by Natalie Erin
“I need to eat,” Kia announced to her companions as they soared over the last of the trees.
“Already? But it’s only been a day.” Keota had complained every time Kia had to go to the bathroom or stop to rest.
“I have to. You can keep going if you want,” Kia yelled as Snow Drop began to descend to the earth. She landed on the side of a cliff gently, only a few feet away from the edge where the plains began. Once grounded, Kia slid off of the Pegasus’s back and opened up her pack. What she found there was certainly not food but two wolf pups, both snoring gently as they slept. Her face instantly twisted into rage. “Lottie, Lilja! I will kill the two of you!”
The pups awoke. Lilja jumped as Kia tilted the bag over and Lottie fell out of the pack and onto the ground with a thud. She let out a yelp, then got to her feet gingerly. “I told you this was a bad idea Lilja!” she growled as she limped over to him. She had sprained her ankle.
“I said you could go any time you wanted to, Lottie, so don’t go blaming me for all this!” Lilja snarled back.
“It was your idea to hide in her pack!” Lottie retorted.
“And you were the one who said you wanted to go with them all even though Ionan said we were too little!“ The two of them started growling and circling around one another.
“Both of you need to stop right now or so help me!” Kia yelled. “You are both very lucky that my father insisted that he pack me food as well or I would have starved out here! If Ionan told you two you couldn’t come then you should have stayed! You are both old enough to know that you should listen to your elders!” The pups cowered at Kia’s voice, which seemed to shake the leaves off the trees.
“Calm down Kia. They’re only a couple of kids. They were probably only trying to help you.” Keota, who had landed nearby when he heard all the yelling, placed a hand on Kia’s small shoulder to try and calm her down.
“I did tell the two of you to stay home. Why did you disobey me? I am more than an elder, I am a superior being and I know more about the earth than both of you combined. How dare you go against my orders!” Ionan snarled at the young wolves. Both of them recoiled shamefully.
“I am going to kill both of you!” Kia ran at the pups and didn’t look where she was going. A rock tripped her up and she went flying forward; the ridge crumbled and she fell off the side.
Keota grabbed onto the back of her green dress, saving her from falling. He caught her just in time, for if she had fallen with the ridge she wouldn’t have had enough time to start flying before she hit the ground and the rocks crushed her. He had just saved her life.
He pulled her closer to him and held her in his arms. Kia froze, unsure of what to do.
“Good catch,” she finally breathed.
“Like I would have let you fall,” Keota shook his head. As he let her go a black raven dived between the two of them. The bird swooped and pecked at Kia’s pretty face. Keota tried to slap the bird away, but he was stopped by a big brown bear tackling him to the ground. Ionan changed back into a huge green dragon and let out a monstrous roar. Kia stumbled forward, grabbing Snow Drop’s halter. The raven was still attacking. Kia swatted him away, but she knew that he would come back. She ran forward over to Lilja and Lottie who were growling fiercely at an adult female wolf, Lottie holding up her weak paw. Kia knew that they had no chance. She grabbed Lilja quickly at the scruff of his neck, still growling, and picked Lottie up. She then hurried over to Snow Drop and dumped them inside the saddle bags, and with no time to refasten them, she let the reins go.
“Fly high away from here Snow Drop!” she yelled.
“No Kia, I want to fight!” the mare protested.
“Do what I say for once!” Kia ordered, pointing to the sky.
Snow Drop immediately spread her wings and took off. The two wolf pups struggled to hang on as Snow Drop’s body fought the currents. The bags now unfastened, Lilja began to panic. He whined as the ground grew farther and farther away.
“Hang on, brother!” Lottie’s said. She wasn’t scared or frightened at all. Snow Drop swerved as an eagle soared right towards her eyes, and without warning the bag began to loosen around him. Lilja felt the leather beneath him slide away and his paws touched thin air as he began to drop.
Snow Drop whinnied as he fell. Water clung to his fur as he toppled through clouds on his way down. Then he heard a sound he had prayed he would have had to hear again...Lottie’s scream.
