by Martha Carr
The older elf wearing the crown stretched out his arm and opened his hand. The bat in Leira's hand began to vibrate and she tightened her grip. Her arm shook violently.
“Stronger than I imagined,” he said.
“She’s absorbing the energy,” the other observed. “But how?”
“No, it’s more than that. She has powerful inner strength. She’s a natural…”
Leira bit her lip and pulled back as hard as she could on the bat. For an instant, it floated toward her.
The being waved his hand again, creating a circular symbol of light and the bat pulled itself from her grasp and flew to him. Leira fell backward from the momentum, landing hard on her tailbone.
“Can you be beaten to death by a hallucination?” she asked, wondering if her brain would slip over the edge and supply an answer.
The younger elf rolled his eyes, looking annoyed.
“That seems about right. I go crazy, I come up with,” she got back on her feet, “annoyed aliens.”
“I don’t think we qualify as aliens,” said the older elf as he stepped through the opening, coming down to the ground again. “Not only are we not of this world but also not from this dimension.”
The annoyed one followed, taking the bat from his companion, and gave more of a huff than a sigh.
“You’re fully formed images,” said Leira, her mind swimming as she reached out to poke one of them. “You’re even beautiful,” she said, awe in her voice, “with pointed ears. I knew watching Star Trek late at night would come back to haunt me.” Her finger moved closer to the younger elf, who drew away from her.
“Let her,” said the older one. Leira saw that he was wearing some kind of crown made of twisted metal shaped into vines and leaves with a ruby in the center. The annoyed elf started to pull back and even raised his hand to do something.
“No fireballs in here,” said the one wearing the crown. It sounded to Leira like an order.
“Wonder what it means that I even wanted royalty in my delusions,” she said, and touched his arm, wrapping her hand around his wrist, squeezing it.
“I assure you, I’m real,” he said, the words coming out in a rush of music. Leira froze when she realized they weren’t speaking English. They weren’t actually speaking at all.
They were singing...
“What’s going on? What’s happened? Is any of this real? I’m not this creative on a good day. Shouldn’t my insanity be limited by my ability to dream you guys up?” Her questions came out in rapid fire as she eyed the bat again. The younger elf seemed to sense where her thoughts were wandering and moved the bat further out of her reach.
“Did you just read my mind?” she asked.
“No, you were staring at it,” he sang.
“You’re not crazy,” the older elf added. It was the most beautiful string of sounds Leira had ever heard. “We’re really here. You can call me Oriceran.”
“King Oriceran,” the other elf clarified. “And yes, you were right. Light Elves.”
“Trust your senses. You can see us, you can touch us. More importantly, we’re not here to harm you.”
“While I’m glad to hear I didn’t dream up something that would want to kill me, I’m going to need better proof to be sure I’m not nuts,” said Leira. “This isn’t the first time you’ve appeared and I’m the only one who reacts.” She looked back and forth at them. “That’s not a good sign,” she pointed to herself, “for me.”
“Fair enough. How can we help you with this, what, a test?” the king asked.
Leira hesitated. Every idea that came to her could be explained away. There was no way to know for sure if she was losing her mind.
She held out her hands in frustration. “I’ve got nothing,” she admitted. “No idea how to prove it.”
“Then let’s get on with things,” said the younger elf. “Time is passing in your world and a killer is getting further and further away.”
“Killer?” asked Leira. “Hell, I dreamed up a case, too? That actually makes more sense. I’m working even as I go insane. No rest for the wicked.”
“You’re really going to need to put that aside if you’re going to help us,” the king said gently. “The entire sane or insane argument.” He lifted his hand as if he was about to do something.
“Wait, I have an idea,” she said. The elves waited but Leira didn’t say another word, just leaned in toward them. She opened her eyes wider and raised her eyebrows. The king got the message.
“We don’t read minds. It’s not a talent we’ve acquired, as yet. You’ll have to tell us.”
Another eye roll from the younger elf.
“Sorry,” said Leira. “I suppose it makes me feel better to know you can’t just do anything. Magic has limits.”
“Okay, on with it,” sang the king. “What’s the test?”
Leira took a deep breath and held it, making them wait. She almost couldn’t say it out loud.
“Find my mother’s ring,” Leira said, hoping they could do it, despite the fact that this had to all be a crazy illusion.
The ring had been lost for years and was the only piece of jewelry she had that belonged to her mother. She still felt the loss.
“Easy enough,” the king said.
“Party trick,” the other elf agreed.
“Do you have a name?” asked Leira, glaring at him. She was getting annoyed, even if she had hallucinated him.
He sang the notes again but she couldn’t make out what he was saying.
“What the hell was that?” she asked. “Wait, that’s familiar. Do it again.”
He sang it again, holding the last notes.
“Hold on, that’s the theme from Die Hard,” she said, laughing despite what was happening to her. “Best Christmas movie, ever,” Leira and the young elf said in unison.
“Yes, I’ve heard that before,” he said. “Not my first appearance here.”
“The ring?” she asked, the spark of hope she felt dimming. No ring and going crazy, she thought. A pang of loneliness settled in her chest. Next step to going crazy.
