I shook my head as I used my pullover sleeves as a handkerchief for my snot. “I just can’t believe that it all ended this way. I guess this means I’m dead too.”
“You’re not dead though.”
I turned to look at him. “What?”
“I said you’re not dead. Amicus Tarr didn’t destroy your body like he did mine, he simply opened a conduit to the dead lands and thrust you into it.”
“I-I’m not dead? How can you be sure?”
Ray took a few steps in front of me as he moved around back and forth to illustrate his point. “Look at me: I’m partly transparent and there’s this green glow around me. You on the other hand still have a full body and you can even cry and spit mucous all over the place.”
“My shoes and feet are pretty wet too. I think I’ll probably catch a cold and die if this keeps up.”
“You’re lucky then. I don’t even feel my body at all.”
I sighed. “I may be alive now but I’ll probably be dead soon enough. Then I could probably join my parents and all my troubles will be over.”
“I don’t think your parents are dead.”
“What?”
“I said I don’t think they’re dead!”
“I heard you, what makes you think that? Did you hear from them?”
Ray looked down at the marshy ground. “I didn’t hear from them but I did hear from my own parents. They mentioned the ones who died that they knew but they didn’t bother to name your parents or you or your sister so that’s why I think they’re all still alive.”
I felt re-energized and I wanted to jump up in the air. “That’s great news, Ray! Thank you!” And then I realized something else. “But since you heard from your parents does this mean that they too…”
“Are dead? Yes, I would think so.”
I remembered Mrs. Lin and her great cooking. Ray’s mum and dad were always nice to me. “B-but how?”
“We were already in our car and about to follow the military transports but then those Fomorians attacked us from everywhere. Some giant smashed into the car’s windscreen and I think my dad was killed instantly. My mum screamed at me to get out and so I did but when I turned I saw that she was trapped in the front seat. I looked away and ran back towards the house and I heard her cries but I didn’t look back. It still bothers me now that I didn’t even turn around and try to rescue her.”
I tried to place a reassuring arm on Ray’s shoulder but my hand just went right through his ghostly form. “I’m sorry, Ray. I’m sure she wanted you to get to safety so there’s no shame in what you did.”
“If I could cry I would,” Ray said. “But it seems I just have no feelings at all in a body like this.”
“How did you end up contacting your parents?”
“Not long after my essence was placed in the bottle I heard my parents calling out to me. I tried as hard as I could and was able to acknowledge them and they were able to give me some information as to who had died and about the dead lands.”
“Well, at least you were able to talk to them again. But if all three of you are dead then how come you’re here with me now and your parents aren’t?”
“I think it’s something the wizard did,” Ray said. “He didn’t kill me outright unlike the Fomorians; he somehow distilled my essence and placed it in the bottle. And it may also be because of you.”
“Because of me? How?”
“You were transported to the land of the dead in a physical manner and you brought along the bottle containing my essence. I’m not quite sure how it all works but you somehow released me here and now I can wander to other places of my own free will.”
I smiled. “Then there is hope for you yet, Ray! If you’re not dead the way that the others are then maybe there’s a chance you can still be brought back to life!”
He just shrugged. “Anything’s possible I guess but I doubt it.”
I was feeling giddy now. “Chin up, Ray! If there’s a chance then we need to get to it right away.”
“I’ve never seen you this animated before, Steve. Or even this optimistic about things.”
“Thanks to your talk, you’ve given me hope. It’s the best news I’ve had in a long time and I think it’s exactly what I needed. I-I have to admit that I’ve always looked up to your guidance, Ray. I should have complimented you about this before and I’m sorry it took so long.”
“Well it seems we had to wait until I was dead to hear your words of praise about me but thanks anyway.”
“Don’t be cheeky, Ray.”
“Right, so what are you planning to do from here on then?”
“That bloody wizard Amicus has got my sister and her boyfriend in some sort of death sleep. I need to free them from it and get them out of that place.”
“Amicus Tarr seems to have become quite powerful. It’s going to be hard to defeat him.”
“I need your guidance, Ray. How do we beat that wizard? If you can get me over there can you use your ghost powers to destroy him or something like that?”
Ray sighed. “You’ve got three problems, Steve. The first is that I’m sort of non-corporeal which means that I have no physical form so that means I can’t help you at all. The second problem is that Amicus Tarr has that black scrying mirror which he is able to use as a weapon and that makes him unbeatable. And third and most importantly, you’re currently stuck here in the land of the dead. How are you even going to get back to Earth?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I was hoping you’d help me out on this, Ray. I’ve walked for hours and it seems that I’m going nowhere. Either I’m walking in circles or this massive bog is endless.”
Ray thought about it briefly before answering. “I think it may be a combination of both. This place, this spirit world seems to be tied in with your thoughts. You can travel to other parts of this world if you concentrate hard enough; if you fall into despair you’ll be wandering this place forever.”
I scratched the top of my head. “How do you know all of that?”
