by K.L. Bauman
"NO!" Ayden shoved his way past Volos, his heart pounding furiously. A fairy tried to stop him, but she was no match for his adrenaline-fueled strength.
"Ayden wait!" Volos exclaimed. Ayden felt frantic and confused. I can't lose anyone else! I can't lose Freya! He entered the home, ignoring everything about the place except the soft bed in the center of the room. Freya lay there, looking weak, frail, not herself. Her eyes were closed, their lids a strange purple color. Ayden grasped her hand tightly, letting her know he was there. She blinked open her eyes and smiled faintly.
"I guess my reflexes aren't what they used to be," she said with an uncharacteristically weak and shaky voice.
"What happened?" Ayden asked, trying to control the quivering in his voice.
"Degus has broken the rules--there were sprites here. And they were not good sprites! The ash trees guarding the house don't protect from sprites, only mischievous fairies. I'm not sure how they came through the gateway. I tried to stop them, but this old body doesn't move like it once did," Freya said.
"They couldn't have come through the gateway. Volos was right here all this time," Ayden said, frightened by the thought of evil sprites flitting freely back and forth between worlds.
Volos appeared in the doorway, his massive frame casting a shadow. "It's all my fault," he said. "I wasn't paying attention. Somehow, they slipped past me."
"Stop it, Volos!" Freya commanded. "Neither of us was as alert as we should've been." She turned her gray eyes in Ayden's direction. "We were away from the gateway, just for a moment. One of the horses had broken out of the pasture and was being difficult. Volos could've handled it, but I wanted to help."
Just like his grandmother. Sightless, yet running around the farm chasing loose horses.
"When I got back to the house, they were there. They'd ransacked the place, and when I tried to evict them, they attacked with some dark magic. I was too slow to block it. If it hadn't been for Volos, I probably would've been killed. He got them out, but they vanished before he could capture them. I've never known many magical beings to cross worlds in such a reckless way as the sprites did. Except, perhaps, one other time."
Freya touched Ayden's arm with a shaking hand. Somehow, he knew what she was implying. The 'other time' had been when his parents had vanished.
"When did this happen?" a strong feminine voice sounded. Da'ewyn squeezed her way in behind Volos. The room was getting smaller every moment.
"About three or four days ago," Volos said.
The Veela gave Ayden a knowing look. "The same time that we were attacked by hags."
"What?" Volos and Freya shouted at the same time. Freya tried to get up, but weakly sank back to her pillow.
Ayden took some time, explaining what had happened with the stone and Pax, and then the hags at the inn. When he was finished, Volos called Pax into the already crowded room. The fairy tried to poke her head in and protest, but Freya assured her it was fine. "Be at ease, Nienna. If I get too tired, I'll let you know. Now, Pax dear, would you be so kind as to remove your shirt?"
Pax's face turned bright red. "We need to see the map," Volos said. Pax nodded and removed his shirt as he spun around so everyone could see the map.
"I know a lot of this area down here," Ayden said, pointing to Pax's lower back. "But I don't know what any of this is," he continued, pointed to the area just below Pax's neck.
"I do," Volos said in a strange tone that made Ayden look at him curiously. Volos, even though his skin was dark, looked pale and his jaw tensed.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Ayden asked.
Volos looked down at Freya him as she placed a hand on his arm. "You knew this time would come, Volos. If you can't help them through, no one can."
Tears formed in Volos' eyes. Then he set his mouth firmly and breathed in. He patted Freya's hand and then abruptly turned and walked out of the room.
Pax was craning his neck around, still trying to see the map on his back. "W-Why c-couldn't they have p-put it on m-my chest?" he said, irritated.
"Pax, please tell us your experience with the stone," Freya said gently.
Ayden once again had to fight off impatience as Pax stuttered along; eventually the excitement of Pax's tale took form.
What he had seen was amazing. During the short time that he'd been engulfed in the white light, Pax had watched the stone grow larger and larger until it was nearly the size of Freya's house. Then, the center split, as if someone had opened a window, and he was pulled inside.
There, Pax saw what he described as a beautiful enchantress; her body was the color of the ocean, and her white hair flowed around her as if she were engulfed in water. Her eyes had no iris or pupils, but burned with a warm, golden glow. She smiled at Pax and reached out her hand. Even though he couldn't hear her speak any words, he knew she wanted him to follow her. In just a few moments time, she took him through Shae Vale on hidden pathways and unfamiliar forests. They "floated" over these areas, looking down on them as if to chart a map, and she explained that this was the path they needed to follow. Pax saw many places and many things that he didn't know, but described them with remarkable clarity.
Pax and the enchantress ended their journey at a large lake that had the tops of black mountains jutting around the smooth glass-like surface of the water. The enchantress let go of his hand and dove alone into the lake, making not even a ripple as she did so. When the last bit of her toe disappeared into the water, the "window" re-appeared to Pax. He was pulled back through by some unseen force, and the window was slammed shut, causing the blast they had all experienced.
"Well, I guess that settles things, doesn't it?" Freya asked wearily.
"We have to follow the map and find the sword," Ayden said lifelessly. He wanted nothing to do with this mission. He wanted to stay by Freya's side and make sure she was going to be alright.
"Could you give us a moment?" Freya asked Pax and Da'ewyn. The princess had been uncharacteristically quiet. They both left the room without speaking a word.
Before Freya could talk to him about the journey, Ayden asked, "What's wrong with Volos? What did you mean when you said he was the only one who could get us through?"
Freya faced Ayden to say those infuriating words to him once again, "You will know, Ayden, all in good time."
