by Leesa Birch
“Now, don’t you move an inch, darlin’. I missed you today,” he said, pressing his body down on mine. “Now where were we?” he said, as he began to open my blouse. His eyes shifted as he bowed his head, kissing the side of my neck. Arching into him and running my hands up the inside of his shirt, he moved closer to my lips.
Pulling him against me, I wrapped my legs around him. He kissed along my jawline until he reached my lips. As he kissed me hard, bruising my lips, it didn’t feel right. The more the kiss intensified, the more it felt wrong. I lifted his face from mine and stared at him. “What’s wrong, Ivy?” he asked, breathlessly. I didn’t know. He sounded like Kane, looked like Kane, but the kiss was wrong. The feel of his hands were wrong.
I rolled out from under him and sat up. I felt dizzy as he reached for me. “Don’t leave me, Ivy,” he said. My vision blurred and I fell backwards into darkness.
Hitting the floor hard, I looked round to find I was still in the tunnel under Axia’s house. Looking at my hand, the small bump had made the entire back of my hand red and itchy. I sat up as I heard something scurry away in the darkness. My head had started to hurt too. Whatever had bitten me had caused my hallucination. How long had I been lying here? I needed to find Barrett.
“Barrett!” I yelled into the darkness. My echoing voice was all that answered me. I wondered if anyone had died down here, left to roam forever. So much for positive thinking. Shaking my thoughts, I carried on until I saw a small light ahead. Picking up speed, I hoped it was a way out. No such luck - it was a dead end. Thinking about how the day had gone so far, I checked for booby traps, notches, edges to hidden doors. All I found was a loose brick. Slowly sliding it out, dropping it by my feet, I peered inside.
It was too dark to see anything, so I thought I’d put my arm in to see if there was a lever or something. Hoping there were no more stinging or biting things, I took a few breaths of courage and slid my hand inside. The walls were slimy and cold. I tried not to breathe too close as it didn’t smell very good either. “Ha!” I said out loud as my fingers found a small hole. Placing one inside, I pulled and pushed at it. Nothing happened. This was ridiculous, why would someone make a hole in the wall and not have it do anything? Pulling my arm out, I kicked the wall with frustration.
The stone cracked where I had kicked it. Then the crack grew wider and down onto the floor. I tried to back away from it but I wasn’t quick enough. The floor beneath me opened up and I fell. Again.
I rolled to a stop in Axia’s front room. I was confused. How could I have fallen twice and ended up back where I started? “Don’t try to figure it out, dear, you’ll only make your head ache more,” said the old woman, stoking the fire.
“Where’s Barrett?” I demanded, then thought about who I was addressing. Muttering at my lack of respect for her, she walked over to the corner and moved her hand over seemingly nothing. Stepping back, a small ball-shaped cage began to appear. “Barrett!” I went to step forward; he shook his head, warningly.
I felt bad; I’d spent quite some time in one of those and he was a lot taller than me. The fae shuffled back across the room and pointed to the chair. Barrett nodded slightly and so I followed Axia.
“Please have a seat, child, so we can talk business,” she said in a wicked tone. “I know why you are here. The Opals have returned and you want my help. What would you give me for that help?” She raised her eyebrow at me, waiting for my response. I tried to think of an answer that didn’t involve me agreeing to something. I couldn’t think of anything so I shrugged my shoulders.
“Hmm, I see.” She looked at Barrett then back at me. “Maybe him?” she asked, pointing to the cage. Barrett tried to speak but nothing came out. I was definitely on my own. “I’m not giving you Barrett. Besides, he’s not mine to give,” I stated, sitting forward in my chair.
“Really, child. You have his heart already. I want you to give it to me.” What was she talking about? I looked over to Barrett; he sank back in his cage. Oh, his heart. I looked at the fae, holding my head high. “You can’t have him. I’m not leaving him here. I don’t care what debt he owes you.”
