by Renee Greene
“I don’t know for sure,” Bryan answered. “I’d be more concerned about you dying than her losing enough connection to get you through. She does have to have a good connection, but on her side it doesn’t have to be as strong as yours. If you fall for a fairy girl and lose your connection you will not be able to get back through the arch.”
“That is not going to happen,” Dylan assured him. “Where many of the fairies are quite beautiful, I’m not really attracted to them.”
Nea slapped him in the arm playfully and teased, “You did just insult my entire race.”
“You aren’t interested in a full human,” he defended.
“True,” she agreed. “Apology accepted.”
He did a double take. That wasn’t an apology, perhaps a defense, but not an apology. Still, it wasn’t worth the effort to correct.
Nea didn’t pay any attention to him. She turned to Bryan and directly asked with big innocent eyes, “Would you please tell me how to get through the arch? It seems Dylan can because of his feelings for Vanessa and her feelings for him.” She stopped walking, took both his hands, and told him, “I know that I have strong feelings for you. I playfully flirt with you, and I don’t look too serious, but there is something incredible about you. You are like no guy I’ve ever met. You are smart and fun. You are entirely honest. I can’t imagine you ever being manipulative, as so many fairies are. So many are pranksters and immature. You are different, but in an incredible way. I should feel strongly enough about you to get through. Do you not feel the same way?”
“That’s not it,” Bryan answered. “There is more to it, and the other part is a price I don’t want you to pay.”
A more mischievous smile crossed her face and she pleaded, “Now, I’m really curious. Please tell me.” She stepped forward, put her left arm around him, rubbed his chest with her right hand, and again pleaded, “Please tell me.”
“Umm…” he stammered. “Umm…”
“Please,” she again begged.
The slick fire-thrower seemed so vulnerable. “I shouldn’t tell you,” he insisted. “Yet, you know that I can’t turn you down.”
She smiled and agreed, “You can’t. That is true, so go ahead and tell me.”
He took her hands, stepped back from her so he could think more clearly, and explained, “It’s not just a matter of our connection. To get someone through the arch, he must have committed an entirely selfless act for one of the half-fairies, particularly Alizar’s descendants, a selfless act so great that he put himself in extreme danger and spilled blood over it. Dylan did that on our world before we learned that. He is very protective of Vanessa.” Bryan stepped closer, put his arms around her, and added, “I would love to have you come into my world, but I cannot let your sacrifice yourself for me. I cannot see you bleeding on the ground as Dylan has for Vanessa. I couldn’t bear seeing that.”
She stepped up close to him and surprised him by kissing him. She’d kissed him before, generally playfully, but that kiss had more emotion.
“What was that for?” Bryan asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Nea teased.
Bryan smiled at her but noted, “Yes, that is the point of asking. You didn’t answer my question.”
“True,” she agreed. “Where I can’t lie, I can evade. Let’s get to the castle. I think we have a great deal to think about.”
Chapter 6: Dylan Learns How Poison Affects Him
King Giles really wanted to send Nea to infiltrate Evander’s land, but since Bryan was absolutely insistent that she not go alone, he conceded to wait. Besides, as much as they wanted to rescue their father, they really thought more training was needed. Dylan definitely didn’t feel competent with a sword and shield, and Bryan was far from mastering wizardry.
Dylan began the next morning with fighting training. Vanessa came with him, hoping to learn a little about fighting, wanting to be there to heal him if he was hurt, and honestly, desiring to have him around.
Fortunately, Dylan didn’t have Salgothen as his teacher. He had a different Elven soldier named Heremon, and a faun fighter named Jaylond teaching him. Heremon told Vanessa that they had a teacher coming for her and suggested she watch until her teacher came.
Vanessa asked who was going to be teaching her, and she was told that she would be taught by Pyria who was a Tengai. Vanessa had never heard of a fairy race called tengai, but she would see what one was soon.
