by Cici Wickens
The cruel Troll grabbed the object, and contemplated his options before replying, “I suppose this shall do. But next time, you better have the money or, well, you know what will happen.” The Troll turned around and trudged towards another small house. His heavy feet shook the place with each step.
“Where am I?” I ask the spirit-lady.
She tore her eyes from the scene and answered, “You are in the Daphidle Kingdom.” The woman gave me a smile, the anger leaving her eyes as soon as she met my gaze.
I begin to hammer her with questions, “Who are you? Why do you show me these dreams?”
“I am your Guardian Angel. My name is Zola. Your father assigned me to the task of watching over you before he died, and it is my job to help you in any way I can.” A Guardian Angel. An Angel. I fall to my knees, my strength leaving me. I’m in the presence of an Angel. I find that I’m no longer able to speak.
“Please rise. I’m sure that you have questions about your father.” She said.
I swallow and manage to stand, but I keep my eyes downcast. “A-actually…I don’t.”
She took a moment to consider my answer. “I see. Perhaps another time.”
She held out her graceful hand, expecting me to take it. Once my hand was in hers she closed her eyes, and the whole world began to spin. The colors started blending, and if I thought someone walking through me was gut wrenching, then this was even worse. Suddenly, everything went black.
No, everything got darker.
“Fools!” The Queen yelled, earning a jump from not only Caesar and Pip, but me also.
She was standing underneath a bright light, pacing back and forth. She’s wearing a gold floor-length dress that has delicate black spirals of lace going all the way down the sides.
“Why is it that I do not have the token in my hands, right now?” She questioned. “I am the one that has been in the Human realm, enduring the torturous reek of iron! And yet, I come here to find that you have failed in commanding the Hell-Cats, Caesar. Now she has the token.”
“My Queen, they did their best to retrieve the watch. Although I pity you for having to endure the stench of iron, I must ask why you went to the Cruor Dimension in the first place?” Caesar’s voice had lowered, to the point of a quiet suspicion. “The plan to turn her was spoiled by her spying, however she managed to accomplish it. Would it not be wiser to just kill her now that we know where she is and end this?”
Valencia frowned. “I want to observe her for a bit more is all. We would not need to worry if you would have succeeded in retrieving the token.”
Caesar sighed. “The Hell-Cats searched her vehicle, but they were unable to find it. Keisha had managed to keep it hidden the entire time. I underestimated—”
“Do not speak her name!” Valencia growled. “Never speak her name in my presence, or elsewhere for that matter.” She paced more vigorously. “The girl could be listening to us at this very moment. Ugh. Her spying certainly ruins some of the fun.” She groaned angrily. “I do not wish to kill her yet though.”
“Yes.” Caesar muttered. “But, I do wonder how she was able to spy in the first place.”
I take a step back, recalling my last dream where he had drawn his sword with the intent to kill. I already know about most of the things they’re saying, but the clarification frightens me anew.
My throat begins to itch. I cough, and they turn to face us with shocked expressions. I am no longer hidden. I stand there frozen in fear, and Minerva’s drawing comes to mind. “Um, Zola?” I ask nervously.
“An Angel!” Caesar exclaimed, his eyes landing on her. I think that somehow, I had made her visible too when I spoke to her. “So that is how you have been spying!”
Zola looked to be growing weak, her light slowly dimming. Does she have enough power to get us out of here? I quickly close my eyes and grab her hand. She began trying to bring us back into reality, breathing heavily from the effort. When I don’t get that sick sensation like last time, I open my eyes.
We are still in the same place.
“What’s wrong?” I ask frantically.
“I should not have taken you to two places for such a long period of time. Let me focus.”
The Queen snapped out of her shocked trance and said, “Well, we certainly know how to handle an Angel!” She menacingly walked towards us, raising her right arm. Black ink bubbled in the palm of her hand and contorted into a living mass of shadow. It crept and writhed around her fingers, encasing them in a dark flame. “May my darkness taint your radiance.” She laughed and thrusted her hand forward.
My eyes widen as the darkness shot toward us. Just as it is about to reach us, Zola snatched us out of the vision. But it was more violent than usual, and painful in a way that felt like my muscles were being torn apart.
Part 2/2
“When you feel cold to the bones, get on home.”
Chapter 30
I Think the Token Is Stalking Me
Iris
Gasping for air, I frantically look around and meet the startled stares of Jen and Minerva. My hands clench the blankets seeking confirmation that I was back. I try to calm my breathing, steady my heart beat. My tank top is soaked in sweat.
“Are you alright?” Jen asked worriedly.
I think about the darkness that wrapped around Valencia’s hand and how she could command it at will. That raw power is what I’m up against. At my current state, I don’t stand a chance. She’s on a whole other level. Even if I were to get abilities—
My abilities. My abilities. I look at my hands, and then I stand up to see my reflection in the mirror. Nothing’s changed. I was expecting…well, I don’t know what I was expecting. Did I not get them?
I realize that Jen was waiting for my answer. “Yea—” I try to get the word out. “Ye—” Alarmed, I put my hand over my mouth. “No.” The truth seems forced from my lips.
