Zabrina turned onto a two-lane highway and headed north. Ahead loomed the Dread Forest, an impressive wall of dense green woods.
Suddenly a gray barrier loomed before them. Zabrina shrieked and wrenched the wheel. A roar filled the air as the VW spun, the world looping around, and came to rest on the black earth at the side of the road.
Keelie closed her eyes, willing the world to stop moving, then glanced at Zabrina to make sure she was okay. Zabrina was staring, open-mouthed, at the massive vehicle that had swooped onto the road in front of them.
“I hate it when these tourists with their castles on wheels think they can hog the road,” she said in an angry tone.
It was a deluxe RV, an immense square box on wheels, stone gray. “Sir Davey!” Keelie pulled off her seat belt and flung her door wide.
The door to the driver’s side of the RV opened and a small figure climbed down. The man had a neat goatee and luxurious, long dark hair.
His glare turned to surprise and he hurried toward Keelie. She bent down to hug him. “Oh, Sir Davey I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I had calls from my brother, then from Radorak while en route. What on earth is happening? I ruined two turbocharged crystals getting here, but I made it.”
“We don’t have a minute to lose. Leave the RV here and come with us.” Keelie pulled him across the street toward Zabrina, who was standing next to her car watching them warily.
“Zabrina, this is Sir Davey. Or Jadwyn.” She looked down at her teacher and friend. “What do you go by here?”
“Davey will do.” He extended a hand to Zabrina. “How do you do? You own the tattoo shop, right?”
“Yes. I think we’ve met. I’ve seen you around town, and at the harvest festival too.”
“Chat later, drive now,” Keelie commanded, and dove into the front passenger seat. Davey climbed into the back with Knot, then Zabrina scrambled in. Vlad the VW was crowded now. They probably looked like clown-car refugees from a circus.
Keelie gritted her teeth, impatient. Who knew what was happening up in the forest? She smacked her hand on the edge of the car door. “The trees!”
Zabrina and Sir Davey stared at her.
“The trees can tell me what’s going on.”
“Do you have your tektite, lass?” Sir Davey was sitting in the center of the rear seat, hands on the backs of both front seats. Knot prowled the little car’s back deck like a pumpkin-colored caged tiger.
“I do, but I don’t need it or my rose quartz. The Dread’s gone. Totally broken,” Keelie told him.
Davey closed his eyes for a second, as if feeling for it, then his lids sprang open again, framing his eyes against his hairy eyebrows. “How is this possible?” he whispered.
Keelie told her story for a second time that day, this time leaving nothing out. When she got to the part about Jake being a vampire, Zabrina shot her a wide-eyed panicky stare and the car fishtailed.
“Eyes on the road,” Keelie and Davey said simultaneously. Zabrina clenched her jaw and leaned forward, concentrating.
The fairy tattoo peeled away from Zabrina’s shoulder and fluttered near Keelie.
Sir Davey arched an eyebrow. “That’s something I’ve never seen.”
The little fairy turned her head coyly and batted her eyelashes at him, just as she had with Dad.
“She’s a little flirt.” He laughed.
“Her name’s Molly.” Zabrina pushed down on the accelerator and Vlad’s engine groaned with more effort. The tires crunched on the gravel.
Before them, the Dread Forest loomed, a primeval woodland of tall trees whose uppermost leaves seemed to brush the sky. Underneath the canopy, the air was green and the ground was carpeted with moss and small plants. Every inch of this world was alive.
Keelie rolled up the window to keep out the toxic cloud of burnt oil that roiled around the car like an angry storm cloud.
Molly mimed a small, delicate cough. She fluttered around Sir Davey’s head. He didn’t seem to appreciate her, but was tolerating the little fairy’s presence just to be nice.
Knot climbed into Keelie’s lap. She put an arm around him to keep him from falling off. He snorted, then sneezed on her.
“Do not hork up a hairball,” she warned him.
He purred.
They went deeper into the forest, and the tires crunched less as the road turned into softer ground. Keelie opened her mind to the trees. She needed their soothing green presence in her thoughts.
