by Lynn Wahl
Jasmine’s face was a study of contrasts: all flashing blue eyes and flying hair. “That is enough out of you, silly girl,” Jasmine spit in my face. “You come here, whining about your friend, complaining about what’s happened. You insult William when he saved your life. Your friend deserves death, and so do you. I will solve this problem right now and release the Queen from her obligation to help you, you spineless, puling, disgusting pile of refuse.”
I couldn’t quite process what was happening. I tried to come up with words, some sort of defense, but all I could think of was what a crappy insulter Jasmine was.
It was a new voice that spoke and stilled the sword at my neck.
“Jasmine, release the healer. This pile of refuse, as you call her, saved my life where your own potions and tonics failed,” the Queen’s voice rang out across the courtyard, the barely concealed rage physically frosting the leaves on the walls with a fine mist of ice.
“Whatever she has said about your brother is accurate, and you know it as well as everyone else here. Your behavior is in defense of William’s honor when we all understand that the word does not, cannot apply to a boy who cannot remember who or what he is. Desist or I will have you killed.”
Jasmine scowled. “You won’t get to me before I can open her throat.” The sword pressed in harder. I could see the blood where it snaked its way down the gutter of the blade and over Jasmine’s hand.
“Will you wager your life on it?” the Queen asked.
I desperately hoped the answer was no. Jasmine didn’t seem like the betting type, but nothing here was as it seemed. When the sword slid away from my neck in a splatter of my own blood, it took me a moment to realize I was free. I stumbled back, my knees weak with shock, and nearly collapsed into Cashraina’s arms.
I was led away from the spectacle in the courtyard where Jasmine stood grinning. William still did nothing, but his face was angry and he stood with his hands fisted, glaring in my direction.
Thirteen: Paige
I woke before the sun the next morning, and it was only while I was lying there in the gently lightening morning air that I thought to worry about the spiders. I hadn’t seen any running water surrounding the palace when we’d approached, but I also hadn’t seen any spiders. I decided to trust that the fae had their own ways of deterring the arachnids and lay back on my fur covered bench. I needed to figure out a way to ensure Jake’s safety when William went for him on the Captain’s ship.
If I couldn’t be there with William to make sure nothing happened, I needed to make sure something or someone else was. Deep in thought, I pulled my tablet and pencils out from under the bench, grateful that Cashraina had retrieved them from the Queen.
So far, I’d only drawn things in order to return them to a previous state. Could I draw something from scratch and bring it to life? When I’d bitten my fingernails down to the grimy quick and the sun teetered on the horizon, I gave up worrying and began to draw. The lines came quick and sure. I laughed at Lavender as she danced around the tip of my pencil, her small bare feet so light they didn’t even smudge the lines. I was finishing the outline of the eyes when Cashraina came into the small room with a stack of clothing. When the fae saw that I was busy, she smiled and without saying anything put the clothes down before retreating back outside as quietly as she’d come.
I turned my attention back to the drawing. I needed a creature that would respond to my commands, and hopefully, not attack me even if that was a natural urge. I didn’t want to find out what would happen if I drew myself with wings and then couldn’t undo them, but I needed something that could fly.
I’d picked a Pegasus with a dapple gray body and black and grey wings speckled like a hawk and focused as hard as I could on the creature’s intelligence and free will tempered with a strong sense of obedience and devotion as I drew in the liquid blackness of its eye in profile. The tingling began, and I pushed on it as hard as I could. Too late, I realized what a tight fit this room would be for a full grown horse with a twenty foot wingspan.
One second the space was empty. The next it was full of warm horseflesh and feathers. Hooves the size of dinner plates clacked on the stone floor as a graceful head swung around to pin me with an angry stare. Lavender burst into laughter from her place tucked up under my hair.
Without any gesture from me, the horse turned towards the door and squeezed its way out into the courtyard all the sleeping rooms opened out into.
“Oh great Goddess!”
