“Guards!” The Queen of Fayres shouted. “Bring them back here!”
Two fairies wearing thin gold armor flew up quickly toward the opening where the chariot circled above. Then in midair and rather unexpectedly, the two fairies appeared to slam into an invisible wall, tumbling downwards until they regained their wings enough to recover in midair. They approached the area again, cautiously and again were stopped by the impassable field. The two guards hovered in the air, their hands pressed against the invisible wall, unable to go any further.
Fae Gaia flashed a quick smile. “I guess your fairies are forbidden to leave, my Queen, which means we won’t be followed.” With a burst of speed Fae Gaia shot up towards the cavern’s exit where the guard still hovered. The two fairies in their golden armor streaked downward to intercept. Furious, the queen herself, took to the air.
“You can’t leave!” she shouted. “I forbid any Fae from leaving!”
“Why? Is this all just an issue of pride for you?” Fae Gaia shouted back as she drew her ethereal sword. “I don’t have time for your control issues. The people you abandoned are dying. There are friends that need my help. I have a daughter that needs me and there is a young girl that needs my help and that has shown more bravery that the Queen of Fayres.”
“How dare you!” The Queen of Fayres growled, unable or unwilling to hear anything more to the words of the Fae Gaia than an insult of comparison to a human child.
Fae Gaia darted with acrobatic grace, flying effortlessly as she out maneuvered the two incoming guards. With expert skill she deftly met their swords with hers and sent them both tumbling to the ground, wingless. The guards had landed first on the floating magic bubbles far below, avoiding a more tragic fall as the bubbles served to cushion their landing.
“You are the last of your kind, Fae Gaia. You are the old guard!” The Queen of Fayres sneered. The queen flew quickly to the Fae Gaia, grabbing Fae Gaia’s arm and spinning her around before she could do anything more. “From the days when we fairies thought there was benefit to walk among the humans. Those days are over. Isolation from the humans is the only way to guarantee our survival now.”
The Queen of Fayres glared sternly with her deep glittering brown eyes. “And how dare you come back here and question my decisions, and disrespect me as a queen in front of my subjects!”
Fae Gaia pulled herself free of the queen’s grip. “Isolation is cowardice,” she railed back. “You are no more a leader to your people than the first sheep that runs at the first sign of a wolf. Enjoy your self-exile. I won’t be a part of it.”
Fae Gaia bolted forward in the air. Gaining speed she headed upwards for the cavern opening and the chariot above with the Queen of Fayres racing quickly behind her. Gathering more speed Fae Gaia pushed faster. With her head down she closed her eyes, bracing for the barrier, silently hoping her theory would be right.
The Queen of Fayres was almost upon her, then suddenly she stopped, pulling back at the last minute as Fae Gaia reached the barrier.
There was a great crackle and a flash where Fae Gaia had struck the invisible barrier. Intense burning and electrifying pain racked her body beyond the ability to scream; the magic was ripped from her body as she passed through and for a moment Fae Gaia blacked out. The next moment, Fae Gaia realized she was clinging to small rocky ledge on the side of the cavern wall, close to the opening. The gamble paid off, she was on the other side of the barrier.
Fae Gaia felt faint, her body was heavy and dull, and pain still reeled about her. She felt noticeably weaker and very mortal. Suddenly frightened of her precarious surrounding, Fae Gaia desperately struggled to hang onto the rocks, her legs dangling and the floor seemed very far below her.
“I command the Fae, but I cannot stop the will of a human, no matter how stupid they are,” the Queen of Fayres shouted, still hovering behind the barrier. “If you had stayed here at Matakin, you could have lived forever as part of the Fae Gaia. But now you have chosen to continue on without the infused magic of the Fae. Your human form is all that is left. Your time now is finite. As the grace of the Fae magic fades like the dimming of a light, so will the spark of your human life.”
It was true; the essence of the Fae Gaia that had been stored in the glass slipper shards and had merged with the mortal remains of Cinderella’s mother was gone. But now that essence was stripped away by the magical barrier that had forbade any Fae from leaving Matakin. All that was left was the human form of Cinderella’s mother. She was no longer a God mother fairy. She was just simply a mother. And she was dying.
