by D P Rowell
“They killed my mother!” Ace yelled aloud. Something burst open inside him. A warm sensation flooded his body, and tears spilled from his eyes like tiny rivers. He tried to fight them; knowing his weeping would cause more exhaustion, but he simply couldn’t. He lost all control.
“They killed my mother,” he said again. This time much softer and lighter. His arms and legs weighed heavier than he could bear any longer. Exhaustion took him. From the corner of his eyes he saw only black. Slowly, the black closed in a tunnel, until he saw only darkness.
* * *
Ace woke to the familiar sensation of being on a cloud. The fuzziness around him slowly cleared until he found himself in a tree hut. He sat straight, his head imploding and rendering him dizzy. He looked down and found himself on a bed of tree branches, the fluffy leaves being the mattress. His clothes had been replaced with a white robe. Just ahead of him was an open doorway, and to the right of the door sat a small table with two chairs. Shem stepped inside from the doorway ahead, a wooden cup in his right hand.
“Oh!” Shem said as he stepped forward. He placed a wooden cup on the night stand next to Ace’s bed. “You’re awake. Good. I’ll fetch the fae.”
“Wait,” Ace said. Shem glanced at him, “Is she mad at me?”
Shem tilted his head. “Why would she be?”
“Because I didn’t—” Ace paused as he stared at Shem’s massive, glossy brown eyes. “Never mind.”
“You need to rest, Ace,” Shem said. He handed Ace the wooden cup. “This mixture will do you some good.”
Shem walked out the door. Ace looked at the dark liquid in the cup. He swirled it around, then sniffed it. It had a rich, sweet tang of exotic fruit, but also a stinging mint. An odd mix. He took a small sip, regrettably so. The burning mint sent an unpleasant chill down his throat and burst in his chest. He leaned over the bed, hacking and coughing.
“It tastes bad, but it will make your headache go away,” Kareena said, now stepping through the same door Shem had left from. Ace winced at the wretched liquid and set it on the nightstand beside him.
“Karee—” he coughed a few more times, “Kareena.” He cleared his throat. “How could you leave me in the middle of the ocean like that? I could have died.”
The fae grabbed one of the chairs, stepped forward, and sat by Ace’s bedside.
“You know I wouldn’t have let you die,” the fae said. “I didn’t, obviously.”
Ace pouted. “It was still cruel.”
Kareena dismissed his remark. “It was necessary. What’s cruel is what these Peppercorns have done to you.”
Ace shot up. His headache and body aches began to fade, but no medicine could stop the tensing caused by Kareena when she spoke of the Peppercorns.
After they stared quietly at one another, Kareena spoke once again, “Is it true? What you yelled out loud in the ocean?”
He felt tricked. He never talked about what happened that day, and he never would. Not even his brother, who constantly persisted, could get Ace to talk about it. But now, he was backed in a corner. He had no choice. Or perhaps he did, but the fae’s ocean eyes and radiant glow captivated him so much, the words simply spilled out without a thought.
“Yes,” Ace said. “Well, half true.”
The fae leaned closer, placing her warm hand on his. His heart skipped a beat.
“I’m sorry for what I did,” she said, “but I could tell by the way your light vanished, you were holding conflict deep within. And when I saw your resistance to fixing it . . .” she paused, giving him the same penetrating stare, “Sometimes the only way to bring a hurting soul to confession is to shock it. The only way for you to become the elyrian you’re meant to be, is to grieve and forgive the people who have hurt you. Now you’ve confessed aloud what has happened to you and you can move on.”
Ace fought his tears back. He knew she was right. But . . . he just . . . couldn’t . . . do it. It was as if someone built a brick wall between him and the Peppercorns. Maybe if he told her . . . maybe then . . . the fae would understand? But even when the thought of explaining what happened crossed his mind, it felt like sharp needles sank into his skin. He gulped and wiped his forehead. He looked at her angelic demeanor and exhaled in a way it seemed to deflate him. He had to tell her.