While she waited, Dylan had a fight lesson. Neither Heremon nor Jaylond was as brutal as Salgothen, but Heremon had the quick reflexes of an elf, and Dylan found that faun were incredibly strong and used their charm when fighting to pull his focus off the fight while he hit.
The lesson was intense, and Dylan was sure he’d end up bruised up pretty badly, but he was learning a great deal about sword fighting. They told him that he was very natural and hit hard, but would need training learning to fight against magical beings and spells.
“Is there a way to protect against magical spells?” Dylan asked. “If there is, I need to learn it.” He looked over at Vanessa and admitted, “I am in way over my head here. I thought I was a pretty slick fighter being a secret agent as a teenager. This has been a humbling experience, but no matter what it takes, I have to protect Vanessa.”
“Then you need to train really hard,” Heremon suggested. “Let’s get at it. If we hit you too hard, Vanessa won’t mind healing you.”
“She’s confused,” Dylan countered, “but I will protect her no matter what she chooses.”
They started fighting again and Vanessa watched as they did.
As they fought, Bryan came over and sat down by Vanessa.
“What are you doing here?” Vanessa asked. “I would expect you to be around Nea. You seem to be rather smitten.”
“I definitely have never had a girl pay attention to me as she does,” Bryan admitted. “I do enjoy her, but honestly, I don’t know very much about her, so I’m not sure how much potential the relationship has, but I do enjoy her.”
“Maybe you should take her on a date,” Vanessa suggested. “That would help you get to know her better.”
“A date?” Bryan asked. He stared straight forward for a moment before speaking again. Finally he said, “A date? I’ve never been on a date. I don’t know what to do on a date.”
“Likely she doesn’t either,” Vanessa pointed out. “I’m seeing that the way fairies date and humans do is different. Rayne is already trying to get me to marry him.”
“Do you like Rayne?” Bryan asked.
“Yes,” Vanessa answered, “but not enough to agree to marry him. That’s not something I want to think about for years. I just had my first date the other day.”
She stared over at Dylan, so Bryan asked, “What do you think of Dylan?”
“He’s amazing,” Vanessa admitted. “I’d be stupid not to like him. He’s brave and strong. He protects me. He even fought to the death for us. Yet, I don’t know if my feelings for him are due to this situation or are actually real. I really don’t know that much about him. He’s been living at our house and has seen my daily life. I’ve only seen him at school and working. I’ve never been to his house. I’ve never met his family. I just saw the FAE building where he works for his dad the other day. He is mysterious. We did go on one date, but it was pretty disastrous. It ended with us getting attacked and him getting hurt for me. I think he just likes me because I’m his job. He can have any girl at school, and I’m afraid when he’s done with this mission he’ll lose interest in me.”
“Not likely,” Bryan noted. “He can come through the arch because of you.”
“I don’t want him liking me only so he can get into Elliad,” she pointed out. She looked into Bryan’s eyes and asked, “Do you think he does?”
Bryan raised his eyebrows and asked, “Seriously? You are asking me about relationships? Is there a guy on earth more clueless than me?”
“Touche,” Vanessa responded. “It’s funny how you ar
e so awkward with Nea’s attention. Where is she now?”
“With Rayne and King Giles,” Bryan explained. “They are discussing the possibility of Rayne going into Evander’s land with Nea to spy. He could protect her but not expose her because he can go invisible.”
“Umm… what if Evander has someone who can go invisible and see him?” Vanessa asked. “I don’t like it.”
“I don’t either,” Bryan agreed. “King Evander told me to come check on you and that he’d send Nea soon. I am worried that he wants to talk to Rayne and Nea alone. Honestly, I don’t trust Rayne. I do Nea, and I’m not sure that I should.”
“You should,” Vanessa assured him. “She can’t lie.”
“But she doesn’t tell everything she knows and is good at evasion,” Bryan pointed out. “I guess we will see what happens. Unfortunately, I can’t take her to our world with me and see if we can have some dates.”
