by B. J. Smash
The ocean had changed to the complete opposite of what it had been just moments ago. From glorious to ominous.
“Oh boy. What have I done?” I said as I stood.
Lucian stood a few feet behind me, and when I turned to see his reaction, he absentmindedly had his left hand cupping his face and squeezed. His lips puckered out like a fish. “This doesn’t look too promising, does it?” he said, dropping his hand.
“Nope,” I replied.
We didn’t have to wait too long before a boat could be seen slowly drifting in with the fog. The boat had been painted black, and a mermaid with red eyes and shark teeth garnished the side. My temples began to ache from the sudden concern of the impending danger.
“Oh Lord, have mercy,” I heard myself say.
“Uh…this is scarier than I imagined it would be,” Lucian said.
We both were too freaked out to move as the boat came closer, carrying along a dead fish smell with it. Finally, Lucian snapped out of it and grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the way as the boat pulled past us, right up into the sand, only inches from where we had just been standing.
“You called?” Magella stood, a long, gnarly staff in her bony hand. Her long, gray hair was a total mess, filled with sea debris, seaweed being one of them. Her beady black eyes met mine, and she leaned over the edge of the boat. “Where is my sister?” Her voice was raspy and deep.
Lucian and I held hands—fear inspired us to do so—and we stared up at Magella. The crook in her nose made her look like the classic witch.
“Well? Speak!”
It took me a minute to find my voice. “Um, Magella. Izadora is, ah…she’s…well, you see…she’s been put under with a sleeping spell, and—”
“Sleeping spell!?” She peeled away from the edge of the boat; throwing her head back, she howled with laughter. “Ba-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” A few minutes later she settled down, wiping a tear from her eye.
“That is the funniest thing I have heard in quite some time.” Her shoulders shook a few more times from the laughter, and then she said in a stern voice, “Well, what do YOU want? I’m surprised you dare show your face to me. I have a mind to tie you to my bow and head back out to sea.”
The thought of being tied to the front of Magella’s boat frightened me, causing me to feel faint, but only briefly. I could feel the stone of my mother’s necklace begin to heat up my chest, and it flowed throughout my whole body. “Coward” was now a word of the past.
I pulled my hand from Lucian’s and stepped closer.
“Magella, Izadora sent me. See here—she gave me her ring.” I held up my right hand. “We need your help. The Unseelie have formed a barricade and cast a spell over the land of the Elven. Izadora was put under—” I paused there. I was about to tell her that the spell was cast by my Aunt Cora. However, I didn’t want her to bust out in laughter again, so I held my tongue. “She was put under and cannot be awakened. Before she passed out, she gave me the ring and told me that she saw you, Izaill, and herself in the ring of death.”
At that, Magella gasped. I didn’t think anything could make her squeamish (except for Izadora).
“She said you’d help us. And we need you to meet us on Maximus Bay? Wherever that is,” I finished.
Mumbling below her breath, she paced the floorboards of the boat, her gray robe lifting slightly with the sea breeze. A few times she growled and hit her staff to the floor. “The ring of death, you say. That could mean just about anything, but it’s never good to dream of the ring of death. Damn. That is not the news that I wanted to hear.” She leaned back over the edge of the boat, tapping her long fingers on the railing. The crook in her nose appeared prominent today. When she finished contemplating the situation, she said, “All right. We will have a deal. I will help you—but I have a price. You must bring me something in return.” She smiled, showing her broken, yellowed teeth.
Oh great. Couldn’t she just help us out without a payment? She had to be the most rotten witch in the world. “What is your price?” I said between gritted teeth.
Laughing, she said, “When this is all over, bring me your sister.” Her eyes narrowed.
Behind me, I heard Lucian say, “Ohhh man.”
She watched my face, but I refused to show any emotion. For the moment, I pretended that I was Izadora. Suddenly, I felt bold. Bolder than I should have.
“You will help us because that is the right thing to do,” I spat out.
“Sure…I will. I’ll meet you on Maximus Bay. And after I help you, you will bring me your sister. If you do not, I will come for you instead.”