Tree shepherdess, the poison cloud makes us ill. The trees, mostly spruce, that grew along the road spoke in unison.
Keelie glanced behind them at the spinning exhaust plume behind Vlad the VW. Ooops. No wonder they were upset.
The poison cloud will be gone soon. It brings help for the Tree Shepherd.
The trees seemed confused. As Zabrina drove past, Keelie saw the shocked faces in their trunks.
Trust me.
The scent of evergreens filled her mind.
“The Dread is well and truly gone.” Sir Davey’s voice was thin with awe. “That Zabrina can get this far into the forest is surprising, and you’re not feeling the effect at all, Keelie.”
“It’s far worse than that. ATVs have been getting in. Dad fears it could become like the Wildewood. Look.” Keelie pointed at crisscrossed tire tracks and flattened foliage on both sides of the road, and gashes in the tree bark. She made a mental note to tell Dad and return to heal the trees.
Zabrina shook her head. “That rotten stinker of a mayor. He’s been pocketing money from some of these so-called recreational vehicle companies who want him to open up the trails. If I had anything to do with it, motorized vehicles would be banned from the woods.”
In between the trunks of two large spruces, Keelie caught a glimmer of silver. Niriel would have guards out looking for her. He wouldn’t give up.
She opened herself to the trees. Show me the location of the jousters.
Images of armored and searching jousters on horseback came back to her from all across the Dread Forest. Other images flashed across her mind: the village green surrounded; the Lore House protected.
The aunties called to Keelie. You need the treeling. She will help you save your uncle, Tree Shepherdess. Without her, there is no hope.
“Stop,” Keelie shouted.
Zabrina slammed down on the brakes. Vlad squealed to a stop and they all lurched forward.
Knot flew off of Keelie’s lap onto the floorboard. Molly was flung into the windshield. She looked like a parking sticker for a rock and roll concert.
Sir Davey clung to the passenger seat, his knuckles white with fright.
“What?” Zabrina flung her hands up in the air.
“We need to get out. I think the jousters have spotted the exhaust. The trees will cover for Sir Davey and me.”
“So, this is where we part ways.” Zabrina seemed sad that her part of the adventure was over.
Something thunked the hood of the VW and bounced off the chrome strip in the center.
“What was that?” Zabrina stared at a crease that now ran across the VW’s hood.
“It’s a lance.” Sir Davey said grimly.
The jousters approach, Tree Shepherdess. We will try to stop them, but cannot for long.
Two mounted men in armor appeared around a bend in the road, and another, the spear launcher, came at them through the forest. Zabrina laughed. “What a hoot! This is like at the Ren Faire.”
“Yes, but for real.” Keelie didn’t like the look on the jousters’ faces.
“We need to go,” Sir Davey cautioned. “When lances are thrown, in my experience, drawn swords aren’t too far behind.”
“Thanks for your help, Zabrina.” Keelie was anxious to reach her father and Jake. “Will I see you again?”
“You know where my shop is. The luck of the forest to you.
“It will be.” Through the VW’s window Keelie saw the face of a nearby spruce looking down at her. Protect her.
She opened
the passenger door and stepped out into the green, springy ferns that bordered the road. Sir Davey clambered out, disappearing into the forest. Knot ran after him, as if he’d had enough of Vlad the VW.
From the side of the road, Keelie watched as Zabrina turned Vlad the VW around in a billowing cloud of sooty exhaust. The two jousters on horseback coughed, then quickly reined their mounts around as the VW charged them, bouncing off trees like an insane pinball game.
Keelie caught up with Sir Davey, who was running toward the village. They slowed to a walk. No jousters were in sight. “Sir Davey, before we go to the trial, there’s someone I have to get.”
“Who?”
“Alora.”
“The treeling?” Wrinkles formed on his forehead. Then Sir Davey said in a panicked voice, “Keelie.”
A cold point jabbed Keelie’s neck. “I found you. If you move, you will feel my blade,” a deep voice rumbled behind her.
She recognized the voice. It was Tamriel. He must have used a shielding spell to hide himself.
“Don’t move, dwarf.”
“Let her go.” Sean stepped out from behind another tree.