The fiery chariot, pulled by the three dragons quickly swooped back down, close to the ledge Fae Gaia clung to. Day and Morning hurriedly helped the weakened Fae Gaia into the chariot with them and Morning quickly grabbed the satchel that held the water of life and death vials and placed it within the safety of the chariot.
“If I cannot be the Fae Gaia that saves a kingdom,” Fae Gaia spoke in labored breaths. “I will be a mother that saves her daughter. Either way I am leaving here.”
CHAPTER 39
TEARS OF HEALING
Marchenton Castle, Present Day.
“General White wants this tunnel sealed at sunset,” the dwarves shouted to each other along the rocky passageway, “we’ve got to hurry!”
A small crowd of about thirty castle staff had gathered, milling about; most with bags and belongings of whatever they could carry; standing idly about in the small cavern as they waited to leave. One last line of dwarven supply crates was being moved through the tunnel. Only big enough to accommodate a single string of travelers either going to or from the castle the crowd had to wait until the dwarves were done getting the last of their supplies in, and this stoppage had been a particularly long one.
It was a delay Gretel did not care for. Dressed in some discarded old servant clothing, Gretel blended in with the crowd of staff. She shifted her long blonde braid of hair impatiently.
“How much longer?” Gretel growled at the nearest dwarf as he busily waved in more crate-carrying dwarves through.
“One of our wagons got wedged in the tunnel. So we’re unloading the crates one by one till we can get it moved back out. Don’t worry. We’ll get you out,” he answered in a rushed but polite manner, paying little attention to Gretel.
“We better be, General White’s orders be damned. I don’t care if it’s sunset or midnight. I’m leaving here,” Gretel answered back, then turned on her heal and made her way to a small rocky alcove were she could wait out of sight and not be bothered to mingle.
“Well, little brother, looks like you have more time to show up,” she grumbled in frustration. Annoyed, she crossed her arms and leaned hard against the rock wall to wait.
Moments later she heard a voice call out. “Gretel, you are still here?” Gretel had hoped to have been on her way already to teach her brother a lesson about going against his older sister; but her heart skipped a beat as she recognized the voice. She would never show it or admit it, but she was glad to see her brother again.
Hansel moved through the crowd toward her, giving her a wave as he neared.
“I only just saw you walking back from talking with the dwarf,” Hansel started to explain as he shifted the weight of his backpack on his shoulder, “I didn’t recognize you except for the braid—“
“What happened to staying and fighting, dear brother? General White turned you down?” Gretel greeted him with a bite of sarcasm.
“I’m sorry,” Hansel offered, “When it came right down to it, I realized I couldn’t leave my sister. We’ve always stuck together and looked out for each other.”
“Not such a dumb little brother after all, Hansel,” Gretel replied. “You still have some sense in that thick skull of yours.”
“I don’t always agree with you Gretel,” Hansel said, “but I support you, regardless.”
“I know, and most of those times you were wrong to not agree with me,” Gretel replied scolding in a manner as an older si
ster might correct her younger brother.
“All clear! Let’s move out!” Sudden loud shouts from the dwarves and cheers rose up from the crowd of gathered staff. More people began to stream into from the castle’s passageway. The small cavern began to pack with the last rush of people hoping to leave.
Gretel quickly snatched up her pack from the alcove, as she did, she caught a glimpse of someone she recognized in the crowd. Quickly she began to explain her plan to Hansel.
“Go ahead, I’ll catch up with you outside the tunnel exit,” Gretel said. “I’ve some unfinished business I want clear up and I just saw her come into the cavern.”
“Don’t start anything that will get us in trouble, Gretel. You have that look on your face that you are up to something,” replied Hansel. “Maybe this time we just let it go, okay?”
“Brother, again this is one of those times you are wrong to not agree with me,” Gretel reminded him.
“Or maybe it’s one of those time I’m not,” Hansel began to protest as Gretel dismissed him.
