Faery Forged

by Donna Joy Usher

  Tiny jerked back from me and turned towards Isla. ‘Owwwww,’ he howled.

  ‘Isla stop,’ I yelled. ‘You’re hurting him.’

  She stared at me, her eyes wide with shock. ‘But, he ate you.’

  ‘He kissed me.’

  ‘He what?’

  Before I could answer, Tiny lifted Isla towards his mouth. ‘Oh. Euwwww,’ she said, as he pressed a juicy kiss onto her face.

  He turned and strode back towards his house and Scruffy charged from behind a rock and latched onto the bottom of his pants. Tiny didn’t even notice as his steps swung Scruffy to-and-fro. He did, however, notice Aethan as he stepped into Tiny’s path with an arrow notched in his bow. The swelling had gone from Aethan’s face leaving him, instead, with a bad-boy black eye. He looked so fierce and brave that if I really had been in mortal danger I might have swooned at the sight of him.

  ‘Another dolly.’ Tiny clearly couldn’t believe his luck.

  ‘Don’t shoot,’ Isla and I yelled together. ‘He’s friendly,’ I added.

  Aethan didn’t look convinced but he lowered his bow and let Tiny scoop him up. Scruffy growled and let go of Tiny’s pants, chasing after us as we were taken back to the house. Tiny placed us all on the table and sat back into his chair.

  I touched my chest and said, ‘I’m Izzy.’

  Isla copied me and then elbowed Aethan in the ribs. He immediately touched his own chest and introduced himself.

  The look on Tiny’s face was almost comical as he struggled with the puzzle. ‘Not dollies,’ he finally said.

  I shook my head. ‘No.’

  His face crumpled and basketball-sized tears streamed down his cheeks.

  ‘Oh,’ Isla said, walking to the edge of the table, ‘please don’t cry.’

  If anything, the tears increased in volume. He put his hands over his face and howled.

  I jumped off the edge of the table onto his lap and scrambled up his shirt. One of his tears broke over my head like a bucket of water, but I kept on climbing. Finally I reached his face. ‘Please don’t cry,’ I pulled on his fingers. ‘You’re a very nice giant.’

  He lowered his hands. ‘None of the other giants will play with me.’

  I felt a tugging on his shirt and then Isla was beside me. ‘We would play with you,’ she said.

  ‘Isla,’ Aethan whispered from the table, ‘we have to go.’

  She shot him a look and made a shut up gesture. ‘But some of our friends are lost. We have to find them.’

  Tiny stared at her and then smiled. ‘Peek-a-boo?’ he said.

  ‘More like hide-and-seek.’ She returned his smile. ‘Will you help us look?’

  ‘Hide-and-seek.’ Tiny picked us up and put us back on the table and then he clapped his hands. ‘We play hide-and-seek.’

  ‘What’s your name?’ I asked him.

  He stared at me for a second and then his head hung and I thought he was going to start crying again. He shook his head. ‘The other giants won’t give me a name.’

  My confusion must have been written on my face because Aethan leaned in close and whispered, ‘Giants aren’t named at birth. They wait for their personality to emerge and then the community chooses a name. To not be named is to be declared an outcast.’

  I felt as if someone had put their hand in my chest and squeezed my heart. ‘Tiny,’ I said, looking at the gentle giant. ‘Your name is Tiny.’

  I watched as his head came up. He stared at me with his huge, bugged eyes and his squashed nose and said, ‘Tiny?’

  ‘I also name you Tiny,’ Isla said, placing her right hand on her heart.

  ‘I name you Tiny.’ Aethan touched his hand to his heart and then his head.

  Tiny’s mouth split into an enormous grin. ‘Tiny,’ he said, thumping his hand to his chest. ‘My name is Tiny.’ He jumped up from his chair and rummaged around in the kitchen, throwing things into a leather satchel. He tossed the satchel over his shoulder and a hat the size of a swimming pool on his head and lifted us off the table to place us gently on the floor. Scruffy rushed to my side and jumped up on me, licking my hands as I rubbed his head.

  We followed Tiny out the door and back over the hills towards our deserted camp.

  ‘Which way Tiny seek?’ He looked over his shoulder and then spun in a circle.

  ‘We are going to search that way.’ Isla pointed back the way he had brought us.

