by Bonnie Lamer
Xandra nods. “Okay, what do I need to do?”
“Sindri,” Dagda calls out. Sindri comes into the room a moment later carrying a silver tray with several different plants on it. He sets it down on the coffee table in front of the couch where Xandra is sitting. Her expression is blank as she stares down at the unfamiliar items.
I chuckle. “Would you like me to tell you what they are?” She scrunches her nose and gives me a sour look, making me laugh again. “I will take that as a yes. The purple flower is wood betony. It wards off evil spirits, headaches, bad dreams, and things like that. The light blue plant with the skinny leaves is rosemary.”
“That one I knew,” she says proudly.
I point to the last plant. “That one with the pinkish colored leaves is heavenly bamboo. It is poisonous to most animals, and in large doses, it is poisonous to Fairies.”
She frowns at me. “You guys want me to drink poison?”
I shrug. “It does not seem to bother you when it is in Fairy darts.”
She does not appear to have as much confidence in this fact as I do, but she says, “Okay.”
Sindri comes back in the room and this time, he’s carrying a teapot and one cup on a silver tray. He kneels down in front of the coffee table and puts several leaves from each plant in the teacup. Then, he pours what looks like plain old hot water in the cup. Then, he looks up at Xandra and silently hands it to her.
“Am I supposed to just drink this?” she asks, distaste clear on her face. “I thought I had to say a spell.”
Dagda leans forward and puts his elbows on his knees. “Sindri, the grimoire and the rest of the ingredients, please.”
Sindri nods and rises to his feet. He disappears down the hall and comes back in a moment with the grimoire Dagda had earlier, and a small silver plate. He sets them both down on the coffee table in front of Xandra.
“Thank you, Sindri,” she says with a half-smile. She looks down at the new items. The crocodile tooth is harmless but when she reaches out to touch the blue ring octopus, I grab her hand. “You do not want to do that,” I say. “That is a blue ring octopus and there is no cure for its venom.” I have no idea how Sindri was able to get one on such short notice.
She quickly pulls her hand back. “Why is it here, then? Am I supposed to poison myself to do the spell?” she asks again, looking even more concerned than before.
Dagda sighs with impatience. “Of course not. Read the spell.”
Ignoring his harsh tone, Xandra does and discovers that she is not going to poison herself. Feeling more confident, she looks up at Dagda. “Can I start now?” He nods, impatience still all over his face.
With a deep breath, Xandra kneels down in front of the grimoire. The room is completely silent and all eyes are on her. She does a small shake of her head as if to clear her mind and then begins to perform the spell. She picks up the crocodile tooth, and uses it to poke a hole in the octopus. Then she carefully draws a circle around her teacup. She is very careful not to touch the octopus each time she has to poke it. Her hand is getting a little shaky the last couple of times, making me want to do it for her. I would if I could.
Setting the tooth down, Xandra says the spell. “Plagued by dreams of loss and pain, drowning in sorrow lived again, nightly torment, daily rage; I find peace written on this page. Freedom sought from what time has forgot, my mind to be closed, no longer exposed, to the anger and danger wrought by the fingers of dreams unsought.”
Pausing, she lifts the cup to her lips., “Made of poison from deep within the sea, a circle of protection stolen by me, no dreams shall pass this safeguard, my mind remains unmarred. Sands of nightmares forsaken, while others slumber and dream, for me unbroken darkness in the light of this moon’s beam.” She drinks and the lovely twisting of her face tells me how delicious it must be. She shoots me a dirty look when I have to hold back a chuckle.
As soon as she sets the cup back on the table, Dagda stands up from his chair. “Sindri, if you would please have these things removed.” Sindri nods and leaves the room to get what is needed to remove the octopus safely along with the other items on the plate. Turning to Xandra, Dagda says, “Xandra, I hope for all of our sakes that you truly do have a dreamless sleep. I suggest that we all retire for the evening.” Eyeing both of us now, he adds, “To sleep.” I am surprised, I thought he would insist on us sleeping apart this evening. He really must be exhausted, at least, too exhausted to have the argument with Xandra that he had with me.
Xandra’s face is instantly beet red. “Got it,” she grumbles in embarrassment. She, Kegan and I stand up to go back to our rooms.
I too hope it is a dreamless night. My mind has taken in enough for the day. I would love to simply turn it off and sleep peacefully.
Chapter 11
Content with Xandra in my arms, it does not take me long to fall asleep. My contentedness slips almost immediately as my mind begins to twist and turn. I am in the midst of a dream that surrounds me in fear. Dark, black fear.
I am in a lighted house staring out into the darkness. I am searching for Xandra, trying to see her in the night, calling to her, willing her to come to me. But she does not. She ignores my calls.
“Xandra, where are you?” I shout. “Xandra, it’s dark, you need to come back inside now.” I know in my heart that if she does not come inside, I will lose her forever. Why is she doing this to me?
