Abby felt a rush of excitement roll through her as they flew through the air faster than she could have ever imagined moving. The wind was whipping through her hair, but the wind here was different than the wind in the mortal world. Instead of hurting as it rushed across her face, it felt as though someone was rubbing a soft silk blouse against her cheeks.
Abby let go of the unicorn’s neck and sat up, stretching her arms out beside her and closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying the sensation of the wind caressing her.
After just a few minutes they landed next to a large castle that was almost the exact same as the castle she had just come from, only it was a deep green color, almost black it was so dark. There didn’t seem to be a bridge like the one they had crossed to get to the God’s Castle, but she figured that since only fairies could enter, you would have to fly in. She lifted up into the air and started to fly toward the front doors.
A few feet before she got there, she felt what was like an invisible barrier that slowed her down as she tried to fly through it. It felt like she was trying to fly through jelly, but after a good push, it finally let her through.
She hovered in the air and turned to look back at the barrier; she could still see it there, it looked a little like a ripple in the air, the way you would see if you tried to look through a fire, nearly invisible, but still different.
She looked down at her body and saw that she was completely dry so she shrugged and turned back toward the castle flying the last few feet and then landed right in front of the big double doors.
She walked forward and put her hand onto the door, about to push it open, when it suddenly dissolved and became just an open entry way. She walked forward into the castle and turned as the door popped back into the door frame. She turned back around and looked at the room that she was in, it was much different than her own castle.
Instead of having the small room with the map, this was a very large room with hallways coming off of it in every direction that she could see. She looked up and saw that there were at least ten stories above her, all with a balcony that looked down to the room she was in.
She felt a pull toward the hallway directly to her left, so she let her instincts guide her as she made her way through the twisting hallway. Finally after walking for nearly a mile it seemed, she came to a door that had a stained glass that covered the entire door that had flowers of all different shapes and sizes all through it.
She pushed the door open and walked out to a small garden that seemed to be entirely empty, until she saw a lone figure sitting on a stone bench with their back to her.
It looked to be a very small woman, and as she started to walk closer, noticed that it was actually a pixie. She had a feeling that she had seen this pixie before so she decided to take the chance and called out to her.
“Isabella?” she asked.
The pixie turned around and sure enough it was Isabella, and she noticed for the first time that she was crying.
As Isabella realized who she was she gave a little squeak and flew over to her, and when she put her hand out Isabella landed on her palm.
“How are you here?” the small pixie asked her.
“It’s a long story, and I don’t have time to tell it all now, why are you crying?” she asked her in a whisper.
The pixie started to cry even harder, “Your mother sent me here to protect Tom and try to find a way to bring him back over to your castle, but I cannot figure out how to get him away from here. I have failed your mother, and she had been so good to me!” she yelled through her sobs. Abby’s heart suddenly started to beat very fast.
“Have you seen him? Do you know where he is?” she asked frantically, not even thinking to whisper this time. Isabella nodded and Abby felt a surge of power run through her body.
“Then take me to him” she said.
Abby followed Isabella up through the air as she flew up and around the castle, flying nearly to the top of the highest point of the castle. Finally they landed at a large window.
“He is in here” the pixie told her.
Abby watched as Isabella slid through a small hole in the window and felt a frustration run through as she realized that she would never be able to fit through this hole, and she didn’t want to bring any attention to herself by breaking the glass more than it was already broken.
She started to feel the red hot anger that always went through her when her powers were at their strongest and sure enough when she looked down at her hands she saw that they were already red. She needed to get into that room, and what she needed was to be small like Isabella, but didn’t think that was even possible.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she felt shivers run through her body and noticed that the window seemed to be getting suddenly larger. Abby looked around her and saw that the window wasn’t actually getting larger. She was actually shrinking in size, and she continued to shrink until the hole was large enough for her to go through.
She had to bend over slightly to fit through, but she managed to make it into the room where she saw Isabella standing up against the window watching the other side of the room and when Abby turned to look, she saw Elysia standing with he back to her, and directly in front of her was Tom sitting in a chair with his hands and feet bound by a vine of blue flowers.
Abby sucked in her breath and threw her hand over her mouth to keep herself from crying out for Tom. Seeing him bound up and Elysia there in front of him was almost too much to bear; she wanted to send a bolt of lightning right at Elysia’s head, but she knew it would backfire on her if she tried to hit her from behind.
She stayed pressed up against the wall and watched as Elysia turned and walked through a door, shutting it behind her. She heard what sounded like a dead bolt being engaged, and knew that Elysia had locked them in the room, even though she was sure that she didn’t have any idea that Abby was standing right behind her, as small as a pixie.
Abby watched as Isabella flew up to Tom and landed on his knee, and she was surprised when he looked at her and smiled.
“Hey Isabella, have you figured out how to get me out of here yet?” he asked her.
