Chapter Seven
Pandimora stood in the sharp-edged red grass. The damp soil between her bare toes stained her feet a dull, washed-out blue and she could feel it seeping under her toenails. She found Isidghe wonderfully unique and vibrantly alive, the blue soil abounding with low-growing, lushly flowering plants.
The brilliance of the two and a half suns in the sky was not something she'd expected, and instead of a shadowy place, she found the translucent green sky a pleasant surprise.
Isidghe: the land of upside down, home to goblins of every nature, size and disposition. She hoped she'd arrived on a very good day, because everyone knew goblins had manners and worse habits even on their best days. On a bad day, they could be quite obnoxious if they took a dislike to you. The up-side to coming here was that goblins had an abundance of energy to shift matter at whim. The question remained, would they allow her to harness their energy to propel herself into Aisywel to find her sister?
"Why are you sneaking about?" The disgruntled voice came from behind her.
Calmly, Pandimora turned. "I've just arrived," she said, searching for the source of the voice.
"And already trespassing," the voice snapped.
Suddenly a tree sprouted beside Pandimora, growing eye level with her, and on the top spindly branch sat a small orange goblin with an immense, protruding stomach. His ears were large and his eyes very small. The goblin regarded her with a mixture of interest and suspicion. Several spike-like protrusions stuck out from its hairless skull.
"I meant no trespass or intrusion. I was listening to the air around me to find my way."
"Listening to the air?" the goblin said incredulously.
Pandimora tilted her head and admitted quietly, "Yes."
The goblin put back its head and began to laugh. It had tiny stubs of brownish gums, so at least Pandimora need not worry about being bitten. When the goblin at last stopped laughing, she noted its small protruding eyes were of the most lovely shade of purple. He laced his long thin fingers over his rounded stomach and rocked back and forth on the tree limb. "And why would a faerie come all the way from Aisywel?"
Surprised, Pandimora said, "How did you know?"
"That you're from Aisywel? A sugary sweetness swirls in the air around you. It's rare to have an Aisywel faerie take an interest in our dear little world," he ended sarcastically.
"Your world is full of colorful delights and quite beautiful. I have to admit I'm puzzled why the goblins roam the earth realm in the dark of night when it's so much more pleasant here." She waved her arm toward the scarlet flowering bushes that began to pop up out of the ground around them. She reached down and gently touched a blood-red petal. "It is quite different than I expected."
"Yeah, we get that a lot," he drawled, sounding bored. "Why are you here?" he said, dispensing with the chit-chat.
"I need to get into Aisywel. The search for the truth led me here to seek your skills in shifting matter."
A devilish gleam entered his eyes and his smile turned sly. "The truth? That can be quite a slippery slope. What if I told you when you arrived here, you breathed our goblin mist and the truth is you are dreaming this conversation while fast asleep over there?" He pointed to a spot beyond where they stood. "See, look over there. Fast asleep in that brackish swamp."
Pandimora looked, her heart rate picking up just a bit. She saw shallow gray water, small bugs crawling along its surface, and what looked like a woman wearing clothes similar to her own short top and pants lying on her side, her face pillowed against her bent arm. Abundant red hair floated along the water's surface.
Her stomach muscles tensed, but she shook her head. "I don't believe that's me." She put her arms behind her back and pinched her wrist, hard.
"But how do you know? You could be dreaming this entire conversation right now."
"If that is true, I shall review it for helpful tidbits when I awaken," she said, shrugging with pretended unconcern then pinched her wrist again for good measure.
"Hmm." He cupped his small orange chin with a finger and thumb. "You're not a typical Aisywel faerie, now are you? I was sure you would scuttle over there as quick as could be and shake yourself awake."
Pandimora nodded. "You're right, I'm not a typical faerie." She hoped he could not tell that her knees were shaking. If she had not pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, she would indeed have been tempted to go shake herself awake.
He jumped up and down on the skinny branch, which bowed under his weight. "All right then," he snapped. "So you've come to this lowly place for answers unfound? Tell me your questions, and keep in mind they may be important to you, but not to me. If you bore me I will pop you right out of here."
