by Clare Kauter
“Nessa! Oh thank goodness you’re OK!” That was Daisy. I chose to interpret her earlier nonchalant attitude towards my possible death as a coping mechanism. She leant down and hugged me, which startled me slightly as my eyes were still shut and I hadn’t expected physical contact. As she hugged me, her hair fell down to cover my face and hers. At first I was slightly annoyed by this, but then I realised she had done it very deliberately to hide that she was whispering in my ear.
“Swimming in the ether is a very dangerous game, Nessa, even for you. You were lucky to come out alive. Don’t tell the others.”
“Long live the King,” I mumbled very quietly, and somewhat incoherently, slowly opening my eyes and blinking at the pain caused even by the dim glow of the candles in the darkened shop.
At my words, Daisy caught my eye and nodded slightly before standing and moving away. Well, good. Somebody knew what the hell that meant. Of course, I couldn’t discuss it with her while the others were around. It was another one of those ‘trust no one’ things. Good, well, it wasn’t like I’d heard that from Satan and Death as well as Daisy. Lucky, or that might have been confusing.
That explained Daisy’s lack of concern about my welfare. She knew what had happened, and she’d somehow known I’d be OK. What was it she’d said? Swimming in the ether is a very dangerous game, Nessa, even for you. What did she mean, ‘even for you’? Was she just pretending to have forgotten about the incident in the woods? If so, then at least I had a cop on my side. Although what exactly that side was, I didn’t know. I hoped it was the right side.
Sure, I had Satan backing me up, but that didn’t make me evil, right?
Before I had time to dwell on that thought, Hecate had creaked down into a squat beside me (managing to be surprisingly elegant given that she was in a dress, 6ft tall, and roughly 150 years old). She came in for a hug, too.
And, of course, a secretive whisper in the ear.
“I’m sorry. I’m glad you’re OK. I didn’t mean to put my carpet before you. If I’d known –” Her voice began to shake.
“It’s OK,” I said. “I didn’t realise how weak I was either.”
Maybe they’d let me quit the quest and give me a licence out of pity for being so pathetic. Really, who passes out at a séance?
She pulled back and creaked up into a standing position. Seriously, I could hear her knees straining under her weight (which wasn’t much, considering how rail thin she was). Was there some kind of oil for old people?
Henry patted my head with his monkey paw, and Ed just nodded at me. Playing it cool.
“Well,” said Henry. “Uh… What shall we do now?”
“Head to Gladesta Caves,” I said. Everyone looked at me in shock. “I located the carpet just before I, uh… took a nap.”
“Are you sure you’re up to that?” Henry asked, obviously concerned that my brain had been fried during that little episode. “How about you just wait here while we –”
“Nope, absolutely not,” said Daisy.
Everyone turned to look at her in shock.
“Nessa, you’re feeling OK, aren’t you?”
Like hell I was.
“Yep,” I said. “Fighting fit.”
“Nessa…” said Ed.
“I’m fine, Ed.”
Now I just had to stand up with conviction. Come on, legs. We can do this. Brain, don’t panic. This doesn’t have to hurt. I took a deep breath and stood, managing to do it with minimal stumbling. Daisy surreptitiously steadied me while I tried to shake off the dizziness and nausea. I wasn’t sure the other three bought it. Why was I going along with this again?
“There will be safety in numbers,” Daisy explained to the group at large, reading my mind. Wait, could faeries actually read minds? Maybe. Oh dear. I hoped not. “Every little bit of magic helps.”
“Yeah, well, I guess we take Henry everywhere,” Ed quipped. I giggled. Henry did not. The others looked at me in concern. Of course, they hadn’t heard Ed’s joke.
“Ed just – never mind.”
“She’ll just get in our way,” said Henry.
“Well OK, Judas. It’s not like you got me into this in the first place.”
“Hecate reported you,” he blurted.
“She already knew that. Besides, it’s Ed’s fault for getting murdered by a crazy person,” said Hecate.
“OK, that was a bit harsh,” said Ed.