As he saw the heavens, a calm voice in his mind sounded, “Gotcha,” and he felt scales under his feet. Ionan had caught him, and just in time too. He looked up at Snow Drop and let out a yippy howl to let her and Lottie know that he was okay. He then turned his attention to the battle below.
Kia’s wings had appeared. They were glittery and frosted white as she fought both the raven and the she-wolf at the same time. She had a silvery dagger in her right hand as she warded them off, going for the kill. Lilja scanned the ground for Keota. A few yards away from Kia he found him, swirling in a mass of brown fur and white clothing. A bear was fighting with Keota, huge and furry. Lilja realized that Keota carried no weapon, but used his hands to fight the creature off. Lilja watched as Keota pushed the bear to the ground and pinned him. The bear squirmed and escaped, hitting Keota. But Keota was only flung sideways as the bear hit him. Lilja watched the Accompany and bear wrestle in awe. It wasn’t until he heard Kia scream did he tear his eyes away. Lilja watched in horror as she fell on the ground, the raven and the wolf preparing to spring
“Ionan!” he yelled against the wind. “Take me over to Kia!”
“My instructions from her and Keota were to keep you safe,” he responded.
“We can’t let Kia die!” he screamed. “Please just take me down! I have an idea!”
Ionan hesitated, and then dived. He swerved around Kia like a buzzard, waiting for Lilja’s next move. When Lilja saw the moment was just right, he called, “Ionan! Twist to your left!”
“What?” the astonished Changer asked.
“Do it!” he cried. Ionan swerved when Lilja wasn’t expecting it, but he caught himself as he fell through the air once more. He hated the feeling, but pushed it aside as he focused on his goal.
It was a twenty-foot drop to where Kia stood. There was no room for self-doubt or anxiety as he focused and felt his claws connect squarely with his target.
The raven squawked loudly as Lilja collided, surprised from Lilja’s dead weight.
Soon they were swirling in the dust, fang and beak tearing at each other.
“Enough!” a voice cried through the air.
The raven, wolf and bear all halted their attack, and began to back away from their foes. Lilja looked up to see a twenty year old fairy standing on the edge of the battle, smirking. He had blonde hair with gray-blue eyes, and his gray wings weren’t hidden. His blue cloth looked expensive and the opposite of Kia’s modest green dress, and he had a cocky look on his face. Lilja envisioned a spoiled prince and felt a strong dislike for the fairy already.
“Casiff,” spat Kia, wiping her hair out of her eyes. “I should have known it was you.”
“Not so bratty now, are we, Kia?” he asked, looking amused.
“Actually, I was about to tell you what an arrogant moron you are, but I’ll save the manners for later,” she snapped back.
“Charming as usual,” Casiff said, shaking his head.
“Why did you send your animals after us? One of ours almost died from your little stunt!”
“I deeply regret that,” said Casiff in a bored tone. “Really, I do,” he said when Kia cast a doubting look at him. “But you know how protective I am of my territory, and you were crossing my land.”
“You selfish pig, you know me! I wasn’t going to do anything to your stupid plains!”
Casiff only sent a smug smile her way. Kia made a disgusted noise and motioned for Snow Drop to come down. As soon as her hooves hit the ground, Lottie fell out of her pack and hobbled over to Lilja. “I thought I lost
you,” she whispered. “It was so stupid, but so brave, to do what you did…”
“Shhh,” he told her, his eyes returning to the argument.
“I would absolutely love to stay and chat, but…” Casiff said, staring at Ionan’s massive white teeth, “I have to get going.” Casiff walked away, his animals following behind him. As he was leaving Kia called out, “Idiot! I’ll bash your brains out one of these days!”
He didn’t look back. Kia knelt beside Lottie. “Your ankle’s still hurt, but it should only take a few days to return to normal, as long as we don’t run into any other problems. You should stay in Snow Drop’s bag until it heals.” She pulled out some bandages and a splint out of her medicine bag, and wrapped it around Lottie’s left front leg. She then picked her up and started to make things cozy for her inside the bag.
