by M. L. Brooks
Adair couldn’t place it but his name was familiar to her.
“I’m ready to go,” said Adair.
She picked up her satchel and walked out the back door to the garden.
In the daylight, the garden was even more vibrant. Butterflies and birds fluttered through the garden playing with flowers as they went. Some of the bushes were varying shades of red and orange. The garden would not stay this radiant as autumn and winter settled in. Emin followed along behind her. He stopped occasionally to admire a flower or piece of stonework in the garden.
At the back of the garden was an archway leading out into the open. Adair passed under the arch and into the forest. The green of the forest was immediately less vivid than in Rose’s garden. Emin caught up and walked beside Adair.
“Do you know where we’re going?” he asked.
“Just west. We’ll have to sneak around Fort Blackrun. That shouldn’t be too hard if we do it at night and stick to the mountains. It’s the gale winds on the other side I don’t know how to cross,” said Adair.
“Cliff dragons,” replied Emin.
“Uhh, what are those?” asked Adair.
“Legend says that the Fae use dragons to ride the storm. There is a den of cliff dragons out here that we could talk to. We would have to have something to offer them if we expect them to listen though,” Emin elaborated.
“What do dragons like?” asked Adair.
“Food. A whole cow would be a nice snack for a dragon, mind you. I hear they collect treasure. Not into coins but if you have an item of power or something they could turn into one, you’ll catch their interest,” answered Emin.
“I don’t think we could find a cow out here. We could hunt down a buck for them,” Adair thought out loud.
“That might work,” agreed Emin.
They took their time walking through the forest. Eventually the sun set and the moon rose into the sky. Stars twinkled above them, and the moon lit their paths. Fort Blackrun was a castle with a black moat running around it. It was lit with torches and teeming with soldiers. Emin and Adair kept to the outskirts of the castle, winding around trees and boulders toward the mountains. They were long past the fort in only a few hours.
“Where can we find the dragons?” asked Adair.
“We’ll have to track them. Look for claw prints, huge piles of dung, feathers the length of your arm,” said Emin.
Adair did a double take when she saw what was in his hand. She had thought it was just a torch or a lantern but when she looked he was holding the skull that had been sitting on top of his staff. From inside the empty cavity of the skull was a green flame that cast a glowing light around Emin. The shadows of his scowling face were discomforting.
“You realize you come off like a necromancer or something?” asked Adair.
“Bah. Reanimating a corpse is child’s play. I’ve never managed to pull a soul back into its body, or rip one of its body for that matter,” said Emin.
Adair shook her head and kept searching around the mountainside. She heard a rustle in the trees around her, and she looked up. It was an owl settling onto its perch in the boughs above. Emin lifted his skill lantern and turned it to face just past Adair. The tree had three long scratches up the side of it. Wood splintered out around the edges of the claw marks.
“Are those dragon claw marks?” asked Adair.
“I’m not a hunter and I’ve never encountered a cliff dragon,” replied Emin.
In the night sky Adair spotted two bright eyes attached to a creature that she could only make out by its silhouette. Adair pointed them out to Emin, like glowing red orbs. The eyes zoomed in on them and whatever it was let out a fierce screech and then plummeted down at them. Instinctively Emin grabbed hold of Adair’s arm and then blinked them out of the way just as the winged beast swooped down upon them. Its long talons shredded into the ground and its enormous wings batted trees out of the way as if they were toys it was done playing with.
It turned to face them. It had a long beak, filled with sharp teeth that sparkled and gleamed when it screeched at them again. It had four legs, a long body, and short horns sprouting from its head. It barreled across the ground at them again its beak snapping for the chance to snatch their bodies. Adair and Emin took off down the hill, racing away from the beast.
“That’s the dragon!” shouted Emin.
“Will it talk to us?” asked Adair.
“There is something wrong with this one. Dragons are highly intelligent. They aren’t known to attack unprovoked,” said Emin.
“Dragon! Halt! We want peace with you!” shouted Adair, turning to face the creature.
It didn’t stop.
From the heavens, they heard a louder shriek. The air around them rippled with the force of the sound and Adair fell to her knees. The dragon stopped in its tracks and cowered its head down low. Landing on the ground next to them was a dragon almost twice the size of the one that been chasing them. The larger dragon tucked its wings back neatly and walked a few paces closer to them. It had a long slithering tail behind it. The end of the tail was tipped with long spikes and fans like feathers.
The dragon had earthy green feathers and bright yellow eyes. It wrapped its tail around and it sat down, watching the humans. Its horns were longer than the smaller dragon’s, and curved around like a goat’s horns.
“You want peace human, and yet your kind was made for war,” stated the large dragon. Its beak moved in its attempt to speak the common tongue but what came out were a series of growls that only mimicked speech. The dragon was speaking to them telepathically, giving understanding to his speech.
“We just wanted to find out where you were. We were planning on hunting a buck or two for you,” said Adair, trying to overcome her fear at speaking with the dragon.
“Hunting a buck or two?” The dragon laughed, expelling hot air all over Adair and Emin.
“From my hunting ground, no less! No!” bellowed the dragon.
