“I can’t see the horizon past that big wall of stone,” she said.
“Stone?” I looked up. We had been arguing too much to notice that a huge mountain face had slumbered directly into our path.
“Hang on,” called Prospexi who quickened her flight. Taking the lead once again, she turned upward towards the top of the mountain.
“Wait up,” called Justin, and he too sped ahead holding on to Emily while I followed in the rear.
Up and up we rose, but something began to happen as we climbed almost vertically in flight. I began to feel heavier and instead of zooming ahead with them, my pace slowed considerably. It was as though the air had become lighter around me and wouldn’t support my weight anymore.
“Wait up guys, I think I’m running out of flight!” I hollered.
“We’re almost there,” Prospexi called back. “Just relax and close your eyes if you must.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I felt that all too familiar sinking feeling that reminded me of drowning. As I struggled to relax, every muscle in my body tightened in uncontrollable spasms in an effort to catch myself from falling.
“Tali,” a voice whispered. I flicked my eyes open and found myself even further behind the others - alone and hardly moving. Out of fear I pinched my eyes closed again, and this time I saw him. The boy was there, in my mind as I held my eyes closed. His perfect face and crooked smile were vivid and real, and his green eyes stared back at me. “Tali,” he whispered again.
‘What do you want?’ I thought.
He smiled and I felt myself responding with a smile of my own.
“I want you to remember,” he said.
“Remember what?” I asked, but then just as before, his body began to pull away from mine. His smile faded to concern and his hand reached out towards me, but he was too far away.
“Remember what?” I called out.
Chapter Fourteen
Montis
“Remember to relax!” Prospexi hollered back.
My mind went blank; the boy was gone and my muscles seized. I kept my eyes closed, trying to shut out the lopsided feeling of falling, as I hovered awkwardly in midair.
‘Just relax,’ I told myself, taking in a deep breath, but it was difficult. My stomach wrenched and I felt like at any moment the laws of gravity would prevail and suck me back towards the ground.
“Justin! Emily! Wait up!” I hollered, “I don’t want to fall!”
I heard nothing and I wondered if they were too far ahead to hear me. ‘Did they abandon me again?’ Afraid that opening my eyes might throw me off balance and cause me to fall, I kept them shut.
“Prospexi... I’M SORRY!” I hollered in desperation.
Then I heard Emily snicker and Justin burst out laughing. Peeking through my eyelashes, I saw them standing right next to me. I glanced down to find that my feet hovered only a foot above the ground. We had made it to a large rocky opening in the mountainside.
With a sigh of relief, my exhausted body collapsed to the ground in an embarrassing tumble, causing both Emily and Justin to roar in laughter.
“You’re hilarious Tal!” said Justin.
“Yeah? Well, thrilled to be your source of entertainment,” I said dryly, picking myself up.
“My ribs hurt,” moaned Justin.
“From flying?” asked Emily.
“No, from laughing so hard!”
“Quiet!” snapped Prospexi. “The temple lies just beyond these trees. It’s there we’ll meet with Willow and the guardians, and rest before they recharge your flight.”
“And have something to eat?” asked Justin. “I’m starv...”
“Shhh!” She flew in a weaving pattern around the perimeter of the rocky opening we had landed in, as though she was checking to see if the coast was clear. The surrounding evergreens were sparse between the silvery, lichen-covered rocks and I could see that we were near the top of the mountain.
‘Could she hear something we couldn’t?’ I wondered. Keeping our eyes on the lookout, we followed her quietly around the mossy rocks and sparse evergreens. My steps felt slow and heavy compared to the speed at which we had been flying all day.
The treetops rustled from a light breeze that swept past, and a strong sweet smell drifted down on us.
“NO!” cried Prospexi.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, but she rushed out through the evergreens.
I followed quickly, running around the last few trees until I came to an open, grassy hillside generously laden with beautiful bright red flowers. I was immediately stopped in my tracks by a sickly sweet odour that swirled around me in such a thick, potent way that it burned my throat.
“It must be the flowers,” I coughed, pinching my nose.
Prospexi whizzed over the field and began to moan and cry, as though she was in pain.
“Are you okay?” I called out to her. But she only continued to moan.
“What’s wrong?” I heard Justin several yards back.
“I can’t tell,” replied Emily. “She’s angry one minute and sad the next. Seems a little bi-polar, don’t you think?”
Something wasn’t right. I started to move in the direction of the field where Prospexi had flown, when suddenly a flash of something stopped me. I tried to figure out what it was, but it was gone, as though I had been temporarily blinded by the bright flash from a camera. I turned to see if Justin or Emily had seen it, but they had fallen a fair distance behind and apparently hadn’t seen anything.
Shaking it off, I continued in my pursuit of Prospexi; she had collapsed into a patch of red flowers in the field and began to sob. Stepping through the long grass and around the smelly flowers, I found myself in the thick heavy scent and felt nauseous as it filled my nose and pushed its way down my throat. I became anxious, wanting to get away from the nauseating fetor, but was blinded by another sudden flash. This one left a vague impression of an image in my mind and I recognized the scaly skin of a fire demon’s grimacing face. I gasped for fresh air, swaying uneasy through the flowers as image upon horrible image of demons attacking burned into my head.
