by Natalie Erin
Kia screamed through her own gag and Keota’s eyes enlarged. Infuriated against his bonds, he began struggling harder but it didn’t make a difference.
“You will NEVER touch him again. Vera took too many of your blows for us. I will do the same for him.” Allie stepped boldly forward and Wyntier laughed.
“You think, little Changeress, that you could fight me? Vera didn’t just take your punishments. She felt my dominance every day, for years. What makes you think you’ll be any different? Do you think that you are better then me?”
“I don’t have to be,” she smiled, looking up. Wyntier went rigid. He turned slowly and found Bloodbath standing behind him, looking at Wyntier with hungry eyes. Smoke was furling out of his mouth and nose. He brought back his lips to reveal all of his dagger teeth. Wyntier’s eyes contracted and the dragon lunged for the kill but Nineva, with Soran and Zorna in her left arm, grabbed him and they vanished in a whirl of black smoke. Snow Drop trotted happily into the cave, her head held high.
Bloodbath lumbered over to Keota and tore off his ropes. He was released and instantly ran over to start untying Ionan, his wife and Casiff. Ionan reached his front leg up and let the pups and Lottie down from the net. Lottie went over and yanked off Cornia’s muzzle and hobbles. Then they all worked on setting Vivienna and Melodi free. Without Nineva here, the contraptions broke easily.
“Now that you’re all free, I’m going to give chase,” Bloodbath said. “That witch and her husband can’t be far.” The dragon hurried out the cave door, roaring loudly before taking to the sky.
“How did you find us?” Keota asked, turning to Snow Drop.
“We had a little bit of help,” Snow Drop said, turning towards the entrance of the cave.
Kia looked and saw that there were about ten elves, mostly young but some old. Her hand went instantly to her dagger but a young elf with his hair in short, braided rows said, “Don’t worry. We’re not against you, and never were. We were forced to fight by our leader Acotas. But when the fire spread, we ran faster than the others and escaped. We’ve been looking for you ever since. We know the way down these mountains and can help you on your way home.”
“Thank you,” Kia nodded. “What’s your name?” she asked.
“Oliver,” he said. “I can understand if you want to punish us. It is what we deserve, after we committed treason against you.”
“Oliver,” she whispered. “You have no idea how much we owe you, after you brought Bloodbath to us. I know that the elves desire a king, and I declare it should be you.”
“No, my lady! If the other elves back in our village knew what we have done today, they would surely kill us. They are still your enemies. We are simply going back for our families and fleeing for our lives,” Oliver protested.
“You shall be heir. I’ll see to that, if I have to banish all elves from the Lands,” Kia said.
With an open mouth, Oliver knelt down on his knee, bowing low. “Thank you, my queen. I promise you as the elf king, I shall serve you all of my days.”
The elves bowed and turned to leave. Kia did the same, until she heard a low whine. Behind her were all the wolves, gathered around Lilja, who still did not move.
Lottie let out a howl and Jade padded up to her father. She whimpered and nudged him, but still he was silent. The cut on his head was deep.
Kia rushed over to him and fell by his side. She ran her fingers over the cut and bit her lip.Beside her, Cornia howled.
She couldn’t tell them it was too late. How could she? It would break their hearts. This journey had been tiring enough, and there was no way Cornia would make it through, or Lottie either. But she had to. She opened her mouth and tried to keep her voice from shaking, but behind her, Vivienna said, “Wait.”
She ran over and placed her hand upon the alpha. A dull glow, much like the one Amancio had used on Keota but smaller, shone from under her hand. The cut didn’t heal completely, but the magic stopped the bleeding and repaired the damage inside. As Lilja’s breathing grew quicker, Vivienna sighed and said, “I didn’t know I could do that!”
Kia grabbed her and hugged her as tight as she could. “I couldn’t be prouder of my niece. My sister chose to use her powers for her own selfishness. But you chose to use them for good, even though you were raised not to.”
Vivienna hugged her back. “I only do what’s right, Aunt Kia.”
