by Larisa Long
Blist leans closer to me. “Nothing good comes from whispers,” he whispers and winks at me.
Oh, I just want to look into Blist’s eyes. That’s all I want to do right now. My stomach jabs at me. And eat. Or rather, drink, a very chocolaty malty smoothie. Who needs to chew when chocolate can be melted?
Professor Sway and the other dragon shifters approach.
Blist immediately squeezes my hand harder.
Professor Sway motions to Masimu to speak.
The dragon shifter steps forward and smiles at Vax. I recognize that smile. It’s the same one Blist uses when he looks at me. It’s the smile that tells everyone Fate has blessed us to be with our chosen. I love that smile.
Blist lifts my hand he’s holding up to his lips and kisses it.
“How did you know I was thinking of you?”
“Fate.”
Xury loudly sighs and stomps her foot. “Okay, yes, we get it. The Fates have spoken and linked loves together.” She rolls her eyes again.
“Pixie’s Fate will provide.”
Xury brushes that thought aside. Pixies don’t have romantic feelings until they turn 18. Then, the feelings rush at them in a blur as Pixie’s Fate informs them of their fated match. Their own hearts inform them of who they are drawn to. They are declared a legal Pixie able to officially take part in Pixie society. They are encouraged to register their study and career declarations. And they must decide if and when they will have tiny pixies and how many. It’s a big day. For my 18th, I just want cake. Or, cupcakes. Yes, chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles. It’ll be a chocolate theme. Maybe sleep in and of course spend every moment with Blist.
Blist smiles at me.
It’s going to be weird knowing he gets the gist of what I’m thinking.
“If there are no further interruptions …” Professor Sway glances at us but mostly at Xury.
She shrugs and waves her hands. “Go for it.”
“Your …” Masimu looks at me and then around quickly. “The other Z wants me and Vax to go with you to the realms.”
Xury’s eyes widen. “How did he know we’d be …” She looks at me and then back at Masimu. “Powerful witch?”
“We’re connected.” I think about it. “Plus, he’s a powerful witch.”
Xury thinks about it for half a second. She paces back and forth and then shrugs. “So, we can go?”
Professor Sway shakes his head. The older dragon shifter smiles. “It’s nice to be around younger species for a change.”
I look at the older dragon shifter and try to guess his age. He looks like he’s in his mid twenties. Don’t know what that would translate to since dragon shifters don’t physically show their true age.
“Two weeks?” Xury puts her hands together and jumps up and down. “Is that alright?”
The dragon shifter nods. “Your brother anticipated that one of your friends would provide a fuss.” He glances at Xury. “And he thinks that would be better if you were away from the warlocks for awhile.”
I nod. “Not like they’ll calm down though.”
“No,” he says. “But more things will be put into place while you’re gone.”
“And you don’t have to come back to feed us,” Professor Sway says.
“No,” the dragon shifter hints. “All taken care of.”
Blist lets go of my hand as I step back and close my eyes. I get ready to transport us, and I have to see where we’re going plus each of the passengers. Easy to think of Blist. I know every single cell of him. Then I blush. I think I blush. I don’t know every single …
I shake my head. Myself, Blist, Xury, Vax, Masimu. I open my eyes quickly and look at Xury. “Where’d you want to go?”
She gasps. “Pixie’s choice?” She thinks about it and then grins. “Do I have to tell you? I want it to be a surprise.”
Never done that before. I think about it. “I can start the spell, and if you tell the faeries they can finish the spell.”
I think I hear squealing. It’s a tiny squeak like if a door was opened way down in a basement. You think you hear it, but you’re not sure.
I close my eyes again and think of the passengers.
The faeries settle on my shoulder, and I motion to them once I’ve started the spell. They take over, and then we’re …
I look around. “You’re kidding?”
Xury shrugs. “Always heard about it. Wanted to see it.”
Chapter 6
Blist glances around at … well, not much to see. “Where are we?”
