by Jana LaPelle
My prince has been good to Momma and me, and even my uncle Rhynik. In fact, we now live with Luc in his fortress and he has given us a chance at a better life here in The Underworld. He said that someone as brave as me needed a chance at being something other than a champion in the games. I don’t know about none of that, all I know is that I’m grateful to my prince. That, and I miss Mister. I’ve been in training to serve Luc all this time. As I grew, Luc gave me more responsibility and told me about the rift between our realm and Mister’s, which has now grown to include The Mortal Realm as well. He said that no good could come of this rift, and that I was to watch the comings and goings, if any. I’ve watched as the rift grew from one side of the Great Divide to the other, and today I witnessed a truly horrific sight. A lich king and his lich followers found their way from The Mortal Realm into The Underworld. His followers called him Daerok and they bowed before their king and praised him for finding a way out of The Mortal Realm. If you ask me, they should not be able to walk freely in any realm. Daerok did not look like his followers, he was young, and filled with vitality. Where his lich followers were ancient and looked to be mostly skeletal in their form with sickly glowing orbs for eyes. The skeletal minions followed their leader without question. As they traversed the rocky terrain of The Underworld, they steadily climbed upwards toward the peak of The Great Divide. This is what Luc warned me about and this is what will threaten Mister’s world in the war to come.
Stealthily, I follow their progress back over the mountain range back toward the rift opening that leads to The Otherworld. Turning to Rhynik, I whisper, “Uncle, you need to tell Luc what is happening. I’m going to go warn Mister of the dark creatures that have entered their realm. I’m sure that they are up to no good.”
Uncle grabs my arm halting my forward momentum, shaking his head and saying, “No, Pipperton. You are to stay here! We will let Luc decide who is to go to The Otherworld. You heard Luc. Faerie is ill prepared for the likes of us.”
Staring back at my uncle, I shrug off his firm hold. I now stand just somewhat shorter than my uncle, and I have begun to fill out, not quite an adult male imp yet, but no longer a child. I reason with my uncle, “Rhynik, don’t you see? It has to be me. Haven’t you ever wondered why Luc gave me this task, of all things here in The Underworld? I’ll tell you why. I have ties to Mister, to The Otherworld and now it’s time for me to warn them all as to what abomination has just crossed over from The Mortal Realm to theirs. You need to fly back to Luc and I need to go warn Mister while you are rallying the troops. I will see you soon. Tell Momma I love her and will be back before she knows it. Now go! Too much time has already passed since they passed through here. Even here the lich are locked away in the bowels of our realm. They pose a threat to everyone. I’ll be safe, I promise. I’ll see you soon with reinforcements.”
His penetrating eyes meet mine and he nods, “Okay, Pip. You’re not a child anymore. Do what you must, but don’t be surprised if your Mister doesn’t recognize you. You’ve grown up. Be careful and stay out of sight for as long as you can. I’ll report back to Luc. Just know that if something happens to you in The Otherworld, I will hold Alaric personally responsible.” He pulls me into a hug before launching into the air and I’m left to watch as he flies away.
Turning back to the rift that leads to The Otherworld, I walk out of the shadows to walk toward the most dazzling light I have ever seen. I can’t wait to see Mister again, and I walk toward the beacon. Within moments I’m swallowed up and dumped out on the other end on my rear. Whoa. That was intense.
Looking around, I see that several guards have been taken out. Gaining my feet, I look back at the rift to see a large, red, pulsating tear between our realms. It looks like an enormous glittering ruby that pulses with life. So much different than what we see on our side.
Two males race into the stone chamber and shout, “Stop where you are. Are you with the others? Who are you?” They look like they have been in a battle. No doubt the lich have overpowered them and gotten away.
Raising my hands, I say, “I’m not here to cause no trouble, I swear. I need to speak with Alaric. Do you know him? Can you take me to him? Things have just gotten really bad and you all need to know what has just invaded your realm.”
“The undead from your realm is what has invaded our world. How do you know Alaric?” The large and imposing red headed elf asks gruffly.
“I was his guide in The Underworld. I need to speak with him. I need to speak with you all. Luc sent me.” Well now, I’m stretching the truth a bit, and hope that they don’t call my bluff.
The enormous elf with the fiery red hair and beard, eyes me critically, his eyes narrowed, before saying sternly, “You’re just a kid. Come with me. No funny business. Alaric and Ashlinn have been through enough in the past several days. Really since they got back from The Underworld. We march to Lár Domhain in less than two days’ time.” He roughly grabs my arm and pulls me to the opening of the stone chamber, and I find that we are several stories underground. The opening is cylindrical, and the outer edges of the cylinder look to be enclosed steps that lead upward to the brightest, bluest sky I have ever seen. The colors are so vibrant.
Pointing to the sky, I ask, “What’s wrong with the heavens? It’s so blue and different…” I’m overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the sight above me.
The red headed elf tightens his grip on me and says, “Hang on to your britches, son. We’re about to trace. You’ll see Alaric, our Lord, very soon. I certainly hope he recognizes you or you will be destined for the gallows, kid.”
