by N. I. Rojas
“Are you spying on me?” -Kyra asked the boy. - “Should I trust you or you are dangerous?”
Kyra told herself she had lost it. Of course he was dangerous. He had been there all the time pretending to be a part of the tree until approaching enough to kill her. Considering his many weapons, her death was going to be painful. Haven’t this people met the gun yet? A single bullet in the head or the heart and she’ll be gone. But they prefer the painful ways. Savages! She thought to herself. Cruel sadists trapped in a story so sweet.
It had been a good trip after all. Three human boys. A girl from fairy tale. Mackenzie. Her father. Her mother. It hadn’t been that bad considering the good people she had met. Having lived this adventure had been fascinating.
“You heal.” -The young man said. - “See.”
Kyra looked towards where he was pointing. To her surprise a thin stem had sprouted between the crevices of the bark. A perfect green leaf stood as triumphant flag.
“You touch. You talk. You cry. You heal. Try.” -The young man urged Kyra to continue doing what she had done, to give life to the forest. Hesitant, Kyra chose to do what he was asking, though she wasn’t completely convinced. Solemnly sliding a finger into another distant crack, Kyra asked for a specific flower or leaf to make an antidote for her father’s poisoning.
From beneath the bark of the tree a jingling emerged. A blinding light flickered around until reaching Kyra. A tingle wrapped her from head to toe while small star-shaped flowers started to grow, each petal breeding in a vine that snaked around the tree. Shades of fuchsia and lavender decorated the pretty little orchids. At the end of their formation, the shape of a star gave form to a humanoid body while the orchid made a cute little hat for the flower. Right where the stamen grew, two tiny anthers with two black balls gave this flower the aspect of a mini person with tiny black eyes. It was a beautiful creation, every part proportional to the other. The vine was already full of flowers growing on pairs and it was noteworthy that there was a boy for each flower girl, and one girl for each flower boy. Kyra was speechless. She had seen beauty in this world. Happiness and sorrow had come holding hands, but nothing compared to the awesomeness of these tiny flowers, much more alive than what she had ever dreamed with.
“See. Good powerful Witch.” -The young man said when he had proved his hypothesis. She felt offended for a second, but suddenly changed her mind. At least he hadn’t called her evil witch. - “Keeper Kyra, I’ll be your servant.”
Kyra looked the young man with bewilderment. Servant he said? Was he out of his mind? She didn’t need a servant, well, maybe she just needed a savior or someone to throw a full gallon of chilled water to her face to finally wake up.
“That sound so good but I’ll just pass.” -Kyra answered. - “I won’t stay here for long. I’ll respectfully take some of these flowers to save my father’s life. Then I’ll finish with all this.”
The beautiful flowers danced now, twirling around, happily waving at Kyra. That tree seemed full, so green, so alive. The young man touched it with devotion, respect, love, admiration. Two pairs of flowers detached themselves from the vine, softly falling besides Kyra.
“Oh!” -Kyra was frightened. - “Are they dying already?”
“They offered themselves in gratitude to you; to save your father’s life.” -He clarified. - “I’m warrior Rex, one of the Dvasia’s.”
“Nice to meet you, warrior Rex. It’s good to know you talk long sentences too. I was getting confused with your short mishmash of unfinished ideas.”
Kyra looked up to the sky. The moon reached a new level of brightness, leaking its light between the trees and showering everything as a platinum bath.
“I have to go.” -Kyra said goodbye while taking the flowers.
“You have to heal the forest now.” -The man stood up, grunting at Kyra.
“And I will but I need to finish a few things first. There’s a maniac out there harming my friends, and he wants to kill me too.” -She stood up too, but warrior Rex had returned to his camouflage in the bark of the tree. Seizing the opportunity, Kyra got ready to descend the tree. She gave one last look at the vines of children orchids and looked at Rex trying to guess the reason why he hid after demanding her to save the forest at that precise moment.