Lilja groaned and Midnightstar screamed, “Daddy!” He got up and his family kissed him happily, tails wagging. With an irritated look, he growled, “Coward hit me from behind.”
Ionan laughed and Lottie snuggled her head close to his, while Cornia cleaned his wound.
“It looks like Vixen isn’t needed, for once in her life,” a familiar voice said behind them, and they all turned around in excitement.
“Vixen!” Casiff cried. When she saw him, her black wings appeared and she fluttered to his side.
The couple hugged and Casiff looked at her flat stomach with wide eyes. “Did you have the baby?” he asked, his face worried.
Vixen nodded. “Yes, husband. The child is back in the Verinian, safe with Dragonstar. You don’t need to worry. It’s a healthy baby girl.”
Casiff began to sob tears of joy and she put her hand to his face to wipe them away. He turned and said to the group, “Do you hear that? I have a daughter!”
Everyone started to cheer congratulations. At the entrance of the cave a black haired Accompany appeared, asking, “What’s going on up here?”
“Ana!” Keota said in excitement, and he rushed to embrace his sister. Maekrel came behind her, and Ionan stared at his brother in disbelief. “Is this what Wyntier did to you?” he asked.
Maekrel nodded. “I am no longer a Changer. But for some reason, I feel much better this way,” he said, smiling at Ana.
“Vixen has something to tell you,” Vixen said, turning to Casiff. “The valley and our home is gone. They were both destroyed by fire.”
“Nineva,” Kia snarled.
“Vixen feels her unicorns have run to Kia’s forest, but everything we had is gone,” Vixen said, hanging her head.
“It’s okay, my love. As long as our baby is safe,” Casiff said, stroking her face tenderly.
“I bet she caused those twisters on the plains, too,” Keota said. “Just before we rescued Bloodbath. Wyntier was there, so she had to be, too. It’s the only thing that makes sense, as tornadoes don’t come this late in the year.”
“That makes sense,” Kia said, nodding. She let out a sigh. “I can’t believe I was so blind for so long. I looked up to her so much that I never thought she’d turn against me.”
“There was no way you could know,” Keota said, lifting her chin and pulling her into a hug. “We always expect the best out of our families, never the worst.”
There was no need for rest now. The announcement of a newborn and Ana’s reunion had chased away all exhaustion, and Vixen said, “There’s a small house at the bottom of the mountain where we can seek shelter. If you will follow Vixen, she will lead you to it.”
For once, everything seemed to be going right. The group turned to follow Vixen out of the cave, until they heard Allie let out a scream behind them.
“Kennu!” she cried, and at an instant everyone was gathered around the child in a circle. Kia let out a cry as he saw her son with his wings out, twitching and convulsing on the floor. The seizure continued and they watched helplessly as Kennu’s spasms continued. Allie changed into a lynx, and reached out to hold his trembling hand in her paw.
Chapter Seventeen
Drugs and Runaways
Kia sat on the bed of the hut Vixen had led them to, rocking Kennu tightly in her arms. The young boy struggled to get away but Kia refused, forcing him to stay put.
“Just let him go.” Casiff said, walking into the small bedroom. “I can hear his screaming outside.”
“I am not letting that happen to my baby again!” Kia held her son tighter. “What if he had died?”
>
“Vixen thinks we should be moving on if we are to get home.” The fox-like fairy sat with Melodi in the form of a small cat on her lap, with Vivienna by her side.
“Good plan. When do we leave?” Casiff came over and sat on Vixen’s other side. “I can’t wait any longer to see my baby.”
“We can’t go anywhere until we’re certain Kennu is going to be okay,” Kia snapped harshly. “I can’t lose my son after I just got him back!”
“We have to go, Kia.” Keota sat next to her. “If we stay here any longer we might not be able to make it home.”
“But...my baby.” Tears began to form in her eyes.
“We can’t worry about it now, Kia,” Keota said, standing up to leave the room. “I’ll gather everyone so we can get moving.”
“We can’t go home. That’s the first place Wyntier will look. I don’t want to put the forest in danger until I know there’s no chance he’ll come after us again,” Kia insisted.
