by Logan Jacobs
I shot the commander a charming grin. “You are perfect the way you are,” I said sweetly.
Danira looked at me with confusion in her face for a second, and then she burst out into laughter. “I’m glad you think so, boy,” she responded.
“Hey, guys, you don’t think this Herm fellow is going to shoot at us for coming to his place in the middle of the night?” Kal asked as we turned down the dirt road that led to his ranch. “I remember you saying he came out with a shotgun the last time you were there.”
“Isn’t that why you painted the windows black?” Ariette pointed out. “So people couldn’t hit you from the outside?”
The van bounced and swayed with every little bump or rock in the road, and Maaren held onto the edge of a desk like she thought she was about to be ejected into space.
“Good point,” Kal answered thoughtfully. “I guess we’ve got nothing to worry about, then.”
We kept driving for a few more miles, all the way to the outskirts of Jefferson City. Finally, the van lurched to a stop, and Kal hopped down from the driver’s seat. Outside of the van, we heard a door slam, and then Herm’s gravelly voice as he bellowed at us.
“Who are you, and what do you want?” the old wizard demanded.
Quickly, Ariette and I slid the door open to see the old wizard, shotgun in hand and an wrathful expression patterned into his wrinkly face. He squinted at us in the dim light from his porch, and then an expression of recognition spread across his face, and he laid the shotgun down against the side of his house.
“Well, what are you two doing here?” he asked, his tone far less demanding and much happier. “Someone’s not trying to steal my flowers again, are they?” The old wizard was dressed in a long, light blue nightgown, and his wiry gray hair was tousled from sleep.
“No, no, we’re on a bit of a different mission this time,” I responded. “This is the rest of our team. We’ve got Maaren, Danira, and that’s Kalista.” I pointed to each one in turn, and Herm nodded his head at them.
“What sort of mission brings you all the way out here to talk to an old fart like me?” he questioned with a smile.
“Do you mind if we come in, actually?” Ariette requested. “It might take a bit of explanation.”
Herm tilted his head as he looked us over with slightly narrowed eyes, like he wanted to memorize us as we were right then and there. Then, a proud smile stretched across his face, and he straightened up and spun around on his heel with a wave.
“Sure thing,” he replied. “Come on in and get yourselves comfy.”
He led the way up his porch and into his small, but neat, house. I glanced over the unlit fireplace and the cozy living room with its armchairs and coffee table, and I found myself drawn to the bookshelf stuffed with all sort of titles. Some were old books with torn up bindings, and some were new books, all shiny and stiff. The titles were a mixture of Fae lore and human bestsellers, along with more obscure books whose origins I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
Herm fretted around in the kitchen, and I heard the bang of the kettle as he slammed it on the stovetop, and then the click of the gas burners as he lit one. The rest of my teams took a seat at the small kitchen table. There was only one more chair, and I left it for Herm as I scoured the titles of books in search of something that might prove useful.
“So, what brings you all the way out here in the middle of the damn night?” he called good-naturedly from his kitchen. “Next time you should call first. I won’t shove a barrel in your face if I know you’re coming.”
“We called,” Kalista told him from her seat at the table. “Your answering machine picked up. Do you ever actually use your phone?”
“You called?” he repeated in genuine surprise. “Hmmm, must’ve missed it. I’m not a fan of all these fancy-shmansy phones, anyway.”
“We actually wanted to ask you about something,” Ariette started, and I could feel the blonde’s eyes on me as she spoke.
“Last time we were here, you said you believed in the Racmoth prophecy,” I added.
Herm came around the corner of the kitchen and wiped his hands on a red towel. “I did,” he replied. “And I do. Of course I do, Milton.”
“I don’t know if you know this, but there’s a dragon in the guild,” I said as I waited for a response.
Herm just sighed, and took the last seat at the kitchen table. He hadn’t even flinched when I mentioned the dragon.
“Yet another point of contention between Hasen and I,” he sighed. “I am aware of the dragon, yes.”
