“Why did you come back?”
“To prove that you are real. To fix things here. My parents told me everything.”
“And Wesley?”
“I don’t know a Wesley.”
He sniffs the air. “Fresh water over here. I could use some and a rest.” He walks off the road.
“Shouldn’t be continue to a safe place?” He keeps walking. She has no choice but to follow.
Cornelius kneels down before the water, mouths some words and then drinks.
“What did you say?”
“Was thanking Mother Nature for this water.”
She sits down and cups some water. “I don’t remember how I got here.”
“You will when I take you to the spot you entered from.”
“I don’t want to remember. Let me start my life again, here with you. We can persuade your parents to let us marry.”
He takes off his clothes and jumps into the water. “What do you remember about this place?”
“This land?”
He nods.
“I remember that we are in love. We have been intimate with each other.”
“Then why aren’t you here in the water with me?”
She starts taking off her clothes. “Is it cold?”
“Does it matter?”
She continues taking off her clothes. She gets into the water. “It’s freezing.”
He moves closer to her. His body against hers makes her feel a lot of different things. “If we had been intimate, why would you be nervous?”
“I’m not nervous.” She kisses him. She pulls his body closer to hers.
“Andrea, stop.”
“What is wrong?”
“Either you love him or you love me. Can’t have both.”
She gets out of the water and puts her clothes back on.
“You think we can go on adventures like we used to. And then you return to the other land and forget.”
“I don’t forget about you.”
“But you also don’t remember everything.”
He gets out. His wings come out and he goes up into the air and spins fast. He is a lot drier than before. He lands and puts his clothes back on. He leads her back to the road.
They walk until they reach another border village.
“On the other side of this village is your kingdom.”
“My kingdom?”
“Your parents are undoubtedly there by now. I have to get back to mine.”
Cornelius takes flight. Andrea remains fixed on the kingdom in the distance. “My kingdom.”
Wesley and Noah search the entire house for Andrea’s parents and his own. “They are gone.”
“What item did your father bring with him to open the portal?”
“Andrea’s father brought it. The quill.”
“Ah, yes. You know Drevlin can connect to any kingdom. Why couldn’t he get here too? Isn’t this the flipside of Andrea’s kingdom?”
“He can’t dig through to this land.”
“How about I just go and find out?”
“Sure. You want to cross the Atlantic and pray that you drop into the Vale from there?”
“There must be something that we can use to open a portal.”
Wesley stares at an end table. And there it is. “The quill. Why would they forget it?”
“Let’s not ask questions.”
“Too bad it can’t work for me.”
Noah wiggles the feather under Wesley’s nose. “This isn’t fairy magic. This is Vale magic.”
“The Vale is what is preventing me from returning. And yes, part of that quill is infused with fairy magic.”
Noah writes his name on the air. A golden light sketches out a door. “Farewell, my friend.”
“Nips, you take care and be careful.”
“Always.” He jumps in. He feels this tremendous weight on him. Wesley peeks over his shoulder. “If I get pulverized in here because of you, I shall find you in the afterlife and kick your ass.” The portal closes.
They get bounced around. “This doesn’t feel normal,” Wesley says.
“The Vale knows that you are here.”
They are separated. Noah falls out of the portal and Wesley smacks into a solid wall. He can see Noah but he cannot touch him or any part of that land. “Damnit.”
Andrea walks up to the city gates of Kell. Their enormous arches overshadow her. The guards bow to her. She walks through.
A tower guard alerts the kingdom by ringing a giant bell. Once. A few seconds of silence. Then rings again.
A band of guards in black armor arrive. They surround Andrea.
“I hope you all recognize me.”
“Your Highness,” they say.
A familiar face greets her.
“Emily?”
“I am so glad that you are here.” Her pink dress is stunning. Andrea can’t stop staring at it.
They hug. A guard picks Andrea up and rides her towards the castle.
The guard drops Andrea off right at the castle door. It opens. Her parents welcome her.
“Mom. Dad.”
They all hug.
“You’re home.”
Cornelius comes before his parents. Arianna and Thomas show him to his throne chair.
“Do you know that Wesley is trapped in between the lands?” she says.
“Yes.”
“And whose fault is that?” his father asks.
“His. Mine. You left the quill behind.”
“What are you going to do about it?” she asks.
“Release myself.”
“Good. Onto more pressing matters,” his father says.
The king signals to the council leader to come forward. His purple eyes vibrate as he walks. His black hair changes from black to white and back. “The goblin king has invited Princess Andrea to a party at his kingdom. Prince Cornelius is expected to attend as well.”
“Excellent. He can go in as a spy,” the king says.
“I believe we should release Wesley from the in between realm.”
“We can’t. That’s the Vale’s business. We don’t have the power to do it.”
“It’s not that we don’t want to, Grole. We have to consider the consequences if we could.”
Grole presents the queen with a piece of parchment. She reads it over.
