by Linda Jordan
Then she motioned to the others and stepped through the invisible wall.
Adaire was completely inundated with her senses. She felt as if they’d been dead for years and had just now reawakened.
The luscious smells of roses, jasmine and millions of bluebells filled her nose and spread throughout her body, loosening the tension. The sounds of hundreds of songbirds singing in harmony with each other, punctuated by little silver bells hung in the trees came to her ears and filled her with ecstasy.
The earth felt moist and spongy beneath her bare feet. Trees whispered of the return of a dryad.
Nearby a small stream sang with joy. Adaire squatted down on the soft, lime green moss bank and dipped a hand in the stream, wetting her mouth.
It was the cleanest water she’d ever tasted and just a handful completely quenched her thirst.
The air around her body felt humid and earthy.
She stood and began walking, watching the others. Egan, Skye, Pearce and Glenna were entranced by coming home as well.
Adaire found a path that moved towards the center of Faerie and followed it, her body flowing, almost dancing.
Roses lined the path. Not the hybrid teas of humans. These were ancient roses, sweet fragrant roses. Tall wild dog roses and others, that humans named Gallica or Apothecary roses. Single petaled, pink to ruby to purple colored. Their perfume surrounded her almost as if she could see and touch it. Rambling white and pink roses climbed high into the surrounding trees, their scent flooding the air. Despite all the trees, there was enough sunlight for all the understory plants.
Hydrangeas sat behind the roses, their plump pink and purple blooms adding to the lushness. Flowering vines: Clematis, passionfruit and honeysuckles wove through the shrubs and up into the trees. There were flowers everywhere.
And there were exotic flowers that hadn’t been given to humans. Flowers which when given to another gave part of one’s heart and soul. Flowers, the scent of which could inflame lust or the desire to kill. Flowers to eat, flowers which would heal a broken heart or could break one of a Fae’s choosing. None of these plants had names. Fae didn’t have the burning passion to label everything that humans did. So often a plant’s uses were lost in the mists of time. Some of this was just as well.
A plant’s uses could always be rediscovered, mostly by earth Fae.
It was nearly always summer in Faerie. Closing it with an energy field must also trap the heat in. Or perhaps the magic of Faerie changed the climate. She remembered snow as a child.
And the trees, they were as magnificent as she remembered. Hollies, oaks and yews, some as thick as ten people bundled together. Ancient wrinkled and sagging trees as well as young flexible saplings.
She sighed deeply and tears of joy came to her eyes.
As the others followed her along the path, she saw one of the purple Gallica rose bushes lose all its petals in a puff of breeze. The petals came to life and floated through the air above their heads.
The rose petals preceded them into the heart of Faerie, as if carrying a message. But what message?
Adaire continued down the path, which gradually widened. She and the others passed through fields of glorious fruit and vegetables, grains and hives of bees.
Earth spirits tended the fields, harvesting the bounty of Faerie and caring for the plants.
Farther on, others were making wine from grapes and apples.
They walked until the sun went down and the waxing moon rose. A small blue-green lake lay in front of them and they decided to rest. It had been a long trek to get here. Adaire was so very weary. It would take some time before her Fae body recovered from being encased in the human body and being held prisoner, so close to so much cold iron. She shivered at the thought and pushed it away.
She curled up in a mossy hollow at the base of an ancient oak tree. Safe, finally. The tree sighed at her as she lay down, pleased to be near a dryad. Adaire felt as if she were finally home. She just wished all that was required would be to care for the trees.
She watched the others lie down to rest. Egan slept on a boulder which still held the heat of the sun. Glenna and Pearce slept near another boulder, on the soft grass. Skye lay stretched out on the grass, face down with her head propped up on her hands, on the low bank overlooking the lake. The moon and sky were reflected in the smooth water.
Adaire dozed, but her dreams were filled with dark, threatening Fomorians.
Monsters attacking Faerie.
Chapter 28 ~ Meredith
Meredith sat on a lichen covered rock overlooking the valley below. The land was divided up by stone fences and hedgerows planted to make roughly square or rectangular fields. The fields were being grazed by sheep, cattle and horses. She could smell the animal dung even up high on the hill.
Small houses seemed to have been built next to most of the fields. It was a lovely pastoral scene, which would have made a pretty painting. One which she hadn’t seen for a thousand years or so.
It hadn’t changed much. Except that now power lines were strung to each of the houses. There were vehicles parked near many of them. Colorful paint decorated many of the little homes, others were painted a stark white making them stand out from the green fields.
Dylan sat on a nearby rock. He looked out at the valley, an expression of sadness on his face.
The rock she sat on felt lumpy and Meredith shifted her body and closed her eyes. She was exhausted. She’d used up too much of her magic with no chance to recharge. They’d run from the very water which could have recharged them. Because Domnu controlled it. She would have crushed them if she’d caught them.
They’d been walking for what seemed like forever. Through grass and heather and white wildflowers which all seemed to be out celebrating spring. Her feet were raw from all the rocks and human roads they’d walked on. They’d travelled mostly at night, so they could remain unseen by humans. They wore human bodies, but had no clothes.