“I’ve been a disgrace since I was born,” Ace said. He brought his head down, unable to look her in the eye, but her grip on his hand tightened. “Since I was as little as I can remember, Aunt Kaitlyn has told me that I take after my father. And not in a good way. My dad and aunt are fraternal twins. They’ve had this sibling rivalry since birth. Grandpa used to tell me he thought it was just a phase when they were little. But the older they got, the more divided they became. They always had to be better than each other. But Kaitlyn, my aunt, was always better than my dad at everything. At least, that’s what my dad used to say.
“‘Kaitlyn was better looking, more talented, and more qualified for anything Grandpa Marty ever needed!’ he used to say. It wasn’t until my dad met my mom that he stopped caring about this rivalry. Mom used to tell him that it was stupid to compete for Grandpa Marty’s love because he loved them both equally. Slowly, but surely, my dad realized my mom was right all along. But my aunt didn’t see it that way. After my dad married, and had my brother, he had moved on from the feud, and Grandpa noticed it. Grandpa’s heart was full once my dad had set the past behind him. Kaitlyn, my aunt, wasn’t happy about this. So, she found a way to ‘beat him.’ She did this by marrying a famous man from Eveland. Marcus Peppercorn, point guard for the Genesis Sabercats.”
Kareena looked strangely at him.
“It’s a basketball team.” Ace said. She nodded. “He’s one of the best basketball players in Yutara. They started having kids right away and raised them just to be better than my father’s kids, which are me and my brother.
“Apparently, the little snots inherited all those traits Dad used to talk about from Kaitlyn, because they were better. They made mine and my brother’s life awful. Especially mine when I was younger. Pranks and taunting, just stupid stuff. My father let it get to him and fell back into this feud with his sister. He started working me and my brother a lot. Pressuring us to become better than the Peppercorns. But we weren’t. Especially me. I was the worst. I never measured up. We’d have reunions and family games, stuff that should be fun and bring us together. But the Peppercorns somehow turned it into a competition. They’d taunt us and say that no one loves losers. I always came in last place, and I was always reminded of it. By everyone except for one person . . .” Ace, for the first time since he’d begun his story, looked Kareena directly in the eye. His speech was broken through his tears, but the words were audible nonetheless, “My mother.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Healing
Kareena’s typical expressionless face made her true emotions powerful as her demeanor grew more empathetic.
“There’s one day I will never forget,” Ace said. “It was in the summer, and Grandpa took us to his cabin in Solomon Forest, east of Lake David. It’s always been strange to me,” Ace smiled, just barely, “Grandpa brought us together pretty often for how much my father and sister hated each other.”
Kareena said, “It sounds like your grandfather was trying to make peace.”
Ace gave her a gentle nod. “He and my mother both. Unfortunately, it seemed to backfire more often than it did any good. It got to the point where Cameron and I would dread vacations. Not wanting to spend a single moment with the Peppercorns. But my mom always encouraged me things would get better. My dad didn’t. He was usually just quiet. Probably plotting how, this time, he would finally find a way to be better than his sister.
“Anyway, the day after we arrived, Grandpa Marty suggested we all go hunting. And, of course, the Peppercorns turned it into a competition. And as a result, so did my dad. We split in teams of two, and I was paired with my dad. The girls kept shouting in the forest how many great beasts they’d captured, a
nd how they were going to ‘win.’
“I could tell my dad was getting angry. That’s when I saw something in the distance. At this time, I should mention, I was only nine years old. But what I saw was a Caribou. It was huge, and would have been a great catch. Unfortunately, my dad saw it too. He shushed me and aimed his rifle. But just before he shot it, I—" Ace swallowed before he continued “I pushed him down. I couldn’t help it. I saw two babies come out of the bushes, and I didn’t want my dad to kill it.
“My dad yelled at me. Then he ranted about how I never do what he asks and how I always come up short. He said I was the reason we’re struggling to get ahead, and that if I didn’t have the guts to kill a stupid beast, I shouldn’t even consider myself a Halder.”
Kareena’s grip tightened around Ace’s hand once more.