The old one laughed out loud at my defiance. “He is of no use to you. Every touch would burn. Every kiss would scar. I thought you already had a mate, child.” As her words finished she forced images of Kane into my mind. I gasped with ecstasy as I felt every touch of our love-making. “Stop it!” I panted.
“Get out of my mind,” I managed to say as the images slowed and disappeared. I sat, trying to calm my breathing. “Take my water weaving skills,” I blurted out.
Barrett shook the cage hard. Axia stood up, intrigued, calming the cage with a wave of her hand. My stomach turned, knowing that I shouldn’t have offered her anything. An evil grin spread across her face then it was gone. “Deal,” she said, holding out her hand. Standing up, I gingerly held out my own. Grabbing it with force, she dug her nails in, breaking the skin. “Hey,” I said, looking at the blood.
Licking my blood from her nail, she smiled at Barrett who was being held still with her mind. “Thank you kindly, Ivy. I will take your water weaving ability. But not yet. You will need it to get rid of the Opal. As the Opals cannot be separated from the water, you will have to lift the Opal and the surrounding water out of the lake. I have a special container that can hold an Opal indefinitely. It’s just a big steel box, nothing fancy. Nothing until I ward it, locking the creature inside. We’ll do your lake first as you are already here.”
Axia rummaged through some old papers on one of her shelves. Looking over at Barrett, his cage vanished, causing him to fall to the floor. I ran over to help him up but he wouldn’t let me. “You don’t know what you’ve done, Ivy. You should have left me here. She would not have hurt me. Her use for me is more…carnal,” he eventually said, straightening his ruffled suit.
I looked over at Axia and screwed my nose up at the thought. “I don’t want my water weaving skill. I’ve killed several men with it so far and almost drowned Kane. So don’t stand there and tell me I made the wrong choice,” I argued.
Barrett leant in and whispered, “She will use your deal to trick you somehow. The fae are never straight about anything. She probably put the Opals in the lake to begin with, just to get you here.”
“Ha, my charm, Ivy. The one you’ve been carrying around for me.” She held out her hand.
I rooted in my pocket, pulling out the tiny thing and handing it to her. “When this is all over, I will see you again, Ivy. You will come of your own accord to pay your debt. So will you, selkie,” she threatened before disappearing.
I looked at Barrett and let out a sigh of relief. “Glad that’s over. But how do we get out of…” My ears popped loudly as the room disintegrated before me. A feeling of being ripped apart lasted but a second before we fell to the ground by Axia’s feet. “A little warning would have been nice,” I said, getting off the ground. Barrett had landed on his feet again. I wonder how many times he’d been through that.
We were back at the botanical gardens in the cold. I shuddered as I looked to see if anyone had seen us. Gary was waiting just where we had left him. I frowned, trying to work out how long we had been gone. Gary looked shocked at the sight of us.
“I’ve only just finished my coffee,” he called over to us. Mmm, coffee; I wondered if my flask was still warm. Gary started making his way over to where we were standing. I turned to Barrett. “You don’t mention my deal and I won’t mention yours,” I said. He nodded gracefully. “And we don’t mention that you have my heart, Ivy,” he said in a low voice. “I won’t,” I told him, thinking how he must have felt being outed in the cage.
“Nice box,” Gary said, looking to Axia. “I suppose you want a hand with it,” he grumbled. The fae cackled as she made her way over to the van. Whilst omitting certain parts of the story, Barrett filled him in on our little adventure and the plan to remove the Opal.
Drinking my still-warm coffee, I leant back in my seat as the fae giggled lik
e a naughty schoolgirl at the sights as we drove by. Who knew how long she’d stayed out of the real world.
We hit the dirt with urgency and the van skidded in the mud. Axia seemed to become more annoyed as we hit every pothole. Tutting loudly, she squinted at the road through the window. All the potholes filled themselves in. I watched as dirt slid across the road into the holes. “Wow,” I said, then covered my mouth. If only she could have visited a few years ago.
Lake Dwellers and selkie alike surrounded us to try and catch a glimpse of the old one. Someone ooed as she climbed down from the van. At least there was more help getting the steel container from the vehicle.
