by Brenda Trim
“Yeah. I’m going to make something we can put on to kill any infection that might be there,” Sebastian explained.
Argies was standing as far from Aislinn as he could get, yet still staring at her. “We don’t have medicine like you think of it here. It’s all plant and magic-based. I know many healers but never picked up the craft myself. I assume you know one to cast of the salve.”
Sebastian shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not actually going to do anything. Fiona is going to enchant it.”
It was a sad state of affairs that my only reaction to this was to bob my head and start running through the best spell to use. “I’ve never done it before, but it can’t be any harder than killing the Queen.”
Violet laughed. The sound anemic. “If anyone can do it, you can. You’re Grams is right, you know. You’re the most powerful person I’ve ever met.”
Emotion closed off my throat, and I had to blink away the tears that formed in my eyes. It meant everything to hear Violet’s faith in me. “You can’t know that for sure. We shouldn’t place too much weight on what she’s said.” I didn’t want all of Eidothea placing their expectations on me. It was too damn much pressure. It was better to have more to share the burden with. I could barely handle the portal. I didn’t need anything else.
“It’s true, though. I’ve been given a portion of your power, and it changed me.” Violet and Aislinn mentioned feeling different than before. I hadn’t stopped to think about all the ramifications of what that meant. “At least it feels like it did anyway.”
Sebastian put his big, strong hands on my shoulders and rubbed the tension that knotted the muscles. “We all have a part to play in freeing the realm. You aren’t in this alone, Butterfly, but don’t underestimate yourself. Ah, thank the Gods you’re back,” Bas said to Finarr before I saw him through the trees.
“It wasn’t easy to find them both. I found some bark we can use to grind them together, as well.” Finarr held up the u-shaped piece of wood.
“Thanks. I had planned on crushing them in my hand, but this’ll be easier.” Sebastian took the plants and knelt. Finarr lowered himself beside Bas, and the two used rocks like a pestle and crushed the flowers.
Bas looked up at me and smiled. “Can you add some water? Not too much,” he added when I bent down and squirted some on their mixture. It was a paste that was on the drier side until I added some liquid. “That’s good,” Sebastian said, stopping me from adding any more. The end result was a thick goop.
Aislinn was leaning over me when I stood up. “You just smear that on the wound?”
I shrugged and looked to Bas and Finarr. Both bobbed their heads, then all three guys said, “yes,” at the same time.
I took the bark plate from Finarr and scooped up some of the mix with my fingers. “At least it smells good. I have no idea how badly this might hurt you, so in advance, I’m sorry.”
Violet waved her good arm through the air. “It can’t possibly hurt any worse than it already does, and if it keeps me from getting infected, I’m all for it.”
I pulled the shirt open then turned to Aislinn. “Can you hold this away from her skin for me?”
Aislinn grabbed the fabric in two places and held it out and away from Violet’s body. It was then that I noticed the red streaks were leading to a tattoo of sorts. I’d never seen anything like it. When an infection spread, it did so in a uniform pattern. Not in a way that looked like a bird on fire.
I suppose I might see flames because of the redness and swelling. I moved closer to her then further away. My vision had been iffy at best, and I couldn’t be sure of what I was seeing. It could just be lousy eyesight playing tricks on me.
I honestly had no idea and shifted my focus to the fact that it was spreading far too close to her heart for my comfort. The bird of fire was above her left breast. Thankfully, it wasn’t much bigger than a key lime.
Speaking of. I would kill for a slice of key lime pie right now. If I had a marker, I would draw a border around the redness to see if it grew. I decided to use what I had and spread some of the poultice over her shoulder and lower to cover the red areas.
Violet sighed when the sticky paste hit her skin and opened her eyes. “That didn’t hurt at all. It’s soothing.”
“Good. That’s good. Do you think you can continue? We’ve been here a while and need to keep walking. Can you guys find us someplace to hide? We could all use some downtime, but not out in the open like this.” I directed my questions to the guys since they were the only ones that knew the realm.
