by Sarah Noffke
“Why couldn’t I have been born a simple human on Earth who didn’t have strange pets and magic?” Azure asked, her gaze on the sky.
“I’ll remind you, Queen Azure, that you are human,” Gillian informed her.
“Yes, but I’m anything but simple and I still have no idea what the human part of me has to do with anything. Gran said that accepting and integrating my human side was key to coming into my full power.” Azure picked up her bag, watching as the feline form of Manx ran in her direction. He shifted into a stallion as he approached.
“I trust that the queen mother is correct, but that is one journey you’ll have to travel alone and a set of answers that only you can discover,” Gillian said, mounting his steed. Blisters looked ready for the adventure ahead.
Monet swung his leg over his horse, pushing up to a sitting position. “Oh, Riddle-Boy? What would we do without you always working to be most unhelpful?”
“Stay vigilant, everyone,” Azure commanded. “The mermaid said that the real danger would come when we traveled away from the Conca River.”
“Yes. Manx, can you shine any light on what enemy we might be approaching?” Gillian asked.
Azure had already mounted the large stallion, which hadn’t been an easy task, especially without a saddle.
“Let’s see,” Manx said, trotting forward. “Up ahead there are dragons, trevor beetles, harpies, and giant snakes. But the latter are more afraid of you than you are of them. Honestly, just about everything is dangerous. Queen Azure, you could fall from my back and break your neck. Your friend Gillian could be impaled by the unicorn’s horn while riding. And seriously, I think it’s only a matter of time before the green-haired guy chokes on the flask of whiskey he keeps sneaking sips from.”
“Wow, who invited the fairy to join us?” Monet asked, staring at the group as if truly seeking an answer.
“Right, thanks for the information. I guess we’ll just take our chances.” Azure looked down at Gillian, who was close to the ground on Blisters’ back. “Soon we will need to focus our attention on locating Ever. Danger or no danger, that’s the reason we’re here.”
“This is the fellow who betrayed you for his father?” Manx asked.
“Yes. He stole the Book of Branches from us, and he’s planning on murdering the rogue dryads. You don’t, by chance, know where we can find that tribe?” Azure asked, hope surging in her chest.
“I don’t, but I know that murdering the rogue dryads will bring a lifetime of bad luck. They, as dryads, are the protectors of the Dark Forest. Those who harm them will suffer, and everyone associated with them will suffer as well,” Manx told her.
“Which means we really need to find Ever and stop him from doing this. He isn’t thinking.” Azure lifted her chin, enjoying the sun as it kissed the top of her head. The terrain had grown more desert-like, the ground mostly sand and the trees having dropped away.
“Did you hear the part about how anyone associated with Ever will suffer as well?” Monet asked, shaking his head at her.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we desert him. We didn’t do that to you when you were about to breed with a fox,” Azure retorted.
Monet nearly gagged. “For fuck’s sake, can we forget that ever happened?”
“I don’t believe we can.” Gillian was enjoying himself.
“Shhh… I heard something,” Azure said, pulling her wand out and checking the area. They were surrounded by sandy hills and cactus.
“Oh, good. More danger is approaching,” Monet said, peering around. Not much could be spied, since they were climbing a rather steep sand dune. At their back were sand and forest. What might lie in front of them was a mystery currently.
If Ever had been there he’d have heard the rumbling sound Azure was sure she could make out, but he wasn’t and there was no point dwelling on it.
The sun overhead intensified, almost crushing the group with its beating rays.
“Does it make sense to anyone that we should be traveling through a desert to find a tribe that’s responsible for protecting the forest?” Monet asked.
“Things don’t always make sense in the way we think they should,” Gillian supplied.
“You don’t make sense,” Monet spouted.
“Shhh…” Azure said again. “There’s a strange noise.”
“You’re a strange noise,” Monet said to her and encouraged his horse to keep climbing, since it was about to slide back down the steep dune.
“This would be a lot easier for me in raven form,” Manx said, grunting from the climb up the hill.