“I think we focus on saving dad first,” Vanessa pointed out. She then turned back to watching Dylan train. He was so heroic. She watched as he fought against both of his trainers at the same time. He was taking some hard hits, but not giving up. If only she could fly through the air with him.
She was watching him when Nea came in. Nea hurried over to Bryan and in a panic explained, “Rayne heard what we were talking about when we walked over. He knows that he can likely get through the arch. I’m worried that he will tell Fardoragh. I don’t know if Fardoragh is working with Evander or not, but Evander could find out how to get through the portal. I really messed everything up making you tell me how. I’m so sorry!”
She threw her arms around him. He didn’t hug her back. Instead, he froze in place as he said, “I really have no idea how to deal with a girl’s emotional outbreak. What am I supposed to do?”
“Hug me and tell me that I haven’t messed everything up,” she answered.
“I can do that,” he decided. He put his arms around her, awkwardly patted her on the back, and told her, “It will be fine. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if Evander knows how to get through the arch. He can’t do it. Can you imagine him ever being selfless, ever really caring about anyone, or putting himself in mortal danger for someone? I’m not worried. Maybe if he knows it’s impossible, he’ll stop trying and let my father go.”
She hugged him tightly, wiped her eyes, and then seriously warned, “He will not let your father go, not for nothing. You don’t really understand evil, do you?”
“True,” Bryan stated. “It is not logical.”
“No, it isn’t,” Nea agreed. She smiled at him and asked, “Are humans logical?”
“No,” he answered. “A few are, but overall, no. It is rather annoying. I watch people often wondering why they behave in such illogical manners.”
“Like you behave logically?” Vanessa inserted. “Is it really logical the way you get so nervous whenever Nea touches you or that you twist your hair, get so frustrated, and can’t get your words out in our world?”
“Yes and yes,” Bryan defended. “It’s entirely logical.”
“You are more awkward in your world?” Nea asked.
“So much more,” Bryan admitted. “I’m not sure you want to see me there.”
“Oh, I do,” she corrected. “I’m not sure I want to get badly wounded to be able to go. Besides, if you are that awkward in your world, then you belong in this one.”
“In many ways I do,” he agreed. “Yet, I belong in mine, at least for now. My family is meant to be the guardians of the portal.”
Nea surprised him by hugging him. Something seemed wrong.
Bryan stiffened awkwardly and looked over to Vanessa for advice.
“Just hug her,” Vanessa told him. “You really don’t understand girls.”
“Guilty,” he agreed as he put his arms around Nea. “Am I supposed to understand what is bothering her?”
“Yes,” Vanessa scolded. “You just said that you belong in our world and she belongs here.”
“That is correct,” Bryan stated, nodding his head that he got it right.
“You are so clueless,” Vanessa muttered, shaking her head. “How are you going to have any relationship if you are in our world and she is here?”
“I’m not good with relationships,” Bryan replied matter-of-factly. “I figured that I could visit her any time I like… Well, not during school hours,” he corrected. “I can visit often. We can date, and then we will see what happens after that.” He paused then added, “Given, of course, that I get the nerve to ask Nea on a date.”
Nea looked up at him and asked, “You have thought through our relationship and how to pursue it? That makes me happy.”
He smiled back. “I like to make you happy.”
There was a moment of connection between the two of them, and Vanessa looked on in wonder. Never in her world had she seen such emotion from her brother. It made her happy.
She didn’t get to tease her brother about it because Pyria walked onto the field they were practicing on. Vanessa saw what a Tengai looked like. Pyria was gorgeous. She had white hair with silver streaks and silver wings with blue and black streaks and tips. She was stunningly beautiful, even though she had a tail. Of course, it wasn’t like a lizard’s tail, but was thin and graceful, not detracting from her beauty at all. If she dressed in a chain mail bikini, no man would have been able to fight her, as they would just stand staring. Yet, she wasn’t stupid enough to dress like that. She wore form fitting leather, which showed off a very nice figure. If she was dressed in a sparkling dress, she’d look innocent, but in the leather, she looked deadly. Her innocence and toughness was an odd juxtaposition.
