Summoned

by Lisa E Parry

  “Like what?”

  “You tell me.”

  “I don’t know what you’re getting at Stephanie; so, are you just going to ask me what you are clearly dying to ask or just talk in riddles?” I was becoming a little annoyed now.

  “Never mind,” she said in an irritatingly offhand manner that reminded me of Cheri, and picked up her horse’s pace to get back into her previous position.

  By the time the sun was just about to touch the horizon, the scenery had changed once again. We had emerged from the mountain pass and began the descent on the other side. The skyline spread out before us as we looked down upon the rolling hills of the countryside. The setting sun cast rich black shadows from the hills and the trees, which reached out to pull us into the oncoming darkness.

  “The Elven Kingdom is just on the horizon and the cliffs edge lies beyond,” Aidan announced when he reined us in briefly to regroup.

  “Your Majesty, may I suggest we eat before we move on? We are tired and weary, and the food and water will do us good, as well as the horses.” Adhelm spoke beside the King. Everyone agreed, naturally. I for one was absolutely knackered.

  We set up camp and feeling embarrassed I found I really needed a toilet. Of course there were no sodding toilets in the countryside, and the ones they did have in the towns and cities barely passed for a toilet as I defined the term. I had to go: there was no alternative.

  “I’ll be back in a tick, guys,” I mumbled and disappeared into the bushes. I reappeared red-faced and hating this damn place. I helped set up the camp and light a fire for cooking. Stephanie began preparing and I decided to stick close and ‘help out’ while watching every move she made, paying particular attention to what went into the food. She was clean, so I retreated to the parameters of our circle with a bowl of liquid that looked like porridge. Dorian stood watch.

  We were camping between two sheer rock faces as they provided shelter from the prevailing wind. It was chilly up here and I wrapped my cloak tighter about myself. Looking up I saw shrubbery and trees growing out of the rock reaching up desperately for the sun. I glanced up at Dorian, whose expression gave nothing away. Irritation radiated off him though. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you of my suspicions about Stephanie. Cheri asked me to keep it a secret and I didn’t want to worry you. You have enough to deal with.”

  “You should have told me, I could have helped you.” His answer was cold, I felt terribly guilty. “Do you not trust me?”

  “Of course I do! I’m sorry. That’s the only thing I’ve been keeping from you though,” I assured him apologetically. All these secrets and hidden agendas were getting to me. Why can’t people just be what they are? Why is everything so complicated?

  “It shouldn’t be like this,” I continued. “We are the good guys; why is everything so difficult?” I looked back to our party. “We have to hide what Warwick is, hide our relationship, and we have to be wary of Stephanie for a hidden agenda…” I shrugged my shoulders, feeling defeated. “We are all keeping things from each other and it will end up tearing us apart, I know it.”

  “It will only tear us apart if you let it,” he said finally, I sighed. He rested his hand on the pommel of his sword and his chainmail chinked as he pushed a hand through his hair.

  “I’ll see you later,” I mumbled, handed him his food and walked back to the campfire.

  Viola sought me out and glanced around before speaking. “How are things with you two?”

  “Okay, I think. Anyway, how are you doing with getting your magic back?” I flicked my hair back nervously.

  “Not so good. Adhelm is trying, bless him, but I think I am a lost cause. It feels like there’s a brick wall dividing me from my magic, and without being able to sense it there is just a gaping black hole.” She turned her huge purple eyes on me - they looked even bigger with tears swimming in them - and let out a long-ragged breath.

  “We’ll figure it out, don’t worry.” I put my arm around her and an idea occurred to me. “What if you had placed an enchantment on yourself? Maybe all you need to do is undo it?”

  “Adhelm thought that might be a possibility.”

  “Shall we give it a go?” My mind was tripping over itself.

  “I have to do it though. It’s not something someone else can do.”

  “At Henrik’s he broke the enchantment on the book by going through me.” Before I said any more, I took her hand and drew magic in. My power delved into her to seek out the barrier and I found it. It was purple and glistening; it looked and felt like some kind of plug. Sending a thread of magic to it, I carefully prodded it, but it was unyielding.

