Orla landed next to Nerida. Her wings were the most beautiful golden color Serina had ever seen. “We are ready, Miss Genevieve,” Orla said, smiling brightly at everyone around her.
“Have a safe journey,” Genevieve said as all three sprites lifted into the air and hovered near Serina and Lief.
“That’s it?” Serina asked as they nodded goodbye to Genevieve and the other elves. “What do we do now?”
“Find your sister.” Lief adjusted the pack on his shoulders. “The elves don’t waste time. The sprites will help since they have knowledge of the outside world more than any other creature.”
“We do,” Orla said as her golden wings glittered in the air. “Nerida and I will be able to fly far above the earth to see where your sister might be. She has left destruction in other places, I’m afraid.”
Serina’s heart sank to the ground. “Why is she doing such a thing? She never used her talents for ill before. Why now?”
“We don’t know,” Nerida said. “But we’ll help where we can. Innocence will bring balance to our group. Her magic is stronger than ours since she is newly born.”
“But does she know how to wield it?” Lief asked skeptically.
“Pardon me?” Innocence slowed her pace. Her little wings almost stopped, and Serina reached up to take her into her hands. The creature weighed no more than a dried leaf. Her skin was almost hot to the touch and smooth as a water-worn pebble.
“Lief doesn’t mean to be rude,” Serina said with a vicious glance at Lief. He seemed so hot and cold in his treatment of others. She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. “I’ll carry you, if you like.”
“Thank you,” Innocence said. A breeze blew through her blonde hair. “My creator has given me the information I need to begin my journey with you, but Lief is correct in saying I don’t know how to wield my magic. I know the basics and that is all.”
“It takes years,” Serina said softly, realizing how the human realm made her feel older despite how vulnerable she was. She was breaking rules, defying her own logic to do something she considered courageous. When she sensed the water in the air here, she felt it stronger than in Lisadar. Maybe Aeline was right in assuming the human realm was a more natural place to live.
Cradling the sprite in her hands, she was wary of how delicate her wings seemed. Holding such a small being made her wonder if Verath thought of her as she did this sprite—innocent, helpless, and new. But she wasn’t innocent like a sprite, and she wasn’t helpless, and she wasn’t new. Her heart ached at the need to prove herself. It was unfair for a few elder fairies to deal out all the punishments. When would she have a say? This was the dark thinking that had taken over Aeline. She knew it, but couldn’t shake it. Aeline didn’t deserve such a swift punishment, no matter what she had done.
“Does this forest ever end?” she asked as the trees went on and on. They had left the white stone paths long ago. Now there were only small footpaths leading through the woods. Innocence had since taken flight again, and she and her two companions flew ahead. Their wings glowed in the dimming light. Serina wrapped her arms around her waist. The sun would set soon.
“It will end, but it is still a few days’ walk,” Nerida explained.
“We’ll stop here and set up camp so we can sleep,” Lief said with a heavy sigh. Serina felt a similar sigh building within her. Her feet hurt and she was thirsty and hungry. Again. Eating and sleeping all the time was going to slow them down considerably.
“What will we eat?” she asked as Lief stopped and unrolled his bedroll and began gathering sticks for a fire.
“We’ll get something for you,” the sprites answered, and flew off.
Lief looked up at her. “If you could get us some water, that would be nice.”
That wasn’t a problem. Within minutes, she filled a water skin Lief had pulled out of his pack. The fairies returned with several leaves filled with berries and nuts and some sort of orange-colored root Serina had never seen before. Lief cleared his throat and bent down to the tinder he had gathered for the fire. Within a few seconds, a small fire blazed.
“So you control fire,” Serina said, and put her hands on her hips. “I should have guessed.”
“Why do you say that?”
“No reason.” She knelt on her bedroll near the fire and thanked Nerida for the food handed to her. They ate in silence. She didn’t know why she was so upset with Lief. He was helping her. She was sure he didn’t have to. He could probably return to Rodowa and tell Verath where she was and what she was up to. She looked at him as the world around them grew darker. In an instant, she had the urge to scoot closer to him. He was warm and safe, even if he upset her.