“Right, well he’s the one who told me about the prophecy in the first place,” I explained. “And I went to go see him again yesterday, before I go after, well, you know. He mentioned something sort of strange. Something about a second Racmoth prophecy. We found it written on one of the guild’s scrolls, but it was pretty vague. It said I have to use a spell transcribed from the dragon’s breath to destroy the evil that threatens the realm, and only I can use the spell. Do you have any idea what that means?”
Herm sat in silent thought for a moment, and all of our eyes were glued to him as we waited tensely for the old hermit to speak.
A knot started to form in my stomach as I wondered what we would do if Ariette had been wrong. What if Herm knew nothing of the second prophecy? My thoughts spiraled downward into the dark depths of worry as I wondered if this spell really was the key to the defeat of the Phobos. Was the Racmoth prophecy incomplete with only the first scroll? Was the second prophecy absolutely necessary for the fulfillment of the first?
The knot in my stomach grew wider and thicker as my lungs constricted, and I suddenly felt claustrophobic. I shook my head and forced myself to come out of the dangerous black hole of my thoughts, and instead focus on the books in front of me as I waited for Herm to answer. I ran a soft finger over the spines of some and felt the difference in their texture. Then my eyes landed on one I’d noticed last time. It was titled Tales of the Nether Realm.
I picked the interesting title up just as Kalista spoke.
“We think it’s talking about the ancient spells that the wizards transcribed from the dragons,” the dwarf said slowly. “The only problem is we don’t know where to find one of those spells. So we were hoping you could help.”
“You are a very bright young dwarf,” Herm said with a chuckle. “Yes, I am very aware of the second prophecy. Kalista is right. There is an ancient spell that was crafted solely for the use of a human blood wielder. At the time, the wizards found it laughable. Our worlds were separate, you must remember. No wizard believed a human could have powers, especially not the power over blood. But one wizard did transcribe this spell, and his legacy was that singular transcription.”
“Do you know the spell?” I asked nervously.
Herm looked at me with woeful gray eyes. “Unfortunately, I don’t,” he said, and the five of us all sighed collectively as we felt our lead disappear. “But, I know who might.”
“Who?” I asked breathlessly.
“The wizard himself, of course,” Herm said, as if the answer was obvious.
I looked at him in complete confusion for a moment before Kalista let out a gasp. “That’s brilliant!” the dwarf cried out as she leapt from the table and almost knocked over a vase of flowers. “We just go straight to the source!”
“Uh … isn’t our source dead?” I pointed out. “Isn’t that why no one knew about the spell in the first place?”
“He is dead,” Herm affirmed, “but his soul is still very much alive.”
I furrowed my brows as I tried to follow their logic. I looked around at the rest of my team. Maaren looked as confused as I was, but Ariette and Danira were smiling devilishly.
“Okay, maybe it’s just the human in me, but I’m at a total loss, you guys,” Maaren finally said seriously.
“It’s not the human in you, but the lack of education in your human schools,” Kal said quickly and breathlessly. “There’s an old Seelie realm, called the Valley of
Light. It holds the souls of all of the ancient wizards. We used to use it as a way to honor them, but it’s sort of gone by the wayside since the collision of the worlds. But an ancient wizard, who died long before the collision, would still be buried there, and his soul would still exist within the Valley.”
“So you’re saying if we go to this Valley of Light place, we can just ask the wizard what the spell is?” Maaren asked in slight disbelief. “Well, that makes things easier than I thought.”
“Don’t be fooled by the name, Maaren,” Herm said, his tone low in warning. “The Valley of Light holds many dangers. It may be home to the souls of great wizards, but it is not a place meant for the living.”
“Good to know,” the hunter responded slowly. “We’ll be careful.”
“What’s his name?” I asked Herm. “The wizard who transcribed the spell. We at least need to know who we’re looking for.”
“Verituck,” he answered. “Find him, and you’ll find the spell.”
“Do you have any idea of the dangers that lie within the Valley of Light?” Ariette asked Herm. Her blue eyes were serious, and I could tell she was ready to prepare for any scenario.