“I talked with other spirits while I was in the bottle,” Ray said. “Time seems to be different for me. Past, present and future are all one. I seem to remember guiding you into a forest of massive trees set in another part of the Otherworld. I feel that this hasn’t happened yet though it seems I remember it as if it happened yesterday. It’s all very confusing right now.”
”So you can sort of see into the future then?”
“I can see into a number of possible futures would be the better statement. It all just seems to depend on choices. For example I can see you deciding to give it all up and the bog just swallows you beneath its black waters and you join the damned souls in there and—”
I quickly put my hands over my ears. “Stop, it’s horrible! Don’t tell me any of that!”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Can’t you tell me a good outcome instead so I can just follow it up? You know, like a cheat in a videogame.”
“Sorry, but it’s all pretty overwhelming. It’s like watching hundreds of versions of the same movie all at once and each one has a different middle and a different ending. If I tell you about each one then we’ll be here forever because the versions change endlessly.”
“Alright, I understand,” I said. “So if I can narrow this down to one specific question at a time, will it be more manageable for you that way?”
Ray smiled and he nodded. “Yes! I think you’ve got the right idea, Steve.”
“Alright, what do these dead lands consist of?”
“Okay, I think we could probably call this part of the dead lands the Bogs of Despair or Purgatory or something like that. It’s where the souls go when they have no idea what to do next.”
“Right. Well I definitely have an idea as to what I’m supposed to be doing so I shouldn’t be here.”
“And that idea is?”
I glared at him. “To get back to Earth and rescue my sister and her boyfriend, you knobhead!”
“Oh right, sorr
y. I’m getting overwhelmed by all the roads that lead ahead.”
“Anyway, back to my saga,” I said. “From here, where can I travel to which would lead me back to London quickly, please?”
“Let me see,” Ray said as he paused for a bit. “Right, from here you will need some sort of mythical relic that can enable you to travel on your own without having to rely on anyone else. I think that would be your best bet.”
“And that relic would that be?”
“Well there are a number of them out there. The Caduceus, which is a magical staff wielded by Hermes, will enable you to travel anywhere but you’d have to steal it from him and that might not be a very good idea…”
“Right, tell me another then.”
“Dionysus is another Greek god with a magical staff called a thyrsus and he would probably give it to you but I wouldn’t recommend it either because using it will drive you utterly mad in the end.”
“No, no cursed items for me—just make it a level one hundred magic weapon, if you please,” I said before an idea popped up in my head. “Oh, how about Excalibur? King Arthur’s dead, isn’t he? Perhaps his mighty, magical sword is looking for a new owner?”
“Excalibur doesn’t let you travel between worlds, you moron. Plus it’s guarded by a very powerful water spirit; you might end up dead if you attempt to take—”
“Shut it! What else is out there that you know about and that we can get to?”
“Oh, I got it! The silver branch!”
“What’s that then?”
“It’s from the old Irish and Welsh legends about a magical island in which silvery apple trees grow and where nobody dies. Before going into the Otherworld a person needed to take a small branch and he needed to carry it with him in order to make the journey from one world to another safely.”
“Right then, how do I go about getting one of those silver branches?”
“That’s the hard part.”
I took in a deep breath. “I knew you were going to say that. Out with it then.”
“The closest tree is in the realm of the Sidhe, a very dangerous race of faeries. They may be outwardly charming to you at first but you mustn’t anger them or appear rude or else they will turn on you and you’ll either end up cursed or ripped into a million pieces. And for God’s sake don’t make any sort of bargains with them or they will use it to their advantage.”
“So I just mind my manners and strike no bargains. That seems straightforward enough.”
“You will need to be very careful; those faeries will try to trick you and this could all end very badly.”
“Do they have any sort of weaknesses?”
“From what I’ve heard perhaps some bread could offer a sort of magical protection against them if they should choose to harm you.”
“Right then, is there a corner shop nearby that we buy a loaf of bread at?”
“Stop being cheeky. It’s a pity you don’t have any bread on you. I guess this just means you’ll have to take your chances and be very careful about it is all.”
I just shrugged. “Well, nothing’s ever easy these days. How do we get to these faerie lands then?”
Ray pointed out to nowhere in particular. “Just start walking in any direction and concentrate.”
I began going forward, careful not to step into any bog pools ahead of me. “Concentrate on what?”
Ray seemed to float just beside me. I envied him in that he didn’t seem to put any effort into moving. “The faerie realm is essentially a well-lighted forest and if you concentrate on the path ahead of you, you’ll soon notice that the way in front will start to change,” he said.
As I kept walking the mists ahead of me began to dissipate. My feet were soon treading on dry ground as the grass underneath them became greener and firmer. Soon I was surrounded by huge trees and undergrowth in all directions. The massively tall trunks seemed to reach out into the distant night sky that was full of stars. Small orbs of light danced all around and illuminated the forest like giant fireflies.
It had taken less than five minutes of walking but I soon realized that I had left the Bogs of Despair and I was journeying now into the realm of the faeries.
