The Dwarven Wars

by Leah Cutter

  “Caves, you mean, don’t you?” Cornelius asked. Yes, those mushrooms were perfection itself. “Not merely searching for homes in the trees, correct?”

  Thirza and Edeline looked at each other.

  Cornelius caught the guilt in their exchange. “Surely you don’t believe that the fairies need to go back to the old ways? Living in the woods with no homes to call our own?”

  “No,” Edeline said slowly.

  Was she lying? Cornelius wasn’t certain.

  “But it’s more important to get our people out of here,” Thirza insisted. “It’s only a matter of time before the Old One decides to just kill us all. Bury us all here.”

  “Merely running away to some makeshift hovel in the woods will cause more problems than staying,” Cornelius insisted. “We need something to run to.”

  “He’s right,” Sebastian added.

  Cornelius sat up straighter in his chair, puzzled. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time the priest had agreed with him.

  Both of the other fairies seemed shocked at the priest’s assessment as well.

  “For most of the fairies, living here, even with the constant threat of death, is preferable to running away to live in poverty.” Sebastian held up his hand before anyone could interrupt. “I know, I know. Living in the woods, surviving on our wits and off the bounty of the land wouldn’t necessarily be a horrible existence. Fairies lived that way for centuries. However. These modern fairies aren’t used to it. They have their comforts and their fields. Taking those away will kill quite a few.”

  Cornelius grew stubborn under the accusatory glare of the priest. “Living safely underground in modest homes hasn’t made us so decadent that we couldn’t survive out on the land,” he said.

  Sebastian deliberately looked around Cornelius’ rooms and snorted.

  Fine. Perhaps the priest did have a point. Cornelius lived in a style that his grandfather wouldn’t have recognized. He had servants who tended him, a soft bed to sleep in, fancy wooden dressers for all of his outfits, even several pairs of leather boots. He didn’t have to hunt for his own food—he had warriors who did that for him, as well as workers who tended fields. He didn’t have to constantly battle other fairies for his place in the hierarchy: it was granted in a much more civilized manner, through common accord.

  That didn’t mean he was incapable of living any other way. Or that the other fairies weren’t either.

  “So we shouldn’t just look for unoccupied woods? But for underground caverns that might sustain the kingdom as well?” Thirza asked.

  “If you want the support of the court, yes,” Cornelius replied. He kept his voice firm. This wasn’t something he would be willing to compromise on.

  Thirza and Edeline exchanged another glance. Cornelius couldn’t tell what they were conferring about. Did his insistence on an actual safe home interfere with their plans?

  “We could do that,” Thirza finally said. “Look for underground caves as well as woods.”

  “Maybe we could find a place that had easy access to both!” Edeline added. “That way fairies could choose the lifestyle they wanted. Some could live in the woods and others could live underground. Whatever suits them best.”

  Cornelius knew it would be a horrible mistake to split the fairies in such a manner. There would be constant feuds as they fought amongst themselves for limited resources. Plus, who knew what kinds of creatures would stalk them, once they figured out that the kingdom was easily accessible from the woods?

  However, he also knew that this time he had to compromise. Or at least appear to. “I believe finding a suitable location that has both an underground area as well as good woods surrounding it should be your goal. Of course, with the emphasis on the underground area.”

  “Of course,” Edeline and Thirza said in a chorus.

  Fools. They had no idea what they would do to their people by urging them to split up like that.

  Cornelius would give them some leeway as they did have good intentions, despite their naivety.

  But once the scouts had found the right area, Cornelius would move heaven, earth, as well as all the heroes and gods, to make sure that the underground cavern was settled first.

  Once the fairies had their comfortable homes again, then they’d see how many actually would move to the nasty outdoors.

  Oh, a few would go.

  The rebels and the anarchists.

  Good riddance to them.

  Denise woke up suddenly. Had Dale come home?

  She pushed herself up from the old gray couch, her neck complaining about how she’d been sleeping.

  Ow.

  Light filtered through the living-room curtains. Denise quickly checked her phone. Seven fifteen.

  No sign of Dale.

  She knew she would have woken up if he’d come through the door. Still, she checked his room. Maybe the fairies had transported him back home magically. She’d find him sleeping, lying on white daisy petals.

  No, daisies would protect her from the fairies. Nora had told her that. It was why daisies grew wild across the front of the house.

  But Dale’s room was still empty when she opened the door. No one had slept in his bed last night. Nora’s room, and her own, were empty as well.

  Denise went back to the kitchen and made herself the one cup of coffee that she indulged herself in every day. (Caffeine was bad for her and her heart, she knew. She still got one delicious cup per day.) She didn’t try to eat anything—she had no appetite and nothing looked good.

  The kitchen felt cold, though the furnace was working fine. Denise sat at the kitchen table alone, her hands wrapped around her warm cup. The room seemed dim, not much light coming through the window over the kitchen sink. She didn’t bother turning on the overhead light. It would just show her clean counters with all the dishes put away, an empty stove that bore the scars from Dale’s most recent kitchen experiments, and a message board that still lied, saying that Dale would be home soon.

