by Martha Carr
“Can’t be oversized squirrels. What is that?” she asked, scanning her surroundings.
“You mean that sound? Those are Ashgrog dwarves. Smaller than the dwarves that live along the rivers. Generally harmless, if left alone.”
“Understood,” said Leira. “Stick to the path.”
“Stay close to me and listen well. That should be sufficient,” said Correk.
“Once I’m back in my world, will I be able to find you if I have more questions?”
“That may prove difficult.”
“Because of that no contact with sweaty humans rule.”
“Because opening a portal is illegal and sometimes deadly.” Correk stopped walking, and waved his hands to draw symbols in the air. “There are moments in time when crossing is far less risky… and legal.”
“When you can cross over to Earth… no problem. No fucking way…”
“Way. Our worlds have come together before. There are moments in time when our worlds line up and gates open letting both sides cross back and forth easily. Like a giant portal but stable and they stay open for thousands of years, slowly closing again. A full cycle takes twenty-six millenia, or if you want to be exact, 25,800 years. We call one complete pass a Great Year.”
“Let me guess, the last time the worlds came together was right around the time the war wiped out the other Elves.”
“Correct. Humans didn’t cause all of the mayhem,” said Correk.
“Earth was involved?”
“Many beings played a part in the war the last time the gates were fully open. That’s why councils were gathered, rules were created and powerful spells were cast enchanting everything to make sure history didn’t repeat itself.”
“That was the last time our kind crossed?” asked Leira.
“Not at all. There are humans still on Oriceran. Many chose to stay here as the gates closed.”
“Come on, keep walking. I can’t stand this stationary thing.”
“You’re a very restless creature.”
“Also not something all humans have in common. A lot of us are referred to as couch potatoes.”
“Furniture made out of food,” said Correk. “Hmph. We would just call that lazy.”
“Fair enough. I don’t suppose you guys have something called sarcasm, do you? Never mind,” said Leira, waving it off. She took a deep breath, feeling herself relax. “What is that scent? Something familiar about it.”
“I don’t know why. It only grows on this side of the veil, on this world. It’s moon haldi blossoms. They only bloom when our moons are out together, like tonight.”
“So familiar.” Where do I know it from? “Any other creatures in particular I should know about before I go? I am leaving soon…”
“Within the hour, I would imagine.”
“Good. I want to get back before morning on my side. I don’t want anyone to notice I’ve been gone.”
“Not a chance. We will return you to your home shortly after you left. Only a little time will have passed. Our worlds are not completely in sync. It’s part of what makes going through the portals so dangerous.”
“You said deadly.” She looked at Correk, realizing she had no choice. “I have to get home but you owed me more of an explanation before we even left. Hey! What was that?”
A tiny creature with a shock of green hair standing straight up on its head darted in front of them and into the nearest golden chestnut.
Correk threw out his arm, stopping Leira in her tracks. “Don’t move! It’s a pesky troll. Look away! If you play with one of those damn things it’ll follow you! If you actually help one? Two moons! It’ll bond with you, causing trouble, getting into everything. That’s just the beginning of your troubles with a troll.”
“Two moons? That’s the best you’ve got? No fucking way,” said Leira, giving a crooked smile. She held up her hands in front of her. “I’m looking away. Don’t get twisted.”
She stole glances as they got closer to the tall metal gates and the entrance of the queen’s gardens. “You sound like you have some troll experience. Bad memories?”
“You think this is funny but a troll is nothing but a nuisance that you can never shake. It would be comparable to having a permanent boil on your skin that always festers just enough to irritate.”
“Very good visual,” she said, curbing her desire to look.
In the corner of her eye, she saw the tiny troll no taller than five inches, scamper over a root. The troll cackled, green hair and white fur vanishing into the trees.
“Looks like a little doll I had as a kid,” she muttered. “Same wild hair and lack of clothes. I used to tie bandanas around mine.”
Leira caught Correk glaring at her and she looked away again. “Okay, okay, no helping trolls. Nasty, troublesome boils.”
She dug her hands in her pockets as they passed under the intricate metal O above the wrought iron entrance.
“Tell me about where you live. Is every Light Elf an Oriceran?”
“Very perceptive,” said Correk. “Or a good guess. Every Light Elf belongs to the House of Oriceran, but the name is only given to the king. It would have been Prince Rolim’s one day. It was given to the first king back when this world was still young.”
“What do you call these?” asked Leira, bending down to smell a blossom.
“Roses,” said Correk, rolling his eyes.
“No fucking way. Same thing.” She stopped in her tracks. “That’s it,” she said, remembering where she had seen the rock before. “Lavender Rock. I knew I’d seen it before. That massive quartz cliff just outside of Austin. That necklace is from there, isn’t it? That piece of jewelry comes from my world. Wait a minute. Magic…exists…in…my…world.”
“I was wondering just how long that one would take you,” said Correk, turning by a large stone gargoyle spraying a mist into the air.
“You couldn’t help me out? What else are you waiting for me to figure out?”
“I have my orders. Answer any of your questions.”
“But offer nothing. So be it. I’ll figure the rest of this out, you know. It’s only a matter of time.”