“If the tunnel comes out where I think it does it’s by a waterfall at the western edge of the lake. There a bit of a rocky wall on either side but it opens up to the forest on the right. Remember the blind we made when we took down that twenty-four point buck at the lake’s edge couple of years ago. It’s near there.”
Hansel nodded, remembering the site.
“Once the crowd exits make your way over there and wait,” Gretel ordered as they split up and began to make their way through the crush of people. Gretel pulled a shiny metal object from her bag and palmed it out of sight.
Gretel began to push through heading back behind them as Hansel went along with the rest of the crowd that made their way towards the tunnel entrance.
***
“Come on, Hamelin… where are you?” Elizabeth whispered as she bit her nails. She scanned every face that came through the opening into the cavern. “Please come,” she implored. She would be the last one through the tunnel if she had to wait, but Elizabeth knew as the crowd of people made their way through that time was running out. Maybe she would go and try and find Hamelin, but then, she thought, what if he showed up while I’m gone?
Elizabeth looked hopefully at the next batch of people that came through the entrance; still not the face she was hoping to see. Maybe he didn’t realize the time? She thought to herself. Or maybe I’m wrong about all of this and he’s not going to show up at all.
Then, Elizabeth was grabbed from behind with her arm twisted painfully behind her back and a sharp digging pain in her side. She was slammed against the rock wall and dragged over to dark rocky outcrop out of view of the crowd in the cavern.
“Well look who it is? The werewolf,” Gretel sneered in Elizabeth’s ear. “Try to call for help and I’ll end you.”
“Why are you doing this?” Elizabeth cried.
“You cost me a lot of money, little doggie,” Gretel said as she pulled Elizabeth’s arm tighter behind her back. “I lost a wagon because of you.”
“Fine Gretel, I’ll get you a new wagon, but please let me go,” Elizabeth gasped and struggled under the excruciating pain.
Gretel was strong, and held Elizabeth’s arm firmly and painfully pinned behind her back. She leaned hard on Elizabeth, leveraging all her weight against her and forced Elizabeth’s face hard against the cold wet rock. Until she was unable to speak.
“No more talking,” Gretel growled. “I stood to make a considerable profit, enough to retire on, from capturing you and selling you to Queen Cinder. But now she’s out of the picture and you won’t be turning again for at least another month. I am tired of chasing after werewolves,” Gretel seethed, and pressed hard against Elizabeth’s back. “So I just want to let you know, freak… this is pay back!” Gretel held Elizabeth’s arm locked behind her and with her other arm she pulled it back and then violently thrust it forth. Sharp pain dug into Elizabeth’s side and exploded into fiery white-hot flashes as Gretel stabbed her with a dagger.
“We had this dagger made especially to deal with werewolves like you,” Gretel explained as the blade burned in Elizabeth’s side. “It’s made entirely out of silver. Believe me, it cost a lot to have it made, and I couldn’t let it go to waste,” Gretel forced the blade in deeper as Elizabeth let out a muffled, tearful cry. The effect of the silver was immediate, searing pain that took her breath away, leaving her hardly able to speak or call out.
“It’s your fault we're here,” Gretel whispered as Elizabeth’s legs slowly gave way and she slid down the rock wall. “And now we can't even recoup our losses. We’ve no one to sell you to. So I’m going to take it out of your miserable hide, personally.”
Elizabeth’s pain was beyond measure. Her insides felt on fire as the silver reacted to the lycanthropy of her body.
“And another thing about this werewolf blade you won't like,” Gretel twisted the blade in the wound, causing Elizabeth to cry out again. Gretel smiled with grim pleasure, as Elizabeth tried helplessly to struggle free. “The silver blade is designed to break off.”
Then Gretel jerked the dagger hard sending a crippling flash of pain through Elizabeth that almost caused her to black out. She felt the hard snap of the metal, and Gretel finally pushed away from Elizabeth, holding nothing but hilt and pommel of the dagger. Elizabeth grabbed her side and slid down the wet rock to the stone covered floor. She rolled over to face Gretel.
“It's a slow and painful death,” Gretel remarked. “Enjoy.”
