Insight

by Tina Engel

  I went to Shinar’s face and asked her to stick out her tongue. I wasn’t sure exactly how else to get it into her mouth.

  Shinar did as I asked, she lifted her head slightly and stuck out her tongue. I opened the flask and dumped the small amount of liquid onto it.

  Shinar put her tongue back into her mouth and laid her head back down on the floor. I put both my hands on her face, and bent down, placing a kiss on her cheek. I placed my cheek on hers and shut my eyes, and we stayed this way for some time.

  I could feel her, feel what she was feeling then, hear her thoughts, and saw what she had gone through since her hatching. The torture that Mephisto put her through.

  She was still struggling inside, was Mephisto her master and should she bow to his will and bring me to him, or did she belong to me; Daughter of Angelina and Jordan, Granddaughter of Varda and … Mephisto?

  I saw him then, Mephisto, in Shinar’s thoughts, but I knew then that the creature I had seen in my dream, the bug-like creature, was Mephisto. That was the Mephisto that Shinar saw too. Was that really what he looked like though? How could Varda love a hideous creature like that? Or, was this his appearance since he was banished to Gehenna, reflecting his ugly, evil nature.

  Our connection was interrupted by another entering my mind, my thoughts, Brett. I opened my eyes and sitting up, turned and looked in his direction. Brett was sitting there, staring at me with a loving smile on his face.

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt, Emilee, I apologize, but I was curious about what was going on between the two of you. It’s none of my business but well…,” Brett said with a little bit of discomfort in his voice.

  I stood then with a smile of understanding and as I looked around the room, Shinar and Rose resting, Albee still sleeping, and Brett looking much healthier, I turned to Kimberlite.

  Brett sensed my mood change as I looked at Kimberlite. He stood up and came over to me and said quickly, but quietly, “Stay calm Princess, not all is what it seems. It never is.”

  “What do you mean? He is a traitor and a liar. I could tell he wasn’t who he seemed!” I fumed.

  “No Princess Emilee, I’m not, and never have been. Even Brett had no idea who I really was. No one, not even Varda knew I was here, though she knows me.” Kimberlite said, as he transformed before my eyes from a rock fey to a kind of fey, I had never seen before.

  As I watched the transformation I was stunned, not just because Kimberlite wasn’t a rock fey anymore, but this fey standing before me was like no fey I had seen so far. He was tall and thin, not too thin, well-built but not bulky, had long white hair, shimmery purple eyes and had earrings like me, with the shell-like covering on his cheeks and down his neck. He let his wings spread out and I saw they looked like mine, and he then retracted them.

  “My name is Liam, and I’m like you Emilee, a keeper of peace, bringing many different groups of life beings together, to live in harmony. I did my job many ages ago and did my job well, I might add.

  “I was sent here to impersonate a rock fey, not all that fun either, and befriend Stephan, to keep an eye on him while waiting for you to come.

  “If Mephisto wins and conquers the humans’ earth and Terrafirma, he will then be able to enter other realms, including my worlds eventually, and I can’t let that happen.

  “One day, your worlds, Terrafirma, earth and many others, will join with mine. You and I will help them all find peace and unity while still having different ways of living. But that will take some time, and will only happen if you can stop Mephisto.”

  I looked from Brett to Liam and suddenly felt exhausted. This game that I was thrown into kept changing. I was so tired of the unknown, never knowing when the rules of this game, of my existence, would change.

  I looked over at Shinar then and said, without looking at Liam, “So do you have a dragon too, and a weapon like this?”, as I removed the barrette from my hair and opened the dagger as I turned back to him.

  Liam smiled and tapping what looked like a pin of some kind on his chest, he suddenly had a knife that resembled Brett’s and it then turned into a sword. He said then, “I don’t have a dragon, but I do have a flying lion.” And his smile turned into a slight chuckle. “You’ll meet him someday.”

  Rose was suddenly next to me and she said, “Who in the world is this?”

  I turned to her and replied, “Kimberlite!”

  Brett and Liam laughed as Rose looked quite confused, and from behind Shinar came that familiar voice, with a slight irritation in it, “Well now, surprise, surprise, but then, should I be surprised? I know you, don’t I?” Lily asked.

  I looked at Lily as she came around me to stand slightly in front of me, but to the side so I could still see everyone. Liam smiled and nodded slightly.

  “Yes, Miss Lily, you do. You almost messed everything up one day in the caves, when you were wandering around in places that you shouldn’t have been in. Luckily, my pretending to be one of the fey in Queen Anahita’s hidden springs, worked. I was in need of shedding that blasted rock covering for a bit.”

  “Wait a minute” I said in a huff. “Kimberlite, I mean Liam…”

  Rose cut me off saying, “Liam? Kimberlite? What?”

  This time it was Albee who laughed a very weak laugh as he joined us all standing around, staring at each other. He said then, “It was you who told me to find Princess Emilee and help her when she got off the boat on Lake Erie. You were the one who assured me that the princess would forgive me and allow me to help.”

  “Yes, it was me. I have been busy working all angles to ensure that Emilee would succeed. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Varda is in control and sees all possibilities on how this can turn out. But we needed it to turn out a certain way, with Mephisto defeated.

  “Varda is very special and very powerful, but she isn’t to interfere with the future. She can guide only so much, but for me, now that is a different story.”

