by Bonnie Lamer
He chuckles. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”
Kallen is annoyed now, too. “You will leave us here to find our own way home?”
Dagda’s face sobers. “I am disappointed your opinion of me has dropped to such a level, Kallen.” He really does look hurt, but he’s trying to cover it up. “Xandra obviously has a power that she has not been forthcoming about,” he narrows his eyes in my direction. “She seems to be able to will herself to another location.”
Kallen responds before I can. “An ability that was discovered only moments before our departure and is yet untested.”
“Then it is time to test it, for I fear that I will never reach my destination as long as she is on board this carriage.”
I hate it when they do this. “I’m right here, you know. And you’re the one who wanted me to come in the first place.”
Dagda rubs his hand over his face and mouth. He looks really tired and stressed. I’m sure I don’t look any better. He is handling it better me, though. “I still want you to be a part of this, Xandra. I simply want to send you on ahead. Because at the rate we are currently going, the Giants may erase themselves from existence by the time we get there.”
Oh. I’d hate to be responsible for the erasure of an entire race. Though, I wouldn’t be the direct cause, more like a minor player. But, I guess when it comes to genocide, it really doesn’t matter how small your role is. If it’s preventable, and you don’t change your course, you’re just as responsible as everyone else involved.
“Kallen’s right. I don’t know much about this teleporting thing. I could teleport us to the middle of the ocean, or back to Isla’s.”
“I have more faith in your ability than that,” Dagda says, trying to stifle a yawn. “I have a residence in the Uluru area, as I find it quite peaceful when the Giants are not trying to tear each other apart. Kallen has been there, so if you can get to the general area, I believe he can get you the rest of the way.”
I know I look doubtful. “I don’t know much about teleporting, but it seems like I would have to have at least some idea of where I’m going. I have no idea where Uluru is.”
Turning to Radella, Dagda says, “Please bring the photo from my office.” She nods and turns around, but he’s not done yet. “Radella.” She turns back. “When you come back, I expect you to be appropriately attired.”
Wow, can that Fairy blush! I can see how it would be humiliating to have not only your employer, but the King of the realm, to tell you to put some clothes on. I’m thinking her ego just took a serious hit. Probably doesn’t help that Kegan and Kallen are both trying hard not to laugh. Alita looks embarrassed for her. Spinning back around, Radella storms from the room in search of some photo that will help me figure out where to teleport.
You know, it wasn’t that long ago, the only time I would have said a sentence like that is if I was copying a cheesy line from a Sci-Fi show. It’s hard to believe my life has become more unbelievable than a Stargate episode. That used to be one of my favorite shows. I don’t think I could even watch it now. I’d be too busy wondering how many of the creatures and aliens might really exist, and when they’d start attacking me.
Chapter 10
Radella comes back dressed in jeans and a pink sweater. She’s carrying a small framed drawing of a big, red rock. Dagda has a house in a rock? That would actually be kind of cool. Kallen bursts my bubble on that, though.
Getting out of bed, because he’s wearing pajama pants, and taking the frame from Radella, he shows it to me. “This rock is in Uluru. Uluru’s part of the plains area and it serves as a border between the cities of the Giants.”
“The Giants live in cities?”
He chuckles. “When we get home, we need to spend some time outside of Isla’s and the palace. You need to see that there are cities with buildings and streets and other Fairies. I am afraid you have a warped sense of reality due to the seclusion of the only residences you have frequented in this realm.”
He’s right. The Fairy realm to me consists of Isla’s house, the forest, the ocean and the narrow road through the woods that leads to the palace. I have yet to see anything that I would consider modern civilization in this realm. I wonder if they have movies here. Probably not.
“To answer your question,” Dagda says, “yes, the Giants live in cities. They are a bit more rudimentary than those of the Fairies, but still function quite well. When they aren’t blowing each other’s buildings up, that is. My house lies to the north of here.” He points out the direction on the picture. “It is well away from the melee the giants are causing.”
I sigh and look up at Kallen. “I guess I can try to take us there.”
“The plains can get cold at night, you may want a sweater,” Dagda says pointedly. In some twisted way, I think he’s actually trying not to embarrass me like he did Radella.
Didn’t work. I feel much better when Kallen gets a clue and my teeny tiny nightie has become a pair of jeans and a warm blue sweater. Now, I can actually stand up and move around instead of hiding under the covers.
Alita and Kegan stand up from their spots on the floor. Alita comes over and pulls me into the hug. “Should we come with you?” she asks.
I pull back and shake my head. “No, I don’t really know what I’m doing and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Kallen raises a brow. “You do not mind if I get hurt?”
“Sometimes the truth hurts, cousin,” Kegan says. He’s obviously over being shell shocked. I think he regrets that when Kallen slugs him in the arm. Rubbing where he will probably have a bruise tomorrow, Kegan says to me, “Feel free to land my cousin in the rock.” I’d laugh if I wasn’t already afraid that might happen.
