by Ellis Logan
Chapter 30
The cave should have seemed dark, even with the bright LED flashlight Amber switched on to light the way. But it wasn’t, really. I could see every crack in the rocks, every bit of moss, every pebble in the dirt floors.
I wondered briefly if Alec had somehow awakened more of my fae-ness with his kiss. Had I connected with his energy enough to truly acquire some of it as my own? That sounded dangerous, and unlikely. I mean, then, fae people would hardly be able to go around kissing just anyone. No, more likely it was just a coincidence. Maybe a reaction to the adrenaline from our little battle. I supposed that as an Earth fae that I should have the ability to see it clearly, even when I was under it.
I felt like we’d walked over a mile when Amber finally broke the silence.
“So, dish. What was that back there?” she whispered. I looked over my shoulder, and Alec trailed us by thirty feet, which seemed out of earshot, even for a master fae such as himself.
“I don’t know, just the thrill of the battle, I think.”
Amber snorted. “Looked like a lot more than that. Looked like the surge to me.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think Alec thought so.”
“Aw, just give him some time. Alec takes his duties very seriously, and your father was his mentor when he first started training. Your dads are practically brothers, they are such close friends. Plus, I think he’s worried about how things might change when we get down below.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, worried. I wasn’t sure how much more change I could handle.
“Look, there’s no sense worrying about anything now,” she waved my question away. “What will be, will be, I always say. Or, it is what it is. Something like that. Anyway, you get the point. Just focus on one step at a time.”
“Like you and Ewan?” I jibed.
“Exactly,” she purred. “Things have a way of working out, even when they don’t seem like they are. Just give time a chance to work its magic.”
“Wow, I had no idea you were such a guru,” I teased.
“I know, right,” she hip-checked me as we turned a corner. A wall of heat hit me and I tugged on her arm.
“I don’t think we should go any further,” I warned.
“Oh, that’s just the barrier. Sorry, I should have warned you. The enchanted barrier keeps everyone out of Aeden, unless they are pledged to the Light. If you weren’t a faeling, you wouldn’t even be able to see that the tunnel continues on, it would just look and feel like a wall of rock to you. Even Miko, if he wasn’t honor bound to you, wouldn’t usually be able to enter. Come on, we’re halfway there.”
She pulled me forward, picking up the pace. I heard Alec approaching, and hoped he hadn’t heard any of our earlier conversation.
After another ten minutes of walking we came to a large open cavern. A massive tunnel opened on the other side like a huge, yawning mouth of darkness.
“Please tell me we aren’t going in there?”
“Yep, we are. Trust me, it’s totally safe.” She walked over to some ultra-modern golden snowmobiles sitting along the cave walls. “Here, you can ride with me.”
“Um…don’t we need snow to ride these?”
Amber laughed like that was the funniest thing she’s heard all day. “Girl, you crack me up. Hop on, wear these and use the safety harness.”
I climbed on behind her, putting on the goggles she handed me and clicking a belt around my waist as she gunned the engine. Alec walked into the cavern and climbed onto one of the machines, too.
“Alright, here we go! You might want to hang on, too.”
The machine rose suddenly into the air, swaying gently as Amber adjusted herself in the seat. Miko broke into my own shocked thoughts, asking what was going on. I filled him in on our new gravitational situation, and told him to stay safe in the bag. I wrapped my arms around Amber, holding on tightly.
“You sure this is safe?” I questioned. Her slight build didn’t quite feel as reassuring as Alec’s, and I couldn’t help wishing that I was riding with him.
“Safe as pie. I’m the best gravicycle flyer in the Guard.”
We set off, slowly picking up speed as we entered the dark tunnel that supposedly led to Aeden. The dim headlights of the gravicycle seemed to run on a UV frequency, lighting up the rocks around us in vivid greens, whites and purples. Our speed continued to increase. The corridor started to take on the appearance of Space Mountain, the lights streaming by in a blur. I leaned over Amber’s shoulder to view the terrain ahead of us, but she was moving so fast I didn’t see how she could even navigate the twists and turns of the tunnel, wide or not. The only thing I knew for certain was that we were heading ever steadily downward.
I looked over my shoulder into the light of Alec’s cycle, but was unable to see his shape in the dimness that ranged behind the light.
We continued on this way for a long time, so long in fact that I lost track of time as I tranced out on the beautiful crystalline light show. At some point, we seemed to change direction, climbing upward instead of down. I had no way to gauge the speed we traveled at for sure, but I guessed we were going well over legal highway limits.
Finally, a light loomed ahead. I expected Amber to slow down as we approached its source, but as usual she reacted contrary to all rational expectation. She leaned down lower over the handlebars and gunned the motor, increasing our speed. We burst out of the tunnel into the sky as she let go of the handlebars and threw her hands up in the air, whooping loudly.
God love her, but she was crazy.
