“Now open a portal at the lowest point of the park and send it back to the lake.” I told her and she smiled wide before doing exactly as I said.
She had to move the portal a few times to drain off the water from dips and valleys in the parklands, but after only a minute or two the level had dropped to a muddy mess, the park no longer in threat of ignition.
I dropped the dome.
Jax rushed in to hug us both.
“What a mess,” he said, releasing us and looking at the park. It looked more like the yowie swamp now than a park.
With the turnaround cast and glamour removed the people started to arrive.
“How many humans do you think saw what actually happened?” I asked as the first flash of a camera came. I spun, relieved they were too far from us to hear or even see us clearly. I couldn’t see the elves, or the fey for that matter, but I did see a shadow move overhead that told me the dragons were still nearby.
“What do you think happened?” I heard one onlooker ask another.
“No, idea, but looks like the fire brigade sorted it out. I am surprised we slept through the sirens though, did you hear them?”
They didn’t see the big ass bubble of water?
“Mum, how didn’t they see what happened?”
King Blake joined us, sword still in hand and dripping with green and red. “We used some of the elf’s magic to confuse them. It won’t last. If they can see it now it is already waning.”
I tensed beside Jax. “We have to spell them.”
“How can we spell all of them? They don’t know it was magic, they think it was a normal human fire. Leave it, there is no proof it was anything else,” he said, looking to King Blake for confirmation.
“They should not have seen the bubble, or the lights from the cast, but they could have seen the elves or dragons.”
“They will explain anything they saw away, they are good at that. Most don’t want to admit they could be witness to something supernatural. Remember how much convincing you took?” Jax said, raising a brow.
“You sliced my hand, if I remember correctly.”
“A trick knife you thought, even after that.”
“Fine, I will leave it alone, but if it starts to spread or if someone gets a shot of us, I will spell them. I will find a way to spell them all if it is what I have to do to keep you both safe.” I pressed a hand to my head as a dizzying wave swept over me. I shook my head to clear the fog that covered my vision.
“Whatever you wish, my dear,” Jax conceded, taking my hand and sending a calming wave over my body. Ava smiled beside me.
“What are you grinning at?” I asked her.
“It isn’t that I can’t see you properly when you are together,” she said, taking one of each of our hands. “It is that your energy becomes one.”
I pulled her in for another hug. My daughter was safe and in my arms. Jax was safe and in my arms. Everything was going to be okay. Sure, I opened the mouth of hell and set free a plethora of demons. With the help of the fabled, I took care of most of them, and with the elves helping to track them down, we would have the last of them returned to the darkness in not too long.
A familiar shiver ran through my spine. I spun, feeling eyes on me. But none was there. I turned back to consider the ground where Ava and I stood. It was as protected as we were and now stood as the only evidence something other than a natural fire took place. I glanced towards the humans, none of them seemed to be paying much attention to us, so I ran my hand over the grass and took from it the life it held so green and good. The blades darkened and withered to the dirt.
Ava’s hand joined mine and some of the sludge water that glossed over the parklands coated the area we stood on.
“Now it looks like the rest,” she said, frowning.
“I know it looks terrible, but it will be okay. It will grow again.”
“We could help it grow.”
“No!”
“But we made it like this.”
“It is too late now, they have seen it. To do that, we would have to spell everyone here.”
“But you were going to do that anyway,” Ava grumbled
“I was, yes, but this is different. We don’t have to heal the earth, if you look for its energy you will see it is already starting to heal itself.”
Ava squinted as if trying to see something that wasn’t there.
“You have to see past the soot and grime, through to the roots. See? They are alive and ready to birth new shoots.”
Ava’s eyes brightened and Jax leaned over, nudging me with his shoulder.
We needed to get out of there. It was still dark but the sun had just broken the horizon and I didn’t want to chance anyone seeing us.
“We have to go find the rest of the demons that escaped. Do we have a way to track them?”
Jax shook his head. “But most won’t go near the humans, not yet. They will have to grow their power, most couldn’t break their ethereal form when they came through.”
The river of darkness.
“But how will we find them? We can’t wait until they attack a human and then go after them, it doesn’t seem fair,” I said, looking at the collection of young and old men and woman who had gathered around the burnt parkland.
“Well, that is the price they will pay for what we did,” Jax said, resting his hand on my shoulder.
“You mean what I did.”
“You did it to save me. I understand that, Des. I would have done the same for you.”
“We have no idea how many demons came through, what if it was enough to overtake this world, what if we failed after all?” I asked.
A scream rang out, “Oh my god, there are bones, human bones. Call the police.”
More voices, “There are so many.”
“It looks like they were all together.”
“Do you think they started the fire?”
“There are more over here, but this one looks weird.”
Sirens sounded, growing with each passing second. I looked to Jax, “what have I done?” Before he could answer me my head spun and I felt myself begin to fall.
Jax’s voice was distorted. “Ava, portal us home to Baldea.”