“What’s the matter?” Jen pressed.
My eyes widen. I’m not even sure if I should tell the Humans about my situation. The Humans. Since when do I refer to them that way?
My ears begin to ring. I wince, holding the side of my head. The ringing grows louder and seems to spread before honing in on the hiss of sizzling oil. I release the hold on my head and focus on the sound. I hear Charley humming and the screech of his spatula scraping against a pan. Jen and Minerva are talking to me, but I can’t hear what they’re saying.
Minerva grabbed my hands. Her lips were moving, but no sound escaped them. I shake my head, panicking. She spoke slower. I still can’t hear her. What is wrong with me? Jen rushed out of the room. Minerva put my hand on her heart. I can sense her heartbeat beneath my palm. I focus my mind on its steady pulsing, and then I stop feeling it. I hear it.
Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump
I nearly cry with relief.
“Focus.” Minerva said calmly. “Focus on the rhythm. Concentrate on my voice.”
I nod my head and shakily say, “I can hear you now. I’m okay.”
Minerva pulled me into a hug. “You’re gonna’ be just fine. Blaze went through the same thing for a while when he first started shifting.”
“So, it’s going to happen again?” I ask with a frown.
“It’ll be an on and off thing until you can learn how to control it.” She answered.
My dad shoved open my door. “Iris! What happened?”
I rush to my dad and hug him tightly as I can. “Something went wrong with my hearing. But thanks to Minerva, I got a temporary fix.”
My dad squeezed me back. “Iris, about yesterday…”
“I know. We have a lot to talk about. After my shower I’ll be down for breakfast.” I smile faintly.
✽ ✽ ✽
The water feels different…smoother. I hold my head beneath the shower head and let it run over my body in playful, cascading ripples. I can nearly smell the water. I breathe in the steam and begin tottering to the side, losing my balance. I quickly catch myself, startled at the strange sens
ation. I put my hand on the shower door to steady myself and see what looks to be a dark blue marking on my wrist. Bringing my hand up closer to see it more clearly through the thick steam, I realize that I’m not just seeing things. There’s really something there. A tattoo of some sort.
I try scrubbing it off. Another flash of blue on my forearm. I look down at my body. The markings are all over me! They swirl and break apart, twisting down my arms and legs. What in the world?
I freeze in shock. Abruptly, I could feel every droplet of water on my skin, inching along. Each droplet that hit the shower floor seemed to release a small vibration.
The knobs are turned off and a towel is in my hand before I even knew what I was doing. Who knows what’ll happen if I stay in there for much longer?
Quivering, I hastily dry off. The towel seems to do the trick, wiping the tattoos from my skin with every swipe. I shake my head. This is crazy. There aren’t any ink remains on the towel, much to my amazement.
I pad into my bedroom and get dressed in a hurry. While pulling my shirt over my head, I spot something gleaming from the corner of my eye and pause. I finish pulling on my shirt and warily walk over to my dresser. When my mind finally registers what it is, I take several steps back. The token. How did it get in here? Did my dad bring it up last night? Surely it couldn’t have gotten here all by itself.
And yet here it was, sitting conspicuously on my dresser, its golden metal shining in the sun’s rays. Taunting me. My sense of hearing begins to focus on its torturous ticking. I rush forward, snatch the watch up, and shove it into a sock from my dresser. I slam the drawer shut, muffling the noise even further.
Panting, I grab the topaz from my nightstand and slip it into my pocket. I need all the wisdom and clarity I can get. I bound down the stairs and into the dining room, slightly out of breath by the time I get there.
“There she is!” Thomas raised a glass of orange juice in greeting.
“Mornin’!” Ron yelled, grinning widely.
“I’m glad to see you’re better.” Jen said.
“Come sit by me, Iris.” Minerva ordered, patting the chair beside her.
“Minerva’s found a new toy.” Blaze muttered while grabbing some bacon.
She chunked a biscuit at him.
I take a seat beside her, smiling stiffly at everyone. I barely notice when Charley sets my plate in front of me. My mind is too busy worrying about how strange this morning’s been.
“Anything else weird happen?” Minerva asked quietly.
Blaze looked up from across the table. He heard that.
I shake my head in disbelief. This is crazy. “Weird doesn’t even begin to cover it.” I mutter. “Once they leave, we can talk about this further.” They. The Humans. I don’t even understand what’s happening to me, so there’s no way I can explain it to them yet.
Minerva smiled. “I see you’re on the right track now. About time.”
✽ ✽ ✽
I sit across from my father in the library. Thomas’s dad came to pick up him and Ron, and Jen’s parents picked her up shortly after. Minerva and Blaze were waiting for me in the living room. My father was looking anywhere but me. Neither one of us had said anything yet.
“I’m sorry Iris.” He finally said.
“It’s—” alright. I am unable to say it. “It’s going to take some getting used to.” I say instead. “But I want you to know that I still love you as much as I always have.”
“I love you too. Do you…do you have any questions?”
I lean back in my chair, contemplating. “Let me get this straight. Keisha is my biological mother. You and mom kind of adopted me. And I’m supposed to save another dimension from being overtaken by darkness.”
