by JD Cole
“But that knowledge is your duty, not your right, Highness. We have much to cover. I know you are still recuperating, but I think today would be a good day to begin familiarizing you with your role as Queen. You do not need to do much more than listen, and Sorvir and I will be glad to answer any questions you have for us.”
“First question,” Kelli answered, rather to the surprise of the Royal Counselor. “How soon before my parents can join me here?”
Dufangen was too shocked to even form a facial expression. Devon glanced at Kim as they gleaned enough from Kelli’s side of the conversation. Kelli’s parents were back at their ranch in Hawaii, and she was determined to bring them here, ignoring the taboos involved with bringing humans into the Faery Realm. Kim’s presence was merited solely on account of Devon.
“My Queen,” Dufangen finally said, “I think that matter would be better left for another time-”
“My father is of the same, whatever you call it, lineage, that I am. If I inherited the Birthright, doesn’t that mean he might have had the potential to?” Dufangen nodded, having never considered that before now. “So then he has as much right to be here as I do. And if he’s royalty, I’m sure you’re not going to deny his spouse the same reverence you would pay me or… I dunno, whoever else is royalty here.”
Dufangen just stared blankly at the edge of the bed, but Sorvir had a wide grin on his face. Devon looked at Kim again, and pointed his outstretched hands at the ground, the volleyball hand-signal for “inside the line, point scored!” Unfortunately, the gesture was lost on Kim, a computer hacker who barely knew the difference between a volleyball and a soccer ball.
The mystic nodded after several moments of indecision, and looked up at Kelli. “The mystic council will begin preparations to open a gate into the human world, and invite your parents to the castle. I presume you will wish to contact them beforehand to prepare them?”
Kelli blinked, silent for a moment. “I guess that would be a good idea. Everybody back home thinks I died when my airplane crashed.”
“So, my Queen, you have won your second victory,” Dufangen smiled without mirth, “but now you must apply yourself to the task of learning. After our experience in Boston, I am sure I do not need to convince you of how serious this is.”
Kelli nodded. “I know. I’m responsible for all faeries now. And I have to master this power. There was something Bennett told me before he left.” Her eyes became sad at the thought of him. “He said that I was the balancing force for magic here. I wasn’t really paying attention at the time. But what did he mean by that?”
“The Birthright,” Sorvir answered, taking Kelli’s now-empty cup and placing it on the tray. “It was forged a long, long time ago. It is every magic that was known at the time, woven together. Think of a complex tapestry and try to imagine every individual thread it is made of, all of its different colors. The Birthright was crafted to let you manipulate those threads to weave any design you wish into that tapestry.”
“Further,” Dufangen added, “you are constantly drawing magic to yourself, as well as replenishing magic in the Earth around you. One of the facets of the Birthright allows you to channel magic from all of the primary elements… fire, earth, water, wind, and blood. These elements do not naturally mix together, and so if one is drained of magic, it cannot share with the others without alteration. Through you, however, they can.
“Consider the human world, where you were raised. Earth element is all but devoid of magic because the faeries have abandoned it, but wind and water element are independent of faeries, and remain strong in your world. If you chose, you could funnel magic from the wind into the earth, and the affected area would begin to look and behave more like the Faery Realm.”
Kelli frowned. “I don’t understand the difference. I mean, what’s the big deal with earth element not having magic? Oh, wait, Lumina explained some of it to me and the Hood. He said magic is drawn to faery life?” She waited until Dufangen and Sorvir nodded. “And then he said faeries became sick or crippled if they lived somewhere that had no magic. Like the vampires and werewolves.” Kelli looked at Kim, and the redhead nodded. Kim was a Silver Knight, part of a human cabal that hunted vampires and werewolves… renegade faeries that had been dubbed “nightfangs”.
“That is a big part,” Sorvir confirmed. “But there’s something you probably haven’t had a chance to notice about the Faery Realm yet. Death and decay are much different here than in your world. You are probably used to the idea of dead plants and creatures rotting for months and even years, yes? Here, the dead vanish into the Earth very quickly. There are exceptions, and we use spells to preserve the livestock we slaughter for food. But decay does not linger where earth magic is strong. The energy released by a death is quickly consumed by the Earth, where it can be drawn on by us, or by anyone who is capable of spell casting.”
