by Tom Keller
"You've done well, thanks. A couple days, eh? Charlie, ask Cacilia if she can meet us inside." Then I told Sendy to see Handion for some food. I grabbed both kids and headed back to the inn. Once inside I invited everyone to sit and told them what I'd learned.
"They will not be happy. They will see having to cross the dead lands as an affront to their King," Cacilia said, hearing about the Hamadryads refusal to allow them to cross. "When did you issue that order?"
"Actually, I didn't," I answered. "At least not one directed at Dwarves. But I did tell the Hamadryad to guard the realm from any that would cause us harm. So I'm guessing they took that to heart."
"Now I understand," she replied, shaking her head. "Sylvana then. Many trees were felled during the wars and she has not forgotten the help she received from Bernd and Valen, nor the pleas that fell on the deaf ears of Grerin as his Dwarves abandoned us."
"Someone with some sense then," Nikki said. "Isn't she the one you told us about? The guardian of the temple?"
"Yeah," I replied. "As well as the eldest of the Hamadryad."
"What kind of response can we expect from them then?" Jay asked, fingering his sword. "Do you want to let them in when they get here or meet them at the border?"
"Response? That I don’t know," I replied. "Cacilia? Handion? Any idea?"
"I do not know how they will react," Cacilia said after a moment. "None of Grerin's Dwarves have been seen in millennia. All I know is what I have already told you. What this will mean for us I cannot say."
"Do we really care?" Nikki asked, obviously not happy with all that she'd heard. "Seems to me they have a lot of balls showing up after all this time. I'm sorry, but I just don’t see where we owe them anything."
"You are correct, Princess," Handion said. "You do not owe them anything. But there is still politics to consider. And politics here, unlike the human world, is settled not only with magic, but often at the end of a sword. Valen himself would urge caution."
"You're right, he probably would, as would Bernd. But they're not here, I am," I said with a glance at Nikki. "No. We'll allow them entry and have them escorted to the temple. Then we can listen to what they have to say. As to what happens after, that will be up to them to decide. Ok, then. Let's just enjoy what's left of the night. Handion, can you get some rooms for us? We might as well stay here until they arrive."
"Of course," he replied and then nodded at Lotte who headed up the stairs.
Everyone seemed to be in agreement, but I could tell Cacilia was skeptical. She had, after all, protected the Fae for a long time by keeping a low profile. I hadn't helped in that accord, especially since the last battle we'd fought had been on the temple floor. But we'd already hashed out any differences we'd had after that one and I figured she'd go along with whatever I decided. She owed Valen and Bernd a lot and she wasn't one to forget her friends either. I tasked Sendy with keeping an eye out for the Dwarves and updating not just me, but also Cacilia, as well as the Hamadryad that watched the border as they got closer.
Chapter 14
NIKKI
I needed to think, so I decided to take a walk. Dinner had been delicious and the Elf beer something else. These people, I mean Fae, were truly wonderful folks. But all this talk of Dwarves had me wondering just what was going on in this world. I thought fairy tales were supposed to have happy endings, but if that was the case, someone had dropped the ball, and there was a lot of work to still be done. I can’t believe I just said that. The part about fairy tales, anyway. I don’t know what I stepped into but it was definitely not that.
Ok, at least the Faerie part is real, I thought to myself, as I stepped through the doorway to go back outside. There was a field nearby, and many of them hadn't left when the sun set. They were milling about in the moonlight, just enjoying themselves. Even Jay was having fun, or at least it looked like it, based on the way he and the red headed Fae he'd been introduced to were walking so close to each other. Still, feeling the need to be alone, I kept going. Then I spied the stable that was adjacent to the inn and headed that way to check it out.
It was the cleanest stable I'd ever seen. Oh sure, there was hay on the floor, but everything was as neat and tidy as it could be. I checked out the bins along the far wall and found them full of fresh oats and grains. There was even a barrel of apples. They looked like they'd just come off the tree. I marveled at how perfect one was as I held it up to the window to get a better look at it in the bright moonlight.
