by Eden Redd
“It looks beautiful,” the sun elf smiled.
Jon’s rage had slipped away and he smiled. “It will be better at night.”
The car sped on until it reached the boardwalk parking lot. A few twists and turns and they were parked. Doors opened and bodies spilled out. Zelda was last to get out, ducking her head and moving her long limbs until she practically slid out of the car.
“That was torture,” Syndra complained.
Jon shot her look. “We were in the car for ten minutes! Haven’t you been on cramped ships longer than that?”
“Not that cramped,” Syndra said with a snide edge, turned her head and stuck her chin out.
Lilly stepped closer and Jon looked at her. His mind and heart cooled as she reached out and touched his hand.
“You seemed fine before we entered the car,” Lilly said.
Jon nodded. “I get a little aggressive when I drive. I should be fine as we walk.”
“I kind of liked it,” Zelda said as she stepped past Jon and Lilly.
The entire group turned and looked to the noisy, glittering boardwalk. Shops ran to the right and left of them while a massive, wooden boardwalk stretched out over the water. Mechanical rides filled the view, the giant Ferris wheel taking up most of it. Many people walked about, food and drinks in their hands. The scent of carnival food washed over the group, elven eyes widening and noses drinking it in.
“What… is that wonderful smell?” Syndra asked as she nearly floated to it.
Jon scratched the back of his head and smiled. “There are a lot of different foods here. I’m sure we will try them all.”
Zelda was nearly to boardwalk entrance before she spun around with her webbed hands out to her sides and her brow pointed.
“Come on!” she shouted before turning around again and walking to the stairs.
Lilly smiled as she let go of Jon and started walking. Syndra walked lightly, her senses trying to find the sources of the food smells.
Cora stood, her purple eyes wide and staring.
Jon saw her and stepped closer. “Are you okay?”
“I never expected it to be so… beautiful,” the thin elf said without blinking.
“It will be better after dark. Let’s go so we can see more.”
Jon bowed and pointed with an open hand to the entrance.
Cora turned her gaze to Jon, pink touching her pale cheeks. She quickly began walking, Jon standing up and following.
The group stood in the middle of the boardwalk, everyone facing in a different direction. People moved past them, some with smiles and others with shock in their eyes, seeing various elves on their very boardwalk. Game booths filled the area before the ride section while food booths lined the boardwalk in the opposite direction.
The atmosphere was warm and glowed with hidden adventure. The babble of voices and dings from machines drowned out the crashing waves. A wonderland stretched out in two directions and in an instant, hands grabbed at Jon.
Jon felt hands grab him and began to pull as voices rose up in a sudden storm.
“I want to see the machines!” Zelda cried out.
“I want to eat the food!” Syndra pointed at the food booths.
“I want to play games,” Cora said without grabbing Jon, but her voice ringing out.
“I want to explore!” Lilly grinned.
Jon had to steady himself or he was going to be pulled off his feet. Hands taking hold of wrists, he gently twisted them off of him and fixed his white shirt.
“We have a lot of time. We can move to each one together or we can split…” Jon never finished.
“Split up!” Syndra and Zelda said at the same time.
The sea witch and sea elf glared at each other before they glanced at Jon. A breath later, hands lashed out to grab the man. Syndra was quicker, her hand latching onto Jon’s arm and pulling before Zelda could gain a firm grasp.
Jon stumbled as Syndra led the way. He looked over his shoulder to the other elves, his gaze falling on Lilly’s bright smile.
“We will find each other! Have a good time!” Lilly shouted and waved an arm.
Jon chuckled as the sea witch pulled him along. When they reached the long row of food booths, Syndra’s crimson eyes sparkled in the late afternoon light. She stepped closer to a booth and eyed the beautiful pictures of food.
Jon was next to her and smiling. “These are hotdogs.”
Syndra looked to Jon with wide eyes, “You eat dogs here?”
Jon shook his head. “No, it’s not actual dog meat.”
The sea witch’s eyes dimmed. “Oh. On certain islands, it’s a delicacy.”
