I frowned as I watched him. I knew why I needed to get beyond the barrier, but Dash didn’t have a favor tattoo around his wrist, and yet he seemed far more determined than I was to get through it. He also seemed far more agitated that it was keeping us at bay.
I knew he wanted to fix the barrier that protected the Northern Realm, but something else seemed to be driving him. It certainly wasn’t the royals after they had taken his herd hostage
“Why are you so determined to get through there?”
Dash paused and glanced in my direction. “You know why,” he grunted. “We need the nameless one to tell us how to fix the barriers, and this is how we get that information.”
I shook my head. “I want that too,” I replied. “But, I haven’t been banging my hand against the barrier persistently for the last hour.”
“No, you haven’t,” he agreed. I expected him to be angry about the fact, but instead, he seemed to be considering it.
“So, what’s bothering you?”
He let out a breath and folded his arms over his chest as he nodded toward my wrist. “That’s what’s bothering me.”
I glanced down at the golden favor tattoo that shone against my pale skin. “What about it?”
He let out another irritated breath and glanced away. “It should have been me with that tattoo around my wrist,” he replied, unable to look me in the eyes. “I was the one who took us to that forsaken prison in the first place, and I should have been the one to pay the price for the information we wanted.”
“I knew what I was doing, Dash,” I murmured.
His eyes met mine once more, and I could see his inner turmoil blazing out of them. “I know that,” he replied. “But if we fail…” He took in a deep breath before he continued. “If we fail, you will die. I can’t let that happen. I couldn’t bear it.”
I was surprised by the passion and vehemence in his voice, and my eyes widened at his admission. I was at a loss for words and wasn’t sure what to say. Dash continued before I got a chance to speak though.
“So, if it’s all right with you,” he added, “I’m going to keep slamming my hand against this barrier until we get into the Southern Realm. Okay?”
I nodded, too unsettled by the outpouring of emotion I’d just witnessed to verbally reply.
“Good.” Dash turned back toward the barrier and banged a fist against it once more. His hand met the same resistance it had every other time he had tried, and he slouched his shoulders in disappointment.
I felt his frustration keenly, my disappointment echoing his, and I glanced away from him. We both knew waiting around was taking too long, but we didn’t have any other choice.
As I stared into the jungle, I felt the strange sense that something was watching us. There was a soft magical presence in the air, and I scanned the dense rainforest carefully. My eyes narrowed as I caught sight of something behind one of the trees. There was a slight ripple in the air, and I froze as I tried to see what it was.
“Dash, there’s something there,” I hissed, slowly climbing to my feet.
Dash was at my side before I’d even finished speaking. I pointed into the trees, and he frowned as he tried to spot what had spooked me.
Magic buzzed at my fingertips, and I waved a hand at Dash, silently indicating for him to follow me. Together, we started to creep toward the tree. I couldn’t see the rippling disturbance in the air anymore, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something there. The jungle was so dense it was all too easy to hide among the trees.
Dash motioned for me to head around one side of the tree while he took the other. I nodded and we split up as we made our way around the wide trunk. I felt tense as I crept forward and let more magic flow to my fingertips so they swirled with powerful golden magic. Whatever was behind the tree, I’d be ready for it.
I was just about to reach the back of the tree when a figure appeared out of thin air right in front of me, and I let out a yelp in fright. Standing there, in the middle of the jungle, was Alfie. He had a sheepish look on his face and only grew more embarrassed when Dash came barreling around the trunk to see why I’d screamed.
Dash jerked to a stop when he realized I was okay, and he frowned when he saw who was standing in front of me. “Alfie?” Dash said, his voice filled with confusion. “What are you doing here?”
“And why are you hiding in the bushes?” I asked. “What the hell, Alfie?”
A hint of guilt crept into his ghostly eyes as he looked between the two of us. His hands were clasped together, and he twisted them round as if he were trying to decide what to tell us.
“Out with it, Alfie, why are you here?” I asked.
