by D G Palmer
‘But I’ll always be Eric Mondragon’s son. Things will always be expected of me, especially now everyone knows who I am.’
Finn was silent for a moment. ‘Nothing’s ever been expected of me. Sure, uncle Quinn is known throughout Ariest for his inventions and engineering, but no one’s ever really expected me to follow in his footsteps. I’m a damn good engineer mind you! What I’m trying to say is that just because your dad is who he is it doesn’t mean you have to follow in his footsteps. You can be who you want and do what you want.’
‘Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m putting pressure on myself. Maybe it’s me that is expecting things because it’s only since I learnt about his past that I felt like I had a mantle to carry.’
The carriage pulled up; they’d reached their destination.
‘Come on,’ Finn said, as she took Daniels hand and led him into the tavern, ‘the first drinks on me.’
AS THEY ENTERED, DANIEL couldn’t help but feel like they had gone back in time, that they were having a case of deja vu. So much had happened to him since he had first arrived in Almedia and yet it seemed like nothing had changed at the Dirty Dog. The patrons were still loud, people still played Assault & Conquer, Tristan was still all over Eveline as she brought her delicious foods to tables and Mavis still admonished him for interfering with her staff.
The only difference from Daniel’s first day at The Dirty Dog to this, was the fact that Trinity was there.
She slowly stood and smiled widely as the two friends made eye contact across the tavern. She waved and Daniel was about to make his way over to her when there was suddenly an increase in volume from the crowded tavern and the next thing he knew, he was dragged by Finn and kissed ferociously.
The feisty Finn released him and revelled in the cheers from the crowd whilst Daniel, however, could see that Trinity’s smile had vanished and she looked more forlorn as she retook her seat.
‘Och, looks t’me like ye may ‘ave missed the boat wid the wee lad, lassie,’ Fungal said as he puffed on his cigar and blew rings in the air. ‘You can trust old Fungal when it comes to matters of love. Beltane always strikes!’
‘When it comes to you, Fungal,’ Trinity responded, ‘the only thing that I can trust with any certainty is that Fungal will only do what’s good for Fungal.’
The crafty boggart laird gave a hearty laugh. He loved nothing more than causing mischief through trickery and deceit. Her words didn’t hurt him, they let him know that he was doing something right.
‘Hi, Trinity,’ Daniel said as he came over to join them. He found it strange that whenever he was around his school friend, he always got a fluttery sensation in his stomach and his hands tended to get hot.
‘Hey,’ she replied. ‘Are you ok? You look a little agitated.’
If only you knew. ‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ Daniel said, ‘just a little hot.’
She offered a bemused smile, as if she could read his mind.
‘It must ‘ave been that kiss Finn gave ye,’ Fungal nonchalantly added. A comment which prompted both Daniel and Trinity to give him stares that could kill. ‘Don’t shoot the messenger! I’m just saying that it was one hell of a kiss that’s all.’
Trinity turned and was about to punch the boggart into next week but he had anticipated possible retaliation and already teleported to the bar. Now, the two friends were alone without Fungal’s interference.
‘You can sit down, you know,’ Trinity said to Daniel. ‘We need to talk about some stuff.’
‘Oh, right, sure,’ he replied as he pulled a chair out. Daniel had barely sat down when Tristan, Eveline and Finn joined the pair, much to Trinity’s despair.
‘Is this a private party or can anyone join in?’ Tristan said, a flagon of mead at his lips.
‘Why would it be a private party? Where the consort goes the goddess goes. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?’ Interjected Finn.
‘If the Beltane winners were meant to stick together for the year do you think this happy go lucky guy could stomach that?’ Eveline remarked as she squeezed her man’s cheeks.
All of a sudden, Trinity said, ‘Daniel, I’ve got your book upstairs,’ and stood up. ‘Mavis gave it to Tristan. Perhaps I should give it to you now before I forget.’
‘Phew! I was hoping someone would say that,’ Daniel breathed with relief. ‘I’ve got something to tell you about that book.’ He took a step to follow Trinity and Finn made to go with him. ‘Why don’t you wait here?’ he said to her, ‘I won’t be long,’ then went to catch up with his school friend.
