Empyrean: Return of the Fire Faery

by Twyla Turner

  All our focus moved from the teacher to the classroom door as Principal Miller walked into the room and began to speak to our math teacher. Two men in suits stood just inside of the doorway. I watched as one pushed his jacket back and placed his hands on his hips. A shiny, golden badge winked at me. Cops…

  Oh God, I hope they’re not here for me! I can’t handle one more thing, I thought as I continued to swallow to dislodge the growing lump in my throat as images of Mina danced before my eyes.

  Mrs. Morales nodded her head resolutely, and they both glance up at Hailey and her group of friends.

  “Hailey, Shauna, Tess, and Kate. I need you to come with me,” the Principal said sternly.

  “Why?” Hailey asked in exasperation as the other girls stood up without hesitation.

  “Don’t question me, just get up and let’s go.” Principal Miller said clearly on the verge of exploding, though Hailey dimly didn’t pick up on it.

  “It was just a joke. It’s not like we knew she’d take us seriously.” Hailey jumped on the defensive, her eyes darting over to the two detectives.

  I, along with many of the other students quickly realized what was going on. Everyone looked on at the exchange with wide eyes and mouths gaping open in shock.

  “Get your stuff and get to my office…NOW!” Principal Miller exploded on the last word. With trembling hands, Hailey gathered her books and headed towards the door with the other girls. All of them with their heads hanging low.

  I wasn’t exactly sure what happened since I hadn’t been at school in two weeks. I’d also been avoiding social media like a recovering alcoholic avoids the liquor store. I hadn’t wanted to know if the video of the locker room brawl had gone viral. So my ears pricked when I heard the girl in front of me telling the boy across the aisle what happened.

  “Hailey thought it would be funny to post pics online that they’d taken of Mina dressing for gym class. Then she had everyone rate Mina and post comments about her body and stuff. They were all telling her that she should go kill herself.” The girl said and then looked down sadly before continuing. “I guess she listened.”

  I practically choked on the knot that was still wedged in my throat. Once again, Hailey’s cruelty and harsh words caused the destruction of someone’s life. Awful memories flooded my mind, and it took every ounce of strength I had to stay in my seat throughout the rest geometry class. I couldn’t even hear what Mrs. Morales was saying. All I wanted to do was to run sobbing from the room.

  I didn’t do enough. Not for Mina. Not for my mom, my thoughts continued to harangue me.

  When the bell rang, finally releasing us from our seats, I shoved my way out of the classroom. It felt as if the walls were closing in on me and all I could think about was getting to one place. My favorite place. The last place my world had been perfect. The last time it had made sense. Red Rock State Park.

  Our park.

  I walked straight out of the classroom, down the hall, and to the front doors of the school. If anyone called out my name or tried to stop me, I didn’t hear it. All I heard was the laughter of my parents as they relaxed on the sun-warmed red rocks next to the babbling creek rushing by.

  The state park was only minutes away by car, but since I didn’t have a car, I walked the hour and forty-five minutes to our sanctuary. A spot that I tried to get to as often as possible. I didn’t care that I skipped the rest of school. I didn’t care if my foster parents would throw a fit or if I was tossed out of school for good. All I knew was that I needed to get to the park as if something was pulling me there.

  My father had loved Sedona. It was known to be a spiritual place. Many people said that there were vortexes in different spots throughout the mountains. Some were meant for good, others, not so much. My father always told me that the area was much more special than that. He’d told me it was almost mythical. I used to just smile and roll my eyes at him when he got that usual faraway look in his amber eyes. Eyes like mine.

