Blood and Beasts

by L. M. Miller

  They followed the trail in companionable silence. They had bonded over the last couple of days. The crying thing… had truly drawn them closer. There was a slight tension in the air though. It had something to do with the little triangle going on between Seph, Rodney, and Tristan. Seph sensed it. Francesca knew it. Francesca definitely didn’t want Seph pulling on the heartstrings of her cousin. She was protective of her family, even if Seph was practically family to her too. With a heavy sigh, Seph decided to break the beautiful silence surrounding them.

  “I don’t like Tristan, Francesca,” she finally stated, halting to straighten her back.

  She twisted this way and that, bones crackling.

  “What? I didn’t think you did,” Francesca stated, trying her hardest to keep a completely, stoic look on her face.

  What was the point of attempting to mask your feelings when you were best friends with a telepath?

  “Okay, maybe I did…” she admitted and gave Seph a wry grin reminiscent of Rodney’s.

  “Okay, and maybe the thought did cross my mind when you all were mentioning how powerful he was and how powerful I was…” Seph rambled on, and Francesca studied her a moment.

  “What do ya mean?” Francesca asked curiously.

  “I dunno… genetics, I guess?” She suggested, and now Francesca looked completely confused. “Think about it… most powerful vampire… most powerful wizard…” She started, ruffling her straight hair anxiously.

  She was hoping fervently that Francesca would eventually catch on to what had automatically crossed her mind when Linda had mentioned that fact earlier.

  “Okay, ya, I’m sure you two would make pretty interesting babies,” Francesca said off-handedly, scouring some leaves before pausing to actually think about it. “They would be really interesting, wouldn’t they? Think about it. The most powerful wizard and vampire getting together? You should really consider this, Seph,” she said enthusiastically, and her best friend shoved her playfully.

  “Francesca,” she rolled her eyes, pushing her friend through some brush.

  They stumbled into a sylvan glade, emerald-green boughs overhanging their heads as mint-green grass crunched underfoot. Blinking several times, they looked around them. Where had this place come from? Then they spotted him.

  “Silo!” They both exclaimed together, and the small, liberated, red and black dragon halted in its attempts to catch and eat a small, dancing fairy to blink at them.

  “GREETINGS!” A little voice piped up by their ears, and both girls jumped a foot, noticing the little blue light of a fairy beside them now. “MY NAME IS DEWDROP! WHAT ARE YOUR NAMES?” She shouted at them in her little fairy voice.

  “Persephone. Seph,” Seph said cautiously.

  “Francesca,” the other girl answered just as warily.

  “OH MY! SUCH PRETTY NAMES! WHERE DO THE PAIR OF YOU HAIL FROM?” She asked, her little voice squeaking annoyingly.

  “The magic school, back there,” Seph pointed offhandedly. “Monster Aca- Zephyr Hall,” she explained, and the little fairy nearly squealed with joy.

  “ZEPHYR HALL!? MAY I ACCOMPANY YOU?! MAY I!? I TRULY TRULY TRULY WANT TO! I HAVE GROWN VERY DISINTERESTED OF THE FAIRY COLONY OF LATE! I DESIRE AN ADVENTURE! SOMETHING NEW! SOMETHING STUNNING! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ALLOW ME TO COME!” The little fairy begged, and they nearly just said yes so that she would be quiet.

  “Well…” Francesca started, and Seph cut her off swiftly.

  “Why not? As long as you hide yourself because you’re not technically supposed to be there? You’ll have to stay in our Room- hideout,” she explained, and the little fairy squealed with delight, nearly rupturing their eardrums.

  “WONDERFUL! I CANNOT WAIT! SHOW ME! SHOW ME! SHOW ME!” She continued to squeak, and Francesca raised her hand to shush her.

  “Okay. Okay. Okay. Just… stop shouting,” Francesca said, and the blue light radiated even brighter, indicating that the little fairy girl inside was smiling broadly.

  “What about this fairy colony? Can we see it?” Seph asked, and her light dampened drastically.

  “OH! YES, YOU MAY! BUT ONLY BECAUSE YOU TWO ARE ALLOWING ME TO LEAVE!” The fairy squeaked back before buzzing away.