Maybe Daisy was the one I should trust after all.
“I won’t slow you down,” I said. Sure, I was a little under the weather, but knowing me I would probably accidentally stake every vampire in the caves with my special murder magic anyway. It occurred to me that it would be very nice if someone could tell me what the hell I was, because I was becoming more and more convinced that the answer wasn’t ‘human’. “I might just have a quick heal before we go.”
Hecate and Henry looked a little concerned at first – I think they thought I might try to cast another spell. Yeah, good one guys. Like I was going to cast a spell to try and heal my drained energy reserves.
“I’ll help prepare a tincture,” said Daisy, and the others looked relieved.
“Tincture is a funny word,” I commented with a giggle, and everyone went back to being concerned.
Daisy went behind the counter to fetch a dustpan and brush. There were herbs scattered all over the floor – the herbs Hecate had burned to cancel the séance after I’d passed out. Some were still smouldering.
Hecate brought out a tiny cauldron hanging from a stand and, when Daisy was done sweeping, sat it in the middle of our broken circle. She hung the cauldron over the Autumn Memories candle. Henry and Ed offered to help, but Hecate waved them away. This wasn’t their area. As far as I could tell, their areas were, respectively, bureaucracy and getting murdered.
Daisy filled the pot with water before standing and pretending to search through drawers near me. Hecate began whistling away in the background. Apparently she was enjoying all this witchy stuff.
“What herbs?” Daisy whispered. The others didn’t hear her over Hecate’s off-key melody.
“Um,” I said insightfully. What herbs? Healing herbs. What did that include? And which of those herbs tasted good? I wasn’t up to drinking something that tasted of arse. “Mint. Just mint.”
“I’m not just making you a cup of tea,” she hissed.
“Ginger?”
“Be serious! We need to get your strength back before we head into that den. It was a close call in the forest. You’re lucky we managed to protect you.” So she definitely didn’t remember what had happened. How did she know I’d managed to go into the ether if she didn’t even know about my purple demon? What did she know that I didn’t? “That trick with the séance cut it far too fine. We need you to be at your peak. Now what herbs?”
A witch faery asking me for potion advice? I was flattered.
“OK, then,” I answered. “A for amaranth, for healing and invisibility. That sounds handy. Maybe make us a wreath of it as well. Angelica? It’s good for healing and protection – wait, no, it’s used in exorcisms. As much as I’d like to get rid of Ed I don’t think it’s a good idea…”
Daisy pulled out the amaranth leaves and said, “What else?”
“Astralagus increases Chi – exactly what I need.” I was going to have to hurry up if I was to get through the whole alphabet without the rest of the group getting suspicious. I didn’t know why Daisy was deferring to my knowledge, but I suspected it was not for a reason that we wanted to tell everyone. “Um, chrysanthemum for my headache. Garlic, obviously. Vervain, too – that’ll repel the vampires. You know what, make enough tea for everyone to have some. We could all use the boost.”
“What about Ed?” she asked, retrieving the rest of the herbs
“I’ll just pour his on him. He’s not going to feel it. Oh, and put in some coriander for good measure.”
Daisy looked at me with a frown. “I can’t touch coriander.”
“Oh, right.�
�� Obviously, Nessa. She was a magical. Most magicals couldn’t stand coriander.
“You can touch it?”
“Of course! I love it – it’s delicious.” She stared at me in disbelief. “Hey, Henry likes it too!”
“Henry likes what?” Henry asked from across the room.
“Coriander.”
“Oh, yes, I love it,” he said. “Actually, I’m looking forward to next Taco Tuesday.”
I smiled. Henry couldn’t be evil, surely? No one who liked my cooking was evil. Except, you know, Satan.
Daisy just shook her head at us and began adding the herbs to the now-bubbling cauldron. She also added some more water and announced, “Everyone is going to drink this. We need to keep our strength up.”
