by A. K. Koonce
"Can you see the carvings in these two trees?" Kai asks. He lifts a hand, pointing over my shoulder, to the trees that Rowan's posed himself in front of.
Between the long trunks nothing appears to be all that different. I expect the black void I'm used to falling into but all I see is the wind rustle some blooms of honeysuckle just yards behind it. Shouldn't it flicker or something? Or maybe look kind of fuzzy?
I try to focus on the trees, like Kai has suggested. Bark... bark... rougher looking tree bark. Green moss... some type of bug. No, no engravings, no markings, no sign or flashing lights that say ‘Hello, you are now leaving the Iron Court, please enjoy your trip to the Ganush Mountain Range.’
"I see… two trees." I finally concede.
"Human eyes," Rowan tsks.
"Why is there no black void to fall into?"
"Oh, there is a void all right. Would you like me to hold you tight as we fall?" Rowan grins and steps toward me.
I shake my head, stepping back into Kai.
"Okay, so my brother isn't very good at backing off. And to amend his previous statement, the void in these types of portals is much smaller and more condensed. You don't need to hold onto anyone. You'll just step through and it will feel like you're falling for a moment but don't adjust your step because when it hits the ground you'll be on the other side."
"Why is it different?"
"Made with different intents," Kai suggests. "I'm not sure, really. These are gentler to go through though. Do you trust me?" He steps around me, heading for the trees. Before he reaches them, he offers his hand.
"See you on the other side." Rowan blows me a kiss before dissolving between the trees.
Do you trust me? That was the question Lincoln had asked me before I let him combine our minds. My answer then had been no. Not just no, but heck no. But do I regret letting him invade my thoughts? Not entirely. Though that could change if he ever marries and it isn't me. But I'm not going to think about that.
My answer now is much faster, more easily said. "Yes."
I place my hand in his. Kai's gaze moves from my face to our palms. When he looks back up, his eyes shine with something far too human. It's clear the Fae have a range of emotions but in my experience they're all just muted versions of our own. The glint in his gaze isn't just sadness... It's heartbreak. Nevertheless, he smiles, and blinks away anything remotely questionable.
My intrigue gets swallowed. Kai gives my hand the slightest squeeze pulling me forward as he backs between the trees.
"Remember, don't change your stride. The steps are just a little farther down than you expect. You can do this, Cupcake."
"If you keep calling me that I'm going to have to give you some sort of nickname that's related to a baked good. How do you like Brownie? Or Cookie?" I step forward, letting him guide me.
His head tilts back with a laugh and he steps through the portal. The sound I expect to come from him is suddenly gone. My shoulder protests as he gives a firm yank.
I step through the trees. It's black like the inside of my eyelids, or maybe it's just that I truly am blinking. I imagine a step, then my boot moves through the air of the expected bottom. The top half of my body leans forward and I'm sure I'll tumble or that the other side has never even existed at all.
When I'm certain that my toes will never meet solid ground, my boot scuffs through dirt. I look down. Tall, wet green grass is bent at an odd angle around my boots, Kai's hand is still holding mine. But behind him, behind Rowan, and behind the continuous expanse of tropical forest, an ash mountain rises.
Then another.
And another.
The Ganush mountain range.
Nine
Wishing Spirit
"You survived." Rowan claps me on my back.
Kai drops my hand, looking up to the steep high terrain we'll be walking through shortly. Humidity suffocates the air. Even the hair in my peripheral vision starts to frizz and quickly grows in size. I'd imagine my hair will be as big as the mountain by the time night falls.
The mountains of Ganush, the word even sounds funny when I'm merely thinking it, aren't what I expect from a mountain. When I pictured them before it was tall peaks, capped in snow. I even have a jacket messily shoved into the purse attached to Rowan's bag. (Who folds their clothes now-a-days?) There doesn't appear to be any splash of white snow on any of these mountain peaks.
"I didn't know it was going to be so hot," I confess.