I rushed out, worried that the horse had tried to take a bite out of Cashraina, but found her on her knees in front of it instead, her head on the stones.
“What?” I asked, alarmed.
Cashraina looked up, her face pale. “We haven’t had a winged horse here on the island since the Captain killed the last one nearly twenty years ago. How did you know to bring one back?”
I shrugged, not wanting to admit that I’d probably read every single book about pegasuses that I could find growing up. “Um…I figured she might be helpful,” I said instead.
Cashraina nodded. “They are very loyal, loving companions. She would die for you if you asked her to.”
I swallowed hard and then smiled a little. “Um…well, that’s nice I guess. Loyalty and all that.” I didn’t really like the idea that I’d created something willing to die for me. It didn’t seem right somehow.
Cashraina’s smile slid from her face. “Yes, loyalty,” she said. She kneeled there for a moment, her eyes filled with what looked like tears, then she shook her head and pointed back into the room. “Please, change. Nuada is anxious to start.”
I tried to figure out what Cashraina’s sudden rush of emotion was all about but gave it up as a lost cause and got dressed. I gave the horse directions to follow me through the forest rather than hanging over my shoulder with every step and marveled that the creature understood so perfectly. Its bright eyes only stared at me for a moment before it took a few steps back and waited for me to move.
I was led to Nuada and a large band of warriors outside the palace while I was still stuffing food in my mouth. William and his band stood behind the fae. The children looked just as bloodthirsty as before. That made me angry, and I wanted to order William to leave them here where it was safe, but Jasmine stepped forward and glared at me, so I kept my mouth shut. All of the children and fae clustered in the clearing rushed forward to exclaim over the Pegasus.
When one of the children reached a shy hand up to its nose and asked the name, I blushed and shook my head.
“Maybe you can all name her for me,” I said.
That sent the children off into a corner of the clearing by themselves, weapons hanging forgotten at their sides. It made me smile, but William immediately stomped over and dragged them all back into position. He shot me a glare, as if I’d distracted his warriors on purpose.
When the group finally started to move forward, Cashraina stepped up beside me and pressed a cool, round object into my hand.
“Lavender has told me of your fear of the spiders. This will protect you and any others around you for a good distance. The warriors carry similar wards to protect the campsites, but this will protect you without those.”
I looked down at a small white stone with a strange mark carved into the surface. A leather cord was threaded through a small hole at the top of the stone. I slipped it around my neck, not really sure if I trusted it to protect me from the spiders or not, but glad of the gift anyway.
I lifted it up and raised my eyes to Cashraina. “Why?” I asked.
Cashraina smiled and gave a little shrug. “I have heard of your promise to heal any of the warriors if they are injured in their fight. My beloved travels with you on your journey.” She pointed out a tall, gold and black pattered fae who stood next to Nuada.
Before I could say anything else, Cashraina continued. “Your desire to save your friend is honorable and right, but do not let your compassion get you killed. If your friend cares as much about you as yo
u do about him, he would not want you to sacrifice yourself.” Without taking a breath or offering up a transition, Cashraina continued. “Beware of Jasmine. She will do anything she must to protect William. Although they are not blood, William is her brother. Ask Nuada to tell you what he knows of William along the way. It may help you understand him better.”
With all of that bouncing through my head, Cashraina pushed me forward after the departing warriors and children. I found myself walking next to Cashraina’s boyfriend, or whatever he was, and he gave me a small smile full of pointed teeth completely at odds with his innocent looking bumblebee paint job. It almost made me laugh, but I swallowed it, figuring he wouldn’t appreciate the humor.
It seemed that there weren’t any animals on the island suitable for riding, which meant everyone had to walk. I thought about hopping up onto the horse that followed behind me, but figured it wasn’t really fair and decided to walk. I wasn’t used to so much exercise and my legs ached, but at least this time my pants were thick enough to keep the mosquitoes away, and Bumblebee, as I’d taken to calling him since he wouldn’t speak to me to tell me his name, seemed to have some sort of spell to keep the insects down. I wondered what else the fae could do and how, if they could do so much, they couldn’t defeat the Captain.