“Don’t you even dare,” Azure warned him. “You signed on for this, and can’t desert me now.”
“You’d be surprised what I can do,” the pooka teased.
Blisters bounded past the group, Gillian bobbing on his back. “I smell ice cream,” the unicorn cried, frolicking to the top of the hill. He turned back, his blue eyes large with horror. “Oops. Not ice cream.” Then he disappeared on the other side of the sand dune.
“Blisters!” Azure yelled, digging her heels into Manx.
“Are you kidding me? I’m not bounding toward the cliff where the unicorn disappeared,” Manx said, refusing to pick up the pace.
However, Monet’s horse was more compliant and carried him obediently to the top. Monet peered over the edge and out over the dunes and shook his head, no worry on his face. “It’s fine, just a steep drop-off. Blisters looks to be riding Gillian now, but no biggie. The concern I’d have is the fucking gigantic cave mouth in the distance.”
“Gigantic cave mouth,” Azure muttered. “Manx, do you have any idea what that’s about?”
“Not at all, but the logic in me thinks that something large would need a big exit out of its cave,” Manx mused.
“Thanks, I feel so much better now.” Azure pulled Manx to a halt next to Monet, staring down at Blisters, who was rolling around. Gillian dumped his loafers out, shaking the sand out of them.
“That will do you no good,” Monet called to him. “That shit is going to be everywhere, if you know what I mean.”
“Well, there’s obviously an easy and a hard way to do this, if we’ve learned from history,” Manx said, and disappeared. Azure dropped to her bottom and slid down the giant sand dune. She leaned back, trying to keep her balance as gravity carried her to where Gillian and Blisters were standing. The sand crept into her clothes, but the ride was actually fun as well as swift. She laughed when she arrived at their feet, staring up at them with a look of glee.
“You made that ride look like much more fun than it felt for us,” Gillian said bitterly.
Azure peered up at the sky, where Manx was beating his wings. “I guess the pooka knows more than he lets on,” she said, and then called up to Monet, “Hey, it’s your turn. I suggest you dismount.”
“Fuck that. I’m not a commoner,” Monet said, digging his heels into his horse. They started forward, the horse cautiously taking a step down the steep slope and then back up. He reared onto his back legs, tossing Monet off. Then he turned and sped in the opposite direction. Monet sputtered out a mouthful of sand.
“Damn it,” he spat, slamming a hand into the sand below him.
“Okay, now you’re on your own. Get down here, Monet,” Azure encouraged.
“Fine, but I’m going for top marks,” Monet called, standing and taking off at a sprint. He then dived face-forward and rode the slide all the way to the bottom. When he arrived his face was covered in sand, but his grin was wide and eyes full of excitement. “That was fucking awesome.”
“And just so you know, sand will be everywhere, if you know what I mean,” Gillian said, his tone teasing.
The rumbling sound again echoed across the desert.
“Was that my stomach?” Blisters asked. “I haven’t eaten all morning.”
“I know, buddy. I’m sorry,” Azure said. “But I don’t think even your stomach can complain that loudly.”
The group turned to the giant cave
opening, which was visibly shaking. Manx flew down and landed on Azure’s shoulder, clicking his bird tongue. “I sense you all know that danger is approaching. However, as the only one of us who has actually seen it, I just wanted to inform you all that you’re screwed.”
“What are we facing?” Azure asked, her back tense.
“Besides certain death?” Manx asked, sounding honestly curious to hear her answer.
“Yes, besides that.” She gripped her wand in her hand, as did Monet.
“I could tell you, but it’s better if you see it with your own eyes,” Manx said, and took off into the air.
“He said the same damn thing about the kitsune,” Azure complained.
“Oh, look, it’s nothing. It’s just a giant floating eye,” Monet said, pointing at the cave in the distance. In the blackness of the cave a large eye hovered toward the top of the opening. “How much trouble could a stupid eye be?”
The eye moved forward out of the shadows, making the rest of it visible.
“Oh, fuck!” Azure said, backing up.
