by A Lonergan
I nodded my head solemnly as my family started to make preparations for keeping the coven together. I couldn’t focus on their words, so I stood up and left the room.
The music pulsed around me and I knocked back another shot. Alcohol did nothing, but make my mind foggy, my magi continually trying to work off its effects. I was sure if my magi had a soul and a body, it would have been more than pissed at me and the way I was acting. All I could see was Freya falling into the mirror. I kicked back another shot, the burn of the alcohol leaving a trail down my throat. I shook my head and let out a war cry, and the girls next to me squealed.
This was a new bar, but the women were all the same. It didn’t matter what you looked like when the vodka flowed. It didn’t matter how you acted as long as you flashed the money. The girls were all the same. All of them, but Freya.
Another shot.
I couldn’t think about her. I had lost her, and there was nothing I could do to bring her back to our realm. My magic wasn’t powerful enough. Now that my mother had lost her High Priestess powers, no one could bring her back except Sariah, and I needed to accept that for what it was. If she put her there, she probably wasn’t going to bring her back. The woman was evil.
The blonde next to me snuggled in closer and purred something provocative in my ear, and I expected the desire to be the outcome, but instead, nothing happened. The bartender watched me carefully, probably waiting for me to fall over from all the alcohol I had consumed. I had lost count how many shots I had taken, and I still felt nothing, but a headache and a small amount of growing aggravation. The blonde rubbed her hand up my thigh, and I grabbed her hand immediately and flung it away from me. She pouted, and that was usually the thing that got me, I had always liked a pouting, begging woman. The submission was something that got me, but not tonight. These women were nothing. I slammed a hundred dollar bill on the bar and slid it toward the woman handing out more alcohol. I pushed away from the remaining woman and made my way to the door. There were more women in the bar tonight than men, and the women were starting to become desperate.
They writhed and ground against each other, making a show for the men at the bar, trying to lure them in. I rolled my eyes and shoved them out of my way. When I finally made it out to Bourbon, I had an odd sense of de ja vou. The humidity stuck to my skin, and the smell of cigarettes floated around my head. Drunken men and women stumbled from the other bars around me and sung off key. One man stumbled into me, I helped right him and thought it was by accident until he grinned up at me and his eyes were clear. His teeth had golden caps on them and were sharpened into points. His light bronze skin was slick with sweat, and his eyes were a deep purple.
I pushed him away from me, but he grabbed my arms and pulled me closer. “Sariah wants you. She wants her mirror back.”
I shoved him again, this time putting a little magic in my force and he flew across the street away. A few people gasped and ran, but it was more a stumbling action than anything, and I wasn’t worried about their drunk accounts. No one had recorded it, so I wasn’t concerned. Plus it was New Orleans after all, it wouldn’t be the first time that something had been posted on the internet that didn’t make sense to humans. New Orleans was full of magic and soul, and that's why people came to visit in the first place.
The man growled at me. “She will have you. Sariah is impatient, but she is powerful. She will get what she wants.”
Before I could say anything back, he disappeared into thin air. Chills traveled up my spine and goosebumps lit up my arms. Something wasn’t right.
Chapter Fourteen
Freya
The fairy led us to the forest, quickly. She kept looking over her shoulder as she flew, muttering under her breath. Terror was unwinding in my gut, and I refused to glance back, afraid of what I would see. The trees were white and reminded me of birch, but they were much thicker and dense. They were like albino pine trees.
When we were far enough into the forest, the fairy started to fly up one of the trees, encouraging me to follow her. I looked at how far apart the limbs were and offered up a prayer that I would make it up the tree. By the time I made it halfway up, my hands were raw, and my feet were sweating. I was thankful for my converse and stamina. My breath was coming out a bit faster, and my heart rate was steadily climbing. I didn’t know if I would make it to the top of the tree and that was where the tiny mythical creature was heading.
I grasped the small branches and held on for dear life. There was no doubt that if I fell, I wouldn’t survive. The fairy perched on the branch in front of me and pulled at the pastel pink leaf floating next to her face.
She pulled at it nervously before she looked me in the eye and smiled. “That was a close one.”
I closed my eyes, and all I could think was ignorance was bliss. That I really didn’t need to know what was behind us.
“Your sister got out, then?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“My sister?” I wrinkled my eyebrows. “Oh, right! No, that was my mother.”
The fairy’s eyes got big, and she took a step back like I had hit her. “She used her own daughter to get out?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know, I’m sure you know her better than I do. I just met the woman.”
“No, I don’t. I stay far away from the ones that are exiled here. The black magic they use changes them, and you can feel it when you get close.”
“What do you mean, black magic?” I asked.
“Blood rituals, blood drinking, human sacrifice, the like.” She shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “They’re like vampires, but they have a little sliver of a soul left, unlike the vampires who have nothing. You can always see it in the eyes, they’re empty.”
I nodded my head and looked down the trunk of the tree expecting to see a monster waiting for us at the bottom, but there was nothing there.