  I’d gotten my soft feminine features from my mother, but my coloring and fiery temperament to match, I got from my dad. He too was a black redhead and passed the rare gene onto me. Once I’d asked why we looked so different from everyone else, including my mom with her chocolate skin, warm brown eyes and jet black hair. To which, he’d leaned in and whispered, “Because we’re otherworldly.” Then he’d grin and waggle his auburn eyebrows, making me laugh. He never explained what otherworldly meant but at the time, I just figured it was because we were special. When I’d gotten older, I realized he’d just said it to make me feel better and like less of a freak.

  ~~~

  I shuffled the last few steps to our favorite family spot. My heart, mind, and body were weary after the long trek. As I took in the sight of the colossal red mountains with their flat plateaus, the green trees and plants sprouting up in between, and the rushing water of the creek, I tried to understand how a place so beautiful could exist in a world that was so ugly. The warm spring breeze felt cold as it caressed my cheeks. I raised my hands and wiped away tears I hadn’t even felt run down my cheeks.

  I raised my face up to the morning sun, letting it warm my cold, wet skin. “I miss them so m-much,” my voice cracked on the last word and a loud sob burst through my lips. “I’m s-so sorry, Mina. I wish I c-could have d-done m-more to protect you.”

  I sank down to the rock floor and sat cross-legged near the water’s edge. I rested my elbows on my thighs and buried my face in my hands. I let the memories flood my thoughts, and my tears flowed freely as my visions of the past came to me. Visions I normally tried to block out just to keep my sanity. But the death of my classmate brought them all up like bile.

  My father, Vance Ferris had been a tough guy, a General in the United States Army. But once he was around his family, me especially, his soft side emerged. He became fanciful, giving me free range to be creative and draw pictures of the stories he told. He tried to keep the dangers of the outside world at bay, though he made sure I’d be prepared just in case the evils of the world around us ever reached me. He taught me how to fight. How to defend myself, if I ever got into trouble. And lately, I’d been using that skill a little too freely and not necessarily what he intended them for. Principal Miller had been right, my dad would be so disappointed in me.

  My mother, Kyra doted on us. My dad and I were her world. Which was why my mother’s world fell apart when my dad was killed in a mass shooting as he tried to protect others. My mom had fallen into a deep depression when the love of her life died. She could barely keep it together long enough to care for me. Not that I had taken the death of my father very well either.

  To keep the pain manageable, my mom took anti-depressants. I hated it because they took away her ability to feel anything. It was like she was a zombie. I had become worried that my mom was taking too many and was hooked on the pills, needing them to complete normal daily functions. I had confided in Hailey about it and then she’d taken my words and spun them around and made it sound like my mom had a drug problem and the rumor spread like wildfire in the small town.

  Child Protective Services came and placed me in foster care temporarily while they evaluated the situation. My mom couldn’t cope with losing my dad and me within a six month period, and her heart just gave out. The doctors couldn’t medically figure out how she’d died, so they said it was unknown natural causes. I knew it was from a broken heart, but somehow, even with the doctors saying that there were no signs of any lethal amount of drugs in my mom’s system. The whole town still believed that she died of a drug overdose, based on Hailey’s original lie. Now, a year later, people were still talking about it. Some said it was prescription drugs, others said heroin, and some thought it was meth. And no matter how many times I denied the rumors, everyone believed what they wanted to believe. I couldn’t even grieve in peace without hearing the callous whispers as I walked by.

  My life quickly changed from the warmth and security of my parents’ arms to being shoved hard into the har
sh reality of the world around me. It seemed like it was everywhere I turned. All I had to do was log onto any of my social media pages and see another mass shooting that claimed more lives like my father’s, more fight videos going viral, bullying and cruel memes spreading through computers, tablets, and cell phones like a disease. The world had gone crazy, and without my parents as a buffer, I felt like I was going insane right along with it.