“Cyclops. What you meant to say was ‘Oh, cyclops,’” Gillian said, his voice vibrating with fear.
CHAPTER EIGHT
At the mouth of the cave, a giant had materialized. He was easily double the height of a normal-sized man, but that wasn’t the only thing unique about the brute wearing a dirty loincloth. His two regular eyes were sealed shut, but the large one in the middle of his forehead blinked at the group.
“Does anyone here get the impression that the one-eyed geek is hungry?” Monet asked.
“Azure, whatever you do, don’t try and negotiate with him,” Gillian implored. “Cyclopes don’t negotiate. Furthermore, they hate any form of language, period.”
The cyclops opened his mouth and screamed, making the ground under their feet vibrate.
“Which is why they resort to other forms of communication,” Monet said, judging the hill at their back. “Well, it looks like we either try and pass the giant or we bet our luck on climbing the steep-ass sand dune.”
“Gillian, what else do you know about cyclopes?” Azure asked, backing up a step with the group.
“They are easily confused, have no peripheral vision, and also are extremely violent and therefore live alone and are dying out to the point of extinction.” Gillian listed the information matter-of-factly.
“Is that your way of telling us to try not to harm the monster?” she asked, a hint of a laugh in her tone.
“If it can be avoided, but if we kill the last cyclops I promise to not tell on us,” Gillian said, his voice full of fear. On his bowler, the red flower had peeled back its petals and was baring its teeth in the direction of the giant.
“I think this qualifies as a ‘fuck my life’ moment,” Azure whispered in Monet’s direction.
“I second that,” he said, and shoved her forward. “Looks like a diplomatic time where you should take the lead, Your Majesty.”
Azure resisted, pushing back into his hand. “I really think this is a chance for my Chief of Staff to shine.”
“I’ve had too much of the spotlight, so after you,” Monet said, now using Azure as a shield of sorts
The cyclops stomped his giant foot, his eye angrily narrowed on the group. He reached for a mallet the size of a small horse and lifted it to his shoulder, bounding in the direction of the group.
Manx swooped down, landing next to them. “Queen Azure, I can probably get close enough to peck out his eye.”
“I feel like that’s been done. And although a smart approach, I think we can do something a little less messy,” she said, as the monster stomped across the desert.
“How about we enchant ropes to wrap around his ankles and tie him up?” Monet offer.
“We don’t have ropes,” Azure reminded him.
“Minor detail,” Monet said, waving her off.
“Giant who lives in the desert,” Azure muttered to herself, thinking.
“Uhhh… Can you speed up the thinking process a bit? Said giant is closing in on us,” Monet said, fear vibrating in his voice.
“You said that they’re not smart, right, Gillian?” Azure asked.
“Dumb as rocks,” Gillian confirmed matter-of-factly.
“Okay, well, then let’s hope this works.” Azure reached out her hand to Monet. “I need to share your magical energy. Will you loan it to me?”
“Of course.” He laid his hand in hers just as the beast halted, bending forward and screaming. His hot breath blasted the group. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to create something desert dwellers might fear.” Azure siphoned energy from Monet, combining his magic with her own. She thrust her wand into the air and muttered an incantation as old as Virgo. “Tempestas tonitrua.”
Lightning cracked overhead and gray clouds swirled over the once-clear sky, obscuring the sun. Fat droplets of rain started to fall, landing on the dry desert ground.
“You created a gentle rainstorm? Are you fucking kidding me?” Monet yanked his hand from Azure’s.
No sooner had he finished his sentence than the rain turned into a torrential downpour. Lightning slashed across the sky, a green and yellow display of color. The cyclops clapped his hands to his head and sank down, eyeing the sky with sudden fear. He began to brush off the water, but soon realized it was a useless attempt. The monster rolled into a giant ball, shaking.
Lightning was followed by a clap of thunder. The giant started upward, his eye darting to the sky. Aware he was the tallest structure around, he fell to hands and knees and scurried in the direction of his cave. When he had disappeared, Azure swirled her wand in the air, turning the rainstorm to a gentle mist.