“Not this time. Niriel will be pleased that I’ve caught her.”
“I’m his son, so what I say goes, too.”
“Everyone knows you’re smitten with the Round Ear. I listened to you last time. Not again.”
Sean’s eyes widened with alarm as Tamriel pushed the sword blade deeper into Keelie’s neck.
“Ow!”
“Quiet,” Tamriel growled. “We will go to the Lore House. You will not speak to trees, nor summon your birds or cats.”
Keelie looked at Sean. He sighed, as if he’d come to a difficult decision.
She held Sean’s gaze, his green eyes bright with concern and pain. She knew what he was thinking. If he let Tamriel take her, he was following his father’s evil direction. If he rescued her, he would be breaking away from his Dad. It was hard to disown his father, evil or not, even though many lives hung in the balance—and possibly the fate of all the elves.
“Tamriel, release Keelie.” Sean’s voice held no uncertainty.
Keelie cried with relief. She knew she had been right about him.
“What? You would choose a Round Ear over your own father? Over your own kind?”
“Release her.”
Sir Davey waggled his fingers. There was a rumble underneath Tamriel’s boots, and thousands of earthworms began wriggling around his feet.
He lowered his sword and began hopping out of the way of the squirming mass. “What in the Great Sylvus is this? A dwarven curse?”
Sir Davey went in for the tackle like a little football player, crashing into the jouster at the knees. Tamriel toppled over.
Sean grabbed Keelie and swung her into his arms. He held out his sword, the blade pointed toward Tamriel. Tamriel glared at Sean. Keelie clung to her rescuer. He wrapped his arm tighter around her waist. She would remember this moment for the rest of her life.
Sir Davey kicked Tamriel’s sword away, but Tamriel countered by flinging a handful of earthworms into Sir Davey’s face. Davey gagged and staggered in a circle, scraping worms from his hair. Tamriel turned over onto his knees and got up, armor clanging, and ran into the forest.
“I hate to leave you here, but I know you will be protected by Sir Davey.” Sean nodded his head toward the dwarf. Sir Davey nodded. “I need to catch Tamriel before he reaches my father, or there will be worse trouble for your family.”
Keelie watched as Sean ran after the fleeing jouster. She had no idea how much time she had left, and she still had to get Alora.
twenty
The area around Grandmother’s house was deserted, so Keelie ran upstairs.
“Where have you been?” Alora shook her leaves.
“Coming here.” Keelie tugged Alora’s flowerpot away from Grandmother’s now-empty bed. Outside, Sir Davey waited with the cart from the shed. Knot stayed close to Keelie. His eyes were narrow slits as he surveyed the area around him.
“I swear, if this tree were human, she’d look like Laurie,” Sir Davey said as he rolled Alora toward the village green.
Alora didn’t let up once she started her list of complaints.
I could’ve died of thirst.
Do you know what neglect is?
Just wait till the aunties find out what you’ve been up to. You’re in trouble.
In the distance, Keelie heard voices, and they were growing louder. They were on the backside of the village now, hidden from view, but still they were taking a chance being so close. Everyone’s attention was on the Council, including the guards. A trial was a rare thing for the elves.
Come to us, child, the aunties called.
Sean was on guard near the aunties. As they made their way, hiding behind sheds and large trees, Keelie wondered if Sean had managed to catch Tamriel. She didn’t dare make her presence known.
“I guess this is where we part ways, lass. For I need to go and speak with your father.” Sir Davey had reached the edge of the green, where the elven crowd had their backs to them.
Nodding, Keelie dragged the treeling off the cart and into the safety of the Auntie’s tree root.
You’re leaking salty water again. Alora reached up and patted Keelie’s cheek with her branch as Knot slipped away.
A ragged jouster emerged behind Sir Davey, his sword drawn, ready to plunge it into the dwarf’s back. Keelie recognized him—it was Tamriel. She struggled to get out of the Auntie’s root and shout a warning.
“Wait, Keelie,” Alora called out.
As Davey ducked, Tamriel whirled and struck out at nothing. He recovered and slashed again. Knot bounced back into view and leaped behind the jouster, who turned, still hacking at an invisible opponent.