‘Hmmmm,’ Tristan began as he rubbed his chin. ‘Perhaps it was a private party after all.’
Eveline hit him across the back of the head and glanced at Finn who was watching Daniel and Trinity intently as they made their way upstairs.
THE SPARSELY-DECORATED room was a far cry from the one Daniel had slept in last night. These rooms at The Dirty Dog were only really there for people that had imbibed rather too much to find their way home, and the decorations, or lack thereof, were testament to that. They didn’t care what they looked at when they wore beer goggles.
Trinity and Daniel sat next to each other on the edge of her bed. ‘I had a dream about you last night,’ she suddenly blurted out.
‘What?’
‘Well, you weren’t in it—'
‘Oh’
‘But it was about you. I was in a forest, a dead forest. And there was this voice. It said you had destroyed the forest. That you would bring destruction. That you were something called The Mortokai.’
‘Really?’
‘I’ve heard the name before. When I was looking for you, the hazel dryad said the same thing.’
‘I’ve heard it before too, from Aradia.’
‘The Tolgarr you met inside The Shade?’
‘Yeah, it was When I told her about my photographic memory. That I could recall all the spells from the Book of Azul, but she said people would try to use me or kill me, not that I would destroy stuff. She basically said I had two choices; either train hard to become a mage and defend myself or hide and hope I’m not found.’
‘Maybe we should release her and ask her some questions about it.’
‘We can’t. I promised that I would take her back to her people. Besides I don’t know what kind of physical condition she’ll be in when she’s freed.’
‘So, what are you going to do? Hide or train?’
‘I have to train,’ he said with a shrug. ‘I don’t have any real choice. Do you remember what I told you when I was in the Shade? When I was boosting my Essence and I got that euphoric feeling and how that was the last thing I remembered? You don’t think that has anything to do with this Mortokai thing, do you?’
‘I don’t think so. I mean, it is possible to overdose on Essence, to boost beyond your capacities. And if you don’t release it, you can become addicted to it; some become catatonic, lose all sense of reality. But that’s not you.’
‘Too much of a good thing and all that I suppose.’
‘We’ll find out what this Mortokai is together.’ There was a moment of silence as Trinity gathered her courage and decided what she would say next. ‘The dream also said I should forsake you,’ Trinity began. she looked down at her hands, reluctant to make eye contact. It wasn’t that long ago that she had been smiling at Daniel’s awkwardness when she was showing him the locations of the Essence reservoirs. Now the shoe was on the other foot. ‘It said I should forsake you... but I can’t do that. These feelings I have for you, I can’t deny them, not any more. Seeing you kissing Finn at the crowning was hard to deal with and again downstairs—’ she suddenly stood up and walked over to the window. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’ve put you in an awkward position. You two are obviously in a relationship now.’
‘I don’t really know what we are,’ Daniel replied. ‘She just kind of took charge of everything.’
‘She is a force of nature,’ Trinity admitted. ‘So, uh, do you - do you
have feelings for her?’
‘Sure, I do! I like being with her, she’s fun and kind of crazy. I’ve never met a girl like her.’
‘I see.’ Trinity was rather despondent hearing that news. A moment later, however, and things had changed.
‘But I could say the same about you, well maybe not the crazy part,’ he corrected, ‘but I do have feelings for you too, different, stronger. I have ever since the first time I saw you. But you were out of my league, you still are.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ she said as she came back to sit next to him. She took his hand in hers and they both gained some comfort and pleasure from the contact.
‘If I didn’t have the social skills of a prehistoric frog turd, we might have been together.’
There was a moment of silence then they both burst out laughing, the brevity cutting the tension that had been building.
Daniel wanted more than anything to take that moment to sneak a kiss, when she least expected it, but his courage failed him.
‘Prehistoric frog turd? Are you kidding me?’ She said between laughs. ‘Where did that come from?’
‘I don’t know. It just kind of popped into my head. I stick by the sentiment though.’