“Can you picture it in your mind?” the king asked.
“Child,” the other elf sang, sounding annoyed.
“Keebler,” growled Leira.
“Not a cookie, and we don’t live in trees,” he said. “Those Keeblers are a strange cross between a wood elf and a gnome and I assure you, have nothing to do with Light Elves. Although, neither one of those species has ever made cookies either.”
“How would you know about Keebler…?”
“Picture the ring,” the king interrupted. He took a deep breath and swept his hands, trailing gold light, through the air, making symbols in orange and yellow flame that hung there. The symbols came together and melded together, turning and reshaping themselves until they finally formed into the shape of a box made of light.
The king looked pleased, relieved even. He sang something Leira couldn’t understand, his face close to the glowing box.
The box began to spin faster and faster, starting to move around the perimeter of the room, bathing everything in a rosy glow, filling the space with a high-pitched moaning sound that was almost unbearable to Leira.
She struggled to keep her bearings and felt herself swaying from side to side.
Zip! Woot!
All that she could see was a continuous stream of glowing orange light and inside of the stream was every memory she had of the ring, right up to the day it was lost.
Leira watched, fascinated, remembering all the good times with her mother and the dread as her mother started to get worse, finally giving Leira the ring for safekeeping, just before the orderlies took her away.
Plink!
The spinning stopped abruptly and the light disappeared. Something small and hard dropped at her feet. Leira looked down and saw, resting against the tip of her sneaker, a platinum band with two sapphires flanking an emerald.
“Oh my God…”, she whispered. It was her mother’s ring.<
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She bent down slowly, hoping the illusion would last. Tears welled up in her eyes as she picked up the ring and slid it onto her finger, back where it belonged. She wiped away a tear with the back of her hand and blew out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
“Not a crier, Berens,” she said, balling her hands into fists. She looked up at the elves, who were waiting patiently for her to let them know if the test was enough to satisfy her.
She held her hand out in front of her and looked at the ring from every angle.
“I can feel it there,” she whispered. “Cold metal.” She pressed the ring into the palm of her other hand and felt the sharp prongs. “I’m not sure I care if I’m crazy or not,” she said softly.
“Good, then let’s be going,” said the younger elf.
“Wait,” said the king. “She has to agree to go. We don’t kidnap anyone.”
“That’s something,” said Leira. “Where exactly are we going?”
“Our world, on the other side. To Oriceran and our kingdom where the Light Elves reside,” the king replied. “We need you to help us solve a murder.”
“You have the same name as your entire planet?”
“We’re Light Elves,” said the younger elf, as if that was all the explanation that was needed.
“Who was killed?” Leira easily slipped back into detective mode.
“My son,” whispered the king, holding out his hand to Leira.
She hesitated for a moment but curiosity, and a deep desire to help won out. She put her hand in his.
“What the hell,” she said. She felt a warm glow course through her veins. Glowing symbols of every color appeared, crawling up her arm, under the skin.
The younger elf finally let the bat fall to the ground.
As the symbols spread, the portal opened around her, filling her cottage, swallowing up her world, until she found herself surrounded by the dense forest she had glimpsed earlier in the hospital.
“Welcome to Oriceran,” the king smiled. “Come, there isn’t much time. The memories fade with every passing hour.”
“Memories of what?” Leira asked as she tried to keep up, looking all around her in amazement at the new world. The ring picked up the light, flashing on her finger.
“My son’s murder,” the king replied, looking at her. “More will be revealed, but we must hurry.”
“I still don’t know what to call you,” she said to the younger elf, as she moved easily along the uneven ground. All the years of running were paying off.
“I told you my name,” he said, singing it for her again.
“Yeah, I know, theme from Die Hard. Guys in my world are hung up on it, too,” she scrutinized him. “I’m going to call you Bert. You know, like Bert and Ernie. Same high forehead.” She leaped over the biggest tree root she had ever seen, landing easily on the other side. Bert took note of her agility.
“Frankly, on you, it’s more of a seven or eight head,” she said.
“That’s a new one to me. What’s a Bert and Ernie?”
“They’re Muppets.”
“What’s a Muppet?”
“You know Keebler but missed out on Muppets? Okay, whatever. It’s an oversized doll and someone puts a hand up their…” she said, jabbing the air. “To make them talk.”
Bert rolled his eyes.
“We’re past the Wood Elves kingdom,” said the king as they entered a lush, mossy clearing. “We can use magic again without being detected. Get us home before someone sees the girl.”
“I’m not a Muppet,” Bert grumbled, creating violet symbols made of light in the air.
Unnoticed, a cicada flew along above them, part organic, part machine. The whirring sound it made blended into the forest’s constant background noise.
“Uh oh, I’ve pissed off Bert,” Leira whispered as the ground dissolved around her. The cicada hovered for a moment before circling and turning back to report all that it had seen and heard. Bringing Leira to Oriceran meant the Light Elves had broken a basic rule and others would be interested in knowing more.
CHAPTER FOUR
Leira found herself standing in the middle of a large, open space, deep inside the Light Elves’ kingdom. The entire kingdom was nestled in a valley near a mountain range, overlooking a wide green valley.