Correk looked at her with a calm smile that gave away nothing.
They walked by tall slender reeds of green and red that ran along an iron fence. “Think of a question,” said Correk. The reeds swayed as he spoke, bending toward him.
“Those are beautiful. It’s like they’re motion activated,” said Leira, smiling. “Hey, they move for me too,” she exclaimed before noticing his face. “No need to make that face. I’m sure there’s plenty here that would ignore me.”
“We should head back,” said Correk, more than a little troubled. The grass responds to her voice. How is that possible?
“A little moving grass couldn’t have done that to you,” she said, looking from the gently moving grasses and her Elven escort. She narrowed her eyes, putting more of the puzzle together.
“We should go,” he said, settling back into his usual irritable demeanor.
That’s an act, thought Leira.
“Can I use magic?” she asked on a hunch.
“That remains to be seen,” said Correk. “Not today.”
“You’re an annoying riddle, wrapped in an enigma. All right, I get it. Not why I was brought over here, at great risk.” The dense forest loomed on the horizon.
“Questions,” said Bert.
“You’re all business. Is there a timeline for when this Bill Somers needs to be found?”
“Yes, before the next double moons appear.”
“What happens if I don’t deliver him before then?” She paused a moment and tapped her lip. “Not sure I want the answer to that one.”
“Then the power the prince stored in the relic will go to Bill Somers and give him certain powers in your world if he survives it. Most humans can’t handle that kind of an energy pulse.”
Dammit. “I was right. I didn’t want to know. How often do your double moons appear?”
“Once a month, much like your own full moon. But one has already passed. You have less than a week left.”
“Before all hell breaks loose,” said Leira.
“Yes, a momentary flash of hell.”
Chapter Six
Leira looked at Correk as they passed into the Golden Chestnut Grove, but thought twice about asking him anything else. She had enough details for now.
I Just want to get back to the guest house and figure this out. Find a way to talk to Hagan about this without getting myself locked up… like my mother.
They passed under a long bough that bent down right above Leira's head. Moss covered the branch along with a trail of yellow blossoms.
“Beautiful,” said Leira, reaching up to pull a blossom.
“You always have to touch things?”
“One of my more charming qualities.”
A whoop of laughter rang out and she turned to see the tiny troll, staring into her eyes from the branch. He seemed just as mesmerized.
A gust of wind blew through the trees, rustling the branches and caught the troll off guard, blowing him down, tumbling ass over head. He let out a terrified squeal and Leira instinctively put out her hand and caught him, inches before he hit the hard ground. Reaching up, she placed him gently back on the branch.
He trilled appreciatively and rubbed against her hand.
“Oh crap! Shit! No!” she yelled, remembering Correk’s admonition, yanking her hand back. She could feel Correk glaring at her.
“I wasn’t going to let him crash land,” she said, turning around to return the look. “Little guy would have splatted on the ground. Am I screwed? Damn! Crap!”
“Swearing really has no effect on anything,” Correk sighed. Leira looked back at the branch. No sign of the troll.
“It has a magic all its own. Trust me. Any chance I got away with that?” she asked.
“You might be all right. Come on, let’s get you out of this world. That should break the bond, if there is one.”
“Never been so glad to leave a place and get back to my nest,” said Leira, picking up the pace. “Do we have to go back to the woods, or can we say, bippity-boppity-boo right here?” She stepped over a branch.
“Why are you suddenly speaking in gibberish? That’s not part of your language, is it?”
She held out her hand. “It’s not mine. We call it the language of Disney. Very popular in my world.”
“Doesn’t appear in any of our books...” Correk said, puzzled.
“It’s weird how easily I got used to hearing you say words, instead of singing.”
“Another necessary enchantment. We’re back at the edge of the castle.”
“How does anyone ever know that?” Leira looked around at the vast empty clearing surrounded by the forest. “If I squint, I can just make out a shimmer, I think. The whole thing is invisible or what, nonexistent?” Her stomach gave a lurch.
“That’s the whole point,” said Correk. “You can’t attack what you can’t find.”
“Which begs the question, how did Bill Somers find the castle, and that room, and so easily?” she said, ticking the questions off on her fingers.
“Indeed,” Correk said. “That is a question you will need to answer, and soon. We need to head this way,” he said, heading down an overgrown path. Leira hadn’t seen the path until the Elf pointed it out.
“Someone betrayed you,” said Leira, speeding up. Correk was moving faster through the woods. Leira looked down to make sure she didn’t trip over any roots and looked up to see him whispering something.
“You’re casting something, aren’t you? Covering my tracks?”
“You’re very good at your job, Detective Berens,” he said, moving slightly faster.
“That’s the first time you’ve called me that,” she said, jogging to keep up. “What are you afraid of out here?” she asked, looking around. “Something has you spooked.”
A chill ran down her spine. “You think one of your own kind helped Somers. Is that even possible?” She stopped where she was and took a closer look at her surroundings. She was sure someone, or something was following them. She crouched down to get a better look. Something was moving through the underbrush at a rapid pace but Leira couldn’t be sure what.
