“Exactly.” The oracle shivered, seemed to ripple in the air. Then, like she was being torn in half, her dusty, ragged body split, became two, six, twelve copies. The duplicate oracles spread out, surrounding me, their wrinkled mouths speaking as one. “You make decisions as a human and a mother, not a true queen. Mab would not hesitate to give up her progeny, even her beloved third son, if she thought he put her throne in danger.”

“I am not like Mab. And I never will be.”

“No,” the oracles agreed sadly, and raised their claws. “You will not be anything.”

They came at me all at once, a dozen ragged, jerky puppets lunging at me from all sides. I dodged one attack and lashed out with my sword at the next. The blade sheared through the thin body and the duplicate wailed, exploding into a cloud of dust. But there were so many of them, slashing and clawing at me; I felt talons catch my skin, tearing through my clothes, leaving bright strips of fire in their wake. I danced around and through them, dodging and parrying their blows like Ash had taught me, striking back when I could. But I knew I couldn’t keep this up forever.

The oracles drew back. Their numbers were smaller now, little swirls of dust dissolving in the wind, but I was hurt, too. I could feel the gashes their claws had left behind, and took deep, slow breaths, trying to focus through the pain.

One of the oracles gestured, and the tree behind me bent entirely in half and tried crushing me beneath its trunk. I dove away, feeling the impact rock the ground, and rolled to my feet, panting. The trees were groaning and swaying at weird, unnatural angles, and the oracles shuffled forward again, trying to drive me back into the forest.

This is just a dream, I thought, trying to stay calm. A dream world that the oracle controls, but a dream nonetheless. I am not going to die here. I am the Iron Queen, and if the Nevernever responds to my wishes, then I can control this nightmare, too.

The oracles surrounded me, trapping me between them and the swaying trees at my back. I took one step back and, for just a moment, closed my eyes and sent my will through the Dreaming Pool, just like I had in the Iron Realm.

“Know that I’m with you always, even if you can’t see me.”

I heard the oracles’ piercing wail as they lunged to attack me again, and jerked my eyes open.

A flash of blue light erupted between me and two of the duplicates, shearing through them as easily as paper. The rest of them jerked to a halt, as Ash lowered his sword and turned to give me a brief smile.

“You called, my queen?”