Argies tugged off his shirt and flexed his chest muscles. “My dragon can find the closest cave. That’ll be safer and ensure no one can sneak up behind us.”
Aislinn and Violet’s eyes were bugging out of their skulls as they stared at Argies. If I hadn’t seen Sebastian naked, I might have looked too. Fortunately, I had, and now no one else could hold a candle to him.
That’s not to say I didn’t look and appreciate his well-muscled chest. I was a woman, after all. It would have been impossible not to notice that.
“You could shift behind the trees.” Sebastian’s voice cracked through the air, followed by a sharp crack that set my teeth on edge.
Argies grumbled and stomped off. “Party pooper,” Aislinn told Sebastian.
Violet laughed along with the rest of us. “Some of us wouldn’t have minded seeing all that on display.”
I shook my head and twisted my torso from side to side to work out the kinks while Argies shifted and took to the air. Based on the rustling in the canopy, I thought he was flying above the treetops.
I saw a bright yellow orb hanging from branches above my head and pointed to it. “What’s that? Is it edible?”
Violet’s head snapped up while Aislinn looked in the direction I thought Argies went. Sebastian jumped and caught a limb above us, then pulled himself up and grabbed what I hoped was an apple.
He jumped down and sent dust flying when he landed with a smile on his face. “This is juxule. It’s like an apple. You’ll love it.”
Aislinn groaned and turned to us. “Is there any more?”
“Yep. The fruit will be higher up. We will toss some down,” Sebastian replied before he jumped to the branch and started climbing. Finarr joined him a second later.
Eyeing the fruit, I wiped it off on my shirt then bit into the firm flesh. I’m not ashamed to admit I moaned loudly. Sebastian’s head poked through the branches and pinned me with a heated stare.
My cheeks flamed, and I handed Violet the fruit. “It’s the best apple I’ve ever tasted.” Violet took a bite, nodding and moaning, as well. Aislinn’s hands shot out, and her fingers were curling and extending in a ‘gimme’ motion. Violet handed it over at the same time Bas called out a warning.
The fruit dropped afoot to my right, and I darted to catch it. Finarr called out when I had barely noticed the first. I turned to see it floating to Violet’s hand. “Use your elements to retrieve them. It’s easier.”
“I didn’t know you could wield the elements like us.” Aislinn and I had used the elements many times, but Violet never had. She called upon the power of them to aid in her magic.
“I haven’t before. I tried to cast a net to catch what the guys dropped and called on the air to aid me. It sent the fruit toward me instead of Aislinn, who was poised to catch it.” Violet removed her backpack and dropped the fruit inside.
“Maybe your powers are expanding in this realm,” Aislinn suggested as she waved her finger through the air, stopping the plummet of the next piece of fruit.
I touched my necklace, feeling for the crack that had formed last time I was there, only to encounter a raised design. When I lifted it, I noticed the amber seemed like it melted with the metal. There was now a pentagram surrounded by decorative knots. I didn’t know what the changes meant, but I loved each version of the amulet.
Violet shrugged her shoulders and directed more her way as they fell. “It’s possible. Who knows? I feel the same
. Well, that’s not true. My arms hurt like a mother, and I’m exhausted, so not exactly normal.”
I dropped the charm and helped with the retrieval while pondering the situation. A couple dozen apples later, Sebastian and Finarr jumped from the tree and took a piece of fruit.
“Juxule!” Argies called out as he returned. He was fully dressed when he joined us, much to Aislinn and Violet’s disappointment. “Thank the Gods for this lucky find.”
“Did you find somewhere we can hide?” I had caught my breath over the last few minutes because I didn’t have to continually keep the portal tethered to me. That took more of a toll than I realized.
Argies took a big bite of his apple and bobbed his head. “About five minutes to the east, there’s a cave at the base of a small mountain. It’s not a straight shot, but it won’t take us too long.”