“Melody sent me,” he eventually replied.
“Why? Is she okay?” My heart stalled briefly as I feared the worst.
“Yeah, she’s totally fine,” he replied quickly. “It’s nothing like that.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and lifted an eyebrow at him. “Then why were you spying on us?”
“Er, well, I wasn’t spying exactly,” Alfie protested. “Melody was really worried about you and told me what you were doing. She wanted me to find you and check on you. Only you haven’t been too easy to track down. And when I found you here talking with Dash, I didn’t want to interrupt.”
My already hot cheeks warmed at the fact Alfie had overheard my conversation with Dash. My best friend’s excuses didn’t get him off the hook though. “Well, if you didn’t want to interrupt, you should have left.”
“Yeah, probably,” he agreed, scratching the back of his neck as he looked down at the ground, unable to meet my eyes.
I let out a frustrated breath, knowing I couldn’t stay annoyed at Alfie. “Well, since you’re here, you can tell Melody I’m fine, obviously,” I said, deciding to overlook the fact he’d been creeping around in the bushes. He was a ghost, after all, and I guess that it wouldn’t be right if he weren’t a little bit of a voyeur.
“You can also tell her that the nameless one will only tell us how to fix the barriers once I fetch some object he wants from the Southern Realm,” I continued.
The ghost’s eyes flicked directly toward the invisible barrier. “I wondered what you were doing here,” he murmured, barely louder than a whisper.
Dash had been watching the two of us quietly, but his eyes narrowed on Alfie as he spoke. “Alfie, how do you know we’re near the Southern Realm?”
Alfie glanced at me quickly before focusing on Dash. “Everyone knows the Southern Realm is in this hideous jungle.”
“Actually, they don’t.”
“Guess I must have heard it on the ghostly grapevine then.”
I knew my friend was lying though. I could see it in his eyes. It was probably why he was avoiding my gaze. Alfie was never great at keeping secrets from me.
“Alfie, what aren’t you telling us?” I asked.
“It’s nothing,” he replied, his words firing out so quickly it was clear he was hiding something. I could easily overlook the fact that he had been hiding in the bushes, but I wasn’t letting this go.
“It’s not nothing,” I said. “What are you hiding?”
He looked into my eyes for several moments, and I could see a hint of fear and indecision in his stare. I held his gaze, refusing to back down until finally his shoulders sank and he let out a sigh. “Please don’t hate me,” he said, the worry in his eyes magnifying as I looked at him. “But I was a krampus when I was alive. That’s how I know exactly where the Southern Realm is.”
My blood ran cold, and I froze to the spot as I tried to process what he had said. At first, all I could think was that he was joking, but I knew from the way he was looking at me that he was completely serious.
I shook my head trying to understand how it could be true. We’d been friends for years, and Alfie had never really spoken about what kind of Christmas being he was when he was alive, but I’d always assumed he was a claus because we seemed to have so much in common.
Now th
at I thought about it, I don’t think he’d ever outright lied to me, but it felt like a lie of omission. He’d never corrected my belief that he was a claus, and I couldn’t help but feel betrayed.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” I asked, my voice barely louder than a whisper.
Alfie looked down at his hands, unable to meet my gaze. “Light beings all think we’re evil,” he said. “I didn’t want to take the risk that you’d stop being my friend.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think all dark beings are evil, you know that. I wouldn’t have rescued all those dark beings from Crow’s krampus bar if I thought they were evil.”
“Yeah, I know,” Alfie replied. “I guess I was just nervous to mention it when we first met, and then it got to the point where it felt like it was too late to tell you.”
I pursed my lips as I looked at him. I hated that he’d kept a secret from me for so long. But the worst part was that he’d felt like he had to hide a part of himself from me for our entire friendship. I could understand why he’d done it though, and I found that I couldn’t be angry with him for keeping the truth from me.
“I get it,” I finally told him. “And you don’t have to worry; you’re still my bestie.”