She returned her attention to steering as we zoomed through space, breaking through misty pink clouds high above a lush forest canopy below. A warm, red sun lit the land, presumably the source of the strawberry and salmon colored cumulus. The air was hot and humid, with an incredibly clean ozone tang to it. It was the Amazon rainforest mixed with the clarity and freshness of Alaska and the colors of a Hawaiian sunset.
I heard a rumble beside us and looked over to Alec pulling even with us. He grinned at Amber, saluting her, and sped ahead.
“Oh no you don’t!” she yelled, racing to catch up with him.
I probably should have been terrified, hundreds of feet about the trees, riding a flying snowmobile without a helmet going one hundred and thirty miles per hour. But I wasn’t.
I was captivated. I’d never smelled air without pollution, not even in the most remote wilderness. I’d never realized what real, clean air really smelled or felt like. I felt alive in ways I never had before. The trees below, while they seemed to form recognizable shapes, sported foliage ranging from bright cerulean blue to deep indigo and violet. Every once in a while I would see small flashes of glittering silvery white liquid waterways and pools, reflecting the red shimmer of the sun above. Gentle hills and valleys shaped the landscape.
A raucous yell brought my mind back to the present moment and I looked ahead at Alec, standing on his cycle, arms spread wide, head thrown back. I really hoped these things had auto-steering.
“Don’t even think about it!” I warned Amber.
“Hey, even I’m not that crazy,” she laughed.
Alec climbed down from his perch, bringing my heartrate back down with him, and I went back to watching the land below.
I started noticing that some of the darker streams were actually roads. Occasionally the roof of a house would peek out from the trees. Eventually, the forest gave way to plowed fields and larger villages. Most of the buildings I saw were round and looked like they were made of stone. The larger ones had stacked, peaked conical roofs reminiscent of Japanese pagodas, made from dark, almost black material.
“Almost home,” Amber yelled to me, pointing ahead.
Seven huge glittering, twisting golden spires rose in the distance, the warm sunlight glinting off of them. They almost seemed to dance as the reflections moved along them. At their center, an impossibly tall Sequoia tree towered above them. Smaller domes of white and gold covered the wide valley around the spires, ranging ev
er outward. The smaller rivers and streams all fed into a large river delta to one side of the city on the edge of a smooth silver sea.
As fast as we were going, the city rapidly grew in size. Within minutes we were rushing over the buildings, not so small or insignificant anymore, and approaching the golden spires. Instead of decreasing altitude, Alec’s cycle rose higher, Amber following in its wake. Our speed dropped as we closed in on one of the spires. As we got closer, I was able to discern many small balconies jutting from the building, all made from the same shining gold material. Strangely, I didn’t see any windows or doors in the walls.
We slowed and circled around the spire, gently easing down onto a particularly large balcony. It was empty except for several more gravicycles parked near one railing. Amber helped me unclip myself from the cycle while Miko peeked out of the bag at our surroundings. I petted him, needing some reassurance myself.
“Welcome to Valhalla!” a smooth voice called. I looked up and saw a gorgeous, tall thin brunette walking across the balcony towards us. Behind her, a panel in the golden wall was sliding shut, revealing only the barest of visible seams. She placed her hands together and bowed, much like some of the yoga teachers I’d had in the past.
“You must be Siri. I am Mireia. Your father was hoping to be here to welcome you, but he has been called into council to deal with another matter. Please, why don’t you come with me and I can show you to your room so you can freshen up. I am sure by the time you are finished he will be available to see you all.” She smiled at us all, and turned to the wall again, not pausing to wait for the wall to open as she approached. Apparently that just happened automatically here, although I didn’t see any sort of sensor mat on the floor or motion detector on the wall.
Inside, the halls were carpeted with a strange, thick blue plush that reminded me of the forest colors we’d seen from the air. I noticed that the others removed their shoes, carrying them as they walked, so I paused to do the same. When I put my feet down on the carpet, the strangest feeling washed through me, cool and invigorating. It was rather like taking a sip of cold lemonade on a hot day, but through my feet.
“What kind of carpet is this?” I asked.
“Carpet? I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with that word,” Mireia replied.
“We don’t use carpets in Aeden, we use cala,” Alec supplied. “What you are walking on right now is actually a hybrid cross between the plant you call grass and a thick ground clover. It’s pretty hardy, but walking shoeless helps it stay healthy. We all have a deep connection to the plant life in Aeden. Can you feel how it nourishes you? Right now, your immune system is actually regenerating your cells at a faster speed because of the biosynthesis going on between you and the cala.”
“Wow, cool.” I stopped to wiggle my toes in the cala, reveling in the strange sensations it created, almost as it was caressing my feet. Forget pedicures, cala was so the next big spa thing.
Mireia smiled at me indulgently and waited until I was ready to move on. As we walked down a few more corridors, I noticed that many doors were marked with strange symbols that reminded me of cuneiform. I couldn’t imagine what they said, or how I’d ever find my way in this strange maze of a building. Finally, we came to a room with no markings on it all, save for a small triskele. I was familiar with triskeles, ancient Celtic symbols consisting of a triple spiral, from my time in Ireland. They were supposed to represent the divine trinity, or past, present and future.