Keota paused. “You have a point. Is there anywhere we can go for the moment that Wyntier won’t follow us?” he asked.
Kia thought. “I think I know a place. Go tell all the others to get ready, and pack light. Where we’re going we don’t need snow boots.”
As Keota walked out of the room, Kennu began to scream. “Mommy! Let me go!” Kennu whined as he struggled against his mother’s hold.
“No! You’re going to stay right where you are!” she snapped. Kennu went limp, finally giving up.
Vivienna sat silently next to Vixen. Melodi flashed her a look and Vivienna dropped her head. “Tell them already. It may be important,” Melodi insisted.
Vivienna slowly got to her feet. “I have something to say,” she said, looking at Kia.
“What is it Vivi?” The fairy smiled at the pigtailed girl.
“I know what happened to Kennu, when he started twitching.” Her head fell again and Kia listened intently. “I had the seizures too, and so did my brother. It’s due to our mixed blood. My father did some experiments and discovered that when we got older they would go away, and they did.”
“That’s wonderful!” Kia said, the color returning to her face as she smiled broadly.
“But there was something else,” Vivienna said. “My father told my mother that if the seizures don’t stop after you turn five years old, you have a strange disease. Some sort of...muscular disorder I think he called it.”
“What?” Kia’s eyes filled with tears once more.
“It was in that stupid book he always read,” Vivienna said, scuffing her shoes on the floor. “The book he always paid more attention to than me. It said that if you haven’t gotten better by age five that you would have seizures all the time. Your heart wouldn’t work right and you would be really weak. Kennu is going to be sick all of his life,” Vivienna said, and her voice began to shake. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner but I was afraid.” Small tears dropped from the girls eyes and splashed onto her simple black dress. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
“Of course I’m not mad, just shocked.” Kia relaxed her grip on Kennu just enough so he could force his way free. The boy ran over to the corner where Allie lay in her lynx form.
Vixen got up too, and began to pace around the room. “Vixen has heard of this before, but it’s been so many years that she’s forgotten what it was called. It’s very rare. Kennu must be the only one with it in all the Lands.”
“Why didn’t Ionan sense it in Kennu when he was born?” Kia asked, turning to Vixen.
Melodi shook her tail. “It’s a rare disease. Ionan wouldn’t know what to look for, only would’ve felt something was wrong. But it wasn’t enough to be worried.” Melodi changed back into a speckled owl, giving a loud hoot. “I can remember when Vivi had the seizures that something didn’t smell right on her. But as she outgrew them the smell went away. I knew Kennu was sick, though, when I met him. The smell was stronger on him than it ever was on Vivi, even at her worst.”
“Is there a cure? There must be, if we could find something to fix the Black Death. A unicorn horn? Can you heal it, Vivi?” Kia asked hopefully.
Vivi shook her head. “My magic can do a lot, but for some reason it can’t fix this.”
“Unicorn horns can’t heal everything, young queen,” Vixen said sadly, putting her hand on the fairy’s shoulder. “This is a lifelong condition, not a plague. We can fight to find a cure. But until we do, we must help Kennu learn to live with this disease.”
The room fell silent and everyone watched Kennu lovingly. His black wings dusted with stars fluttered happily as he played with Allie, and despite the previous day’s scare, Kia realized that from now on they would have to cherish every good, healthy day Kennu had.
Keota came in from outside and looked around in confusion at the sadness rippling through the room. “What happened?”
Wyntier paced around his house angrily, his brow furrowed as he thought. Soran sat in the corner, rubbing his bruised arm gently and crying. Zorna was next to him, and the small black dog licked his Accompany’s arm, trying to make him feel better. Nineva sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room from her son, playing with a jet of fire between her hands.
“Stop pacing already, you’re annoying me to death!” Nineva snapped at Wyntier, sending the flame flying towards a small vase in the corner. It exploded into flames and Wyntier paused, glaring at Nineva. “And you stop crying or I’ll hit you harder this time!” the witch screamed at her son, rounding on him once more. The boy fell silent, still rubbing his hurt arm.