  ‘Tiny will seek that way.’ He pointed further north than our intended path.

  We watched as he strode off, the ground shaking in his wake.

  Aethan shook his head as we watched him go. ‘I wouldn’t have believed that if I hadn’t seen it.’

  ‘What, a gentle giant?’ Isla asked.

  ‘No.’ Aethan laughed and punched her on the shoulder. ‘You being pashed by one.’

  ***

  Aethan had left Lily and the packhorse at our camp and ridden on Adare to save us. I gave the black stallion a scratch behind his ears. He couldn’t have recovered from the night before yet, and then had ridden for hours more. He had a big heart.

  The walk back to our camp was much faster than the night before, partly because we could see where we were going, but mostly because we weren’t so exhausted. But even with that it was late afternoon before we arrived.

  We let Adare rest while we ate and then I repacked my bags. I took my small mirror out to wrap it in my blanket. Mum’s face was floating on the surface.

  Whizbang. I had raced out of the house without leaving a note and after my failed attempt to contact her had totally forgotten. Grams would have filled her in but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be royally pissed with me.

  I pasted what I hoped was a nothing-to-see-here smile on, hoping I hadn’t accidentally left on my got-chased-by-goblins-fell-in-a-river-and-kidnapped-by-a-giant one. Then I took a deep breath, waved my hand at the mirror and said, ‘Speakius clearius.’ Mum’s face activated. Her eyes and nose were red.

  ‘Izzy, thank the Dark Sky.’ She took a deep, shuddering breath. ‘I came home and you were gone.’

  That had been days ago.

  ‘But… didn’t Grams tell you where I was?’

  Mum’s face scrunched up. ‘No.’ Her hand shook as she pushed her fringe back off her face. ‘She’s gone, Izzy. Your Grandma is missing.’

  ‘What do you mean she’s missing?’

  ‘Nobody knows where she is.’

  ‘She’s not off looking at wedding stuff?’

  ‘Lionel hasn’t heard from her. He’s frantic.’

  Looking at her face I didn’t think he was the only one who was frantic. I pushed my panic down. I had to believe she was safe. I mean this was my fun-loving, scatty Grams we were talking about.

  ‘Mum, I’m sure she’s fine. Remember that time she decided to see if the French Fries were better in France?’

  Mum nodded, a small smile twitching her lips. Grams had gone only to discover that their French fries were no better than England’s. She’d been quite put out (her words) and created a bit of a kerfuffle accusing the French of false advertising. The local police had called us to come and get her.

  ‘She’s probably in Venice racing gondolas.’ If I hung onto that belief perhaps I would be able to concentrate on the trouble at hand.

  Mum smiled, but the lost look remained in her eyes. I heard somebody call her name from another room.

  ‘Who’s that?’ I asked.

  ‘Hmmm?’ Mum said. ‘Who was what?’

  ‘That voice.’

  It called her name again. A man’s voice, coming closer.

  Now Mum looked flustered. ‘There’s no one here. You must be imagining things.’ She glanced over her shoulder and shot me a guilty look. ‘Got to go. Love you.’ She blew me a kiss and ended the spell.

  Huh. I sat back on my heels.

  ‘You ready yet?’ Aethan asked.

  I jumped at the sound of his voice, ending up on my bottom on the dirt. ‘It’s rude to sneak up on people.’ I ba
tted away his outstretched hand and stood up.

  ‘Who’s sneaking? I’ve been here the whole time.’ For the first time since Galanta’s spell had kicked in, he smiled at me fully. His lips pulled up into that crooked smile I loved so much. My hand strayed of its own accord towards his face, but I managed to stop it before he noticed.

  ‘Whatever,’ I said, staring into my saddle bag to hide my red cheeks. I had to stop letting him make me blush. It was getting embarrassing.

  ‘We can get a few miles under our belt before dark,’ he said.

  Before dark. Before we had to sleep.

  I spun to face him as an idea hit me. ‘Aethan,’ I lowered my voice. ‘We can meet Wilfred. Tonight.’

  He tilted his head to the side and shook his head. ‘Didn’t catch that.’

  I looked over to where Isla was loading her things onto the packhorse, and hoping I wasn’t about to activate the Border Guard Secrecy Spell, whispered, ‘Wilfred. Tonight.’ I patted my arm where the armband would go.

