by Renee Greene
“Don’t!” Vanessa scolded. “Don’t do this to yourself. First, I’m not just impressed with you because you are strong and muscular. You are so much more than that. Second, even without strength, you are a great asset because you are so smart. You fight smart, not just hard, and you have a great head for strategy. Third, I do need you. Yes, there are other people who can help protect me, but I need you because you keep me strong.” She smiled and added, “Even more, I want you. Dylan, you are the most amazing guy I’ve ever met in my life. Seriously, that’s not just because you are my first date or my first boyfriend. It’s because you are such a hero, and so smart, and so encouraging.”
“I’m not encouraging right now,” he pointed out. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to do better.”
“Perhaps I can help,” Vanessa suggested. “At least maybe I can help you get some of your strength back. The spell will break faster with a connection to someone who enhances strength.”
“I don’t deserve you,” Dylan replied. “You are far too good to me.” Yet, he did put his arms around her.
She gave him the kiss. In fact, she gave him several. After a few, he did feel like he had more strength. No, it wasn’t up to full by any means, but at least he could pick her up and carry her out of the room. Since he could, he decided to.
When they came to talk to King Giles and the others, Dylan was shocked that he was immediately grabbed by two soldiers. “What’s going on?” he cried out.
“It appears that Pyria has betrayed us,” King Giles answered. “Princess Smari was kidnapped, and Pyria was reported to be seen with her kidnappers, and since then she has disappeared, which would imply guilt. She was heard to say she was going to Fardoragh and headed that direction.”
“Who’s princess Smari?” Vanessa asked.
“She is the princess of the faunens,” Giles explained.
“Who are the faunens?” Dylan asked. “I thought you were the leader of the fauns.”
“True fauns are rare,” Giles explained. “Note my horns. You will seldom see their like. The faunens are similar to fauns, but not entirely pure bred. Thus they either do not have horns or have very small horns. I am not related to the leaders of their tribe, but they are loyal subjects. Their land is northwest of here, so it would make sense that she was kidnapped by Evander. Yet, he has made no ransom or demands.”
Dylan looked around at the others, unsure what to do. “What’s going to happen to me?” he asked, taking a deep breath to prepare for the answer.
“You took responsibility for Pyria,” King Giles pointed out. “You will be thrown in the dungeon, and if she is not found, you will be punished in her place.”
“No!” Vanessa cried out. “That’s not right!”
“It is our law,” King Giles corrected.
“But it’s not right,” Vanessa cried. “At least give him the chance to rescue Smari and find Pyria. Let us all go help him. We can fix this.”
“You can’t all go,” King Giles countered. “We are about to go to war. Honestly, we need all of you.” He thought for a moment and conceded, “Dylan is of no use to us in the dungeon, and it would be good to have Smari returned if he can do it. I will allow him to go, but him only. I need Bryan, Alex, Rayne, and the others in this battle. I have no idea how to stop Evander. With him stealing my ring, we can’t get to him.”
“You don’t have to,” Dylan explained. “Seriously, you fairies need to learn a little battle strategy.” He looked at the two guards holding him and asked, “May I?”
King Giles approved, so the guards released him. He went over, presented a plan of action, and then started to walk out, saying, “I guess I either go into an impossible situation and die trying to rescue Smari alone or die in a dungeon. At least I’ll die trying.”
Before he reached the door, Vanessa stopped him. “I’m going with you,” she insisted.
“I will too,” Bryan offered.
“No,” King Giles countered. “I need you and your father in this battle. If you want to go with him, I can have him put in the dungeon until after the battle and then all of you can go. Let’s hope it’s not too late.”
“I’ll go alone,” Dylan conceded. “I’ve spent enough time in a dungeon.”
“I’m coming,” Vanessa insisted. She looked over at King Giles and begged, “Please let me go. He may need my healing, and you have plenty of pixies who can heal for your soldiers. Dylan needs me.”
“Agreed,” Giles decided. “You may both go. Hurry back. The battle will be here soon. I will give you a horse, or Oden my fly you out, but he can’t wait, only drop you off and immediately come back. You can get there quickly that way.”
