by Linda Jordan
Fiachna could tell when Lassair finished with Skye. She looked lighter, as if a puff of wind would blow her out the window like a cottonwood seed.
The sylph was smiling. She probably felt the same way Fiachna had, giving her excess energy to the breeze.
Lassair turned to Dylan.
Fiachna could tell when she made contact with him. Dylan stiffened, as if bracing for a blow. Then he relaxed a bit, allowed the energy to flow into him.
After a time it looked like he would burst with joy.
Fiachna guessed that most of the foreign energy that Egan had received during the spell gone wrong had been water. Meredith had been one of the most powerful Fae long before she left Faerie. She could have been a Luminary had she not been opposed to closing Faerie. Hers wasn’t a popular view at the time. Perhaps it still wasn’t, but that point was already decided.
It took much longer to extract the water from Egan than the other elements.
Egan was no longer blazing, instead he looked tired. As one should after a long battle.
Finally, it was done. Lassair broke off contact with Dylan and sank down onto the floor. Her daughter ran into the room and stood watching her, to make sure she was okay. Lassair waved at her, a gesture which Fiachna took to mean that she was fine, she just needed time.
Dylan was glowing, almost bursting with energy.
“I must go see Meredith, give her some of this back,” he said. Then he ran from the room.
Egan stood in the middle of the room, looking lost.
“Come on, my Luminary. Let’s get you to the roof,” said Fiachna.
He took Egan’s arm and slowly led him to the roof of the palace.
Lassair and Aine followed. Skye flew out the window.
Chapter 39 ~ Dylan
Dylan ran into the blue and white tiled room where Meredith lay in the pool. Lynette and the two healers who sat with her looked up at him in surprise.
He knelt at Meredith’s side in the warm pool water. Nothing had changed. Her consciousness was far away, it was as if she was sleeping at the bottom of the lake. Except that her energy still felt drained.
The wall had turned itself into a gentle waterfall. Ferns grew out of crevices in the wall and around the pool. Moss was beginning to take over the floor.
Dylan noticed the water had grown cooler since he was last here. Egan’s healing must have had an effect.
He felt alive, juicy and vibrant. He could smell moisture in the air, taste it even. The sunlight which streamed in the window looked a little less harsh. The plants growing outside the openings in the wall looked a bit greener, less washed out. His senses were keener.
The water energy which had flowed out of Egan had been overwhelmingly Meredith’s.
Dylan didn’t question how or why that had happened.
He touched Meredith’s arm and felt her energy flowing inside him. It felt like he simply opened the valve and poured Meredith’s power back into her. She struggled at first, as if wanting to let go of her life. But he couldn’t allow that, not if he had any power to change it. She needed to be here. She still had things to do in Faerie.
Finally, she allowed the magic to flow back into herself. Perhaps accepting that her life wasn’t over yet.
Meredith’s color deepened to normal. Her breathing slowed and no matter what else happened, whether she lived or died, Dylan felt somehow as if Faerie had come back into balance. All of the elements were back in place and in harmony again.
The fresh water in the pool cooled down more. The other water Fae in the room looked more healthy.
Dylan sat back and took a deep breath, for the first time in days. He hadn’t realized how badly he’d felt. How he’d been burning up.
Now, he felt whole again.
Meredith’s eyes fluttered open. She took his hand, squeezed it and smiled. Then she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
One of the healers said, “She’s resting now. She’ll heal and then we’ll see what damage has been done.”
The other healer nodded. “Why don’t you two leave? Go swim in the lake or walk in a stream. Come back when you’ve rested.”
Lynette nodded and silently left the room. Egan knew she was going to the lake. To see her family. She hadn’t gone to see them since she’d been back.
He stood and left the room. Then he walked out of the palace, not knowing where to go or what to do. He felt as if overflowing with energy.
Dylan hadn’t been anywhere since he’d returned to Faerie. He’d followed Meredith into the palace and then stood by while she dealt with her brother and then the Fomorians. Then he’d tended to her for the last few days. He’d been back in Faerie for three, maybe four days and so much had happened, it seemed like weeks, maybe months. In Faerie, time was always slippery.
But finally, he was free.
He walked through the formal gardens, letting the energy leak away, providing water for the parched plants. Moistened soil stuck to his damp feet. He continued on to the forest walking through groves of oak, rowan, holly and ash trees, walking over the gnarled, exposed roots of the ancient trees.
He waded through a nearly dried-out creek, watching the waterside primroses perk up as cool water percolated up through the stream bed. The water level rose until it was full.
Frogs began to croak and splash in the water. Doves flew down and bathed in the shallow spots, cooing at each other in pleasure. Dylan sat down in the stream, watching them. Trout swam around him and he felt their scaly bodies slip and slide past his bare skin. Rain began to sputter lightly and then it poured down for a few minutes until everything in Faerie felt bright, fresh and clean.
His senses reveled in all that was Faerie. It was good to be home again.
He dozed off in the stream, hanging onto a tree root as an anchor.
When he woke it was two days later.
And it was a human who woke him.