“That’s why this place is so beautiful,” Kelli considered. Her brief exposure to the realm outside the castle had revealed that even the dirt seemed clean here, and the flora and fauna were of limitless colors and varieties. She had not paid too close attention, however; that brief time was spent trading wedding vows with Bennett and consummating their marriage. Again, the thought of her distant husband brought sadness to her eyes.
Kelli’s visit with Dufangen and Sorvir continued as the faeries explained what her life would be like, both as a faery and as a ruler. Kelli was enthralled by everything she had to learn, but Devon quickly grew bored listening to half a conversation. When he excused himself, Kim went with him. Being a Dragon, the sprites were reluctant to put any kind of restrictions on Devon, but they had politely asked that he not roam beyond the upper west wing. Kelli’s existence was still a secret here, and the sprites wished to keep it that way until she had grown enough in magic and knowledge to publically assume her throne. If the presence of a Dragon -or a human, which Kim was and what he appeared as now- became common knowledge, the castle residents would begin asking questions.
Devon took Kim’s hand as they walked down the hall toward the stairway that led up to their guestrooms, and sighed. “You know what? I been away from the beach for way too long. You like learn how surf?”
“Where?” Kim laughed.
“Home, of course.”
“Can you do that?”
As they walked, a bright gold and red line tore the air in front of them, and an ethergate opened into Kim’s guestroom upstairs. Devon pulled her through, and the gate closed behind them. “I been practicing. I know how make gateways now, so we can see what’s on the other side before we get there.”
“No teleporting into dangerous countries?” Kim smiled and arched an eyebrow. Devon’s earliest attempts at ethergate travel had not exactly taken him to the places he’d intended. He looked at her now, feigning irritation, but walked over the desk, where parchment and writing utensils were available. He’d originally wondered aloud if they were for ordering sushi, but the look he got from Sorvir told him no. Now he scribbled a note in pidgin --Kel, I took Kim home for go surf. We go come back bumbai. Dev--
He opened Kim’s door and closed it on the edge of the note for anyone walking by to see. He took Kim’s hand and smiled at her, though she noted there was little humor in it. Devon pointed to the wall in front of them. The air shimmered, a thin line of yellow fire raced up from the ground… and an irregular tear appeared, growing in size until it was large enough for two people to step through side by side. On the other side was Devon’s backyard: a beautiful beach on Oahu’s northern shoreline.
“Knee high,” he said of the surf, “and glassy. Perfect!” Tugging at Kim’s hand, he led her onto the soft green grass, and the ethergate sealed itself. “We should go see Erica, first. I gotta tell her I’m okay.” Kim was wide-eyed with awe, for though she had traveled through ethergates a couple of times before, the very act of traveling thousands of miles instantaneously was not something she thought she would ever get used to. She followed her lover through the slidin
g glass door on his patio.
Devon looked out a window. “Her car is here, so she should be home. Erica! Hui, shwt, you stay here or what?” Kim looked at Devon, chuckling at the pidgin words and noises he used in his speech. The sound of footsteps drew their attention to the stairs as Erica Kunali’i came down in answer to her brother in law’s voice.
“Devon!” Erica rushed the rest of the way down and threw her arms around him, and they both laughed and squeezed each other tight. “Please tell me you’re not going to leave like Bennett did!” Erica was from Montana; her English was more “normal” to Kim’s ears. Devon pulled away to answer her.
“No, I’m not leaving. So, Bennett told you everything?” Erica nodded. “Well, I came back for some vacation time. Oh, this is Kim, remember that girl I told you I wanted to ask out?”
“Hi,” Kim held out her hand. “Or is it aloha? Pleasure to meet you!”
Erica smiled and shook Kim’s hand. “So, he took you to the, what was it? Faery Realm? For your first date?”