  “Follow me,” I said to her and Viola shut her eyes. I could sense her following the direction of my magic to that plug.

  “I see it!” she exclaimed.

  “Try to break it down,” I urged.

  After a moment’s silence I heard her say: “I can’t, I’m not strong enough. Stop!” I let go and withdrew my power before releasing it back to nature.

  “Ladies...” We both jumped at the sound of Adhelm’s voice. “You are just going to have to give it time, Viola. Something will trigger your magic. I believe it will be in a moment of dire need. Melissa, your heart is in the right place, but you are not helping.” He walked by us and sat facing the fire.

  “Jeez, what got stuck up his arse and died?” I joked.

  “Melissa, can I have a word with you please?” Warwick asked. I nodded, and he led me to a quite spot from the others.

  “What is it?” I asked irritably.

  “I’m hungry,” he breathed into my ear after looking around.

  “So eat; sort yourself out.” I shrugged and folded my arms.

  “I can’t. I haven’t drunk today and I’m sure I’m not going to get anything to eat at this damned elf place, so what am I supposed to do? How long are we going to be there? I can’t feast on some elf or on one of you guys. Everyone will know what I am.”

  “You’re hungry already?” I tapped my foot. “Didn’t you drink from your feisty little friend last night? I thought you could manage on two or three feeds a week?”

  He grabbed my arm, “I was going to feed on her before we were attacked, and I only had animal blood before that, which isn’t sustaining me. There aren’t enough trees here for cover to get some fluffy bunny, so believe me when I say I’m HUNGRY.”

  I swallowed and felt the blood drain from my face, “Um, this might be a problem then.”

  “You think?” He let me go and turned away from me.

  I regarded the back of him. Would it hurt? The thought of offering up my neck to Warwick surprised and scared the crap out of me. One must wonder what it’s like though, right?

  Warwick had turned back to me. “Either you’re thinking about something really hard or you’re checking out my ripe round arse. Which is it? Do you have a solution?”

  I rolled my eyes, “I was thinking.”

  “About my arse?” he winked a sparkling green eye at me.

  I huffed and strode back to the others. “Leave it with me,” I said over my shoulder. More problems…

  We ate in a solemn silence and I was glad of it until Dorian took to training me again. Owen, Neil and Ethan joined in, parrying with each other but taking in Dorian’s instructions. I tried not to look at Ethan, as thinking about Mikey would cause me to lose concentration. It wasn’t working.

  I saw Oliver watching us but then something shimmered next to him and I thought I saw Mikey standing right beside him. I shook my head but then it looked like Corey was standing on the other side of Oliver with that same shocking red hair and confident smile.

  The next thing I knew I was on my back and Dorian had a dagger at my throat. Those grey eyes shook me out of it and brought me back to reality.

  “What is distracting you?” Dorian asked whilst lifting me off the floor.

  I squinted my eyes shut. “Nothing,” I began sweating. Am I hallucinating? Oliver came over.

  “What’s up
?”

  “Nothing, I’m fine!” I shouted and walked away. It must be the dark part of my mind playing tricks on me. Yeah, that’s what it is. I can ignore it. My mood plummeted and anyone who considered approaching me thought better of it. I walked away from everyone.

  I had picked up a skin of water, splashed the contests on my face and took in a good refreshing gulp of the cool liquid. I needed to think straight. I wiped my face and then looked down at my glistening wet hands. Where was that green glow coming from? I glanced over my shoulder to see nothing that would cast such a ghostly light. I poured more water to puddle in my hand and found two dull green lights reflected in it. Realisation struck: it was my eyes.

  Why is this happening? Great, so now they’re going to switch themselves on and off like bloody Christmas lights? Or maybe something or someone is signalling to my necromantic magic to communicate? I stupidly blinked several times and the lights diminished. I shook the water from my hands and dried them on my cloak. I looked around where I stood. All I saw was my group a little way off.