Ace continued, “Later that day, Tamara walked in the cabin with that very same caribou as her prize, dead and dangling around her neck. And Julie walked in with the two babies. They walked up to me and shoved them in my face, gloating and teasing.
“‘Baby Ace is scared of a weindeer,’ they said, waving the dead animals’ faces in front of me. My dad marched out of the cabin and didn’t return for the rest of the evening. I ran to my room and slammed the door. But it wasn’t much later my mom knocked on the door.
“‘Ace? Can I come in?’ she said.” A tear spilled out of Ace’s right eye as he spoke in his mother’s voice.
“No!’ I yelled at her. She cracked the door open.
“‘I think you did a wonderful thing,’ Mom said. She waited a moment, then came and sat at my bed. ‘The Peppercorns don’t seem to understand the value in the heart of a person. Don’t let them get to you. It takes a special amount of courage to care for something more than yourself.’
“‘Dad hates me!’ I yelled. She pulled me close.
“‘No. He doesn’t hate you. He’s just lost his way. But I have a feeling you’re going to help him find it again one day,’ Mom said. ‘You’re Grandpa’s Ace of Spades.’ That was her and my grandfather’s nickname for me.”
Once Ace had finished telling his story, he noticed Kareena was considerably closer than before. Her silver hair smelled like a dewy morning mist. Their eyes met in silence for a moment, then Kareena’s face was struck with surprise, and she scooted further from him.
She cleared her throat. “If you don’t mind me asking. How and why did these Peppercorns kill your mother?”
Ace turned his head. It seemed strange to him; hearing the fae mention this horrid event didn’t stir any resistance in him. As if the wall he’d felt earlier had slowly begun to crumble. He shrugged, his eyes turned from the fae. “I don’t know exactly how, but Julie’s pranks were the worst and bound to go south some time. She tried to pull a prank on us one day, and accidentally pulled it on my mom. At least, that’s what Julie says. It was a bit of a freak thing because they weren’t doing anything particularly dangerous, so it’s hard to believe my mom died from it. That’s why I don’t believe Julie, there had to be something else going on. The Peppercorns really didn’t like my mother.”
“Why not?” Kareena asked.
“Because she, like Grandpa, tried to stop us from competing all the time. And if we didn’t compete, the Peppercorns couldn’t be better than us. Julie and Tamara couldn’t live one day without being better than us. Neither could Aunt Kaitlyn for that matter.
“I don’t remember much about the day my mom died. Only that we were at the Peppercorns’ house and there was a loud noise and a scream downstairs. We all ran to the kitchen to find my mom lying on the floor. My dad ran to her side. Julie was standing there. She went on about how she didn’t mean for it to go as far as it did. To this day, we still don’t know exactly what Julie did. My dad never talks about it . . . Uncle Marcus and Aunt Kaitlyn don’t talk about it . . . not even Grandpa talked about it.”
Kareena spoke so softly to him, she might as well have whispered in his ear, “Do it now.”
Ace looked at her. “What?”
She grabbed his wrist and held his hand before him, “The Light,” she said.
Ace turned his head with uncertainty. Nothing inside him felt joyful. In fact, he felt more twisted up than he had before. But she mesmerized him, so he felt he would do anything she asked of him.
He looked at his hands, this time not closing his eyes. He focused his attention on the turmoil within him. Of course, after spilling his guts, it was hard focus on much of anything different. A bitter rock set in his stomach as he remembered the day his mother died. How was this supposed to work? What was the fae thinking?
A flicker of light shone on his hand. His jaw dropped, and he turned to the fae, who had not the slightest bit of shock on her face. He turned back to his hand and focused again. The pale flame shone from his palms. But this flame was anything but dim. The flame extended from his palm and consumed his hands, wrapping itself and extending from his fingers, illuminating the whole room with the elyr.
Ace lifted his hand of white fire before him, awestruck by what had just occurred. Kareena placed her hand on his, a smile on her face, and the flame wrapped around both of their hands.
“I don’t understand,” Ace said, turning to her, “I don’t feel joyful.”
