Lesser Prince (Guardians of Gaeland Book 1)

by Jamie McFarlane

  They found the tent in Tig’s pack - a compact bag without any obvious zippers or folds. Tig placed it on the ground and queried, “Did we bring a Faerie-Globe? I can’t see how to open this.”

  Amber placed a small globe above the bag Tig was inspecting, knelt in the snow and looked at it with him. “Geez, I don’t know, are you sure that’s the tent? Maybe it’s a pillow.” She sounded doubtful and prodded it with an open finger. “Kinda hard.”

  Sam groaned at the two of them, “Holy cow, what would you guys do without me?” His tone was exasperated. “So, how do you get a globe to light up?” As he asked, he placed his hand on the bag and then said, “Open, please.”

  The bag started jumping around as all three moved back to give it room. The material stretched and expanded as if someone were inflating it like a balloon. When finished, the tent was square, about three yards on each side. The front of the tent was five feet tall and sloped down to roughly three feet tall in the back. Incredibly, the tent’s outer surface took on the characteristics of terrain in which it was placed. It looked very much like a large slab of rock had been covered by the winter’s snow.

  “Amazing,” Amber said quietly.

  Sam had already pushed his way through a front flap. “Come in. You gotta see this!”

  Amber and Tig didn’t need much encouragement. They were surprised to find that the ceiling of the tent was completely transparent from within. Tig could see the darkening sky and the trees that surrounded the tent as if they were standing outside. Amber ran her fingers along the ceiling fabric and the sky distorted, springing back to normal when she stopped.

  “And look here,” Sam continued eagerly, as he flopped down onto a small cot. There were three cots arranged, one at the back and two on the sides, complete with pillows and blankets.

  “Come on, dingle. Take off your shoes. You don’t want snow all over your bed, do you?” Sam wondered if Amber would ever quit telling him what to do.

  Tig went out and brought his pack inside, setting it at one end of a cot. He then pulled the other two packs in and put them out of the way, bringing the Faerie-Globe inside as well. He took off his cloak and boots and lay down on his cot. It felt great to lie down and stretch out. The cot was firm but comfortable.

  “Do you suppose this thing has heat?” Amber asked after a while. A chill had started to set in even though she'd pulled the blanket over her.

  “Ask it,” Sam replied.

  Amber raised an eyebrow but thought it worth a try. “Heat, please,” she said as she held her hand against the side of the tent. Nothing happened.

  “I might be able to do something about that.” Tig put his boots back on, grabbed his cloak and exited the tent. Darkness had descended, but Tig didn’t mind. His elven sight was still new enough that he looked forward to evenings. It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for.

  Tig re-entered the tent carrying a rock about the size of a bowling ball and placed it in the center of the tent. He exited and re-entered a couple of times making a small pile of similarly sized rocks. Sam and Amber sat up on their cots and observed him incredulously.

  Tig knelt in front of the pile and placed his hands on the rocks, “Mizzie foci trunda.” A small greenish glow appeared between the palms of his hands and the pile of rocks. Tig repeated the incantation a few times and heat started to roll off of the rocks.

  “You're full of surprises, aren’t you,” Amber said, impressed.

  “Before we leave tomorrow, you and Sam should try to learn the covering spell and this one too. Naminee said that all elves could do them. Maybe that goes for you guys, too. Hmm, I just had a thought. Sam, do you mind if I try something on you? It might pinch a little …”

  Sam looked at him suspiciously but his curiosity finally won, “I’ll bite. What do you want to do?”

  “It might not work, and it’s too hard to explain. Lie down in your bunk and close your eyes.” Sam did as he said. Amber came over to watch, mostly curious, but she also wanted to make sure nothing crazy happened. She could find Sam annoying, but she still loved him and felt responsible for him.

  Tig placed his hands on Sam’s closed eyes. Of course, Sam tried to open them. “Keep them closed, Sam. If it pinches a little, just hold on. It will be over soon.” Tig concentrated and looked for that peace he always felt while healing. In his mind’s eye he was able to find what he was looking for. Naminee had explained that there was a small flap of skin preventing a natural lens from moving into place. Naminee had freed Tig’s using a knife. The very thought of it caused Tig to shudder.

