by Jessica Cage
The homes, though structured the same, all had their unique touches. A few had doors decorated in beautiful flowers while others were without doors all together. These were for the population who preferred to stay on all fours. A few of the houses had perches on the roof meant for bathing in the sun, or the moon. Others sported the more conventional chimney top. Despite what Akasha led them to believe, Lagial was a calm place. The people were happy and the atmosphere relaxed, unlike the tension they could feel every step of the way in Felidae.
“I would tell you all to make yourselves comfortable, but you won’t be here for long,” Magua addressed the group.
“Thank god,” Rick huffed.
“Excuse me?” Magua bristled.
“He means no disrespect.” Jax elbowed Rick in the gut. “He is just eager to save the girl. The two of them had become quite close before she disappeared.”
“Ah, I see.” The king relaxed. “Like I was saying, you all will be leaving shortly. As Akasha did, I’m sure, I have a few people out on the hunt for your friend. They should be back in a short while. Kiara here will take you to our visitor center. It’s not often used, but it’s comfortable.” The small girl curtsied to her king before addressing the others with a wide smile. “Ardyn, care to take a stroll with me?”
“Ardyn, now that I have you alone, tell me what’s really been going on with you. How did all this happen? Where is Ryesen? Who is this little thing that keeps staring you down?” Magua was an overflow of inquiries.
“You have a lot of questions, man.” Ardyn shook his head, trying to figure out where to begin.
“I am well aware of that,” Magua nodded, “so spill.”
“Long story short, I got captured by a warlock who turned me djinn. When he couldn’t contain me, he left me to myself. Luck brought me to Nitara, who was then recaptured by that same warlock. Through efforts to save her, Praia, our friend, was injured and lost. We think she is here which is obviously why I have returned now. Ryesen and I aren’t on the same page anymore. Things have changed, and with my being away for so long, she is finding it difficult to forgive me. She did come, she should be arriving with the others soon. As for Zaria, well, it’s hard to say. We just met a few days before coming here, but it’s one of those things where you’re just drawn to a person, like a magnetic force takes over you.”
“There is something there, any fool can see it,” Magua’s voice took on a decisive tone. “You look at her the same way she looks at you.”
“You think so?” Ardyn wasn’t sure. Besides the small hint she’d given to him back at Felidae, he still wondered if she shared his growing feelings.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that turns out to be the reason why Ryesen is finding it so difficult to forgive you right now.”
“That and the fact that I left without word, stayed away for three decades, and I’m here now to retrieve a woman who isn’t her. I’m not a moron, I get it. Trust me, this isn’t how I saw myself finally coming back here.”
“I heard she gave you a good one when she saw you.” Magua threw a few soft punches into Ardyn’s arm. “Rumor has it, you cried!”
“Hell, my jaw still stings! And no I absolutely did not cry!” Ardyn laughed. “I can’t say I didn’t deserve it though.”
“Your friend, the fae girl. I doubt that she has been here. There is no trail of her. When you and your people landed here the entire place was alerted. Your father put out the word, our search of the areas started then. No one was thrilled about the possibility of a fae coming here.”
“That makes no sense, Akasha’s men said they lost her scent here.”
“How? With what smell?” The king was disappointed by Ardyn’s lack of common sense. “Did you all provide a scent for them to track? Even if she had come through here, that would have been weeks ago, right? With the rains we’ve had lately, there is no way that they were able to pick up that scent here.”
“What are you trying to say?” Ardyn felt the warning in Magua’s words. Things weren’t adding up and he didn’t trust the situation.
“I’m telling you to watch your back.” They continued walking down the path that led toward the waterfall. The closer they got to the crushing flow of water, the louder the sound was, and it blocked out their voices. “You’ve been gone for a long time, man. Everything here isn’t what it was when you left. A lot has changed about the atmosphere and the people in it.”
