?"

"I speak the language of lazy passwords," Brynn said, stepping inside. "Come on."

They slipped into the room and closed the door softly behind them.

Brynn turned around and gasped.

It wasn't a study. It was a laboratory.

The walls were lined with bookshelves, but instead of scrolls, they were crammed with three-ring binders and technical manuals. In the center of the room, a massive desk dominated the space. But it wasn't covered in parchment.

It was covered in cables.

Thick black wires snaked across the floor, hooked up to glowing blue mana crystals that pulsed with a steady rhythm. The cables fed into a large, blocky machine sitting on the desk.

"Is that..." Brynn walked closer, her steps echoing on the metal grating that covered the stone floor.

It was a computer. A desktop tower, the casing stripped away to reveal the motherboards and fans inside. It was hooked up to three monitors, their screens glowing with streams of green text.

"What is this sorcery?" Kael whispered, reaching for a wire.

"Don't touch it!" Brynn grabbed his wrist. "That's high voltage. You'll fry yourself."

She leaned over the desk, reading the text on the screens.

System Status: Optimal. Mana Conversion: 89%. Barrier Integrity: 100%. Subject Tracking: Active.

"He's converting magic into electricity," Brynn realized, her voice trembling. "He's running a server farm on dragon's blood or whatever these crystals are."

She looked at the map on the center screen. It was a satellite view of the Valley. Red dots moved across it.

"He's tracking people," she said. "The 'All-Seeing Eye' isn't a spell. It's a GPS system."

Kael was staring at a corner of the room. "Brynn. Look."

Brynn turned.

On a pedestal, encased in glass, sat a rifle. But not a musket. It was a modern, tactical assault rifle, matte black and terrifying. Next to it was a helmet, a riot gear helmet with a visor.

"He brought weapons," Kael said, his voice hard. "Weapons that kill without magic."

"He's not just a King," Brynn said, the horror dawning on her. "He's a conqueror. He came here because he could rule here. Because on Earth... he was probably nobody."

She moved back to the computer. "I need to find out how to bring down the barrier. If it's controlled by this..."

She reached for the keyboard.

Suddenly, a mechanical whirring sound came from the shadows in the corner of the room.

Whirrrr-click. Whirrrr-click.

Kael spun around, drawing a dagger from his boot. "We are not alone."

From the darkness behind a row of servers, something stepped out.

It was the size of a wolf, but it had no fur. It was made of brass and iron, its joints hissing with steam. Its eyes were camera lenses, glowing red.

"Intruder Alert," a synthesized voice spoke from the metal beast. "Unauthorized access."

"A Golem?" Kael asked, stepping in front of Brynn.

"No," Brynn backed up, her eyes wide. "It's a robot. A security drone."

The metal wolf opened its mouth. Inside, a small nozzle began to glow with blue light.

"It charges like a blaster," Brynn yelled. "Duck!"

She tackled Kael just as a beam of concentrated energy seared the air where his head had been. The beam hit a bookshelf, incinerating a row of manuals.

"Kill it!" Brynn screamed.

Kael didn't hesitate. He roared, his eyes flashing gold, and threw the dagger. It hit the metal wolf in the shoulder, bouncing off the brass plating with a useless clink.

"Magic doesn't work on it!" Kael shouted, dodging another blast. "It has no soul to crush!"

"Physical damage then!" Brynn scrambled up. She grabbed the nearest heavy object, a fire extinguisher labeled 'Earth Safety', and swung it.

"Distract it!"

Kael leaped over the desk, drawing the drone’s fire. The robot tracked him, its servos whining.

Brynn lunged. She swung the extinguisher with all her Alpha strength.

CLANG.

She smashed the nozzle of the extinguisher directly into the robot’s neck, right where the wires were exposed.

Sparks showered the room. The robot jerked, its head spinning 360 degrees.

"Hit it again!" Kael yelled.

Brynn raised the canister and brought it down again, and again, until the red light in the camera lens flickered and died. The machine collapsed into a heap of twitching scrap metal.

Silence fell over the room, broken only by the hum of the servers.

Brynn dropped the extinguisher, panting. "I really hate technology right now."

"We have to go," Kael said, grabbing her arm. "That noise will bring the Guard."

"Wait." Brynn reached into the robot’s wreckage. She yanked out a small, rectangular chip that was sparking. "Memory card. Maybe it has data."

She shoved it into her corset.

"Now we go."

They ran for the door.

But as they reached the handle, the keypad beeped.

Red light.

The lock clicked. A heavy deadbolt slid into place.

The screens on the desk flashed red.

LOCKDOWN INITIATED. SECTOR SEALED.

"He knows," Brynn whispered, pulling uselessly on the handle. "He locked us in."

Kael looked at the heavy ironwood door, then at the thick stone walls. He looked at the window, a narrow slit overlooking a sheer drop.

"Well," Kael said, turning to her with a grim smile. "We found the proof. Now... how do you feel about heights?"