“What was up with that guy?” Keota asked.
“Sometimes,” Kia said as she put a blanket inside the bag, “Jerks like Casiff get so protective and power-hungry they’ll attack any other fairy that comes in. I wasn’t thinking when we landed here. From now on, we’ll have to be careful where we travel.” She finished the bag and put Lottie in, closing it up. She then motioned for Lilja to get in the other one. He was a little apprehensive as he remembered his last experience, but jumped in when he saw Kia’s stern and impatient look.
Kia didn’t hesitate to leave on Snow Drop once more. Keota slid on Ionan’s back, knowing his Changer was suspicious on why he could not defeat the bear, when he had taken down enemies ten times more dangerous. Ionan knew his mind was, for the first time in his life, not on fighting, but instead on the strange actions of the fierce fairy in front of him, and how she could have died only a few moments before.
CHAPTER FOUR
A SECRET
A s Kiatana and her companions disappeared in the distance, Casiff stood silently and watched them. “Foolish girl,” he sneered into the sky. “Leaving her land unprotected, with only her stupid father to watch it. Someone may come and steal it.” He looked down at the white wolf beside him and stroked her fur. “Isn’t that right Caini, my girl?”
“I would love having more space to run,” the wolf snarled greedily. She couldn’t help but notice that the two wolf pups had looked oddly familiar. Where had she seen them before? It was no matter, however…Casiff was what mattered.
“Then more space you will have Caini, more space for you and all my other lovely creatures.” Casiff threw his head back and laughed. The deep sound echoed throughout his land, calling his creatures to battle.
KIA TURNED her head around abruptly. “Did you hear that?” she asked Keota and Ionan. Now that they were out of Kia’s realm and into Casiff’s, the land looked completely different. The plains they were flying through were terribly barren. The yellow grass stuck out in patches along the dirt, most streams were dried up and the only trees in sight were a few withered branches. Compared to Kiatana’s flourishing land, this place seemed robbed of life.
“Hear what?” Keota asked dreamily.
“That noise. Just now, coming from the plains. I could swear someone was laughing.” Kia looked around nervously, shivering against the wind.
“I have heard absolutely nothing,” Ionan said grumpily, his pegasus nose wrinkling in irritation.
“What’s eating you?” Keota pulled out of a daze and stared at the Changer beneath him.
“Nothing.” Ionan stared back. “Except the fact that somebody has gotten involved with someone he should not be with because it is forbidden,” Ionan looked forward and avoided eye contact with his Accompany.
“You’re jealous. For the life of me, you act like we actually like each other or something. Like I could ever fall for this buffoon.” Kia broke out into rapturous laughter.
Ionan looked at Keota with one disapproving eye as he turned his head away. “I am not jealous. It really is forbidden for an Accompany to have any sort of relationship with any fairy. It is simply unheard of and should never happen. Keota, you could be killed because of all of this.” He made the word relationship sound filthy and disgusting.
“Well that is the stupidiest thing I’ve ever heard,” Lilja popped his small head out of the pack.
“I think you mean most stupid,” Lottie corrected, also popping out of her pack.
“No, I mean stupidiest. If it is too stupid for words you come up with a better word to describe it,” Lilja argued.
“But stupidiest sounds like something a stupid head would say.” Lottie informed her brother in confidence.
“Exactly my point,” Lilja shot back at his sister, who had been left speechless by this last remark. He had won yet another argument.
“The two of you need to just shut up and go back in your packs so you don’t fall again. You’re not even supposed to be here,” Kia commanded. The two pups whined, but both of them sank back into the packs slowly.
“Ionan is right,” Keota said with a sigh. “If the Great One found out about me even talking to you I’d be dead.”
“What the heck is the Great One?” Kia asked.
“He is the ruler of all the Changers and Accompanies. He makes all the rules and keeps everything in order. Don’t you have a ruler here on earth?” Keota slipped and almost fell off of Ionan’s back.