“We should really get moving. Time is not on our side here.” Akasha stepped up behind them; she opted not to join the others. “Magua, what have your men found?”
“We can discuss that when the rest of your group is here. I don’t like to repeat myself.” He grunted at the queen.
“I suggest we get to it then.” She turned on her heel to leave, and Magua shot Ardyn a telling look. The two followed Akasha to the others.
“I hate to tell you this, but we’ve found nothing. If that girl came to our boundaries, she didn’t cross over into this territory,” Magua relayed the reports his teams provided.
“Can you be sure of that?” Rick stood and paced the floor. “What the hell are we supposed to do now?”
“Can you be sure she didn’t just fae her way back home? How do you know she isn’t there now?”
“She isn’t.” Jinn, who'd been leaning against the doorway and watching a group of young jaguars play outside, joined the conversation.
“Okay, I have another question for you … why aren’t there any fae on this search and rescue mission?” Magua confronted them. “If it were one of my own missing, you’d damn well be sure that my people would be searching, not a collection of misfits. No disrespect intended.”
“They think she’s dead.” Inda landed just outside of the door. “Sorry about the entrance. I just couldn’t take another slow ass ride on those hover boards. The others should be here soon.”
“What do you mean they think she is dead?” Rick’s voice was so loud that it vibrated the walls around them. “What are you talking about?”
“I have a few fae friends and the reason they aren’t searching is because they are mourning her. They can no longer feel her through the connection to the moon, and because of that, they assume she is dead,” Inda quickly explained.
“Why is this the first time you’re mentioning this?” He stepped to her, and Jax quickly moved to position himself between the two of them.
“I didn’t think it was worth mentioning. Just because she isn’t connected to them, doesn’t mean she isn’t alive.” Inda didn’t flinch at the anger from the dragon, she knew he wouldn’t harm her, not with Jax there.
“You just drop this shit on us like this. We should have been told all of this before! Why would you keep this from us?”
“Rick, honey.” Nitara touched his arm. “It’s okay, calm down.”
“So, what are you all doing here if they think she is dead?” Magua scoffed at the confused faces in front of him.
"Look, we had solid proof that the girl was alive,” Inda defended herself. “Mike’s men saw her and so did the dragon. We aren’t here on a wild goose chase, we know that Praia is! I didn’t want to discourage anyone. Jen, my friend, she told me that they couldn’t feel her but that it didn’t mean she had died. It’s happened before … an injured fae was disconnected until physically reunited with her people. They tried to look for Praia as soon as everything happened but they failed. In my opinion, they gave up too damn fast. I know how much that girl means to you, to all of you. I didn't want you to give up like they did.”
“Look, this wouldn’t be the first time I was told that someone had died and have it turn out to be that I was misinformed. Hell, if it weren’t for Mike, Nitara would still be lost to me,” Jinn sympathized with Rick. He was there when the two met, and in the short time, the dragon had taken to Praia. It was more than a simple flirtation, he could see it in his eyes. It was the spark of budding love. With a dragon, that was a tense and oftentimes irreversible thing. “It was his intel
that informed us that Praia is still alive and I will see that through. She gave her life for us, and if she is out here lost, or hurt, it is our duty to bring her home.”
“Well, I commend you, though I think you are wasting your time here.” Magua waved his hand at a woman who approached the doorway. “This is Jenai, she will assist you while you’re here but she will go no further. There is one area that we have found that may bring you some luck. There is no evidence of your friend’s odor there, but it would seem some magic has been at play in the area. Jenai will allow you to investigate the site before you depart. Once you leave, please know that you will not be welcomed back here so freely.”
“Thank you, Magua.”
“Yeah, well, old friends and whatnot.” He shook Ardyn’s hand, lingering for a moment as their eyes connected. He mouthed the words, ‘be careful.’