“This is strange,” she whispered, and stopped chewing her food. The fire glowed brightly. It flickered across the sprites, who had settled on a patch of moss to sleep close to each other in the fire’s warmth. Their wings still glowed, but not as intensely as before.
Lief shifted across his bedroll. “I remember the first time I saw the darkness. I thought it might swallow me whole. Are you all right?”
“I think so.” She set down her food and peered up at the branches. In the distance, like pin pricks through a dark cloth, were the stars. Tears filled her eyes. She remembered her mother telling her about the darkness and how the Earth moved around the sun. Had her mother seen the stars before she died?
“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”
She snapped her attention to Lief. His expression was tender in the firelight. “Yes,” she stuttered. “I had no idea.” Her tears broke free and slipped down her face. Maybe she could whisk them away without Lief noticing. She began pulling the droplets apart with her mind and a flick of her hand, but she was too late. Lief reached forward and wiped them away.
“I’m sorry about your mother,” he said, his hand lingering on her cheek. “I understand why you want to get back to Aeline if she is the only family you have left. Unless you found your father, of course.”
She leaned away from his hand and he pulled away. “You male fairies hold that information too tightly. I would meet him centuries from now— if I was lucky.”
“The males don’t meet their other parent for a long time, either, you know.”
“But that’s your choice as the decision-makers of our realm.” Turning her back to him, she picked up her food and finished eating. The nuts were buttery and smooth and the berries were sweet.
Lief let out a huff. “It’s not my choice. I don’t know why you’re so cold toward me. I didn’t tell your sister to run away to the human realm. I didn’t kill your mother. I didn’t make this world so uncomfortable.”
As he spoke, the temperature dropped around them. Serina shivered under the thick material of her dress—both from the cold and Lief’s words. He was right. He was probably on edge all the time because he had followed her into this and she wasn’t showing any gratitude at all. The temperature dropped even more. She needed furs to wrap around herself. This was ridiculous.
“Oh!” Orla exclaimed as she sat up from her patch of moss. The other sprites stirred next to her. “The rain will begin soon.”
“The rain?” Serina hugged herself to try to keep warm and then looked up at the clear sky just in time to see black clouds forming. She returned her attention to Orla. “How do you know it’s going to rain?”
“It rains every night in the land of the elves,” Lief said, and she turned to see his eyebrows rise. “You know, when the elves feed from the earth, they cause cold air to rise and it creates clouds and rain. Didn’t you learn about that in your studies with your water instructor?”
She threw him a glare. “Yes, Felicity taught me that, but I didn’t realize it happened every single night. I didn’t know it would get so cold, either.”
His eyebrows arched higher. “You can keep us dry, right?”
“Of course I can.” A raindrop splashed on her nose, and she stood and began a song to push the falling rain away from them. Lief was alread
y making the fire more intense. Its warmth filled the dry bubble around them. The sprites sat up and smiled as they rubbed their arms.
“We make a good team,” Lief said, and then laughed as Serina ended her song and sat down. She was trying very hard to push away the anger she felt toward Lief, but with her concentration partly on keeping the rain away, she didn’t have the energy. She needed to rest, and she was certain if she focused on keeping the rain away before she drifted to sleep, it would continue to obey her subconscious commands.
“I’m sorry about all of this,” she mumbled as she stared into the fire. “I haven’t been exactly pleasant to be around, and you’re only trying to help me.”
“I haven’t been the best company, either,” he replied, still concentrating on the fire. His beautiful eyes reflected the flames, and she remembered looking into Aeline’s eyes and seeing her own red hair reflected in them. How strong was his power over fire? He couldn’t possibly wield it as Aeline could. He was playing with the end of his braid as he kept the fire roaring. That was why he didn’t look like an elf. The male elves had short, messy hair while the male fairies had long braids. It was an obvious difference she was surprised she hadn’t noticed before.