  They padded after her swiftly, and Seph pulled Silo along with them telekinetically, forming a type of telekinetic leash around his neck. The fairy, Dewdrop, led them to a ring of toadstools, and then she floated in the middle of them. She dinged in the air importantly, sounding like a pair of chiming bells.

  “FOLLOW ME!” She said, and slowly the two girls stepped into the circle.

  Silo came in as well, of his own accord. He was curious also, no longer attempting to snatch the dancing blue light with his ivory teeth. It seemed he did not want to eat the fairy, so much as just catch her or maybe learn about her? Silo was a very interesting, little dragon. Seph looked down at the dragon and saw a sense of intelligence as well as understanding behind his coal-black eyes. She released her telekinetic leash on him. Upon noticing this, the small dragon flexed his neck a few times before proceeding to tramp around the circle once. He came back around to stand directly beside Seph. She smiled down at him. He was learning.

  “FOREST! WE GIVE THANKS TO YE FOR MANY THINGS! WE THANK YE FOR THE RAIN. IT WASHES AWAY ALL OF OUR PAIN. WE THANK YE FOR EACH FLOWER. THEY RADIATE SUCH AWESOME POWER. WE THANK YE FOR THE CREATURE. EACH A STUDENT AND A TEACHER. WE THANK YE FOR OUR FAIRY QUEEN, AND IN HER REIGN, LET HER DEEM, THESE VISITORS WORTHY, OF ENTRANCE TO OUR LAND, BUT YOU FOREST, I KNOW YOU UNDERSTAND. A’erimo j’eet!” She shrilled, and suddenly, a peaceful, green light began to swim around them.

  It encompassed them, swirled over them and through them. Seph watched in awe as a bright yellow butterfly started to flap by her face before slowly disappearing, as did the rest of the forest background. Green light was everywhere. Green light was in her. Green light was her. It was the oddest sensation she had yet to experience.

  Suddenly, they were standing in the same ring of mushrooms, but they were looking out at an entirely different landscape. Instead of close forest trees encircling them, they were gazing out onto a great lavender mountain escarpment. Dewdrop buzzed in front of them, blue light twinkling in the faint light from the same, almost full moon.

  “FOLLOW ME!” She screeched, and the two shocked girls nodded before pursuing their little fairy friend.

  They followed her up a narrow mountainous path, slippery with thick, green grass. Seph had never seen grass so green, so verdant. It felt plush and springy beneath her clad feet. The pathway wound its way up to a small plateau. Fairies were everywhere, flitting about and buzzing all around them. Francesca and Seph stared as the fairies began to decorate them without a single word. They brushed their hair to a high gloss, intertwining daisies and other flowers in it. The two girls were becoming very flustered. Francesca started to bat them away, but they began to angrily chime at her, and she stopped.

  Directly to the right of them was a cute, gingerbread-looking house. It was adorable with its cream trim, pink exterior, and green window shutters. Dewdrop led them through the tiny doorway into an equally tiny room. They ducked down, eyes scanning the simple but cute surroundings.

  “W-What are those?” Francesca stammered out, eyes gaping at the pearl-colored cocoons that a particularly large fairy hovered over in the back of the small, quaint room.

  “They are my children. Do not use such a tone when addressing them,” the snippy, overly large fairy snapped, golden light emanating from her.

  “I APOLOGIZE PROFUSELY, FAIRY QUEEN MAYBELLE! THEY DESIRED TO SEE THE FAIRY COLONY! THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE! THE RED-HAIRED ONE IS A VAMPIRE, AND THE BLACK-HAIRED ONE IS A WEREWOLF!” She squeaked, and the fairy queen winced at the other fairy’s high-pitched voice.

  “Oh! A vampire and a werewolf? Visiting our little colony? That is wonderful! Welcome! Welcome!” Suddenly, the fairy queen became very kind, fluttering over to them.

  Her powerful protectiveness over her cocoons was t
ucked away, though not entirely gone.

  “Welcome!” A tiny, pale yellow fairy piped up from beside the fairy queen.

  The fairy queen’s light dampened just a little when she turned to the tiny fairy.

  “This is our newest fairy, Sundrop,” Fairy Queen Maybelle introduced none too happily.

  “Hiya!” It squeaked, and she hurt their ears even more than Dewdrop.

  “Feel free to walk around. Do not harm anything. You may visit the shops. See if you would like to buy something or not,” the fairy queen suggested, and they nodded, each giving a slight bow of the head.

