Puck calls us all over for coffee and breakfast. We’re all on edge with the fire. Even though it’s small, there’s a chance someone might see it and come investigate, so breakfast is a rushed affair. Once Puck stores the coffee pot and his water flask, I take my seat, and we are off.
Once again, I am lost in my thoughts, alone in the sky with nothing to see or so do. So, I’m left to ponder my reaction to the guys, but especially to Orrin and his outlandish speech. I have little to no experience with men and don’t know if this is normal behavior. Liking three guys, wanting to be with three guys at the same time, one who wishes to fully dominate you. I need Bray here, to talk with and give me advice.
I exhaust myself with my thoughts and fall asleep to later be woken up when we stop for lunch. We’re in a large open field, and I can tell the guys are nervous, they keep looking around.
“I think we should eat quickly,” Orrin says. “I can’t say for sure, but I think something was tracking us. I almost don’t want to stop for the night and fly straight through to the Briar Forest.”
“Can we do that?” Puck asks him.
I shake my head. “No. It’s too far. We would have to fly halfway through the night at least.”
“We can try to get as close as possible,” Orrin says, “but Lin is right. It really is too far for us to go in one night. I think we just need to have a short break and then go as far as we can. Once we get beyond the Mhularuka, we can rest before we start the trials of the Briar Forest.”
We all agree and eat a quick lunch of nuts, dried berries, and water. I climb back into my carry chair, and we are off again. After this trip, I will have to figure out a way to fly, something better than this blind carry. Maybe if we make the blanket with a firmer base and sides that only go up to the rider’s armpits. That way they can still see where they are going.
I start drawing the design in my head, occupying myself from the boring ride. What seems like a short time later, my eyes flutter open to see the stars above me. We have obviously been flying longer than planned, and I want to call to the guys to find out what is going on, but from experience, I know that they won’t hear me, or if they do, I won’t hear their response. Instead, my mind comes up with a multitude of reasons for why they didn’t stop.
FINALLY, I FEEL THEM slowly drifting lower and my seat hitting the ground. I quickly stand to see where we are and I’m shocked. The guys look exhausted, but we are out of the Mhularuka territory. We stand at the edge of the Briar Forest, but before the forest is a wide barren sand-filled expanse that we must cross. Behind us is a deep chasm. A lone hill stands to the right of us. A cave opens towards the chasm.
“I thought you guys were going to stop?” I accuse them, hands on my hips.
“We were,” Orrin said. “But we kept seeing these doglike creatures that I think were the Mhularuka following us. We didn’t dare stop until we got beyond their lands.”
“Oh.” I hate not knowing what was going on while I had been in that contraption, not being a part of the decision.
Warren comes up and rubs his hands up and down my arms. “We would have talked it over with you, but we could barely converse between us. It was more hand gestures than anything else.”
Puck speaks up, “I don’t know about you guys, but I think I’m too tired to eat. Do you think we could sleep in that cave?”
“Let me go check it out while you three catch your breath.” I walk towards the cave and find that it’s more than what we expected, like it’s set up for visitors. The entryway is narrow, but opens into a large area that is set up for sleeping and lounging, with a large open fire pit in the center. I walk in and nothing happens. I leave to get the guys.
“Wow! This is some set up,” Puck says and goes right for the couches. He lays down on one and is snoring in minutes.
Warren spends a few more minutes looking around, and then crashes on a couch, “I’m just too tired. I’ll look around in a little bit.”
I look at Orrin, and he grins. “How about it? Should we go see what is behind door number one?”
I giggle, “There is only one door, silly.” I feel almost giddy, as if I’ve had one too many glasses of the nectar juice from last season. Orrin opens the door that’s at the back of the cave, and we gasp at what is before us.
The door opens into a large cave, about sixty feet long. A high ceiling with a long slit that runs the length of the room allows light to filter down. The one side of the cave has a pool that goes all the way to the wall at the far side. The water is a clear, inviting pale-blue. Ferns grow on the edges of the pool, waving in a slight breeze. A wall divides one-third of the width of the cave into a long room. We walk over and peek into it and see that it’s a changing room and bathroom-type area. On one wall are bathing costumes, short tops and long shorts in a multitude of sizes.
“Should we go for a swim?” Orrin asks.
I bite my lip, unsure of being so exposed as I would be in one of those costumes, but it would be lovely to be able to swim and relax before we go to bed, and maybe some laps would help me get rid of the restless energy that I have from sitting all day. Before I can nod my head, Orrin pulls me into the changing rooms.
“Come on. We need to relax and let loose. Once we enter the Briar Forest, it could get intense. Let’s live a little tonight.”
I let him drag me in and go to find a top and bottoms in my size. Once I have them, I go into one of the small closet-like rooms and change. The top is fitted close and comes to just under my breasts, leaving my stomach bare. The shorts are on the loose side and come to my knees. It’s not the most revealing thing I have ever worn, but I am self-conscious of the extra that hangs over the waistband. My tummy isn’t flat, but instead looks like I swallowed a partially deflated beach ball.