His cross purple eyes warned her not to rile him. "I understand," she said quickly. "Let me introduce myself. I am Pandimora. I need to get back into Aisywel so I can find my sister. I also seek the truth about my family who disappeared when I was young." She did not think it prudent to tell him she was also in search of the lost crystal.
The goblin opened his eyes very wide and gripped the skinny tree trunk as his feet slipped down the branch on which he stood. "That's a lofty goal for a faerie, known to merely frolic under the light of the moon without care or worry. Have you been banned from Aisywel, then?" He regained his balance, smiled with delight and put his fingers together, twiddling the fingertips together quickly.
Reluctantly, she nodded.
"I see, I see. And so you have come here. Little faerie, why do you think the goblins will help you? I have no aversion to faeries, but really, we don't share the same sense of fairness or values. Just imagine if I were to show up in Aisywel looking for you." He pretended to shudder and rolled his eyes. "Imagine the reaction."
"My soul gift is finding that which is lost. I dreamt of the goblins in my search for the truth."
"How very enterprising of you." He appeared to frown. "Look at it this way. Perhaps your family knows where they are and you're the only one who is really missing."
"This is very serious, Goblin."
He heaved a deep sigh. "And what will you do once you gain access? You could go up in a puff of smoke. Give a good answer or I will be gone in a flash and you will be left asleep in that marsh."
Pandimora swallowed, a little intimidated at the thinly veiled threat, but she had to persevere. "I am the daughter of Declan, high lord of the faeries, and Clare, white witch of the earth realm."
He narrowed his eyes. "Child of a faerie and a human witch." He put his hands on his hips. "That is quite a story."
"It is the truth," she said quietly.
Just then there was a rustling through the long, sharp grasses and another goblin appeared, this one blue with small, irregularly shaped pink markings along its entire naked body.
"Sirt has arrived," said the first goblin, grinning gleefully. He tossed her a sidelong glance. "He's not fond of faeries, you know."
Much taller than the orange goblin, Sirt was thin with long spindly arms and legs and very large feet. As he approached there was a suctioning sound and Pandimora realized he had suction-cup-like feet that gripped the moist ground.
"Who have you captured, Jonic?" Sirt inquired with what Pandimora thought was only mild interest.
"An Aisywel faerie," replied the orange goblin Jonic. "Surely you can smell the sugar sweetness all around us? Can you imagine her showing up here asking questions?"
"What kind of questions?"
Pandimora quickly stepped back as the goblin Sirt moved to face her, his long arms swinging out from his body as he straightened from a slouched position. "And who are you to demand anything?" He looked at Jonic, then back at her. He waved his hands. "No, no, you must go away. We cannot have faeries arriving willy-nilly asking questions --" But suddenly he stopped, his mouth hanging open as his glance fell to her arm. Pandimora looked down at her arm also.
"The elven star," Sirt said, his voice changing. He looked accusingly at Jonic. "You didn't say she had the star."
&nbs
p; "You were hiding it!" Jonic said accusingly. "Show it to us," he ordered, his eyes lit with excitement. He poked her arm with a thin finger. "It was once a mark of protection," he added. He tilted his head. "How very odd it looks."
Pandimora tamped down her excitement. "How do you know that?"
"You escaped Aisywel, did you not? The elder doesn't have you in his sight." He traced the points of the star with a fingertip. "Here is the original eight-pointed star."
To her amazement the original elven star appeared on her arm.
"And here is the current marking." And as he retraced the points, it became twelve points again instead of eight.
"Yes." She nodded. "What else can you tell me?"
With a mercurial change of mood, Sirt's mouth changed to a straight, uncompromising line. "We don't have the answers you want. Leave now before we lock you up somewhere dark."
"Why can't you tell me?" she asked, but the goblins turned their backs to her.
"Leave!" Sirt's voice swirled around her.
Pandimora looked behind her, seeing the crisp outline of the portal. In frustration, she wondered if they wouldn't help her where else could she go?
"I need help getting into Aisywel," she said, not moving.
The tall goblin turned back to her. "Are you still here?"
"If you were kicked out, you can't go back," Jonic, the orange goblin, said with certainty.
"But you can shift matter. What will it take for you to help me?"
"Too dangerous," said Sirt.
"Be on your way," said Jonic.