Kim smiled, looking sideways at Devon. “I’d have been happy with McDonald’s, but he likes to show off.”
Erica nodded in agreement and turned to her brother in law. “Vacation, huh? An awful lot’s happened since you went missing. I was scared to death when I heard about a shootout at the mall, and the news showed pictures of your car, with blood splattered all over it. I don’t suppose Bennett got to talk to you after he visited me?”
“Nope. What happened?”
“It’s Chris. He was captured over in Russia, I’m not sure exactly where he is now.”
“What?” Devon’s face twisted in horror. Ever since their parents and sister had passed away years ago, Devon had almost been waiting to see who died next. That is, until he had learned that he and Bennett were immortal. But what about his oldest brother?
Christian Kunali’i was a marine reservist, a chief warrant officer who was also an expert with one of the military’s newest weapons: the Forward Spanning Interdiction System (FSIS), a smart-rocket battery more popularly known among marines as “Acid Rain”. In his civilian life, Christian was an engineer for the defense contractor Raytheon, and had been one of FSIS’ chief designers. It was a project that had him traveling to the mainland frequently for several years; he and Erica had not wanted to drag Bennett and Devon away from Hawaii after the death of their parents.
Christian’s reserve unit had been activated and deployed to Kazakhstan almost a month ago, part of the American response to communist atrocities that seemed to intensify with each passing day. The communists’ goal was the return of the old Soviet structure. They had already weakened the government in Moscow, and were now actively harassing the “mini-stan” democratic states that had once been part of Mother Russia. Wholesale murder had become a staple of the nightly newscasts covering the events in Eastern Europe. The U.S. military was planning to make extensive use of FSIS in the coming weeks. That had put Christian in a unique position as a sort of traveling field-expert, one of several at the disposal of any FSIS-equipped unit who requested their presence to help with system adjustments for specific missions. Erica explained Christian’s capture to Devon.
“He was in a transport, flying somewhere, I’m assuming to meet with another unit using his Acid Rain system. They were shot down, and only Christian survived. But he’s okay,” she quickly added, seeing Devon’s rising fear. “He was captured, and the whole thing was broadcast by those Red Party bastards, but he escaped! On live TV, he and these two reporters escaped!”
“You sure he’s okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, impossible as it sounds, Bennett said that you guys can’t die. Is that for real?”
“I didn’t know about Chris, but yeah, me and Ben both got shot at the mall, but it didn’t hurt us,” Devon admitted. “But Ben knows more about it than me, Uncle Krin taught him all kinds of stuff.” His chest seemed to shrink as he sighed with relief. Then he laughed. “Frickin commies, that’s what you get for messing with my brother!”
“You wanna talk to him?” Erica smiled.
“Who? Chris?”
“Uh huh.”
“How?”
Erica produced a rich chain and pendant from under her shirt. It was gold, with hints of red when light gleamed off the metal. The large jewel in the middle of the pendant was yellow.
“Ben gave this to me. It lets me talk to Christian wherever he is, we can even see and touch each other while we talk. He gave one to Kelli’s parents, too, so they can talk to her.”
“Wow, that sucking guy Ben! All he gave me before he left was one hug! How you use ‘um?”
“I just hold it like this and call his name.” Erica sighed, and looked as if she was fighting back a tear. “There’s a problem, though. He’s all alone out there, Devon. One of the reporters he was with got killed, and a bunch of other stuff happened, and… he’s been on the run constantly. He doesn’t realize I’m really talking to him. He enjoys it when I call him with this, but he thinks he’s gone crazy, that our conversations are all in his head. He’s been shot a bunch of times, but he can’t figure out why he’s not dead. I’ve told him about you and Ben, and the stuff Ben told me…” Erica sniffed. “He’s alive, every time he gets hurt he says it heals up immediately… but he’s so alone, Devon. He’s started thinking that he’s just hallucinating every time he gets shot or cut. And I can’t do anything for him, he doesn’t even believe it’s me talking to him!”