  Worry gnawed at Denise. She tried Dale’s number again, but it went straight to voicemail. She texted him as well. No reply.

  With a sigh, Denise dialed the number of Officer Palace. Sergeant, now. They’d dated for a few months five years before, but Denise hadn’t really been ready to let someone into her life. Chris—her ex—had been a bully and verbally abusive. She’d gotten out before he could physically harm her, though she’d known that was coming.

  The night before, when she’d called, Chris had claimed that he hadn’t seen Dale, had no idea that the boy was missing. Denise had wanted to strangle her ex when he’d implied that of course Dale had run away rather than stay with Denise.

  But Denise had also believed Chris when he’d said Dale wasn’t there. Her ex wouldn’t have been able to keep the smug satisfaction out of his voice if Dale was with him.

  She couldn’t think about that asshole now. She had to stay focused on the present. On finding Dale.

  “Hello, Denise!” Sergeant Palace said on the other end of the phone. “I was just thinking about you,” he added.

  His voice sounded so warm. Denise couldn’t help but shiver. “Thank you so much,” she said. Geez. She could hear Nora telling her, “Way to be lame, Mom.”

  Denise made an effort to pull herself together. “I’m sorry to bother you, but you were the only person I knew to call.”

  “What’s wrong?” Sergeant Palace said instantly.

  Denise closed her eyes and took as deep a breath as she could. Her chest felt constricted with loss. However, she felt the day brightening as well. Maybe there was someone who could help.

  “My son Dale’s missing,” Denise said. The words tasted more bitter than her coffee. “He didn’t come home last night.”

  “I see,” Sergeant Palace said. “Could he be out with friends? A girlfriend, perhaps?”

  “I’ve already checked with them,” Denise told him. “Leslie—his girlfriend—said he had some mysterious appointment yesterday afternoon. I have
n’t seen him for more than twenty-four hours, though.”

  “Do you think he’s in danger?” Sergeant Palace asked.

  How could she tell him of the fairies? Of magic and dwarves? “Yes, I suspect he’s in danger,” Denise said. “But it’s difficult to explain. Some of the other people he hangs out with…”

  “I’m sorry I have to ask this,” Sergeant Palace said. “But could he be a danger to himself?”

  Denise couldn’t help but snort. “Beyond being extremely headstrong and too stubborn for his own good? No.”

  “All right,” Sergeant Palace said. “What I can do for you is this. I’m going to check the lockup, see if he’s there. Just in case. Hang on.”

  “Thank you,” Denise said. It hadn’t occurred to her that Dale might have been arrested. But for what? Could the fairies make him do something illegal?

  Of course they could. They had his name. They could make him do anything they wanted.

  Elevator music came pouring out of the phone. Ugh. Who had programmed that? Was it supposed to put people more on edge? It certainly wasn’t calming. She put the phone down on the table. If only she could mute it.

  Before the music drove her to complete distraction, Sergeant Palace’s warm voice came back on the line. “Hello? You still there? Or did the muzak make you hang yourself?”

  Denise grinned as she picked up the phone again. “Still here. Not quite ready to kill myself yet. What was that awful music?”

  “I don’t know which idiot councilman paid for that treat. But if I ever do find him, or her, well, they might find themselves in jail. Just on principle.” Sergeant Palace paused, then added, “I checked the lockup. Dale isn’t there.”

  “Thank you for checking,” Denise said. She sagged in her seat.

  “Do you want me to send some officers to your house? So you can fill out a missing persons report?” Sergeant Palace asked. “They wouldn’t be able to come until later this afternoon, though.”

  “No, no, that’s okay. I can come down to the station,” Denise said.

  “Great! When can I expect to see you?” Sergeant Palace asked.

  Denise hesitated. While it was wonderful to hear Sergeant Palace on the phone, this wasn’t a date. Her son was missing.

  “I need to talk with my daughter,” Denise said, hesitating. “Then I’ll be down. One hour. Tops.”

  “All right,” Sergeant Palace said, obviously puzzled.

  He could tell she was putting him off. What could be more important than coming down and filling out a report so that the police could officially start looking for her boy? Why wasn’t she already on her way there?

  “Bye,” Denise said before the sergeant could ask her any questions. She quickly pressed the disconnect button.

  She would go to the police station. Maybe it would take her less than an hour. But she really did have a more important errand to run first.

  Namely, to ask the fairies for help.

  Chapter 3

  Edeline soared through the air. This was flying! She’d rarely stretched her wings like this before.

  The day had dawned sunny and clear, with only a light breeze blowing from the ocean. The air tasted wet—a storm would blow up out of the south by afternoon. So the group needed to make good progress that morning before the drenching rains came.

  Edeline had already promised Thirza that she’d be able to fly in all kinds of weather. She’d been practicing. She didn’t know about the two other royals that flew with them—Percy and Floyd—but they’d both assured her that they’d keep up.

  They were both older than she was, but not by much. Not more than five years or so. The three of them were the youngest fairies in the kingdom.

  Edeline always told herself that being young just gave her the biggest dreams.