I hoped this was my room – I might actually be able to find it again. Mireia asked me to put my hand on the triskele, and placed hers over mine. A moment later the door slid open. “There, now the door is keyed to your hand, it will open only for you and your companion from now on.”
“My companion?” I looked at Alec and Amber, wondering which of them would be staying with me.
“Yes, Auroreis will keep your things in order, as well as help you adjust during your stay here.” She gestured into the room where a young girl was waiting. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen.
“Um, okay,” I replied. “I don’t really need a servant, you know. We don’t really do that where I come from.”
“Yes, well here I assure you it is completely normal.” Amber rolled her eyes at me as Mireia walked over to the far wall and placed her hand against it, causing a shield to rise and allow the warm sunlight to penetrate the room. I stifled a laugh and took in my surroundings.
The walls were just as golden as the spires themselves. The floor was covered in light blue cala, and the spare furnishings consisted of simple violet lounges and ebony tables. A bowl of foreign looking pink and white fruits sat on the table.
Auroreis curtsied and asked if I would like a bath. I nodded, and she retreated to another room, which I could only assume held the bed and bath.
“We will leave you now. I will return in one hour to collect you.” Mireia nodded at Alec and Amber for them to leave with her. Amber gave me a hug, and whispered, “I’m just a couple of hallways away. I’ll come find you later, okay?”
“Okay.” I gave her a tight squeeze and she left the room with Mireia, leaving Alec and I in awkward silence.
“So, a red sun and purple trees, huh?” I waved at the scene outside the window. “You know, you guys could have warned me about some of this.”
“Would you have believed me?”
“Hmm, let’s see. We just came fifty miles through the earth’s mantle, and we’re in a giant gold castle watching the sun set from inside the earth? Um, no, I guess not.”
“Actually, the sun never sets here in Aeden, and it was more like two hundred miles.” He quirked a smile at me. “It’s part of why the fae here live longer. The lack of ways to mark the passage of our days affects how our minds, and thus our bodies, view time. It is a perfect power source, too, and it’s also why you won’t see many windows on the buildings that can’t be completely sealed from the light.”
“So, now what? Are you going to stick around, like Amber? Or are you going right back to the surface?” I tried to sound casual, like it didn’t really matter to me.
“I’m not sure,” he answered, running a hand through his already wildly tousled hair. “I have to debrief first with my commander.”
“You mean my father?”
“Yeah, that, too.” He sighed.
“Amber mentioned our families were really close. I guess that means we’re practically cousins, right?” I laughed, trying to keep breathing, trying not to care. I flopped down on one of the chairs and gazed up at him from under my curtain of wind-abused hair. “Look, just so we’re clear, I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble back there, you know, above below or whatever. I know you were just doing your job. Okay?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said stiffly, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I handled that badly. I don’t want you to think I took advantage of you. I really…well, look, like you said, you have a guy already. You’ve been attacked three times in as many days. I was supposed to be taking care of you, not-”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” I stood up again and marched up to his face. “I’m just a faeling you’d rather not be babysitting.” My voice rose, dripping with sarcasm. “I’m oh so sorry to have caused you all this trouble. At least you can go debrief now and get rid of all this drama, go back above below and save someone else now.” I pushed him away from me.
A muscle twitched in Alec’s jaw and I almost apologized. Since I was a child I had been schooled about keeping my hands to myself. What was it about Alec that made me want to deck him or jump him?
“Look here, Siri,” he warned, taking a step towards me. The violet ring of light in his eyes shimmered with frustration and expanded, the emerald green gone as they turned a dark blue from the Aeden sunlight. Suddenly, I missed the green in his eyes. I missed the easy banter we’d had between us so often.
I missed him. And I barely even knew him.
Sorrow lined my soul, and I wasn’t sure anymore how to handle this, how to d
o anything in this strange new world.
An answering expression of pain flickered across his face, and he took another step towards me. “Please, can’t we just talk?”
“I-”
Saved from whatever I was about to say, because no matter what, it was sure to have been the wrong thing, I was interrupted by Auroreis.
“Your bath, miss, it’s ready for you.” She glanced uncertainly between Alec and I. “You should probably go now, sir.”
Alec sighed, and closed the distance between us. He didn’t touch me, just leaned forward and whispered in my ear. I took advantage of the moment to inhale deeply, trying to memorize his sweet, wild scent.
“This isn’t over. Think about what you want to say to me while I am gone. Because, as much as I would like otherwise, I will be thinking about you.”
My mind whirled. He was thinking of me? Wait, what, he didn’t want to be? What the hell? What was that supposed to mean?
I started to think of plenty of things I wanted to say to him at the moment, but by the time I opened my mouth to speak he was gone, the door sliding soundlessly shut behind him.