  Aethan’s eyes widened. He also glanced toward Isla and then he nodded his head.

  The next few hours of walking seemed to take forever. I watched the sun move towards the horizon, torn between wanting to get as much distance behind us, and wanting to go to sleep to see if Wilfred would be waiting for us.

  Finally we set up camp, fed the horses and drew straws to see who would get the middle watch. Aethan drew the short straw. Isla was up first and I had the last one.

  I curled up in my blanket with Scruffy and turned to watch Aethan. He brought his blanket over far closer than I expected and lay down next to me. Then he looked around to see if Isla was within hearing distance.

  ‘If we don’t find him you are not to go back in alone.’

  I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath. Aethan and I had always had a spirited relationship, but I wasn’t used to him treating me like I was an amateur. ‘I will be perfectly safe.’

  ‘Yes you will, because you won’t be going in.’

  Another deep breath. ‘I will too.’

  ‘No you won’t.’ With his chiselled jawline and his magic, dark eyes he had always been especially gorgeous when he was mad. It made me want to jump on top of him and chew on his neck.

  ‘Will you two keep your lover’s tiff down?’ Isla stepped from the trees with her hands on her hips. ‘May as well put a ‘Here We Are’ neon light out for the giants.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Aethan said. He turned back to me and hissed. ‘It’s still no.’

  I moved closer so he could hear me whisper. ‘What if Wilfred gets there later than us? What if we miss him?’ I could see the hard look in Aethan’s eyes softening. Ah ha. I had him now. ‘What if he’s hurt?’

  Aethan’s defiance crumpled. He ran a hand through his hair and said, ‘Fine. But be careful. And it’s only Wilfred we’re looking for.’

  I nodded my head. Even though I wanted to kill Galanta so badly just thinking about it made my toes curl up, I didn’t want to compromise this operation any more than it already had been. While we were alive, we still had a mission.

  ‘I want to report to Rako.’ Aethan’s face was only inches from mine.

  ‘Are you crazy?’

  ‘He needs to know.’

  ‘So you want to go to Trillania, which he forbade us to do, to report that we are split up and in enemy territory?’

  Aethan looked less sure of himself but he nodded his head.

  ‘Plus,’ I continued in a hushed whisper, ‘we have Isla with us, and your thought bubble would have reached them by now. I’m guessing Rako is packing some serious heat from further up the faery food chain. Need I mention mummy dearest?’

  Aethan winced and looked away from my gaze. ‘He needs to know,’ he mumbled again.

  ‘Not my idea of fun. But hey, whatever rocks your socks. Come on, we need to get to sleep.’

  He nodded, and to my delight, stayed right where he was, closing his eyes and evening out his breathing. I studied him, soaking up the moment. Like this, I could almost forget that he didn’t know me, almost forget he didn’t care. A deep ache set up in my chest and I sighed and closed my eyes.

  ***

  Aethan was waiting with his back to me as he flipped his sword up into the air and caught it by the hilt.

  ‘You don’t want to mistime that,’ I said, being careful to speak between tosses. Last thing I needed was him waking up with missing fingers.

  He flipped it up one last time and it disappeared, reappearing in the sheath on his back.

  ‘Show off.’ I smiled at him.

  ‘Are you planning on wearing that to hunt for Wilfred?’

  I looked down at my clothing and let out a squeak. I was wearing a black negligee which did little to cover my skin and everything to show it off. That’s what I get for falling asleep lying so close to him. I changed it to my Border Guard uniform of leather and fur.

  ‘I kind of liked the other one better,’ Wilfred said.

  ‘Willy.’ I spun around and threw myself into his arms. ‘You’re alive.’

  Aethan clasped Wilfred’s arm and, when I had disengaged myself, pulled him into a bear hug. ‘It’s good to see you man.’

  ‘Likewise. Is Isla with you?’

  Aethan nodded. ‘So I’m guessing Wolfgang, Brent and Luke are with you.’

  ‘Wolfgang’s hurt real bad.’ Wilfred started to pace up-and-down in front of us. ‘Got banged up getting out of the river. Think his leg is broken.’ He pulled a face. ‘Well, I know it’s broken. The bone’s sticking out through the skin.’