‘What is happening?’ I wondered, feeling dizzy from the intense smell. ‘Are the flowers making me hallucinate?’
Plugging my nose, I bent down to get a better look at one of the smelly culprits. Its stem was tall and delicate with two translucent leaves drooping down on either side. The flower’s black centre was surrounded by a contrast of bright red petals. Reaching out, I touched one and instantly a vision flashed before me.
A battle encompassed me. I was in the air surrounded by fire demons who were waging war against me. Searing pain pierced my body and I turned to see a fire demon’s claws rip through my side.
“NO!” I heard Prospexi holler, knocking my hand off the flower, and instantly the vision was gone.
“What happened?” I gasped, still reeling from the intensity of what I had seen and felt.
“Don’t EVER pick one of these flowers!” She said, looking sternly at me. “And keep your clumsy feet from crushing them!”
“But I was just looking at it,” I stammered, “and I saw a fire demon attack!”
“If you were just looking at it, you wouldn’t have seen what you saw.”
“But what happened to me then? Is it because I touched it?”
“It’s a fanatic residual,” she said, leaping back into the air. “They were attacked by Ludo’s army.”
“Who was attacked?” I hollered after her, but she ignored me and put more distance between us.
“Don’t touch them!” she turned and pointing to all three of us clarified, “That goes for all of you!” She flew off towards a rock cliff that jutted up from the mountainside only a few hundred feet ahead.
“Maybe she’s obsessive compulsive,” said Emily.
“I think they call it eccentric,�
� said Justin coming up beside me. “What happened to you?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I saw some sort of vision. I think it has something to do with the flowers.”
“Man, they reek!” he said squeezing his nose.
“I know. It’s making me sick.” Emily plugged her nose too.
I could practically taste the sick smell that saturated us even with our noses plugged. We struggled to follow Prospexi through the crowding flowers, but somehow we managed not to touch any of them. Drawing closer, I could see that the temple gate was cleverly built into the side of the mountain and had a large stone threshold and two great granite pillars gracing each side of the entrance. Prospexi was just outside the gate and was talking to someone.
“Quickly!” She saw me and waved for me to come closer. “Help me get her to the grass.”
I ran carefully towards her to find a white-haired faery lying on the stone threshold next to Prospexi. The faery’s eyes were closed and her body motionless. She was bruised and badly beaten and looked scarcely alive.
My mind raced through the CPR and life saving techniques I had learned a few summers ago at a special fundraising weekend for kids with heart disease, but she was far too small and I was at a loss as to how I could do anything beneficial.
“Please!” Prospexi pleaded, “I don’t have enough flight to carry her, and she doesn’t have much time. Take her to the grass!”
Setting aside the fact that I didn’t understand how the grass would help, I knelt beside the fragile faery, and cupped my hands around her. It pained me to see her so badly hurt.
“I’m sorry,” I said, not knowing why I said it. It wasn’t as though I had done this to her; perhaps I was just sorry that I couldn’t do anything to make her better. Then in the gentlest way I could, I lifted her limp body off the stone and carried her to the grass.
She groaned and her tired violet eyes opened and looked into mine. She reached out and placed her hand on my thumb and instantly I was ripped away into a vision:
I’m in a room where the hazy outline of a face slowly comes into focus. It’s the boy! It’s the merboy! But he isn’t in water. I don’t understand, but I continue to watch the vision unfold.
“Ah! Come!” He strides towards me wearing a suit and having legs. “You are a trusted friend Willow Moon,” he says. His voice is smooth and confident. “Your father Cory Phaeus should be proud. The time of the Myth draws near, and I have called you to seek out the Troth and guard it.”
“Where shall I begin to look for it?”
“Find the Myth and you will find the Troth.”
“But no one knows who the Myth is, so how will I know when I’ve found her?”
“She has been a mystery for many moons, but a day is coming when the sun will rise red in the east, and she will be made known. Take these instructions I have written for you, and study the prophesies that have been handed down to you and your kind.” I look down at the folded piece of paper he holds out and a small pale hand not my own reaches out to take it. “Be patient, wise and trust your instincts, for they are better then you realize. You must find her, for she will have the Troth you seek. Remain with her until she is safely hidden. Then take the Troth and hide it well. Willow...” he paused, looking concerned. “It is with trepidation that I send you to hide the Troth, for it comes as a great burden. Be selective in the guardians you choose, and show nothing of this letter or the Troth’s whereabouts to Valen. His eyes are not his own now and he must not see what we would keep hidden from Ludo.”
“What if Ludo finds out we have it?” I heard her soft voice ask.
“Remember, the future is written without error, and the seal that binds her destiny can only be opened,” he leaned in towards me and whispered, “by her.”
The room slipped from sight and I found myself flying over the white sails of a tall ship, where a red sun rose over the sea’s horizon.
“Fire!” I hear Willow’s voice call out, and a screen of arrows litter the air. Ash falls from the sky like rain, staining the white sails, and the scene flickers to yet another.