“Whatever, Magella. Oh and by the way, the McCallisters will need a ride, too. See you there.”
I spun around and walked out of the ocean.
“The McCallisters. I hate the McCallisters.” She continued to grumble. Then she said, “Release the boat back to sea,” and pointed her gnarly staff at the beach. The bow of the boat was then dislodged from the sand, and waves pushed her back out into the water. With her, the clouds left. Along with the fog, along with the drizzly rain.
The sun was now back in its place.
“That didn’t go too bad,” Lucian said as we climbed the sloping cliffside.
“Actually, it went rather well.”
I thought about what she’d said. Bring her my sister. The nerve of her suggesting such a thing. Although, if my sister cast a spell on the land of the Elven, willingly, without being threatened by the Unseelie…if she actually devised that event on her own, without being coerced… bringing her to Magella wasn’t such a bad idea.
I felt remorseful after that thought. How could I think such a thing? After all, Zinnia was still my sister. I could never bring her to Magella. Could I? Perhaps some of the Seaforth madness was in my blood after all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
At the top of the cliff, we were greeted by an unexpected guest. Pladia sat atop Solstice’s head, flicking his ears. He kept shifting them like Pladia was a fly. Her red hair flew out around her, and her long, silvery wings sparkled, fluttering like a butterfly. She wore a skimpy blue dress that barely covered her rotund bottom.
“Okay now. I ready to go to coral pond. Yay!”
I knew that I didn’t have time for this. “What? Pladia, no, I cannot take you to the coral pond right now. You disappeared and now I—”
“You said! You take me coral pond. Deal.” Her little face scrunched up as she put her hands on her round hips and hovered two inches from my face.
“I would have, but now I must go. Why did you take off?”
“I went to Hunter’s Hollow. I visit my friends. Fun time. Now I return for coral pond.”
It took me a moment to place where I’d heard of Hunter’s Hollow. My Aunt Cora had mentioned that she had had to travel through there in order to arrive at Izadora’s.
“We are about to head to the land of the Elven.” At the mention of the land of the Elven, Solstice’s ears perked up. He turned his head to look at me.
“I know this. Coral pond outside gate, in thick trees.”
“I thought you said the coral pond wasn’t very far!”
“It not! Not far from land of Elf.” Her tiny face lit up then, grinning from pointy little ear to pointy little ear.
I now knew why she’d been labeled a trickster. She flew back to stand between the horse’s ears.
“Besides…my grandpappy—he live there. You want me to see grandpappy? You love your grandpappy, yes?” She faked a pout. “I no see him for very long time.”
Lucian pulled me aside and whispered, “Might as well take her. Who knows what type of wrath we face if you say no. A freed pixie can be dangerous. Especially if you make a deal with one, and don’t keep it.”
I don’t know how Lucian knew this, nor did I care. He had to be right. I shook my head. “Yes. Okay, Pladia.” I opened my cape to reveal the small bag that I had strapped around my body. “You can ride in here, I guess.”
“No way. Too confined.
I ride on horsey head.”
I didn’t have time to argue. “Fine. We have to go now; we don’t have time to waste.”
She clapped her tiny hands and sat between Solstice’s ears, holding onto one of them. He didn’t seem to mind, and it was time to go.
I jumped up onto Solstice’s back and turned him to find a tree stump or low-hanging branch for Lucian to use. Not too far away, a fallen tree lay across the forest floor. It was low to the ground, and so I had to take Lucian’s hand and help him jump on. Being tall and broad, he was a big lug and almost hauled me off the horse.
Once Lucian was on, we walked along the edge of the cliff. I knew from previous experience that the Unseelie Fae used a ley line to travel by. This would probably be the route we took as well.
Leaning up, I said into Solstice’s ear, “Okay, Solstice…take us to the land of the Elven.”
Before I could pat him on the neck, he was off, and with such great force that Lucian grabbed me around my waist while I held tight to the reins, taking fistfuls of Solstice’s mane. I held my breath as though we had just embarked on a roller-coaster ride. And by the sound of Lucian’s intake of breath, I knew he did the same.