‘I know the way you have been treated has made you reluctant to open up to people, but surely not with me, not now.’
‘You’re right, speaking to you is easy, but speaking like this, about feelings, is a little different.’
‘I’ll admit sometimes it does seem to all come easy for me. People tend to flock to me.’
‘They love you, love being around you.’
‘But did you know that the only person whose love I really wanted was yours?’
Daniel turned to face Trinity and they gazed deeply into each other’s eyes for the first time. She moistened her lips, he parted his, expectantly, and at the same time they leaned in.
If the kiss Daniel had with Finn that morning was indeed the standard bearer of kisses, this one surpassed it with room to spare. Some kisses are described as being electric, this one literally was. As they parted lips there was a crackle of lightning which left their lips tingling.
Trinity touched her lips. ‘Did you feel that?’
‘Wow! That was... wow!’ Daniel seemed to be in a daze for a moment, then he abruptly stood up. ‘I have to go.’
‘What?’
‘I need to go back home and say a proper goodbye to my parents. Let them know that I’m staying in Ariest to become a mage.’
She gave him a big hug. ‘Are you sure? I’m a hard taskmaster, you know.’
‘I’ll take my chances. When I come back, I’ll have to set things straight with Finn.’
‘That’s not going to be easy.’
‘WELL, THEY TOOK THEIR wee time, didn’t they?’ Fungal being Fungal had been entertaining himself by planting thoughts in Finn’s mind, telling her stories of unrequited love and betrayal. ‘Is it me,’ he started before he took a puff on his cigar, ‘or are they looking a little... flustered?’
Finn watched them over the rim of her mead glass. Something was off. Maybe Fungal had been right all along. Trinity was her rival. Letting her be alone with Daniel had been a mistake. She should have insisted on going with them.
‘Ah, Fungal, just the person I wanted to see,’ Daniel said making a beeline for the boggart laird. ‘Now that the Beltane Festival has finished, I suppose your FTN is back in service.’
‘Sure is. What of it?’
‘I need to get back to Earth.’
Finn couldn’t what she was hearing. ‘What did you say?’
‘I need to go home and—'
‘This is all her idea isn’t it?’ Finn interrupted pointing at Trinity. ‘She couldn’t stand seeing you with me!’
‘This has nothing to do with me!’ Trinity fired back. ‘Daniel made the decision himself and I think it’s right he should go back—'
‘See! I told you she was behind it!’ By now Finn was right in Trinity’s face but the young Druid wasn’t intimidated or taking a step back. Things were about to boil over.
Then Daniel jumped in to separate them. ‘I’m going back to see my parents because I didn’t get to say goodbye before, and then I’ll be back before you know it.’
Finn however wouldn’t be pacified and she shrugged off Daniels hands. ‘We’re not finished, Trinity, not by a long shot.’ After that declaration she stormed out of the tavern.
‘What got into her?’ a bemused Daniel asked.
‘A couple flagons of honey mead and Fungal in her ear,’ Tristan replied after a big gulp from his own flagon.
‘Why am I not surprised?’ Trinity stated as she made Fungal nervous with her glare.
‘I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN,’ Finn muttered under her breath as she stomped down the road. ‘I should have just punched that little princess right in the face,’ she slammed her fist into her palm for emphasis.
‘You seem agitated, young Finn,’ Hyasda said as stepped out of a back alley. ‘Is something the matter?’
‘Daniel is going back to Earth realm, that’s what the matter is,’ Finn spat.
‘And? Surely you’re going with him.’
‘No.’
‘Then I insist that you do.’
‘I don’t think—'
‘Do I have to remind you how you won the festival? How you came to my shop begging to be alone with Daniel? How I gave you a potion to sprinkle on your garland so that he would be drawn to it no matter what? How you didn’t have enough money for my services and I told you that you would owe me? Well, now it is time to pay your debt.’
‘Fine, I’ll do as you ask,’ Finn reluctantly replied.
‘Yes, you will,’ she replied in an ominous tone. ‘Now, go home, pack some clothes and come back quickly before he goes, that’s a good girl.’
