by E. D. Baker
“Tomas and I both do,” the princess replied. “We’ll have to head east for a while.”
“It would take us days to get there by foot,” said Tomas. “But nothing takes long when you ride one of these beauties.” He leaned over to pat the neck of the fairy horse he was riding. The steed shook his head and flicked his ears as if a fly was bothering him, but it didn’t make a sound.
Fairy horses don’t make any noise unless they want to, so the party sped silently through the forest while their riders kept watch for Aghamonda. Grazing deer looked up, startled. A wild boar rooting through the underbrush with her babies grunted when the horses surprised her. When the fairy horses passed a unicorn drinking from a stream, it looked up so quickly that water streamed from its mouth. The unicorn ran with them for a time, keeping pace with the fairy horses until it began to tire.
When they finally reached the road and headed south, the horses were able to pick up speed. They crossed a bridge over a rushing river, surprising two gnomes fishing on the riverbank. Less than an hour later, Aislin spotted a set of rocks shaped like a sleeping cat. “Anyone who is carrying a weapon either has to leave it here or stay behind and wait for us,” she told the others.
“I don’t like that,” said Deela. “How can we protect you then?”
“Baibre cast a spell on this forest a long time ago,” Aislin told her. “No one carrying weapons can find her home. The only way we’ll reach her is if you leave your weapons behind. Otherwise we could wander around in this forest for hours.”
“Which isn’t fun, believe me,” Tomas said, shaking his head.
“Maybe one of us should stay and guard the weapons,” suggested Lin.
“That’s a good idea,” said Kivi. “Any volunteers?”
They all looked at each other, waiting for someone to step forward, but no one did. “Oh, all right,” said Twinket. “I’ll do it.”
Sycamore laughed. “I think we need someone who can use a weapon.”
“Why don’t we just hide them?” asked Aislin. “Can’t one of you fairies use a spell so that no one will see them or step on them or something?”
“Why didn’t I think of that?” said Poppy. “Put all your weapons under this tree. I’ll make sure no one will touch them.”
Deela was reluctant to set down her curved, barbed sword, but after she did, Lin placed her war hammer beside it. The others followed their example, and soon they were all weaponless. Aislin was surprised by how many they had been carrying. Even Kimble had been carrying a tiny crossbow and darts.
“Where did you get those?” Aislin asked Twinket when the doll laid some sharp sewing needles stuck in a scrap of cloth on the ground.
“I took them when Parsley wasn’t looking,” Twinket confessed. “I thought they’d be good for poking people.”
Aislin was amused, but Poppy looked horrified. “Remind me to never make you angry,” she told the doll.
“I wouldn’t poke you, Poppy,” said Twinket. “I like you too much for that.”
“How about that spell,” Tomas reminded Poppy.
“Oh, right!” she said, and pointed her finger at the weapons. A patch of thistles sprang up over the weapons, concealing them from prying eyes and forming a barrier that no one would want to touch.
“We’re looking for a waterfall,” Aislin said as they mounted their horses again and started walking them between the trees. “It isn’t very big, but we’ll hear it before we see it.”
They soon encountered a well-defined path, assuring Aislin that they were going the right way. Poppy, Aislin, and Sycamore heard the sound of the waterfall before the others; the rest of their party heard it minutes later. It wasn’t long before they came upon the small lake beneath the falls.
“How far away is Baibre’s home?” Deela asked.
“It’s right there,” Aislin said, looking up. “It’s bigger than it was when Tomas and I were here.”
“I’ll say!” exclaimed Tomas.
The treehouse that had filled the upper branches of one tree now extended to two more huge trees, creating an impressive silhouette in the forest canopy. Birds flew in and out of the open windows, twittering madly as they shared the news that the princess was back. Everyone dismounted, leaving the fairy horses to wait patiently for their return.
When Aislin walked around one of the trees, the rest of her party followed. On the other side of the massive trunk, they found Baibre’s manticore curled up on the doorstep. Yawning, the great beast got to its lion paws so it could bow to the princess. Kimble gasped when she saw the three rows of teeth in its human-looking head.