“Good.” He smiled. “Because, as your bestie, I have to tell you that you’re crazy for trying to get into the Southern Realm.”
I shrugged and glanced at Dash. “I know, but we don’t have much of a choice. The nameless one commanded me to retrieve this object from the Southern Realm as my favor to him, and if I don’t fulfill the favor, I’ll die.” I lifted my wrist to show Alfie the horrible golden tattoo that bound me.
“What?” His face fell as he looked at the tattoo. “Who asks a favor that’s so difficult to achieve? Does this nameless one want you to die?”
“I don’t think so,” I replied. “The Christmas star weakened the barriers between both realms when it exploded, so we should be able to get into the Southern Realm. I think the nameless one really wants us to bring him the object. He wouldn’t have sent me to find it if it wasn’t possible.”
Alfie frowned, glancing toward the barrier. “Well, if you two are still out here, I’m guessing the barrier hasn’t weakened enough,” he replied. “Are you sure you’ll be able to get through?”
“We are expecting it to weaken further,” Dash replied. “It should only be a matter of time.”
I let out an irritated breath. I was tired of waiting, and we didn’t have time to waste.
“What about fairy dust?” Alfie asked.
My eyes flicked up to look at him. “Fairy dust?” I repeated. “That can help us?”
My enthusiasm shocked Alfie, and he almost jumped backward as I fired the question at him. He began chewing on his lower lip like he wished he could take the suggestion back.
“Alfie, what were you going to say?” I asked.
“Dark fairy dust,” he continued slowly, like he was still considering whether he should explain. “Back in my day, dark beings used it to smuggle light beings across the barrier and into the Southern Realm.”
I looked over at Dash who seemed just as confused as me. “I’ve never heard of such a thing before,” he said.
“Well, that might be because it’s a well-kept secret,” Alfie replied. “Plus, it’s now highly illegal because dark fairy dust can have some pretty nasty side effects for light beings.”
“What did it do?” I asked.
“It plays tricks on your mind. At best, it would lower your inhibitions and be a little euphoric, like a drug. But it was also known for giving light beings paranoia and making them panic. It only lasted a few hours, but the effects could be quite intense,” Alfie replied. “I heard of a few cases where too much dust was used and the light beings went mad.”
“Maybe we should just wait to see if the barrier weakens,” I said. Loosening up, I could deal with. Paranoia, panic, and madness: not so much. “Even if we knew where to find some dark fairies, I’m really not so keen on losing my mind.”
“Alfie did say it’s only if you use too much,” Dash said.
The ghost nodded but didn’t look convinced he should be agreeing with Dash. He still seemed torn about whether his suggestion was a good idea or not.
“That still doesn’t solve the problem of finding the dark fairy we need,” I said.
Alfie let out a sigh. “You hardly need to seek the fairies out. You’ve summoned a dark fairy before.”
“Yeah, and look how well that turned out. It started an infestation in my house,” I replied.
“I don’t see any furniture around here for them to set up home in,” Alfie said, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Very funny.” I turned to Dash to gauge his opinion on what we should do. “What do you think?”
A frown dented Dash’s forehead as he considered our options. “It’s risky,” he finally said. “But if there’s another way to get through the barrier rather than waiting, I think we should take it. Who knows how long it will take us to find the chest and get it to the nameless one. And we don’t have long until the barrier protecting our realm disintegrates entirely.”
I nodded as I considered what Dash had said. I wasn’t a huge fan of the fairy idea, but it seemed a whole lot better than waiting around for the barrier to finally drop.
“So, I guess we’re doing the fairy dust then,” I said, rubbing my hands along my jeans to get rid of the sweat that caked them. “But if the fairy dust turns me into a crazy lady, I fully expect you to spend the rest of your days nursing me back to health.”
Dash laughed. “I think I can agree to that.”