“You won’t see it, it was the magic. But if you don’t escape it in time, it’ll suck you dry.” She shivered hard.
“How did my mother escape it?” I asked, scared of the answer.
“She created it.” The fairy looked down at the ground again. “Anyway, I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Wyna.”
“I’m Freya,” I shivered and crossed my arms over my chest as if I could get rid of the chill that had wrapped its way around my body.
“How do I get out of here?”
Wyna squinted at me, concentrating hard. “You weren’t exiled here, I don’t see why you couldn’t leave, but your portal disappeared as soon as you came through, so I don’t know.” She looked away from me before she squinted off into the distance.
“Can you tell me more about this place? Why is it called the Mirror Realm?” I leaned against the slender trunk and looked off into the distance too. All I could see were mountains above the tree line and then over the mountains was thick, white clouds.
She shrugged before crossing her ankles. Her little wings doing all the work to keep her body upright. “I’m not very old, but this is one of the first magic realms. They say that all magical beings were created here before they were sent to other places.” She twirled her hands around like she was conjuring magic. “Then there were problems with these beings, and because of this, the people from other realms thought it was fitting to send them back here.”
“If they were created here, then does that mean that there are more creatures out here?” I looked down at the blue forest floor.
“Yes, and no.” She gave me a haunting look. “These are the barren lands. The magical rejects had to go somewhere. The mist was created for a reason, it was made to keep the creatures here that are banished, your mother made it different, changed it.”
“Leave it to good ole mom,” I muttered under my breath.
I had always imagined meeting my mother or father and them telling me that it was for me to have a better life, or that they knew they couldn’t take care of me or something like that. I never imagined my mother being an evil witch with
a vendetta over New Orleans.
“She made it benefit herself. That’s why this is the baron lands now. No creatures can live here, and it honestly helped the kingdoms more than anything, they didn’t have to worry with the banished anymore, so they let your mother live as long as she stayed out of their way. Now she’s gone, and here you are.” She blew out some air and gave me a nervous glance.
“So, what are you doing here if this is the baron lands?” I asked, suspiciously.
“I was sent here to keep an eye on Sariah. We felt the void open and thought there had been a new banishment, they sent me immediately to investigate. I witnessed you taking her place.” Wyna scratched at her forehead.
“What does this mean for me?” I considered running. I didn’t want to be stuck here, but I wasn’t so sure about visiting the nearby kingdoms either.
“I am not entirely sure. You aren’t banished here, you aren’t a prisoner. You’ll most likely be honored as a Royal Guest.” Wyna clapped her hands in front of her, excitement taking over her features before going somber once more. “But we have to hurry, we can’t risk the magic coming back for us.”
We weren’t as quick going down the tree as we had gone up and when I say we, I really meant myself. Wyna just slowly floated beside me, acting as if she was really contributing to the long climb down.
I ran across the clearing with Wyna flying at my shoulder. Eventually, she broke away from me and flew faster, I couldn’t keep up, but was doing my damnedest to try to. She led me to a path that looked like it would go through the mountains before she stopped and laughed.
“I don’t know why we are doing this the hard way,” She giggled, and I watched as a bubble surrounded us. When the bubble started to lift us off the ground, my stomach dropped. I wished she had conjured up some handles while she had been at it.
At least she had wings.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself as we rose higher and higher into the air. Eventually rising up even higher than the peaks of the mountains. Then as we started to go through the clouds, I could see the steeples on the top of what looked to be a castle, its gray bricks giving me an ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had always imagined there being homes around the palace where peasants lived, but as the clouds cleared, there was no such thing here. There was a thick wall that surrounded the structure and archers sitting on the top. I almost shouted to Wyna when I realized they couldn’t even see us.
As we passed over their heads, I could make out their features. They had long, pointed ears and almond-shaped eyes. They had thin cords of metal going through the tips of their ears, and most of their faces were adorned in piercings of all shapes and sizes.
Wyna broke my fixation on them when she started to talk. “That’s the elven kingdom, they don’t like witches or many other creatures in this realm. They believe witches to be the problem to all things. They are miserable beings, truly.”
That explained the feeling I had.
We passed over a field very similar to the baron lands except this one was full of different colored horses. I rubbed my eyes, unsure of what I was seeing. But sure enough, they were unicorns. Their irredcent horns reflecting the sunlight as the galloped about.
“I forget you’re from earth, where most magical beings are extinct. Here they are wondrous and most run free.” She gazed down at the beasts with admiration.
More trees passed below us before we finally started to descend on another kingdom, but there was no way it was possible. We had just passed the elves. I looked back behind us, to find the steeples of the haunting castle gone.
Wyna waved her hands around like she had read my mind. “Oh, right. You also don’t know about bubble travel. It’s a lot faster than you would think. We have traveled at least 700 miles.”
It felt like the bubble popped from beneath me. I tried to regain my footing at her admittance. “We have hardly been traveling for an hour.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Magic.”
Right, the explanation for everything.