“Kallen, if you could send word to the couple who take care of the Uluru estate, I will not have to wake up Sindri.”
“Sindri can send messages with his mind, too?” I ask.
Dagda shakes his head and smiles. “No, but he is one of many Fairies who can send notes to blank pieces of paper at the receiving address. This is a common mode of communication over great distances.”
I scrunch my brow together as I think about that. “So, he make words appear on paper that is currently at your house in Uluru?”
He nods. “Correct. There are many modes of communication in this realm, as there are in your old realm. For those who cannot do things such as this, there are shops set up to do it for them, and we have a postal service.”
Hmm. I haven’t thought about this before. More proof that I didn’t think there was really any civilization outside of what I’ve seen here. Me and my preconceived ideas of things. I really need to work on this if I’m planning to live here the rest of my life. Whoa. I never thought I’d be making major life decisions like that at seventeen. Kind of scary.
Looking down at my feet, I wiggle my toes. “Think I could have some shoes? I’d hate to end up in a swamp or something barefoot.”
Kegan chuckles. “As you are going to the plains, I don’t think that will be a problem. Did they teach geography in your realm?”
I stick my tongue out at him as Kallen makes me some shoes. I’d put on my shoes that are still packed in my suitcase, but I don’t want to take anything I could lose. I’m not an airport. I’m suspecting that if I lose them, they’re gone for good. Looking up at Kallen, I ask, “Are you ready?”
I think he wants to say no. I narrow my eyes at him and with a resigned sigh, he says, “Teleport away.”
“We will be arriving late tomorrow evening, as we won’t be moving again until sunrise. The drivers will need to move slowly through this terrain we have stumbled into and will need to be able to see clearly,” Dagda says. “I am going to set the first meeting with the giants for the following morning.”
Kallen takes my hand in his and squeezes it. “I know you can do this.”
With an encouraging smile, Alita says, “It’ll be fine.”
“Xandra, do be careful,” Dagda says. “If you happen to run i
nto any Giants, you should probably let Kallen do the talking.”
What does that mean? The question must show on my face, because he adds, “Sometimes, your diplomacy is…different than what is the norm in this realm.”
Oh, good save. Still, it was just a nice way of saying I’m not diplomatic. I can be. If I try really hard. And no one’s making me mad at the time. Okay, my diplomacy sucks. “Got it, let Kallen talk for me so I don’t piss off the Giants.”
I’m debating if I should try this with my eyes open or closed. Open would be cool, seeing however this works and being alert to what is around us. On the other hand, if I land us in the middle of a rock, I don’t know if I want to see that coming. Okay, I need to stop worrying and just start teleporting. With a little wave to everyone, I close my eyes and think of landing near a big, red rock.
I know we’re somewhere else because the floor disappears and I’m suddenly on uneven ground, causing me to stumble into Kallen. I think he kept his eyes open because he doesn’t seem nearly as surprised as I am when I open my eye that we’re not next to the rock, we’re on top of it. At least, a small, low part of it. I don’t like the look on his face at the moment, at all.
“Xandra, do you remember when Dagda told you that diplomacy was not your strong suit?”
This isn’t going to turn out well. I can hear it in his voice. “Yeah.”
“Landing on a sacred rock guarded by Giants is not a great way to introduce yourself.”
Oh, crap. I carefully rotate around, watching my feet so I don’t fall down. You know, I thought I was prepared to see Giants. I wasn’t. How do you prepare yourself for seeing a living person who is literally twice as tall as you are? It’s like I’m the size of a house cat and they’re the size of great danes. On steroids. With glandular problems. And not one of the five down there are looking very happy with us.
“Um, what do we do?”
“Why don’t we start with getting down. Since climbing the Ayer’s rock is illegal, I suggest you teleport us down.”
“But, Isla said I shouldn’t expose the fact that I can do that.”
His patience is fading fast. “I believe you have already rendered that advice moot.”
He’s right, of course. This time, I keep my eyes open when I put us down on the ground. About fifty feet away from the closest Giant. If it wouldn’t have seemed too cowardly, I would have sent us far, far away from them.
It’s dark, but I can still make out that we are in a desert area. Lots of sand and some brush. And nothing between us and the five Giants. I think I felt safer on top of the rock. At least they don’t seem to be holding any type of weapon. Then again, when you’re ten or twelve feet tall, who needs weapons.
You know what the really strange thing is? They are so cute. Okay, cute is a mild word. Kallen is unbelievably hot, but these guys are a really close second. Their bodies are pretty much perfect; which I can tell because they don’t have any shirts on, just pants. They’re not like the Fairies in looks. They don’t have black hair, and I bet they don’t all have green eyes, but it’s too dark and I’m too far away to tell. They are blond, dark haired and one has red hair, I think. And each one is drop dead gorgeous. It’s like your favorite movie star is blown up to twice his dimensions. I’m pretty sure that right now, though, I should be paying much more attention to the menacing looks on their faces than how good looking they are.
