Faire Eve

by Catherine Stovall

  A forever rainbow spread across the vastness of a periwinkle-blue sky. Large cotton candy clouds floated lazily above, occasionally covering the beaming sun. Castles of gleaming white stone sat in glorious opulence high in the hills. Shimmering turrets, towers, and balustrades proudly displayed multi-colored flags. Eve could imagine the kings and queens who lived in the palaces and her heart longed to see Trig Na nOg. If a lesser region could hold such beauty, she couldn’t imagine the splendor she would behold in the heart of Evalon.

  The towns they entered all offered them comfort, food, and rest. The representatives from the royal castles came to deliver gifts and messages to the soon to be Queen of Evalon. The liveried servants brought handwritten notes declaring allegiance and loyalty to the halfling girl they did not know. It seemed that almost everyone in Evalon awaited her arrival in Trig Na nOg with impatience. To have the grand castle empty of a ruling Sidhe disturbed them more than the cause of their current situation.

  Despite their good fortune that Tiritchiq did not rear his ugly head and the unwavering support she received from the people of Evalon, Eve felt a trepidation building inside her. They would soon travel back to Upper World. She knew better than believe the great dragon had abandoned his hopes of capturing or killing her. She knew he was biding his time. Eve feared she would once again endanger the lives of innocent humans when she re-entered their world.

  She found it strange to think as Upper World as her world. She was so engrossed in her new life that her old life began to fade and pale in comparison. She could never tell anyone about her time in Evalon and to go back and try to forget was impossible. She missed her parents dearly but she felt as if she had always been destined to be in Evalon. Something within the fey world resonated with something inside of her so purely that she knew she would never willingly leave its boarders again.

  When they stopped to rest in the safety of the brightest daylight hours, Eldon came to her room. She almost mistook his soft knocking for a mouse in the walls. Eve opened the door, thinking Faya would be coming to give her tea to help her rest. Faya always brought her a little something to help her pull through. Instead, Eldon stood in the doorway holding the steaming cup.

  Eve’s heart skittered to a stop as she realized that a very handsome man stood in the doorway to her hotel room and she wore nothing other than an old-fashioned nightgown. Her parents would most certainly disapprove. Eve teetered between inviting him in and asking him to leave. Eldon saw her indecision and instantly dissolved all confusion playing in her mind. He placed the warm mug into her hands and covered them with his own. Eve tilted her head back to look into his eyes and his lips instantly met hers. The kiss was soft and brief. It left the promise of things to come lingering on her lips as he whispered goodnight and walked away.

  Eve slept better than she had since coming to Evalon. Dreams of Eldon played through her mind even after she woke later that day. She feared he would turn cold towards her again but he did not. Eldon stayed beside her through most of the day. Only riding ahead as they entered a new town or a stranger approached them on the road. As the leader of their little band of witches and warriors, his job was to ride point and ensure their safety. Other than when his duty pulled him away, he remained her constant companion and Eve was thankful for his attentions. His presence made her stronger.

  The group gathered close to the where Eldon said the portal to Upper World stood. Unlike the others on their journey, the portal had no marker. He showed them an empty spot in the middle of a groggle pasture. Eldon stood in the center of the group holding the communicator he used to speak with Corrigan. He waited for her signal to tell them to cross. Corrigan would handle the Upper World side of things while they made their dangerous journey. They had planned everything to allow no error and prayed nothing delayed any stage of their strategy on the other side.

  Eldon knew Tiritchiq’s tactics. He used them himself sometimes. He found himself increasingly agitated and itching for the fight. Every sound had him ready to draw his sword. The others in his band were nearly as strained by the constant expectation of the fight. Eldon’s only comfort was the sweetness of Eve’s face.

  The communicator hummed and Corrigan appeared in a tiny apparition inside it. At last, the time came to step into the portal that would carry them through to the final leg of their journey. Corrigan’s words were wan and distant as she spoke to them, “You will find yourselves in the human town called Salt Lake City, Utah. When you make it through the portal, you will be on the banks of the lake from which the city took its name. Stay there until your transportation arrives. From there you will journey onto Danger Cave. Once there, you will find the next portal. Be careful, my son and my queen.”