  What if Anarch had something to do with it? Could he control me in some small way from a distance? I sighed and wrapped my arms around myself as though to fend off the cold. I watched everyone pack everything away and ready the horses to move on to the Elven city. I couldn’t help but think that sometimes I felt totally alone.

  Chapter 11

  It was pitch black by the time we arrived at the Elven Gorge of Spirits. A scout found us before we got close and he guided us to the city after King Aidan introduced himself. The scout was an elf and he also had white hair that became luminescent under the moonlight. His eyes were large but a different colour to Viola’s and under the dull light it was difficult to tell their colour. He wore brown breeches and a matching tunic, but he also had a bow slung across his back accompanied by a quiver of arrows. I noticed he also had a short curved sword at his hip as well as two curved daggers. He was not on horseback, but he glided alongside us effortlessly. Viola watched him curiously.

  We had travelled through a thick forest before the trees opened out to a gorge and I heard running water. Torches lined the cliff faces so we could clearly see everything, even fireflies buzzed around lighting up the gorge and giving it an eerie sort of beauty. I couldn’t believe we were actually here, that I was now in an actual elven colony. My mood shifted to a lighter one as I took in the scenery with wonder.

  “Leave your horses here.” The elven scout called to us. We dismounted and tied our horses to the trees. His hair was short, but he had two long braided strands that started at his temple to flow behind his pointed ears and hung down to his collarbone. This time I noticed him watching Viola curiously. He turned away when she faced him.

  He introduced himself as Tobius before guiding us into the dark chasm. I finally saw the fast-flowing river cutting its way through the gorge like a black ribbon as we passed a section where it ran deep and fierce. The water frothed as it crashed and eddied through the smooth curves it had calved out over the ages. As we continued downstream it widened out and became shallow and quieter. I could see the pebbles below the surface but then the reflections of elves caught my eye and I looked up from the mesmerising water. The majority of people wore white, silver and grey, so it was no wonder they called the place the Gorge of Spirits. With their movements so fluid, they could have passed as spectres in the night.

  Something buzzed in my face and I instantly jerked backwards on instinct as though it were a bug. Yup, that was embarrassing.

  “The fairies can get nosey of strangers. Just ignore them.” Our guide said casually. I tripped and would have gone arse over tit had Dorian not steadied me. Did he say ‘fairies’? My heart began to flurry when I noticed that I wasn’t looking at fireflies, I was looking at glowing fairies. I turned to Dayna and saw the same dumbfounded expression on her face. A fairy lifted a strand of her auburn hair and tugged at it making her squeal.

  “Off with you!” Tobius yelled irritably and on command the fairy flittered away. I felt giddy with excitement. “Sorry about that, they don’t often see red hair.”

  “Of course,” Dayna murmured sarcastically. The elf turned his eyes on her and boy did she look like she felt the weight of that stare.

  “This way,” he said and turned on his heel to guide us deeper into the wood.

  Dorian gave me a warning look, but I just shrugged with a shy smile. We followed him a little while until he gestured for us to sit in beautifully carved chairs from wood. The surface was smooth from many a bottom parking on it. I almost didn’t want to sit down. The back was so delicate and well carved that it looked like wooden embroidery. No doubt my arse would damage such a fragile thing. I sat anyway and watched the reflections of torchlight flicker in the water.

  Dayna was attracting fairies again as small lights began to cluster around her, much to our amusement. She crossed her arms and gave them an admonishing glare.

  “You can look at it but don’t pull on it, okay?” she said as though berating children.

  “King Aidan! By the gods it has been years, has it not?” I jumped at the new voice.

  “King Oswyn, it has been a while,” Aidan greeted. My eyes widened at the man he grasped hands with. King Oswyn, of the elves, looked about seven feet and his white hair reached down his slender body to his stomach. The same two braids reached behind his ears. He had a handsome angular face and his voice deep and resonant. A plain silver crown encircled his head, which his pointed ears nearly touched. He wore light grey robes and they flowed around him like water over rocks to trail across the floor.