I take a deep breath as the stench starts to attack. “Bog realm. The light version.”
He immediately looks at Xury. “Why?”
She shrugs, but I can tell her expression is starting to droop. “Have never seen it.”
Vax pulls her shirt up over her nose and mouth. “Count yourself lucky. What is that smell?”
“Bog and sewer. All the yuck from all the realms are dropped here before it gets to hardcore bog realm where it really goes to town.”
Xury closes her eyes and tries to steady herself.
I look up at the faeries who all have tiny masks over their mouth and nose. “Good idea.”
Luckily this is bog realm light which means all the bog in half the time. I was thrown directly into bog realm hardcore which is why no magic could be done. Bog realm light allows for some magic. I snap my fingers, and I hope it works. Instantly, we all have masks over our nose and mouths.
Blist gives me a thumbs up.
I take my mask off for a second. “Everyone’s comfortable?”
They all nod.
“I got the ones with their own oxygen source. Let me know if you need a refill.”
Xury holds her breath and brings the mask out so she can see it. “Z. Don’t need to be that pixie, but …”
“No problem.”
She looks down at her mask which is now decorated in vibrant pinks and greens. “Thanks. Safety concerns are really no reason to be unfashionable.”
Vax rolls her eyes and shoves Masimu who nods. She motions to me that they’re going to walk around.
Blist lifts his mask up. “Is this where you were dropped after the prison?”
I shake my head and point behind us.
His body tenses and his eyes shift a bit as he realizes I was in the real bog realm. Hardcore bog. All bog, all the time.
I nod, not wanting to take my mask off. We have to be able to speak so I reconfigure the masks to give us all protection and the ability to be heard.
“That’s better,” Blist says.
I realize that most of us are squinting as the smell has now attacked our eyes. Creepy smell. I hand each of them eye goggles which they gratefully put on quickly.
I snap my fingers to get Vax’s attention and toss her two.
Xury waves her hands to get my attention.
“We can talk now.”
“Oh,” she jumps at the sound of her own voice. “Why does it look like this?”
“It’s the bog realm. Just stay together.”
“Why?” Xury looks around her.
I glance at Blist. “You tell her.”
“The bog realm has some interesting souls here.”
Xury jumps and screeches. “I think one of them grabbed my leg.”
“That wasn’t a soul. That was a bog worm.” I look at the foot long being that has a scaly lizard’s body and a slug’s head.
Xury steadies herself and closes her eyes. “Tell me when it’s gone.”
I glance at Blist and to the faeries who giggle. “Okay.” We’ll have to break it to Xury later that bog worms are obsessed with pixies. They have pixie posters, pixie figurines, pixie furniture. They even stopped consuming bog fog for sugar water. They’ve memorized every pixie and will attach themselves to one for life if they ever find one.
The bog worm slithers around Xury’s leg and hugs her. Poor Xury. Poor bog worm. This will not be a good match. The bog worm looks at me and
starts weeping.
Fae. I forgot bog worms can read minds. I snap my fingers, and the bog worm isn’t the normal grey but has iridescent pink and green scales with a lighter green head. Xury’s favorite colors. “I think the bog worm likes you.”
Xury opens her eyes and glances down ready to scream. I get ready to revive bog worm in case there is an accidental squishing.
She takes a deep breath, and then looks at it. “It’s cute. Are they normally these colors?”
I shake my head.
“I love it.”
Bog worm detaches itself, and Xury picks it up and holds it in her hand like it’s a puppy. She tickles the stomach? Underneath? I’m not up on bog worm anatomy, and the bog worm giggles. Then bog worm curls up on Xury’s shoulder and nestles in her hair.
“I’m keeping it.” She leans close to me. “Can I keep it?”
“Is it against bog realm protocol to take something out?”
“Do I have to leave something?”
“Will I be cursed?”
“Can it survive in our realm?”
“Will the Academy allow it?”