Jon pulled out his wallet and took out several soozes. He handed it over to the people in the booth.
“What would you like?” Jon asked Syndra.
The shadow elf eyed the pictures and picked one.
“A hot dog with ketchup and mustard,” Jon ordered.
The man smiled before moving in. Syndra clasped her hands in front of her. Even with her hood up, it didn’t hide the sparkle in her eyes. When the man behind the counter handed her a hotdog in a bun, she took it instantly.
Jon parted his lips to explain what she might taste, but never got the words out as she took large bites from one end. Her red eyes glowed as she shoved more into her mouth until it was gone.
I thought only Zelda ate that way.
Syndra nodded, swallowed and looked to the man behind the counter. “Another.”
“Syndra, there are a lot of other foods to try…”
The shadow elf shook her hooded head. “I said another.”
Jon sighed, took out his wallet and handed over some more soozes. The man smiled, prepared another and handed it to Syndra’s greedy hands. The elf took her time this time, taking smaller bites and savoring each one. Jon saw his chance and gently took her arm, pulling her away from the hotdog booth.
“Let’s try something else,” the young man said as they walked.
“It tastes like a meaty ambrosia fruit,” Syndra said between bites.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Jon smiled.
The couple walked along, Syndra finishing her second hot dog and her gaze spotting a cart with fluffy clouds within. Along the edge of the cart, colored pink and blue clouds stood on paper cones and covered in some kind of see through bag.
“What is that?” the witch pointed to the cart.
Jon looked over, “It’s cotton candy.”
“I want some,” Syndra ordered.
Jon nodded and the pair walked to the cart. Jon pulled out a sooze and handed it over. Syndra pointed to the pink one and the woman manning the cart smiled and gave one to her. Jon was quick to remove the plastic before the elf bit into it. Syndra’s eyes dilated as the cotton candy melted instantly in her mouth.
“I was wrong. This is more like ambrosia,” the shadow elf smiled before taking another large bite.
“I should introduce you to corndogs,” Jon smiled.
Syndra looked to Jon with sugar-filled wonderment before a darkness touched her eyes and looked down.
Jon lifted an eyebrow in concern. “Is everything okay?”
Syndra nodded, her eyes wet. “I’ve never been this happy before.”
“It’s just boardwalk food,” Jon tried to be comforting.
The elf shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. This moment with you and this lovely food. It’s too much. I don’t know how I’m truly meant to feel. I’ve spent my life being treated like a muddy bottom feeder and yet, you treat me like a friend.”
“Syndra, we are becoming friends,” Jon said with a simple smile.
“We… are?” the shadow elf said with a confused expression.
Jon nodded. “I know it has only been a few days, but I think we are all becoming friends. You’re beautiful and I would be lying if I didn’t feel a budding friendship.”
A tear streaked her dark cheek as she lifted the cotton candy and took a large bite.
“I t
hink we should focus less on possibilities and more on the moment,” Jon smiled before he turned to the cotton candy seller. “One more cotton candy,” he said and handed over another sooze.
The woman nodded and handed him a blue cotton candy on a cone cup. Jon took off the plastic bag covering it and threw it into the trash. He was about to take a bite when a commotion touched his ear from behind.
Jon and Syndra turned around to see Zelda stalking toward them and nearly knocking people out of her way. Anger touched her dark eyes as she fumed. When she reached the pair, she stood and sulked.
“The Captain asked me to get you,” Zelda said in a low tone.
“Do I need to ask?” Jon smiled.
Zelda’s brow formed a hard V. “They wouldn’t let me on the rides. They said I had to pay with soozes. When I told the Captain, she said she and Cora have the same problem.”
“Shit!” Jon said, touching his hand to the side of his head. “I should have given you all currency.”
Jon turned to Syndra who was happily eating her cotton candy and handed his to her. “Can you hold this while I take care of this? I’ll give them some currency and be right back.”
Syndra smiled. “Take your time. I’ll be on the bench waiting for your return.”