“Who are you?” the largest giant asks. He’s at least twelve feet tall with shoulder length blonde hair that looks like spun silk. “How do you move about so?”
“She is Xandra, daughter of King Dagda,” Kallen says, with a lot more confidence and nonchalance in his voice than I could manage at the moment.
“The King has no daughter,” blondie says, taking a couple of steps in our direction. “I demand you tell me who you are or I will…” Oh, I don’t think I want to repeat what he just said. But I’ll give it a ten in both the creativity and the ‘I didn’t think that was physically possible but I bet you could pull it off’ categories.
I wonder how cowardly it would be to pop us back up on the rock. I don’t think they could reach us up there. That wouldn’t do much for Dagda’s cause, though, if I desecrated their sacred landmark twice in five minutes. I guess I’ll try honesty. “I am his daughter. He didn’t tell you about me because he was planning to kill me just a short time ago. We’ve worked all that out, and now I’m Princess.” Listen to my mouth rambling. Sure wish I could find the on/off switch for it.
Blondie comes forward again. There only about twenty feet between us now. If Kallen didn’t have such a tight grip on my hand, I would have made the distance fifty feet again. “Perhaps he sent you to us to finish the job for him.”
No matter how many times it happens, you never get used to perfect strangers wanting you dead. “No, I don’t think that’s it.”
“How did you move like that,” he demands. He’s shortened the distance between us again. If he laid down right now, his head would be touching our feet.
“It’s one of the weird powers I have as a Witch Fairy.” I don’t like to advertise the Angel part. No one’s supposed to know. Other than the ten or fifteen people who already do. And whoever else they’ve told. Wow, I’m really bad at keeping secrets.
“You are a Witch?” the Giant asks. Then he laughs. Not the soft pealing laugh of Angels, or the normal, human-like laugh of Fairies. Nope. Giant laughter sounds like fifty or sixty donkeys in a small room trying to stomp on a bunch of cats as they voice their displeasure at being so cramped. “Your magic will have no effect on us.”
Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of. “She is a Witch Fairy,” Kallen interjects. “A species of magical creature you have never met the likes of. Her magic is amplified to the power of a thousand.”
My boyfriend just referred to me as being part of a different species than him. A different species. Oh, we are so having a discussion about this. Right after we keep the Giants from killing us.
“One Witch or a thousand, her magic will have no effect on us.” Blondie laughs again. That laugh brings his gorgeous rating down from a ten to an eight, easily. His personality leaves a bit to be desired, as well. That brings him down to a five. I’m about to say something to that effect, when a familiar dancing light shines in front of me. I think the situation is about to go from awful to horrific.
“You better watch it, you big oaf. That’s my friend you’re talking to.”
The Giant and his friends jump back. Accusation clear in his voice, blondie says, “What is this trickery, Witch?”
“Nixie,” I say just above a whisper. “Knock it off, you’re not helping.”
“But, he’s being mean to you. And you’re way stronger than him or any of them. I know because I’ve been watching them ever since I arrived yesterday. Your mode of transportation is very slow, by the way.”
I sigh. “We had some technical difficulties.”
“Why do you speak to this light as if it is sentient? We will not be fooled by your fraudulence.”
“Oh, shut up, will you? We’re trying to have a conversation here,” Nixie snaps. Nixie is the lightness that I saved from the Shadow realm, and from exorcism. She chose to stay in this realm in the form she’s in. She misses having a body, but she’s not willing to start as a grasshopper or something to build her soul back up. So, she can be heard, but not seen. A couple of days ago, we spent hours throwing possible names out until she settled on Nixie.
“You’re not helping,” I hiss through my teeth.
“Oh, you worry too much. They’re afraid of me because they think I’m evil, look.” She dances towards them, and sure enough, the Giants jump back. I guess Isla and Dagda weren’t exaggerating about the superstition of the Giants when it comes to spirits.
“Nixie, knock it off,” Kallen says sternly.
“Fine,” she says in a pouty voice.
“Hey, how come you listen to him but not me?”
Her voice is full of humor when sh
e says, “Because I don’t want to wrap myself around your body. Just his.”
Now, I’m annoyed. “You know, it’s not too late for me to exorcise you.”
“Exorcism? What manner of evil have you brought among us?” Oops, I almost forgot about the Giants. Unbelievable, I know.
“She’s not evil. She’s just a soul remnant that has evolved to sentient status without a body.” From the looks on their faces, they seem torn between believing what I said and forgetting about their superstition enough to come over and rip my head off.
Fortunately, Nixie finally does what we said. Well, what Kallen said, anyway. She swings in a path behind us, shining on the sand until we can’t see her anymore.
What I didn’t realize, was just how much the Giant’s fear of Nixie was keeping them at bay. In what seems like a nanosecond, but was probably less, the Giants have surged upon us. Blondie picks me up by my neck, yes, my neck, just like in the movies and Fairy tales, and starts shaking me. “Who are you?” he demands.