  Bending down a little, they exited the little, gingerbread-cut house out onto the main escarpment, a courtyard of sorts. They meandered around on the springy, plush grass awhile. Fairies fluttered all around them, and they were ushered into a pale-gold, stucco building. It was a hotel, according to the name written in very curly writing above the entryway: The Rainbow Stone Hotel.

  Both their eyes were huge with wonder, taking in all the amazing sights surrounding them. They both branched off, headed in different directions within the hotel. Francesca entered a room where a bright pink fairy, fairly large for one of the fairy kind, awaited her behind a rainbow-colored desk. The desk was very strange. It was wooden, but she didn’t know what type of wood it could possibly be as it shimmered with every color of the rainbow.

  “Are you two staying the day with us?” She asked politely, and Francesca blinked at her.

  “This is an inn?” She asked, and the little fairy bobbed up and down with a nod, tinkling like silver bells.

  “But of course! This building houses an inn, several novelty shops, and a restaurant. You two must try our food at the very least,” the little fairy persisted, lighting up with hope and excitement.

  Francesca gave her a very wry look. She knew when she was being worked over by a salesman, or in this case, sales…fairy? How to be polite about this though?

  “Lemme ask my counterpart,” she responded diplomatically and hurried away from the very forthright fairy in order to find Seph.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Meanwhile, Seph found herself drifting around the fairies’ apothecary. She allowed her hands to brush over several jars containing unheard of ingredients, or at least, exceptionally difficult ingredients to come by. There were powdered hens’ teeth, eye of newt, even fairy wings. She wondered how they felt about those.

  “What would you like to buy?” A mint-green fairy asked, appearing beside her elbow before buzzing up to her head.

  “Oh!” She jumped with surprise. “Oh, no. Nothing, nothing,” she said, shaking her head as her eyes hungrily perused the well-stocked shelves.

  “You seem to want something,” the observant fairy noted, and Seph smiled.

  “I’m just really curious, that’s all. But, when I do start making potions for whatever, I am definitely coming here for ingredients. I would love to make potions…” she lamented, voicing one of her many unspoken wishes to this small mint-green fairy.

  “Well! If you want that!” It called before buzzing off.

  “Wait! Want what? Where’d you go?” She asked, trying to find the fairy again.

  She searched high and low for the fairy when she suddenly popped back into the store lugging a very large book with her. It was a large, heavy book even by Seph’s standards, and she was about one hundred times larger than that tiny fairy. She took a cautionary step towards the green light that was the fairy.

  “This is a Potions Book, a very ancient potions book,” the fairy explained, slamming the book onto the counter loudly.

  Seph studied it, hands skimming over the leather-bound cover. The pages were clasped together with a very stout-looking, brass clasp. It looked practically archaic, a true relic.

  “From the Minuscule to the Murderous: Potions, by Apollo Wyckham,” the fairy said proudly, flitting over the cover. “Best potions book ever made, ask any creature, and this is a first edition,” she tinkled around Seph’s ears.

  “Really? A first edition?” Seph allowed her hands to unclasp the cover and slowly open the book, hands grazing over the thick vellum pages.

  “Yes! A first edition! Do you want it? Do you want it?” The fairy asked excitedly.

  The fairy was so eager to sell her this book, and she really wanted it. Too bad she didn’t have any money. She doubted these fairies took human currency anyways.

  “I don’t have any money-” she started when the fairy dinged impertinently beside her left ear.

  “I did not ask you if you had any money! I asked you if you wanted it! There is a difference!” Seph just stared at the whorl of mint-green light in front of her.

  “Yes. Of course I want it,” she responded, hands still holding the book to her chest.

  “Yes! My first sale! Do you want me to place it in a bag? I can-” Now it was Seph’s turn to cut the fairy off.

  “I have no money… fairy. I can’t pay for this. You can’t sell me this. I have nothing of value,” the fairy looked shocked before coming to realize that Seph did not know how these things worked in the magical community.

  “We have not made proper introductions. My name is Sage,” she started, pausing for Seph to respond.

  “I’m Seph, Persephone Black,” she replied, and the fairy’s light grew brighter as she smiled at her.