After the box was placed near to the lake, I ran over to Kane, feeling like I hadn’t seen him in weeks. Throwing my arms around him, I kissed him to make sure he was the real one. He kissed me back tenderly and passionately at the same time. Yep, this was my Kane. I briefly explained how we were going to catch and hold the Opal. “This should be interesting,” he said. “Is it safe?” he asked. Like anything I did was safe. I shook that answer aside and nodded instead.
Axia stood, motionless, staring out at the lake, moving her charm in a circular motion. The Opal wasn’t falling for it. We stood for many hours waiting for it to show itself. “We need bait. Ivy’s going to have to go in there to lure it out,” said Barrett.
“Are you crazy? She’s not going in there. It already attacked her once. Find another way!” argued Kane. He turned to me with a worried look on his face. I tried to smile at him. There was no way he was going to let me do this. “You’re not going in there, Ivy; let the fae do it,” Kane said, pointing towards Axia. He didn’t understand that I was the only one who could fight this thing.
“You’re right,” I lied to Kane. “I’m not doing this, it’s too dangerous.”
I looked towards Gary and gave him a tiny nod. Hopefully he knew what I had in mind. He, in turn, looked at Barrett with a raised eyebrow then back towards me.
“HOLD HIM,” I yelled, as I ran splashing into the lake. Kane struggled under the two men’s hold. But even his anger was no match for Barrett.
My entrance into the lake did not go unnoticed. The water stirred deep in the lake. The fae stood chanting beside the large, steel container.
My eyes shifted as a small wave came towards me. I held out my arms to stop it. The wave broke in two and a long tendril of water lashed out in anger. Catching my cheek, it knocked me sideways into the lake. Wiping blood from my face, I regained my stance in the water. The lake rumbled. The two waves rejoined, pushing upwards, high above me. We were going to need a bigger box.
Large, serpent-like arms swayed above me. I dived out of the way as one of them darted forward. Rolling over, I raised my arms, holding part of the creature in place. The other tendril thrashed violently as the first tried to wriggle free of me. This was more difficult than I’d thought it would be. I had to use both hands to stop it from breaking free.
I needed the whole creature in one place. Spread out like this, it was difficult to hold. The Opal vacated the second arm and empty water splashed back onto the surface of the lake.
Now back in the lake, it grabbed my legs, pulling me under. I lost control of the Opal I had managed to hold as I was pulled down. I was being dragged further and further into the lake. I could feel the Opal ripping into my legs. I had made it mad. Worming its way around my body, my neck and arms were being shredded as I struggled to free myself. I needed to breathe. I panicked and tore off my necklace.
A funnel in the water appeared above me, sucking air down into the lake. The Opal tried to retreat as I gasped for air but I took hold of the surrounding water and pushed it straight up.
A ball of water spun above the lake. Opaque arms and teeth tried to escape with nowhere to go - it was trapped. Blood ran up my arms as I held the Opal in place. I tried to move to the shore without letting go of the creature. I wasn’t sure if it was the power burning through me, or the deep cuts on my thighs; my legs trembled and collapsed beneath me.
The funnel disintegrated and the lake came crashing down on top of me. My concentration faltered only for an instant under the weight of the water. I wasn’t going to let that thing get back in the lake.
Holding the raging sphere as still as I could, I pushed the water underneath me. The surrounding lake started vibrating as it slowly pushed me towards the surface.
Once I could see what was happening above me, I moved the hovering Opal over to the container. The fae was waiting patiently. My arms were shaking under the stress and loss of blood, the water around me turning ever more red.
“NOW, IVY!” cried the fae. I let go of the Opal and it dropped, splashing, into the box. The lid slammed shut as Axia spoke in a strange voice. A brilliant flash of light enveloped the container then all was still.
I collapsed back into the water. A low tremor of power burst from me into the lake sending ripples outwards.
The sound of splashing made me realise that I was still floating out on the lake. “Oh God, Ivy, look at you.” Kane slid his arm carefully around my waist and started swimming for the shore. I was too exhausted to move. My eyes were still black and my body felt like it was vibrating. Too much power has passed through me.
