by Bonnie Lamer
“We did. I came to bring you guys back to Isla’s so we can explain what we found.” Tana nods and steps closer. She and Dagda each take one of my hands and I teleport us back to Isla’s.
“I will never get used to her just appearing like that,” Sam whispers to Jenna when we arrive.
“Me, either,” Jenna whispers back.
Eager to hear our story, Isla ignores them and says briskly, “Now that we are all assembled, proceed.”
Glancing around the room, I realize she does mean everyone. Since I left, Mom, Dad, Adriel and Raziel have joined the group. Well, not everyone is here. I assume Zac has been sent to his lessons at the palace since he is too young to participate in an end of the universe discussion.
I quickly introduce Mom and Dad to Eliana and her friends. Then, smiling at the Archangel across the counter, I ask sweetly, “Are you going to give us clues if we ask nicely?”
His smile equally as sweet, he replies, “No, but I have every confidence that you will figure this out.”
“Gee, thanks,” I grumble. Though, I do take comfort in his words and expression. I would like to think if the universe was about to end, he wouldn’t be smiling. Then again, he does have a really good poker face.
In an uncharacteristic show of impatience, Alita insists, “You are killing us with curiosity.” Being a mother has given her more gumption. I like it.
Putting her out of her misery, I say, “Fine. We did find the temple, but the Phoenix gave us a riddle to figure out.” I go on to explain exactly what happened while we were in Egypt. Even about the gun runners.
When I am finished, Dagda asks Josh, “You have a device that is both a phone and a camera?”
My mouth drops open. “That is what you took away from all I said?”
Dagda shrugs. “I am always interested in Cowan technology.”
With a chuckle, Josh takes his phone out of his pocket, unlocks it and slides it across the counter to the Fairy King. “It does come in handy,” he says.
Dagda picks the phone up and examines it for a minute. Finally, he admits, “I do not know how to make this work without magic.”
Josh moves next to him and brings up his photos. He finds the best one of the wall and makes it as large as his phone will allow. He hands it back to Dagda, and those who were not with us on our journey crowd around him to look at it.
Seeking out Eliana, Isla asks, “You can read this?”
Eliana nods. “Yes.” She repeats what she read to us earlier.
“To pass through this wall:
She will come with a voice that lures but breath that repels.
She will come with eyes that reflect the grass but ears that hear the sky.
She will come with hooved feet but reptilian legs.
She will come with the shadow of a mammoth but the stature of one who strikes fear in those with magic.
She will come with skin of scales but hair of silk.
She will come with a scent sweeter than all in the universe but will reek to heaven.
She will come with the need to call upon the earth but will bend the laws of natural order.
She will come with two hearts of mortality but the souls of the eternal.”
Scowling, Eliana pauses and looks up at us. “There is a line here that wasn’t there when I was reading it before.”
“Sneaky immortals,” I mutter.
“What does it say?” Josh asks.
Doing a quick mental translation, Eliana reads, “She will come with peace in her heart.”
When Eliana is finished reading, I ask Isla, “Any clue what this all means? Kallen believes the riddle is referencing different beings, not just one.” I smile proudly at my husband.
Isla nods. “I believe he is right.”
Dagda shakes his head. “Then we are doomed.”
Whoa, not the response I was looking for. “Why?!” I exclaim.
He gestures to the picture on the phone. “The Phoenix is asking for the impossible. To bring all of these beings together in peace? A couple of them, I don’t even know who she means. The rest, half of them are always one step away from war.”
He does have a point, but I’m going to ignore it. Instead, I say, “We have brought them together before, we can do it again.” At least, most of them. “We should figure out which beings they are before we worry about the how of it all.”
“Eliana, will you please write down a translation for us to study?” Isla asks, creating a piece of paper and a pencil in front of Eliana’s spot at the counter.
Eliana nods and begins writing. When she is done, she slides the paper to the center of the counter for us all to see. In silence, we each pour over the words Eliana wrote until they are etched in our minds.