Chapter 40 ~ Meredith
Meredith opened her eyes. She was lying inside the palace, on a pool shelf, her head resting on a stone pillow, her feet hanging off the shelf and in the deeper water. The water smelled fresh and felt cool. Clean.
A waterfall spilled down one wall, whispering its secrets to her. Something about summer coming.
Two water healers sat on the white and blue tile edged pool, their legs and feet in the water.
Why were they here?
Then she remembered.
The Fomorians. And how she’d buried them and her own foolish brother with his cronies. Alive. And the spell had gone wrong. She’d been too weak to channel it all. And Egan had become so very powerful, clearly Faerie’s favorite candidate for Luminary, even before Varion was dead.
Towards the end of the spell, all the power she’d been harnessing ended up flowing into him, instead of it being grounded as she’d intended.
Meredith managed to rasp out, “Egan. How is he?”
“He’s fine now. Don’t you worry about him. It’s you we need to make sure about,” said the elder of the two.
“What do you mean by ‘now’?”
The younger water healer sighed and said, “Skye found a fire healer and she was able to heal the Luminary. He’s been asleep for two days, but he seems better now. He nearly burned up all of Faerie.”
“How are you feeling?” asked the elder healer.
“I think I’m fine.” Meredith felt chilled from the water. She managed to sit up and touched her feet down on the bottom of the pool. She moved over towards the side and got out, sitting on the edge of the pool, off to the side of the two of them.
Someone had brushed and braided her wild hair, interweaving and binding the multiple braids with the striped leaves of reeds and strings of pearls. Her mother had done that for her when she was a child. What an act of kindness. It had probably been Lynette.
She did feel well, but something was missing.
She couldn’t feel much connection to Faerie. Couldn’t feel the water energy and she had no ability to affe
ct anything.
Her magic was gone.
Sadness filled her heart. An aching emptiness grew or perhaps it had been there all along, lurking like an octopus, waiting for its prey to swim by. She felt alone for the first time in her life.
In the heart of connection, she was alone.
And vulnerable.
The healers brought her raw salmon and the finest red dulse to eat. She ate, tasting not the intricacies of the flavor, only the salt.
All her senses had been dulled.
Was this what it was like to be human?
Then it hit her. She probably couldn’t breathe underwater, that’s why they’d placed her on the shelf, instead of submerging her in the pool. She’d never again swim the deeps of the ocean.
Meredith began to sob, her body shaking with the grief. The loss of everything she loved.
The healers moved closer, sat on each side of her and held her while she cried.
After a time, the tears ended.
“I’m sorry,” Meredith said. She even sounded like a human.
“It’s to be expected,” said the elder.
“I feel so weak.”
“It was a grand sacrifice you made,” said the other.
“The Fomorians…”
“Are still contained. We’ve seen no sign of the spell you created weakening. And there are Fae who’ve chosen to stand guard permanently.”
“What about the boundaries of Faerie?” asked Meredith. “They’ve all been opened.”
“We’ll leave that to the Luminary, now that he’s up and about. I’m sure he’ll do fine taking care of it. Our work is to make sure you’re healed.”
“I think your work is done then,” said Meredith, standing.
They stood with her.
“You’re sure you’re feeling well?”
“To the best of my being able to sense.”
“Well, call for us if you need help. Don’t overdo it, you were seriously injured. It was only Dylan pouring all your energy back into you that saved you.”
“Dylan. Where is he?”
“After he finished healing you, we told him and Lynette to go rest. They hadn’t left your side since the spell went wrong.”
Meredith nodded and said, “Thank you for all you’ve done to heal me. I’ll call if I need help. Please, go rest. I’ll see if I can find Egan. The Luminary.”
She smiled.
That was something to be grateful for. He’d make a fine Luminary. Strong.
She walked down the warm stone hallway.
Perhaps she didn’t mind the warmth so much anymore. The magic may have been taken from her with the spell. She might even need to wear clothes to keep her warm.
Part of her held out a small hope that her magic would return, with time.
Egan was in the throne room, sitting on a stone bench. A fire burned nearby. He was speaking with Skye, Adaire, a male elder of the stone spirits, who looked vaguely familiar, and two other fire spirits, a woman and a young girl.
He rose when he spotted her.
“Meredith! Should you be up walking around?” he asked.
“I’m fine. Well, I have no power, but I’m well.”
“Come, sit down with us,” said Adaire, patting the stone next to her.
The room felt warm and comfortable to her. The scent of smoke lingered in the air as the wind changed direction. On a grill above the fire, peppers were roasting. The smell made her mouth water, although she knew from experience they would be too hot for her. Never eat the hot peppers in Faerie. She’d learned that lesson as a child.
Meredith sat down.
After the introductions and pleasantries were done, she said, “Now, what do you plan to do about the boundaries of Faerie being destroyed?”
Chapter 41 ~ Skye
Skye sat on a hard crystalline chair in the throne room, her arms wrapped around her knees. She tried to ignore the conversation going on.
The west wind blew in between marble pillars and tall oak trees, whispering to her of the movement of corncrakes, the flight of fritillaries and dancing of damselflies.