“I can’t believe that little Changeress is equally matched to Zorna. There’s no way she could be that strong,” Wyntier said to himself, staring at the Changer.
“It’s an easy fix. Another dose of drugs and Zorna will be stronger than she is. If we give it to him right before they fight he’s guaranteed to win,” Nineva said.
At the mention of drugs, Zorna hid behind Soran.
“And that my dear, is why I married you. You always have a plan.” Wyntier walked over and kissed Nineva tenderly.
When Wyntier pulled apart from his wife, he began looking around the house. “Have you seen the book?” he asked.
Nineva shook her head. “Not since we left your Changer in the cave.”
“I must’ve left it back there,” Wyntier murmured. “But going back there won’t be safe with that red dragon about.”
“We have to find it. It’s been very useful to us so far,” Nineva said. “I’ll go with you, and if that dragon shows up again, I’ll kill him.”
Nineva whirled on her only son. “Don’t move from this spot,” she snarled, pointing a sharp fingernail into Soran’s chest. “Or you’ll pay for it later.”
Wyntier and Nineva hurried out of the house. While the two were gone Soran grabbed his Changer and slowly began heading towards the door. No one noticed the child slip outside carefully. As they did so Zorna changed into a small deer, and Soran climbed on his back.
The pair moved quickly through the snow and left few tracks. Zorna followed the scent of Vivienna and Melodi relentlessly, pushing the distance between them and Wyntier further and further.
“Faster, Zo,” Soran whispered. “We need to find Vivi. I want to be with her, always.”
Vivienna got up in the middle of the night, thinking she had heard someone. “Who’s there?” she asked, a tremor of fear in her voice. She sat up and looked around. A small figure stood in front of her, and a bat flew around her head wildly.
“I want to be with my sissy.” Soran’s small voice sounded scared, and he shivered on the side of the bed.
“Come here Sor. I’m here now, you don’t have to be scared.” Vivi snuggled her brother close to her and Zorna laid by her head. Even though nothing had been right for the brother and sister since they were born, everything seemed alright now.
That was, until the next morning when Kia woke up.
The entire house was awakened by a loud, shrill scream. “What on earth is wrong this time
?” Casiff moaned, sitting up. His blonde hair stood up in odd directions and was tangled in knots as he looked around groggily.
“It’s that little boy, the one that tried to kill Kennu!” Kia pointed to Soran, who was huddled in the corner crying, clutching Zorna as a bat to his chest.
“Leave him be!” Vivienna got up from her bed and lifted her brother into her arms. “He ran away and now he needs someone to take care of him!”
“Why would he run away? He seemed pretty happy the last time we saw him,” Keota said, baring down on the small boy.
“Mommy hit me and Daddy said I was worthless,” Soran rubbed his eyes and leaned against his sister’s chest. “They’re always hitting me. And they said they would make Zorna take the drugs again.”
“Drugs?” Keota asked, completely confused.
Kia’s face had softened. “Oh, you poor thing.” Kia walked over to Soran. “Come here and let Auntie Kia look at your booboo.”
Soran put his arms up and Kia took him from Vivi. “She hit my arm,” he said sadly, sticking out his lower lip in an effort to look cute and hurt at the same time.
“Let me see.” Kia rolled up the boy’s sleeve and examined it. “Oh, it’s bruised. Auntie Kia will make it all better.” She bent down to kiss the wound and as she did so Soran lit up.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore!” he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Kia’s neck. “Thank you, Auntie Kia!”
“You’re welcome Soran.” She placed him on the ground and he ran over to the small bat that was Zorna. “I’m sorry I screamed. I just wasn’t expecting to see him here without my sister and her awful husband nearby,” Kia explained.
“That’s okay.” Vivienna smiled. “I can understand completely how you feel about that.”
A loud snore echoed about the cave and everyone turned toward Casiff. Vixen lay in front of him, the only one still asleep, snoring a second time.
“Wake her up will you?” Maekrel rubbed his forehead and pushed his hair back. Ana sat next to him, yawning. “Where are we going next?” she asked sleepily.