by E. D. Baker
The trolls craned their necks back to look up as Salianne bent down and screamed in their faces, “You leave my friends alone!” The force of the air from her lungs knocked four trolls flat on their backs. The others cowered when Salianne picked up a troll with each hand. Twirling them over her head, she let go so that they flew off over the tops of trees, shrieking. Aislin didn’t see where they landed, but she knew it was a long way away.
The remaining trolls watched, seemingly paralyzed, until Salianne turned back to them. She grabbed another when he started to run. When she threw him and he disappeared like the first two, the rest of the trolls tore into the forest, still wailing.
Salianne looked as if she was about to follow them until Aislin called out, “You needn’t bother! I don’t think we’ll ever see those trolls again.”
“I hate trolls,” Salianne said, shading her eyes with one hand as she gazed after them. “They’re nasty and rude and smell really, really bad. Papa says they can’t help it, but being kind is a choice that anyone can make and if they don’t want to stink, they should try bathing sometime. How are you, Aislin? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” The giant girl strode back to Aislin and bent down so that her eyes were level with the princess’s.
“Oh, Salianne, I’ve missed you!” Aislin cried, throwing her arms around her friend’s neck.
Up close, the giantess’s freckles were as big as platters. Now that she had bent down, her braided brown hair shot with green fell over her shoulders to drag on the ground. Salianne’s green eyes sparkled as she patted Aislin on the back as gently as she could.
It felt to Aislin as if someone was pummeling her with a sack of flour. She wondered if she’d have bruises. But she knew Salianne meant well. “I’m fine,” she told her friend. “Thank you for coming when you did. I’m glad your parents let you join me. They do know you’re here, don’t they?”
“They gave me their permission to go to the palace,” Salianne replied. “They don’t know that I went there and found out you were gone. As far as I’m concerned, they’ll never know that I followed you here.”
“You threw trolls!” Twinket cried. “That was so cool!”
“Hi, Twinket!” Salianne said, grinning. “I haven’t seen either of you in ages. Is that Poppy over there? What fun!”
“I hate to interrupt, but we should probably go. Those trolls may well come back,” said Tomas.
Aislin glanced at the forest where the trolls had disappeared, then at the girl giant. “I don’t think so,” she said. “Not as long as Salianne is with us. Everyone, this is Salianne, one of my best friends and my newest mestari.”
When Aislin introduced her to the other ladies, Salianne listened attentively to their names. She was most interested in Deela and Kimble, however. “I’ve never met an orc girl before. And what are you?” she asked Kimble.
“I’m a spriggan,” Kimble replied. “I come from Mount Gora.”
“What’s he?” Salianne asked, looking at Tomas. “Is he part pedrasi and part fairy like you?”
“I’m human,” he told her. “My name is Tomas. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Is it?” said Salianne. “Is that because I’m a giant?”
Tomas shook his head. “No, it’s because you’re one of Aislin’s friends.”
Aislin was introducing the two guards to Salianne when Baibre and her parents darted back. They landed beside Sycamore and well away from the giantess before turning big again. When Baibre started talking to the griffin and the manticore, Aislin couldn’t help but listen.
“Where were you?” Baibre asked them. “I expected you to come with us, but I didn’t see you anywhere.”
“Birdbrain heard the princess talking about a sorceress named Gorinda,” said the manticore. “When Princess Aislin said that she didn’t know much about the sorceress, we went to ask around. We found out some stuff, but none of it is good.”
The griffin squawked and shook his feathered head while twitching his lion’s tail.
“What did you learn?” Aislin asked the manticore.
“An eagle told us that someone named Gorinda has moved into the top of a mountain to the east. He said that weird stuff has been happening there, so he and his mate moved their nest. He said that you shouldn’t go anywhere near it.”
“I appreciate your eagle friend’s warning, but that is precisely where we need to go,” said Aislin.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Your Highness,” Sycamore told her. “We should all return to the palace and tell King Darinar and Queen Surinen what we’ve learned.”