  In a few moments he located the flap and, after concentrating, removed it. Sam didn’t even flinch. Tig moved to the other eye and repeated the process.

  “There. All done,” Tig pronounced triumphantly.

  Sam sat up and questioned, “I thought you said it was going to pinch. What did you do? I didn’t feel anything but your hands.”

  “He did something. I saw the glow,” Amber replied.

  “Go outside and tell me what you see,” Tig instructed.

  Sam stepped outside and was quiet for a moment and then they heard, “Holy Buckets!” He put his head back inside the tent and looked at Amber. “You’re never gonna believe this.” He turned to Tig, “Do Amber. I don’t even want to say anything. It's the coolest thing ever!”

  Amber looked at Tig questioningly, “What did you do?”

  “He’s right, it’s really hard to explain. I believe it to be completely harmless. Please, let me show you.”

  Amber finally relented. This time it was much easier for Tig to call the Faerie magic and he completed the task quickly. He followed Amber out of the tent and the three of them looked around, marveling at what they saw.

  ***

  At some point in the middle of the night the rocks had lost enough of their heat that the tent had grown cold. Amber awoke with a start, not sure what had woken her. She sat up abruptly on her cot and tried to focus. She heard what sounded like the high pitched cry of a child. Amber shook Tig awake and held her finger to her mouth.

  Tig heard it too. The child sounded scared. Maybe it was lost or hurt. He couldn’t imagine what it was doing so far out in the forest, but that didn’t really matter. Involuntarily, he picked up the staff Tempra had given him.

  “I have to go see what that is, Amber. It sounds like someone is hurt,” he explained.

  “We go together, Tig.” Amber said with conviction.

  Tig nodded, “What about Sam?”

  “We should stay together. Besides how would we ever get back here without him?”

  As a group, they tried to move back into the woods as quietly as possible. Tig wished they could move more like their Glade friends, but it wasn’t a skill they'd mastered yet. The crying was intermittent but the closer they got, the less it sounded like a child and more like some sort of wounded cat or dog. He'd heard animals in distress before.

  Tig saw its glowing outline. It was a medium-sized animal, roughly the size of a fat beagle, except with much shorter legs. He couldn’t imagine what it was. It had momentarily stopped crying, but sensing movement, started wailing again. Amber backed into Tig and nearly fell over. She pointed away from where the wounded animal lay and Tig felt a spike of fear in his stomach.

  Amber was pointing at the dark outline of a humanoid figure. The terrifying thing was that it wasn’t on the ground, rather sitting in a tree not more than twenty yards from where they stood. It was looking directly at them and an awful growl emanated from the thing.

  Tig pushed in front of Amber and Sam, holding his staff out with determination. The other two drew daggers that glowed a soft green in the moonlight. The shape jumped from the tree and Tig saw black leathery wings unfold. With a whoosh, the demon flew at them with considerable speed. Its dark body resembled a large human-shaped bat, completely naked with long claws at the end of its legs and arms.

  “A demon,” Tig exclaimed, “It’s a trap!”

  Tig braced f
or impact and swung at the beast with the oaken staff. The staff found its mark but Tig’s grip was too loose and the demon’s momentum sent the staff harmlessly to the ground. The claws of the demon slashed across his chest, digging in deep and knocking him to the ground.

  “Sam, when it attacks again, grab Amber and get back to the Glade.” Tig had already figured that the demon was too fast for Sam to get away, dragging both him and Amber.

  Tig picked himself back up and crouched into what he thought a good fighter’s stance would be. He had no idea, but wanted to buy his friends a few precious seconds.

  The demon approached and uttered in a low gravelly voice, “I will feast on you and your friends, Parnassus. You should have never come here. The wind-walker cannot outrun me. I’ll pull his innards out for your pretty girl to see.” The demon’s teeth showed as his face formed a wide, horrible smile. It flew at Tig ferociously.