“I don’t,” he said sadly. “When it became an Unseelie stronghold during the war, dark things crossed into it. Souls who should have crossed into the beyond and left this world alone long ago are buried there.”
“Sounds fun,” I chuckled as I tried to lighten the mood just a little bit.
I returned my attention to the book I held in my hands as I rubbed its wrinkled yellow pages against my fingers. The book was a collection of short stories about the nether realm, and its pages were filled with sketches of terrifying creatures with rows of fangs and razor sharp claws the towered next to trees and mountains.
“Those are just old stories, Milton,” Herm assured me when he saw what I held in my hand. “There’s probably no truth to them.”
“Probably or definitely?” I questioned, only half-joking.
Herm went quiet for a moment before Ariette cleared her throat and stood from the table. “So where is the Valley of Light? That was one thing they never taught us in school,” she said evenly. “Probably so stupid teenagers wouldn’t try to go find it and get themselves killed.”
“On the other side of the Reiner Forest, about a hundred miles south of here,” Kal said quickly, and we all looked at her in surprise. “What? I know a great many things, people. It’s not all computers and code up in here.” She shrugged as she tapped her forehead twice.
“Alright then,” I chuckled. “We should probably get going.”
My team nodded and stood, and we all murmured our thank-yous to Herm for all his help. He shook my hand vigorously as he looked at me with his gray eyes, almost as if he looked straight into my soul.
I gave him a soft smile as we turned to walk out the door.
“Oh, one more thing,” Herm called out from his porch. “The rumours about the Phobos don’t only have to do with the Racmoth. I’ve heard they are trying to recruit powerful people to their side, political personas and otherwise. I find it hard to believe any Seelie would actually agree to join them, but even so, be careful who you trust.”
We all nodded solemnly as we climbed into the van with a final wave to Herm. He stood on his porch in his long nightgown and watched us as the door closed and blocked him from our sight.
“Alright, let’s go meet some dead people!” Kalista chuckled as she reversed the van and spun us out onto the bumpy dirt road. “Is it bad that I’m actually kinda excited about all of this? Like, I’ve read about the Valley of Light a million times, but to actually see it? That’s gonna be incrediballs.”
“Incredi-what?” Ariette asked with annoyance in her voice. “Kal, you really need to stop making up words. Nobody else has any idea what they mean.”
“Oh, come on,” the dwarf snorted as she slid into the driver’s seat of the Van of Death. “It’s not that hard to put together. You all are college-educated, right?”
“Top of my class,” Ariette answered with pride.
“How impressive,” Kal prodded back. “Well, somebody at the top of their class should be able to understand how the words ‘incredible’ and ‘balls’ fit together, right?”
Ariette looked over and gave me a playful gaze. “Oh, I know,” she said as she bit her lip. “I know very well.”
“You knowwww,” Maaren’s voice interrupted, “out of all the work scenarios I’ve imagined, ghosts was never one of them.”
The hunter picked up a knapsack from a cabinet and started to fill it with cans of food, a first aid kit, and a few knives of different shapes and sizes.
“What are you doing?” I pondered aloud while I watched her rummaging through the cabinets.
“Packing a bag. Ah, there it is!” she cried out as she yanked a bag of crackers from the very back of a cabinet. “You can never go wrong with crackers when you’re hiking through a forest.”
“There’s no roads in the Reiner Forest, huh,” Ariette asked dejectedly as Maaren tied up her bag and grabbed another one to repeat the process.
“Nope,” she responded happily. “No roads, and no crazy driving. Just us and nature. Just how I like it. I haven’t been to the Reiner Forest in years, I’m so excited!”
“Man, am I glad we’ve got a hunter on our team,” Ariette chuckled. “The rest of us aren’t built for this.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fun,” Maaren insisted with a wide smile. “The trees and the animals, and nature. Hey, Kal, maybe we’ll get to eat that rabbit after all!”
“You better pack me extra spaghetti,” the dwarf called back. “I’ll starve before I eat a poor little bunny.”