“Don’t be sad, child!” -That voice surprised her. The Wizard was hovering in the air, looking straight at her. - “I can give you back your normal life. I can even give you back your mother if you come with me.”
“Sorry to tell you but, old news, oldster.” -Kyra answered trying to look brave. Her mother? In an ancient time she would have taken the offer, but now she had discovered it all already. The Wizard wasn’t counting on this one.
“Why don’t you name something you want and I’ll make it yours. For example… this!” -A tiny vial was in the Wizard’s hand. Kyra laughed inside. Seconds before she swore herself he was going to offer an antidote.
“I don’t need anything.” -She answered while going down of the tree with pride.
“No? Then why haven’t you left already? Don’t lie to me. I know you know a way or two to return home.”
“What you want of me?” -Kyra asked irritated. - “I have no power you can get good use of. I just write. No big deal. Find yourself a magic pen and grow some magic.”
“I don’t know what I want of you.” -He lied. - “But I’ll make this easy. Surrender or your father dies. Right now he’s convulsing while his only hope, his daughter, is hiding in dead woods playing the wounded deer. Submit to my orders and I’ll give him myself the antidote against the mermaid’s poison.”
The Wizard hid the tiny vial tied with a thin ribbon in his neck. Kyra got so upset she just wanted to write something good with the Graphylux. Something like ‘ The Wizard ended beaten under the suffocating weight of the tallest tree ’, or ‘ The Giant Wolf dinner the Wizard’s head before both turning into ashes ’. But she didn’t want it hard enough because it didn’t come true.
Trying to go unsuspicious, Kyra hid the flowers inside her clothes as sneaky as she could, but before she could start running, a heavy thump scared her. The Wizard laughed at Kyra’s face of fear, but it wasn’t a joke to her. Without warning, someone grabbed her from behind, immobilizing her right arm, pinning it at the back of her head. With the other hand she tried to fight back but as soon as she moved it, a knife made of crocodile fang opened her forearm, tearing her skin wildly. Her vein exploded as a frozen strawberry thawed not under the sweltering sun but in a high-powered microwave.
“Good job, warrior boy!” -The Wizard congratulated Rex’s attack. - “I knew you’ll come.”
“This isn’t between you and me, Wizard, but between the Keeper and the woods. You have no power to control me and I think is better if you just leave.” -Rex kept holding Kyra tightly while she remained on shock, watching her blood cascading down her arm, staining her fair skin and falling drop by drop to the ground. Her fluid was different, a mix of blood and ink, a beautiful chromatic display. Sure she would pass away if her wound wasn’t treated with diligence, but she was so on shock to even think on dying at that second.
While the Wizard tried to shorten the distance between them, Rex kept walking backwards, dragging Kyra with him, spreading her blood trying to cover as much area as possible.
“It’s up to you now, Keeper. We had given tribute to the forest… your blood. Now do your part. Focus and ask the forest to restore and help us escape from here.” -Rex ordered.
“It doesn’t work that way. I need to write it.” -Kyra told him.
“That’s not completely true and is the best part.” -Rex corrected her. Kyra wanted to believe this warrior man, but reality was totally out of her mind. She wasn’t even confident that he was real. - “I’ll heal your wound if you heal the forest. Ask for it!”
What she wanted so badly didn’t appear. What she roughly wished didn’t show up. Thinking on her father and her friends, on her mother and Mackenzie, on the first kiss she had g
iven in her short life, Kyra wished with all her strength that the forest could heal. Meanwhile, warrior Rex wouldn’t stop yelling at her. If only the leaves and flowers could wake up from an impassive dream, if the trees could tear away from their motionless bodies the heaviness of a spell. A little help would be great too, and to escape with her life intact.
“Keep doing whatever you are doing.” -Rex whispered in her ear. Seconds away from Kyra’s last moments of consciousness, a whirlwind wrapped them two with flowers and leaves. Everything smelled sweet. Pain was just a bad memory.