Aislin shook her head. “I don’t see any reason why I should return to the palace now. We’re already partway to the mountain. Kimble, Deela, Lin, and I know mountains better than anyone at the palace. No, we’re heading there now.”
The spriggan girl nodded enthusiastically and seemed proud that the princess had included her. “If someone is in a mountain, we’ll find them like that!” she said, snapping her fingers.
“I do think you need to return to the palace,” Aislin told Sycamore. “You may escort Baibre and her parents, then inform the king and queen of what we’ve learned. If you fly most of the way, you’ll get there much faster than I would. The horses have run off with Baibre’s family’s possessions, so you have no reason to stay this size now.”
“Your grandparents won’t like that I left you to face Gorinda unprotected,” Sycamore said.
“I won’t be unprotected,” Aislin replied. “I’ll have my mestari with me.”
“They fight just as well as, if not better than, most warriors,” said Kivi. “I plan to tell everyone I know about the strength and fierceness of the princess’s mestari.”
“Good,” Aislin told him. “I want people to know just how good they are.”
“Even so …” Sycamore began.
“Kivi can go with us, too,” Aislin added, glancing at the pedrasi guard. “He can’t fly, so he would hold you back.”
“Uh, I might hold you back, too,” Kivi told her. He pointed at his now obviously swollen ankle that he’d hurt when his horse threw him.
“I can take care of that,” Aislin said. “Sit down and let me examine it.”
Kivi gave her a funny look, but he sat on the closest boulder and stuck out his foot. When Aislin sat down beside him, he moved over a few inches and shifted his foot closer to her. Setting her hand on his ankle, Aislin closed her eyes and reached into the stone with her mind, drawing up power and sending it into the injured ankle. She could feel the swelling diminish under her hand as well as sense it in her mind. When all the swelling was gone and the damage that had caused it repaired, she sat back and opened her eyes.
“It feels great now!” Kivi said, turning his foot from side to side.
Salianne gasped. “I knew your mama was teaching you how to heal people, but that was amazing!”
“I’ve been working on a lot of things since the last time I saw you,” Aislin told her.
“I really think you should go back with me,” Sycamore began.
Aislin didn’t have the time or the patience to argue with him, so she did something she didn’t like doing to friends—she drew power into her voice and commanded him. “Go to the palace without me.”
Sycamore looked annoyed, but he bowed and said, “I’ll rejoin you once I’ve delivered Baibre’s family to the palace and made my report to King Darinar and Queen Surinen. Torren’s Peak is the only mountain of any size to the east. I’ll look for you there.”
“Wonderful,” Aislin replied, already feeling sorry for using power on him. “Thank you.”
She noticed that Baibre was talking to the manticore and the griffin again, but this time she didn’t hear what the fairy told them. She did notice, however, that the two beasts remained behind when the fairies became small and flew off.
“We have one horse left,” Tomas said. “How are we going to work this?”
“Baibre told us to stay and help you,” said the mantico
re. “Birdbrain and I can each carry someone.”
“So can I,” said Salianne. “But I’d prefer to carry someone I know. I’ll carry you and Twinket, Aislin.”
“Perfect!” said Aislin.
“I can fly,” said Poppy. “I’ll scout ahead for danger.”
Aislin looked at her for a moment before nodding. “All right, but promise me that if you see anything unusual, you’ll come straight back.”
“I promise,” said Poppy.
When they finally started back up the road, Salianne was carrying Tomas as well as Aislin and Twinket, Kivi and Lin were on horseback, Deela rode astride the manticore, and Kimble was hiding her face behind the griffin’s feathered head, too afraid to look down. Poppy spent the first few minutes flying circles around them before she left.
“I hope I didn’t make a big mistake by letting her fly ahead,” Aislin said as she watched her fairy friend go.
“Poppy will be fine,” Tomas told her. “She’s the one with fairy magic, remember?”