"I think this bin's empty," I heard a woman's voice behind me say. "Could you grab some apples and fill it for me?"
"Sure," I said as I reached down. I turned to see who had asked, and almost tripped over myself when I saw the black horse standing in front of the stall. I turned my head a few times to see if anyone else was around.
"Yes, that should be fine," I heard the horse say. Then the apples fell out of my arms and she reared up and whinnied in a voice that almost sounded like laughter. Then the horse spread her wings, and as they filled the stable, I stumbled, and this time fell right to the floor.
"Sorry to have startled you so, Princess," she said, as I got up on my knees and stared at her. I realized then that she hadn't really been talking out loud, but instead I'd heard the words in my head. I looked around once more to make sure that no one else was in the room.
"How did you do that," I asked as I stood up, staring at the huge wings that spread out on each side of her. "… and what are you? Forget I asked that. You're a Pegasus aren’t you?"
"The correct term is Pterippus. But I am his descendant, Althaea" she replied. "And you are Nikole, daughter of Robert, the King of this land."
"That'd be me," I said, dusting the hay off of my clothes. What's one more talking animal the way my day had been going? "Pleased to meet you. Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Of course," she replied.
"Why do I hear you in my head? Why don’t you talk like the dogs do? With your mouth, I mean."
"Such is our way. The spoken word can be difficult for us" she replied. "What use is our magic if we cannot take advantage of it to communicate?"
"Good point," I said as I began to pick up the apples. When I had them all, I put them in the bin in front of her stall.
"Thank you," she said, taking one in her mouth. With a crunch it was gone.
Thinking I'd embarrassed myself enough for one night, I began to walk away, when she spoke to me again.
"You will have to help them," I heard her say.
"Help them?" I asked as I turned back around. "Help who?"
"These Fae," she replied. Then she bit into another apple before continuing. "They will need your help if they are to become more than what they are."
"What does that mean?" I asked. "How can I help them become something more?"
"Ask your father," she replied. "Then, if you wish to learn more, come back when the moon is at its highest and I will be here. But tell no one, not even your father, that you do so." Then she dipped her head as if making a bow and went back to eating apples.
What the hell was that all about? I asked myself, having already decided to return. But, damn! I'd just had a conversation with a flying horse. How many people can say that?
Chapter 15
ROBERT
A little while later I was sitting in the field with Charlie lying beside me. I was leaning against a tree with my hands behind my head when I saw Nikki leaving the stables. She greeted several of the Fae that were still milling about before turning in my direction.
"Dad," she said as she knelt down beside us, her face lit up with the biggest smile I think I've ever seen on her. "I just talked to a flying horse. Can you believe it? She has wings and everything! This place is amazing!"
"So you met Althaea, did you?" I replied.
"Yeah. She said she was a descendant of Pegasus, the one from Greek myth. She likes apples, too, although I guess all horses do. But she has wings! I mean, most horses don’t have wings…" Then she realized she
was rambling and started laughing.
I began to laugh as well. It was a full minute before we stopped and even Charlie seemed to be chuckling.
"But seriously, Dad," she said as she caught her breath. "She said something that I need to ask you about."
"What did she say?" I asked.
"She said I needed to help them become more than what they are."
"More than what they are?" I repeated. "That's an interesting way to put it."
"I guess," she answered, shaking her head. "But what does that mean, exactly?"
"It means we need to help them move forward."
"Move forward? But why? They seem to be doing pretty good to me," she said, sweeping her hand over the grounds and then towards the forest. "Come on, Dad. No fumes from engines, no noise from running air conditioners or planes. The air is clean. Hell, people back home would die for this."
"That they would," I agreed. "And that's why we have to make sure that this place remains forever hidden from the humans. Because you can imagine what they would do to it if they found out it was real. But as to the Fae, let me ask you something. What do you think they were like a thousand years ago, or better yet, two thousand?"