It probably had to do with the fact that the Captain used iron weapons. He probably had guns too, where from what I’d seen, the fae used bows and swords made out of bronze. The younger children in William’s group all seemed to rely on blunt objects, while the older ones, like Pyro and Jasmine, all had swords like William. I still carried my own staff, but I didn’t really want to use it. I wasn’t really a premeditated fighter.
I thought back to the one real fight I’d ever been in. It’d been in fourth grade, when an older fifth grade boy told the whole bus that Jake had cooties. I bounced right out of my seat and popped the boy in the nose. The boy, who I’d later found out was the class bully a few grades ahead of me had hit me back, poked me in the eye, and ripped out most of my ponytail. I still remembered my surprise at the pain. I’d never been hit before and it just didn’t seem like something could hurt so much.
That attitude would get me killed here. I needed to be ready to defend myself. If I couldn’t do it with a weapon, I needed to create something that would do it for me. Jake had finally gotten his wish. His machines were up and walking. If I had to create my own army to keep myself alive long enough to rescue Jake and get home, then that’s what I’d do. The thought made me sad. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but if I’d learned one thing from a few days on the island, it was kill or be killed.
At my sigh, Lavender crawled out from under my hair and patted my cheek. Her little questioning chirp made tears come to my eyes and I shook my head.
“It’s nothing,” I said. I wiped the tears away and kept walking, wondering how the children’s cartoon could have gotten it so very, very wrong.
Fourteen: Jake
I paced back and forth in my workshop, a stick of uneaten beef jerky in one hand. Every now and then, I darted a look at the computer monitors lined up against the far wall. I wanted to see my creations moving, sliding through the jungle, but I didn’t want to see them tearing into the fae. I looked at my watch and then at the map of the island on the wall.
My creations could travel very quickly. Whatever they couldn’t leap over they could rip through in seconds, but the men that followed along could probably only manage two or three miles per hour through the overgrown jungle. I had time for a quick peek before they reached the main fae settlement.
Decided, I hurried over to the bank of computer monitors and pulled up the data links for the wolves and spiders on the mission. On the location map, I selected one of the wolves and activated the data stream for the cameras mounted in its eyes.
I sat, unmoving, as the video began to play. The cameras were better even than the best military optics back on Earth, and the panning and focusing was seamless and crystal clear. As one of my creations came into view, I sighed in contentment. Even with their massive size, the wolves and spiders navigated the tangled undergrowth with liquid grace. Each step was fluid and natural. When one leaped over a log, it landed with only a slight thump—the motors in its joints catching and distributing the weight.
They were perfect. I watched until one of the leaders of the group called a halt. I switched to the lead wolf’s camera and zoomed in on the clearing. There in the center sat a rough wooden structure, so much a part of the ground and surrounding trees it could barely be seen.
Two fae stood outside, oblivious to the silent approach of the creatures. My heart beat a little harder, and suddenly, I willed them to run—to run and hide and let the Captain have the island.
The two fae couldn’t hear my silent plea, but stood, striped skin sparkling in the sun in complete ignorance of what was about to happen.
Through the screen, I saw one of the men motion the creatures forward. The view of the two fae suddenly got bigger and larger as the lead wolf charged across the clearing in only a few leaps. It happened so fast, I could only sit and stare as one of the fae went down under a flurry of titanium and stainless steel claws.
The lead wolf’s camera caught one of the spiders as it clamped its iron tipped fangs on the other fae’s torso. It was over in seconds. The two faes’ bodies lay ripped on the ground, their skin bubbling from the iron burns.
My scream echoed through the workroom, reverberating off the metal. Before I could stop and think, my hands were on the keyboard typing in the commands to manually override the creatures’ built -in and voice activated commands. There was a lull in the action as all of the creatures stopped, heads hanging in standby mode, but a loud beep on the control panel sounded, and they leapt back into action.
