by Renee Greene
“Acid,” Agent Hall, who was kneeling beside him, explained.
Burn salve had been applied, and the paramedics had an oxygen mask on him to try to help him breathe. They were preparing a shot of something.
“Don’t,” Vanessa ordered as she ran over.
The paramedics weren’t about to stop because a teenage girl told them too, even if she did have wings, but Agent Hall ordered them to step back.
Vanessa was glad they hadn’t given him the shot. Her magic wasn’t made to work with medicine, as there were no unnatural medicines in Elliad.
She started rubbing his throat and chest, but that would take too long. She really wasn’t eager to kiss her boyfriend’s father, but she needed to save his life. Heck, people gave mouth to mouth and didn’t think it creepy. Perhaps that would work to heal him. She knew kisses would, but perhaps it didn’t need to be a kiss. She did open his mouth and blow into it. When she did, the gasping subsided some, but it didn’t stop. Would kissing him even work? Rayne had told her before the connection mattered, and where she knew Agent White well enough to care that he got healed, they had no real connection.
Rayne knelt beside her and instructed, “Kiss Dylan, then blow into his mouth.” She didn’t understand him. It was odd realizing that they didn’t speak the same language. He acted out instructions, and she understood.
Dylan was shaking, watching his burned father and not being able to do anything.
Vanessa wasn’t generally bold, but she grabbed Dylan and kissed him. It wasn’t a romantic kiss with sparkles all around. It was more of a panicked kiss, but it was full of emotion – fear, hope, and, yes, love.
She then blew into Agent White’s mouth again. That time the gasping for air stopped, and he began breathing normally. Her heart slowed down from its panicked rate. Agent White would make it. She began rubbing the burns. They would take time to heal.
“Kiss Dylan again,” Rayne suggested. Again, she didn’t understand so he puckered and pointed to her then Dylan.
Since Agent White was breathing and stable, Vanessa was calmer as she gave Dylan another kiss. He was still shaking. Of course he was. He was looking at his father badly burned. Yet, that time there was more hope than desperation in the kiss.
She again blew into Agent Whites mouth. His breathing became relaxed and he seemed to not be in so much pain. She next ran her hands along his face. It was so badly burned with the acid that there were ulcers and welts, and the skin was crusted and wrinkled. Hopefully, she could heal him. As she stroked his face, it became recognizable again, and she noticed how much his features were like Dylan’s. This was Dylan’s father. She had to save him. She glanced over at Dylan. He was holding his father’s hand and holding back tears.
A thought occurred to her. “Put your hands on mine,” she suggested to Dylan. Dylan immediately did. With his connection to his father, and her ability to heal, the burns began to heal faster.
It would still take a great deal of time, as he was badly burned from the waist up, but he would live and there was hope.
As she worked on healing Agent White, Bryan stood in the library watching the two men and his mother and little sister. He hoped their situation wouldn’t keep Vanessa from focusing on healing. “Stop!” Bryan ordered the man. “Both of you, stop!”
Trina ran over to Bryan and grabbed his leg for security.
“What do you want?” Bryan demanded.
“We want to find the way through the arch,” the man holding his mother answered.
Bryan noticed the other man looking through books.
“You can’t even read them,” Bryan retorted. “Do you read Elvish, Vilary, or any fairy language?”
“Agent Hall can read some,” the man answered victoriously. “Has your father told you nothing. He taught Agent Hall some Elvish, thinking it could do no harm.”
“Is that how he communicates through the orb to Evander?” Bryan asked.
“I don’t know,” the man answered. “There is rumor that he does. There is rumor that the land in Elliad translates. Agent Hall has not explained how it works.”
Bryan looked over at the other man who was searching the library. He could put a paralyzation spell on him, but if he did the other man might cut his mother. “Who are you?” Bryan asked the man holding his mother. “How can you pass through objects?”
“My name is Austin,” he answered. “I was experimented on to save my life. This is the result.”
“So why use it to work for Mahon?” Bryan asked.