“Welcome back,” the manticore said to Aislin. “Baibre is waiting for you.”
He stepped aside to let her pass. Twinket, Poppy, and Tomas hurried after her, but when Deela tried to follow, the manticore slunk in front of her and growled. “No orcs allowed,” he said. “And the rest of you can’t go in either. It’s a treehouse, not a fairy palace.”
Aislin stopped to glance back at her friends. “We won’t be long,” she told them.
The steps inside the tree trunk were too high for Twinket, so Aislin had to carry her to the top. Reaching the last step, the princess saw Baibre and an older fairy couple waiting with smiles on their faces. The griffin she had met during her last visit was there, too, perched on a bench made from logs.
“Welcome to our home!” Baibre cried. “Don’t you just love what we did to it? My parents had a lot of great ideas.”
“It looks wonderful,” Aislin replied, looking around. The space was even bigger and airier than it had been before, with more branches holding up the longer ceiling and lots of walls in unexpected places. It was noisier, too, with even more birds and squirrels making their homes inside.
“I don’t think you’ve ever met my parents,” said Baibre. “This is my mother, Dewdrop, and my father, Branch.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness!” Dewdrop gushed, curtseying to Aislin.
The fairy woman appeared to be only a few years older than Baibre, with an unlined face and silky blue hair trailing past her waist. The fairy man looked much older, as if he’d never used magic to keep himself looking young. “Hello!” he said, his gaze traveling from Aislin to Poppy.
When his eyes rested on Twinket and Tomas, he smiled again and added, “You have interesting traveling companions, Your Highness. Are you human?” he asked Tomas.
“I am,” said Tomas.
“This is my friend Tomas,” Aislin hurried to say. “He’s the son of Duke Fadding, the heir to the throne of Scarmander. And these are Twinket and Poppy, two of my mestari.”
“I’m an honorable mestari,” Twinket said, looking proud.
“I’m sure you are,” Branch said with a sparkle in his eyes. “Are you sightseeing? This forest is just as beautiful as when we used to live here.”
“Actually, we’ve come with some bad news. Aghamonda has escaped the palace and is headed this way. A fairy used a spell that allowed your daughter to move, even though she’s still a statue,” Aislin said, her worried gaze going from one fairy to the other. “I came to warn you in case she plans to come here.”
Dewdrop’s face turned pale and she reached out to clutch her husband’s arm. “We spoke to Aghamonda right before Queen Surinen turned her into a statue. Our daughter wasn’t at all happy with us. She accused us of abandoning her when we moved and said she’d get even one day. We never meant to leave our girls. We’d thought they’d gone on ahead.”
“She’s mad at me, too,” admitted Baibre. “She kidnapped me so she could take my magic from me. I really told her off. We had a big fight inside that locket and she’s bound to come after me now.”
“Why would a fairy free her like that?” asked Dewdrop. “I’d guess it was one of her friends, but she never had any, at least none that I ever met.”
“We think a sorceress named Gorinda was behind it, but we don’t know that for certain,” Aislin told them. “We don’t know anything abou
t Gorinda, including what she looks like and where we might be able to find her.”
With an earsplitting squawk, the griffin raised its eagle wings, launching itself into the air and out the largest window.
“We can’t stay here,” Branch told his wife and daughter. “Even if we use our magic to protect ourselves, Aghamonda is clever. She’d find some way to break through our defenses.”
“Then you should head back to the palace,” said Aislin. “You can return here after King Darinar and Queen Surinen have Aghamonda in custody again. I’m sure it won’t be long.”
“The queen won’t mind?” asked Dewdrop. “We wouldn’t want to impose.”
“She won’t mind at all,” Aislin told her. “And the sooner you go, the better.”
Chapter 15
Baibre and her parents hurriedly packed the few things they were taking with them. Their possessions were too heavy for them to carry when they were tiny, so they’d have to be full-sized to return to Fairengar.
“It’s just as well,” Aislin told them as they descended the stairs single file. “Someone is shooting darts at the fairies who fly anywhere near the palace.”