  “Greetings, Persephone Black. In the magical world, we have no currency. We usually sell things by way of bartering or trading or sometimes the exchanging of favors. From you, for this book, I want one favor and one pint of your blood. Vampire blood…” the fairy glowed with anticipation, which Seph found to be very disconcerting.

  “A favor? That sounds a bit risky and a bit binding, Sage. As for my blood… there’s nothing special about it. It’s just a mix of all the bloods I’ve been drinking. I’m kinda hungry too. That will only make me hungrier-” Sage tinkled indignantly as Seph rattled on.

  “Fine, no blood! But I want my favor!” She shouted at her, and Seph stepped back from the fairy’s loud voice.

  It sounded very risky and very binding. The term magical contract rang a bell. That was when Dewdrop swooped in.

  “YES! SHE SHALL ACCEPT YOUR GIFT IN EXCHANGE FOR ONE FAVOR, AND SHE HAS ALREADY DONE IT!” The little, mint-green fairy’s light dampened a little at the sight of the bright, blue Dewdrop.

  “Oh? And what is that, Dewdrop?” She asked, dislike lacing her tone.

  “SHE IS TAKING ME AWAY FROM THE FAIRY COLONY! I AM LEAVING TO STAY WITH THEM AT ZEPHYR HALL FROM NOW ON! WE SHALL NO LONGER AGGRAVATE EACH OTHER SO MUCH. I SHALL NOT PESTER OR ANNOY YOU ANY LONGER,” Dewdrop’s light dampened a little as Sage brightened up significantly.

  “Really?! She is!? Why, yes then! Yes, you have already done me a favor! You can have this book, and all the ingredients you shall need for the first potion you make! Please! Please!” Dewdrop glared at the fairy as Seph dazedly picked up her book, the old tome heavy in her hands.

  “What was that all about?” She whispered to Dewdrop on their way out.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Dewdrop whispered back, speaking more in a normal voice than a whisper when she attempted to whisper.

  “There you are! Did you know that they have an inn here where you can stay the night or day? What’s that?” Francesca asked, coming up to her and noticing the large book in her hands.

  “It’s a potions book,” she said bluntly, not elaborating on the subject.

  She wished she had somehow managed to hide it. She had never told anybody about her passion for potions or lack of experience in that department. It was almost like she was afraid to try it, in case she was bad at it.

  “Potions? You like potions?” Francesca asked in a voice that Seph didn’t much care for.

  “Ya,” she responded quietly as Dewdrop led them towards the building’s exit.

  “Would ya like some grub?” A very low-voiced fairy called, fluttering out of a somewhat set back tavern.

  “Um… I’m guessi
n’ it costs somethin’, and we’re kinda low in the money department,” Francesca replied smartly, but the fairy tinkled with dismay.

  “Y’all are newcomers! Yer first meal is free o’ charge, o’ course,” she replied gruffly, and the two girls looked at each other before shrugging with agreement.

  “Why not?” Seph asked, and they followed the deep purple fairy into the tavern.

  Sitting at a small table, Dewdrop buzzed between the two girls as they were first served a loaf of dark bread studded with nuts and raisins. It was absolutely delicious. The two hadn’t noticed how ravenous they were until that very moment. Truth be told, Seph didn’t have to eat real food anymore, but she didn’t mind it. It tasted good, although it didn’t quench that gnawing hunger of hers, wrestling trolls in the pit of her stomach.

  Next, they were served carrot and leek soup, rich with celery, carrots, leeks, onions, and all other kinds of vegetables. After that, the fairy set down a whole wheel of cheese in front of them, ripe with age, and also studded with nuts, berries, and herbs. It was very good too. Francesca was full within seconds of devouring the cheese. Seph’s stomach was full, but her hunger… her thirst… was not quenched.

  “That was delicious… What was your name again?” Francesca asked of the deep purple fairy, and her light brightened with a smile.

  “Indigo,” she responded, and they both smiled at the appropriate name.

  “Well, thank you very much, Indigo,” Francesca said as they both rose from the sturdy, oaken table.

  Exiting the golden stucco hotel, Dewdrop showed them around as they stared at the resilient, purple mountains encasing the plateau. Rounding a little bend as they followed a trail, they found themselves at a seashore? Perhaps it was a lakeshore, but there was no land in sight at the edge of the faraway horizon. A bright green fairy was there, tilling the land or sand, as it were. What did they grow here? What produce could possibly grow in sand?