I stared, dumbfounded, as the creatures burst through the palace doors. Sickened, I turned away. Another computer monitor lit up on the table in front of me and a boy’s face slid into view.
“Hello Jake.”
I jumped, eyes on the screen, but didn’t say anything.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why your abort commands failed.”
I nodded, choking back stomach bile.
“My name is Terence. We haven’t met.”
I shrugged, not caring who the boy was. I hadn’t met anyone but the Captain and a few of his lead men since coming to the ship. I knew there were other kids around with abilities, but I hadn’t seen them or cared.
“What did you do?” I asked. My voice was little more than a croak. Behind my eyes, the image of the two faes’ death played out on a loop.
“As directed by the Captain, I made sure to check your programming before sending the creatures out. And I must say, your ability to manufacture such complicated systems is quite amazing. As soon as the Captain saw what you were doing, he brought me in to double-check your work.” Terence’s voice was calm and pleasant, as if he hadn’t just sentenced hundreds of fae to their death.
“You’re a hacker,” I said. I should have guessed the Captain wouldn’t leave the final control of the creatures in my hands. I should have checked the system for tampering before sending them out.
Terence nodded. “Yes. My abilities don’t extend to your level, but computer code I can handle just fine.”
I swallowed hard. “Will you tell him what I did?” I didn’t have to say who I meant. Terence had the same glassy eyed look I’d seen when I looked in the mirror. Terence would do what he was told.
The boy shrugged. “No harm was done. The mission continues as planned. The Captain knew you’d chicken out. He planned for it. It doesn’t matter if I tell him or not. Nighty-night, Jake.”
The screen switched off, leaving me alone in my workroom. I stared at the floor for a few seconds, then stood and began the final coding for the steel horses. At least these creatures could do little more than trample everything in sight. There was nothing I could do, I told myself over and over again.
Hating myself and my stupid fasc
ination for my metal creations, I wished I was back home again for the first time since getting to the island. I didn’t even want to think about what Paige would say about this whole thing. Things were starting to turn into something out of one of our graphic novels. She’d always cast my metal monsters as the bad guys. Now I knew why.
Fifteen: Paige
We camped for the night in a clearing a few miles from the beach. Scouts posted on the perimeter of the camp would alert us if any of the Captain’s men wandered the jungle. The fae had traveled until sunset, and then, at some unspoken command, started to set up camp. Setting up camp had included some sort of spell that kept the rain off, which almost made me jump up and down in happiness. William’s group stayed off by itself, separate from the fae. They were quiet as they ate the soup and bread and cheese the fae had served up, and most went to sleep immediately.
I couldn’t imagine how the really little ones managed. At seven years old I was playing video games and eating candy bars and bags of chips, not tromping through a hellish jungle. I tried to remind myself that most of them had been six for a really long time. Their bodies weren’t very big, but all of them were much older than I was. I shuddered. The idea of being trapped in a seven year old’s body with an adult mind sounded like a nightmare.
I sat away from both groups, trusting in the stone around my neck to keep the spiders away. The Pegasus lay next to me, legs and wings neatly folded. One of William’s kids had snuck up to me during the march and whispered the name they’d all agreed on. I’d nodded and went with it. Her name was now Stormy, whether I liked it or not. She did look kind of stormy, so it wasn’t awful.
With my previous thought in mind, I sat with my sketch book, a bowl of soup cooling beside me. I began the preliminary sketches, wishing I could just draw one thing and then write x100 next to it to make more of them without having to draw them, but something told me it wouldn’t work that way. I left the eyes blank. I didn’t need five pink and black spiders skulking around camp scaring everyone half to death, even if I did draw them while thinking with every ounce of will power I had that they would only attack on command. Before I brought them to life, I’d try a much smaller version of the spider to see if it worked. If it tried to attack me, I’d just step on it.