It lifted a claw and spread its talons apart. Adair and Emin were both lifted into the air by the dragons will. Their limbs were spread out into an X as they were held in suspension.
“Now tell me why I shouldn’t tear you apart and feed you to this vestige?” asked the large dragon waving over to the smaller one.
“Please spare us! I’m on a quest. My friends were killed and the only way I can make things right is to become stronger and if I die here I’ll never be able to avenge them,” shouted Adair, tears trickling down her face.
Emin started whispering, trying to cast from his position.
The dragon waved his claw again and the voice was sucked out of Emin. Adair’s satchel opened and her possessions floated out. The dragon took Shea’s amulet, and the map that Rose had drawn. He looked at them both carefully.
“Begone, you mindless cow!” yelled the green dragon at the smaller one.
The subordinate dragon screeched, shaking its head violently, and then hurried away.
“I know where you are going. I will take you there but if the Fae do not welcome you I will devour you both and keep your treasures for myself,” said the dragon.
It released its hold on Emin and Adair. They fell to the ground below, both landing without much difficulty. The dragon reached out and grabbed them in its claws. He was as gentle as he could be as he leapt up and then began flapping his wings. Each flap lifted them further until he caught a wind current and was flying through the air.
The wind was cold against her cheeks and her hair blew around her face. Ahead of them was the wind barrier. A mile of wind that blew so hard it would knock a man off his feet and, with enough time, rend the skin from his bones. The dragon’s wings flapped and battled through the wind. Adair could tell it was equal parts the dragon’s size and its mastery over magic that allowed it pass through the wind barrier.
Once on the other side, they were in the Crystal Waste. Everything looked like it had been twisted and distorted into glass sculptures. The ground was smooth
and sparkly. The trees were shimmering, leafless spires. Life was scarce. Snowflakes floated around the air giving the land a wintery coat of frost. The dragon soared through the sky, taking them to their destination.
The dragon landed in front of a tunnel in the ice. He set Emin and Adair onto the ground carefully and then took a few steps back.
“Your quest continues in there. I will wait here. Dragons are patient,” said the dragon.
“Thank you!” shouted Adair. She touched his talon and gave it a gentle squeeze.
The dragon’s demeanor softened as he remembered what it was like to befriend one of the mortal races.
CHAPTER 12
Every day for an entire week after Adair had left, Ivor brought his men up to Rose’s manor. They tried to break the lock with pickaxes and weapons, and it ended with their tools broken. They tried using ladders to go over the fence and shovels to dig under the fence, but every time they got close to getting through they would be overwhelmed with dizziness and unable to continue.
At the end of his rope, Ivor and his men came up with bows and arrows. They lit them on fire and shot them over the fence at Rose’s house. When the arrows came down to land, the dizziness was upon them again. Once they had become reoriented to the world around them, all sign of the arrows was gone.
After that, Ivor and his men forgot about the manor. Every time they thought about the manor or talked about it, even when they were miles away, it was as if their minds would start spinning again and the any thought they had of the manor would be gone when the dizziness ended. Eventually they stopped going up and trying to break in, and their lives gradually returned to normal.
Meanwhile, Adair was preparing to enter the dark cave in the Crystal Waste. Snow swirled around her, chilling her cheeks and her fingers. She trudged into the darkness. Each step she took was firm against the glassy ground below her feet. With a twirl of his hands Emin had reactivated his skull lantern, and he walked in with his companion.
Looking around at the tunnel she had entered, Adair realized this wasn’t a cave at all. The walls were perfectly round and although they had been worn by the passage of time, they were far too smooth to be a natural structure. Emin looked around with her, sharing in her sense of curiosity as to what they were exploring.
Shortly into their walk, they came upon a circular room. Without the wind in the chamber they had entered, the air was warmer than it felt outside. There were three chairs toward the wall, equal distances apart. In the center was a podium with a globe just bigger than a cantaloupe sitting on top, just as Rose had described. Adair put her hands on the orb. It was cool to the touch and felt like a regular glass globe. Nothing happened.
“Did Rose tell you what we’re supposed to do here?” asked Emin.
“No. She said if this orb activates for me that she will train me. So, I just have to activate it,” said Adair.
“Perhaps a spell or a ritual will do it?” suggested Emin.
Adair kept looking around the podium. There were no switches or levers or designs in it. She could not figure out what the room was for or how to activate the orb. Emin looked at his skull lantern, the light inside of it pulsating in the room. He walked over and stuck his free hand on to the orb. Green light pulsed into the orb and then bounced back into his hand. Emin hissed and quickly retracted his hand from the orb. At the same time, Adair heard a sizzling sound and the scent of burnt flesh filled the room.
“The orb needs energy to activate, but it won’t take mine. How’s your magic?” asked Emin.
“I don’t have any,” replied Adair.
“Then you’re just going to have to wing it. Take your amulet and grip it tightly. It may not be activated for you but you know it’s an item of power so imagine its energy flowing through your body,” instructed Emin.