“That’s what they all say,” Maaren giggled in response. “Until the hunger kicks in. Then they get desperate. I’ve seen people eat literal animal poop so they can get a taste of the berries that are inside it. Trust me, Kal, you’ll eat one if we run out of rations.”
“They? Who’s they?” Kalista demanded. “Is this the ‘royal’ they? Or specific? I’m going to need to know before I hobble off into the woods with you, M-ren.”
“I thought we vetoed that nickname,” Maaren pointed out.
“Oh, did we?” the dwarf asked. “Shoot. I don’t have my notebook with me. I forgot.”
“You’re keeping track of the nickname possibilities in a notebook?” I snorted.
“Duh,” she said, and I caught her violet eyes in the mirror. “How else am I supposed to know what’s been vetoed? You saw what just happened. No notebook equals chaos! Absolute chaos!”
“Or we just use her real name,” Ariette piped up with a shrug.
“No no, this is a team bonding thing,” Kalista said insistently. “Don’t worry, we have who knows how long together, without the distractions of the guild. I set the intention that by the end of this mission, Maaren will have a suitable nickname. Who’s with me?”
“Your intention setting is powerful enough for us all, Kal,” I replied. “We trust you.”
“Good,” the dwarf asserted.
“So how long until we reach the forest, exactly?” Danira murmured from the corner.
“Oh, another hour or so,” Kal replied. “And then the real fun begins!”
“Alright, everyone who’s not driving, get some sleep,” Danira ordered.
“Wait, I want to sleep!” the dwarf protested.
“I’d offer to drive, but I can’t see through the pitch black windshields,” Danira mumbled as she drifted off.
“Good point,” Kal agreed. “I always forget about that little detail.”
I shook my head at the dwarf and slumped down in my chair as the rest of the team nodded off to sleep. I wasn’t able to lull myself to sleep, but I did manage to stifle the circus of thoughts that raced around my head and coerced my mind into an almost meditative state. It wasn’t quite as good as sleep, but it was better than nothing.
Before I knew it, Kal slowed the van to a crawl, and I heard th
e crackle of leaves and twigs as they crunched under its tires.
“Rise and shine, sleepy heads!” Kalista called out cheerfully. “We’re here, just two minutes over my estimate of an hour! I’m so awesome.”
“How are you so cheerful right now?” Ariette grumbled as she stirred. “You’ve been awake for nearly twenty-four hours.”
“A dwarf only needs six hours of sleep a day,” Kal protested.
“But you haven’t even had that!” Ariette said as she stood up and stretched.
“No … ” the dwarf tried to explain. “But since I only need six hours, missing out on a night is a lot less harmful than it is for you humans.”
She was right. No matter how little sleep Kal got, she was always chipper and happy. The same couldn’t quite be said for Maaren and Danira, who fluttered their eyelashes slowly before they each let out a simultaneous groan.
“Are we there?” Maaren murmured sleepily. “Please tell me we’re here, or I’m going to throw something at somebody.”
I stood up and cracked my spine a few times, and I relished in the pop of the joints in my back. As I felt the pressure release from my body, I slid open the door of the van to reveal a line of trees.
Many, many trees.
Kalista had parked the van just inside the first layer of the forest, where it was still sparse enough for a vehicle to drive through. We were far enough away from the main road that nobody could see our vehicle. The last thing we needed was unwanted company.
The early morning sun shone down through the tops of giant redwoods that had grown together to form a thick canopy of branches. This was a beautiful place, but it was not our target. No, that was on the other side of the woods.
I placed my gun in its holster before I stepped down onto a bed of dried brown leaves and tiny twigs. Bright green weeds and other shrubs grew along the forest floor, and I caught a glimpse of a small white rabbit with its cotton puff tail as it dashed through the foliage. The air smelled clean, the kind of clean that only comes from being completely removed from modern society.
“Everyone take a bag,” Maaren ordered as she emerged from the van and extended an armful of knapsacks. “We’ve got food, first aid kits, compasses, and other essentials.”