“Lin. Hurry up! I want to get in the water,” Orrin calls. I don’t respond as I look down at my body. Can I really walk out there and let him see all my excess? I wish I could even be just slightly curvy instead of just flat out fluffy as Bray calls it. I guess that’s better than what the other girls in the dorm called it, fat hippo.
Just as I decide that a swim is overrated, Orrin pops in and pulls me out of the changing closet. “Come on! That water looks gorgeous.”
“No, Orrin! I don’t think I want to swim anymore.”
He stops and look at me like I’ve gone insane. “Why not? We’ve had a long journey, you must need to stretch your legs, and this is the safest way to do that.”
I look at him with tears in my eyes. Do I always have to spell it out? “I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“Like what?”
“Orrin, look at me!”
“Lin, I am looking at you. I don’t see anything wrong, other than maybe too many clothes, but I thought that might be pushing things too fast.”
“How can you say that? Here I am in probably the skimpiest thing any male has seen me in, and you don’t see a problem? I am not like all the other fairies. I am not skinny, I don’t have perfect waist or boo–”
Orrin puts his finger to my lips to stop me from tearing myself apart. “No, Lin. You may not have that perfect fairy figure, but that’s okay. The extra on your hips is perfect to hold you tight. Your breasts aren’t tiny and perky, but they are what I like, enough that I can pillow my head on them, or nuzzle them. No, your stomach isn’t flat enough to bounce a cherry off of, but it is perfect for resting my head on. You are perfect as you were formed. If I wanted a perfect fairy, I could have had any of them, but I didn’t. They didn’t fit what I desire.”
His words make me glow, and I stop struggling and let him lead me into the pool. The water is warm and soothing. I walk into its depths with Orrin and find myself being swept into an unseen current.
“Orrin?!” I kick my feet trying to get back to the entrance to the pool or one of the sides, but it’s as if a rope is tied to my waist, pulling me towards the back of the pool. “ORRIN!” I risk a mouth full of water to look over my shoulder at him. He is b
ehind me, struggling to move, but unable to move. What is this sorcery we have stepped into?
“Lin! I can’t move! I will find you.”
I get one last look at him before I’m swept under the wall and into a long dark tunnel.
Chapter 15
I DON’T KNOW HOW LONG I have been dragged through this dark tunnel. My fingers feel like they are prunes, and it’s all I can do to keep my head above water. I just want to sleep. Every now and then I forget and slip into sleep and get a face full of water.
I scream as something swims around and between my legs, twining itself so that I’m sitting on a piece of it, then it goes up over my hip, around my back, under my arm, across my chest, under my other arm and finally it’s head rests on my shoulder.
“Resst little one. Misstressss hass insstructed that I keep you ssafe while in thesse tunnelsss.”
“Wh-wh-what are you?” I stutter. “Where am I?”
“You are under the Briar Foressst. A prissssoner of Misstressss.”
“No! I can’t be. What about my friends? Where are they? What will happen to them?”
“I do not know of thesse friendss. My job iss to take care of you.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Lithiusss. I am a sssea ssserpent, that owesss my life to Misstressss. Sshe keepsss me sssafe from thosse who want to kill me for my fangss and sskin. Now ssleeep.” He pushes my head gently back with his so that it rests on his body, and the rest of my body floats in the water.
Chapter 16
Orrin
I STAND, UNABLE TO move as I watch Lin be swept under the wall at the end of the pool. My legs feel as if they’re in mud, they can move a fraction of a inch, but then just bounce back to where they were.
“Why, hello there!” The most sensual voice I have ever heard says, and I look behind me. A woman stands at the edge of the water, nearly naked in her bathing costume. A simple band of fabric crosses over each breast and ties behind her back. A small skirt barely covers her, just grazing the tops of her thighs. I look up at her face and cannot gauge her age. She could be anywhere from late twenties to early fifties with her dark hair edged in white, pale flawless skin and blue eyes.
Suddenly, I find I can move again, and I fall into the water. A soft tinkling laugh echoes through the room.
“Oh, that’s very impolite of me. I should probably be punished,” she says.
I stand up from the water, which has the sad effect of leaving little to her imagination. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.” I try to go for nonchalance, disinterest. Unfortunately, certain body parts are not in agreement, and they are proudly standing at attention.
That tinkling laugh echoes through the cave again. “I am Loretta. I believe you are here to see me.” She slowly walks towards me until she’s standing directly in front of me. Her finger trails down my chest and rests at the top of my waistband, inching under it and pulling the band out, then letting it go. “I think we will have much fun together.” She snaps her fingers, and I find myself following her, my feet moving with a mind of their own.
“Don’t worry about your friends. They will sleep peacefully for a long while. When they rouse from their sleep, they will have to find me the hard way, by coming through the sand and woods.”
A hidden door at the end of the pool area opens with a touch of her hand, and we’re in a long hallway. Eventually, she takes us to a set of stairs that lead us up and up and up. When I feel like my legs will not go another step, she stops in front of a door and smiles wickedly at me.
“It has been a long time. I have waited for the fairies to come to me. It took many years to perfect the dust that would prevent the talents from developing, and then I had to wait for you to mature. Now that you have come, I can train you to be my own fairies.”