After a few moments we settled in, and I couldn’t speak for Lucian, but I was enjoying the ride. It felt like freedom. The wind whipped through my hair and probably back into Lucian’s face. I should have tied it up.
The trees blurred as we sped by, and the deep thump, thump, thump of Solstice’s hooves was all that could be heard. A few times, we came a bit too close to the edge of the cliff for my taste, but I had to believe the horse had his bearings.
My legs never tired from riding this horse, and I never felt like I could fall off. He had a steady pace and was a comfortable ride. That was how I felt; I couldn’t speak for Lucian, as he held on for dear life.
We sped by the city of Merribay, the magical city of enchanted beings, most likely inhabited by merpeople and, I had heard in the past, some Regal Folk. Drumm had informed me there were dwarves and gnomes around, too. The white glittering towers with blue tops, and the many colorful roofs of houses built into the hills. The city looked like something from a storybook, and no humans were allowed. I had also learned that the city was a meeting place, with many hotels, and few long term residents.
A few miles along the cliff’s edge, I noticed the trees were thinning, and shortly after that, I could see the ocean straight ahead. This caused great alarm in me, for the fact that the cliff was ending and the ocean beginning.
“Lucian!” I called over my shoulder. “The cliff is ending!”
His face came around my shoulder. “What?” And then he saw what I was talking about. “Pull the reins, pull the reins!” He panicked.
I pulled back as hard as I could. “Woah, woah! Solstice, stop!”
The horse ignored me. Instead, he yanked his head forward with such force the reins were pulled out of my hands. “Oh. My. God,” I screamed, grabbing the horse’s neck.
Solstice not only defied me, he picked up speed. Peering down, I saw that the dirt flew up in chunks as his great hooves ground into the earth.
We were only about five hundred feet away from the edge of the cliff. This was it; we were going to die. I could see the water beyond, and the cliff had to be thirty stories high. We were goners.
Lucian was the first to scream, “Aghhhhhh!” Then he paused and let out another long scream. “Aghhhhhhh!”
Pladia hugged the horse’s ear, screaming in a high pitch, acting like she was on fire.
“What are you screaming for? You have wings!” I yelled, and then I too belted out screaming louder than either of them.
My horse friend was about to kill us. The louder we screamed, the faster he ran. I had been on some scary roller coasters, and I knew the feeling that I was about to experience. My stomach would fly to my chest, I wouldn’t be able to breathe, and the steepness would stun my brain. Only this time, we wouldn’t be slowing down, and we would have no soft landing.
I forced myself to watch the ground as I screamed and hugged the horse. I saw the moment when the horse’s hoof hit the edge, crumbling the earth, pieces falling down to the sea. The deep blue ocean below would be merciless. White foam waves crashed into the jutting rocks.
We fell about five feet, suspended in the air, our butts leaving the back of the horse, and then…with a slam, and a few jolting pains, we were back on Solstice. And he was….flying.
The horse could fly!
His feet continued to move as though he were on solid ground.
I laughed first, a giddy laugh that made me sound daft. Lucian followed, his nervous laugh relieving the high stress we’d just experienced. Pladia flew back to my shoulder. “Did you not know Elven horse can fly?”
“No.” I belly-laughed. “No.”
“Why didn’t you tell us, you tricky little—” Lucian scowled.
“No fun then.” She flew back to sit between the horse’s ears. Her screams had been fake. Nice.
Looking over my shoulder at Lucian, he had the biggest smile I’d ever seen. “I thought the horse was going to kill us,” he said.
“You and me both,” I said. “Look at that ocean! It’s so amazing!”
“I know,” he replied.
It was one of those moments in life that you never want to forget. Like the first time you are able to ride a bike on your own. The first time you get your license. The first time you see a tropical beach or Disney World. But this was more exhilarating than anything I had ever done.
The ocean below roared, the sound reverberating all around us. Foam-capped waves, deep blue water. For miles and miles, that’s all you could see. And then we were flying through low-hanging clouds—white, wispy, airy clouds. The ocean was still visible between breaks in the puffy whiteness.