  “I d-don’t wanna b-be here anymore. B-But I have no-nowhere to g-go,” I stuttered out, heartbreakingly. My words muffled against my palms, as tears streamed down my hands and arms.

  “Come…Come with us.”

  My tears subsided slightly when I heard the faint but garbled feminine voices. I turned my head to the side and listened for a moment, but heard nothing else. I brushed it off as nothing and the tears started anew once more. Sorrow for the death of my shy classmate and my parents practically drowned me. I wiped at my face a few times and then gave up since the tears wouldn’t stop.

  “Where do I belong without you guys?” I asked my parents, wishing for all the world that they could answer me. I knew there would be no answer, but the silence still ripped my insides in half. I folded my arms across my stomach and pressed hard, trying to hold myself together. “I belong nowhere.”

  “Here… You belong here.”

  That time, I definitely heard the voices. I quickly wiped at my face and eyes, clearing my vision. I looked around in every direction but saw no one. A chill ran down my spine.

  “Who’s there?” I called out.

  No one answered, yet I could feel someone watching me.

  “Hello!?” I tried again.

  And again, I was met with silence. Even the sounds of the wilderness around me seemed to quiet as if someone had turned down the volume. My eyes darted around, looking for any signs of life when they landed on the sparkling surface of the water. It was as if the sun was shining down on one spot, yet when I looked up, the sun was covered by a large fluffy white cloud.

  Where in the world is the light coming from? I frowned in confusion as I thought to myself.

  “Come…” the voices said again as the sparkling light started to move upstream.

  My eyes widened in disbelief. I quickly stood up and watched as the light moved further away. For whatever reason unknown to me, my feet began to move in the direction the glimmering light on the water was headed.

  I must be batshit crazy to be following voices coming from sparkly water! Even though my brain told me to stop, my feet continued to follow.

  I looked back and forth between the moving light and the uneven ground I was hopping over as I swiftly made my way upstream. As the terrain became a little steeper in spots, I used my hands and feet to climb up the red rock face. I cleared one of the steeper rises and out of breath, I panted harshly. I froze in place as I absorbed the vision in front of me.

  A stunning waterfall cascaded down the red-rock from above, into a clear turquoise pool. Of all the times my parents and I had come to the state park, I had never seen this little hidden gem. It was almost as if it had appeared out of nowhere. And right in the middle of the blue pool was the ethereal glittering light.

  “Come…come with us. This is where you belong.” The garbled voices began again as the light on the water’s surface moved slowly towards me. Something told me that I shouldn’t be scared, but the logical part of my brain made me take a few steps back, my muscles coiled. Ready to run. “No! Don’t go. We need you.”

  “Me? What would you need me for? And why am I talking to water?” I shook my head. “I must be outta my freakin’ mind.”

  Curiosity won out, over self-preservation. I stepped closer to the edge of the rock as the light moved to the water’s edge. I leaned forward and peeked into the water. The sparkling glow of the water suddenly burst out a blinding light, and I flinched back, squeezing my eyes shut.

  Something grabbed at me, but I couldn’t see what because of the harsh light. I screamed as I was pulled off of my feet. My screech was cut short as I plunged head first into the water. I vaguely registered that the water was strangely warm for the early spring weather, though I was too busy flailing frantically to focus much attention on the temperature of the water. I was being pulled further down into the depths of the turquoise water. Then my body suddenly spun and twirled, or maybe it was the earth around me that spun. I couldn’t tell as I tumbled further down.

  Only moments later, I was pushed out of the water, and I rolled sputtering onto dry ground. I laid coughing on the now sodden ground, my cheek pressed against warm earth. My fingers clutched at the grass I was sprawled upon when I realized there hadn’t been any grass anywhere near the red rocks and rushing creek.

  I pushed up onto my elbows and swiped my sopping wet curls off of my face. The grass that I laid on was the most vibrant green I’d ever seen in my life. I turned to look at the pool of water and found that it had miraculously turned into what looked like a cove that flowed into a channel that led out to an endless ocean. The water was so crystal blue, it almost looked unnatural.