“Can it come to class with me?”
“Can I name it?”
“Does it already have a name?”
Blist blows out a breath and looks at me. “How much of that sugar did you put into her drink?”
“I cut it by half.”
Blist shakes his head.
“You can claim it and name it if the bog worm allows it.”
Bog worm nods and curls back up under Xury’s hair.
Xury jumps up and down. “What else do they have here?”
I glance over the horizon. It’s the bog realm. There are bogs more bogs and even more bogs. Everything is damp and swampy. The humidity hovers around 100%, and the air is as thick as a mud storm. The only thing that survives here are the frogs, toads, snakes, bog worms, and the souls who have claimed it as their place to be.
“They have a bog club here? Any other pixies?”
Oh my gosh. A place without pixies. This is a sad place. “We have to get going anyway.”
Xury gasps. “Why so soon?”
Bog worm slithers down off Xury and rushes away underneath a group of bog logs.
“Wait?” Xury hangs her head. “Bog worm has abandoned me.”
“Bog worm needs a name,” I say. “And bog worm has to gather things and say goodbye.”
“Borgles. That will be bog worm’s name.” Xury brightens. “So, why must we leave?”
The faeries shake their heads at her.
“What?”
Blist sighs. “You’re lucky someone else will feed the shifters and vampires.”
Xury’s eyes widen again. “Why?”
“Because there is no conjuring from the bog realm.”
She thinks about it. “Hey.” She points at me. “You did magic.”
“I can do light magic. Conjuring out would be harder.”
“We conjured in.”
I shrug. “The mysteries of bog realm.”
“Borgles?”
The bog worm slithers back up to Xury’s shoulder. There’s a small backpack attached to it, and also an array of hats and various colored scarves.
I motion for us to start walking.
We catch up with Vax and Masimu who’ve been patrolling.
“Fae this place,” Vax hisses.
“We have to walk out.”
Masimu sighs and glares at Xury. “Had to choose something weird. I’ve heard about you going to the mountains, the beach. I go with you, and it’s bog realm. Thanks.”
“How long will it take?”
I wince. “Depends. It could be ten minutes or a few months.”
“Fae it all,” Vax sighs as her glare also finds Xury.
“What?” Xury smiles. “I found Borgles. Totally worth the trip.”
Blist marches beside me as Vax walks in front of us and Masimu is behind us.
“We have to get back before long.” Blist mumbles. “We have to.”
I look at him. “Why?”
He glances at me and then shakes his head. “Tell you later.”
Something tells me it has something to do with the battles. And something also tells me the battles are growing worse. “Is the Academy still protected?”
Blist nods.
“How bad is it getting, Masimu?”
He closes his eyes and bows his head.
“That bad? We need to pick up the pace.” We all start walking faster.
Vax turns around to face me but continues to walk backwards. “When will we know we’re getting close?”
“When we can see the clock tower.”
Vax jumps up and down. “Fae.” She lobs another harsh glance at Xury.
We walk and walk and walk. Some of the faeries land on my shoulder to rest as they are so tired of hovering.
Blist smiles at the faeries and then at me. “I’m glad they’ve always accepted you.” He puts his hand on my shoulder, but the faeries spit at him. He lunges back. “They still don’t accept me.”
“It’s a shifter thing,” Xury reminds. “You’re lucky I like you.”
Blist puts his hand over his heart. “Yes, Xury, it’s times like these that make me so grateful.”
Xury ignores Blist’s sarcasm and nods. “You’re welcome.”
The faeries laugh.
“There,” Masimu jumps ahead of us and points. “The clock tower.” He glances at me. “How long now?”
“As soon as we’re off bog soil, I can conjure us back.”
Vax looks down. “When will we know?”
“See what it looks like now?”
They look down to see that there really isn’t much to see. It’s like we’re not stepping on anything but fog.
Masimu grabs his stomach. “It’s like we’re floating. I hate heights.”
I look at him. “Dragon shifter?”