Finally, Kallen breaks the silence. “The first, of course, is a Siren.”
“Like lure your ship and crew to death kind of Siren?” Sam asks. Jenna nudges him for interrupting.
I smile at them both. “It’s okay if you have questions. The answer is, sort of. You don’t have to be in a boat. Sirens would coax men to walk into water and kill themselves.”
Jenna’s eyes grow round. “Why?”
I give Dagda a surreptitious glance, which he tries to ignore. The telltale pink in his cheeks makes me smile, though. “Well, first it was to punish abusive men. Then, the Queen got her heart broken, and she decided that all men were evil.”
“You said ‘would.’ Do they not do it anymore?” Eliana asks.
Shaking my head, I say, “A bunch of higher beings decided that they were abusing their powers. Now, they can’t make even a frog jump in the water unless it wants to do so.”
“Assuming we are to gather these beings and bring them to the Phoenix, would we technically be bringing someone whose voice lures if the power of the Sirens was stripped away?” Eliana asks.
“Excellent point,” Isla replies grimly.
“The Sirens do still have a little magic left,” I point out. “Enough to try to help women in danger.” Before their race was cleansed, the Sirens would gain power with each soul they drowned. That is no longer true.
“We will worry about it when the time comes,” Dagda interrupts. “Let us move on to the next being.”
“With breath that repels. I’ve met a lot of beings with bad breath, but I think it was a personal hygiene issue,” I muse aloud. Both Sam and Kegan snicker.
“I believe the Phoenix is referencing something other than halitosis,” Isla remarks dryly.
“A more literal interpretation,” Kallen says, “is breath that actually repels, as in fire.” Oh, that makes much more sense. Bad breath seemed like an odd request.
I groan at the thought, though. “I am not the Dragons’ favorite person.”
“Are you any realm’s favorite person?” Kegan chides. I scowl at him. If he wasn’t holding his son right now, I would magic his stool out from under him.
“Moving on,” Alita says with a sour look in her husband’s direction. “All Fairies have green eyes, so that must be what the line about reflecting the grass means, right?”
Isla nods. “I believe you are correct.”
“The Fairies will obviously be cooperative. The next on the list must be an Elf,” Dagda states.
“I don’t know, he has some pretty pointy ears himself,” Taz mutters from my ankle where he plopped his plump little body a moment ago. I try not to giggle.
“Since the Elves are eager to get on Xandra’s good side, I do not believe an invitation to accompany us would be declined,” Kallen says wryly.
I groan aloud. I haven’t spoken to any of the Elves since the whole baby incident, though Dagda has a team who meets regularly with them to try to work out a treaty. I am not looking forward to seeing the Elf Queen again. Not wanting to think any more about that at the moment, I say, “The only ones with hooved feet are the Centaurs, right?” I watch as Jenna and Sam’s eyes grow round. With a smile, I tell them, “Yes, they are real.” Did they think we were making them
up when we mentioned them in the Cowan realm to Liza?
“Are they truly half horse, half person?” Josh asks sheepishly, embarrassed by his curiosity.
I take pity on him. “Yes. And trust me, I asked all the same questions that are going through your heads right now when I first found out about these other beings.”
“What about the Fauns?” Alita asks, blowing a hole in my ‘only Centaurs’ theory. I try not to give her a sour look. I fail.
Kallen scours the riddle. “I do not see anything else that could indicate a Faun.”
“Maybe it’s supposed to mean both?” I ask no one in particular.
“For now we will assume it does mean both.” Pressing the conversation forward, Dagda says, “I am confused why Dragons are mentioned again.”
“What?” I ask in surprise. I look down at the part of the riddle he is referencing. “Huh, they are the only ones with reptilian legs, aren’t they?” I don’t make a proclamation this time just in case I’m wrong. But, I can’t help but smile when I say, “Maybe my chronic halitosis theory was right, after all, for the breath that repels.”
“I do not believe so,” Kallen says dryly. “I still believe that refers to the Dragons. This line is something different.”