“Because the arch ought to be open to everyone,” Austin argued. “It is a good cause. I do not fit in this world. I’m a freak, a misfit, but perhaps I would not be unusual with the fairies.”
“Perhaps not,” Bryan agreed. “Yet, you would likely be in a dungeon or executed for you crimes. You have definitely tried to kill and kidnap.”
“Small prices to pay for the portal to be opened,” Austin hissed. He pulled the knife closer to Gail’s neck as he demanded, “Tell us how to get through! We don’t believe the selfless sacrifice. That is to try to make it sound impossible. What are the magic words!”
Bryan had had enough. Instead of explaining that he hadn’t lied, he held one hand out toward Austin and another to the other man and commanded, “Penvy fant squir!”
Both men stopped suddenly in place as if they were wax figures. “Go,” Bryan told his mother.
Gail figured that it would be hard to get loose, thinking Austin had been petrified, but she moved his arm from her easily.
“Get agents,” Bryan ordered, still standing there with his hands held out.
Gail grabbed Trina and ran into the den. She heard Bryan call, “Cumail suas,” as she did.
Agents came and bound both men, glad that Austin couldn’t go immaterial and the other man could not shoot acid. Bryan warned them the spell would not last long.
It took time to heal Agent White, so everyone waited as Vanessa worked. The paramedics were amazed at what she did and really wanted to know how she did it. Her story of not being fully human didn’t sound very plausible.
It took over an hour for Vanessa to heal Agent White, and she felt very drained by the end. Once healed, he got up and took charge of the situation.
Bryan walked over to Agent White and told him, “I am working on figuring out how to get you and Trina through the arch for your protection, but well… oh, it’s complicated, but… um...it is possible.” He stopped for a moment, ran his hand through his hair, and then blurted out, “If there is one rule in Elliad, it’s that all magic has its counter. I know how to get mom through, but she needs to stay with Trina. Can you handle everything here? We need to get back and rescue dad.”
Agent White was surprised at Bryan saying so much. “I’ll deal with everything here,” he assured him. “We have two eccentrics caught. That should help.”
They were suddenly interrupted by Dylan calling out, “Stop, Rayne!”
Rayne had a small suitcase in his hand.
“Stop!” Dylan demanded again, but Rayne didn’t stop until Bryan called for him to stop in Elvish.
Rayne stood like a deer in gun sites and defended, “Umm… this is to help King Giles. He asked me to bring it back.”
There were no more words. A fight broke out, and all the agents stared at it. Both Dylan and Rayne were good fighters, so they hit hard and no one dared step between them.
The fight ended with Dylan winning, and his father cuffing Rayne’s hands behind his back.
“What do you want us to do with him?” Agent White asked.
“We’ll take him to Elliad,” Dylan answered.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Rayne defended, but only Bryan understood, as he said it in Elvish.
They opened the suitcase and saw it was full of weapons. Then they pulled Rayne to the library and he, Bryan, Dylan, and Vanessa went through the arch.
Surprisingly, no one was on the other side. That couldn’t be good. Likely, something big was happenin
g.
“You didn’t have to hit so hard,” Dylan accused. “That was supposed to be a fight for show, to make it look like you were loyal to Fardoragh.”
“Sorry,” Rayne apologized. “I guess I’m upset that you won with Vanessa, so I hit harder than intended. You hit hard too.”
“Because you were hitting me hard,” Dylan defended.
“Let me heal you both,” Vanessa offered, hoping to lessen the tension.
She walked over to Rayne to see what needed healing. He had a cut on his cheek from a hard punch, and likely had several bruises. They were in a hurry, so she gave him a kiss to heal him. Her kiss to him was to heal, but she could feel the sincerity in his. Of course he was sincere. If he didn’t have the connection, he couldn’t have passed through the arch with her. She really felt sorry for him, but she couldn’t help falling for Dylan.
After healing Rayne, she walked over to Dylan and asked, “Do you need healing?”