“I’m Pyria,” the Tengai stated as she walked up to Vanessa. “Are you ready to get started with your lesson?”
Vanessa took a breath for courage and answered, “I guess so.”
“Good,” Pyria stated. She held up her hand with long, sharp fingernails and warned, “Be careful. If I cut you with these, they will temporarily paralyze you. I will not kill you while in that state, but in a real fight someone would. My tail is poisonous too, but you don’t have to worry about it. Its poison does not release unless I make it, and I won’t. Let’s get training.”
Vanessa got up and went to the field near where Dylan was fighting. He was fighting hard and didn’t stop, even when he was hit hard. He took correction well, and really applied all the advice they gave him.
She didn’t get to watch him long, as Pyria told her it was time to start fight training. She put a bow in Vanessa’s hand and told her that she would train better as an archer than a sword fighter, as she was way too weak to fight with a sword.
Pyria began instructing her. There was a great deal to teach, as Vanessa knew nothing of fighting, and she needed to not just learn to fight on the ground but fight in the air.
Vanessa wasn’t too bad with the bow if the target was close, but she wasn’t strong enough to shoot it far.
After working with Vanessa for a while, Pyria stopped, went over to Heremon and Jaylond, and asked if they would work with Vanessa for a while and let her work with Dylan. She also suggested that Bryan do some training.
Bryan was insistent that he was a pacifist, but that encouraged Pyria even more to insist that he learn. She assured him that she would work on defensive fighting, so he could learn to protect those he loved without having to kill.
She leaned over and whispered in his ear, “You need to be able to protect Nea, not make her protect you.”
Bryan stood up and walked onto the field.
Pyria immediately started working with both Bryan and Dylan. Dylan could have beaten her fairly easily, but he really couldn’t make himself hit a beautiful girl like Pyria. Bryan wouldn’t even try.
Due to their hesitance, Pyria slashed Bryan with her claws. He suddenly froze in place, unable to move a muscle. She swung her tail around to sting him.
Dylan wasn’t sure what the tail would do, but he didn’t want to see Bryan stung by it, so he dove
on top of Bryan, tackling him to the ground. As he did, the stinger at the end of Pyria’s tail, meant for Bryan, stuck in Dylan’s side. It stung badly, but he didn’t immediately die or get paralyzed.
“What did you do?” he yelled as he rolled up.
“Oh, it’s not deadly,” she assured him. She walked up, put her hand on his cheek and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to strike you.”
“What does your tail do?” Dylan asked.
She smiled alluringly and teased, “I guess you will find out.”
Chapter 7: Bryan Learns that Evil Men are Cowards
That evening, Oden came to Bryan, who was with Nea and announced, “King Giles needs to see you, Bryan. Vanessa is being fetched.”
Bryan and Nea followed Oden to the king. He was standing in front of the dragon figurine with the orb. “It’s a message from the library,” he told Bryan. Vanessa should be here soon. Dylan is being fetched too.
It didn’t take Vanessa long to get there, and Rayne followed her.
No one really knew if they could trust Rayne, but at the moment, the only thing that mattered was the message.
It was their mother. She cried into the orb, “Trina is captured. You must come back immediately! They will exchange Trina for the information on how to get through the arch.”
“They can’t get through it,” Bryan pointed out. “We still need to rescue dad. Can they come into the library and talk through the orb?”
“They refuse,” Agent White informed them, as he was with Gail. “Their eccentric cannot pass through the library wall because of some magic on it. They think that if they communicate with you over technology that you will trick them. We are to meet in person at midnight to exchange information for Trina.”
“Hurry!” Gail cried.
“Can’t you go in and take her out,” Dylan asked. “They’d hardly realized that he was in the room because he’d been so quiet. “Your forces are good.”