“Do you have to survive off the earth’s energy?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No, I need the same food as you. I seem to have only a few of the elfin traits. I can absorb the earth’s warmth, or energy, as you call it, but I’ve only done it once and I’m not very good. From what I understand, it makes me more powerful than normal—more powerful than many fairies, even. I am also able to bond with a human as the elves bond with humans to increase their knowledge and abilities. Or simply because they have fallen in love or wish to procreate, since that is the only way they can—with a human.”
Serina had always thought it unfair that elves could not procreate within their own species. “Can fairies bond with humans as well?” she asked.
“I’ve heard it creates problems if they do. A full fairy is too powerful to bond with a human, so I don’t know what would happen if I tried. Verath said I’m able to bond with a fairy if I wish—just as your mother and a male fairy bonded to create you.” His gaze darted to her and then back to the fire. “But that would be unheard of at my age.”
Serina’s concentration snapped at the very idea of bonding with him, and the rain broke through and fell down upon them. The sprites cried out in surprise.
4
Fire
They found the edge of the forest two days later. Serina stopped in her tracks when she saw the obvious signs of a recent fire. The trees stood leafless and black. Their branches were inky streaks across the blue sky. Beyond the forest were small hills and valleys covered in bushes and short, scraggly trees. Tiny villages dotted the landscape. Humans. Serina held her breath.
“This was caused by her,” Innocence said, referring to the burned area. The other sprites slowed near her, and their tiny hovering forms looked bright against the bleak destruction. “The nightly rain put it out quickly.”
Lief gave Serina a comforting smile and took her hand. “We’ll find her, don’t worry.”
“Do you think she’s harmed any humans?” she asked in a trembling voice. She was grateful Lief was holding her hand. Ever since their first night here in the human realm, he had been extra kind and attentive, and she had responded with wanting to be closer to him. She couldn’t get enough of his eyes. They were such a perfect mixture of fairy and elf that the balance made her calm just looking into them. She knew he was special, and the more time she spent with him, the more she wondered what he meant by being Verath’s experiment. Thinking about it made her squeeze his hand. He squeezed back.
“If any humans have been harmed by her, it shouldn’t be hard to follow her trail,” he said with a shrug. “Everyone will be talking about her and which direction she went. Growing and healing magic is accepted here, so at least she has that in her favor.” He let go of her hand and started walking. “If she was in any other part of the world, she would immediately be hunted down. Some lands believe in magic, but it’s regarded with superstition. At least here they might mistake her for a grower or healer.”
Serina nodded as she caught up with him. As far as she was aware, some humans knew magic existed, but none of them knew about the fairies or elves. Or they were not supposed to.
“There’s a reason you need to find her,” Lief said as they headed into the valley, “and it has nothing to do with your personal feelings for her. She cannot be allowed to make too big of a mark in this world. Even if you believe she hasn’t meant to harm anyone, the repercussions of such a mark would be unfathomable.”
It was all about the balance, Serina knew. But what good was balance if those who were in charge of it were never happy? Were the fairies truly happy? Ever? Verath didn’t seem particularly happy. Her mother had seemed happy—or at least content. Perhaps contentment was all anyone could hope for. Perhaps happiness was a myth.
They walked all day, stopping only to eat when Serina complained about her stomach grumbling. There were no nuts and berries to be had outside the forest, but she had already grown tired of them, anyway.
“I’ll make something for us,” Lief said as they came upon the edge of a village. “It will be better if we’re not hungry as we pass through the village. I don’t have any of the money the humans use to trade for items like food and clothing.”
“How are you going to make something to eat?” Serina sat on a rock near a small stream. The sprites landed on her knees to rest. She smiled down at them.
“Like Castille made food for you.”
Serina scowled at him. “You can do that? Why haven’t you done that this whole time? No offense to you three,” she said with a nod to the sprites, “but the nuts and berries aren’t very filling.”