“Except you, Ed. You didn’t have any strength to start with,” I said. It was mean, but I didn’t want anyone to know that Ed and I had formed an alliance. Had to keep up appearances, you know. I didn’t want the others getting suspicious that maybe I knew about the robbery. I also didn’t want Daisy getting jealous that I had another secret ally. “Oh, Daisy, what have you put in that? It reeks!”
“Never you mind,” she said, and continued stirring. The surface of the liquid bubbled, looking murky, green, and leafy. Steam danced up from the cauldron in pale tendrils, and I suspected Daisy was charging it with her energy.
Daisy let the tisane brew for a few more minutes before ladling out five cups of it. I picked up a cup.
“She’s poured too many,” said Ed. “I can’t drink it.”
“Are you solid right now, Ed?” I asked. Weird question, but I was counting on the element of surprise.
“Yeah, why?”
I threw my drink on him. He screamed and jumped backwards. The murky liquid had covered Ed’s front from his face down. It had been a good shot.
“Sorry,” I said, making no effort to sound sincere. “Had to get you to take it somehow.”
He shook his head in disgust.
I placed the empty mug on the floor and picked up another. Taking care not to breath in through my nose, I raised the cup to my lips, blew on it to cool, and then downed it like a shot. It burned my mouth and throat, but I didn’t dare stop in case I vomited it all back up again. It tasted like a very bitter curry, which frankly wasn’t what I wanted from my tea.
The second I swallowed, I felt it begin to work its magic. The tea’s warmth radiated outwards as its energy began moving through my veins and arteries to every corner of my body. My brain seemed to solidify (no more soggy biscuit head for me) and the fog lifted. I could think clearly now. My hangover was gone. I could sense all obstacles in my way. Not only did I feel better – I felt invincible. Like an unidentified species of magical with full stores of energy and slightly psychopathic tendencies should.
“Alright, kiddies,” I said, ignoring the fact that I was definitely one of the two youngest people in the room. “Let’s go murder some vampires.”
“Um, we’re just retrieving the carpet while they’re asleep, Nessa. It’s very unlikely we’ll actually have to engage,” said Henry.
“You’ll just be waiting outside, anyway,” said Hecate.
“Right, sure.”
Chapter 15
The Gladesta Caves were not far out of town. They weren’t in the direction of my house so I didn’t often pass by, however I had visited them a number of times before. Satan had brought me here to teach me herbalism, since it was something of a local hotspot for magical activity, and occasionally I returned with her to replenish my stocks.
The Caves were under constant torment from various underworld magical groups who wanted to set up shop there permanently. Never had I visited unchaperoned by the devil for fear of being attacked by the local residents. In the years I’d been coming here (there were a few ingredients I was unable to forage for elsewhere), the Caves had been home, variously, to a werewolf pack, a wizard specialising in the dark arts, a colony of gorks (goblin-ork hybrid creatures with a taste for raw flesh – preferably human and still moving), and now the vampire conjurers.
In addition to these, an energy-charged site like Gladesta was a beacon to grabbers.
A voice in the back of my head whispered that perhaps one little magic carpet wasn’t worth it.
Despite my certainty that Satan had spoken to Jessie and James (the vampires) – sternly – about why they should keep their hands off me, I was not sure they would hesitate to attack us if we wandered right into their lair. I wasn’t sure Satan would blame them. Well, if she refused to help me out with this quest, I wasn’t going to bother to try and keep out of trouble. What was the worst that could happen? I might die. Would they make me complete this quest if I died? Perhaps not.
This mission was looking better and better.
We stopped a kilometre or so from the Caves to put up some wards just in case the vamps heard us coming. We’d also grabbed a number of protective amulets and herbs before leaving, and we each wore some sort of defensive talisman. I hoped that in addition to the tea, it would be enough to ward them off without having to fight.
I doubted it.
Wards in place – along with some masking spells so that the vampires would have a harder time detecting us in the first place – we continued our walk to the Caves. When we got to the main opening, I realised that it might take us quite a while to find this rug. I’d never been this close to the entrance before, but now I could see that there were many tunnels leading down underground and off in various directions.
I looked across and made eye contact with Ed. He made a face that encapsulated perfectly how I felt.