“Was that a five-minute flight?” Aislinn asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Umm.” Argies swallowed his bite and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Yeah, I was flying.”
Violet rolled her eyes. “And how does that translate to walking?”
Argies finished off his fruit then tossed the core into the bushes. “I guess it’ll take about a half-hour or so. There’s a small hill to climb before we reach it.”
That wasn’t so bad. I zipped my backpack but left my water bladder out because it was almost empty. “Alright. Was there a creek or anything along the way? We are going to need more water soon.” I held up the plastic pouch and shook it.
Argies rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and glanced to the left. I assumed he was looking east and trying to recall what lay in our path. “I didn’t notice anything, but I can go back out and search for something.”
Sebastian shook his head. “No. I’d rather get there so we can lie down, then you can search for freshwater. That way, we won’t be out in the open. It’s about time for us to run across those assholes again.”
I hadn’t been paying attention to how often we encountered the soldiers, but it had been a bit. I was hopeful we weren’t going to run into anymore. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so quick to embrace the idea.
I wondered if I could use my elements to bring water to us. I’d have to try that once we got to the cave. It would allow us all to rest. Picking my pack up, I slung it onto my back and engaged air to float the portal again.
As the day had droned on, the weight of the stone archway had become heavier and heavier. Now it felt like a ton of bricks on my shoulders as I tugged it alongside me. I couldn’t wait until I could release this burden.
I refused to leave it here, where Fae would have to travel far and through the potentially treacherous ground to get there. The whole idea of me taking it with us was to make it easier for them to access Earth.
Chapter 11
“We’ve been walking for two hours. Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?” This time it was Sebastian questioning Argies.
The dragon glared at Bas. “I know how to tell where I’m going. We haven’t been walking as fast as I assumed we would.”
I tried to reach out to soothe Bas but ended up stumbling. Sebastian scooped me up and cradled me close. It caught me off guard, and I lost control of the portal. It crashed into a hundred-foot-tall tree. A loud snap told me the trunk had snapped. I waited for the sound of an impact with the ground, but it never came.
I slapped at Bas’s shoulder. “Put me down, dammit.”
He grumbled under his breath and set me on my feet. I looked at the tree and thought it was leaning on two trees. Only it wasn’t. Aislinn had her hand up and pointed in that direction.
I immediately called up my air and lifted the portal. She heaved a sigh of relief then lowered the tree to the forest floor. “That was close.”
“I’d say that was more like lighting the bat signal and throwing it into the air so the soldiers can find us,” Violet countered as she continued walking. She was cradling her arm a bit less, and her coloring was improving. I hadn’t checked the wound yet, but I was hopeful.
The anxiety in Violet’s words bled through to me and had my feet moving. I didn’t get very far before I had to readjust my hold on the portal and refresh the connection I’d made to it.
“I wish I could take this burden for you.” Sebastian’s gruff voice explained why he snapped at Argies. He was worried about me. That, more than anything, touched me. He was having a hard time because he had to let me fend for myself while he stood by and watched.
Bas was an alpha male and did things on his terms in his way. There was no give to him. He didn’t even smile all that often. And yet, with me, he set what he wanted aside to give me what I needed.
“I would let you take it if I could. The portal is my heritage, my birthright. And it’s heavy as hell. Not that I’m carrying the actual weight.”
Violet scoffed. “It’s not as easy to use air as you’re making it out to be. Catching those juxule with air was no different than catching them with my hands, except I didn’t drop them.”
The portal wavered from side to side as if to prove her point. The weight was suddenly lifted, and I gasped then threw out my arms like I was taking flight. Air tightened around the stone along with my gut.
Sebastian smiled at me. “I might not be able to carry it, but I can help.”
I laughed at that and lowered my arms. “I wish we’d thought of that hours ago. Hey. I was wondering if you could do something for me when we get home.”