Chapter 28: A broken heart is no good for a magic spell
Wishing to write a spell of ink over Rex, Kyra touched the belt of her pant looking for the Graphylux. To her surprise she found the object Mackenzie had given her before taking separate ways. Yells of war came from the forest behind her and she started running away from it.
“Go ahead.” -Rex yelled. - “Catch you in a second.”
“Get lost, lunatic.” -Kyra screamed at him without daring to look back.
“I wish, but I already sworn to be your protection.” -He shouted back with a grin. Deciding to ignore him, Kyra kept running, because she couldn’t afford to lose a single second. Her father was depending on her. The Leavers spotted her in the distance and Incantatrix seemed illuminated only by seeing Kyra returning, but the faint smile in her face faded away soon.
“Inside.” -Kyra shouted Incantatrix, still perfecting a plan that had just occurred to her. Both ran and only stopped when they were beside the sleeping dentist.
“What is it?” -Incantatrix asked alarmed.
“I want to know the reason why you chose my father. Between all the men in the worlds, why going looking for someone like him? Why bothering a human man, seduce him and enslave him with all this secrets?” -Kyra asked needing to remove those doubts from her insides. Incantatrix looked at her, unsure if her only answer would be sufficient.
“Because he was a worthy mortal. From reality or fantasy, he was the only man worthy of love.” -Her mother answered.
“Well, this must work then.” -Taking Incantatrix’s hand, Kyra placed the humanoid orchids between her fingers. The tiny flowers were still smiling at her, assuring her she was doing the right thing. - “Antidote. You’ll know what to do.”
“What does that mean?” -Incantatrix asked with fear.
“I cannot trust him to anyone else. You’ll take care of him until I return.” -Opening her other hand, Kyra showed Incantatrix the same star shaped diamond she had given the dentist when leaving Kyra as a baby. - “You know what to do with this after the portal is opened.”
Without giving a warning or the opportunity to consider other options, Kyra opened a portal right where her father was resting.
“I won’t leave you here alone. I won’t go.” -Incantatrix protested.
“That’s not your right to choose. I don’t know anything about antidotes or healing potions. My father needs you now, and he’s in danger. Now go.” -Kyra commanded.
“I can’t leave you now that we are finally together.” -Incantatrix begged.
A commotion broke out in the yard. When Kyra looked out of the window, she discovered a battle. Giant elves, gnomes, even silver parrots were attacking the Leavers, good Inklings and all other creatures that were protecting her. Rouge was side to side with Rex, the three Lost Boys behind them, weapons in hands, their bodies in defensive positions.
“I have been alone for fifteen years. I don’t need you.” -Kyra said aware of every word. The more painful, the better. She was sure that if she showed Incantatrix how much she despised her, she would go faster. - “I have never missed you. I have never needed you. But my father needs you now.”
The front door was broken and although Incantatrix tried to hold it in place with her magic, her efforts were unsuccessful.
“Go, Witch.” -With faked anger Kyra ordered her mother, ensuring that the Wizard heard how she treated Incantatrix. That way he wouldn’t have much interest in following them. Despite that, The Wizard tried to jump right in the portal, but Incantatrix took the diamond fast, closing the portal before the Wizard could enter.
“Oh, little witch! All this time you've had a way to go and return to human world? I, having to come up with this whole complex plan when I should have just entrapped you and snatched the damn glass? You have wasted such incredible power sending the witch to the world I yearn to return. That makes me want to kill you right now.” -The Wizard said after his thugs had her tied, hands behind her back. Kyra wore a smile of satisfaction until he pronounced the words yearn to return .
“Wait. When you say return you mean what exactly?” -Kyra asked, fearing the answer. The fact that the Wizard was once part of the human world was unexpected.
“Curious, aren’t you, Keeper? Or you prefer to be called Whisperer?” -With a better mood, the Wizard asked without expecting her to answer. - “I think is better to join the un-aging fool so each one of you could enjoy the privilege to know my past and witness my future.”