"I don’t know," she replied. "The same, I guess. But is that a bad thing?"
"No, it's not. Not in and of itself. But there's more to it than that," I said. "Did you see the way Cacilia and Handion reacted when they heard the Dwarves were coming?"
"Yeah, I guess. They seemed… what? A little afraid? Like maybe you'd do something stupid," she added with a grin. "Okay, yeah. They were afraid."
"It's not just that they were afraid, although Handion did make a good point. It's just that they're locked in to these old ways that they don’t necessarily understand have changed. That's what's holding them back."
"So, what? You want to bring them into the twentieth century?"
"No," I said in response. "That's the last thing they need. What we need to do is make them understand that they are Fae, and that means something more these days. Look, in the old days there was, I don’t know, call it an org chart of power distribution. Gods on top, Dwarves and Elves next, then the various Fae below that. That's all gone now. The Fall saw to that. But they're still living like that's the way it has to be. We need to change that and make them realize that they can stand on their own two feet. Have you ever seen the way they treat the Dwarves?"
"No, but I can guess from the conversation."
"Exactly, they bow and scrape like there's no tomorrow. But it's not just our Fae, it's all the Fae. They're still mired in a history so ancient that they can't see that everything's changed. Just look how they treat us. Don’t get me wrong. Valen and the others did a lot for the Fae when they were down and that shouldn’t be forgotten. We're supposed to be royalty, for whatever that's worth. But these Dwarves? This Grerin guy that hid in his castle while our folks were suffering. They didn’t do shit for them and yet I should be careful because they're the ancient big dogs? Bullshit! Unlike Valen and his folks, these Dwarves are cowards, and we need to use that to our advantage."
"As far as the Fae go, I don’t care if they want to stay hidden here in their lands. I'll admit that the Dwarves have powerful magic. But that doesn't mean they need to kowtow to them. I want them to know that there are other options. But more importantly, I want them to know that there is nothing out there better than they are. Each Dryad, each Fae that lives here among us, is as important as anyone else. Not only that, but we're family and we watch out for one another."
"Well, aren’t you on a roll," Nikki quipped.
"Sorry about that," I replied with a sheepish grin. "Too much thinking on my part."
"So what are you going to do?"
"You know me Nik, I'm playing it by ear," I replied. "But I still have to be careful. Cowards or not, they're still dangerous. Let me see what they have to say first."
"Ok, Dad," she said as she stood. "I've got a few things I still want to do and a lot to think about. I'll see you in the morning."
"Sure thing," I replied as she began to walk away. "Hey, before you go, have you seen Jay?"
"Yeah," she said. "He's headed toward the stream snuggled up to some woodland Fae that Plataia introduced him to. He's fine."
"Thanks," I said with a laugh. "I'm sure he is."
Chapter 16
NIKKI
Jay hadn't returned yet, and Dad and Charlie were asleep by the tree I'd seen them at earlier. The moon was high above me and I was headed back into the stable to see what this flying horse wanted to show me. I wasn't sure exactly what was up, especially since she'd asked me not to tell anyone we were meeting. But I'd done some research of my own about her kind during the last few hours, and the fact that they were revered for their wisdom was just one thing that had piqued my curiosity.
When I walked into the stable, the flying horse, Althaea, was already waiting. In the moonlight, she was magnificent. Black as night, her feathery wings spread out behind her, she looked every bit the noble being that I had imagined.
"Come," she said, as she folded her wings and walked up to me. "We must go." Then she bent down.
"What?" I asked. "You want me to get on?"
"That would be the fastest way," I heard her say.
Holy shit! I was going to ride a flying horse! I stepped closer and put my left hand on her back, then placed my foot where her wing connected to her side and pushed myself up onto her back. As she stood, I moved my body and tried to sit up. I held tightly to her neck as she walked out the back part of the stable. Without another word she began to trot, then she leapt, and I grasped her tighter as we suddenly rose up above the trees.