  I looked around at my party and I saw they too looked a little intimidated. He was the epiphany of the figure of authority and I knew it would be a very bad idea to ever pick a fight with him.

  After our shock, we all shot up out of our seats and waited as he came around our circle to shake hands with each of us. My stomach summersaulted with nerves. Viola was beside me and he came to her next. She gave him a deep courtesy and shook his huge hand.

  “My, my what do we have here? You smell of the otherworld my dear, but you belong to our race, I see. What I wouldn’t give to have one of my daughters return to us.” He paused and searched her eyes, “Are there many more of my sons and daughters in your world?”

  Viola spluttered, “Err, not that I know of your Majesty, other than my Mother and Father.”

  The King smiled kindly at her. “Prey, what is your name, fair child?”

  “Viola, your Majesty,” her pale face flushed a little.

  “Perhaps I could convince you to stay? You have magic and there are so few of us with the gift now I fear.” Viola just stared at him; “I shall send someone for you tomorrow. The Queen and I would like the pleasure of your company.”

  Viola just nodded, and he smiled down at her. He turned back to Aidan. “You are her warrior for now, Aidan?”

  “Yes,” he replied.

  “You do us great honour in protecting one of our own. It shall not be forgotten.” Finally, he turned to me. Yup, my bowels were on the move. When he stood in front of me I saw his eyes looked the colour of a Tigers’. They flawed me, I just gawked at him as I shook his giant hand. What I didn’t expect were the sparks that appeared on contact and I flinched.

  “You must be the sorceress that I have heard whispers on the wind about. Well met.”

  “And you, your Majesty.” I curtseyed.

  He shook his head, “I do not like what I see through your eyes. I feel you, Viola and Warwick have seen the worst of the world already and yet you are so young. Your name?”

  “Melissa.”

  “I hope you will find peace while you are here.” He returned to Aidan and they spoke quietly with each other. I let out a long breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding and looked around at the others. After standing ramrod stiff, it now looked as though someone had given the order ‘at ease’ as we all slumped from our tense postures.

  We were staying the night and I was glad for
it. Dayna didn’t seem too happy though - being constantly harassed by softly glowing fairies. Her face became stormier by the minute.

  I sat next to her and she spoke of her annoyance, “I’m going to go mad here, all because of my damn hair colour. I thought I’d outgrown this sort of attention at bloody school!” She waved her hands around her head and then crossed her arms again. The lights dispersed, but when they returned I saw sparks begin to fly from Dayna’s hands.

  “You need to calm down or you’re going to fry very little people, Dayna.” I tried to hide the amusement from my voice, but this was cracking me up.

  “Why are we here?” she cried, looking ready to tear her own hair out.

  “A good night’s sleep in safety.” Cheri came over and sat beside us. I saw with delight that a smile had crept across even Cheri’s face at Dayna’s expense.

  “Not safe from insanity,” Dayna mumbled, her Irish accent becoming thicker as her irritation grew.

  Cheri ignored her. “Aidan is asking Oswyn for help. He will hold council with him and then relay the information back to us.”

  “Asking help for what?” I asked and then fended off one of Dayna’s arms in another attempt of hers at frightening off the fairies.

  Dayna stood and stormed away, but I saw Tobius stop her and speak with her.

  “Imminent war,” Cheri said simply.

  “What? I thought we were ‘going in through the back door’? Yunno? To avoid war at all costs? Is there something you’re not telling me?” No surprise there if there is.

  “War is always imminent, Melissa. It is difficult to avoid such an eventuality. However, sometimes it cannot be avoided. War will happen if we don’t get to Anarch in time. We are working against the clock and we have to consider our options if we are unsuccessful.”

  The weight of what Cheri had just said hit me like a tonne of bricks. “This world is already preparing for war?”

  “Yes, it is ‘plan B’.”

  I rolled my eyes at her offhand manner. She didn’t seem effected by this at all. Dorian joined us but sat beside Cheri. I pressed my lips together at the gesture.