Her creased brow proving that she is stumped along with the rest of us, Isla says, “Let us come back to that one.”
“Okay, does anyone know what a mammoth is?” Alita asks.
“You’ve never heard of a mammoth?” Sam asks in surprise.
“Even though the realms look similar, they are not the same,” I remind him.
“Right,” he says with pink cheeks.
“If I am not mistaken, a mammoth is a large, woolly elephant, correct?” Kallen asks me.
I nod. “Basically. And they are extinct.”
“Is there a creature in another realm that looks like a large, woolly elephant?” Eliana asks doubtfully.
“I don’t think it’s being literal,” Isla replies. “The word mammoth is also a synonym for large.”
“Like a Giant?” Kegan suggests.
“Yes.”
“How big are Giants?” Sam asks. Good for him for asking the questions his friends are dying to ask.
“They generally range from eight to twelve feet tall,” Kallen tells him.
“Wow,” Jenna murmurs.
“Then how tall does one have to be to strike fear in the hearts of those with magic?” Josh asks. “Twenty or thirty feet?”
I grimace. “Actually, more like ten to twelve inches.”
“How can that be?” Eliana asks in surprise.
“Because if it’s who I think it is, they eat magic.” When all I get is confused stares in my direction from our friends, I explain further. “Pixies are nasty little creatures who have no magic of their own, but they have the ability to ‘eat’ or absorb the magic of anyone around them, rendering their magic useless. They’re supposed to be tucked away in their own little realm not bothering anyone, but Hades was pissed at me and let a couple loose here. They live at the palace now.” In luxury. They are kept in a sealed off area and are not allowed to roam free, but they are so spoiled that they don’t seem to mind.
“You pissed off Hades?” Sam exclaims. A slow grin forms on his face. “I knew I liked you. What did you do?”
“Perhaps that is a story for another time,” Eliana says pointedly, trying to get her friend back on track. Sam nods reluctantly. He will definitely be pressing for details later.
“The next two are easy,” Alita says. “Mermaid and Sasquatch. No one has silkier hair than a Sasquatch.” She absently runs her fingers through her own short, silky black locks. Kegan leans over and whispers something in her ear, making her smile and blush.
“What about the next one? I mean, I know who reeks, but who smells sweeter than anyone else in the universe?” I ask.
“Let us come back to that one, as well,” Isla says. “It appears that the Phoenix would like us to gather a member of all known races. We can narrow the list of options down when we have the obvious ones out of the way.”
“Good point,” I nod. “Any guesses for the last four?”
“A Witch must call upon the earth for her magic,” Kallen points out.
“Don’t all magical beings bend the laws of nature?” Eliana asks in regards to the next line.
“They do,” Isla acknowledges.
“Okay, let’s come back to that one, too,” I say. “The last one must be Eliana.” The two hearts thing could mean hers and Ra’s.
Eliana frowns. “It could also mean you, couldn’t it?”
“I don’t have two hearts,” I point out.
“Each of the other lines represent two different beings,” Kallen counters. “I suspect this line means the both of you.”
With an apologetic glance in my friend’s direction, I say, “I guess we’re in this together.”
With a smile, Eliana shrugs. “I’m okay with that.”
Clearing her throat to get our attention, Isla presses on. “To sum up, we have Siren, Dragon, Fairy, Elf, Centaur, Giant, Pixie, Mermaid, Sasquatch, Goblin, and Witch. That leaves several beings unaccounted for.”
Kegan glances at Adriel and Raziel, who are notably quiet as we try to figure this out. “Should Angel be on the list?”
“They can’t answer you,” I remind him when both Fallen Angels remain tight lipped. “The Phoenix said that we lowly mortals must figure this out on our own, remember?”
“Sorry,” Adriel mouths. I know she is dying to help. Amazing how the potential end of the universe can make even the most cryptic of communicators eager to blab. Or maybe it’s just because the Phoenix said she couldn’t help. Adriel really hates to be told what to do. Or not to do in this case.
“It is probably safe to assume that Angel should be on our list,” Isla says.