We were both helped out onto the embankment. I still couldn’t move. Everything was too loud, too bright. I tried to close my eyes to shut it all out. “Ivy, can you hear me?” Grogan was checking my wounds. “She’s been cut deeply over most of her body. She’s lost a lot of blood.”
I felt the pressure of his hands on me. I tried to speak, though most of my words were gargled; I’d swallowed quite a bit of the lake. “Did we get it?” Grogan’s hands moved down to my legs, they felt sticky and wet.
“Ah, Elder Glory. I need you to take over for a while.” He let go and moved away. I tried to open my eyes but they were still too sensitive. My breathing was shallow and I felt dizzy. As soon as Glory touched me, I stopped trembling. I started to breathe a little more easily. She had a lighter touch.
“You got it, Ivy, the Opal is contained. The fae loaded up the box onto the van and took it away almost twenty minutes ago,” Glory explained. How long had I been lying here?
“I stopped the bleeding but you’ll be a little sore for a while. The scars will need a few more healing sessions too. Can you sit up for me Ivy?” she asked.
It took a lot of effort. My body was so stiff. I blinked a few times as the surroundings came into focus. As usual, I was in the mud with everyone staring at me and the mess I had made. A very relieved and wet Kane was standing over a very tired-looking Grogan. Barrett was standing a polite distance from the shore next to Glory. Even a few of the Elders had left the safety of the lodge to see my latest catastrophe.
I couldn’t believe it was finally over. I could go back to cuddling on the couch with Kane, watching rubbish movies and drinking my weight in coffee. I really needed a shower first though. I smiled over at Kane as he was helping Grogan up off the ground. I sighed and managed to push myself up out of the mud too.
A loud roar out on the lake startled everyone. I looked to see Kane running towards me. Then I turned to see what everyone was backing away from. It was another Opal! I didn’t have time to move. A long, vicious-looking tendril threw itself towards me. Kane appeared at my side, pushing me down into the mud out of the way. The creature grabbed him instead and dragged him into the lake.
Scrambling to my feet, I ran back into the water, shock and rage consuming me. The lake parted in front of me as I threw my arms in the air, running after him - the precious lake bed being thrown aside along with tonnes of water that had stood in my way. “STOP HER, SHE’LL DESTROY THE LAKE!”
I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head and I fell, face-first, into the water. Everything slowed down.
The rising water fell back onto the lake and I could see Kane being pulled down into the depths, his eyes open in horror amidst a mass of tangled hair. The image blurred and then there was nothing.
&n
bsp; I came to on the shore with a fleeting headache. Grogan was leaning over me with black eyes. I sat up too quickly and the ground spun.
“What happened?” I asked. Grogan helped me up. Still a little woozy, I looked at the lake.
“There were two Opals, Ivy. We had to stop you, you would have destroyed the lake.” He spoke softly.
An image of Kane disappearing into the deep flashed before me and I turned quickly. “Who hit me!” I demanded. The other Lake Dwellers backed away from Nathan. “You did this to me?” I yelled. My eyes turned to black and Nathan started to sweat. I felt for all the water in his body.
“Ivy, stop this. You’re upset, I understand,” Grogan pleaded.
“Why?” I screamed at him. Nathan tried to speak. He looked as if he was melting. I was draining all the water from his body. Grogan stepped between us and reached for me.
“Ivy, please, you know the penalty for this. Kane would have sacrificed himself for nothing,” he begged. The sound of his name cut through my rage; I dropped to my knees, breaking the hold on Nathan. He slumped to the muddy grass, his body convulsing.
“I could have saved him. Oh God, I wanted to save him.” I sobbed in Grogan’s arms as he knelt in front of me. Without turning his face away from me, he calmly asked, “Will he be okay?” One of the other Elders that had rushed to Nathan’s side spoke. “He’s lost a lot of water. Once he’s rehydrated, he should be fine.”