I took in a deep breath and focused on my magic. It pulsed through my fingers and swirled around my hands as I concentrated on summoning a dark fairy. In my mind, I pictured one of the tiny beings. Their skin glowed with white light, and their wings were clear and fragile. The creatures were always female and had pretty, childlike faces, and their voices sounded like little bells. Instead of the glittering gold dust of a light fairy though, I imagined the swirl of black and silver dust that burst from a dark fairy’s wings with every flap.
With a swell of magic, I released my summons, and as the golden sparkles of my power swirled around my hand, one of the tiny creatures appeared on my palm.
The fairy was cute with huge green eyes and long black hair. Her clear wings were very slowly flapping, not fast enough to lift her into the air but enough that small sprinklings of black and silver fairy dust appeared in the air behind her. I quickly wrapped one hand around the fairy’s waist, before she could escape, and a tinkling sound came out of her mouth as the tiny creature scowled up at me.
“I think she’s swearing at me.” I glanced up at the others.
Dash smirked. “Yeah, she’s not happy with you. Don’t you understand fairy?”
Her words just sounded like miniature chiming bells to me, and I couldn’t even begin to comprehend how it was a language or how anyone could understand it. “Ah, no,” I replied.
“Well, she called you a fat oaf,” Alfie said with a snort. “Among other things.”
“Lovely.”
“It’s okay, little one,” Dash said to the fairy as he came close. “We’re going to let you go in a moment. We just need to use some of your dust so we can go through the barrier.”
The verbal assault ceased as the fairy looked up at him. She paused briefly before she spoke again, this time to Dash. Her tinkling words didn’t have nearly the same ferociousness as they did when she’d been addressing me. She looked quite taken with Dash and was fluttering her eyes up at him and skimming a hand through her hair as she spoke.
Dash was nodding as he listened. “Yes, I’m sorry we summoned you away from your home. We wouldn’t have done so if it wasn’t an emergency,” he said once the fairy paused again.
She started to reply, and I could just make out a coy smile spreading on her lips as she spoke. The fact Dash had gotten on her good side immediately, while I was considered a fat oaf, w
as beyond unfair.
“If you help us, we can carry you back to your village after,” Dash said. “We would be very grateful.”
“Where does she live?” I asked, and the fairy turned and scowled at me again.
“Not far,” Dash said, straightening as he looked at me. “She told me it’s just beyond the barrier. It would take her days to get home on her own though. It’s the least we can do.”
“All right,” I agreed. I just hoped the fairy wasn’t lying—the little creatures were known for being tricksters.
I looked over at Alfie who had moved away from me and was now hovering close to the barrier. “So, how exactly does the fairy dust get us past the barrier?” I asked as I walked to stand beside him. “Do we just dust ourselves and walk through?”
“Pretty much,” he replied. “The fairy dust helps conceal your magic. It tricks the barrier into thinking you have dark magic rather than light.”
“Well, I guess we better get this over and done with then,” I said.
“Wait a minute,” Dash said, coming to join us. “Alfie, do you know where the palace ruins in the Dead Lands are?”
Alfie frowned and shook his head. “I spent most of my life in the city, and the Southern Realm is a big place, so I’m not sure. I’ve heard of the Dead Lands, of course, but I couldn’t tell you how to reach them,” he said. “If the fairy’s village isn’t far from here, perhaps you can find someone who knows about it there?”
Dash nodded, but he didn’t look particularly comforted by Alfie’s advice. We were about to enter the Southern Realm, with no idea where we were going, and I didn’t feel optimistic about stopping to ask a stranger for directions.
“When you get back to Bramblewood, can you tell Melody it might be a couple of days before I’m home? And that I’m probably going to need her to cover for me at work.”
“You and that job,” Dash grumbled.
I ignored him and kept my focus on Alfie. “Would you mind?”
“Of course.” He smiled. “And Clio, I really am sorry about keeping my past a secret. I never meant to lie to you.”
“It’s okay, Alfie,” I replied. “I understand.” I had secrets of my own that I needed to keep, and Alfie knew that better than anyone.
Christmas Chaos (Christmas Magic Book 2) Page 10