Jon nodded before following Zelda. The pair moved through the growing crowds. Some people took pictures of the tall sea elf and Zelda growled at them.
“They’re just curious,” Jon said.
“Everyone is curious until something bites them,” Zelda said and snapped her razor teeth at a couple.
The couple quickly hurried away with wide eyes.
Jon and Zelda stepped through the groups of people until they reached a game booth. Large stuffed animals with neon colors hung around the edges. Buckets of darts stood on the counter while targets and wooden animals moved in circular patterns.
Lilly and Cora stood before it, turning their gazes to Jon and Zelda as they approached.
“We’re sorry, but the man insisted we pay,” Lilly said with an edge.
“He won’t let me play to win the giant snake,” Cora said, emotionless.
The man behind the counter stood with crossed, beefy arms. “This isn’t a charity booth. You pay to play.”
Jon pulled out his wallet and put three soozes on the counter. “Is that enough?”
The beefy man with a beard gave a sarcastic smile. “If she wants to win the giant purple snake, she needs to hit four targets, dead center for each. It’s a sooze per dart.”
Jon shook his head as he pulled out another sooze and placed it with the other three. The man nodded. Cora reached into a dart bucket and pulled out three darts. Zelda stood with wary eyes, watching the smug man behind the counter. Lilly smiled as she looked to Cora. The thin elf was about to throw a dart when the man spoke up.
“Step behind the line on the floor.”
Cora took a few steps back, a red piece of tape was on the boardwalk floor. Stepping behind the line Jon, Lily, and Zelda stepped over to the side.
Cora’s eyes became laser focused as she looked at the blinking lights around moving targets. Wooden animal cutouts moved back and forth with recorded sounds filling the air. Eyes narrowed as the darts were held loosely in her thin fingers. The very air seemed to grow still before her hands flashed forward in rapid succession. Darts were colored blurs, striking the middle of targets with deadly accuracy.
Jon, Lilly, and Zelda smiled as targets lit up.
“Fucking elves always cheat,” the man behind the counter grumbled.
Jon looked to the man, “Excuse me, but what the fuck?”
The man crossed his arms again. “My booth, my rules. Your elf cheated. No one can throw that good. I’m not giving her the snake.”
Zelda’s webbed hands curled into tight fists. Lilly touched her First Mate’s arm. Zelda looked to her Captain in muddled confusion. Lilly pointed her chin to Jon as he stalked to the counter edge and glared at the man.
“She won it. Give her the snake,” Jon said through gritted teeth.
The man looked down on Jon with indifferent eyes. “Why don’t you show me how it’s done, since you seem to think it’s so easy anyone can do it.”
Jon’s eyes cooled and he smirked. “Sure. Give me one dart and I’ll hit more than one target.”
The man’s mouth shifted into a sneer. “You’re crazy. No one can hit two targets with one dart.”
“I said I can hit more than one. Two might be low, but it could be more. Give me a dart. If I can hit more than one with a single dart, the snake goes to my girlfriend,” Jon said with burning confidence.
Cora blinked. Zelda smiled. Lilly gave a maddening grin with wide eyes.
The man pulled a dart from a bucket and put it on the counter. “On the house only because I have to see it to believe it.”
Jon lifted the dart and stepped back to the red line.
Shit! I’m going to push my luck. I hope it's not bad this time.
Jon eyed the blinking targets and animals. He let out a long exhale as everyone watched. Turning around, he faced his back to the game booth.
“You’re fucking crazy! It can’t be done!” the man called out on the verge of laughing like a mad man.
Jon felt his spirit rise up and he pushed. Energies tingled before he lifted up his arm and threw the dart over his shoulder. The dart blurred across the short distance, all eyes following it.
Time slowed down to a crawl as the dart crossed space and time, hitting a target dead center and bouncing off. The dart ricocheted off a standing pole, bouncing off and hitting a small, sheep cut out. It dinged as the dart bounced off of it, hit the ceiling of the booth, hit the floor and bounced off the edge of the counter. It struck another target, smashing it to bits as it hit the back of the booth and ricocheted again. The needle point gleamed before it hit a target from the other side, the point stabbing out.