She longed to be out flying. But not alone.
And she was alone.
The air spirits who served the palace had left. Angry about the sacrifice of the last Luminary, who they’d been in loyal to. She’d tried to talk to them, but they wouldn’t listen.
Other sylphs had gone to explore now that the boundaries were down. Searching for any renegade Fomorians.
No others had come to take their place.
She was the only air spirit, the only sylph, for miles around.
And oddly enough, she missed being human and the company of humans.
She only half listened to Egan talk about what he thought should be done about the boundaries.
“I think we should send Fae, disguised as humans back out into the human world. To talk about Faerie. To get people used to the idea that we exist,” he said.
“That’s already happened,” said Skye.
He looked at her, his face wrinkled up like it did when he was puzzled.
She continued, “New Age and Metaphysical stores. And has anyone been to Glastonbury in the last couple of decades?”
They all shook their heads, confusion covering their faces.
She rolled her eyes, “Where have you all been? There are maps to Faerie circles. Guides on how to find and talk to Fae. There’s even books on gardening with Fae and which flowers please them. People build teeny tiny fairy houses; they must think we’re all the size of bees. There’s movies about Fae, books and stories about us. There’s even music.”
Egan said, “I had no idea. What would you suggest?”
Skye said, “Start with the people who are on the edge of believing and those who already do. There are lots of people around who still celebrate the high holy days. Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasah. Show up at their ceremonies. Not to bring a message, just to be present. To show we’re still around. Show up at the Faerie mounds and the sacred wells. Take back the parts of the world that were originally sacred to us. Let ourselves be seen by those who would believe. Eventually, word of mouth will do the rest. We can perform subtle acts of magic, of healing.”
“But those who believe in Fae are laughed at,” said Adaire.
“Now they are. But it won’t always be that way. I didn’t say the changes in humans would happen overnight. But they will happen.
“I don’t think we want it to happen quickly,” said Meredith. “Humans are a paranoid lot and easily threatened. We need to come into their world slowly. Show them we can help them, that we’re not an enemy.”
Egan nodded.
“It beats trying to hide as a human,” said Adaire.
Egan asked, “Would any of you be willing to go back out again?”
Meredith said, “There is no out anymore. We’re all of us out now that the boundaries are gone.”
“Okay then, out farther into the human world,” he said.
Adaire shook her head. “I thought I was done, but I might be tempted to help restore some of the old woods that are struggling. Work with humans who are trying to accomplish that.”
“I’ll go,” said Skye. “I trained as a massage therapist. As a healer. I can still do that. Take fewer clients, spend more time integrating myself into the healing community. Just tell me where you want me to go.”
Meredith looked at her strangely. “You aren’t happy here in Faerie?”
“The air spirits I’ve spoken to are…unaccepting. They don’t want change. But things have already changed. They’re being blind.”
“I think perhaps you need to speak to more of them,” said Meredith, quietly.
“If they show up, I’ll be happy to talk to any of them, but where are they?”
Meredith shrugged, her face wrinkled with worry.
It was very apparent that the Court had emptied itself. Fled to somewhere. It wasn’t just the air spirits. Water was gone and so was earth. Only the few fi
re spirits had remained and they’d become indolent. At this time, Egan’s main support was Faerie herself, not the beings who dwelled there.
Egan said, “Has anyone seen Dylan?”
“He left once he healed me,” said Meredith. “I suspect he had excess energy to drain off. He’ll return once he’s done that.”
Fiachna spoke, “I’ve spent the last thousand years guarding the boundaries of Faerie. I’ve seen a lot of humans, but I was always under orders to hide from them. So I did. I think I’d like to be one of those who appear at the barrow mounds. Many of them need a lot of work, after the Fomorians. I’d be willing to do that, now and again. But I’d also like to spend more time in Faerie than I have.”
“You can do both,” said Skye. “Show up at the mounds when it’s tourist season or a holy day.”
“I cannot go,” said Lassair. “I need to keep Aine safe within Faerie until she’s older.”
Egan said, “I will call a meeting of our people for tomorrow. For as many as are willing to come. I should have done it sooner. Too many are terrified of humans and are shaken by the arrival of the Fomorians. Faerie will never again be what it once was. We must grow and adapt. I just wish I had a vision of what that looked like.”
“You will,” said Lassair. “Trust that you will. You are still recovering from the spell that went wrong. Your mind will clear.”
He nodded.
“I’m sorry,” said Meredith. “I wasn’t strong enough to attempt that spell. I should have known.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” said Egan. “You did the best you could. No one had another plan. And it worked for the time being. Perhaps for eternity. We won’t know until it no longer works. We will need to keep a vigil, always.”
“And perhaps have a backup plan,” said Meredith.
“Where have all the elders gone?” asked Adaire.
“I don’t know,” said Egan. He looked at Fiachna and Lassair.
Fiachna said, “I don’t know. I’ve been outside, walking the boundaries. Ever since Faerie was closed. There were so few of us, then there was only me. I rarely came back in.”