“As you can see, the humans have begun work on a new fountain, and they have also acquired the means to break into the in between realm.”
Thomas gets up. “I want an emergency council meeting today.”
“Yes, sire.” Grole leaves.
“I have to go.” Cornelius leaves.
Cornelius enters the courtyard. Noah appears. He is greeted by many women. “I’ve missed all of you too. There he is.”
“I don’t have time. I have to get…”
“Yeah, I know. But how?”
“The humans. They have found a way.”
“I long for the human kingdom. All those lovely shaped bums.”
“Nips, come on.”
Wesley walks around able to see all of the land around him but cannot access it. “I’ve really screwed things up. I hope Noah has found Drevil. Maybe he can help me.”
Andrea runs from her handmaidens. “I am not wearing that crap. Find me more suitable clothes. Find me riding clothes.”
“Riding clothes?”
“I’ll find my own clothes.” She throws open her bedroom doors.
“Your Highness, you can’t be running around in your under garments.”
Andrea looks through the numerous doors up and down the corridor. “One of these must be a linen closet.”
A door opens and a guard steps out. “Your Highness.” He covers his eyes.
“You. Tell me where I can find pants and a long-sleeved shirt.”
“Possibly the laundry room. Downstairs in the kitchen area.”
“Great. Thanks.”
The handmaidens chase after Andrea.
Andrea enters the kitchen
. Everyone stops and covers their eyes. “Where are the clothes? The laundry?”
The cook points to the left.
“Carry on.” Andrea walks into the next room.
Andrea goes to looking through the clean pile of clothes.
“Your Highness?” a washer says.
“Looking for black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt.”
“For yourself?”
“Yes.”
The washer sorts through the laundry and pulls out what Andrea asked for. “They are meant for a man but they should fit you.”
“Good.” Andrea puts on the pants and then slides the shirt on. “They fit well. Thank you.”
Andrea comes out into a small courtyard set up for small gatherings or meetings. The ground rumbles. She remembers it. First the rumbling. Then the sight of him coming through the forest. The rumbling stops. She looks from side to side, all around, feeling him near yet he is nowhere in sight.
“Andrea,” a voice says. Full of darkness, despair, and sensuality.
She looks up. A smile forms. It isn't her love. It's someone worse that tempts her like no other.
Noah goes down the hole that leads to Drevil’s home. A door opens and out comes Drevil.
“Oh, no, not another one.”
“Can you break into the in between realm?”
“I want compensation. Jewels, gems, fairy dust. You must have something, fairy.”
“I can pay you when I return to the city.”
“Return there now.”
“I am pressed for time.”
“What’s in the in between realm?”
“Wesley.”
“He never stays out of trouble. I gave those humans the ability to crack an opening in there. But they have no use for it. I don’t know why they wanted it so badly. Why not just go there and ask them?”
“Because this is a delicate matter.”
“I have a little bit left of the special sauce.”
“Special sauce?”
Drevil goes into the room from where he came. Pots and pans crash. He comes back out with a small bottle of red liquid. “Special sauce.”
Noah holds his hand out. Drevil lays the bottle on his palm. “What do I do?”
“Drink it.”
“And then?”
“You breathe fire like a dragon. You aren’t going to get a dragon to burn through the in between realm. You have to harness their fire breath and that will break the seal.”
Noah leaves.
“You tell Wesley that he owes me big. Big.”
Wesley comes around to the human kingdom. He sees Andrea. He touches the wall. “Forgive me.” She is being led away from the kingdom. “Where are you going?” A shadow looms over her. “That son of a bitch.” He bangs on the wall. He cries and bangs. “Noah, please tell me that you are close to succeeding.”
Noah walks down the main road that goes all around the land. “I suppose any spot will do.” He wets his lips a few times then downs the bottle. He gags. Coughs. A hard cough and out comes the dragon’s breath. It burns every bit of his throat and esophagus. “That little shit goblin.” A tear in the in between realm appears. He sticks his head in. “Wes? You there, buddy?”
A hand smacks him across the face. Wesley steps out. “Took you long enough. Andrea is in trouble.”
“She’s in her kingdom. That woman is not safe anywhere.”
“Tell me about it.” He puts his hands on his hips. “Where’s my horse?”
“What for?”
“To get to the human kingdom faster.”
“Fly there.”
Wesley grabs Noah by his shirt. “There’ll be no flying.”
“Now I gotta find a horse? Tell me why I am your friend.”
Andrea is led to one of the gardens where her handmaidens are gathered. Emily as well since she just became a handmaiden to Andrea. They see her and bow. “Andrea, are you okay?” Emily asks.
“Get out of the garden,” the shadow says.
The handmaidens scatter and scream. Except Emily. “Leave her alone.”
“Leave,” the shadow says. The shadow flies out after the handmaidens.
Andrea keeps moving.