  ‘Buzznuckle,’ Aethan said. ‘Had to be the one of us that could heal that got injured.’ He pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand and stared at the ground. ‘So can you travel?’

  Wilfred stopped pacing and pulled a face. ‘Well therein lies our other problem. We were ambushed by a pod of giants.’

  If the situation weren’t so dire I would have burst out laughing. How do you get ambushed by one giant let alone a pod of them? You could hear them coming a mile away.

  Aethan had obviously had the same thought. ‘Ambushed?’

  Wilfred grimaced. ‘We didn’t post a watch after our little swim. Not like we could have moved fast anyway, what with Wolfgang unconscious from the pain and us down a horse.’

  ‘We’ve got one packhorse. You didn’t get the others?’

  ‘Got a couple of packhorses but Wolfgang’s horse got more beat up than he did. They went down a waterfall. He managed to crawl out but his horse drowned. Found him about a mile down the river from where I got out. Brent was with him.’

  ‘So where are you now?’ I asked.

  ‘They took us to a town. We’re in a dungeon.’ He shook his head. ‘Not sure what part of the city. They put sacks over us.’

  ‘Over your heads?’ I asked.

  ‘Have you seen the size of a giant’s sack?’

  Whizbang. Over half our team were locked up in a dungeon and we didn’t know where it was.

  ‘It was early morning when they took us and I could feel the sun on my right side.’

  ‘So north,’ Aethan said.

  ‘They carried us and I reckon it took us about an hour to get there.’

  I thought about how long it had taken us to walk the distance Tiny had covered in half of that. Looking over at Aethan I said, ‘So about a day’s walk.’

  He nodded. ‘We can do it in a few hours on the horses. Maybe longer.’

  Wilfred pulled a face. ‘I’m hoping it’s shorter than longer. They’re planning on eating us tomorrow night. Festival of Ookiyata, or something like that.’

  ‘Ukita,’ Aethan said. ‘It’s their God. You never did listen in class.’

  ‘Nup,’ Wilfred scratched his beard. ‘That’s what I’ve got you for. You’re the brains and I’m the looks.’

  Aethan put a hand to his own shoulder. ‘I think Isla’s trying to wake me. Must be my watch.’ He faded from view leaving me there with Wilfred.

  ‘What else can y
ou remember from the town?’ Anything he remembered might help us find them.

  ‘I could tell when we entered the city. We must have passed through a gate. Their voices sounded different. Less hollow.’ He paused and scratched his beard. ‘Then I could smell manure and hear animals.’

  ‘Maybe a market?’

  He nodded. ‘Possibly. That or a stable.’

  ‘What then?’

  ‘Well that went on for a while. So yeah,’ he scratched some more, ‘probably a market place. Then it became quieter, even the giants stopped yabbering on about which part of us they were going to eat. And I could hear their footsteps.’

  ‘So a paved area? Or maybe cobblestones.’

  ‘Possibly.’ He scratched his beard again. ‘I think I’ve got lice. I’m so itchy I can feel it in my sleep.’

  ‘Stop it.’ I batted his hands away from his face. ‘You’ll only make it worse when you wake.’

  ‘They walked for a while on those cobblestones, or whatever they were. Then they opened a squeaky door and went into a building. We’re in a dungeon in that building.’

  I nodded and said, ‘Simple.’

  He grinned at me. ‘Simple.’ His face took on a more serious look. ‘Hey what happened to you?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Your magic. I thought you would have blasted those goblins off the face of the earth.’

  Tears welled up in my eyes. Dark Sky, he thought we were in this mess because of me, and he was right. ‘I tried,’ I said. ‘I really tried.’

  ‘Hey.’ He put a hand out and pulled me to him. ‘I’m not blaming you, just wondering if everything’s okay.’

  I dashed an arm across my eyes and leant into the brotherly comfort of his embrace. ‘Wolfgang said my magic is instinctual.’

  Wilfred nodded his head. ‘Makes sense.’

  ‘Yes, well now I’m so busy thinking about that, that my magic doesn’t get a chance to be instinctual.’

  ‘You’re over analysing it.’

  I nodded. ‘Before, I was so intent on the battle that things just happened. Now I’m so busy thinking about the things that should be happening that they don’t.’

  ‘It’s a conundrum.’ He scratched his beard again. ‘Hey, what came first – the chicken or the egg?’