Dylan agreed, so they all said good-bye. It was emotional, since between his mission and the war coming they likely wouldn’t all survive.
Dylan had to wipe tears from his eyes, and he told Alex to tell his family how much he loved them if he didn’t make it back alive.
Alex agreed, but told him to come back and tell them himself. He also did plead with Dylan to protect Vanessa, and Dylan agreed that he would with his life if needed.
Vanessa leaving was emotional too. She said her good-byes to her father and brother and left with Dylan.
As they walked out the door, Vanessa noted, “You are incredibly worried and don’t think you will make it out of this alive.”
“It’s not likely,” Dylan agreed. “It may be Evander or it may be Fardoragh who has kidnapped the princess. It could be an opportunist. Yet, whoever it is, he knows war is coming and will likely have an army ready. We are likely walking into a well-armed trap, one set to get me forced to go so you and Bryan will follow. You should not come. You can get people through the arch. I can’t.”
“I’m with you,” she assured him.
“But they could do horrible things to you,” he warned. “I know. I’ve been tortured.”
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “I have you.”
Chapter 27: Dylan Learns that Irony Isn’t Always Funny
Oden did fly Dylan out to Elfland so he got there within the hour. Vanessa flew by them in her smaller form.
Since they weren’t sure how to find Pyria, or where Smari was being held, they went to the Copper Eagle Tavern.
There was a great deal of talk of the Elven army having left to support King Giles in the battle against Evander. There were some soldiers held back to protect the people there in case Evander’s men infiltrated or rogue groups took the opportunity to attack, but mostly the soldiers were gone.
It didn’t matter. The moment that Dylan and Vanessa were noticed, some thuggish elves surrounded them. A half dozen stood in front of them with swords drawn while thugs grabbed Dylan and Vanessa from behind.
Dylan’s first reaction was to try to fight his way out, but he couldn’t. They were too outnumbered, and he was still weak, so they held his arms securely and pulled him to his knees. “Let Vanessa go!” he demanded. “We have done nothing to any of you.”
“Irrelevant,” one of the thugs hissed, “You are of use.”
“Do you know where Smari is?” Dylan next asked. “Why do you even want her?”
“Anyone of importance will bring one of the Morgans,” he answered, “and it doesn’t matter if we get Alex, Vanessa, or Bryan. Any will lead to Bryan coming.” He grabbed Dylan by the hair, pulled his head up and mocked, “Why they would come for you, I don’t know, but they will.”
Dylan wanted to asked more questions, but they were pulled out of the Tavern, tied, and thrown in a wagon. Thugs held onto Vanessa so if she tried to shrink to fly away they would be holding her.
Dylan and Vanessa were taken to the palace. Lord Dakarai and Prince Lindir had gone out with their men to support King Giles against Evander, so Fardoragh was in charge.
He sat on Lord Dakarai’s throne as Dylan and Vanessa were pulled in. Dylan again was pushed down to his knees.
Fardoragh stood up, walked over to Dylan, and mocked, “You thought you could come rescue S
mari by yourself, with just you and Vanessa? My you are cocky. I had heard of your escape from Evander, but still… This level of cockiness surprises even me.”
Cockiness? Dylan didn’t feel cocky. Desperate… yes. Cocky… no. Yet, he said nothing back. He looked down.
Fardoragh grabbed his hair and pulled his head up to look in his face. “I don’t trust you,” he seethed. “If I did, I’d send you back with a message that we have Vanessa and tell them to send Bryan or she dies.”
Dylan became suddenly hard and warned, “Don’t hurt Vanessa. Promise you won’t hurt Vanessa.”
“You are in no position to demand anything,” Fardoragh argued. “I told you that I can’t depend on you to take a message to Bryan. You can wait with her in the dungeon.”
“Let Vanessa go!” Dylan insisted. “Let me fight you for her. Fair fight. If I win, Vanessa and I get Smari and leave.”
“You are bold,” Fardoragh mocked. “There is nothing for me in that deal. If I win, I don’t get anything I don’t already have. I think I’ll just send you to the dungeon now and send a messenger to King Giles.” He smiled and added, “Perhaps Pyria could deliver the message. She is good at playing both sides, so King Giles just might not kill her on sight.”