  The image flickered and faded like an old TV without reception. A somber mood took over the seven comrades. The time for goodbyes came. Faya, Eve, Eldon, and Caleb would travel to the Upper World. The others would find their own way through the dark territories. They would all meet again at the gateway in Lil. They all understood Eldon would not wait for the others if they did not arrive before them. His duty was to deliver Eve to Trig Na nOg and he would let nothing stand in his way of doing so.

  Tears streamed down Eve’s face as she kissed the Ki’Lin’s muzzles. Each of the magical creatures touched their horns gently to her forehead in way of farewell. Jaryn, Daryn, and Heron stepped up to give Eldon’s back hardy pats and Eve gentle hugs. Only Vandel seemed to shy away from her. Eve could see the fear in his eyes at the thought of touching her. To ease his discomfort, she stuck her hand out and took his in a quick handshake. Eve hoped to meet them all again but in reality, she could not know if her journey would be successful.

  She turned to step into the portal and Eldon placed his warm hand in hers, the same as he had during the first journey they made together from the New York portal. Eve’s heart sank. She wished she could see her mother and father again. She wanted to hug them and tell them how much she loved and appreciated them. If she met her death in the strange land, they may never know how very much they meant to her.

  21

  The mist faded and the Great Salt Lake stretched out before them. Eve took a deep breath of the cool, salty air. She could almost taste the metallic existence of Upper World on her tongue. The days spent in Evalon had brought her Sidhe blood to the surface and the more dominant side had taken over. Exposed once again to the elements of the human world, Eve felt as if everything around her was heavier and dull in color.

  The lake itself was glorious. The slate gray water rolled gently, lapping at the shores of the distant islands and the shoreline at her feet. The gulls soared overhead, calling out to each other. The sun beamed down on the chilly, early morning waters, causing tendrils of fog to reach up out of the water like ghosts coming from the grave. The eerie beauty of the moment caught the group in its hands and held them in a moment of reflection.

  They had time, nothing to do but wait. The day was chilly and a fine mist hung in the air. Despite the bite of cold, the four of them walked along the beach together, leaving footprints in the sand. Eldon took Eve’s hand in his. Not even Caleb could find something to complain incessantly about. In fact, he was being rather complacent. The moment seemed like a scene from the cheesy chick flick movies that Eve and her human friends watched.

  Eve pulled Eldon by the hand until they stood directly at the edge of the lake. The laughter danced in the sound of her voice, “Look closely at the water.”

  Doing as she suggested, Eldon squatted and stared into the lake. He saw nothing in the gentle lapping of the water against the brownish gray sand. He looked questioningly up at Eve, “What am I supposed to see?”

  Eve could not hide the smile spreading across her face. “Nothing, some things are just beautiful. You don’t always find danger around every corner. No biting, spitting, stinging, soul-devouring creatures are going to leap out and get you. It’s water, in a lake, in a mundane and human world.”

  Her joy was both contagious and wor
risome. Eldon and the others chuckled, understanding the relief Eve felt to be momentarily free of the constant danger that had clung to her in Evalon. Yet, Eldon feared her love for the human world. If she chose to leave him and Evalon behind once a cure woke King Midir and Queen Mave, his heart would break. He barely knew Eve, but his heart was fully hers.

  Without thinking, Eldon picked Eve up by the waist and hoisted her up in the air. He spun in a slow circle while she looked down at him with pure elation written in her eyes and happy smile. When her feet touched the sand again, he kissed her lips. Eve’s arms circled his neck and she leaned into the kiss with pure abandon. Their hearts melded together and beat as one. Not caring if Faya and Caleb watched them from a few feet away, Eldon made a choice to do something he had never done before.

  Eldon looked into Eve’s vivid, golden eyes and saw a future there brighter than any could have imagined. Raising his hand from her tiny waist to cup her soft face between them, he spoke.