We went on like this, flying and flying punching through the occasional cloud. I didn’t know how long this ride would be; I had no idea where the land of the Elven could be, and I surely never thought we’d be leaving the safety of the ground to get there. Drumm had said once that it was three days’ travel. But that couldn’t be by air alone, could it? That’s a long time without a bathroom.
“Pladia? How far do we travel up here? When will we hit land?”
“Human time, oh, don’t know. But by sunset time, we be in Ireland. Not long.”
“The land of the Elven is in Ireland then?”
“Close by. Off coast—we pit stop. On island…Hy Brasil.” She leaned back on one of the horse’s ears, her silver wings flying out so you couldn’t see the ear anymore. She put her feet up on the adjacent ear, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes.
A pit stop? So, getting to the land of the Elven was a process. I patted Solstice on the neck. He must know this process by heart.
Pladia hadn’t been as loquacious as I’d thought she’d be. Izadora had brought up the point that redheaded fairies never shut up. That didn’t seem to be the case. Or so I thought.
I must have dozed off hugging the horse’s neck, because I was abruptly awakened by idle chatter. I turned to see that Lucian laid back, his arms behind his head, resting on the rump of the horse. Apparently, he felt safe enough to let go of me, finally. But with Pladia’s nonstop chatter, he sat up, rubbing his eyes.
The sun had begun its descent low in the sky, and beautiful purplish clouds lay ahead.
“We almost there. To Ireland. I have not been in so long. So long.” She hopped up and down on Solstice’s head, his ears swatting back and forth, as she intruded upon him. “Look there—see. Oh, I remember good time, lots of pixie treat my grandpappy make me. Warm milk from fat cow. Shamrock cookie surprise! Sheep wool comfy, warm, soft. Ireland has best sheep in world.” She rambled on incessantly. After a while, I tried to tune her out.
“Look at purple cloud.” She flew back and pinched my nose. “Look!”
“Ouch!” I wanted to swat at her, but I didn’t. She was so happy that I tried to pay attention. “I see. The sunset here is a
mazing!”
We were still some distance from land, but the horse flew lower. I noticed something below us—something dark and gloomy in the water. Magella in her boat. She seemed so out of place here in this majestic land.
Solstice flew closer, showing us the boat. Magella was at the head of the boat, jumping up and down like a madwoman, momentarily shaking her head like she was at a rock concert. She herself was delighted to be here, in a mad, crazy sort of way. Or maybe she just liked going to battle.
Pladia did something unladylike when she noticed Magella. She shook her fist and then turned around to moon her, swatting her butt.
“Pladia!” I chastised her. “I don’t like her either, but don’t let her catch you doing that.”
“Stupid witch. Mean. Bad.”
I pretended to listen while I observed the sunset. It was just as beautiful as the sunsets by the magical city of Merribay. Actually, it was even more beautiful. I believe Ireland itself had to be enchanted. The plum-colored clouds darkened to blue, and the night sky would be settling in soon; already, the shimmering stars were present.
We flew down low, past the coastline of steep, rocky cliffs. The dizzying heights were dramatic, but after flying over the ocean for so many hours, I was glad to see them. Once past the rugged cliffs, we flew over rough water for several minutes.
Ahead lay thick mist. As we went through, I lost all sense of direction.
“My father once told me about this place,” Lucian said. “Hy Brasil. The legend states that the island is always cloaked with this thick, misty fog. Only every seven years does the sun shine, and for one day the fog is lifted. When that happens, you can see it from the shore of Ireland, but those that try to reach it, never can.”
This piqued my interest to the extreme. “Is that why we need an Elven horse to get there?”
“That’s one way.” He leaned farther forward so that his cheek almost touched mine. “Word is, the old wizard who dwells on the island is the caretaker of the place. He can see who comes close. It is up to him whether you can enter or not. Ian knows him quite well. My father told me Ian even studied the magical arts under his tutelage.” He paused to scratch his nose. “It’s said the wizard that resides here is the greatest wizard in the world.”