Elizabeth hung her head in agony as she clutched her side, her hands and white tunic covered in blood. “Why?” she cried softly, the painful, deadly reaction from the silver reducing her ability to speak to just above a whisper.
“You're a monster,” Gretel said. “And of no value to me. Plus, I will take pleasure in the satisfaction of not having to waste my traps on you anymore.”
“You’re the monster, Gretel. Only monsters take pleasure from killing,” Elizabeth gasped, trying to hold on to consciousness.
“At least I'm going to be a living monster,” Gretel answered, pausing only to spit on Elizabeth before she threw the hilt of the dagger at her and disappeared among the crowd that shuffled into the escape tunnel.
***
Gretel had been correct about where the tunnel would come out as she and the other staff exited the castle and emerged into the late afternoon light. The constant sound of falling water could be heard splashing upon the dark, wet moss-covered rocks. Set back from the lakeside, a fissure with rock walls on either side cut into the hill that ran along the western edge of Lake Vasilisa. Water danced and hopped in flow as it made its way from the waterfall down to the rocky floor of the crevasse. Towards the lake the crevasse opened up, continuing as a rocky cliff wall along the western edge of the lake on one side. The other side met the forest with boulders and rocky outcroppings scattered about the forest floor. But where the water from the falls met the lake, the crevasse floor smoothed out considerably. Gretel kept her cloak tight around her, her head down buried deep in her hood, trying her best not to draw any attention to herself. She was looking for her brother when she caught sight of someone on the rocks at the top of crevasse wall.
“Damn,” Gretel hissed, “Goldenhair. What is she doing here?”
The crowd around her, servants who had not left the castle in five years, took no notice, for they were far too happy to be free of the castle confines. But not Gretel as she kept a wary eye on Goldenhair.
Standing upon the rocks, Goldenhair was talking to several dwarves as birds landed, chittered and flew off. To Gretel, it almost seemed as if the birds were conveying information back and forth to Goldenhair and that Goldenhair was translating it to the dwarves. Then two of Goldenhair’s bears walked into view on the top of the rock wall, taking a casual interest in the crowd of people that came through the crevasse below. Gretel pulled her hood down about her face and began to push past the others. The quicker she could get to Hansel the better. One of the bear
s lifted its large furred head and sniffed the air. Gretel heard it let out a soft growl.
Immediately, the large brown bear descended the rocks toward the crevasse floor, stopping on a rocky ledge above, it had intercepted Gretel and let out at angry roar.
The abrupt appearance announced by the bear’s roar of the bear caused a commotion, frightening the crowd into a panic, some people ran, while others stood in fear. Goldenhair whirled around, staring down into the mass of people; staring right at Gretel.
Gretel had only hesitated for a heart pounding second, and then she quickly tried to blend in with the running crowd. A form landed in front of her and Gretel skidded to stop. For a brief moment Gretel thought it was the bear.
It was Goldenhair.
It had been only a few days since Gretel had last seen Goldenhair kneeling in the road as she, Hansel and General Dendroba had left for the castle. But to Gretel, she looked far more wild, adorned in her leather skins but wearing armor made of various sized turtle shells. Straps of bark wrapped about her arms, reinforced with hard pointed antlers along her forearms, chest and shoulders. The normally light tattoos on her skin and face appeared much darker. And her golden locks of hair were wild and unkempt. Goldenhair stamped a gnarled staff hard on the ground in emphasis.
“Dokkoth gul Dok eth est!” Goldenhair shouted angrily.
Gretel furrowed her brow. “What happened to you Goldenhair, did you go feral or something?”
“Tor gul darkenna Gretel, bea jenna doth goro,” as she brandished her staff angrily at Gretel.
“I didn’t kill your precious bear, Goldenhair, if that’s what you are going on about,” Gretel answered back. “The Prince of Frogs did, if that’s what has you bothered then your beef is with Dendroba, not me. Want to know where he is? Back in the castle,” she said and pointed toward the tunnel exit. “If you are looking for a score to settle, look over there.”
Shards Of The Glass Slipper: Queen Alice Page 15