Dylan wasn’t as tired and she’d let him lead.
But he couldn’t sense Faerie.
He had no idea where it lay, however much he said he did.
She brought her attention back inside herself and went deeper, trying to find a part of her that had enough energy, enough magic left to find Faerie. Through the thick, dullness of this human body she wore.
It was a shoddy job she’d done, making this body. It was done much too quickly. And on the run.
There was no breeze at the moment. She couldn’t sense any Fomorians at least.
Meredith slipped out of the human body, letting it slump down onto the rock. She stood and let her senses find Faerie. Her energy reached out in front of them, searching. Looking for that special vibration. The field behind which lay Faerie.
Finally, her energy travelled far enough to sense it.
They were still a ways away. Faerie lay quite a ways past the valley. Over towards the rocky hills in the distance. In that copse of trees.
She pointed and said, “There. Faerie lies over there. In those trees over those hills.”
Meredith slipped the human body back on. She felt slightly rejuvenated. They were close.
They rested all day, hidden among the stones. She worked on healing her feet, making them tougher. They darkened their skins, made their night vision better. Improved the weak human bodies they’d made so quickly. Meredith slept on the grass, communing with the water contained within the plants, trying to recover her magic.
At dusk they made a run for it.
They ran past the brightly lit homes. People inside gathered around their TVs and computers. Humans. They spent far too much time in front of screens. They’d always been seduced by the hunt. The hunt for what they might find elsewhere. Rarely satisfied with what was before them. Always in search of the next best thing. What did their screens find for them?
The moon rose in the sky. Only a half moon, waxing. It didn’t provide a great deal of light, but their night vision was now better. They’d planned for this.
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On the other side of the valley ran a narrow, cold stream. They paused there, sucking up as much energy as they could from it, waiting until the breathing of their human bodies returned to normal.
The water tasted sweet and clean, moistening the mouth of the much abused body she’d made.
As they moved across the rest of the valley, she could hear the squeaky cries of curlews feeding in the grasslands. White night moths fluttered among the wildflowers.
They ran up into the rocky hill beyond. Finally, they had to slow down. They picked their way up the hillside, finding a trail and following it to the top.
Then beyond that hill lay another, and another.
They crested the last hill before the thicket of trees and shrubbery. Dark shapes moved below them and Meredith squatted among the stones, quickly pulling Dylan down with her.
They watched the giants below. Tearing apart a barrow. The sod covering the mound flew off as the boulders were thrown. Some cracked on impact, after hitting other rocks.
There were three giants.
Fomorians.
When they’d finished tearing the top off and opening at least one of the sides, they went down inside the grave and threw bones around, scattering the grave goods. They picked up some of the jewelry, holding the shiny pieces up to the light of the moon and slipped them into their baggy pants pockets.
They wore no shirts or shoes and their torn old pants were obviously made for oversized men. The bottoms of the legs came up to just below the giants’ knees.
Monsters.
Then they finally left.
After it felt safe, Meredith and Dylan climbed down the rocky hillside. The air stank from the Fomorians.
They circled around the broken barrow. Meredith shook her head. What they’d done was terrible. Anger and the feeling of violation built up deep inside her, churning in her belly.
How could Faerie allow this to happen?
This was no time to linger. The Fomorians clearly had no one to challenge them here. There was no telling if more might come along of if the first group might return.
It was then she realized the extent of their actions.
The barrow had anchored the boundary to Faerie.
Now it floated loose.
Anyone could walk right in.
Had the monsters even known what they’d done? Was it intentional?
A stream ran down the hillside and into Faerie. She slipped out of the human body and made it dissolve. Then she became a salmon again and swam into Faerie.
She glanced at Dylan, who’d done the same. Once inside, she did what she could to anchor the boundary.
It helped a bit, but she felt a greater unravelling in the edges. There were more loose places.
She couldn’t fix all of them. Her magic hadn’t recharged enough.
They needed to tell the Luminary. If there was still a Ruler. Or someone in charge.
She hadn’t been here for a thousand years.
Who knew what had happened in that time?
Everything could have.
Or nothing.
She was hoping it wasn’t the latter.
Chapter 29 ~ Egan
The next morning Egan woke on top of a boulder, stiff and cold. He heard the others moving about.
Skye was flying over the lake. Twisting, turning and doing somersaults. She giggled and screeched gleefully. Pearce and Glenna were sucking on reeds, probably drinking the sweet nectar. They seemed more whole and energetic than he’d ever seen them. Adaire stood embracing a tree, a look of bliss on her face.
Egan stood and walked into a stream of sunlight. It wasn’t terribly warm, at least not yet. He needed some clothes to keep him warm. He’d find some when they reached the center of Faerie. Here in the outskirts, he probably wouldn’t find much.
Fae didn’t tend to wear much clothing. Except for ornamentation. But fire spirits away from the fire were always cold.