Lights went wild as the entire booth lit up. The man’s jaw dropped as his eyes bulged out of his head. Zelda laughed as Lilly grinned. Cora cracked a tiny, warm smile.
Jon turned around, stepped to the hanging giant purple snake and pulled it down. The stuffed snake was huge as he handed it to Cora and looked to Lilly.
“Something bad is going to happen,” Jon whispered.
Zelda laughed, clutching her stomach. The man couldn’t seem to pull himself together to deny what he just saw. Cora snuggled the snake, coiling it around her waist.
Lilly’s grin vanished as she stared at Jon with intense eyes, seeing the look of defeat in his gaze.
Across the way, people playing skeeball were laughing and throwing hard balls. A woman who had been drinking a little too much laughed very loudly as she swung her hand back. Fingers slipped and the hard skeeball went flying from her hand. It soared over many heads on the boardwalk.
Lilly’s eyes turned to see the ball rising and falling, aiming for the side of Jon’s head. Her hand shot out to catch it, her foot sliding and knocking off her aim. Jon simply stood before the hardball struck him on the side of his head and sent him crashing to the ground.
The man behind the counter began to laugh as Lilly, Zelda, and Cora fell to their knees around Jon as he lay on his stomach, groaning in pain.
“Jon!” Lilly shouted.
Hands took hold of him and turned him onto his back. Jon groaned again, touching his hand to his hair and pulling it away with blood on it.
The man behind the counter stopped laughing. “Holy shit! Should I call an ambulance?”
Jon shook his head as he tried to regain his senses. “No, it’s not necessary.”
Lilly helped Jon to sit up. Zelda stared down at the blood, her eyes turning black.
“You knew something like this would happen?” Lilly whispered.
Jon simply gave a light nod.
“We have to bring you home,” Lilly said as she was about to bark orders.
“I… just need to clear my head,” Jon said and stood up under his own power.
/> The young man reached for his wallet again and pulled out a small band of soozes. He handed them to Zelda. The sea elf took them, but her black gaze remained on Jon.
“Enjoy the rides. I just need to walk this off,” Jon said weakly.
“I want you two to stay together,” Lilly ordered as she took Jon’s arm.
The pair walked off into the crowd. Cora snuggled her giant purple snake while Zelda watched them leave with dark eyes.
Lilly looked to Jon as he fought to stay steady. The young man pointed to some stairs and Lilly guided him to them. The pair made their way down until they were on the sand. Moving across the uneven surface, they made their way out onto the nearly deserted beach.
Pain throbbed along Jon’s head as he seethed a little. After a few moments, it began to recede, some of his senses returning. Lilly held him close, glancing to his dark hair and seeing some strands wet with his blood. When they reached the midway point to the water, Jon sank down onto the sand, Lilly sinking down with him.
The sun was close to the horizon, the sky turning a burnt orange in color.
“I’m sure you're wondering what happened,” Jon said with a painful grin.
Lilly watched him with concern, but said nothing.
“I’m not sure how much you will believe this, but I’m a pretty lucky guy when I just live my life. It’s when I push my luck that something bad happens. I think it’s to restore balance.”
Lilly shifted on the sand. She pulled Jon’s head up and gently laid him down on her thighs, her hand caressing his cheek.
“This is nice,” Jon said as he closed his eyes.
“Cora is very skilled with anything she can throw, but even she cannot do what you just did. What you did was beyond amazing.”
Jon nodded, pain flaring along his head and he winced. “I know. Some people have said that about me before.”
Lilly let her fingers glide along his skin, looking down with warm eyes as an ocean breeze caressed the couple. Jon looked up, his hand at his side and digging into the sand. The granular feel along his fingers and the pirate elf’s scent drifting down caused the pain to subside. Heat rushed to the head wound, but Jon was lost to Lilly’s bright emerald eyes.
“I suppose I should tell you all of it,” Jon said in a low tone.