She had no idea he had been actually talking to her about getting out, and he didn’t even seem all that freaked out about her being a pixie. Isabella shook her head.
“No, but I’ve brought somebody that might be able help” she told him.
Abby flew up and landed next to her on his knee, and as he looked at her, she saw the recognition in his eyes, but he looked almost confused.
“Abby? Is that you?” he asked.
Abby nodded, “Yes, I am so sorry you have been brought into this, but I am going to get out of this and home safe if it’s the last thing I do” she told him while putting her small hand into his much larger one.
She grabbed hold of his finger as though it was all of him, pulling it into a hug.
He laughed, “It’s weird seeing you so small, how did you do that, and when did you get wings?” he asked touching her small wings with his other finger.
She looked up at him, “It’s a long story, and I will be happy to tell you about it later, but for now, we need to just get you out of here” she told him, thinking of a way to get him out of the chair.
She flew down to look at the bottom of the chair, where the vines were coming from and saw that they were actually a part of the chair, as if it had grown them. She knew that if she could get the chair to listen to her, it would release him.
She walked around to the back of the chair where the largest vines where coming from and pushed her hands up against them and wished that the chair would let its vines release. To her amazement the chair listened immediately and she watched as the vines started to move.
They looked as though they were growing backward into the chair instead of out of it, and after a few seconds they released Tom. He jumped up out of the chair and scooped her up in one hand and Isabella in the other.
“Thank you so much for getting me out of t
hat chair, it was so uncomfortable. Now, how do we get out of here?” he asked.
Abby shook her head, “I’m not sure” she answered him. Suddenly her body started to tingle and she had a feeling she was about to go back to her normal size.
“Can you put me back down please?” she said.
Tom nodded then leaned forward and put her back on the floor, and as soon as her feet touched she started to grow. It wasn’t long and she was back to her normal size, and as soon as she was finished growing, she ran forward and pulled Tom into a deep hug, kissing him as though her life depended on it.
The sound of the deadbolt pulled her out of the kiss, and as she pulled away from Tom, she pushed him behind her and as the door started to open, she looked right into Elysia’s eyes.
Chapter 33
Elysia stared at her in shock for a few seconds before finally wrinkling her nose at her.
“Well, I thought it smelled worse in here suddenly” she said.
Abby felt the heat rush through her again.
“Move out of the way and let us leave, if you do I won’t kill you” she said to her through gritted teeth.
Elysia laughed, “You think you can kill me? Stupid human trash, you don’t have the power, no matter what magic your slut of a mother gave to you” she said.
Abby lifted her hand and pushed Elysia up against the wall.
“You will not speak about my mother that way, and if anyone is trash here, it’s you” she said. Elysia lifted her hand and sent Abby flying through the room, hitting the wall hard.
“You are so weak and pathetic, thinking you have anywhere near my power. You have made a mistake coming here stupid human, you should have taken the first offer, you would be back in the mortal world with this other slime you call a lover” Elysia told her as she was frozen to the spot on the wall that she had landed on.
Abby tried to move but Elysia’s spell was stronger than anything she tried to use to attack her with. Elysia must have felt her trying to use magic to free herself because she suddenly started to laugh.
“You are like a buzzard to me, annoying, but no real threat” Elysia said.
Abby was starting to feel as though she was going to lose everything she loved, her newfound magic, Tom, her mother, everything. She couldn’t let Elysia beat her so easily, she had to fight back, but nothing she tried worked.
Just as she was about to lower her head in defeat, hoping that she would at least let Tom live, the glass window behind her shattered so completely, she felt the dust from it hit her face. It must have distracted Elysia because she was suddenly released. Once she realized she was released she jumped onto her feet looking toward the window at what had been strong enough to break through the thick glass.
Standing next to her was the unicorn, only it looked even larger than it had before. Abby turned and looked at Tom and saw that he was also staring at the unicorn in disbelief, Isabella still in his hand, also looking stunned.
Abby watched as the unicorn walked forward and stood right in front of Elysia, who Abby noticed actually looked scared for the first time. The unicorn then stood up on his hind legs and basically punched Elysia on her chest sending her flying so hard, she burst through the wall behind her. The unicorn then turned and put his front legs onto the now empty window sill and looked over at her. She heard his deep voice echo through her head.
“Come!” he said, and she didn’t hesitate.
She ran over to Tom and pulled his hand.
“Come on, we have to ride him out of here” she told Tom.
He nodded slowly, looking too stunned to speak and climbed up onto his back behind her, holding onto her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck once more.
The unicorn leapt out of the room and into the air and Abby smiled as she felt the wind against her face once more. She looked back at Tom and noticed that he was still clutching Isabella in his hand.
“You can let her go now she can fly next to us” she told him.
He nodded and opened his hand and Isabella flew up to her and sat in front of her on the unicorn, wrapping her hands around his mane like a rope.