“Need it, no,” he answered. “I can handle some bruises. Would I like a kiss from my girlfriend, yes.”
He did kiss her, and it had the healing affect whether that was the purpose of the kiss or not.
Rayne stared at them as they kissed, but there was more sadness than anger.
“We need to leave,” Bryan suggested. “Something is wrong. I would have expected ogres, or at least guards here.” He looked around, very disappointed and added, “I’m surprised Nea isn’t here either. Let’s get to the castle, but expect trouble.”
Chapter 18: King Giles Learns that Women are Trouble
When Vanessa, Dylan, Rayne, and Bryan arrived at the castle, there were more guards out than usual, and people seemed to be running around.
“What happened?” Bryan asked as they approached.
“An attack on King Giles’s life,” the guard answered. “He was stabbed. He’s in his room being healed. I think he was found in time. We have been told to have you report to him immediately.”
They ran in and up the stairs to King Giles’s chambers, which were heavily guarded.
Nea was waiting for them. She ran over and hugged Bryan, but said, “Hurry!”
They were rushed in the bedroom to see Giles lying on his bed with pixie girls all around him. The stab wound had been well healed, but Giles was delirious and sobbing from pain.
“What’s wrong?” Bryan asked. “How did he even get stabbed?”
“My ring was stolen,” King Giles got out weakly.
Jaylond was in the room watching for trouble. Dylan recognized him from fight training, as he was the faun who taught him. He came over and explained, “His ring was stolen, and then he was stabbed. The pixies can heal the stab, and Giles is immune to poison, but there apparently was a spell on the knife. We think he is turning to stone from the inside out. No pixie can heal him. If you can’t do something with your wizardry, Giles will die.”
Bryan stared at him in shock, the weight of the responsibility resting heavily on him. He went over and sat beside King Giles, staring at him. What words would he even use? If he stopped the spell, King Giles would still likely die, as part of his insides were already petrifying. He had no idea how much.
He listened to Giles’s breathing. He was still breathing, labored, but breathing, and his heart was still beating, so his heart and lungs hadn’t petrified.
“What do I do?” he asked Nea. “What do I say?”
She came over, took his hands, and pulled him up. She then looked in his eyes and told him, “You know how to do this. You can do this. You are just afraid. “Do not doubt. You know that if you doubt a spell it will not work.”
“How can I not doubt?” Bryan asked. “I have never done anything like this. If I fail, he will die. How do I know I am strong enough?”
“Because you are,” she assured him. “You are the most incredible man I’ve ever met. You are smart, and kind, and honest. You are going to believe that you can do it and not doubt because I know you can.” She raised on her toes and gave him a kiss. Nymphs didn’t strengthen people with kisses, only pixies could, but her kiss made him feel so much stronger and more confident. Perhaps he could save King Giles’s life.
After the kiss Nea whispered, “I love you. I cannot lie. You can do this. Now, reverse the spell.”
Reverse the spell, that is exactly what he needed to say, not stop, not undo, as undo could make the stone parts in him go away but leave holes in him. He stepped up to the side of the bed to do the spell, but first glanced over at Nea. She was smiling at him. She had faith in him. He held his hand out toward Giles and boldly declared, “Cul spatny kuzlo!”
Something immediately happened, as King Giles tensed all over and then curled up in a fetal position holding his stomach. Everyone watched, wondering if the spell was working or Giles was about to die.
After a few minutes, that seemed like hours, King Giles lay back on the pillows on his bed and said, “Thank you, Bryan. I owe you my life.”
Nea almost tackled Bryan with a hug, and everyone in the room smiled at what a cute couple they made.
All the pixies who were trying to heal King Giles offered to give Bryan a hero’s kiss, but he informed them that he would rather get it from Nea and proceeded to give her a kiss even with everyone watching.
Once they had celebrated that King Giles was alive, They sent the pixie healers out and got down to business. The first question they had was how Giles had his ring stolen. After all, with it activated, no one could even get to it.