Farmland spread far and wide beneath us for many miles, or what I thought to be before I could finally see the next castle. My eyes widened in shock. It was made of what looked to be unicorn horns, iridescent glass. It was everything from my childhood, it was magnificent.
“Don’t get too impressed, the king slaughtered many to build his empire.” I didn’t think we were going to be stopping here at those foreboding words, but much against my intuition, we started to come to a stop. The bubble dropped to the ground and POP, it was gone. Leaving behind the smell of cotton candy. The wall around the castle wasn’t as big as the elve’s, but it was more terrifying. Spike protruded from the top of it, and the outside of it had red dripping down the sides, like blood.
I gulped hard.
“Yes, it's real blood. The castle’s magic keeps it here to remind the people of what happens when there is rebellion and war. It’s a constant and almost fresh reminder each day.” I cringed as she continued on like this was normal. But maybe it was… “Don’t worry, Queen Armia had no say in the matter, it was all her father, and he is very much gone and dead.”
I felt my shoulders sag in relief. People milled around us, trying to get to their jobs or their families. Children ran around the streets, their skin and hair even brighter than the grass and dirt under my feet. I quickly moved to follow Wyna and heard a shriek. I stopped immediately and looked around me. Everyone seemed to be moving about normally, like they hadn’t heard a thing, except for Wyna, who had her fists planted on her hips. She pointed down, and I noticed a fairy family there.
I could have rolled my eyes, but I didn’t want to be the rude one in a new realm. I didn’t need to make enemies early on. I didn’t know how long I was going to be stuck here.
My foot was right next to them, and I realized that I had almost stepped on them. But what the heck were they doing in the middle of a crowded, busy street? I quirked an eyebrow at them and tried to watch my feet as Wyna started off again. And as I paid attention to my feet, I discovered more creatures and species than before. The streets were alive with activity and excitement. There were colorful witches on the corner performing cheap magic tricks. I guess there were still those in magical realms.
As if Wyna reread my mind, she scoffed at the man and rolled her eyes. “Cheap thrills. He probably has no magic and has been shunned from his community. The poor will do anything around these parts.”
We continued farther into the kingdom, and I couldn’t help but stare at everything happening around me. The vendors set up with local produce, that affirmed that I definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore. There were countless food stations and long lines in front of them. As hard as I had been staring, I didn’t realize that I was being gawked at too. I gulped. As more people turned to me, it seemed like the entire kingdom had eyes on my every movement.
We pushed through the growing crowd surrounding us, and Wyna turned back to me, flying backward. “Don’t let them bother you, you are the first outsider in many years. Well, actually,” She crossed her arms over her chest and became thoughtful. “You are the first in probably hundreds of years besides the prisoners in the barren lands.”
It didn’t make me feel any better. But I didn’t know why I was the focus of attention, there were white skinned people milling around. Wyna answered my thoughts again. “It’s your clothes.”
Then I realized, of course, everyone was dressed like it was the Middle Ages here. The women wore long dress, and though they were bright and beautiful, they wouldn’t have fit in where I came from. The fairies flying around were the skimpiest. They had tube tops and tiny shorts or skirts, their feet bare. The men wore leathers, and many had weapons strapped to their hips.
Besides the fairies, I was in rather revealing clothing. There were many long glances and smirks thrown my way. I swallowed hard and focused on the ground in front of me.
When we got to the large castle gates, Wyna turned to me. “Don’t say an
ything. The people here know me, they don’t know you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sterling
I paced the floor of my her bedroom. I winced at the blankets piled high and the pillows shoved up against the wall. Her clothes were folded neatly on top of her suitcase and guilt was taking over me again.
I had come to Freya’s room to help ease the bad emotions that had taken my body hostage. It was useless. Nothing was going to work, especially with all the glares my family kept throwing my way. I growled in frustration and slammed my palm into the wall. At the same time my hand connected with the drywall, the ground began to shake, and the wall trembled under my hand. I jumped away in surprise. I knew it hadn’t happened because of me. I knew I hadn’t been the one to start a minor earthquake. I was more in control of my emotions than that, or at least, I hoped.
I rushed to the window when I heard car alarms going off. The ground continued to shake, and I wondered if the building was going to go down. Lights started flickering on in nearby buildings and businesses. My eyes flicked over the surrounding area, watching for movement or anything to give away what this was. That was until I noticed a building going down in the distance. It looked like it was going down in the business district where many of the hotels were. Dust and rubble clouded the air. The ground and compound stopped shaking, and I had a sinking feeling in my gut.
It wasn’t an earthquake at all. It was Sariah. I didn’t know how I knew, but there was no doubt about it. Everything had been quiet.
I could hear my mother speaking down the hall and wondered how panicked she was. I doubted that she knew what was happening. I rushed from Freya’s room and directly to my mother, checking on a family a few rooms down from ours. She shook her head when she saw me. She must have seen the knowing look in my eye, and she didn’t want to cause panic. She assured the family before closing the door behind her.
