Jason partially agreed but knew what Grim had said. If they stepped off the path they couldn't find it again. "Going back would mean we wouldn't find the path again." Jason pointed out,but he didn't exactly want to get the two dragged into a fight with an Iron Fey or more than one.

Ash raised his sword and hacked through a cluster of yellowed, dying vines that smelled of rot. "If there is an Iron faery here, better we find it than scouts of Summer or Winter."

"Yeah? And what happens then? We politely ask it to go home? What if it doesn't listen to us?"

Ash gave him a blank stare.


He winced. "Right." He sighed. "Forgot who I was talking to. well then, lead on, ice-boy."

Jason followed close to Puck and he also felt a little stung by that look. But he forced dark purple into his scales so that the dark pink didn't show.

"Careful," he murmured. "This stuff can be deadly, even for you."

Jason nodded and kept his body as small as he could,scales receding to just his freckles again,that line of scales and rainbow veins still on his back though.

They pushed deeper into the forest, following the trail of dying plants, until the trees thinned and the ground abruptly dropped away into a rocky gorge. The trees in this area were blackened and dead, and the air smelled poisonous and foul. After a moment, Ash realized why.

Sitting against a tree, his armor glinting in the sun, was an Iron knight.

Ash paused, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword.

Jason stopped and his pupils slitted again as he looked the Knight up and down silently,trying to use the fabric of his hoodie to block out the stench but gave up once he knew he couldn't. He was ready to kill if he had to,but as usual he didn't want that to be the first option.

This one was clearly no threat to them. His breastplate had been staved in, and dark, oily blood pooled beneath him. His chin rested limply on his chest, but as they got closer, he opened his eyes and looked up. Blood trickled from one corner of his mouth.

Jason forced himself not to bare his fangs and hiss as the knight looked up.

"We have to get to Leanansidhe's," Puck said. "We can find the trail again, I'm sure. But, hate to ruin your dreams, prince, but saving the Nevernever is my first priority."

Surprise and a flicker of alarm crossed his face. "The Exile Queen? Are you sure shell help us?"

"No." The Exile Queen, as she was called among other things, was capricious and unpredictable and, frankly, quite terrifying. But she had helped them before, and her home in the Between--the veil separating the mortal world from Faery--was the only potentially safe haven Ash and Jason had, being exiles.