Knot turned to grin at Keelie, then leaped onto one of the auntie’s roots. Tamriel followed, in furious pursuit. Tamriel was soon backed up against the aunties, and before he knew what was happening, a root lifted and he vanished from sight.
Knot saluted her with his tail, and Keelie bowed her head to him. She was going to have to rethink pushing his plush booty across the floor with her foot. He had hidden talents.
Everyone in the village had gathered around the Caudex. The elegant chairs, which looked like her father’s work, were arrayed on the fossilized wood platform. There sat Grandmother, the Lady of the Forest, with several other elder elves, including Etilafael, the Head of the Council. They were an impressive sight.
Niriel stepped onto the Caudex like a plucky rooster. He waved his hand as if he were a politician at a rally.
“Greetings, lords and ladies. We gather here under grim and solemn circumstances, the likes of which we thought we would never face again. We have been betrayed, and all that we are is now in danger. Before you will come those who wish to see us extinguished from the earth, and it would be meet to punish them as they would have us punished. Oh, elevated ones, members of the High Council, you see before you the criminal returned.”
Jake was pushed into the clearing. He stumbled, then turned to the Council and bowed elegantly. He seemed not to react to the stony silence that met his flourish, but Keelie noticed his tiny wince, and the worry that clouded his eyes.
Lord Niriel continued. “You have consorted with the unnatural child of one of our own, one who was once your brother. When we capture Keliel Heartwood, she will share your fate.” He said her name as if it was a curse.
“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Her voice rang through the clearing. All faces turned, mouths open, as head held high, Keelie walked into the tree circle.
twenty-one
He’d called her unnatural. Was that because of her human self or her use of dark magic? Keelie stood straighter. She’d show them. The moment she stepped up onto the fossilized wood she felt its hum and stared down, astonished. The tree was dead, but amazingly, its energy lived on.
Lady Etilafael stood, leaning on a tall staff. �
��Keliel Heartwood, you stand accused of wielding dark magic.”
“Yes ma’am. But it’s not dark in a bad way. It’s just different.” Keelie looked around for her father. He stood to one side of Grandmother’s thronelike chair, with a clear view of the Council and the crowd. He met Keelie’s gaze. Dad felt the tree’s hum, too, but he looked worried. Sir Davey near him, holding a stone and murmuring to it.
She wondered how many other elves could feel the ancient tree’s magic, how many had that much tree shepherd in them that they heard the forest speak to them. A quick glance showed that not many did.
Despite Niriel’s decree that this was a solemn occasion, many of the elves looked almost darkly gleeful, as if they were happy that she’d been caught doing wrong and would now be cast out. Risa’s red hair stood out in the crowd, and Keelie gritted her teeth as she saw the girl talking excitedly with another elf girl, her eyes wide, barely containing her laughter.
Two more of the Council stood, and Grandmother stood as well. Her serious expression did not betray any hint of love or sympathy as she addressed Dariel—now called Jake.
“You were banished from our forest, doomed to forget, and you have returned. You knew that the consequence was death.” The members of the Council looked at each other, except for Keliatiel, whose eyes were glued to Jake.
“No way,” Keelie muttered. Dad had said that death was not on the table. “It’s not his fault his memory came back,” she cried out. “And he loves this forest. He was worried because the Dread was failing.”
“Silence!” Lord Niriel swept forward. “For all we know, the Dread failed because of the vampire’s return. Did he not kill three trees and countless animals?”
All the gathered elves started to speak.
“Silence!” Lord Niriel raised an arm and turned slowly, and the crowd grew still once more. “Your turn will come, Keliel Heartwood. You have no say in this matter.”
“I’m a witness. I saw the true vampire, myself. Jake only took a little of the animals’ life essence, and he never killed any. He never harmed a tree. ”
Etilafael banged her staff against the wood-stone floor. “Enough. Child, you know not of what you speak. Events long ago sealed this one’s fate, and now he must pay.”
The Secret of the Dread Forest: The Faire Folk Trilogy Page 19