“That was quite impressive,” Gillian said, hands on his hips and the brim of his hat pulled low to cover his face from the rain.
“Well, I couldn’t have made such a big storm without Monet’s help,” Azure said. She patted the wizard on the back. “Even if you thought I was losing my mind with the solution.”
“I must be losing my mind, because look!” Monet pointed in the direction of the cave the cyclops had disappeared into. Standing on the top of the cave, feet apart and dripping with rain, was none other than Ever, the Light-Elf.
“Oh, good thing I didn’t deplete our reserves with that spell,” Azure said, and swiped her wand across the sky. A sharp bolt of lightning cracked high in the air, threatening but not actually anywhere close to Ever. The thunder that followed was deafening, though.
“Damn.” Monet clapped his hands to his ears. “You’re supposed to kill him, not make the rest of us go deaf.”
“It’s called ‘intimidation,’” Azure said, her eyes locked on the Light Elf.
“Well, it’s not working,” Monet observed. Ever hadn’t budged, only continued to stare down at the group, his gaze full of heat.
Azure started forward, the group on her heels.
CHAPTER NINE
“I wonder if Ever has any food,” Blisters mused as they trotted across the desert, which was damp from the storm.
“Shut up, pony,” Monet spat.
“I must insist that you show proper respect to the unicorn race,” Gillian sputtered, his tone punishing.
“Your ways don’t work on me, Shorty.” Monet ground his fist into the palm of his other hand, his eyes intently on Ever at the top of the cave.
“Why do you think that he came out in plain view?” Azure asked.
Manx flew down to the group, landing on Azure’s shoulder. He shook his wet wings and shifted into the form of the black cat, then slid down her front, taking up residence in her open arms. “Rain and a thunderstorm? Really? You think you could warn me next time you’re going to pull such antics?”
“We were defending ourselves from an unfriendly cyclops, and you had wings that could carry you away,” Azure explained.
“I offered to peck out his eyeball,” Manx said heatedly.
“And points were awarded for being a good team player. Ne
xt time, depending on timing, I’ll totally let you know,” Azure said, halting when the cave was only several yards away.
The cyclops was hiding in the cave; he’d run back to safety at the sound of thunder. That was the only saving grace.
Azure regarded Ever, who stood on top of the cave entrance above them, only a few feet away. His eyes were focused on her, his hands balled up in front of him. “You betrayed me. You betrayed Virgo.”
“And from my note, you should realize that I had no choice,” Ever called down to them.
“You had every choice! From the beginning you had an ulterior motive. You could have just told me! We would have found a way to free your father, but now…” Azure’s voice trailed off as frustration welled up in her. Why had he done this when it could have been so much easier?
“You don’t get it. The rogue dryads don’t negotiate, much like cyclopes. A sentence was set, and the only way to free my father is by—”
“By destroying them.” Azure cut in, finishing his sentence. “So you will save your father, even if that means that the humans of Terran are allowed to hurt the forest and go unchecked. The Duke gets to poison my people, all because of you.”
“Wouldn’t you do the same thing for your mother?” Ever challenged.
“No,” Azure said clearly. “I’ve traveled all over and risked my life to find a cure for the virus, and I will continue to do so. But if it came down to my mother’s life or the preservation of Virgo, I would always choose the latter. That is what she’d want me to do. But also, that is the unbreakable oath I’ve taken to protect.”
“Then your crown makes you stronger than me, because I can’t live with myself knowing that my father suffers.” Ever stared down at them and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now, though. You have ruined it.”
“Oh, that’s cute manipulative behavior. We showed up to take back the Book of Branches that belongs to the Queen of Virgo, and we ruined your selfish exploitation?” Monet released a cold laugh.
“The cyclops,” Ever bit off the words, “is the protector of the rogue dryads. I was about to get in there, but now they are on guard. They know I’m here. They know you’re here. They fucking know just about everything that I didn’t want them to know.”