“Shall we?” Jenai ushered them all through the door. Dressed in the same attire as Danai, she had spots of vitiligo on her face that created a heart-shaped pattern around her nose and surrounded in speckled markers that spread across her face and down her neck. Once Magua said his final good-bye to Ardyn, he joined her at the head of the group, purposely speeding by Akasha whose eyes questioned every step he took. After his conversation with Magua, Ardyn was unsure of his alliance with her. People change. The words replayed in his mind on a troubling loop.
Jenai increased her distance from the others as they neared the waterfall and Ardyn did the same. Just as Magua had, she used the thunderous sound to drown out her words. She whispered to him, “I have a message for you from Magua.” Although her voice was a low warning, her posture remained relaxed.
“What is it?” Ardyn followed suit and kept his body as calmly poised as he could.
“Someone in your camp is not to be trusted.”
“What?” He turned to look over his shoulder, but she stopped him with a sharp whisper.
“Keep your eyes forward.”
“Right, sorry.”
“The route we are taking will separate us. You need to find a way to inform the ones you trust without making a big show of it.”
“Right, okay, I can make that happen. How long do I have?”
“Approximately one hour.”
“Is there anyone in particular I should avoid?”
“Magua knew you would ask that, the name is on this paper.” She slipped him the note and stopped walking at the north line of trees and waited for everyone to catch up before making her announcement.
“We are approaching Coache. This is the most dangerous part of our home and our most valuable defense from the outside. The passageways here are dangerous and far too narrow for any vehicle to travel. Navigating the terrain on foot can be quite tricky. The most important thing for you to be concerned with is avoiding the Blue Aura. It is a plant that grows in abundance inside of these woods. The Blue Aura is a cross species of three highly poisonous plants, the water hemlock, wolfsbane, and nightshade. They grow in small clusters at the base of trees and have a yellow shell with a green X on the top. We call it the Blue Aura because of the toxic blue gas it emits when agitated. This stuff is potent. If your skin comes in contact with it, it will paralyze you, if you breathe it in, it can cause you to hallucinate, go into shock, or have seizures. It effects each person differently. Keep up and keep your eyes open. If you lose sight of the person in front of you, it may mean being left behind. Those who get lost in Coache, are often never seen again.”
“Okay, so why are we taking this route?” Jax huffed. “Is there no other way to get to where we need to go?”
“It is the quickest, and Magua would like you all to be out of here as soon as possible. I do not believe that your safety or sanity is of much concern to him. You will have to guard that for yourself.” She smiled slyly, turned, and walked into the lush background.
The start of their walk was uneventful, outside of the warmer temperature of the forested areas. The farther they walked, the hotter it got. While Jenai seemed unbothered, the rest of those who joined her were melting in their boots. Even Jax and Rick with their magical temperature controls were feeling the effects of the heat.
“Someone is following us,” Casey announced in a hushed tone, stepping closer to Akasha. The others tightened their position around her.
“Yes, those are more of my people,” Jenai brushed off the topic. “No one is trusting of newcomers. It doesn’t surprise me that they would choose to tag along.”
“Are they going to attack us?” Akasha questioned as her guard bristled.
“No, not unless you do something worthy of being attacked for.” Jenai shrugged. “Just ahead, this is going to get a lot tougher. The Blue Aura population is very dense. Try not to lean on the smaller trees, it may shift the weight and disrupt the roots. Not all of the plants are visible. Only step where you can be sure there is nothing beneath your foot. We need to break up in smaller groups. We will move in a three-point formation, spreading out just enough to lessen the likelihood of disrupting the ground too much, not far enough where you can’t see the other group.” Jenai nodded to Ardyn as Akasha and her people quickly clustered together.
“All right, Zaria, Bruto, Inda and Jax with me. Jinn, Rick, and Nitara with Jenai. It looks like Akasha will stay with her team. Everyone okay with that?” Ardyn issued the assignments and they all nodded. Akasha would trust no one else to be by her side, so she didn’t put up much of a fight when he segregated the cats from everyone else.