Devon spent several heartbeats absorbing all of that information. When they all thought Kelli was dead, Devon had become frustrated at fate and death, the entities that had taken his parents, his sister, Grace, and seemingly his brother’s girlfriend away from them all. He’d vowed to live forever just to piss off the grim reaper, and now he and his brothers really couldn’t die. But what was it going to cost them? Christian’s sanity? “Call him,” he told Erica.
Erica took a deep breath, held the pendant between her palms, and whispered her husband’s name. But nothing happened. She tried again, but Christian did not answer. “He must be sleeping,” she said. “That’s happened before. I actually tried using that to convince him that he’s not dreaming about me. How could he be, if he only sees me when he’s awake?”
Devon hugged his sister-in-law. “It’s okay, Erica. Everything going be fine. We’ll get him home. I never exactly believe all this stuff at first, either. He’ll be okay when I can show him proof.”
“What convinced you this Dragon stuff was real?”
“Flying around in the Faery Realm with Kelli. And fighting robots in Boston-”
“You were involved in that terrorist stuff?”
“It wasn’t terrorists.”
“What were you doing in Boston? And how did you get here?”
“Yeah, we were there.” Devon looked at Kim. “Well, I was there, Kim wasn’t. But me and Kelli, and a couple other people. You know what, there’s too much stress in here. I gotta get in the water. You go change for surf. And you and Kim look about the same size, you think you can loan her one swimsuit? When we get out in the water, I’ll explain all the Boston stuff.” He looked back to Kim. “You can borrow Ben’s tanker,” referring to Bennett’s ten-foot long surfboard. “It’s not like he need ‘um right now.”
~
It took about twenty minutes to get Kim acclimated to the surf; but with the waves small and gentle as they were today, she was now catching them and standing up on her own. Erica sat straddled atop her eight-foot board, next to Devon on his eleven-footer. The larger boards were more suitable for these small waves, while their “guns”, the six and seven footers, waited in the garage for the big waves.
Erica laughed as the redhead fell over near the shore, enthusiastically pulling herself onto Bennett’s board to paddle back out and catch another wave. “And another surfer is born,” Erica smiled at Devon.
“All it takes is one good ride,” he agreed. He could fly in his Dragon form, and while that was exhilarating, there was nothing q
uite like harnessing the power of the ocean under your feet the way Hawaiians had discovered hundreds of years ago. He watched as Kim bobbed over a passing set, and waved to her. She might not be a supermodel, but the sporty black bikini she wore proved that she curved nicely in all the right places.
“By the way,” Erica said, “I won’t be able to do this much longer, I’ll have to take a break for awhile.”
“What? From surfing? How come?”
Erica looked down and rubbed at her tummy through the green single piece suit she was wearing. Then she looked at Devon slyly. “I know you noticed.”
“No way,” Devon smiled. “I thought you was just getting fat!” Devon leaned back to avoid her slap, and almost lost his balance. He had noticed, especially the way she had paddled out on her knees instead of on her stomach. “Nah, nah, honest! I didn’t know! I thought maybe you was pregnant, but what? If you wasn’t and I said that, you woulda’ slap my head!” When the laughter subsided, Devon continued. “But wow, I going be one uncle, eh? That’s awesome, Erica!”
“So now, what is going on with you? What happened in Boston, and what’s the story with you and Kim?” Erica’s face suddenly became serious, her voice stern. “You better not be making me an aunt already, young man!”
Devon’s face broke out into shock. “What?”
“I saw the way you were rubbing that lotion on her, and the way she let you! That clearly wasn’t the first time you’ve touched her like that. You just met her, and you’re too young for that kind of stuff!”
Erica was as protective as any parent; she and Christian were his legal guardians, after all. Devon wondered how he could explain that he and Kim had lived a virtual life together in that Lifishi’un dream; they were as close as Chris and Erica were. Devon might only be seventeen, but he had a lifetime of experience with Kim, regardless of the fact that it hadn’t been “real”. He wasn’t in the mood to tackle that subject, so shifted back to Boston.
“I’ll tell you about Kim later, but the Boston thing is more important. What did Ben tell you about Kelli?”
