“I’m always happy to help dragons tear each other apart,” Algonquin said, strolling over to the wall of tentacles to sit on the lowest slimy appendage like it was a throne. “But before I can let you go, there’s still the matter of my payment.”
Estella’s eyes went wide. “Payment?” she cried. “What payment do I owe you? I was the one who set this up! I handed you the Heartstriker’s children on a platter. You’d still be hunting for the dragon from the Pit if I hadn’t tipped you off about his human mage, and that was only the beginning.” Estella pressed her hand against her chest. “Thanks tomyefforts, the world’s largest dragon clan is about devour itself from within. Is the fall of the Heartstriker and her clan not payment enough for your very small part in this?”
“The death of the Heartstriker would be a prize indeed,” Algonquin admitted. “Ifyou can pull it off.”
Estella scoffed. “You doubt me?”
“I doubt everything,” the spirit said, shooting Estella’s disdainful look right back at her. “You forget, white snake, I am old. Older than you, older than your vaunted mothers, older than any of your kind. I have seen the impossible happen more times than you’ve drawn breath, and I do not trust anything blindly, especially not little dragon seers who think themselves clever.”
“Shewilldie,” Estella growled, holding up her arm to show the spirit the last remaining black chain on her wrist. “The future is bound in chains, Algonquin. I could not save the Heartstriker now even if I wished to.”
The spirit’s smile widened even as the circle of tentacles surrounding the island began to close in. “And what if you don’t live to see it?”
Before Estella could reply, the already heavy magic in the cavern doubled, sending her to her knees. She caught herself at the last second, but not fast enough to hide her weakness from Algonquin, who laughed in delight.
“Foolish little serpent,” she cackled, her watery voice rippling with anticipation. “You came willingly into my domain. Even your sister’s spell cannot pierce this place again without my permission. So tell me, Northern Star, how does your future look as a head on my wall?”
By the time she finished, The Lady of the Lakes’ dark, heavy magic was like an anvil on Estella’s shoulders, but it could not push her down. Algonquin was powerful, even for a spirit, but when push came to shove, she was still just a lake. Estella, on the other hand, was the daughter of gods, and she bowed to no one but her mothers.
“Save your threats for someone who can’t see through them,” she said haughtily, calling her own magic to freeze the leviathan’s writhing tentacles. “The first vision any seer has is their own death. I’ve known mine all my life, and it has nothing to do with you or this filthy cave. But even if I couldn’t see what was coming, I wouldn’t be afraid, because I know you can’t kill me.”
“Really?” Algonquin asked, leaning forward as ice encasing the leviathan’s tentacles began to crack. “And how do you figure that?”
“Because you know as well as I do that if I die, another seer will be born to take my place, and the Heartstriker will continue to be a thorn in your side,” Estella said calmly, crossing her arms. “Only an idiot would throw away long-term benefits for short-term gratification, and for all your faults, you’ve never been an idiot. Or has that changed since you woke, Algonquin?”
The spirit sighed. “It seems my bluff’s been called,” she said, waving her hands to send the tentacles back down into the lake below. “You have no idea how badly I want to plunge your smug face under the water until you drown. Alas, the deal you offer is simply too good to pass up. If you succeed, the Heartstriker dies. If you fail, you’ll die. Either way, I win.” She sighed. “It’s still a pity, though. I always wanted a seer’s head for my collection.”
“Then go after Brohomir’s,” Estella said, tossing her white hair. “He would look lovely mounted on a pike.”
“Heisprettier than you are,” Algonquin said thoughtfully. “But, sadly, his head is not yet yours to offer.”
“Let me go and I’ll change that,” Estella snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. “Haven’t you wasted enough of our time with this?”
“Not yet,” Algonquin said, hopping down off her perch on the leviathan’s tentacles. “There’s still the matter of my fee. So long as you are in my domain, you are at my mercy, and you of all creatures should know there’s no getting out of that without a price.”
“Then stop prattling on and name it,” Estella snapped. “I have more important things to do than stand around humoring a senile old spirit in a cave that stinks of fish.”
“No need to be rude,” Algonquin said. “It’s a simple request. Just a boon, really.”
“What?” Estella growled.
The Lady’s smile turned coy. “Give me your hair.”
Estella had little experience with being surprised, and she did a very poor job now of keeping the shock off her face. She couldn’t see Algonquin’s future, but she’d known from her own that the spirit would want something, though she never would have guessedhair. The more she thought about it, though, the more the request made sense.
Despite being a spirit, Algonquin relied primarily on human mages to do most of her dirty work, and hair was a powerful magical link. With it, Algonquin would be able forge a magical connection to Estella from anywhere in the world, even through the protections of her mothers’ hidden fortress below the ice. It could be used to trace her movements, or even kill her from afar, and then there was the part where Estellalikedher hair.
But while her first instinct was to turn the spirit down, Estella had an advantage that even an ancient force of nature like the Lady of the Lakes couldn’t match, and that was absolute knowledge of the future. She could see the rest of her life like pictures in a book, and after this meeting, Algonquin played no part in it. The mere fact that she hadn’t foreseen the spirit’s demand proved that giving Algonquin her hair would make no difference in the end. Whatever Algonquin was planning, she wouldn’t pull it off before Estella brought the Heartstriker to her knees, and after that, well, nothing much mattered.
With that in mind, the choice became simple, and Estella reached back to gather her hair, savoring the feel of the smooth strands one last time. “You want it?” she said, turning her head to show Algonquin the long white ponytail. “It’s yours. But only after you let me go.”
The spirit spread her arms, and all the leviathan’s tentacles slid back into the water, once again revealing the path out. “Be my guest.”
Never taking her eyes off the spirit, Estella strode down the still wet stone walkway across the dark water to the door in the cave’s outer edge. When she was physically standing in the exit, she called her magic, honing it to a fine edge. Then, before she could regret it, she yanked the power up, slicing clean through her gathered hair.
“There,” she spat, dropping the severed ponytail into the water at her feet. “The payment is made.”
“And accepted,” the spirit said as Estella’s hair vanished into the depths. “You are free to go, Northern Star.”