"Warm and humid. I could have probably warned you. A prepared traveler is one that does not go blindly to his death." Kai bobs his head, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a black elastic. "Here, for your hair."
"Gah, your old proverbs are going to scare her. We are not walking into certain death." Rowan assures me. "I mean… most likely we aren't." Then he adds a wink.
I offer them both some version of a pathetic laugh as I stand and tie up my hair. My skin is already sticky. We haven't even really begun our journey and I'm sweating in places I wish I was not. Hopefully, these jeans don't betray me and show the puddle of sweat that’s making my underwear damp. Now that would be embarrassing. I can hear the boys joking about it now.
"Thank you." I point to the hair tie. "I'm surprised you had one on hand."
"Well, I know how bothersome loose hair can be, especially in a climate like this." He gestures to his own braided hair.
"I should have known. It's just not that common where I'm from for men to have long hair. Still, I appreciate you sharing."
It really is very sad that more human men don’t wear their hair long. It’s quite handsome. I mean, I’m looking at Exhibit A and B right now.
Kai smiles gently before looking up. Rowan joins him in peering onward. As far as I can see with my mortal gaze, there are no easily identifiable paths. Trees and the occasional rock formation jut off at odd angles. It's hard to see it all through the canopy above us.
"Think it best to start this way?" Kai points.
"Yes, though I imagine Briar will need a boost to make it up. Surely, it's doable." Rowan sniffs the air. "Do you smell that?"
Neither brother is looking at me as I wait patiently behind them. Casually, I try to sniff the air too. It smells like dirt and wet grass. Actually, it's somewhat calming in a way. I take another breath. It smells like sweet blooms or maybe lavender. I note that there aren't any flower beds within eyesight.
"Yes," Kai spins slowly in a circle, his attention skipping over me as he watches the forest around us. "It's likely lurking nearby. Hopefully it hasn't spotted us yet, but it'll be on our scent soon enough. We better get moving."
"It?" I clear my throat.
"Come now." Rowan waves and starts forward. Kai lingers, letting me walk in front of him.
"Okay, but I'm going to need a little bit of an explanation or else I'll start to worry."
"Girls worrying is quite annoying," Rowan mutters.
"Shut up," I snap, then look over my shoulder much more pleasantly to Kai. "Is it another panther? Or some sort of feline thing that's much larger than it should be?"
"No. It's something not entirely real."
Even here at the base of the mountain the ground has begun to slope more and more. I can only imagine what sort of workout my calves will be having. It's dreadful to even think about. More so now that there is a not so real something-or-other that's about to be on our scent. Sounds just as deadly as the stupid metaphor Kai shared.
"Explain," I deadpan.
"It's a Wishing Spirit. Some say it's what we Fae turn into when we die with regret or unfinished business. Dreadful things." Kai keeps his tone even, but every so often he looks over his shoulder behind us. "They aren't physical. Not unless you touch them."
"What do they look like?"
"That's... up to you." Rowan smiles. "If a second version of me appears I'll know you're secretly in love with me."
"Not likely."
"You'll see the spirit as whatever you are wishing for, whatever your soul ne
eds," Kai says.
"What exactly were you smelling?"
Small sprouts of trees grow up around us. I grab onto one, using it as leverage to help me forward. Ahead of us, the trees wither away to burnt stumps and skinny new blooming twigs bursting out of black rock. I blatantly sniff the air.
"I don't smell anything."
"Well not only will you see the spirit as what you want, it sort of takes over all of your senses. It'll smell like your heart’s desire too. If you touch it, it will take a physical form and feel real. Deceptive in every way." Kai lags behind me by a few feet.
"So what did you both smell?"
"That's personal." Rowan looks back at me. "Do you think we are going to tell you what we desire the most? No. First thing they tell you in prince training is not to share your most valuable secrets."
"What do you think I'm going to do with this information? Sell it to the highest bidder?"
"Well you are going to be a queen that rules in a different court, Briar," Kai suggests.
"Watch out, that almost felt like a threat," I laugh at him.