  “What are you?” A masculine voice asked from behind me. I whipped around, and my mouth literally fell open as if I was a cartoon character. I blinked several times and then rubbed the heels of my hands into my eyes. When I pulled my hands away, and the same image greeted me, I scrambled back a few feet.

  I couldn’t even find my voice to reply. For standing near the water’s edge, only a few feet from me was a rather large jet black horse. His coat practically gleamed with perfection. His ebony tail was long and nearly touched the ground. Long black hair around the bottom of each leg, draped elegantly over silver hooves. And his wavy black mane hung long to one side and then fell between his ears and almost over his eyes. But the one thing that stuck out the most, literally and figuratively, was the single spiraling silver horn that ended in a sharp point stuck smack dab in the middle of his forehead.

  As if that wasn’t enough, his lips and mouth moved and the same masculine voice I’d heard before, came out. “You’re not a faery. Not even an elf. And definitely not a dwarf. So what are you?”

  I just blinked at him. My mind completely blank.

  “Does your kind, whatever you are, not speak?” His voice was very proper, almost British-sounding.

  My mouth flapped open and closed like a fish out of water. “I-I s-speak,” I stuttered. Dear God, I’m talking to a horse!

  “Then what are you?” He asked again.

  “I’m hu-human,” I blurted out.

  “Hmm…I’ve never seen a human up close before,” he said as he looked at me thoughtfully.

  “A-And what are y-you?” I wanted him to say it first, just to make sure I wasn’t completely out of my mind. A little late for that. You’ve already lost it.

  “Don’t be silly. Isn’t it obvious? I’m a unicorn,” he said proudly.

  “B-But…uh…unicorns don’t exist.” I tried to rationalize. At least not outside of my drawings. And he literally looks like he’d stepped off the page of one of my recent drawings.

  “Then how, exactly do you explain talking to one at this very moment?” He asked, cocking his head to the side. The lustrous black hair fell over one large eye.

  “I’m dreaming,” I said logically. “Or dead.”

  “Nope. Neither, I’m afraid.” His expression actually looked sympathetic.

  How does a horse…correction…a unicorn look sympathetic?

  “W-Well, if this isn’t a dream and I’m not dead, how did I get here? And where exactly is here?” I asked as I slowly got up from my spot in the grass, afraid if I moved to fast the unicorn would attack me.

  As I stood, my black combat boots, black holey skinny jeans, black hi-lo Jimi Hendrix tank top, and black vintage military jacket were drenched and stuck to my body. My red curls were still wet and stuck to my face. I probably look just as frightening to him as he does to me.

  “This is Empyrean,” he informed me and then nodded his head towards the water. �
��And I’m assuming they brought you here.”

  I turned to look out at where he gestured and saw a handful of women bobbing in the water of the cove. They appeared to be a mixture of different races. Their skin color ranging from the darkest of browns to the palest of whites. From what I could see, their top halves were completely naked, but their long hair covered their bare breasts. And they were all stunningly beautiful.

  One of the women swam towards the shore but stayed in the shallow end. The water was so clear that I could see into the water. A gasp passed my lips when I saw iridescent scaly green skin and fins, instead of legs like I’d expected. The creature had white blonde hair and large, bright green eyes.

  “You’re a…a…mermaid?” I asked, lowering my voice to a whisper on the last word.

  “Yes.”

  “Y-You brought me here?” My voice trembled.

  “Yes. We need you as much as you need us,” she stated matter-of-factly. I recognized her voice as one of the voices that spoke at the secret pool hidden in the red rocks. Though, this time, her voice wasn’t garbled.

  “Why?” I asked softly, fearfully.

  “We cannot explain. You must go to Faerien City and speak to the Faery Oracle. She will explain everything.” The mermaid instructed.

  “Faery Oracle? As in humanlike person with wings that has psychic abilities?” I asked doubtfully.

  “Yes.” The mermaid nodded.

  “Right.” I had a hard time keeping the skepticism out of my voice. “And how do I get there? I don’t even know where I am. And you guys are really starting to freak me out. I want to go back. Take me back!” I exploded and paced on the grass in front of the lapping water.