Dylan wasn’t sure if he could trust her, or what Giles would do. Would it be good for her to be sent or worse than sending someone else. Since he had no idea, he said nothing.
Fardoragh leaned inches from Dylan’s face and hissed, “You seem to want a fight. I’ll make a deal with you. You fight my men, and if you succeed, we don’t clip Vanessa’s wings so she can’t fly off.”
“Don’t hurt her!” Dylan demanded.
Fardoragh waved his hand, and Godric came over holding a pair of clippers.
“No!” Vanessa yelled. “No!” She tried to pull away from the guards holding her, but wasn’t strong enough. “I won’t fly away. Don’t clip my wings!”
Godric laughed and stepped toward her.
“I’ll fight for her!” Dylan conceded. “Let me fight to keep her from getting her wings clipped.”
Fardoragh waved his hand and Godric stopped. “I will allow you to fight, but either way you are both going to the dungeon.”
“But with her unharmed if I win,” Dylan demanded. He looked down. He had no sword. They’d taken his weapons. “Fair fight,” he pleaded. “Either give me a weapon or have whoever I fight put his down.”
The guards looked at each other, all looking eager to fight him. “He’s mine!” Godric announced. He put his sword on a table and came to face him. “I hear you are weak,” he mocked. “Rumors spread quickly with flying creatures. We hear a tengai stung you.”
Dylan said nothing back but stood as ready as he could be for the fight.
Godric charged into the fight. Dylan blocked his first hit with his left forearm and counter-punched, but he obviously was not up to full strength. If only he could have kissed Vanessa so she could have strengthened him before the fight, but he couldn’t. Vanessa… he had to win for her. He punched again, but missed a block and took a hard hit to the gut followed by one to his face.
Godric was a high elf. His speed and strength were so much better than Dylan’s even at Dylan’s best, so for every hit Dylan got in, Godric got about half a dozen.
Dylan took another series of hits and staggered back, but tried again to focus and charged in with a strong offense. Never had he felt so weak as he fought. Yet, somehow, he had to beat Godric. He couldn’t let them clip Vanessa’s wings.
He took several more hits that he missed blocks on and stepped back again. He shook his head to try to clear it. He had to keep Vanessa from getting hurt. He took a breath and stepped back in. He blocked a hit and spun around and swept Godric’s legs. He took a hard elbow to his gut as he did, but he didn’t block it because he pushed on Godric’s shoulder to knock him down. As Godric fell, Dylan jumped on him and elbowed him hard in the gut. Hopefully, Godric wasn’t getting up.
Two guards ran over and pulled him off Godric. They held his arms as he tried to fight to get free. If he was up to full strength, he might have a chance, but how he was… it was hopeless.
“Fight fair!” he called to them. “Let me go!”
The guard laughed and mocked, “Fardoragh said nothing about only fighting one man, and we aren’t fighting.”
Dylan couldn’t pull away from the two guards. He tried as Godric stood up.
Godric hadn’t taken anywhere near the beating Dylan had. He came over to Dylan, seething with anger. “I will not be beaten by a mere human!” he hissed. He then began beating Dylan, who tried to pull away, but could do nothing.
Through the pain of the beating that he couldn’t stop, he heard Vanessa screaming. He had to help her. He had to find a way, but he could do nothing. He couldn’t block. He couldn’t even move. All he could do was try to exhale with the punches to make the pain lessen.
“Please, don’t hurt her,” he begged as he took the final hit and his legs buckled and his head hung. He could no longer stand. The guards threw him to the ground, and he didn’t even have the energy to break his fall. He hit hard, and then Godric kicked him. Dylan’s eyes closed. He could hear what was going on around him, but he couldn’t get up. He couldn’t even open his eyes. He could hear Vanessa screaming and could do nothing.
“I win!” Godric declared. “Take Vanessa to the dungeon and don’t let her loose. We will clip her wings when we bring Dylan down.”