Kai gives me a smug smile. "Can't be too careful."
"When I get these powers unlocked," I suggest as if it's a new level in a video game, "I'll be able to kick your butt for saying such offensive, untrusting things."
"I'd like to see you try," Rowan chuckles.
"Don't get ahead of yourself." Kai waves me off, as I turn and walk backwards so I can see him. I pause, letting him get closer.
"I'll give you that good old one, two, jab." I punch at the air. Kai dodges easily.
"You think you're smooth. You best--" He stops talking, his body pausing as he perks up like a hound dog.
"Damn that was fast," Rowan snarls. "What's the plan, brother?"
"What? Is it the Wishing Spirit?" Automatically, I start looking around.
"Don't look around!" Kai barks. He turns me around. "Keep going. The options are not to make contact with it, let it stay in its spirit form and harass us for as long as it pleases or one of us can touch it and we can go for the kill."
Rowan drags a hand down his pale features. "Making it physical could mean using a lot of energy to fight it. Not to mention protecting the obviously weak princess we have with us."
"Don't you mean queen," I interject. They both ignore me.
"Ignore the spirit it is, then." Kai tucks his fingers into the straps of his backpack and stares straight ahead. "It's getting closer. Briar, keep your gaze on the ground. No matter what you think you see, or hear, or smell, or whatever sort of sense it tries to appeal you with. And for the love of all, things holy, don't touch it."
"What could be so hard about that?" I'll just channel my inner 'Collin'. He was great at ignoring me and he's an idiot so surely if he can do it so can I.
"You'd be surprised."
On the next breeze the strong scent of lavender carries toward me again. My shoulders fall away from my ears. I take a deep breath thinking of the blooms that could produce such a lovely aroma. As soon as I relax, all my muscles tense again. Lavender... the flowers.... that's what I'd smelled earlier. I won't be allowing this Wishing Spirit to come in here and bribe me with a bouquet.
What an odd thing for me to smell. What do I desire so much that smells like wild flowers? Romance? Nah, that's fleeting. I try to concentrate on my thoughts to recognize on my own what I could potentially be up against with this spirit, but Kai's voice rips through my thoughts.
"It's here."
Then the spirit starts to talk. "Briar!" A woman's voice. "Briar! I can't believe that you found me."
I point my gaze to my shoes and reach for another flimsy sapling of a tree to pull myself up the volcano. The voice is inviting. The voice is... familiar. I repeat her phrases in my mind trying to place it.
"I can't believe it's you. It's really you," the voice says again.
From the edge of my vision a figure appears. Skirts catch on the rubble of the forest floor, but the girl, she moves closer, reaching for me. I dodge her hand with a gasp.
"You didn't tell me it was going to try and touch me..." I trail off as I look back at my own honey brown hair and dark blue eyes. The last I'd seen of her, her stomach was round and pregnant, now it's flat, and her face is youthful as I remember. She's younger than me. She died younger than me. Queen Amelia.
"Mom?" I whisper.
"I can't believe you would even recognize me. Honey, you've grown up to be so beautiful. Come now, come with me. I've got so much to tell you and it's dangerous for your two companions to know that I've lived. We need to go hide." Her eyes are kind, and she smiles at me like I'm the Christmas gift she's waited her whole entire life for... like I'm her missing child.
"It's not real," Kai whispers into my ear, pushing me forward. "I know you want it to be real. I do too. But it's not what you think it is. The spirit isn't your mother."
"Don't you dare say that to her!" The ghost of my mother pales. "I've waited my whole life to see my baby, to hold my daughter in my arms. You won't play me off as some figment of her imagination. You can see me can't you?" She points to Kai.
The Prince's attention is zeroed in on my back. His hand against my spine is the only thing that moves me forward. Ahead of us, Rowan groans and swats a fly away from his face.
"Do you see her?" I press, looking back at my mother. She looks so real, my heart aches knowing she's not.
"No," Kai says sternly. "I see me."