“That’s horrible!” cried Dewdrop as she stepped out of the tree trunk. “Why would anyone do that?”
“We don’t know,” said Sycamore. “But I’m sure Captain Larch is doing his best to find out.”
Aislin waited until they were all outside before saying, “Everyone, this is Baibre and her parents, Dewdrop and Branch.” Glancing at her friends, she added, “These are my mestari, Deela, Lin, and Kimble. Sycamore and Kivi are both in the palace guard.”
Baibre blushed when she said hello to Sycamore.
“We’ll have to double up on the horses,” Sycamore announced. “Your parents may ride the black gelding. Baibre, you may ride behind me.”
From the look he and Baibre shared, Aislin guessed that they had met before.
Neither Dewdrop nor Branch had ever ridden a horse, so Kivi gave them a few quick instructions. As the party set off through the forest, the pedrasi guard kept his horse beside theirs to answer their questions. Aislin guided her horse to run next to the mare that Deela and Kimble were riding. “Have you seen any sign of the manticore or the griffin? I’m surprised they didn’t come with us.”
“When the griffin came out of the treehouse, it took off into the forest with the manticore,” Deela replied.
“We haven’t seen either one since,” Kimble told her.
“That’s odd,” said Aislin. “They’ve sworn to protect Baibre and usually follow her everywhere.”
The princess kept expecting the two creatures to return, but neither had shown up before the party reached the sleeping cat rocks. While Poppy pointed at the thistles, which turned brown and wilted to the ground, Kivi slipped off his horse. The pedrasi guard handed everyone’s weapons to them, then they all returned to the road. When Tomas urged his horse to run next to Aislin’s, Twinket grinned at him. They went faster, and were making good time when they approached the river they had crossed before. In the short time that they were gone, someone or something had destroyed the bridge, leaving piles of rubble on both sides of the churning water.
“Who do you think did that?” Poppy asked Aislin.
“Oh, dear!” Twinket cried, wringing her little cloth hands. “I have a bad feeling about this!”
There was a roar and the rubble exploded outward, showering rock onto the road and creating geysers in the river. One smaller rock hit Kivi, knocking him off his horse, which reared up and struck out with its hooves. The horse that Dewdrop and Branch were riding was too close and received a glancing blow from a hoof. Dumping its riders, their horse joined the black gelding and took off along the riverbank. Kivi staggered when he got to his feet, favoring one of his legs as he went to help the two older fairies.
Aislin was so concerned about Baibre’s parents and Kivi that she didn’t notice the real problem until Twinket started screaming, “Don’t let them rip off my arm again!” The doll clutched her repaired cloth arm to her chest, shivering.
Aislin’s head whipped around. Trolls that had been hiding under the rubble lumbered up from the edge of the river, their eyes gleaming as they gnashed their teeth. It was hard to count them when they rushed toward her party roaring, but she thought there were at least a dozen. Deela, Lin, and Sycamore were the first to dismount and they stood with their legs braced, weapons ready. Then Kimble appeared, clutching her crossbow.
“We eat you!” screamed one of the trolls, and the others roared in agreement.
Tomas helped Poppy and Aislin dismount. While Aislin tried to decide what she could do to hold off the trolls, Poppy thrust her hand out, flinging her own kind of magic at the trolls. Weedy vines grew up around the trolls’ ankles, snagging them and making them trip. Stinging wasps converged on the trolls, but their stingers were unable to pierce the thick, gray-green skin that was exposed through ragged clothes.
The trolls ignored the insects and didn’t even bother swatting at them. Those who had been in the back stepped on the trolls that had fallen and were still struggling to get up. No troll was down for long, though, and within moments Lin was pounding them with her war hammer while Deela, Sycamore, and Tomas slashed at the trolls with their swords. Kimble had her little crossbow out and was carefully choosing her shots, aiming for the trolls’ faces whenever possible. When she hit one between the eyes, he went cross-eyed and ran off, howling.
Aislin didn’t notice when the manticore and the griffin returned, but then they were there, lunging and snapping while trying to keep the trolls away from the spot where Baibre and her parents were huddled together behind the remaining horses. “Fly away!” Aislin shouted to the three fairies. “Leave while you can.”