I’m outside the temple, right here on the mountainside soaring through the smoke-filled sky. I turn back to see several demons close on my heels. I hold a thorn in my hand and am flying in fast towards one of the beasts. He swerves, but I lance the side of his scaly black ribcage.
“Acksssssss!” he hisses as he flails downward, disintegrating to ash.
‘WHAM!’ I am hit from the side and slam down hard against the stone entrance of the temple. My battered body aches, and I look up to see another demon charge towards me, but I can’t stand. My legs won’t move. I flinch, knowing the pain I’ll feel when the demon’s sharp claws sear into me. Another demon comes out of nowhere, his thorn sword posed for attack. But rather than assail me, he pounces on the incoming demon, slicing him open from front to back. The injured beast squeals in pain and crumbles to ash before me. The victor glances my way and slinks back into the dark shadows of the temple.
Looking out towards the grassy entrance, I watch as injured faeries fall in the field all around me, flooding the land like a river of blood. My heart wrenches with sorrow and my vision blurs as I cry out in pain, but it isn’t my voice, it is hers. The faery I only know through this vision. The faery named Willow Moon.
“Save me Queen!” I hear a raspy voice call out from behind and I turn to watch a woman exit the temple with several demons at her side. I can’t see her face, as my body is weak and my head too heavy to lift, but I watch an injured demon on the ground hold up his scaly claw towards her. “Save me!” he says again, as she strides out past him.
“Die fool!” she snarls and instantly, as though her words are a command, he crumbles to ash at her feet. The demons around her shake with fear, as they submissively follow her across the threshold floor towards me and exit the gate. I watch her from behind, with my head pressed heavy against the floor.
She holds in her arms a thick book and she is close enough that I hear her hissing as she speaks.
“Where is Ignis Satus?” she snarls.
“I do not know my Queen. We have lost a great many today and...”
“SSSILENCE!” she hisses. “Do you not think I see what has happened here? And STOP SLOUCHING or I’ll see to it that you will not return with us either!” she commanded.
“Yesss my Queen,” he quickly answered.
“LISTEN, ALL YE FRIENDS OF THE QUEEN THAT REMAIN STANDING BEFORE ME!” her voice bellowed out. “BEHOLD!” She raised the book up above her. “It is I that wield the Troth now! If you are not for me, you are against me!”
Leaping into the air, Ludo pummels the temple with a surge of energy, and my broken body shakes as all those on the ground crumble to their knees. Injured demons explode into dust, while the remaining few survivors gather themselves and follow her into the air. My vision blurs and all fades to black.
I opened my eyes and found myself on the grass beside Willow. Her eyes were closed and her body lifeless.
“Until we meet again dear sister,” said Prospexi, as she bent down and kissed her on her forehead.
Then something strange began to happen. A trickle of brown spread up over Willow’s toes as they began to change and stretch out long, biting into the thick grass, like worms hiding from a robin. The mutation continued up her feet and ankles, gnarling her colourful scales into a dark substance. Her body slowly became rigid as the change overtook her legs, forcing her to stand erect and her feet buried deep into the earth. As the transformation passed through her middle the brown became green and her arms that slumped down at her side melded as one into her body. Her green torso stretched up long and thin, as it spread across her wings, dissolving their vibrant colours into thin, translucent leaves that slumped sadly by her side. Then continuing up her neck, red petals sprouted forth over her long white pin-feathered hair, surrounding her face. He
r mouth sputtered open, releasing a small breath, further adding to the sick smell of death that hovered heavily over us. Then her face disappeared into the flower’s black centre.
She had become a flower, like all the others that covered the field and I finally understood why Prospexi had been so protective over them, and at the same time devastated by the sight of them.
“A battle has been waged here,” said Prospexi. “And many faeries have fallen.”
“You mean, each one of these flowers is a... a dead faery?” Emily stuttered to find the right words.
“Don’t speak of their death, when life clings on only by a hope!” said Prospexi. “Your words could become actions choking out what fragile life they still have. They rest now and wait for a new day to dawn when they’ll awake and be reunited with their families.”
Prospexi wiped her face of tears and flew up out of the grass. “We must remain hopeful, for hope is their sun and our resolve is their water. They are hardy flowers and even a good frost or snow won’t harm them, but greater than the hand that did this to them is despair, for despair is the weed that can choke out all life.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, and for the first time I really felt it.
“What do you think happened?” asked Justin.
“I saw it,” I said. “When she touched me, I saw the demons attack.”
Prospexi nodded. “It’s called a nudge and is similar to the fanatic residual you experienced earlier, although a nudge is given with purpose by one still awake. Consider it an honour,” she said. “For it’s rarely given outside of a close friend or family member, but she must have been delirious from her injuries.”
“What happened?” asked Justin. “Was it Ludo who attacked?”
“There were so many of them!” I sighed. “They attacked the guardians and there was a woman. I can’t say for sure whether it was Ludo, but they called her Queen.”
“Then it is Ludo you saw,” said Prospexi.
“She has the book,” I said.
Prospexi flicked her gaze towards me. “The Troth?”
Myth Page 16