‘What is it you want me to do?’
‘I want you to get me the location of Eric Mondragon, to see him with your own eyes. That’s all. Nothing too difficult is it? You get to visit a new world and just think of all the time you will be spending with your dear beloved Daniel, away from everyone else.’
‘You’re right! I’d better hurry up! He was already talking to Fungal, probably sorting out a ticket back to Earth.’
Hyasda smiled as she watched Finn run off home. She had a feeling that the rage and jealousy that the girl harboured would come in handy one day. And now she was being proved right.
‘ARE YE SURE ABOUT THIS, lassie?’ Fungal was flabbergasted.
‘Yes, Fungal, I’m sending you back to your beloved station. You were supposed to help me find Daniel and I guess you kind of did,’ Trinity explained. ‘Besides, it’ll get you out of my hair and you won’t be able to cause any more trouble if you’re back on your FTN.’
‘True on both counts,’ grinned the troublesome boggart. ‘And just to show there are no hard feelings—'
‘Excuse me?’
‘—I’m going to give yer wee man here a little gift. Jes make sure ye dinnae give it to that blasted Rustin.’ Fungal licked his hairy-knuckled finger, wrote a signature in the air which suddenly disappeared in a shower of faerie dust and in its place appeared a platinum train ticket. ‘This ticket will give ye unlimited travel on the FTN. T’enter a station all ye need do is hold the ticket when ye open the door. Simple.’
‘Wow! That’s pretty cool,’ Daniel exclaimed. ‘So, where’s the nearest pickup point?’
‘Turn the ticket over. It has a wee map. The blue dot is you and the red one is the nearest station.’
‘It’s not far. So, I’m ready when you are, Fungal.’
‘Me too!’ Finn burst through the door of The Dirty Dog. ‘I’ve decided to tag along. I think it would be right for me to meet the parents, since we are the goddess and consort after all.’
Finn smirked at Trinity. Trinity looked at Daniel. Daniel shrugged his shoulders.
Trinity fished into her bag, suddenly getting an idea. ‘You’d better take this with you, so you can
make a start on your studies. It’s Gydion’s grimoire. I think you should begin with page eight.’
‘Page eight. Got it,’ Daniel repeated as he looked in wonder at the Archmage’s deep red leather-bound spell-book. ‘Right, let’s get going!’
‘I’ll be waiting here for you here,’ Trinity said as she gave Daniel a hug under the watch eye of Finn. ‘Be careful.’
‘I think you have more reason than me to be careful with Tristan about,’ replied Daniel.
‘I’m serious, Daniel. I’m talking about what Aradia said.’
‘Aradia?’ Finn was surprised to hear the name. ‘How do you know Aradia?’
‘I’ll tell you on the train.’ Daniel took out his platinum ticket to check he was heading the right way then waved to Trinity and Tristan before setting off for the FTN station with his two companions. ‘I’ll see you soon, Ariest,’ he whispered.
Trinity watched Daniel for a few moments before returning to her table in the tavern. She ordered some food and drink from Eveline before her mind started to drift to her friend and the fact that he’d be with Finn for the next few days, knowing that she’d be aggressively pursuing her man. Could she really call Daniel her man? She’d revealed her feelings and they’d shared that kiss. Remembering that made her smile.
‘Don’t worry,’ Tristan said as he put his hand on Trinity’s knee. ‘I’ll look after you. We can fill in as the consort and goddess.’
She lifted up his hand and placed it on his own knee. ‘That’s ok, I can take care of myself,’ she said. She hoped Daniel wouldn’t be gone long and also wondered what was keeping Gydion, she was desperate to tell him about what had happened with Daniel.
Chapter Six
Darkness. Silence. Eerie. Stillness. These were some of the words that went through Gydion’s mind as he stepped through his portal that brought him from Fungal’s castle and into Salamida.
The realm was like no other he had been to before. He could see as normal, but there was no light source anywhere in the sky, he couldn’t tell if it was day or night-time. But that was the least of his worries, because this was the home of the Essence vampires known as the Shade.