“But the humans?” she protested.
“Do it now!”
Through a fog I saw her wave her arm and then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes I recognised the ceiling immediately. I was home in my father’s house in Baldea. Turning my head to the side I saw my father, husband and daughter all watching me, all with the same desperate eyes.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice scratching the back of my throat.
Jax leaned down. “You fainted… again. Your magic has been off too, are you tired, or is it something else?”
“Mum, it is all my fault, I am so sorry,” Ava cried as she rested her head against the bed.
“What is?”
“Your magic, I shouldn’t have tried to help him. I messed it all up.”
“No, Ava. I should have found a way to give it back by now, you thought you had a way to return Tai’s magic so you gave it a shot. You couldn’t have known.”
“Couldn’t have known what?” Jax asked, running his hand over the back of Ava’s head and down her curls.
“Ava gave some of my magic to Tai. I think it is why he won’t wake up. There is too much inside him and his own power is using all of its energy to contain it. I tried to take it back before and it didn’t work.”
“What about the yowie fur?” Jax asked.
My father’s eyes shot to me, wide and full of fear. “How did you get yowie fur?”
“We needed it for the cast to seal the portal, we asked for it. We had to promise to use it all for the cast though,” I replied as I scooted up the bed to sit and Ava raised her head, grinning at me.
“But you didn’t,” she said, reaching beside the bed and lifting my bag up. “Did you?”
“No, I didn’t.” I took the bag from he
r and reached inside. I pulled out the little pouch holding what remained of the Fur. It was just under half the initial bunch, probably fifty or so strands. I removed a single strand and returned the pouch to the bag. “Let’s go wake up Tai.”
I climbed out of bed, thankful that no one had removed my clothes. It wouldn’t have been the first time I had woken from fainting naked. Ava clasped my hand and walked with me out of the room and down the hall to where Tai slept. Sarah and Mark were at his bedroom door when we arrived.
I didn’t stop to talk, I strode past them and went to Tai’s side. They didn’t protest, instead I heard them shuffle in behind me.
I held up the strand of fur in front of me.
“What is that?” I heard Sarah ask someone behind me. They didn’t answer. Neither did I.
I looked for the magic Ava had given Tai, it still sat in his middle, swirling in an energy his little body couldn’t handle. I directed my desire for it and the strand began to glow between my fingers. The bed shook and the power that once lived in me drew forwards. As it funnelled from his sleeping form to my centre, the strand began to blacken, and once the power was back where it belonged the strand dissolved to ash.
I left the magic that was his. I only took mine. His orange glow illuminated his core, then in a flash of fire light Tai phased into his angel like form, slowly rose above the bed, his head back, eyes closed. Mouth wide open.
Crap what have I done?
Tai’s body collapsed back to the bed and his eyes shot open.
“The dark one is free,” Tai said, staring up at the ceiling, his voice stiff, sombre.
We all looked to one another for answers. But then Tai spoke again. “Through the mouth of hell he has returned.”
“It is okay Tai. We sealed the mouth. Nothing else is coming through.” I tried to assure him.
“He is here.”
I looked at Jax, “did you hear anything about a dark one when you were… ?”
“I was held inside some kind of cocoon of mud for the most part. I didn’t see anything but the logaras. Do you think the dark one is another demon?”
“I don’t know. Up until a six months ago I was a fashion photographer living a normal bloody life.”
Wow, has it really only been six months?
Tai opened his eyes and sat up quickly, scurrying back as if the end of the bed were trying to attack him.
“No, he is back, and he is angry!”
Sarah rushed to him and enveloped him in her arms, trying to soothe him.
“Tai, who is back?” Ava asked, and he peeked out from under his mother’s arm.
“Traflier.”
“He can’t be,” Sarah said, as she ran her fingers through Tai’s hair. “You are confused sweetie, but it is okay, we are here. You will be okay now.”
He turned his head up to face her then repeated his words. “Traflier is back.”
She looked at me, eyebrows raised. “You destroyed him.”
“Yes, she did,” my father reasoned. “He can’t be. There’s no way.”
“Except I think he is.” I whispered, standing and stepping away from the bed. “Tai needs to rest, let’s go.” I didn’t wait for a response. I left the room and headed for the kitchen, not sure who followed, but not really caring either.
I entered the room and stood at the bench spreading my hands flat on the cool stone surface. I stood there looking at the white marble trying to remember a time when my life made sense.
Ava shuffled around the room. The others filed in behind her.
A glistening round chocolate wheel appeared in front of me and I picked it up, then looked at Ava who held in her hands a bundle of them.
“How, Desmoree, how is he back?” Max asked, pulling out a stool and taking a seat beside me.
“I must have done something wrong, I must have sent him to the dark realm, and when I opened the mouth—”
“I watched you destroy him!” He interrupted, snatching a wagon wheel from the bundle in Ava’s arms. He unwrapped it and took a bite all without moving his gaze from the wall behind me. He didn’t blink. He didn’t move a muscle except for the hand shovelling the chocolate into his mouth.