White fluffy clouds, as those only seen at plain day light, were drawn in the sky while Kyra was taken by force across the forest. Surprise invaded her as she noticed green pasture and flowers growing all the way.
“Be careful, everyone.” -The Wizard warned. - “The Witch casted a spell on all of you to believe the forest is healing. But I tell you what you see is a hoax, an illusion to escape her final.”
“Don’t listen to him.” -Kyra dared to contradict. - “I’m truly healing the forest. You can see with own eyes, touch with your fingers. That’s no trick!” -Kyra cried defiantly. The Wizard reached her side with just two giant steps and, without warning, he hit her in the face with closed fist. Her cheek... Kyra was sure turned black as burnt oil in a second, and she tried the healing magic Rex had shown her.
The blackness on her face started fading away in front of the astonished gazes of her captors.
“She’s healing indeed.” -Mumbled one of them.
“She heals!” -Echoed the others. The procession stopped and the creatures stood still, waiting for explanations.
“Why you stop walking?” -The Wizard questioned them all. - “We better hurry.”
None of them moved. Kyra laughed hard; certain her magic had worked.
“I see you think you can put them against me, little witch.” -The Wizard lisped. - “You are wrong. You won’t win this time.”
Just as she didn’t saw the vines and creeper plants restraining the creatures’ bodies, asphyxiating them, forcing them to remain quiet and still, she didn't saw it coming this time either, but the stone hitting her head sent Kyra to dream with unicorns and giant roses. Minutes after, she regained consciousness, but the parade of creatures carrying her were deep into a trance that despite how hard she tried she failed to break the spell.
“Are you trying to put them against me again? You already noticed you failed? Because it wasn’t you before either, it was the nature you tried to save. But I got some news for you, Keeper, I killed it all again. And I’ll kill it how many times are necessary.”
The moon, a perfect carved fortune well, was closer to the earth, so close Kyra swore she could extend her hand and caress each one of the craters; or maybe snatch a few moon rocks to hide in her pocket. If the moon was guiding them or following the procession was a mystery, but the path that was yet to be traveled was short, she had been told. Soon they entered in an opening in the foot of the mountain. The entrance was disguised with a curtain of thorny creeper plants. Against her wishes, she was pushed inside to a darkness so deep as death itself.
A song was being sung. A poem recited without words, but profound as coming out of the most versed of the famous poets. Kyra reminded herself to avoid falling under the trick of that song. It was the mermaid bringing death and desolation. Mermaid’s voice. Mermaid’s poison. Miserable mermaid- Kyra remembered, wishing to rip off one by one her shiny scales and then serve her as food to some mutant sharks she’ll invent with e
special cravings for mermaid’s meat.
The narrow tunnel through which they walked ended in a huge cavernous formation inside a mountain. Her friends’ muffled voices called her attention. Rouge and the three boys were prisoners, kneeling on a tiled ground alien to that place. Kyra looked around, mad at herself for not being able to protect those who had shown her loyalty.
It seemed that all the species from Alter Land had its representation there. This Wizard was a showman, indeed. The more witnesses to attest the sacrifice, the better. Spectators help him feel the grandeur. The Keeper needed to see her end in front of a huge audience. Giant elves, as the one that attacked her in her party, were there. Gnomes, pirates, warriors, witches… there was a huge variety of villains to choose from. Kyra made inventory of her acquaintances. Mackenzie wasn’t there but Kyra was sure he hadn’t been so lucky.
A bright light came from above, forcing Kyra to look over her head. The moon was accommodated there, almost covering the hole in the cave’s roof, making Kyra believe the moon was indeed a Gouda cheese. The powerful light made Kyra notice everything around was made of crystal. The roof was a beautiful chandelier of tear-shaped crystals reflecting the light in a huge hue of colors. In absence of all the drama and death threats of the moment, Kyra swore that the crystal chamber might help her to fall in love again.