Pandimora turned and walked back through the tall grass, now interspersed with the beautiful flowers, feeling the bite of the grasses against her bare feet.
A soft snicker sounded behind her. "She gave up easily, didn't she, Sirt?" Something wet slapped Pandimora between the shoulder blades.
Surprised, she turned quickly and a wet blob hit her knee. Jonic held a blob of blue mud in one hand.
Keeping both goblins in sight, she bent down and scooped up her own fistful of the blue goo. With a laugh, she flung it, splattering both goblins across the neck and cheeks. The blue blobs of dirt stood out brightly on Jonic's orange skin.
"All I want are answers," she said.
"Answers are like gold," said Jonic. He scooped up another handful. Pandimora ducked and the blue mud flew past her head.
She had to make one more effort. "Will you help me?"
"Not today and maybe not tomorrow," Sirt declared with gleeful mischief.
She eyed the mud in his hands, twisting to the side, but the mud hit her softly so that her pants and blouse were now a sodden blue mess.
"You'd better leave now. We can't be bothered with your silly questions." The goblin's expression turned sober, and they dropped the remainder of their mud.
"We don't do business with faeries," Sirt hissed.
"Maybe we'll help you tomorrow," said Jonic. Pandimora looked from Sirt to Jonic.
"There are no guarantees when a goblin tells you anything." Jonic added, his hands on his rounded hips.
Sirt nodded his head. "That's right, no guarantees. Be off, faerie."
She knew half-truths were a goblin's way of life. "I will wait and maybe you'll change your mind."
"No," they both said in unison.
"Come back later, at midnight," said Jonic. "Unless you're afraid of the dark. It gets very dark here. There are no delightful fireflies to light your path," and both goblins laughed, hopping along behind as she walked toward the portal.
"I won't be afraid," she said, wondering if that were entirely true. "And after dark, won't the goblins be in the earth realm?"
They did not deign to reply, but she noticed they were staring again at the star on her arm.
She held out her arm. "Can you tell me more about this elven star?"
Silence.
Pandimora persevered. "Do you know my brother Kirklas?"
Sirt looked at the other goblin and rolled his eyes. "There's no resonance or reverberations from his energy even in our world. There are higher realms than Isidghe, of course, but his aura has not been in energy since the night of the disappearance. It was said the high lord of the faeries was preparing him to take his place all those years ago."
Tension squeezed between Pandimora's shoulders. "But he must be alive," she murmured, feeling her own desperation.
"Why must he be?" retorted Jonic. Sirt remained silent, his expression doubtful.
Pandimora clenched her hands.
The goblins skittered in even closer and Sirt crooked his finger for her to bend down. "Kirklas is the rightful heir," he whispered. "You gather information as you will, but it is Kirklas who bears the responsibility and the marks of everlasting power."
"What mark does my brother bear?"
"Ancient symbols as you and your sister, but also marks of unity and the all-knowing spirals of life. His power can be harnessed only through actions motivated by justice."
Jonic frowned. "Justice! Bah! Revenge is the most fun you can have."
Sirt hit Jonic on the arm and Jonic scrambled to grab a branch to keep from toppling to the ground. "That's what gets you into trouble and that's why goblins are forced to roam the earth at night -- thinking like that!"
Revenge, Pandimora thought. That word made her feel very cold. Revenge for what was done to their family. "If he seeks revenge ..." she let her voice trail off as a shiver swept through her.
"He will be lost forever. Not only to his family, but to himself."
"And my parents?" she finally asked with barely a sliver of hope.
"You can always try Dinorma," Sirt said. "Don't plan on staying there too long, though. Faeries are not well tolerated."
Dinorma, the wasteland of the lost. She knew the faeries of Aisywel had no connection with the lost of Dinorma. It was the most dangerous place a faerie could go. Even she was not brave enough to go to that dimension.
Suddenly she noticed the portal's odd glow. Someone was attempting to breach the portal.
"Goodbye," she said quickly. Would Irfin attempt to enter the goblin world? As a sorcerer he would not be tolerated here; the goblins hated sorcerers because of an ancient feud. She couldn't allow him to be placed in harm's way. Pandimora ran toward the portal but it moved further away from her and she heard the goblins mischievous laughter following her.
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