A movement in the dark catches my eye. I feel the slightest amount of relief, for it must be Xandra. But my relief is quickly replaced with burgeoning anger knowing that she is so close yet refuses to heed my call. What of our love, does it mean nothing to her? I see her move again. “There you are! Xandra, you need to come inside. You can’t be wandering around in the darkness. It’s dangerous,” I scold.
But it is no longer my voice coming from my lips. I have become her mother. “Xandra, the door is unlocked; you only need open it to come in.”
“Mom?” I hear Xandra say tentatively.
Thank god she finally answers me. “Xandra, I can’t see you. Why won’t you come back inside? I’m so worried about you.”
“Mom, I don’t know what you mean. I’m not outside,” Xandra says, her own voice full of fear. If she would only let me, I could comfort her, protect her from the things in the night.
“I can’t see you, honey. Your father and I are so worried. If you can’t come inside, open the door and we’ll come get you.” I try the knob on the door but it will not budge. It can only be opened from the outside.
“But, Mom, you can float through doors.”
I shake my head in growing frustration. “Don’t be silly, Xandra. I thought we settled all that foolishness. The doctor said you should be better now.”
“What doctor?” she asks.
My frustration is turning to exasperation. “Xandra, you know very well what doctor. Now, you stop this nonsense and come back inside.”
Xandra’s voice is still laced with fear. “You aren’t real. You’re just a dream.”
“How can I be a dream, Xandra? You can’t dream. The medication keeps you from dreaming and letting your imagination run wild with thoughts of magic, and all those other ridiculous notions you were going on about. Now, open the door so we can come get you. We’re waiting for you.”
“Why can’t you or Dad open the door if you’re not ghosts?”
Enough of this foolishness. “Xandra Illuminata Smith, stop being smart with me and open the door.”
“I can’t even see a door, it’s too dark,” she says.
How can she not see the door. The light from the house shining through its window should be a beacon for her. “You simply need to reach out and you will find it. Just turn the knob and open it.”
Xandra’s response is a terrified scream. “Aaaaaahhhhhh,” she yells. Why is she suddenly frightened? “What are you guys doing in here?” she demands.
What is she talking about? “Xandra, honey, please, just open the door. It’ll be okay, you can come
inside. You can even talk about magic if you want.” Anything to appease her, to get her to come.
In a panicked voice, Xandra recites a spell before I can even open my mouth to stop her. “Deep in slumber, caught in the fray, used as vessels, as evil’s prey. In the clutch of sleep, its fingers holding tight, awaken now to the reality of this night.”
Instantly, my eyes pop open. Screams snap my head around to where Kegan and Alita are standing behind me. I mutter an oath under my breath and note that Dagda is also here, and he is not pleased. Poor Alita looks like a frightened kitten and Kegan seems shell-shocked. Radella is also here. I pay no attention to her.
“What the hell is going on? What did you do?” Dagda demands. His forest green pajamas are barely wrinkled, as if he hasn’t even had a chance to lay down in them.
“Hey, I’m not the one sleepwalking in someone else’s room,” Xandra says defensively. “I’m the one who woke you up after you scared the crap out of me.”
I shake my head trying to rid myself of the last remnants of the dream. “I was dreaming about you,” I say. “You would not come in from the darkness. I kept asking, but you would not come in.”
“No way,” Kegan says, looking a little green, now. His t-shirt and black pajama pants are definitely wrinkled indicating he is not suffering from insomnia. I guess sleeping in his bird form is not happening. “That is what I was dreaming.”
“Me, too,” Alita says quietly. Radella and Dagda both nod, indicating they had the same dream.
“Well, this is freaky,” Xandra says. That about sums it up.
“Why are we having your dreams?” Kegan asks, with more than a little accusation in his voice.
Xandra gives him a dirty look. “How should I know?”
“They were not dreams, they were possessions,” Dagda states matter-of-factly. Every eye in the room snaps to him.
“What does that mean?” Xandra asks.
He rubs his hand over his face as if to clear away the cobwebs of sleep. Or a possession. Sitting down heavily in one of the chairs across from the bed, he says, “Whoever, or whatever, haunted your dreams earlier, must have tried to go through us when your mind was not accessible.”
It takes a minute for her to comprehend the meaning behind his words. When it does, she gasps. “You think I was possessed??” His eyebrows dip into a scowl, not liking to repeat himself and not bothering to now.
There is clear accusation in Xandra’s voice when she says, “Why didn’t you say that before?”
He shrugs. “I was hoping I was wrong.”
I sit up straighter. “When Xandra and I lost time earlier…” I believe that is enough for everyone to know what I mean. I do not have to expound upon the details. “Do you believe possession to be at fault there, as well?”