“Okay. Akasha and your group to the left. Ardyn and your group to the right.” Jenai pointed to the areas they were assigned. “We're in the center. Remember what I told you, eyes open, careful footfalls.”
The groups separated as instructed, everyone keeping a close eye on Jenai as they began to move forward. For five minutes they moved through the thick forest that only became denser with every step that carried them forward. Akasha’s team became more anxious with each passing moment with the jaguars that moved through the forest nearby. Ignoring Jenai’s warning, they began to tighten their formation around the queen, paying more attention to the sounds of footfalls around them than to where their own feet touched the ground. When a wild jaguar passed nearby and growled, they all moved, creating a circle around Akasha with their backs to her. Casey shifted into her cat, and the moment her front paws touched down, a cloud of blue smoke filled the air.
“Run!” Jenai shouted, heading away from the smoke to Ardyn and his team with Nitara, Jinn, and Rick right on her tail.
As the screams from Akasha and her team rang out, Jenai quickly ushered the others away from the poison to a nearby tunnel. She lifted the disguised hatch. “Hurry! The smoke will spread and it will disrupt the others. The entire place is going to be swallowed in a blue cloud.”
“What about Akasha and the others?” Nitara asked as they climbed down into the tunnel. “We can’t just leave them there.”
Jenai looked to Ardyn and nodded. She would allow him to tell the others of the warning given to him.
“Akasha was not on our side,” Ardyn explained. “Magua sent a note with Jenai that confirmed it. Akasha was dirty.”
“How do you know that? Can you be sure? I thought you two were friends,” Jinn questioned as Jenai secured the hatch above.
“We were, a long time ago, but Magua said something to me when we first arrived and it made a lot of sense. Akasha knew too much. Her men were able to catch and track Praia’s scent with nothing to go off of and in a very short amount of time. They had only a few hours between my father’s notice and our arrival.”
“You think she has something to do with Praia going missing?” Jinn was ready to turn around and face the paralyzing cloud if it meant he would have a chance to beat the truth out of Akasha.
“I don’t know.” Ardyn shook his head. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
“Well, we aren’t going to figure it out standing here.” Jenai rejoined the group. “We need to get moving, that hatch isn’t air tight. Smoke
may come down here.”
“Lead the way,” Jack agreed. “I don’t know about everyone else but I’m not trying to find out just how that stuff will effect me.”
“Where are we?” Nitara asked, and she could see her breath.
“This is Artiqua, home of the polar bears.” Jenai rolled her body and a thin layer of fur appeared to keep her warmer, her features turned slightly more feline. “Bear territory is just like ours; one large area, separated by climate barriers. Artiqua is the largest, it is where the polar bears are, they make up most of the bear population. All of the bears who live here are shifters. Their wild cousins haven’t blended so well with them. It’s odd because with the cats, wolves … hell, even the birds, we all have found a balance, but the wild bears are not as trusting as one would hope. They still exist all over the world, but very few are here in shifter land.”
“Why are we here?” Ardyn asked as he settled into the new climate. His wolf was far more welcoming of the cold than the heat of the rainforest they’d just escaped.
“There is someone here that you need to see.” They move forward and were greeted by two massive polar bears. One turned to Jenai and nuzzled her face. “Hello, Margo. It is so good to see you.” She smiled as she hugged the large face of her friend. “Magua sends us to meet with Bukai.”
The bear nodded, turned, and walked toward the massive gates that could been seen in the distance. She was quickly replaced by another bear who stood guard.
“Okay, I think this temperature control thingy is broken!” Jax was shivering.
“Wow! You know, for a dragon, you really aren’t that versatile when it comes to the weather.” Jinn laughed and snapped his fingers. Two heavy parkas appeared around Jax and the also teeth-chattering Rick. “There, you babies all better?”
“Oh ha, very funny.”
“That’s okay, I’ll warm you up.” Inda blew a kiss in his direction and rolled fire around her hands.