Chapter 16
They were well past the sleeping cat rocks when Aislin turned to Tomas. “I wonder why there were so many trolls by that bridge. I’ve never seen or heard of more than three or four traveling together. More than that and they usually get into terrible fights and no one walks away.”
“That’s a good point,” Tomas replied. “Something must have drawn them there.”
“I see a lake up ahead,” Salianne told them. “Do you mind if we stop for a drink? I’m parched.”
It was a warm day and they had yet to rest after setting out that morning. “Great idea,” said Aislin. “I’m sure everyone could use a drink. Just let Poppy check the water first to make sure it’s okay. I don’t think we can take anything for granted now.”
“Hey, Poppy!” Salianne yelled in a voice that made everyone within a mile turn and look her way.
Poppy came darting back, a worried expression on her face. “Is everything all right?” she asked.
“Yeah,” said Salianne. “I just want to get a drink from that lake. Could you see if the water is all right?”
“You didn’t have to yell for that!” Poppy told her. “I could hear you just fine when you used your regular voice. Everything you say carries a really long way.”
“Then maybe I should whisper,” the giantess whispered.
Poppy sighed. “That’s still really loud.”
“We have a giant with us,” Kimble announced. “We won’t be sneaking up on anyone.”
“When you have a giant with you, you don’t need to be sneaky,” Salianne boasted.
“That’s true,” Twinket said. “And I like it!”
“I’ll check the water,” Poppy told them, and flew off.
Salianne’s stride was so long that they reached the lake in less than a minute. The giantess knelt at the shoreline and set Tomas, Aislin, and Twinket on the ground beside her. A circle of water still sparkled from Poppy’s spell. “It’s fine to drink,” the fairy said as she landed and grew big again. “And great to swim in if you want to cool off.”
When the others showed up, Poppy was already wading knee-deep in the water and Salianne was scooping up great handfuls and drinking noisily. Aislin and Tomas took off their shoes while Twinket began to collect dandelion blossoms to make wreaths for all the ladies. Deela dismounted from the manticore and patted his shoulder. “Thank you for the ride. Who would have thought that riding on a manticore’s back would be so comfortable?”
“You’re welcome,” the manticore replied. “Who would have thought that orcs could be so polite?”
While the beast padded down to the water to drink, Deela strolled over to see what the others were doing. “If you’re going swimming, you can count me out. Orcs don’t float. Our bodies are so dense that we sink right to the bottom.”
“You can wade though, can’t you?” Lin said as she and Kivi led the fairy horse to the water to drink. “Pedrasi sink, too, but I’m going to walk out as far as I can to cool off. Getting my clothes wet will keep me cooler while they dry.”
“I suppose I could do that,” Deela said, glancing at the water warily. “I’ve never been in water deeper than a bathtub before.”
“Look at me!” Kimble shouted. She had already jumped into the water and was paddling back and forth past Poppy.
While Kivi, Lin, and Deela waded close to shore, Kimble swam at the edge of the deeper water. Poppy tried to swim with her, but fairies are so light that they float even if they try to swim under the surface. When Kimble discovered this, she dove under Poppy and grabbed the fairy, pulling her down and letting her go so that the fairy shot up to the surface like a cork. Every time this happened, Poppy shrieked and got a mouthful of water.
After Kimble had pulled Poppy under the third time, the fairy announced, “I’ll see if I can find some berries,” and swam back to shore.
Kimble was watching Poppy swim away when the little spriggan girl suddenly gasped and disappeared under water. Aislin laughed, expecting Kimble to reappear any second, but as time passed, she began to be concerned.
“How long can a spriggan hold her breath?” she asked, scanning the water.
“I have no idea,” Tomas replied. “I didn’t even know that spriggans existed until I met Kimble.”
Worried, Aislin pulled off her shoes and ran into the water. Taking a deep breath, she went under to see if she could spot Kimble. The lake was clear near the surface but got murkier in its depths. When she couldn’t see the spriggan anywhere, she really began to worry. She dove, finally spotting something below her.