I know she's just a spirit projecting my need to be loved, my need to have a family, my every want to be a part of something... but if I could just look at her a little longer. All of me wants to memorize her face, make her less of the reflection of my own father's memory. I want her to be more than the painting that hangs in Queen Cordelia's room.
"You see yourself? That seems a little vain, don't you think?" I say, softly.
"Briar, my dear, don't listen to him. He sees me. They aren't safe for you. It's safe with me. Come with me. Please." The spirit begs.
I squeeze my eyes shut and turn away. "Kai, I need you to talk to me right now."
"I see me," he repeats, his voice hoarse. "Me, crowned. Me, without my looming parents, without the restrictions they've placed on me."
"I didn't think we were sharing what we saw." Rowan pauses looking up at the suddenly steep climb over a large boulder. He bends ever so slightly at his knees before pouncing to land in a crouch above the rock.
I try to stare ahead at Rowan, not to give the false imagery of the mother I never had another glance, but she steps toward me. My foot catches along the root of a tree and Kai's arm shoots out behind me. He means well but the force of his hand hitting my back propels me back forward. I stumble again reaching to catch myself on anything I can grab.
My fingers hit flesh. Soft, with the slightest hint of a pinkish glow, I stare down at my grasp that encompasses a slender forearm. Blood drains from my face as Kai hisses through his clenched teeth. I look up. My mother smiles at me, gently.
Lavender fills my lungs. The urge to let her wrap her arms around me, to sob into her tattered dress, makes tension build in every muscle. She's real.
"M--", I open my mouth and her smile turns wicked. The gentle edges of her human teeth lengthen to points and black oozes from her mouth like thick saliva.
My hand slips from her soft skin, still tingling with the need for her touch. It's not her. It never was her. I knew it all along and still a part of me wanted to believe it. I curse myself as my feet pedal backward.
My mother's image is no longer in view. A single blonde braid flashes before me as Kai slips between us. His boot connects with the Wishing Spirit that lets out an undeniably inhuman scream. Any desire for what I thought was my mother is quickly replaced with a new fear.
Slipping against wet leaves, I scurry toward Rowan. I can't chance another glance back. I don't want the image of the Wishing Spirit turned devil in my mind’s eye for a second longer.
"Rowan take her hand!" Kai shouts.
I'm stretching on my toes for Rowan's touch that extends along the rough stone's edge. My shirt rises and my midriff scraps along the pointed peaks. I try to use them as leverage to climb up to him. My boot slips from the small lips with every try.
"You're going to have to do better than that, human. Come on!" Rowan shouts, but his attention is split between me and everything I'm not willing to watch behind me.
There is a scuffle of movement behind me. I know it's some sort of fight that’s raging between the Fae and the Spirit. And it's all from my touch. Kai bellows a scream, one laced with pain. It's followed by a crash and a repeat of the Spirit's wailing cry.
I gasp as I feel hands take my waist. "It's me," Kai groans and pushes me up toward his brother.
Rowan's hand curls around my forearm, he doesn't even sweat as he lifts me one handed onto the rock. I lay flat on my back, reeling. I flinch at every strike.
"You okay?" Rowan whispers.
"Me? Am I okay?" Only then do I roll to my stomach and watch Kai sling a sword through the air. Black blood splits out with a violent trajectory, the spirit’s... my mother’s... arm falling to the ground. I close my eyes. "Should you be asking if your brother is okay?"
"Oh, he's fine," he laughs. "This is nothing."
"It doesn't feel like nothing."
"Open your eyes, he's almost got it finished," Rowan encourages. He leans lower from his crouch, his lips brushing my ear. "As a queen you're probably going to have to witness a lot of worse things than Kai fighting a spirit. Hell, Cordelia herself can get pretty nasty and she's the one thing standing in your way."
"Can you... can you still see the spirit as it was? Does it still appear as whatever you were seeing it as?"
"No." He shakes his head, sending his small braids scattering across his leather backpack. "She looks like Queen Amelia. She looks like your mother. Is that why you don't want to look?"