  “Plento swanum!” Tig screamed as the demon closed on him. A tremendous blast of wind knocked the demon to the side, momentarily stunning it.

  The demon landed back on its feet and faced Tig again, “That’s your best, little prince? You wish to blow me away?” The demon approached, this time more warily. Sam tried to approach from the side but the demon’s menacing stare, stopped him in his tracks.

  “Remember the plan, Sam, You can do it,” Tig urged.

  “Yes, Sam, please run. I do like a chase,” the demon taunted.

  Tig said “Plento Swanum” with as much force as he could muster, but the demon’s claws held it firmly to the ground.

  “That is pathetic, little prince. You are like a lamb to the slaughter.” The demon charged again and Tig threw his body to the side, slashing at its chest with the small dagger he'd drawn from his belt. The demon was not caught off guard, having spent its entire existence seeking battle. With a great sweep of its arm, the demon backhanded its gnarled fist up into Tig’s body. Pain coursed through the boy as he flew through the air.

  Tig had no remaining defenses and hoped Sam and Amber had successfully fled. There should have been enough time. Tig expected the terrifying demon to be on him in seconds and to deliver a killing blow.

  It didn’t come…

  He heard a cacophonous bellowing and consciousness departed him…

  He saw green eyes staring into his own. They were so pretty and warm. He felt so peaceful…

  Slowly Tig awoke, and saw trees above him, swaying gently in the night sky.

  Amber was kneeling beside him. “Hey there. Thought we lost you, you’re bleeding badly, can you fix that?” she asked softly. Tig tried to sit up, but was shaky as pain coursed through his body. He found that he was able to knit his wounds back together, but it left him physically drained.

  Sam helped him but said, “Hey, not too fast there, Zorro.”

  “Where is the demon? I thought I was dead.” Tig’s throat felt extraordinarily dry.

  “It’s a crazy story. And really, for the most part, I believe I should take credit…” Sam started.

  “Yeah?” Tig was confused.

  “Turns out you taught us some heavy stuff. I experimented. What could it hurt? When that thing attacked you, I did what you’ve been doing when you cover the path, like you know you say ‘Plento.’ But, then I added the word ‘trunda’ to the end.”

  “Killed it with fire?” Tig asked incredulously.

  “Nope, barely singed it. I did send an awesome ball of flame right at its head. But, apparently, that’s not a big deal to a demon. It really ticked him off though, because he charged me, just like that,” Sam explained excitedly. “He would have had me too ‘cause I kinda froze up. But, just before that thing hit me, Bert knocked me out of the way and somehow buried one of those green elven daggers in its mouth.”

  Sam continued, “So then it totally forgot about me and tried to turn on Bert. It reached up to pull the dagger out of its mouth and before it could finish turning, Bert flew around in front of it and jabbed it with another dagger. It flapped around for a while, bellowing like a bull elephant impaled on a sharp stick, then it just took off like its pants were on fire… well, if it had pants.”

  “Wow.” Tig had no idea what else to say.

  “But that ain’t the whole of it. Check that out.” Sam pointed to the small animal the demon had used for bait.

  A small blue-green lump was on the ground, its breathing shallow. “What the heck?” Tig said.

  He could only describe it as a chubby turquoise dragon, except it was about the size of a large, fat beagle. The dragon looked up at Tig and Sam’s approach and pushed itself behind Amber.

  “Looks like you have yourself a little friend there,” Tig chuckled and then groaned, “Crud, laughing hurts.”

  “It’s so cute! I think the demon hurt it. I believe its wings are broken.” Amber was stroking the little dragon as it made a pathetic whining sound.

  Amber was probably right. He wasn’t sure what they should look like, but the creature’s wings hung off its back at odd angles. Tig instinctively reached forward and the small dragon made a loud pathetic crying sound, shuffling in the dirt to get closer to Amber.

  “I hope its mother isn’t too close,” Sam said warily.

  Tig understood his mistake and spoke soothingly to the wounded animal. It seemed to understand that Tig meant no harm and this time accepted Tig’s approaching hands. With closed eyes, Tig saw the broken bones of the overly small wings. It must have been painful, but the damage wasn’t severe and he didn’t have much trouble knitting the bones back together.