As she turned to face him, the pale flame before them caused the fae’s eyes to shine all the more, and the touch of her hand against his turned his heart upside down.
“The elyr doesn’t always thrive on joy. Rather, the urge to do good. Sometimes. . .” she placed her other hand on his chest, “pain can bring as much, or more, of a prompting as joy. By confessing this great deal of pain you’ve hidden away, you have taken a huge step.”
“Ahem?” came a voice from the doorway. The light vanished, and the fae leaped from her chair in a flash. King Vinan had stepped inside, cane in hand. He shot a glance of distaste at the fae, then Ace. “I see you’ve been. . . uh. . . improving your elyr, human.”
Ace chortled as he scratched his head. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“King Vinan,” Kareena said, “I think he’s ready.”
The King looked at her with worry. “What makes you think that?”
“He’s begun healing, I’ve seen it within him. He has just made a great light. There is nothing more we can teach him here.”
“He’s been here only a couple days,” The Tree King said.
Kareena nodded. “And for that, I can truly see why the Light chose him. I believe it guided him here to face a terrible pain he’s hidden and overcome it. This burden needed to be lifted before he went back to Yutara.”
Ace stood from his bed, realizing all his previous pain had left him. The drink Shem gave him had worked swimmingly. “But, Kareena . . .” he said. She glanced his way. “I—well—I still haven’t exactly forgiven the Peppercorns. I’m trying, but I still feel all twisted up inside.”
Kareena inched closer. “That’s exactly why you need to begin to use the Light in the real world. We have taught you all you can learn in the in-between. Your light will now grow, or fade within you, based on your real-world experiences. You will need to confront these cousins of yours to take the next step.”
“He will need to do a lot more than that,” The King said. “Sending him back to Yutara with the power of the elyr could be risky. Especially in Gathara. If he’s caught, they will pool him in with the other sorcerers.”
Kareena said, “We have to send him eventually. What would you have me do if we stay here? He cannot stay here forever.”
Ace used the following silence to determine how he felt about these things. Was Kareena right? It didn’t seem like he was ready. Just the day before, he was drowning in an ocean. He did feel eager to discover this parcel in the elite and take them down. His use of the elyr could reveal the mole. He looked at Kareena and her confident eyes.
“Well,” Ace said, eyes fixed on the girl fae, “it’s not like I’ll be completely alone, right?”
Kareena smiled.
“Yes, actually, you will,” King Vinan said. He stepped forward, leaning on his cane, “there’s a reason the remaining elyrians have kept their distance for so long. We are greatly outnumbered. You can’t just start taking down sorcerers with the Light right away.”
“Why not?” Ace said. “That kinda sounds like a great plan actually.”
King Vinan turned to Kareena, “You see. He doesn’t even know what’s at stake yet! No way is he ready.”
Kareena spoke firmly, “So, teach him now.”
King Vinan glanced at Ace with hard eyes. “Come with me.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Chosen
King Vinan brought Ace a half an hour’s walk away from the tree village to an area surrounded by a perfect circle of upside-down trees surrounding a larger, rotting tree. Its bark black as night, yet it stood tall and proud. Five trees surrounded the large one, and all but one had been blackened from the large tree. But the last one stood in perfect bloom.
“They used to all be beautiful,” King Vinan said. “Coming here was like coming to Shywater. Still, peaceful. The perfect place to hear from Emery.” He reached out to touch one of the dead trees but stopped. His finger started to turn dark as it came close to the tree. He pulled away and hung his head.
“What are these?” Ace said.
King Vinan’s eyes went soft. “The way to the other realms. All but the seventh.” He walked closer, bent over his cane, and eyed Ace darkly. “Where there are trees, there is life, but the council has made it so the seventh has swallowed what life remained in the others . . .” He pointed at the last standing tree. “All but one.”
Ace looked at the remaining tree. Its bark like a coffee brown twirled together and grew larger as it reached the dirt ceiling of the underground world. It radiated life. “Yutara,” he said softly.