The shadow grabs one handmaiden and a mouth forms on the shadow. It sucks down on the handmaiden’s face. It swallows everything from inside her. Her skin becomes flimsy and collapses into a pile of rubbery flesh. The shadow moves on to the others.
Andrea continues moving.
The shadow comes back to feast on Emily. She is no match for it. It overpowers her. But loses its grip on her foot. She manages to get away but her foot is infected. Turning gangrene.
Emily screams for help. Guards form an attack line. Michael and Melanie arrive. “Attack it!” the king orders.
The shadow consumes the area around Andrea, and when the shadow disappears, Andrea is gone as well.
“No!” the queen screams.
The shadow leads Andrea to the edge of the kingdom. It moves in circles around her until a black orb appears. She reaches out.
“Andrea!” Wesley says.
14
Even in the Vale, you cannot escape the pleasure of the misery that befolds the cocky and presumptuous.
Cornelius lays his sword next to an oak tree whose roots are growing under the dirt road. It has created bumps.
He comes to an old tree trunk. He places his jeweled dagger inside it.
He comes upon Hylda’s hut. He hands her a crystal vial.
In Kell, there is an assassins’ guild controlled solely by the king. The female trainer is fierce looking. The male trainer looks more placid. They only wear leather. They each carry a pair of glass-handled daggers with black etching on the blade.
“Just because you’ve had some training for the past week, doesn’t make you ready to take on a battle,” the female trainer says.
“Although some of you I bet think they are ready,” the male trainer says as he picks his teeth.
A hand shoots up.
“And here is the first fool,” the female trainer says.
Emily steps forward. “I’ve demonstrated a strong display of stealth. I even got past your best student.”
A laugh comes out of the crowd of recruits. The other women recruits fan themselves as Linus walks past them. He is tall and lean and handsome. He always wears black gloves. “I will admit that Emily did get past me, but I wasn’t really paying attention. Luck is always with me. As it is with her, since her foot was healed in time.”
“Maybe one day luck won’t be with you,” Emily says.
“Emily, come forward and prove us wrong,” Linus says.
“How?”
“Fight me. I will go easy since you haven’t had the months of training that I have. But for what you’ve learned so far, use it.”
“Linus, you can kill me easily.”
“Yes. But prove to me that you are ready.”
Emily swallows the lump in her throat. She really has put herself on the spot.
“Daggers or sword?” Linus asks.
“It’s your preference,” the male trainer says.
“I prefer daggers.”
“As do I.” Emily pulls her daggers out.
Linus grins. He pulls his daggers. They are different from everyone else’s. The handles are gold and the blade is grover steel. It’s the strongest steel in the land.
“Please don’t kill the new recruit. I admire her drive,” the female trainer says.
“I make no promises.”
“Neither do I.” Emily stares him down.
Linus waves his one dagger at Emily. She isn’t stupid. She was always taught to let your enemy make the first move unless you are sure you can make the first move and win. Linus is a seasoned assassin. He only hangs around the new recruits to get laid and to show off. She has watched him very carefully. She has a good handle on his moves. When he fights he uses different styles per person.
“One of us must try for it. Go on, Emily. I’ll let you
leave me a love scar.”
Emily pushes down her detest for this man.
“If one of you doesn’t engage, I’ll kill you both myself,” the female trainer says.
“So be it,” Linus says. He swipes the daggers at Emily.
Emily moves.
Linus lunges forward and swipes. Emily rolls between his legs. He laughs. He throws a dagger and it tapes down part of her shirt. She rips it free. She fake throws a dagger and he reacts like she had really thrown it. She punches him in the face.
He holds his nose. Checks that it isn’t broken. “Dirty move.”
“We must disarm by any means necessary.”
Linus grabs for her one hand. She slides her dagger across his skin, barely taking some hairs. She jumps onto a boulder. He jumps onto another boulder.
“You enjoyed the rocky terrain?”
“It was one of my favorite courses.”
“You two talk too much,” the male trainer says.
Linus tosses a pouch over to her. It explodes and a cloud of dust blinds her. She coughs and rubs her eyes. She hears him. He jumps onto her back and puts his daggers at her throat. She smiles and then grabs him by the neck and brings him over her. He falls off the boulder and lands hard on the ground. She jumps down, kicks his daggers from his hands and brings her own to his throat.
He laughs.
“Of course, I could always disarm my prey another way.”
“What is that?”
She stares into his eyes. She washes all other emotions from her face. She licks her lips. She gently takes the side of his face into her hand. Her other hand now holds two daggers. She pulls his head up to her and opens her mouth. He welcomes it. His tongue rolls over his bottom lip. She places a dagger at his tongue.
“Don’t move or it’s gone.”
He smiles and she feels the poke of a dagger. She looks down and sees one of his daggers at her stomach. “You didn’t kick them away far enough.”
She giggles.
“What’s so funny?”
“You may kill me, but you aren’t walking away alive.”
“Huh?” He looks down. An arrow is at the tip of his crotch.
Relics and Runes Anthology Page 98