  She had no worries about the warriors being able to fly for great distances—they did that regularly.

  However, royals weren’t supposed to fly outside of the cavern of the Greater Oregon Fairy Kingdom. Not that it was forbidden, but it was frowned on, questioned. Why on earth would she ever want to risk herself that way?

  When Cornelius had finally caught a clue and held a dancing bonfire outside, she’d gladly gone with the rest of the royals. It had been a magical night before that awful group of fairies from the south had shown up.

  That was when Edeline and the other younger fairies had started making plans.

  No one would stop them from making a journey, despite the fact that almost no fairies who left ever returned. However, no one would give them any supplies, either. It would be extremely difficult to mount an adventure without beautiful silk cocoons for sleeping in, as well as small magical travel bags that held more than they should have.

  Edeline had started regularly sneaking out of the cavern to practice her flying after that. She hadn’t stopped even when the Old One had started attacking them.

  She knew it was dangerous. That just gave her adventures a thrilling edge. She was small enough that she could disguise herself as a warrior when she left. No one had looked closely enough to see her caste. Most assumed that all royals were tall and willowy.

  That was how she’d met Thirza. Edeline had come across one of the warrior raids and hadn’t been able to fly away quickly enough. Thirza had taken pity on her and not turned her in, not told anyone else about the strange royal flying about outside.

  The warrior had quickly turned into an ally. Particularly as more fairies died in the attacks. Thirza knew that the fairies of the Greater Oregon Fairy Kingdom needed to leave their home. And she was happy to follow a royal with vision.

  Finally, Edeline was able to put her vision into action.

  That morning, the fairies flew up north along the coast, away from the place the humans had called Port City. They flew a little way inland so that they didn’t have to fight the constant wind blowing in from the ocean. They soon passed out of the areas that Edeline was familiar with. Trees grew with all their limbs streaming back over the land, unable to push much more than stubby branches into the wind. Most of the land had been settled by humans, with their boxy houses and awful straight lines.

  All that electricity. And foreign metal. The fairies had to fly high enough over it not to be affected by it. Horrible stuff that interfered with fairy magic. And they had to hide themselves from the humans.

  Just past the inhabited areas grew the first great forest. If only it wasn’t in the Old One’s territory! Edeline was certain they could have found a home there. The woods there were old. Not friendly, but they wouldn’t have minded the fairies living there.

  As they crested the edge of the woods, a huge, golden-eyed hawk flew out. It was easily half the size of Edeline. Its piercing cry made Edeline shiver.

  Was it eyeing her? Did it think it could just snatch her up? She flew closer to Thirza. Safety in numbers.

  She gulped down her fear as it veered off. But she bravely flew on.

  Would it have tried to attack her if she’d been on her own?

  Possibly.

  But she would never have allowed it to carry her off. She had royal blood in her veins. Which made her more fierce than most.

  More determined than the other fairies.

  Her wings grew tired with the constant flying. She refused to stop, though she was grateful when Percy finally whined loud enough that Thirza called a rest.

  Edeline flew down to the tops of the trees, found a sturdy branch that would support her, and let her wings droop. Who would have believed that flying for over an hour would be so tiring? She suspected they hadn’t gone that many miles, either.

  Then she straightened up. The others looked to her as an example. She would fly farther than any of them. Fight harder. Go without food or sleep and still be stronger than them.

  She would find their new home. She’d always known she had a great destiny. Founding the new kingdom would be the start of hers.

  Then, with the support of the warrior caste, as well as the priests, she’d h
ave herself declared queen.

  Cornelius was old. And old-fashioned.

  His time had passed.

  Hers was just beginning.

  Nora slept badly that night. She didn’t remember her nightmares, but when she finally woke, her legs were tired and her fingers ached, as if she’d been running and trying to knot something magical all night.

  She’d slept with her phone right next to her pillow so she’d wake up if someone called.

  She still checked her phone as soon as she woke up, making sure that she hadn’t missed a call.

  No messages from her mom. Which meant Dale was still missing.

  Nora called Dale’s number again, leaving yet another threatening voicemail. She was going to strangle him when he showed up. She wasn’t sure if she could do that, but she could try. She’d been thinking about it the night before, knotting a long rope and then imagining his neck in the noose. How dare he worry Mom like this? Worry her as well?

  Nora decided to blow off her first class—history, a subject she wasn’t sure she could care less about—and go to see one of her magical advisors. Rainy taught yoga early in the morning, and Nora knew she generally didn’t have a second class immediately after the first.

  Rainy had even gotten Nora to go to yoga a few mornings. Nora had hated it. She loved tying string into knots. Not her own body.

  Nora automatically strengthened her room’s defenses before she got out of bed. All her spells still held, the knots strong. She was safe.

  Well. Safe enough.

  She shook herself, making herself get out of her nest of blankets. She stood by the side of her bed, yawning and stretching. What was she going to do? Oh yeah. Take a shower. Go see Rainy. God, she was so not a morning person.

  But she was up. Vertical. She might as well make herself useful. See if there was something she could do to help find her missing brother.