  The dragon laid its head back onto Amber’s knees and stopped whining.

  “We can’t leave it here. I won’t let another demon find it.” Amber’s protective instincts had kicked in.

  Tig wasn’t in any mood to argue, he just wanted to get back to their tent and lie down. Ironically, a baby dragon seemed like a small problem tonight.

  Three's a Crowd

  The sun found their tent too early. Fortunately, being teenagers they all had practice in ignoring it. It was Sam who finally woke everyone. “Amber, Wake up! That thing of yours got into the food!” Tig pushed the sleep from his eyes and sat up, trying to make sense of Sam’s bellowing.

  The plump little dragon pulled its nose out of Sam’s pack. It bobbed its head up and down excitedly and then bounded to him in a single leap. Crumbs and leaf packing material fell from its rounded snout as it rubbed the side of its neck against Sam’s leg.

  “Hey, I think he likes me,” Sam said, instantly forgetting the pudgy forager’s transgressions.

  Amber sat up in bed, “Call him Filbert. He’s so cute.”

  Filbert swiveled his neck and head around to investigate the new sound. It made a squeal of joy and this time gave a small flap of its undersized wings and hurtled at Amber without touching the ground. Upon reaching her, it pushed its muzzle up under Amber’s chin and attempted to sit in her lap. Unfortunately, its considerable girth only allowed it to land the forward part of its body onto her lap leaving its stubby rear legs and thick tail hanging awkwardly in the air. It churned its back legs against the air trying to find purchase where none was to be found. Amber swiveled so it could rest its hind end on the cot while its front end snuggled into her.

  “Aww, it’s like a little puppy,” Amber said, stroking Filbert’s blue-green skin. “He’s warm and his skin feels so soft.” Filbert made little grunting noises as it lapped up Amber’s attention.

  Tig, still sore from his encounter with the demon, looked at the mess and grumped, “I hope he didn’t eat too much.” Filbert, having heard a new voice, bounded over to Tig and bumped into him happily. Tig’s bad mood didn’t stand much of a chance. He finally pulled Filbert off, chuckling. “Okay, okay. I give.”

  Twenty minutes later they had packed up the camp and were ready to head out. “Map-boy, what do you have for us today?” Tig asked more cheerfully than he felt, given the long day of walking ahead of them.

  “See this?” Sam pointed to the
map holding his finger in place where the river drew together. The map changed to a picture of a magnificent arched stone bridge that crossed a beautiful blue river. The bridge had to be at least three hundred yards across and ten yards wide. Grand stone pillars marked the entrances on either side.

  Sam mused, “I think that is about a half a day’s walk if yesterday was any indication. We should get there about lunch time.”

  While they walked, Filbert showed off his flying skills, lifting his non-aerodynamic body into the sky with his pathetically small wings. He plummeted toward the ground like an eagle on target to snatch an unwary fish, only to pull up at the last moment and skim the meadow at high speed.

  They saw the bridge from a distance and were disappointed to see that it had fallen into disrepair. There was enough left to join the east and west banks, although in the very middle, the walkway couldn’t be more than a yard wide. It was also the group’s first chance to see the mighty rushing river forty yards below. Crossing the bridge was stressful for all but Filbert, but in the end they made it across without incident.

  By the time the sun was low in the sky they could see the outline of a forest well to the west. Camp was set up while on autopilot, the kids being too tired for much discussion. Before the sun had completely disappeared on the horizon, they were all sleeping soundly. Filbert had flopped across Amber’s legs to share the now undersized cot.

  At sunrise, Filbert figured it was time for everyone to wake up. After a breakfast, they broke camp and about mid-day were once again in the forest. They stopped just before dusk to make camp in a small clearing.

  “How far do you think, Sam?” Tig asked as they ate their dinner of granola bars and beef jerky.

  “We just entered the Blue Forest. That puts us about three days out from Gestal.” He pulled the map out and showed Tig their location. “About a day and a half to get us even with the castle and another day and half after that.”