  His voice was barely a whisper, “I love you.”

  Eve was speechless for a moment. Her mind raced nearly as fast as her heart. Eldon held his breath, awaiting her answer. No matter what argument she thought of, her heart protested with a burst of feeling. She answered his declaration with one of her own.

  “I love you, too.” Her lips trembled as the words came out on their own conviction.

  Eve almost forgot that she was not spending a normal day at the lake with the boy she loved and her friends. She found it easy to let her new self slip into the background. She wanted to deny any knowledge of magic, fairies, dragons, and unicorns, even if only for a little while. However, fate and destiny would not wait for her sixteen-year-old heart.

  The gentle breeze carried the sound of a vehicle down from the road that ran along the shore of the Great Salt Lake. The quartet looked up to see a lumbering Volkswagen bus choking and chugging towards the parking area. The original paint job must have been yellow but after decades of abuse and neglect, the bus was a dirty and faded yellow. Splatters of dark red rust hugged the fender wells and various other places and bright tie-dyed curtains hung in the windows.

  Faya was the first to speak. “Tell me that thing is not our transportation.” The highly irritated tone of voice gave away her displeasure even before the words were fully out of her mouth.

  Caleb immediately chimed in with his usual sarcastic comments. “That thing is a disaster. It looks as if the human’s Summer of Love threw up on it.”

  Eve giggled, “What would you know about the sixties?”

  Eldon covered her ears and gave Caleb a stern look, “Tell her nothing of what you know about the sixties.”

  Faya gave Caleb an appraising look and laughed aloud. “Seems even the Daoine have their weaknesses.”

  The man who exited the van waved them forward, cutting the conversation short. He was the epitome of an old hippie. Long gray hair hung down past his shoulders and he wore a shirt depicting a Led Zeppelin cover, jeans that were more than fashionably shredded, and flip-flops despite the chilly weather. To top off the outfit, he wore the same tiny round sunglasses that Eve’s mother referred to as John Lennons.

  Eldon was the first to approach, with Caleb following close behind. Their wariness was like a wall around them. Even Eve could tell the man was not human, though his well-perpetuated disguise would have fooled some. Behind the veneer of his glamour, Eve could see the shining aura of one of the fey. She did not think he was a fairy but there was definitely something of Evalon in him.

  The hippie was calm and non-threatening as he stood with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. He spoke in the language of the lost era. “Hey, man, like are you the dudes and chicks Corrigan told me to pick up?”

  Despite the seriousness of the situation, Eve and Faya both giggled. It seemed fey children were also privy to the tales of a time in American history when peace, love, sex, and drugs had flooded the country, leaving burned out Dead Headers in its wake.

  Eldon cast a stern look back at the girls before answering, “Yes, Corrigan has sent us here. You are our guide to Danger Cave?”

  Despite the doubt in Eldon’s voice, the man beamed. Shoving his hand forward he said, “My name is Crash. This here,” gesturing behind him to the bus, “is the Bucket. She may look a little rough but she floats along like a magic carpet, man.”

  Having a vision of the four of them riding a magical carpet with Crash as their tour guide, Eve burst into full-blown laughter. Faya tried her best to shush the girl but only began to laugh herself. Crash seemed the only one of the males to find any humor in the situation. Laughing along with the girls, he ushered the group up to the old VW.

  When the backdoor slid open, she felt as if she were looking into the past. The sound of The Rolling Stones poured out of the speakers to fill the shag-carpeted monstrosity with the repetitive sound of Paint it Black. A beaded curtain hung between the front of the van and the back. The beads were painted to look like a bigger than life Janis Joplin. The breeze flowed through the van and Janis’ face wiggled and clacked.

  The four of them piled into the back and Crash slid the door closed with lots of rattling and a final bang. A hushed moment settled through the van as Mick Jagger belted out, “I have to turn my head until my darkness goes.” Eve felt as if she knew exactly what Mick was talking about in the song. She wanted to turn her head away from Evalon and forget the magic inside her.