With a grin, I snark, “Okay, we’ll put them under reptilian legs.” Adriel glowers in my direction, but remains tight lipped.
“What about Skin Walkers?” Eliana asks, thinking of Jadyn. “Shouldn’t they be represented.”
“You’re right,” I nod. “Hmm, could they be the reptilian legs? I mean, they can be lizards if they want to be.”
“It makes more sense to put them under the ‘bending the laws of nature’ category,” Kallen counters.
Reluctantly, because I hate to admit when I’m wrong, I mumble, “I guess.”
“Are Angels the ones who smell sweet?” Alita asks.
There is a snort from around the area of my ankle. “If that’s true, you certainly didn’t get that gene,” Taz snarks. I kick at him, but he moves out of the way too darn fast.
Choosing not to share my rude little Familiar’s comment, I turn my eyes to my Fallen Angel friends. “You guys do smell good.” I grin at Adriel as color floods her cheeks. She still remains silent, though. They are taking the ‘no help from higher beings’ thing seriously. Or, Raziel has told her what is going to happen and she doesn’t want to give anything away. Now, I study her more closely, looking for clues. I get a scowl from Adriel for my efforts. “Just trying to figure out how much you know,” I admit, continuing to study her.
“You really know what’s going to happen next and you aren’t going to say anything?” Sam asks Raziel curiously.
Raziel gives an uncomfortable shrug. “It is forbidden.”
Sam shakes his head. “That’s harsh. The fate of the universe is on the line.”
“This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that the fate of the universe is on the line. Raziel did not make the rules. He is a victim of them as much as anyone else,” Adriel says in her love’s defense. “It kills him to watch you guys struggle with your decisions and not give you any clues, or just flat out tell you what to do.” She is growing angrier with every word, her voice growing cooler and her eyes sparking. Sam is shrinking farther and farther into his stool. Angry Angels of Death can be pretty darn intimidating, even when they come in petite blonde packages.
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Sam holds his hands out in front of him, palms up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean any offense.” Adriel obviously doesn’t believe him, but she doesn’t say any more. She does continue to glare, making Sam squirm on his seat.
“Moving on,” I hurry to say before Adriel decides she wants her old job back with Sam being the first soul she gets to strip. “We still have a lizard leg to figure out. What being are we missing?” I glance around the room, but no one jumps in with a suggestion. “Anyone?” I press.
“We seem to have covered all of the realms,” Kallen says.
“What about Cowans?” Kegan asks.
“I do not remember Cowans having reptilian legs,” Kallen replies dryly.
Kegan rolls his eyes. “I mean, we haven’t put them on the list.”
Because my maturity level is a roller coaster ride, I roll my eyes, too. “I think Eliana covers that.”
Not liking to be wrong any more than I do, Kegan reluctantly admits, “I guess.”
I feel Raziel’s stare boring into me and turn to face him. His eyes are flashing with a mixture of frustration and, wait, is that humor? If I didn’t know better, I would think he is trying to communicate something to me. I rack my brain trying to figure out what he wants me to understand. All the while, he continues to stare at me as if trying to will the information into my brain.
Maybe he is because an idea slowly creeps into my mind. A terrible, nonsensical idea. A completely inane one. I shake my head. Raziel nods his ever so slightly. Or, I just imagine that he does, I’m not really sure which. Could it be? But why? How? Finally, I just blurt it out. “A dinosaur? Really?”
All eyes turn to me in surprise. “What?” Dagda asks, certain he did not hear me correctly.
Forcing the silly words from my mouth, I say, “The only realm I know of that we left out is the dinosaur realm where Raziel used to go when he wanted peace and quiet from his thoughts.”
Kegan starts laughing so hard, he wakes up Keelan who was napping in his arms. Rocking his son gently, he says in a quieter voice, “Yes, you are supposed to grab a brachiosaurus and bring it to Egypt.” Across the table from him, Sam snickers. In my peripheral vision, I even see my husband trying to hold in a chuckle.