He nods. “I know. When I shift …” he turns a bit green. “I have to close my eyes.”
Vax nods. “Found him passed out three times because he ran into a building.”
“Yikes.”
“Not so bad,” Vax juts her shoulder into Masimu. “Got a sneak peak at the goods.”
The faeries giggle in my ear.
I blush and try not to look at Blist. “Anyway, the ground will be black. Nothing grows on the outskirts of the bog realms.”
“And solid?” Masimu asks, pleading.
“And solid. You’ll feel it.” I cringe. I can’t tell him that we’re not actually walking on anything solid. I can’t have a dragon shifter freakout. “I mean it’ll feel different. You’ll know.”
Masimu nods. I blow out a breath and Blist smiles at me. He leans close to me and tries to kiss me, but the faeries spit at him again.
He leans back and laughs. “Even though the faeries dislike shifters, I’ve always liked them.”
The faeries stand their ground and shake their heads.
“Uh oh, are faeries immune to Blist’s charms?”
The faeries nod.
“As long as you’re not.”
I shake my head. “Never have been.”
Vax runs ahead of us and then quickly runs back. “Solid, and the ground’s black.”
We all race to where she stops. The ground is blackened soil, like coffee grounds. I jump up and down. “Solid. Everyone ready?”
“Bye bog,” Xury says.
I close my eyes, and then we’re all back in the underground dorms.
We open our eyes and look around. It looks like it’s been a battle.
Vax and Masimu rush around the room. The common area once so pristine and high tech has been smashed. All the computers have either been stolen or destroyed. The furniture has been ripped. Even the statues have been demolished.
“What would do this?”
Vax and Masimu tense.
“Do not shift until we know what’s happening,” Blist warns.
We hear noise coming from anothe
r room, and I rush to my old room which has also been destroyed. There is some nice wording on my walls about how I’m a hybrid. That I must die. That I’m a … well, we don’t need all the details. It is creative, somewhat grammatically correct and mostly inaccurate descriptions. Had to be the Penn brothers. I glance around, but no one’s here. I don’t even feel any soul or spirit. I zap it back to normal. “Xury, you and Borgles stay here until we know it’s safe.”
Blist blocks my exit. “You should stay here too until we know.”
“No way, Blist,” Vax stands her ground ready for anything. “Zalia’s a powerful witch. We need her.”
Blist sighs. “Just stay close to me.”
I nod. I close my door and spell it so it can’t be opened by anyone who seeks harm to Xury and I join Blist, Vax and Masimu in the middle of the room. The noise gets louder like something’s climbing in the walls or on the roof. That would be weird, since we’re underground.
A wall caves in, and several dragons, completely shifted stand there.
Masimu sees the dragons and whimpers as he shifts into his own dragon. I recognize Zephyr and walk towards him.
“Zalia,” Blist tries to stop me, but the dragons roar at him. He puts his hands up. “I wasn’t hurting her.”
“He wasn’t.” I reassure the dragons who calm down a bit. I walk to Zephyr and put my hand on his face as he lowers his head to me. “You’re hurt.”
He nods.
I feel it in the air change as oxygen is sucked out. I step back and turn around so they can shift back.
“Okay,” one of the shifter says. “We’ve shifted back.”
I peek around to make sure they are all fully clothed. They are, and several of them hold onto Zephyr.
I grab him instantly. “What happened?”
“The King and Queen moved on us.”
“We should have been here,” Vax kicks at something broken in her way. “If we weren’t fae’d up in the bog realm.”
I conjure a couch and Zephyr is set down on it. I put my hands over his chest because I can see blood already starting to seep.
He immediately grabs my hands. “It’s too much. I tried to heal myself. It will be too much for you.”
I step back. “I’ll need an anchor.”
Blist steps forward. “What can I do?”
I look up at him. “I need a pure anchor.”
Blist looks down at the ground. “Pure witch or warlock.”