It’s a kelpi, she thought, and realized that it was dragging Kimble deeper into the water, her limp little body flopping from its mouth.
Aislin knew about kelpis, although she hadn’t seen one in a very long time. They looked like horses, but they weren’t anything like them. Nasty and deceitful, they usually sought their prey on land, where they lured innocents onto their backs. Once seated on a kelpi, its victim was unable to dismount and couldn’t escape when the beast dove into deep water. Both her father and King Darinar had banned kelpis from the land between the mountains, sending their warriors to drive them out. Finding them here shouldn’t have been a surprise.
Although Aislin would have loved to use power in her voice to tell the kelpi to let the spriggan go, she didn’t have enough air in her lungs to do it. There was a boom and a sudden change in the water pressure made Aislin glance back. The fairy horse that Kivi and Lin had been riding was heading straight toward the kelpi.
Aislin stayed back as the fairy horse plunged past her, its legs churning the water and creating a current of their own. Reaching the kelpi, the horse bit the back of the beast’s neck, drawing blood. When the kelpi opened its mouth to scream, it let go of Kimble. The fairy horse slammed into the kelpi and shoved its own head under Kimble. While the kelpi swam away as fast as it could, the fairy horse lifted the spriggan to the surface. Aislin followed, gasping for air when she could finally breathe again. The fairy horse paused long enough for her to grab onto its mane. Grateful for its help, Aislin let the horse drag her toward shore.
Everyone was waiting on shore, with the manticore pacing back and forth behind them. Aislin hadn’t quite reached the water’s edge when Tomas waded out to help her. Seeing Kimble, he took the spriggan from the fairy horse and carried her to the grass. The spriggan girl’s lips were blue and she didn’t seem to be breathing when Aislin knelt beside her.
“Is she going to be all right?” asked Salianne.
“She is if I can help it,” Aislin replied. All she had wanted to do was help her fairy grandparents with the move and to keep everyone safe. Putting anyone in danger was the last thing she’d wanted. If she couldn’t help this one friend, she’d feel like an absolute failure.
Setting her hands on Kimble’s chest, Aislin closed her eyes and drew on the power in the diamond. At first she didn’t detect any sign of life, but when she found the faintest beat of the girl’s heart, Aislin k
new that she had a chance. After rolling Kimble onto her side, Aislin used her healing powers to draw the water out of the spriggan’s lungs. A moment later, the spriggan was coughing up the last of the water.
“Are you okay?” Twinket asked her.
“I am now,” Kimble said, her voice sounding scratchy and weak. “But I don’t think I’ll go swimming again any time soon.”
“I don’t think any of us will,” said Kivi.
Aislin noticed that he had his arm around Lin’s shoulders. The pedrasi girl didn’t seem to mind one bit.
“I’m just glad the horse went after the kelpi,” Aislin said, patting the horse’s neck. “Poppy, could you please thank him for me?”
“It was Poppy’s idea to send the fairy horse after you,” Twinket told her.
“Thank you, Poppy,” said Aislin. “What made you think of it?”
“When Kimble suddenly disappeared, it occurred to me that there might be kelpi in this lake. My uncle was one of the warriors who helped chase the kelpi out of the land between the mountains,” Poppy told her. “He said that the warriors didn’t do much. It was really the fairy horses. According to my uncle, fairy horses are the natural enemies of kelpi and go after them every time.”
“That’s good to know,” said Aislin.
“I think we should eat now,” said Deela. “Poppy scrounged up nuts and berries. I have a couple of sausages in my bag, and Lin told me that she brought some bread.”
“And I have pastries that we can share,” said Aislin. “I have hardtack and dried berries, too, but we can save those for when we don’t have anything else to eat. Let’s eat quickly so we can get back on the road. We were making good headway before we stopped at the lake and I’d like to get as close to the mountain as we can before we stop again.”