“I told you—I’ve only used that kind of magic once in my life.”
“I won’t laugh if you make me a bowl of stones, I promise.”
Smirking, he made sure no one was around, and then reached out to a tuft of brown grasses. Their roots shifted from the earth and a pale blue light lifted from them. It drifted to his hand and Serina watched in fascination as he absorbed it. He closed his eyes and smiled as if he was taking a long, refreshing drink.
“You look like you’re enjoying that.”
Orla laughed. Her golden wings opened and closed. “This is a very sacred thing,” she explained with a grin. “I think the elves enjoy it more than anything else.”
Lief opened his eyes and pulled his hand away from the roots. “It’s very satisfying,” he said. “Like a hot meal when you’re famished. I had forgotten.” He stretched out his arms and looked at his wrists. “And I’d forgotten how powerful I feel with this warmth inside me.”
Serina leaned forward. “What will you make us to eat?”
“What do you love most?”
She paused and saw her mother’s hands holding a knife. Long strips of bright green apple peels, like snakes. The irresistible scent of flaky dough and spices. “Can you make an apple tart?”
“An apple tart?” He shrugged and gently pulled some of the grass from the ground. He took off his pack and pulled out a small dish, then set the grass in the center. Whispering some words, he swept his hand over the dish. The grass shivered for a moment. Lief knotted his brow and swept his hand over it again. Then again. Finally, it changed into a hot tart. It was shaped differently from what she expected, and she doubted it would taste the same as she remembered, but she would take it.
“Thank you,” she said as he handed her the dish. The sprites flew away from her knees so she could eat. From her observations, they ate neither nuts and berries nor the earth’s warmth, so she didn’t bother offering them anything. Biting into the tart, she guessed the same satisfied expression that had crossed Lief’s face crossed hers. “This is delicious,” she mumbled through the tart. It was almost as good as her mother’s. She tried not to let her heart sink too much at
the memory, and turned her attention to Lief, who was eating a tart as well. She laughed.
“It was a good idea,” he said through a mouthful of cooked apple.
The village was small but busy. Serina was uncertain it was the best place for her first encounter with humans, but Lief insisted it was not only the quickest way on their intended path, but also a good place to learn more about Aeline’s whereabouts and intentions outside of what the sprites could tell them.
The main problem was their appearance. Lief had loosely re-braided his hair so it covered his ears. Serina made sure her hair covered her ears as well, and as soon as she saw the first human, she understood why. Their ears were rounded on top and more oddly shaped than any she had ever seen. She glanced at Lief’s hair. Most of the female humans didn’t have hair as long as his. Because of this, some of the humans looked at him longer than seemed necessary. Of course, they were looking her up and down as well.
“This was not a good idea,” she said as they passed down a street bustling with carts and peddlers. The rich scents of baking breads drifted past them, mixed with another smell she didn’t recognize. It was spicy and dark and heavy. “What is that?” she asked quietly, almost afraid.
“Roasting animal flesh,” Lief said, scrunching his nose. “Humans kill animals for food. Deer, rabbits, fish. You’ll get used to it.”
She blinked and tried not to choke on her distaste. In the fairy realm, animals were only used for their milk or eggs—things that did not harm the animal. When they died of natural causes, they were only used for their furs and sinews and skin, never for sustenance. She couldn’t imagine eating one. “Now I really don’t think this was a good idea.”
Lief shrugged. “Our three tiny companions can only give us so much information. A general direction is good, but I want to learn as much as we can about your sister’s actions before you face her. We have no idea what she’s up to.”
Looking at the sky, Serina saw three specks flitting about. The three sprites had transformed into black sparrows. She hadn’t known they could do such a thing. When she returned her attention to the road, she noticed a man leaning against a shop door. He was looking at her with intense gray eyes. When he winked at her, she turned away. Her heart thudded.
Bonded: Three Fairy Tales, One Bond Page 31