“What about you?” asked Branch. “We can’t just leave you.”
“Go! I don’t have time to argue,” Aislin cried as she turned back to the battle.
Despite the valiant efforts of her friends, Aislin knew that there was little they could do that would have much effect against the trolls. The last time trolls had come after them, Aislin and her party had had to run away. But that was before I knew what I could do, she thought.
Tapping into the strength of the diamond in her tunic and the gravel under her feet, Aislin threw up her arm, pulling the stones from the river’s shores to pummel the trolls. The larger rocks brought the trolls to their knees, but they shook them off and kept coming. She drew sand from the riverbed, forming the sand leopards that had worked so well against human troops, but the trolls walked through them as if they weren’t there.
Spotting the princess, the trolls grinned and fought to reach her. “We eat you first!” one bellowed.
Bracing herself, Aislin drew more power from the ground. The trolls were rushing toward her when she shifted the gravel beneath them, making it roil and churn so it was impossible for them to keep their footing. Farther down the riverbank, Lin closed in, swinging her war hammer with such force that it knocked a troll off his feet. Kivi followed her example to take down another troll, while Deela darted into the fray, dispatching the downed trolls with her barbed sword. Tomas and Sycamore used their swords to attack the trolls who got away from the mestari.
The roar of the trolls and the battle cries of her companions were deafening. Aislin was so caught up in what was going on around her that she didn’t look away until the ground began to shake under the combatants’ feet. All eyes turned to the far side of the river where trees swayed and fell, snapped in two or smashed into splinters as something big, angry, and determined came their way.
The trolls seemed confused as whatever was coming drew nearer, leaving a trail of broken trees in its wake. Aislin’s companions looked fearful, however, especially when Sycamore shouted, “They’ve got reinforcements!”
“No,” said Aislin, “I don’t think so.”
The devastation was heading directly toward them in a way that Aislin had seen before. Once, when she was a little
girl and playing with her friends, another little girl had cut her foot on a sharp rock. She wailed, and her mother, who was never far off, came running. It’s what giants did when a friend or loved one needed them.
“That’s our reinforcement,” Aislin said as fourteen-foot-tall Salianne came into view.
Tomas’s eyes were wide when he said, “You’re kidding, right?”
The girl giant had been one of Aislin and Poppy’s closest friends when they were growing up. Although Aislin had been disappointed when she learned that Salianne wasn’t going to be one of her mestari, she hadn’t been surprised; the girl’s parents were overprotective even when everything was normal. Aislin also knew that her giant friend was very strong-willed and usually got what she wanted. Salianne must have convinced her parents to let her come.
The princess was delighted to see her, especially now. The manticore, the griffin, and the fairy horses weren’t happy about it, though. Terrified, most of the remaining horses raced off into the forest. The only one that stayed behind, pawing the ground and shaking her head, was the mare that Aislin had ridden. Twinket was standing on the horse’s back, pulling on the reins and shouting, “Whoa!”
When Aislin noticed that the griffin and the manticore had turned toward Salianne, bristling, she knew they saw the giant girl as a threat. “No!” Aislin shouted at the two beasts before they could launch an attack. Remembering to put power into her voice, she added, “She’s a friend.”
Both the manticore and the griffin looked at her as if she was crazy, but they stayed back as Salianne approached the river. The trolls had gathered at the edge of the water. Waving their arms in the air and screaming, “You not get us!” and “We eat you, too!” they paced back and forth on the riverbank as if afraid to get their feet wet.
Salianne didn’t hesitate when she reached the river. With a roar that made the trolls sound like twittering birds, she leaped halfway across the river and landed in the water with a tremendous splash, creating a wave big enough to wash away the trolls closest to the river’s edge. The giant girl disappeared for a moment, only to reappear much closer. Aislin and Salianne had taken lessons from the local water nymphs together, so the princess knew that the giantess could swim. She wasn’t surprised when, with one sure stroke, her friend cut through the water and stood up, towering over the four-foot-tall trolls.