Chapter 7
Whereas the previous realm held nothing more than a cold, howling wind that chilled my very bones, the world that the faeries inhabited seemed much more agreeable; I could hear distant laughter and the ringing of tiny bells out in the distance. The scents from a multitude of flowers reminded me of the time when I accompanied my mum into a perfume shop and I smelled over a hundred different scents, all of them inviting in some way or another. Unlike the gnarled and withered stumps of the bog world, the faerie trees were strong and fully alive and all sorts of fruits blossomed from stout branches filled with leaves. I had never seen so many variations of the color green before in my entire life.
As I turned to look at Ray he seemed almost real; his form seemed to have coalesced to the point where I was seeing him in full flesh and blood. His body was no longer transparent and it looked like he was back to normal as he walked along the forest path beside me. The only thing that still gave it away was his slight greenish glow.
I grinned. “Ray, you look…better.”
Ray looked down at his chest. “Yes, it seems that I’m not made of smoke anymore.”
As I placed my hand on his shoulder it once again went right through him. Although he seemed more real than in the previous world, his body was still an illusion. It was like walking with a three-dimensional hologram. “Sorry about that,” I said.
Ray only noticed my hand when it went through his head as I waved it back and forth to try to find something solid. “Hey, watch it!” he said.
I pulled my hand back. “I’m sorry, did that hurt?”
“No, but it was a bit strange seeing your hand go through my body as if it wasn’t even there.”
“Yes, it’s weird. It’s like you’re a computer graphic projection now. Seems the only thing that’s stopping you from fully coming back to life is a lack of substance,” I said.
“’Tis but a glamour, my young friends. That is the way of our realm,” a voice from behind us said.
We both quickly turned around. Sitting on a small boulder was a creature that was the size of a small dog. He looked like a man, only he was squat and had a very long beard that stretched down to his knees. His clothes seemed medieval, as if he’d just stepped out of a costumed play. As he smiled at us with gnarly yellow teeth, he took a puff from a long wooden pipe.
Knowing that I needed to be on my best behavior, I bowed slightly to him and smiled. “Greetings, sir. I’m Steve from London and this is my friend Ray.”
The little man leapt off the boulder as he took his hat off and bowed in return. “And I am Rumplestiltskin, a Korrigan from these parts.”
My eyes widened. “Are you really Rumplestiltskin?”
The little man nearly convulsed in laughter. “Nay, actually I have a different name but it is quite fun when one of you calls me by that since that is the only moniker for a dwarf ye all know.”
“My apologies then, sir,” I said. “I am quite new to these parts so your names are not familiar to me.”
“Right ye are, boy,” the dwarf said. “I go by so many names that in fact I have forgotten my original one! Nowadays everyone just calls me Tock.”
“Please to meet you, Tock,” I said. “Might I inquire as to where we are now?”
Tock put his hat back on as he walked up in front of us. “Ye are now in the realm of the Sidhe, otherwise known as the Eternal Forest, or more popularly called the Faerie Realm.”
“Quite a lot of names,” Ray said.
“Oh there are a lot more names to this place than what I just told ye,” Tock said. “An infinite array, in fact. But let us not bore each other with name calling; there is a feast to attend to!”
The dwarf beckoned us to follow him and we did. Soon the path in front of us had widened into a clearing of sorts and in the cente
r of it was a copse of silver trees that were so massive I couldn’t see their tops. All around the trees were numerous creatures, some smaller than us and others bigger. There were also tiny faeries that flew about on dragonfly wings and they glowed brightly like miniature suns. The sounds of revelry as well as of flutes and drums were all around us.
Ray quickened his pace until he was beside Tock. “Looks like we stumbled into some sort of party; what’s the occasion?”
Tock ran ahead and then suddenly turned and jumped up and down in front of us like some sort of cheerleader. “We faeries always have revelry! We’ve been feasting since the dawn of eternity!”
I was about to call them all bloody mental but I kept my mouth shut and remembered that I needed to behave or else we would both be in very big trouble. Just as I was about to ask another question I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I quickly turned around and came face to face with an extremely beautiful young woman. She had silvery hair that glowed and the white gown that she wore was as clean as my mother’s freshly laundered sheets. I couldn’t tell how old she was but she looked to be around Amy’s age.
She took her hand off my shoulder, stepped back a bit, and then curtsied. “Greetings, young lad. I am Charissa, princess of the Sidhe. I bid you welcome to our abode.”
I bowed slightly in return. “I’m honored to meet you, ma’am, I am Steve from—”
Her laugh interrupted me. “Steve from London and your spirit friend, Raymond. Yes, I know. Word travels fast here and now you have been invited to dine as our guests. My father the Erlking will be back soon and he is looking forward to meeting you both.”
“I-I thank you for the invitation, Princess Charissa. It’s an honor to be invited as a guest of your court,” I said, hoping that I told her the right words.
“Then ’tis settled,” Charissa said as she giggled with delight. “In the meantime you might like to rest a bit and perhaps get out of those damp clothes. I would like to offer you my personal chambers, Steve.”
Ray got close to my ear. “Better to play along. Since I don’t need rest or a change of clothes I’ll hang around Tock and see what I can learn. Let’s meet up again when the feast commences,” he whispered.
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