“What makes you think that we would want to be your fairies?” I ask her. I have never felt as off balance as she makes me feel. She’s beyond beautiful, sure of herself and of my reaction to her.
She steps up to me, so close that my lips are almost touching her cheek and whispers in my ear. “You will, because I will give you everything you desire.” Her mouth nips at my ear lobe and holds on gently as she pulls away, while her finger trails down my chest and fingers my waistband.
I gulp. A light sweat breaks out on my forehead, and despite my brain saying no, my smaller brain says yes and jerks to attention.
She laughs, and pushes me gently into the room with her hand on my chest, while her other hand continues to play with the edge of my waistband. “See, now the fun can begin.”
I try to pull away from her, to give myself some physical and mental space, but she hedges me in, unrelenting in her exploration as she pulls my shirt up over my head. My knees hit a hard edge, and I fall back onto a soft bed. Before I can react she is on top of me, like a leech. Never before have I seen a woman be so sexually aggressive, and it does what nothing else has done. I feel my erection wilt.
“Loretta, you’re beautiful,” I say, grasping her hands in mine. “But before I jump into bed with a woman, I need more. I feel like you are eating me alive, as if I’m your prey.” I slither out from under her, not letting go of her hands. A tear runs down her cheek.
“I’m sorry. It has been so long since anyone has been here, and I thought you would desire me.”
“Oh, I do desire you, as any red-blooded male would. But attacking me sexually is a turn off. Getting to know me, letting things occur naturally is what works. But also, I have interests elsewhere.” How do I let her down without crushing her?
The liquid pools in her eyes turn to fire. “You have INTERESTS elsewhere? You really think I will believe that? When you respond to my touch as you did?” She turns from me and marches to the door, before she leaves the room she looks at me. “I had hoped we could start differently, you and me. But we have time, all the time in the world.”
The door shuts with a resounding click and then the scrape of the key turning in the lock follows. I run to the door and pound on it, but no one answers. I throw my shoulder into it, but all that happens is I bounce off it and have a sore shoulder to show for it. I look around at the room, to see that it’s round with a bed and a dresser, and a small window. I race to the window and want to cry. It would take months of not eating to possibly be able to fit through that small space, and then I would be too weak to fly the fifty feet to the ground.
Chapter 17
Puck
IT’S A DREAM COME TRUE. A room full of all the foods I could want to cook with, and the best cooking area possible. I walk around just touching and feeling, unable to comprehend this space.
A small voice says something is wrong, that this isn’t the room I walked into, but I squash it as my joy overflows at being able to do what I love. My hand travels over the various fruits and vegetables and seeds. Finally, I pick up a few up and start creating one dish after another.
I don’t know how long I spend cooking, but the table is full of dishes. Tired, I sit down to enjoy what I have made but feel empty. All this food means nothing when there is no one here to enjoy it with.
I look around, and my heart starts to race. This isn’t the cave that I laid down in to take a nap. Am I dreaming? They say if you pinch yourself when dreaming it will wake you, right? I pinch my forearm hard, but nothing happens.
I run to the window and look out, but all I see is a white expanse. No ground, no sky, just white. I try to raise the window, but it won’t move. I run to the door and pull the handle. It gives easily in my hand and opens, revealing a bathroom. I shut the door and look around the space. There is one final door to try. With trepidation, I walk over and try the handle, it doesn’t move. I’m trapped.
Chapter 18
Warren
MY EYES DRIFT OPEN, and I see brilliant stars above me. I turn my head to see that the bed I lay on is directly below a gorgeous sky light. To the right of the bed is a contraption that I’ve only read about, and I jump up to see it.
My hands touch it reverently, as if touching a lover’s skin for the first time. A machine that will make the stars appear to be within hand’s reach. Holding my breath, I place my eye on the eyepiece and gaze in wonder at all the the stars above. A gasp escapes me as the colors of the sky pop into focus. All I can do is stare.
I don’t know how long I stand there looking and searching the galaxy, but I find that it’s empty without anyone to share it with. I turn to look for Puck or Aislin, but they’re not there.
I search the room, and am distracted by the workshop on the one side. It has tools and supplies which will keep me occupied for years. I see a book of human contraptions laying on the table and am distracted from my search for my friends. The image on the front of a boat with wings has peaked my interest. I sit down to read, entranced once again.
Chapter 19
I JOLT AWAKE, AND IF it weren’t for the serpent holding me, I would have had a face full of water. My body feels water-logged, as if the skin is about to slough off at any moment. My stomach grumbles loudly.
“Misstressss, comesss sssoon. Little fairy needsss to eat.”
I hiccup laugh at his comment of little fairy. “Lithius, have you actually looked at me? I’m not little by any stretch of the imagination.”
“But you are. If I were not in the water and were to take you on my back in the air, you would weigh nothing as we fly through the air.”
“What are you exactly?” Maybe I can distract myself from my discomfort and hunger by talking to my captor.
“I told you I am a ssea dragon. When in water I appear ass a very large ssnake, but when I take flight into the air, my form changess into that of a dragon.” His voice has taken on a faraway tone, as if he misses his dragon form.
Finding Her Wings Page 7