  She thought about opening the door and running. She could find a phone and call her mom. She could forget all about the dragon and the darkness awaiting her. She could be normal again. She could call Jeremy and they could go to the movies. She could gripe about homework instead of the constant attacks on her life. She could fear her History teacher and not Astaroth demons. Actually, she wasn’t sure her History teacher wasn’t part Astaroth.

  She knew she wouldn’t even have to run. If she demanded to go home, Eldon would take her there. He would deliver her safely back to her parents. It would mean the end of his world and his people. It would mean the end to grandparents she had never known and all the friends she had made while in Evalon. Eve couldn’t do it. She couldn’t turn her back on the thousands of fey who placed all their hopes on her.

  Crash started the van and the end of her journey was on its way. All she had to do was make it to Danger Cave and the portal. According to Eldon, the portal between Danger Cave and Lil would open up at what the fey called the Abtei Drei Torweg, Abbey of the Three Gateways. The Abtei Drei Torweg was a sacred place. Believed to be the inspiration for the original Stone Henge, it held the gateway from Danger Cave into Lil, the portal to the Astaroth’s realm, and the only portal to Great Hall of Asgaurd.

  Abtei Drei Torweg was not hard to find. The difficulty of traveling through the portals started with the choice between five gates, not three. If the traveler chose the wrong gate, they would find themselves back to where their journey had begun. No matter where the place was, the gateways would read the person’s soul and plunk them down in the exact place they were when they decided to come to Abtei Drei Torweg.

  In addition, the gateway had a more serious way of preventing someone from crossing over to somewhere they should not be. Two of the gates would only allow those with pure intention to enter. Specially keyed to read into the hearts of those who entered, the gates would dispel any who entered with ill intent. The third gate, the gate to Asgaurd, would allow no one but the Valkyries or the Sidhe king and queen to enter. No one could cross between the land of the living and the dead. If a rogue brought something between the two worlds that did not belong, it could mean complete destruction.

  Once they crossed through the gateway to Trig Na nOg, Eve would be safe. The idea of no longer watching over her shoulder and fearing for the lives of those protecting her was sweet bliss. She hated the danger and the worry. All Eve wanted was to feel safe again, even if it were only for a little while. The battle between Evalon and Tiritchiq would have to come. They must slay the dragon in order t
o use his blood to awaken the victims of the Krásny Vinci. Until the time came, they would fight. Eve wanted only to be secure.

  While Eldon, Eve, Faya, and Caleb rode along the bumpy roads towards their destination, they talked of mundane things. They all listened to Crash sing along to The Beatles, The Doors, The Monkees, and bands Eve had never heard of but probably had names like The Geese or The Chairs. Early era band names never ceased to amaze her. Bugs, animals, and other non-descript household items became frenzied chants in packed concert halls. She attempted to explain the phenomenon to the others but not even Caleb, with his apparent connection to the period, could fully grasp the ridiculousness of being a fan of Strawberry Alarm Clock.

  The land beyond the stretch of highway between the Great Salt Lake and Danger Cave was barren and lonely. The lack of traffic made Eve idly wonder what day of the week it was. She had lost all track of time while in Evalon. The fey did not seem to use watches or calendars. The time didn’t matter unless you were running from the dark and she wasn’t sure how Eldon instinctively knew when twilight would come.

  She glanced out the small window to her right to see a large green highway sign that read, Skull Valley. Dugway Proving Ground rested somewhere out in the mix of wasteland and grazing ground beyond Highway 80. The army-testing site made Eve ill. A rancid and obvious evil, the site was more proof than anyone needed of the government’s grand designs for mass destruction. Eve shivered. It seemed to her, every moment of her life contained something ugly and destructive.

  While Eve traveled by vehicle to the gateway back into Evalon, the other players in the game Tiritchiq had begun were traveling too. They traveled in packs or on their own, each heading for the same destination but a separate destiny. The next miles of their journey would be one of tense determination to reach Trig Na nOg. Some moved to aid the young changeling girl who would be their queen and others moved to stand against her. The battle lines were drawn and the winner would take all.