Abby felt a sharp pain in her stomach and as she looked back at the castle, had a bad feeling that Elysia was going to come after them. She looked back in front of them and saw that they were close to the barrier.
“I need you to stop and land after we go through the barrier!” she yelled to the unicorn.
He didn’t respond but knew that he had understood her and as they hit the barrier and he slowly slid through it, she stood up and waited for the unicorn to land.
As soon as they touched the ground she leapt off of his back and threw her hands up into the air. She closed her eyes and focused on making her magic as powerful as she could pulling the power of the grass around her. As soon as she felt it welled up inside of her she released it through her hands, turning the barrier inside out.
Abby lowered her hands, hoping that her magic had worked correctly. She didn’t need to wait long to test it, because just as she was climbing back onto the unicorn she saw Elysia flying toward them her hands outstretched sending bolts of electricity toward them.
Abby watched as the bolts hit the barrier and bounced back, hitting Elysia and making her fall hard toward the ground. She quickly jumped back up, brushing the dirt off of herself as she walked toward the barrier.
Abby smiled as she saw that Elysia was unable to get through the barrier, no matter what kind of magic she threw at it.
“Okay we can go” she said to the unicorn.
He lifted into the air and started to turn to leave when Elysia flew up right in front of them, their faces only inches apart separated only by the shimmering barrier.
“You haven’t won, I will get out of this eventually and next time I won’t bother coming for your filthy lover, I will come straight for you, no matter where you are” Elysia spat out.
Abby smiled, “Promise?” she teased as the unicorn turned and continued the flight to the castle and her mother.
***
The unicorn landed so softly in the Southern Gardens that it almost didn’t feel as though they had even stopped moving. Abby slid off of the unicorn and helped Tom climb down and once they were off of him, she hugged the unicorn’s neck.
“Thank you so much, I never would have gotten out of there if it wasn’t for you” she told him.
He lowered his head slightly then turned and walked out of the gate, heading for the Eastern Gardens where he fellow unicorns were no doubt waiting for his return. Abby picked Isabella up into her palm.
“Do you think you can get into the castle if I took you there?” she asked her. The pixie shrugged her tiny shoulders.
“I’m not sure, nobody has ever tried it, I mean Zeus put the enchantments onto the castle himself, and he is one big bad dude” Isabella said.
Abby laughed as the pixie used language she must have heard in the mortal world and closed her hand around her body as she grabbed Tom’s hand with her other one. She closed her eyes and thought of the throne room, making sure to think about both Tom and Isabella getting there with her and when she opened her eyes, saw that it had actually worked.
When her mother saw her land she ran to her and wrapped her arms around her, making Abby release both Tom and Isabella in the process.
“Abby! I am so glad you made it back okay” her mother yelled.
“Me too, but I wouldn’t have made it here without the unicorn, and Isabella” she said.
Her mother pulled away from her and looked over to where the pixie was hovering next to her head.
“Isabella, how did you get in here?” her mother asked the pixie.
Isabella giggled, sounding like a tinkling little bell.
“Abby brought me in” Isabella told her mother as she flew over and sat on her shoulder.
Her mother looked over at her with awe.
“You never cease to amaze me. I never would have even thought about trying to bring her in here”
she said with a smile on her face.
Abby shrugged and looked behind her mother to the couch and saw that Jasmine was still lying on it, and as she walked up to her she saw that she still looked quite pale.
“Thank you once again Jasmine, that was a big thing you did for me” she told her.
Jasmine smiled and she saw her eyes go to her wings, and read it on her face that she wished she could have the powers that she had given her back, just so she could feel back to normal again.
Abby lowered down to her knees and put her hands onto her shoulders and thought in her head that she was done with the gift given to her and would willingly giving it back. Abby felt the power flow back out of her, through her hands, and into Jasmine, and as she let her go she saw that her beautiful wings had disappeared.
She felt a twinge of sadness; she had become a bit attached to those wings, without even realizing that had. Abby looked back at Jasmine and noticed that her cheeks were flushed with color and her wings had brightened back up.
“You look like you feel much better” she told her pulling her into a hug.
Jasmine nodded, “Yes, better than ever. I don’t see how my mother could enjoy the time she spent with my father if she felt as drained as I did” she said absentmindedly.
Abby stood back up and walked over to her mother.
“So what happened? Where is Elysia?” he mother asked her. Abby looked over at Tom who looked so tired that he was about to pass out.
“Can we get some sleep first? I feel very tired and Tom looks like he’s about to pass out” she answered.
Her mother nodded, “Oh yes, go ahead and get some sleep in the queen’s bedroom, come and find me once you wake up” her mother said.
Abby grabbed Tom’s hand and took him to the queen’s bedroom. Once they landed she pulled him toward the large bed and pulled back the covers. Tom happily slid in first and she followed right behind him snuggling up next to him and instantly falling asleep.
Celtic Magic Page 15