Dagda sighs as he looks around the room. Radella, who is wearing skimpy pink lingerie, is now leaning against the door frame. If she is trying for a sexy stance, she has definitely missed the mark. Not one male eye wanders in her direction for a second look. Kegan and Alita are both sitting on the floor now, not knowing what to say. “If someone or something is powerful enough to possess the five of us, I believe that is a strong possibility, yes.”
“But…” Xandra begins and then hesitates, looking for the right words. “I’m supposed to be the strongest magical being around. How can someone possess me?”
Dagda chuckles. “And you accuse me of delusions of omnipotence. Well, lovely daughter of mine, there may be monsters out there that are bigger, stronger, and more powerful than you.”
Narrowing her eyes, she demands, “Okay, name a few.”
He still looks amused, as he says, “I will grant you that I cannot name any off the top of my head, but that does not mean they do not exist. They simply have not made their presence known before now.”
Xandra crosses her arms over her chest and leans back against the headboard glaring at him. “So, there’s a monster who’s bigger and badder than me that’s invading my dreams; and if I’m not available, it’ll go through you guys to get to me. Gee, I’m so glad I chose to stay in this realm,” she grumbles.
I cannot believe she just said that. “I believe your problems have more to do with your magical ability than the realm in which you reside,” I say in a clipped voice.
Ignoring my statement and not looking me in the eyes, she says, “What do we do about it?”
Dagda stands up. “The first thing we are going to do is get you off this carriage.”
Xandra’s eyes are huge now. “You’re kicking me off?”
He chuckles. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”
Anger is seeping into me for the hundredth time today. “You will leave us here to find our own way home?”
Dagda’s face sobers. “I am disappointed your opinion of me has dropped to such a level, Kallen.” He honestly looks hurt. “Xandra obviously has a power about which she has not been forthcoming,” he narrows his eyes in my direction. “She seems able to will herself to another location.”
He is still holding that against us? “An ability that was discovered only moments before our departure and is yet untested.”
“Then it is time to test it, for I fear that I will never reach my destination as long as she is on board this carriage.”
Xandra gives us both dirty looks. “I’m right here, you know. And you’re the one who wanted me to come in the first place,” she says to Dagda.
Dagda rubs his hand over his face and mouth. He is tired and stressed. As are we all. “I still want you to be a part of this, Xandra. I simply want to send you on ahead. Because at the rate we are currently going, the Giants may erase themselves from existence by the time we get there.”
Calming, Xandra says, “Kallen’s right. I don’t know much about this teleporting thing. I could teleport us to the middle of the ocean, or back to Isla’s.”
“I have more faith in your ability than that,” Dagda says, trying to stifle a yawn. “I have a residence in the Uluru area, as I find it quite peaceful when the Giants are not trying to tear each other apart. Kallen has been there, so if you can get to the general area, I believe he can get you the rest of the way.”
Xandra is not convinced. “I don’t know much about teleporting, but it seems like I would have to have at least some idea of where I’m going. I have no idea where Uluru is.” Valid point. She is unfamiliar with the geography of this realm.
Turning to Radella, Dagda says, “Please bring the photo from my office.” She nods and turns around, but he’s not done yet. “Radella.” She turns back. “When you come back, I expect you to be appropriately attired.” Both Kegan and I have to stifle a chuckle.
Chapter 12
Radella comes back dressed in jeans and a pink sweater. She’s carrying a small framed drawing of a big, red rock. She hands it to me. Showing it to Xandra, I say, “This rock is in Uluru. Uluru is part of the plains area and it serves as a border between the cities of the Giants.”
“The Giants live in cities?”
I laugh. “When we get home, we need to spend some time outside of Grandmother’s and the palace. You need to see that there are cities with buildings and streets and other Fairies. I am afraid you have a warped sense of reality due to the seclusion of the only residences you have frequented in this realm.”
“To answer your question,” Dagda says, “yes, the Giants live in cities. They are a bit more rudimentary than those of the Fairies, but still function quite well. When they aren’t blowing each other’s buildings up, that is. My house lies to the north of here.” He points out the direction on the picture. “It is well away from the melee the giants are causing.”
Xandra sighs and looks up at me. “I guess I can try to take us there.”
“The plains can get cold at night, you may want a sweater,” Dagda says pointedly, his not so subtle hint that he does not like Xandra’s sleepwear either. Or near lack of it. wanting to save her from more embarrassment, I quickly dress her in a pair of jeans and a w
arm blue sweater. She gives me a thankful smile.
Alita and Kegan stand up from their spots on the floor. Alita comes over and pulls Xandra into a hug. “Should we come with you?” she asks.
Stepping back, Xandra shakes her head. “No, I don’t really know what I’m doing and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Oh really? “You do not mind if I get hurt?”
“Sometimes the truth hurts, cousin,” Kegan says stupidly since he is in slugging range. He does not look as amused now as he rubs his arm. He turns to Xandra and says, “Feel free to land my cousin in the rock.” Well, that is something I had not thought about. My confidence is wavering again.