“Sure. What do you need?” Agreeing to help me without asking what I wanted him to do was even more proof that he hadn’t been lying to get into my pants before.
“My closest friend in my previous life called before we left. From what I can tell, she will be starting over soon, and I’d like you to make her a dragonfly charm. A symbol of the change she will be going through. I can’t be there for her in person like she was when my husband died, but I can at least offer this.”
Sebastian wrapped an arm around my shoulders while we walked. “I’d be more than happy to do that for you. You’ve never talked about the death of your husband before.”
“It’s not something I like to talk about. Tim was the love of my life, and I was devastated when he died. I didn’t think I would ever truly be happy again.”
I knew I hit a nerve when I said that because he stiffened beside me. I owed him so much. I couldn’t give him everything he wanted to hear. “Until I moved here. And I never thought I could love again until I met you. Now I know it’s possible.”
Bas stopped me and cupped my cheeks. Before he could kiss me, Argies’s voice cut through the quiet afternoon. “We’re here. Let’s get inside before we are discovered.”
I laughed and pressed my lips lightly to his, then turned and continued before he could deepen it. Argies was right. Fifteen steps up the rise and I saw the darkened opening.
My shoulders sagged. Crap. The portal wasn’t going to fit in with us. Violet clapped my shoulder. “Set it outside. It’s not like anyone can come along and steal the thing.”
“Right.” Fae could carry it with air like I had, but they couldn’t move it. Grams and I were the only ones that could. Well, possibly my children. I had never seen any hint they carried magic and wondered if they had any.
After setting it against the mountain, I ducked inside the cave. We didn’t go very far. The cave was only about twenty feet deep, without any other entrances or exits. I sank down next to Aislinn and removed my backpack.
When Sebastian came in, I offered him an apple. I couldn’t even think of the Fae name. It was a mouthful. He accepted it and took a seat close to me. Argies set his bag down and moved to leave the cave.
“Wait,” I called out. “We can try to bring water to us. We have some power over the elements, right?”
“Why didn’t I think of that earlier?” Argies sank to the ground with a groan.
Finarr joined him. “Because few of us go around playing with elements, and even fewer are out in the
wilderness where we don’t have access to running water and food.”
“Ri…” Whatever Argies was going to say was cut off when we heard footsteps outside.
I swear we all held our breaths as we stared at the entrance. I didn’t hear the telltale pattern of horse’s hooves or the chatter of hundreds of men. It could have been an animal, but none of us were willing to take the chance that we were wrong.
“What the hell is that? I swear if Vodor has done something to my house.” The voice was gravel over rocks. Sebastian seemed to relax beside me a split second before a small man entered the cave. He was carrying an ax over one shoulder and a log under the other.
“Who the hell are you guys? And why are you in my cave?” A short, stalky figure was silhouetted in the entrance. I couldn’t see anything in precise detail aside from the fact that he was almost as wide as he was tall.
Argies climbed to his feet. “Thursouk, is that you?”
“Argies? Where the hell have you been? And who did you bring into my home?”
Argies gestured to us. I pushed myself to my feet with great effort. I hadn’t been sitting for more than five minutes, and every aching joint in my body was objecting to the movement. “This is Fiona, Violet, and Aislinn, and you know Finarr and Sebastian.”
“Is one of these women the hybrid that has pissed off the King?”
Argies looked back at me, where I stood frozen in place. I wasn’t convinced this creature meant us no harm. “I’m not sure what you’ve heard, but Fiona was here before, and she brought her friends to help us overthrow Vodor.”
“Your parents will be glad to hear it. The rebellion has been gearing up while Vodor has been decompensating.” Thursouk moved through the cave and lit one candle after another, allowing me to get a look around me. What I had assumed was an empty cavern was actually a decent home.
There was a fire ring set in a cove off to one side. There were a short table and cabinets along with fruit and what looked like a skinned carcass. Another indented section had a palette of blankets and pillows. We had settled in what I assumed was the living room of the home.