“No!” Dylan cried, trying to stand up, but he only lifted himself a few inches off the floor on his elbows and then fell back down.
The guards mocked him as they dragged him down the stairs to the dungeon.
His hands were tied above his head, and to touch his feet to the floor, he had to point his toes and just touch with the tips. It put tremendous strain on his shoulders and he was very unstable.
He didn’t have the energy to respond to any of the taunts. He hung there from his wrists totally defeated. He’d failed Vanessa. Somehow he had to stop them.
Godric had the other high elf guards pull Vanessa over to them. Right in front of Dylan, Godric pulled out the large shears.
“No!” Dylan begged. “Why do this to her? She’s innocent.”
“She’ll heal,” Godric retorted. “Pixies are hard to kill, but we can’t let her shrink and fly away, can we?”
“You’re sadistic!” Dylan yelled at him. “How can you hurt a beautiful girl?”
“Beautiful girls are trouble,” Godric hissed. “I have a scar to prove it. I don’t trust any of them.”
“Please,” Dylan begged. “Punish me, not her. Kill me if you have to, but don’t hurt her.”
His pleading wasn’t merely ignored; it was scoffed at. A guard stood beside him and told him to watch or he’d make him.
“Why?” Dylan asked. “Why do this? What joy can you get in torturing people?”
“To prove that all other races are inferior,” the guard seethed. “High elves are superior. We should rule. A mere faun is on the throne. High elves should not have to answer to him. We should rule the fairies.” He grabbed Dylan’s hair, held his head up, and hissed in his face, “We should rule the humans too. Look how inferior you are compared to us.”
Dylan couldn’t argue. All he could do was hang there by his wrists as he watched Godric clip Vanessa’s wings. With the first cut, Vanessa screamed in pain. Dylan tried as hard as he could to break the ropes on his wrist, but he could do nothing.
With the second cut, Vanessa screamed again, and Dylan was so angry that he did break through the ropes on his wrist. He tackled Godric to the ground, pulled the scissors from his hands and stabbed him with them.
With Godric’s Elven reflexes, Dylan would never have succeeded if he hadn’t caught him by surprise.
The high elf guards let go of Vanessa and grabbed Dylan. “Kiss Godric and heal him or we kill Dylan!” one of the guards ordered Vanessa.
Vanessa was in incredible pain. How was she going t
o heal Godric? Yet, she had to. She couldn’t let Dylan die. One of the guards shoved her over to Godric. She fell on the floor beside him and put her lips to his to start healing him. He had to live or Dylan would not.
When Godric was healed enough to stand up, he warned Dylan, “You will regret that. Fardoragh wants you alive as bait, but when you are no longer needed, I will be glad to return the favor and stab you through the heart.” He then ordered the guards, “She can’t fly, but keep her away from him, and do anything you want to him short of killing him.” He then stormed out of the door, muttering something about getting more pixies to heal him.
When he was gone, the guards threw Vanessa in a cage. As they did, she begged to let her heal Dylan.
They laughed at her and locked her in the cage. Then they tied Dylan again by his wrists, hooked his hands above his head, pulled out a cat-o-nine tails, and began whipping him.
Vanessa screamed louder than Dylan did as she watched the stripes appear across his back. He was taking the beating because he’d stopped them from hurting her more. If only she could heal him.
After the whipping, Dylan didn’t even have the strength to hold his head up. He hung limply from his arms, wishing they had beat him unconscious so he wouldn’t feel the pain. He could hear Vanessa crying in the cage and that hurt him worse then the pain he was in. He could do nothing. He’d failed. His strength wasn’t back. He was useless. He couldn’t stop them from clipping Vanessa’s wings. Soon Bryan and Alex would likely come after them and walk into a trap. He’d failed. It was hopeless. He could do nothing but hang by his wrists in defeat.
Chapter 28: Dylan Learns Princesses Can be Helpful During an Escape
When the sun set, they were locked in, but the guards went upstairs. After all, Vanessa was caged, Dylan was limply hanging from the hook, and there was only a small vent, not a window to crawl out of. The door was thick and locked. They could not escape. Neither had eaten since they were captured either.