“Apparently, there is a very beautiful faun named Felicity who stole it from me,” he explained. “I do not know if she is working with Evander purposely or if she was spelled, but I met her at the Midnight Crow. I thought going there would be a good break. We had dinner together and danced. Apparently, I did not even notice her slip it off my hand.”
“Too busy kissing her?” Bryan asked. “I would understand that. When I kiss Nea, anything could happen around me and I would not notice.”
“Indeed,” Giles agreed. “We were dancing.” He looked over at Bryan and admitted, “And yes, she kissed me, several times.” I did not notice my ring was gone until a Nekoj stabbed me in the gut.”
“Nekoj?” Dylan asked.
“Half-lion or some kind of cat,” Nea answered.
King Giles continued, “The pixies were called in, and you can tell the rest.” He shook his head. “I let my guard down. Everything looked safe. I had guards around. I can’t be poisoned. I should have known they would try something with all of you gone. I feel like a fool.”
Nea did not respond “True,” as that wasn’t a good thing to say about a king who could have her beheaded.
King Giles then asked for a report on how their mission had gone. He was glad to hear that they had saved Dylan’s father and that Rayne had played his part well and made the fight look good so he appeared to be trying to do what Fardoragh wanted without actually bringing the weapons through the arch.
“I do need to meet with Fardoragh,” Rayne pointed out. “I will need to report my failure.”
King Giles looked at him and asked, “Do you need someone to go with you?”
“Only Vanessa could come with me without being suspicious,” Rayne pointed out. “I am not putting her in that kind of danger. I guess I go alone.”
“How about Pyria?” Nea suggested. “She was spying for Evander. She could feasibly go with you, and she’s an incredible fighter. Just watch her spelling you if she thinks you’re handsome.”
“You will need help,” King Giles agreed. He looked over at Dylan and asked, “Do you approve?”
“Why ask me?” Dylan asked.
“Because you have taken responsibility for her,” King Giles reminded him. “I have had guards partner with her to keep an eye on her. Do you want to take the chance of allowing Rayne to be her partner? A mission like this would be easy to take the easy path and betray us on. Do you trust her that much? You know Rayne may not be able to keep an eye on her the entire time.”
&n
bsp; “Why wouldn’t he?” Vanessa whispered to Dylan.
“Because he is likely to be punished for his failure,” Dylan explained. Then he added, “That could be painful.” He remembered all too well the beatings he had taken and the pain he had endured. “I would like to talk to her first,” Dylan decided, “but if it will help Rayne from getting beaten or his wings clipped, I’ll take the chance.”
Rayne thanked him, and King Giles told him, “You are an incredibly noble man, Dylan. Are all humans like you and Bryan?”
Like you and Bryan… that sounded odd, as Bryan and Dylan were not really very much alike. Yet, he knew what King Giles meant.
“No,” Vanessa answered. “Dylan is much more heroic than most guys in our world. Bryan is so much more honest and trustworthy. Don’t judge humans off Dylan and Bryan. You would be very disappointed if you ever went there. Remember that we have had to go back for my sister being kidnapped and Dylan’s father being burned.”
King Giles then looked at Bryan and said, “We have sent the message to Evander. This is risky. Have you decided who you want to go with you?”
Bryan tensed. They had discussed several options. He could take a guard, but they had also discussed taking either Nea or Dylan. “Dylan,” Bryan decided. He looked over at Dylan and asked, “Are you up to it?”
“Nea might be better,” Dylan pointed out. “She can blast fire.”
“I’m not putting her in danger any more than you will Vanessa,” Bryan explained, “and you know that this is very dangerous. If we fail, we won’t get out.”
“If we fail, I’ll likely be killed,” Dylan added, “but I’m in anyway. It’s the right thing to do.”
“Then you and Dylan will leave as soon as the message comes back, if it is agreed to,” King Giles instructed.
Bryan looked over at Dylan. Putting his friend in danger wasn’t something that he wanted to do, but he needed to rescue his father, and Dylan knew the risk and agreed to it.