Only problem was Leira was standing high above all of it, as if she was floating in mid-air. The entire vista was visible to Leira from every angle, even under her feet. The elves floating nearby looked unconcerned.
Don’t panic.
As far as she could tell, there were no actual walls, no floors. There wasn’t even a table or chair. She slid her sneaker forward just a little and felt something solid beneath her.
Reassuring.
Leira found herself frozen in place, not willing to move.
“You look distressed,” the king said. It was a statement of fact. He didn’t seem to be sharing her concern.
She stared back at him, not sure what to say. “The…ground…” she stammered. Everyone turned to look at her, confused.
“Where the hell is it?” she asked, starting to get angry, pointing down. ‘The ground, where’s the damned ground?” She waved her arms, but that felt too much like she was flapping wings. She stopped, arms still out, fighting the urge to curl into a ball.
“I’ve got this one,” said Bert. He touched fingertips together in elaborate patterns, and the floors became visible, flowing out from the corners like liquid before turning into solid marble. The center of the floor was inlaid with a cursive O inside the same style of crown the king was wearing. It was bracketed by Irish wolfhounds sitting at attention in mosaic tiles.
The liquid flowed up toward the sky, forming walls, leaving space for windows that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. An oversized crystal chandelier blossomed from the ceiling, while the room seemed to furnish itself. Everything glowed around the edges.
“We do like the glitter,” said the king, looking up at the chandelier.
“I quite prefer to do without any of it,” said a female elf, as tall as Bert with long, flowing dark hair, wearing a crown similar to the king’s. She was the most beautiful creature Leira had ever seen. “It really spoils the view to have to pretend we have floors and walls,” she observed.
“Leira Berens, this is my wife, Queen Saria,” said the king.
“Pretend?” Alarmed, Leira quickly tested the sturdiness of the floor by stomping her foot. Best to find out now if she was about to fall to her death.
The floor held.
“Well done,” said the king. “Very brave, that’s a good sign. You face things head on.” He gave her a smile that quickly faded. “That will serve you well in the task at hand.”
“You’re staring,” the queen observed, fixing her deep green eyes on Leira. “It’s as if you’ve never seen an elf before. That can’t be true.” She arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow at the king and said, “Surely you’ve noticed.”
“How long do we have left?” asked the king, ignoring the queen’s words.
“Three hours, no more,” Bert replied.
“What happens in three hours?” Leira asked, as she studied the room She let her fingers graze cut glass pitchers that sang melodies when she touched them, admired gold framed paintings that came to life when she looked at them, carved wooden trays that had leaves growing from the edges.
Everything was more beautiful to her than anything she’d seen back on Earth.
“The memories will be lost,” Bert urged. The king cleared his throat to catch Leira's attention. She was too busy staring at a prism dangling in one of the windows. The sunlight was shining through it, casting an image of a blue reindeer on a nearby wall.
Its broad antlers were refracting in the light.
Leira touched the prism and as it moved the images changed. She was mesmerized as first a gold antelope, then a white wolf and finally an emerald green dragonfly danced on the wall.
“She’s enraptured by
a child’s toy,” The queen shook her head. “This is who you’re entrusting with finding our son’s killer?” Her voice was sharp and full of pain.
Leira snapped out of it, pulling her hand away from the prism. “I’m here to do a job,” she said, her experience kicking in. It didn’t matter if everything around her was new and different. She was here to investigate a crime. “Singleness of purpose.”
“Indeed,” Bert replied, frowning.
Leira could tell he wasn’t happy. Not my problem, she thought. You called me.
“Let’s get on with it, then,” she said. “Time matters, even over here.” She gave her best dead fish look.
“Better,” said Bert, as he held open a tall door. Leira strode through confidently, as Bert tsked loudly. The king and queen followed but Leira hesitated, realizing she didn’t have a clue where she was going.
“Perhaps we should lead the way?” The queen looked down her nose at Leira.
The queen stepped in front of her, waving her arms to show the floors in front of them. “All of this opening and closing is a tiresome nuisance,” she flicked her wrist. “I suppose it’s a short-term necessity.”
“I could always just go home,” replied Leira. The queen turned to look at her and Leira held her gaze, not backing down. She cocked her head to one side, waiting to see if the queen had anything else to say. No one else moved, even though Leira could see that Bert was once again rolling his eyes, annoyed.
“Very well,” said the queen. “Let’s get on with it.” She waved an arm over her head, her sleeve fluttering as the walls and floors behind them dissolved completely. “There, that’s better,” she said. She flicked her wrist, completing the spell as the rest of the castle disappeared again. She didn’t bother to turn around to see Leira's reaction.
Bitch wanna play, thought Leira. Okay, you are a grieving mother, I get it. I’ll give you this one. Leira focused on the queen walking in front of her and the surrounding peaks in the distance. She didn’t dare look down at the distant valley below.
As each room became briefly visible Leira could see other elves busy at work, or lying down, resting. The queen made a series of swift motions and a dark cloud appeared, lightning and thunder cracking and rumbling around it. The queen moved swiftly into the cloud as it enveloped her.