"Do not be afraid," she said. "I will not let you fall."
Her words comforted me and I slowly released the death grip I had on her neck and tried to sit up. I craned my neck to the side and forward to see around the front of her wings, and saw that we were now much higher and doing lazy circles around the inn. There was a moment of vertigo, but it soon passed and as I lightened my grip, she took off over the forest.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"You will see," she answered. "But first, what do you think of your lands?"
Looking back, even with the moon shining above me, I could barely see the inn we'd just left. Beyond that the forest spread out until it ended in a dark band of nothing. Turning forward I saw miles of trees ahead, occasionally broken by winding lines that I had to believe were streams or rivers. There were lights that shined, and I guessed that was where Fae must live, but we were now too high to see anything in any detail. From this vantage point, I could tell that I'd seen just a small part of this place my dad called Fae.
"Looks pretty big," I said, noticing that we seemed to be going a lot faster than I expected.
"Before The Fall, your lands were much larger. Yet your kingdom fared better than most."
Within minutes, the scattered lights among the forest faded away, and soon there was a nothingness below us that even the brightest moon couldn’t pierce.
"Where'd everything go?" I asked, trying to see something in the gloomy night below.
"We travel now over the dead lands."
"The dead lands? I've heard about them. Just what are they?"
"They are exactly what they appear to be. Lands long since dead after the destruction wrought during The Fall. Nothing grows there now, except in very few places where the water still streams above the surface. Did your father not tell you this?"
"He told us about The Fall," I said. "But there hasn't been a chance to go into much detail."
"Good, he has arrived," she said before I could continue.
"Who has…?" I started to say, but then I saw that a white winged stallion had appeared to the side of us. He was every bit as magnificent as Althaea was. But where she was jet black, he was all white, from his hooves to the tip of his wings, with feathers white as snow.
"Do not be afraid," Althaea said, as she fell in line behind him.
Afraid of what? I wondered, as her wings began to beat faster and faster. There was a clap of thunder and the world suddenly went dark. A moment later I found myself squinting in the bright light and, once again, I was somewhere else. Looking below I saw what looked like desert. Then, as we got lower, ruins appeared.
"This may get uncomfortable," Althaea said.
"What?" I asked, and then registered the heat. "Why didn’t I feel anything before this?"
"When we fly we are not always where we appear to be. The layers between worlds protect us, but when we emerge at our destination, we must return to its world as well."
Ok, I thought to myself. I have no idea what that meant. But whatever was going on, it was certainly getting warmer. As we circled, I realized we were heading for a batch of ruins that stuck out like broken toys among the sand.
"What is this place," I asked as she lowered her head and I stepped down into the hot sand.
"This was once the home to many Dryad, or to be more precise, the Aigeiros. Unlike the Fae of your kingdom, they were of the black poplar, and not the oak. But Dryad will suffice to describe their kind," the other horse said, then it bowed its head. "Well met, Princess. I am Leukos."
"He is my sibling," Althaea said.
"I kinda figured that part out," I said as I brushed the hair from my forehead. It really was getting warm here. "So why are we here?" I asked, pointing toward the crumbled ruins in front of us. "And how did it become day all of a sudden?"
"You wanted to learn more," she replied. "And as to the time of day, this place is on the other side of the worlds from your kingdom."
The other side of the worlds? As in worlds, plural. I wasn't even going to try to understand what that meant, either.
"About that," I said in reply. "It's not really my kingdom… at least not yet, if I understand what you mean by the phrase."
I walked a few steps closer to get a better look at the place. It might have once been a temple. It did look like something I might have seen before on the History Channel. Crumbling stone columns surrounded a collapsed roof of stone and what might have once been timber. The place might have once held a stage, or some other kind of platform, as collapsed stone and tile floors littered the area in front of me.