Adair held the amulet in her right hand, clutching the crystal. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine blue lines of energy moving from the crystal into her body. She visualized it like the veins in her body were now connected to the crystal and much like her blood pumped into her heart for oxygen, it was now pumping through the crystal and enriching itself with the magical energy stored within. She could not tell if it was just because she was holding the crystal in her hand or if she was actually doing something mystical, but the crystal felt warmer against her palm than it had before.
“Now touch the orb,” said Emin.
Adair reached out and put her hand on the orb. She didn’t feel anything happen or sense any changes. When she opened her eyes the area on the orb where her hand touched had turned blue. Her hand print faded and a blue spark appeared inside of the orb. It flickered a few times, almost disappearing completely, before surging out and filling the orb with a bright blue light.
The room started shaking and lights turned on above them, brightening the entire room. The walls flickered and then started showing them images. They were words and pictures of places, but Adair couldn’t read what they said. In front of the chairs were circular panels with handprints on them. Emin mouthed out words as he tried to read what was appearing on the screens.
“This is old Fae technology,” he said out loud to Adair.
“What does it say?” she asked back.
“The script is far too complex for my understanding. We would need one of them to read it,” said Emin.
“Well Rose just told me to activate it. She didn’t say I have to do anything with it,” said Adair.
“I’m sure the dragon and her will both require proof that you activated the orb though,” reminded Emin.
Adair reached out and put both hands on the orb. She lifted and tried to pull it from the pedestal. The orb hummed at her touch and the room shook again. When she released the orb, it felt like the whole room dropped. Emin crouched low, catching his balance as the rumbling room settled.
“This is a vessel. We’ve been moved,” noted Emin as he walked briskly back down the tunnel to the outside.
“How would you know that?” asked Adair, still suspicious of Emin.
“I’ve worked with similar magic, I know what it feels like. Think of it like baking. You can smell the spices in the air when baking a cake. I don’t usually smell it obviously but I can sense it in the air. I can tell that we’ve been moved but some parts of Fae magic are esoteric even to me,” he explained.
Adair ran behind him to catch up. When they emerged from the tunnel, they were in another world. The grass was blue, everything was dark, and they were surrounded by mushrooms the size of trees. Luminescent plants grew along the ground and on mushrooms, while fireflies looped and flew around. Adair stepped out onto the grass and looked around at the world they had entered.
“Let’s just take a specimen and try to get the vessel back home,” said Emin.
“No, I want to see where we are,” said Adair as she walked deeper in the mushroom forest.
“We don’t know what kind of predators this place has,” warned Emin gruffly as he followed behind.
“I just feel like there was something I was meant to find out here,” replied Adair.
As they kept walking, Adair noticed blue and yellow lights through the mushrooms. She trudged through the brush and around mushrooms trying to get closer to the lights. She noticed that the mushrooms had formed an open grove with a gigantic tree in the center. The tree was thicker than any tree Adair had seen before. It’s dark brown trunk spiraled into the sky. It had long branches of blue leaves that blocked out any view of the sky. Adair had no sense of whether it was night or day.
Hanging from the mushrooms around the grove were little bird houses in all different shapes and colors. The tree had a large opening at ground level in the center of the grove that was well-lit by men holding strange spears. Their spears had translucent orbs that decorated the base of the spear tip and gave off as much light as any torch. The men were about half of Adair’s height and their skin had a faint hue to it. One of the men was green and the other was blue.
A man with sof
t green skin approached them. He was Adair’s height, and he had a cloak made out of two large, blue leaves that looked like they came from the great tree. He was bare chested and wore trousers that were a mix between moss and fabric. He had a thin silver belt that was elaborately adorned, but Adair couldn’t see much of it because of how his cloak hid his figure. His hair was unlike human hair and resembled leaves twisting down the side of his head. His ears were of normal size but pointed. Adair thought there was something handsome about him. Slowly flapping behind him were four wings like that of a dragonfly but much larger.
“I believe we’ve met before,” said the man to Adair.
Emin readied his skull, preparing to fight the stranger if he need to.
Adair recognized the sound of his voice.
“You’re the man from the breach!” she exclaimed.
“Alfein, yes, but how did you get here?” he asked.
“Adair, can we trust him?” asked Emin.
“He hasn’t given us any reason not to,” she said to Emin before turning back to Alfein and saying, “We were brought here by some orb.”
“You’re not Fae, how did you use the void chamber?” he asked.
“I just touched it and it activated for me,” shrugged Adair.
“I’ve never heard of humans using our machinology. Our goddess will undoubtedly have seen this in her dreams. Please come with me,” Alfein replied, beckoning them toward the great tree.
Emin and Adair followed him into the tree. The small Fae guarding the entrance bowed their heads and allowed the group to pass. Along the far wall, the tree itself had formed into a face with a mouth, nose, and two eyes that were shut. Tiny fairies that were barely larger than a thumb flew around and tended to the tree. They carried fertilizer for the soil, water for the roots, trimmed the leaves, and even caressed and sang to the tree.
Alfein approached the tree and got down on his knees. Not wanting to offend, Adair walked up to Alfein and copied his position. Emin stayed by the door and sat down just outside of the hall.