“Dad, I saw him.”
“You what?” Jax asked, spinning me to face him. “You never said you saw him, when did you see him?”
“Well, I can’t be sure it was him. But in the river of mist something reached out and tried to grab me, its face was twisted and sunken. It had to be him.”
“But you are not sure?” Max asked, finally turning his stare from the wall. “You can’t be certain it was him.”
“Well, no, but Tai says he is back and… Oh my Fey, the cop! He said I already sent him there, the one who had promised to give officer fuck face control of the human world. It must be him”
“Language, Desmoree!” Maylea chastised entering the room unheard. “And what have I told you about those obsessions of yours? You should teach your child to eat well.” She snatched the wrapper from my father’s hands and took the bundle of Wagon Wheels from Ava, but not before I snagged another one.
“I think we have bigger problems right now,” I said, ripping the pack open and breaking it in half before passing one part to Ava. She smiled and gobbled it up quickly while Maylea’s back was turned.
“Here, have some berries, you like berries.” Maylea slid a tray of a selection of Baldea’s finest berries between Ava and I. In the thirty seconds she had her head in the fridge she had managed to arrange a platter that could have appeared in any food mag. That is, if they knew about half the berries on the platter. One was spotted red and green, and another had thousands of tiny bumps tipped with yellow specks. Not exactly normal by human standards.
“So, what is all the fuss about?” Maylea asked as she passed Ava an elder berry.
“Des thinks Traflier is back,” Jax blurted out before anyone could stop him.
Maylea said nothing. She walked slowly around the counter, took my hand and led me to the far wall of the kitchen. Pressing her hand against one of the tiles, I heard it click, then the tile sunk into the wall. Another click and an entire section of wall sunk back, the shape of a door.
Maylea pushed the sunken section and it slid sideways behind the wall to reveal a second pantry, only this pantry was stocked with bottles. I immediately recognised the gleaming liquid inside.
“I guess we better start handing this out,” she said, flicking on the light switch and further illuminating the potions. “‘Cause I’ll be dammed if that bastard will get his hands on any of the fey’s life-force again.”
“It’s not only the fey he has been taking it from though, it was all the fabled,” Ava said, coming to stand beside us.
I looked at the fully stocked shelves. Litres upon litres of potion, most of it already complete, some of the bottles still needing my imbued blood. It was barely enough to protect the fey.
My mouth went dry. I cupped my face in my hands and took a slow breath in and out.
“We are going to need a bigger kitchen.”
BOOK 2.5
***
THE YELLING GREW LOUDER. Their voices now a muffled hum that made its way through the blanket his mother had thrown over him. The soft pile cocooned him in a musty warmth but did nothing to settle his pulse. She had told him to stay hidden, to stay quiet.
“My precious boy. My Traflier, please listen to Mama, don’t follow me.”
So, he did as she said. He didn’t follow her, though he desperately wanted to. He wanted to run after her, he wanted to see what the people were doing, the humans. But as the voices grew louder the creatures inside the place where he was hidden began to stir.
Horses she had told him. Good for riding, and pulling carts. He’d wanted to try riding. He thought he would be quite good at it, after all, he was good at almost everything he tried. It was why she had brought him here. To the human realm. To the world without fey magic, but in so many ways, she had said, was more magical than the pinkest s
ky in their Feydom.
He slipped the blanket open a little and peeked out at the barn. A big white horse made booming noises beside him, kicking at the wood as the calls of the growing crowd came over and over. The voices melded into one lurid hum and mixed with the echo of the creature’s strikes. It was starting to become too much for him. Traflier wanted to find his mother. He didn’t want to be in the barn with the creatures, with the noise.
He dropped the blanket further down, the straw she had laid over it fell away, and he sneezed.
The horse kicked again.
He wanted the noises to stop so badly. The horse beside him stomped and blared over and over. He put his hands over his ears and wished with all his might that they would listen and stop the crashing and smashing.
“Please, please stop,” he begged between the blasts of the hooves against the walls of the barn. The horse stopped kicking. All of them stopped kicking. The large white one beside him arched its head over the edge between their stalls.
Did he hear me? Traflier thought as he looked into the horse’s large brown eyes. “Can you hear me?” he asked as he came to stand, the blanket forgotten on the floor.
The horse nodded once.
Traflier had never heard of a spell to talk with other worldly creatures, and even if there was one, he hadn’t cast it. He stared wide eyed at its eyes, his expression mirrored back at him in their glassy surface. “Do you understand me?”
The large white creature squinted a little as if unsure of how to answer him. Then through the droning noise of the people gathering outside he heard it. A faint voice inside his own mind. “Can you hear me?”
“I heard that, was that you?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my Fey, I am talking to a human horse.”
“I am a horse, not a human horse. Humans are the ones out there making all the noise as they build their pyre.”
Enchanting the Fey- The Complete Series Page 46