One moment we are standing at the bottom of a circular stone path that leads upward and the next moment we are in a busy courtyard. I stumble at the abruptness of our entrance to this new place. My senses are being overloaded as my head turns this way and that. I hear a gasp as others stop to stare at me. I look down to see how red my skin is against the bright glare coming from the sky in this realm. Then I’m distracted by warriors that are rushing about leading strange furry four-legged creatures. They have long flowing hair that runs down their necks and over their eyes, and they are being led out of the courtyard with saddles strapped to their backs. I’m pulled to the right and follow the robust red headed elf as he pulls me to the entryway of a stone keep. Everything is so bright and pretty. I stumble on the steps as I’m being hauled into a stone foyer and remember to tug my wings in tightly at my back so as not to disrupt anything. This place is so amazing.
I’m brought out of my ponderings as the male holding me in his grasp bellows, “Alaric! I think you need to greet our guest!”
I hear Mister call out, “Ferg, in here. Who’s our guest? We really don’t have time for entertaining right now.”
Ferg ushers me down the hall toward Mister’s voice and I can’t help but to smile as I enter a room that is pure chaos, but in a good way. On one side of the room there are three babes playing with two fox pups. I watch in amazement as one of the babes appears to disappear. I look around to see that the child appears in the arms of a beautiful tiny female. Her hair is multi-toned, a mixture of light brown, the color of which I have never seen, with golden streaks that reminds me of honey. I know without a doubt that this is Mister’s love. She stills when she looks up at me and cautiously walks my way with her son in her arms. I smile tentatively, careful not to show my sharp teeth, not wanting to scare her, none of them have horns or wings. I look so different from these people.
She looks to Ferg and back to me and asks with a smile, “Who are you? Did Luc send you?”
She’s so pretty. I just nod stupidly.
She smiles a brilliant smile and says, “Okay, I see that you’re a little shy. So, Luc sent you. What is your name?”
My smile falters, before I turn to Mister. He’s watching me, his brow furrowed, I smile tentatively and say, “Hey Mister, it’s me… Pipperton. It’s been a long time. I’m all grown up now. Well… mostly
grown. Luc has been really good to me and Momma, educating me on the ways of The Mortal Realm and here in The Otherworld. Not sure as to why yous all has two names for this realm, I prefer Faerie to The Otherworld. Well, anyways, my prince says that I’m what you would call a teenager in The Mortal Realm. Not old enough to drive, whatever that is, but old enough to be taken seriously, and I gots some serious news for you and your love.”
Mister just stands there, his head cocked, with an expression of pure astonishment, assessing me before asking, “Pip, is it really you? I saw you die... I held you while you took your last breath.” He looks back at the tiny woman at his side, his kindred. She’s so enchanting, no wonder why he wanted to get back to her. She’s now juggling two babes that are wiggling fiercely in her arms.
“Alaric, don’t just stand there with your mouth ajar, take Lillie. These two are getting too big for me to juggle both of them when they are fighting me to be out of my grasp. I’m not about to put them down until we get to the bottom of this mystery.” Turning her bright eyes my way, I ain’t never seen eyes as striking as hers. I can see why Mister is smitten with his kindred. She asks, skeptically, “How can we know that you are who you say you are?”
I can’t help but smile and say, “Yous so pretty, Mister said you were. I’ve wanted to meet you for a very long time. I’m Pipperton and I was your kindred’s guide in The Underworld. We ran into lots of trouble, but I like to think that Mister called me friend.” Turning serious, I look back to the male that I looked up to when I was little and watch with a sad smile as he juggles his daughter and wish that he had been around while I was growing up. I can tell that he’s a wonderful father. I need to convince him that I’m who I say I am. Remembering the perfect conversation, I say, “Remember that time, after the run in with the gorgers? Remember what you said to me? You said that I had grown on you like a rash. It’s me, Mister. I promise. I’m not here to trick you. I’m here to warn you.”
“It really is you, isn’t it Pipperton?”
“Yes, Mister. It is, and yous gots all sorts of trouble heading yer way.”
Mister steps forward, as if he hasn’t heard my last words. He grins broadly and pulls me in to a tight hug. His baby girl giggles and pats my bare arm and I hug them back. Pulling back, Alaric says, “How is this possible?”
“I promise that I will explain everything to you, but right now Mister, you have a big problem, an evil soul from The Mortal Realm entered The Underworld from the rift. You see, my uncle and I were scouting around the rift that grew to the opposite side of the Great Divide. We watched as the lich came through the rift there.”
I hear several females gasp at my announcement. Turning back to Mister’s kindred she has her sprite friend on one side of her, who is now much larger, and her wings are gone. Curious... On her other side is a pretty young human with wide green eyes and long, fiery red hair. She wears long flowing druid robes over her pretty gown. The three immediately begin speaking amongst themselves in hushed tones.
Turning back to Mister, I continue, “One after another, they came through to look over the Fields of Punishment. When their leader came through, they all took a knee and bowed to him. Where he was young and handsome in appearance, his followers were mere walking skeletons. Where their eyes should be were glowing putrid green orbs. There were too many of them for Uncle and me to engage, so we tracked them over the mountain to the site of the other rift. They quickly took out the handful of guards that Luc had stationed there. They worked as a team and quickly dispatched the guards using majic. As quickly as they enter The Underworld they left, entering the rift to your realm. Rhynik went back to warn Luc and I came here to warn you.” I finish up in a rush and Mister looks from me to the red headed warrior that escorted me here.