My dad nodded his head.
“Is Keisha a Human?”
“Yes.”
“So, I’m part Faerie and part Human. Do you know a lot about the Aurum Dimension?”
“I know a little bit. Keisha told me a few things.”
“Alright. Tell me what she told you.”
My dad shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with you right now. Okay. A long time ago in the Daphidle Kingdom there was a king named Eirik. He was a Faerie who chose the Seelie way. Now you aren’t born Unseelie or Seelie, it’s a choice you make when you reach a certain age. Until you choose, you’re more like a…Neutral. Anyways, Eirik had a wicked little sister who was always plotting the overthrow of her brother. Her name was Valencia. Eirik had fallen in love with my sister, Keisha.” He paused to let me get a better grasp on the information. “They got married, and then they wanted to start a family. It was unheard of, practically forbidden, for Fae and Humans to marry, but their love was so strong that the people of his kingdom immediately accepted.” My father let out a sigh. “That’s how great of a king Eirik was. His people would break tradition to make him happy. It was the first marriage of Human and Fae.
Valencia was furious when she figured out that Keisha was bearing a child, a baby girl, and that their child would be next in line for the throne. Valencia argued with her brother, saying it would taint the royal bloodline. You see, Eirik was smart, and he knew that Valencia was going to try something. So, he had a pocket-watch made, and told his closest followers that if anything were to happen to him, it would be the only thing tying his unborn daughter to the throne. He gave it to his wife in secret and told her to give it to his descendant on her 18th birthday. Later that night, Valencia had Eirik surreptitiously poisoned. Valencia was named Queen, until his unborn daughter was old enough to take back the throne. Realizing the danger that you were in, Keisha left Aurum and gave birth here in Earth. She placed you in our care and disappeared for the sake of both of your lives.
All the different races were under two main commands, or territories. The Seelie and the Unseelie. The good, or light elemental wielders, were ruled by the Seelie Court. The bad, or those who practiced the dark side of elemental wielding, were ruled by the Unseelie Court. When Valencia married an Unseelie Faerie named Caesar, the balance was disrupted because it allowed her to convert to using dark magic and changed her title from a Seelie Queen to an Unseelie one. The Seelie Council members are in a predicament now since there is no longer a Queen of Light. They are angry but can do nothing about it because she is the rightful Queen for now—until you make your appearance. There’s more to it than that, though. There’s a lot of politics and stuff that I don’t really understand.”
“Wow. I thought you said you knew a little bit. I probably won’t remember most of the stuff you just told me. And really? Of all the things, a pocket-watch? He should’ve made it something cool, like a sword.”
My dad gave me a small smile. “It had to be discreet. And Keisha always said he had a thing with time. Well, does that give you a better idea of what you’re dealing with?”
“It definitely helped. But we could sit here and talk all day, and I still wouldn’t know everything that I need to if I’m being honest.”
“It is a lot. But I believe in you Iris. Always have, always will.”
“That makes one of us.” I mutter.
“About the letter that Keisha gave you. You left it—” My dad started.
“Will you just hold onto it for me?” I interrupt.
“Of course.” He said, giving me a knowing look.
I remember another thing I wanted to ask him. “Did you bring the pocket-watch up this morning?”
“No, I didn’t think you wanted it. Why?”
I swallow, feeling wary. “It was in my room this morning…sitting on my dresser like a stalker. Kind of creeped me out.”
“Weird.”
“No kidding. If you think that’s weird then let me tell you about the dre—visions I’ve been having.”
I explain all of the visions I’ve had since the night mom passed. I had been longing to tell him about them and feel much better having gotten them off my chest. He listened to everything without interrupting. I then went on
to describe what happened at the restaurant yesterday.
“Wait, what?” My dad demanded.
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“You should’ve said something. Who knows who that person was? And if he knows about the token, then he could have very well been sent by Valencia.”
“I know. I’ve been considering that. Also, we have another problem. My senses are shorting out.”
“Is that what happened this morning?”
“Yeah. It was as if I could hear things going on downstairs, but I couldn’t hear what my friends were saying right across from me. I didn’t know what was going on, and I’m afraid something like that might happen at school.”
“I don’t know how to help you with that.” My dad said with a sigh. “I wish there was someone you could speak to. Maybe Keisha?”
I shake my head. “I’m about to head over to Minerva and Blaze’s place. Their mom knows a bit about this stuff, so I’m going to ask her.”
My dad didn’t look surprised. “I figured there was something different about those two.”
I stand up. “Actually, they’re waiting in the living room for me now. I better get going. Love you.” I hug him and follow the sound of the TV.
Within the next half hour we were at their house. On the way there I got them up to speed on everything, not withholding any information save for the parent revelation. I don’t think I’ll ever tell anyone about that. Blaze seemed more talkative than usual, and I wondered if it was because he wasn’t around Humans anymore.
“Let’s go find your mom.” I say after parking. We found her in the kitchen making something that smelled like chili. I nearly gag. Minerva rubbed her stomach, and Blaze breathed in the aroma as if it were heavenly.
“Good day, Princess…children. I bet you had an interesting night and morning didn’t you?” She said without looking up.