Once he was up, the others began to gather and head down the trail. The others probably couldn’t really sense well where the heart of Faerie lay. He knew they were distracted by the trees or the rocks. But the big fires which drew him in were at the center of Faerie. They burned in his consciousness and he knew exactly where they were.
Skye couldn’t fly very often without leaving them all behind, unless she went high over the tree tops. But when they came to fields and open areas, she took to the air and zipped around, playing tag with birds and chase with dragonflies.
They walked for what must have been hours before coming to the first real village. Before that they’d seen only single dwellings off by themselves. Some Fae wanted to live in solitude. Most Fae were much more communal. Most of the buildings here were made of carved wood.
Egan warmed himself by a blaze built for firing pottery. He gloried in the heat, but didn’t climb in, not wanting to damage the pieces being fired.
This village was for artists. There were metal workers, potters, painters, sculptors and all manner of creative people. Most of them worked outside or in buildings with open walls. He generally loved seeing the rampant creativity that all Fae possessed. But here were the ones who had devoted centuries to their work.
A female fire spirit who was roasting hot peppers caught his eye. She was lean with yellow and red scales on her back that extended over her shoulders and down the tops of her arms. It had been a very long time since he’d seen another fire spirit and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
The peppers in Faerie were so hot they made the humans’ ‘Carolina Reaper’ peppers feel like yogurt.
She smiled at him and offered him one. He took the steaming hot pepper and popped it in his mouth.
“You look cold and weak,” she said, her face crinkling in sympathy.
“I’ve been cold for the longest time,” he said, chewing the pepper. The oblong red fruit made his mouth scream with heat, but he let it pass over him. He could feel the pepper spreading warmth throughout his body. Burning. Making him feel alive again.
When was the last time he’d felt warm from the inside? The heat made him tingle as all his nerve endings came awake again. He could feel the magic of the pepper doing its work.
He could feel everything.
He smiled at her, “That was wonderful.”
He reveled in the aftertaste of the pepper, rich, full and smoky.
She wrapped several of them up in a huge leaf, folding it over and over so they wouldn’t leak. Then put them into a small leather bag with a long strap and gave it to him. He put the strap over his head and one shoulder, wearing the bag across his body. He bowed to her.
“Eat one several times a day, until you feel warmer.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure. The peppers long to be shared and appreciated.”
Egan smiled at her. He would have loved to stay and get to know her. He would have liked to learn pepper lore.
But they had to keep moving.
Perhaps he’d come back some day.
They kept walking through more villages until they came to the outskirts of the center of Faerie.
Here the buildings were older and more formal. They were built of carved stone. The finest Fae stonemasons who’d spent many millennia learning their craft had built them. The color of the stones varied between white, yellows, grays, reds, greens and even blue shades. Every now and then they passed a building which had been completely painted by an artist. Woodland scenes were the most common, but some were covered with underwater scenes and even the occasional fire scene.
Entire worlds were contained within fires that most Fae couldn’t even imagine.
Unlike human inner cities, nature abounded here. Each of the buildings had courtyards and fountains and elaborate gardens where plants were encouraged to go wild.
Trees towered throughout the center of Faerie, so old their expansive growth would have taken up blocks in a human city. Vines were allowed to ramble up the walls outside buildings and enter inside.
There was no need of windows to enclose the buildings, although occasionally intricately designed stained glass filled entire panels.
Here there was no need to keep nature out. Faerie lived in harmony with nature.
The streets of Faerie were lined with large greenish stone pavers. Horses, cows, goats and pigs tended to stay in the grassy fields along side the walkways. The fields were unfenced, large and plentiful.
Streams crisscrossed the city with fresh water to drink. Water plants grew in and alongside the creeks, filtering the water, shading fish, frogs and salamanders. There were bridges which crossed the streams, but also places to easily wade right in. The water in Faerie was always immaculately clean and tasted like no water from anywhere else he’d ever been.
Birds of all colors and sizes flitted among the trees and bushes. He didn’t know their names. Croaking, chirruping and cooing filled the air around him. Squirrels, deer and martens wandered through. As did badgers and hares. The city was filled with life.
Best of all were the smells of Faerie.
Roses, jasmine and gardenia, mingled with strawberries and fresh milked cream. Peppers combined with smoked trout. There was no end to the wonderful scents filling the air.
His mouth watered from the smells.
As they walked, he unwrapped the peppers and ate another one. His mouth singed from its heat. He began to feel whole again. As if he’d been lost for a very long time. Some of the darkness which hovered around the edges of his heart and mind dissipated.
It seemed to take forever to get to the center. The buildings became grander and more ornate. Every section carved. They met more Fae on the streets, parading along in a rainbow of silks and gauzy fabrics. Wearing large amounts of gold or silver. Their long hair braided into styles which spoke of large amounts of leisure time.
Gatherings of Fae lay around listening to musicians or dining on the most succulent scented food he’d ever smelled. Even a few making love in public.
Fae had such different rules for propriety than humans did.
And it seemed that things in Faerie hadn’t changed in the thousands of years he’d been gone.