“I know you guys are all big and bad after what you did earlier in the forest and all,” said Ed, “but Henry, should we maybe quit while we’re ahead?”
Henry didn’t answer.
“Nessa, you and Ed stick to the back,” said Hecate. “Daisy, Henry and I are trained in this sort of thing. We don’t want you getting in the way.”
I made eye contact with Ed again. This time he winked.
We walked in through the entrance and stopped at the first tunnel, unsure whether to go straight or turn off. Without telling the others what I was doing – in case they were fearing a repeat of the bookstore experience – I sent out a net of energy to sense where the vampires were, and to see if I could detect the carpet. It didn’t take long.
It wasn’t good news.
“Left,” I whispered. Everyone turned to me in disbelief. “It’s fine – I’m better now. Plus we’re much closer. Seeking from this distance won’t drain me. This will save us time.”
They grudgingly agreed.
“OK, so one other thing,” I said quietly as we started down the left corridor.
Something about my tone must have set off alarm bells with the rest of them. They all turned to face me.
“What?” said Henry, looking unimpressed.
“Um, well,” I answered, choosing my words carefully, “the carpet? It’s uh – it’s in the same room as the vamps.”
Henry sighed. Hecate shrugged, turned and kept walking down the corridor. OK, so we were definitely doing this.
Goodie.
The caves grew blacker and blacker the further we got in. The only light was coming from Ed’s faint ghostly glow, so we sent him out in front like a deader version of Rudolph. Oddly, although Daisy and Hecate couldn’t see Ed himself, in this almost no-light situation they could see the glow emanating from him. Our hope was that the vampires would be asleep and the light wouldn’t alert them to our presence. Of course, knowing our luck, that was going to be the exact opposite of what happened.
Despite the fact that we were using my energy-seeking capabilities to navigate our way through the caves, everyone insisted that I go at the back and just call out directions, which was a lot more noisy and confusing (and hence more dangerous) than if they’d just let me lead. You drain all your energy by accidentally entering the ether one time and suddenly no one trusts you to do anything.
Becau
se of this arrangement, I was stuck up the back with no one to talk to. Being so far back, I was also in the poorest lighting, so I was constantly tripping and stumbling on rocks. It probably would have been amusing if we weren’t on our way into a vampire cave on a pointless and foolhardy blanky recon mission that we’d essentially undertaken just to kill an afternoon.
Or, you know, kill ourselves.
(Droll, I know.)
To complicate matters even more, not all of the vampires were in the same room. We had to navigate our way past other vamp bedrooms on our way to Team Rocket’s (or should I say Team Magic Carpet’s) quarters. As much as I tried to choose a course that took us around these rooms, some were unavoidable. These caves were like a rabbit den of sleepy vamps. Slowly and surely, we inched our way past the entrance to one such room, where three bloodsuckers slept. My heart was in my throat – a body part I was acutely aware of at this particular moment.
When we reached the tunnel that led directly to the chamber in which our targets slept, we hung back as I reached out to try and get a more accurate location on the blanket. Detecting its energy was simple enough, but I was having a hard time pinpointing where exactly it was in the room. Well, it wasn’t so much that; it was just that I couldn’t seem to separate the energy of the rug – which was a fluffy, pink energy like the object itself – from the darker, wispy energy of the vampire. Then I realised.
The reason I couldn’t separate the energies was because they were occupying the same space. Of course.
“Oh,” I breathed.
“What?”
The vampires were using the magic carpet as a blanky.
What were we going to do? We couldn’t just sneak in and grab it. Not even Ed was safe in the presence of vampire magicians. If they had any sort of basic necromancy skills they could have him doing their bidding in a second. They’d drink Daisy up immediately – nymphs were, I’d heard, particularly delicious, though not as much as some other fae. (Ice elves were a particular favourite – ‘a faery slushie’ was how I’d heard it described.) She was in a lot of danger, even with our potion running through her veins. Hecate was human, and so would last longer than Daisy, but was still considered highly consumable.