In this damn enchanted land it could just be the plants doing their own little dance.
Correk turned around and tapped on her arm and then headed further up the path. Leira started moving again, keeping up with him despite his pace.
“Everything is possible.” Correk looked pained, a scowl on his face. “Even betrayal. Keep moving. I’m not worried about Light Elves knowing our whereabouts. Even the traitor, if there is a traitor, will know you were here.”
“Then what are we trying to avoid?”
At last, they came to the clearing where Leira had first found herself in this world.
“I realize your entire day is made up of question and answer sessions,” said Bert, “but we’re out of time.”
“The choice of a human killer was no accident,” said Leira.
“I would agree,” said Correk, clasping his hands behind his back. “But they may have been trying to bring over a human thief. At any rate, whoever is responsible was trying to ensure there would be no trail once he left this world.”
“No magical trail,” said Leira, “because if there was, you wouldn’t need me. That’s a lot of trouble to go to. Makes sense. You want to kill off royalty and live to tell the tale, you’d better do some planning. Who stood to benefit from the prince’s death?”
He shook his head. “That’s the puzzling part. No one. There was no other heir yet, but the queen can still bear more children. Light Elves do not reach outside of their lineage for someone to sit on the throne.”
“Someone was buying time,” said Leira, looking around while she thought. “Someone wanted at least a century of time. What is it about this particular time period that makes all of this so valuable?”
“All very good questions, which you can spend time pondering back in your world.”
“Getting the bum’s rush. Forest has eyes?” asked Leira.
“In our world, Detective, Elves don’t deal in right and wrong. At least, not in the same way that humans insist on doing. So much judgment and emotion. We’re more attuned to nature and nature doesn’t know right or wrong. We deal in consequences. Having you here violates a treaty that’s over thirteen millennia old, and at a very inopportune time.”
“That’s not the first time someone has brought up that exact measurement of time. What is it about that era?”
Correk raised his hands to start spinning light but hesitated, looking Leira in the eyes. “I’ll tell you this much, and no more for now. There’s a prophecy and everything hinges on that exact measurement of time. Not only for us, but for your world too. Whoever helped Bill Somers with his crime knows that. I fear those two things may somehow be connected. Find Bill Somers and bring him back here. Alive,” he said, and rolled his hands in a circle, making different shapes with the light.
A portal opened up to Leira's living room, just as she left it. Home.
She stepped through, glad to feel the familiar carpet under her running shoes and see her familiar artwork on the wall. Most of it was by her mother.
Her mother.
“Wait!” yelled Leira, as the portal started to shimmer and fade, shrinking in size. “My mother! She’s not crazy!” she shouted, as Correk waved an arm, shrinking the portal even further.
“Answer me!” she yelled, as the portal shrunk to just a handful of inches.
At the last moment, something popped its head through the small opening and cried out as if it was in pain, squeezing through with a ‘pop,’ and rolling like a ball, coming to a stop at Leira's feet, just as the portal closed.
She looked down to see the five-inch troll with wild tufts of luminescent green hair stand up, and smile at her, laughing so hard it shook.
“Crap! This can
’t be good,” said Leira squinting at the small furry troll.
The troll chortled and scampered quickly across the rug, bounding on to her sofa. It disappeared under the cushions, pushing them one by one on to the floor, coming out the other side and leaping high in the air toward Leira, catching her off guard.
She yelped as the troll dropped feet first into her pocket, turning around in a circle, making a loud squeaking noise. Leira gingerly peeled back the top of her pocket. Teeth like that, have to wonder if you bite.
The troll opened its eyes and smiled at her, cackling again as it curled up into a tight ball in her pocket, and drifted off to sleep.
“How much trouble could you be?” she whispered, watching its tiny back move with each breath. “Dig that hair.” She smiled. “At least when Bert finds out I’ll no longer be the only thing pissing him off,” she muttered.
There was a sudden knock at her cottage door, followed by a sharp bark. Mitzi, another regular, was on the other side and as usual, brought her schnauzer Lemon with her.
“One minute!” Leira called out.
She hesitated, not sure what to do. “I can’t answer that. Lemon will sniff you out. What…”
She looked down in time to see the troll unfurl itself and its bright green eyes pop open.
Just like my doll. The troll climbed up, leaping out of her pocket and rolled down the side of her leg, landing right next to her, just as Mitzi opened her front door.
“Wait!” yelled Leira, not sure just who or what might be in danger, and whether she was responsible for the well-being of a troll.
“Dammit,” she whispered. “I have to protect something that’s the size of a dog treat.”
Mitzi pushed the door the rest of the way open, already coming inside. Lemon stood next to her yipping as loudly as possible, wagging her tail, ready to play.
From behind Leira's left leg, the troll let out a high-pitched jumble of sounds and shook itself all over till it practically vibrated, ballooning into a large furry animal that resembled an oversized dog, a streak of bright green hair down its back.
Leira was too shocked to do anything at first as the troll barked and growled, its ears pinned back close to its head. Leira lunged for the door, pushing Mitzi and Lemon back outside, slamming the door shut, leaving them on the other side, safe from whatever was about to happen.