“Not in a long time,” Kia replied quietly. “Go down by that house below. I need to have another little chat.”
The party descended to earth and Kia ran up to the small hut. She banged on the door as hard as she could. No answer came. She moved to knock again just as the door sprung open.
“Ah, Kiatana.” The man in the doorway had large white wings that glittered in the sunlight. His graying hair was cropped short and his orange eyes looked at Kia softly.
“Hello Aeolian.” Kia said in a loud voice. “May we come in?”
“Of course my dear. I always have room for you.” Aeolian moved out of the way and gestured for Keota to come in as well.
“What about me? I want inside as well.” Ionan took the shape of a hunting hound and trotted inside.
“Why I never…is that a Changer?” Aeolian gasped as Ionan passed him.
“I certainly am. And you will treat me as such or you will meet your doom. The name is Ionan and my Accompany is called Keota,” Ionan barked.
“Ionan! You be nice or I’ll send you right back outside, do you understand me?” Keota said. He glared at the Changer until Ionan said a fragile yes.
“I need to talk to you about your son,” Kia said as she sat in one of the chairs around the table.
“What has Casiff done this time?” Aeolian grumbled from another chair, acting as if this was an argument that never ended.
“He attacked me while I was passing through with my companions. This attack almost cost the life a young wolf, and my own life,” Kia said. “I will not stand by while Casiff is being the most arrogant asshole I have ever seen. I demand that you do something about it.”
“Kia, Casiff is your betrothed. You must learn to get along with him or you will never like your marriage,” Aeolian told her, rubbing his eyes.
A chair was knocked over as Keota leapt up, his eyes wide. “YOUR’RE BETROTHED!? You never told me you were engaged!”
“Keota, wait!” Kia shouted, but her words meant nothing as Keota ran out the door. Ionan quickly followed.
“Who is this man you’re traveling with?” Aeolian asked. “Are you breaking the promise your father made me?”
Kia bit her lip. “That’s none of your concern. I think we’re done here.” Not knowing what to do, Kia went out the door to follow Keota.
“Keota! Wait!” she cried, grabbing his arm as he was walking away. He turned around and Kia was surprised to find he looked angry, even upset.
“Kia, how much more are you keeping from us? I can fight whoever you want me to, but it might be important to know that the fairy trying to kill us is your fiancé!” he shouted, unable to contain himself.
“I absolutely hate him and I didn’t
think that it was important to mention it!” Kia shouted back. “My father and Aeolian set this up when I was a girl. I had nothing to do with it!”
“Well, well. The truth is finally revealed. So is this the reason why the attack was stopped? Or is he always that kind?” Ionan hissed gently.
“He stopped because of the engagement,” Kia responded gravely. Her lip was starting to twitch. “I never wanted to be with him. I was forced into all of this, the stupid taking care of the forest thing and marrying Casiff. I just want to make my own decisions for once in my life. You have no idea what it’s like being heir to the throne. I am constantly being thrown around and told what to do!” Kia began to cry.
“I thought you said there was no ruler here,” Ionan said calmly. Keota walked over and took Kia in his arms.
“Not yet. My mother is queen of the fairies, but once I turn twenty, the throne is mine. Flare can’t be queen, because she married outside her engagement. She was supposed to be the one to marry Aeolian’s firstborn,” she said, tears in her eyes. “And Nineva’s banished, which makes me next in line. Casiff is to be my husband and king. I want nothing of it!” With nowhere else to go, Kia buried her face against Keota’s chest and began to bawl. It wasn’t long before Keota’s shirt front was completely soaked in tears.
“It’s okay Kia. I’m here for you. Just, please stop crying.” Keota held her close to his chest while she continued to cry.
“I’m… sorry.. I didn’t….tell …you before.” Kia choked through tears. “I...should have...let...you know.”
“It’s all right. I shouldn’t have gotten mad. It’s your business and I shouldn’t be butting in on it.” Keota comforted her the best he could.
“R...really?” she stammered. “You’re not mad at me anymore?”