“Fergus, report.” Alaric demands.
“Tis true, what the boy says, we were taken off guard and those of us inside the crypt were stunned. We were up top when they exited the crypt. We tried to overtake them, but before we could reach them, they put up a defensive barrier. They are truly heinous to look upon. Their leader began chanting and then all of his followers circled around him, joining in. Then they just disappeared. It wasn’t like they traced; it was like they cast a spell to transport them somewhere else. Some other, specific destination. That was when we ran into Pipperton here. I thought he was with them, but then he asked to speak to you.
Our attention is drawn back to the females as they continue their animated conversation. Mister turns and addresses his kindred, “Ash, what do you all know or make of this? You three don’t seem at all surprised by this turn of events.”
“Well, we believe that Daerok, the exiled druid Luminary has just found a way back into Faerie.” Ashlinn says quietly.
“What do you know of Daerok? And why is this the first that I have heard of this? Whatever you all know, it’s time to spill. We leave out tomorrow and now we have another threat on the horizon.” Mister says with a grimace but smiles when Lillie smacks both of her little hands against his cheeks and makes smacking noises with her puckered little lips. She’s so cute.
Ashlinn sighs and walks toward her mate, before answering, “Alaric, one night when The Morrígan still had you imprisoned, the night before Luc took you to The Underworld, I read Mom’s memoirs. Long story short, Lexie is a direct descendant of the only druid that was banished with Daerok and his followers who realized that following Daerok was a mistake. He found a way to leave the dark order, met his kindred, a witch, and the two combined their majic to keep their family hidden for centuries. Daerok sought immortality and through the many failures of his faithful followers he perfected the dark art of harnessing a person’s essence to prolong his life, giving him eternal youth while his brainwashed followers became lich gaining immortality, but at a cost. We just haven’t had time for me to share this information with you, Alaric. First you returned from The Underworld, then you were grieving for the loss of Pip, then we had to leave to retrieve the Spear of Lugh, which we lost, and then we were grieving for the loss of Garrik. I’m sorry, it slipped my mind with everything going on.” She smiles sadly up at her mate, reaching up to caress his cheek.
“Alright then. That’s a lot. What do we know of this Daerok?” Mister asks the room in general. “We need to know about this new threat.”
Not knowing what to do, I begin to move back toward the door that leads back out to the hallway. I watch for a few moments as everyone comes together to work as a team. I’ve done my job. I just don’t know how to get back to the rift. I make my way back out to the front of the large fortress that is bustling with activity. I feel my shoulders slump. It’s time for me to go, but I have no idea as to what direction I need to head. The bright glowing ball in the blue sky is fascinating, but foreign and a bit scary. Why isn’t anyone concerned that it will burn their world up? I mean, look at it. The sky looks different now as the fiery orb moves closer to land fall. Is this normal? It must be, no one seems the least bit concerned.
“Pip? Come back inside.” I turn to see Mister standing in the doorway, his smile slips from his face when he says, “I bet Paynga hates the very thought of me.”
“Naw, Mister, she just doesn’t understand. She doesn’t want anything bad to happen to me. See this scar?” I point to my chest, before continuing, “It’s a painful reminder that she almost lost me because I chose to save you. I’m sorry that you thought that I was dead.”
“Pip, what happened to the kid that I left behind?” He asks sadly.
“I guess I grew up. I’ve done my job, Mister. I should get back.” The thought saddens me.
“Not just yet. Come on. We are about to break for dinner and then we will take some time to catch up. I’ve missed you, Pip.”
“I’ve missed you too. Can I play with Lillie and your son?”
“Lachlan. Yes. I’ve told them so many stories about you. Come on. We have a lot of catching up to do.” Mister c
laps his hand on my shoulder, and I smile back at him, happier than I’ve been in a long time.
Chapter 31
(Alaric)
Pip and I talked for hours after dinner while he got to know everyone. Tomorrow, I take him back to the rift. I told him that he will fight another day, but tonight I just want to spend the evening with Pip and my family. Yes, we are heading out in under a day to march toward war, but tonight… Well, tonight is about reconnecting, remembering, and family.
Getting up, I move to the doors to the terrace, calling over my shoulder to get Pip’s attention, I ask, “Hey, Pipperton, let me be your guide in my realm for tonight.”
He smiles back at me and hands Lillie over to Jasmine, Lillie is quite taken with the young imp. Ashlinn waves and smiles back at me. Through our link she is encouraging me to go. Pip is now only about five inches shorter than me. His black horns are almost as big as his uncles and his white blonde hair is long and unruly and a total contrast to the rest of his coloring. Where he used to be pink lending to red, he is now all red, like his uncle, but his spirit is still the same.
Before we walk outside, I say, “Close your eyes, Pip. I have a surprise for you.”
He looks at me and smiles a toothy grin, “I like surprises, Mister.”