Trying to control his irritation, Ayden said, "Stop treating me like a kid. Tell me what's going on, Freya."
Changing the subject, Freya said, "You must prepare, Ayden. This mission will be the most difficult thing you have ever done. Please, take a long time to meditate, then begin preparing for the journey. You have companions to help you. It's imperative that Volos accompany you."
He was about to ask why but Nienna, the healer fairy, entered. "Excuse me, Ayden. Your grandmother needs tending to." Her brown, wavy hair was kept back in a colorful scarf and she wore a simple dress that dusted her feet as she walked. Her wings rested against her back, their tips pointed downward, nearly touching her heels. A soft, white apron was tied around her waist that held dozens of pockets, all of which appeared to be empty. But, as Ayden watched with amazement, he saw Nienna pull tissues, seed, and glass vials of potions from various pockets as she worked with Freya. She didn't say what was wrong with his grandmother; her expression was often times troubled while attending to her old friend.
"Is she going to be alright?" he asked softly.
Nienna turned toward him, casting a warm smile his way. "Time will tell. Bringing her into Shae Vale will help. And she has many friends who will keep her spirits lifted."
When the fairy left. Freya instructed Ayden to help Pax learn a vanishing spell that would enable them to keep the tattooed map hidden. He would also have to learn to summon it, make it re-appear, so they could keep track of where they were and where they needed to go.
During the next week, Pax practiced a vanishing spell on various objects. After he had successfully vanished the spots of
f of the back of a toad, he was ready to try on himself. The question was, would he be able to do it without looking at what he was casting the spell on? Using a mirror might cause unexpected problems.
"You'll be able to do it, Pax. Just concentrate like you did with the frog," Ayden encouraged. After a few attempts where Pax managed to cause his rear end to vanish and re-appear, he was at last successful. Pax's smooth, clean back shown where previously a map had been.
It took a little longer to get it back, causing everyone to panic. Everyone except Ayden. He hoped the thing would stay hidden forever. Then they could stay home. Unfortunately, Pax was eventually successful with that spell as well.
Three days later, Freya called Ayden into the little wooden house to talk. The stone, which Ayden had given her to inspect, rested on a small bedside table made from a tree stump. She hadn't been able to decipher any more from it than he had. Not that it mattered. It had fulfilled its purpose.
Ayden had never seen Freya sick. He was used to her being the strong one. Now, discomfort wriggled inside his heart as he sat in a chair next to her bed. Her face was still pale, and she rattled a cough every so often. The fact that Nienna's efforts had had little effect didn't relieve his anxiety.
Freya looked toward her grandson with a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, Ayden. Nienna is an expert healer, and Shae Vale is already having its affects on me."
Ayden shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to shake a heavy foreboding that had settled on him. "I've been thinking about a lot of things, lately," he said, not sure how to explain what he was feeling.
"Tell me," Freya said softly and then waited.
After sitting in uncertain silence for a while, Ayden cleared his throat and spoke, "I'm not sure I'm ready for all of this or that I even want to do it. I'm not even sure I want to be who I am." He spoke in a rush and paused only long enough to take a breath before continuing. "If it weren't for me, or for this secret, you would've never been hurt..." He found himself unable to continue as an involuntary, painful lump formed in his throat.
Even though he knew she wouldn't live forever, he couldn't bear to think of life without Freya. And for the first time, he wished more than anything to be a normal human. He wished he were off to school with his friends, coming home on the holidays to visit Freya--a healthy, unharmed Freya. He even dared to wish that Shae Vale didn't exist, that it really was a make-believe place.
Freya held Ayden's hand and squeezed. It was comforting to feel strength in her grip; he found the courage to look into his grandmother's face. "Ayden, what happened to me is not your fault. If this hadn't happened, we would still be in the dark as to just how serious things have gotten in Shae Vale. I was hurt because I wasn't prepared--I wasn't watching as I should've been. And please," she looked earnestly toward Ayden's face, "don't ever regret being who you are. Your heritage is noble, and the gifts you have been given and how you use them will define who you will become. You have great gifts, Ayden. Do not be so quick to curse the very things that can give you strength and comfort."
Ayden didn't completely understand what Freya was trying to tell him. Fear tugged at him like a reckless child demanding attention. "I need help, Freya. I can't do this alone. What if I fail, like I did with the black dwarf? This is so much more important. What if I can't fulfill what you all think is my destiny? Degas has been around for hundreds of years. She's too powerful!"
"Ayden, you are never alone. Put your fears and worries aside. I know that you will find the help you need along the way, just when you need it," Freya answered.
"How? How do you know?"
A knowing smile played on Freya's mouth. "Many things in our lives are filled with magic. Most magical things, like love for example, can only be learned by experiencing them." Ayden's mind flashed to Hosgrow. Volos had told him the same thing then. "If you tried to describe or explain love to someone, you couldn't. The words would not fit the experience, and they would seem like nonsense to anyone who had never experienced it themselves.
"Also, most times with magic you have to let go of something precious in order to gain an even greater prize." She sighed, and Ayden knew she sensed his confusion. "I know you will have help when you need it, Ayden. But I cannot explain how I know because you have not yet had the experiences to help you understand."
Nienna entered the room and gently asked Ayden to leave and give Freya some rest. Freya told him to come and talk more the next day--the day that they would leave to find the Sword of Songs. A hallow feeling fell into the pit of Ayden's stomach as he left his grandmother's side; Freya's words had left him confused and more lonely for her somehow.
He looked up at the clear sky-it was a total contrast to his churning emotions. Please, he begged, don't make me go!
Chapter Seventeen
The Reluctant Traveler