  “What do you mean, as for you? Where are you from, how did you get here and why have you been working with Stephan?” I asked, feeling frustrated. And then looking at Lily, I scolded, “What are you doing here? You were supposed to go back to the ship with the others!”

  Before Lily could answer, Liam spoke, “I have been in cahoots with Stephan from the beginning. Stephan was my way in, to try and get close to Mephisto, but I never saw him, and still haven’t. I do know where he hides but I was not strong enough in that blasted rock disguise to break through his protective shield. It wasn’t my place to face him anyway, and I didn’t want him to figure out who I was. I have learned things, as we have all learned, on this adventure.”

  “Adventure!” I yelled, as I threw my arms up over my head with a scowl on my face.

  Brett came over to me and touching my arm said, “Emilee, I didn’t trust him at first either, the time Kimberlite put his arm around me, and whispered in my ear that everything was going to be alright.

  “I thought he was working with Stephan also. He had the rocks holding the chains tight and around my waist. It wasn’t until Kimberlite pulled me through the wall to safety and transformed into Liam that I realized my best friend wasn’t who I thought he was.

  “Finding out that it was Stephan who led Kimberlite to me, a long time ago, so that he could become my best friend, created even more anger and distrust. I still am a bit miffed at this fact but we must let it all go, we must defeat Mephisto and figure everything else out later.”

  “Princess” Liam continued, “I knew that Brett would be in trouble, that they had plans for his abduction and death, and I couldn’t let that happen. You still need him in order to succeed.”

  “But they wouldn’t have abducted him in the first place, if he had done what he was supposed to and stayed put.” I said in a huff as I looked at Brett.

  I looked back at Liam and he responded with assurance, as he looked to Brett, “It was one of the futures that was a possibility, and me knowing Brett so well, and his stubbornness, I was confident that this w
as the future to be.”

  Surprisingly, Brett said nothing as he looked from Liam to me and shrugged his shoulders.

  Rose then piped in, “She needs us all and you could have let us know who you really were, then maybe Tilly would still be alive and Eagle and I would…” She stopped then, suddenly looking a bit embarrassed by her outburst.

  I turned to Rose and started to ask, what she meant about her and Eagle, but a voice from behind me interrupted.

  “My princess.” Shinar said, “It doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is taking care of that evil creature before he finishes his work, turning me against you. I feel him still inside me, we have work to do.”

  I went over to her and put my hand on her side, and she stood then. As I still had my hand on her side, Rose came over to me, and touching her too, the three of us were joined.

  “We need Albee too.” Rose said, “He will be able to confuse Stephan enough, I think, for us to get to Mephisto, but you must defeat him.”

  “How? I asked, “No one has told me how I am supposed to stop him. I am just a…” And I stopped. What am I? I thought. I have been a nobody for so long, why do any of these fey think that I can defeat such evil?

  Brett was in my mind and heard my thoughts and said, “Emilee, you have always been a somebody. You have parents who love you in both the human and Fey realms, you are a friend to all that you meet, you are good and kind, and help anyone who is in need. You have touched so many lives, even though you didn’t know it.”

  Brett was behind me then, and put his hands on my waist. I felt the desire, the need for him then, every part of him, and I felt embarrassed since Shinar and Rose were connected to me still and felt what I felt. I removed my hand from Shinar and turned into Brett’s arms, and his eyes locked onto mine instantly.

  There was no time for this now. I wanted him but I had to keep my head. I could feel the strange sensation that I had experienced on the ship, when I had turned silvery white. This was what the creature from the deep did to me. It gave me extra strength, but also strengthened my desire for Brett’s blood. Brett bent down and placed a kiss on my forehead, then backed away from me.

  “So we all must work together to defeat Stephan, but I must face Mephisto alone.” I said, “Albee, you will help Brett distract Stephan and get the sword back, but keep him alive. I want him, when this is done.”

  Brett looked at me with surprise, but before he could say anything I spouted, “Not that way and you know it!”

  Brett started to chuckle a bit as he said, “Well I hope not.”

  That seemed to lessen the tension in the air, even though it wasn’t really funny. Humor though, no matter how you find it, is helpful.

  “Shinar and Rose, I don’t quite know your role. Shinar, you are still weak and vulnerable to him, I can feel it. I think it best if you Liam, help Rose get Shinar out of here to safety.”

  Shinar let out a slight roar with a bit of fire, as she said, “I am fine and should be with you! I don’t want to be away from you, it frightens me, for I feel him stronger when you are not near.”

  I turned and put my arms around her neck, and reassured her that she would be alright. That I needed her to be safe or I wouldn’t be as strong as I needed to be. She and I were united, and once he, Mephisto, was taken care of, she and I would complete the bond and figure out the next step of our future.

  I turned to look at Rose then, and my thoughts went to her. What did Rose have to do with Shinar, who was she really, and was she alive, dead, or in between?

  Lily spoke up then, “I am coming too, just so you know Princess Emilee. Varda may not have known about Kimberlite really being Liam, but she does now, because she and I are always connected, and she is mighty pissed. Just sayin, so I am going with you. I have no intention of facing Varda without you. We will live or die together.” And Lily gave me a look of determination when she said, live or die together.

  “And furthermore, she wasn’t happy that you thought you would go on without me, so she sent me into Hades after you entered, to keep an eye on you but I did lose you for just a bit.” Lily said with a nonchalant tone in her voice.

  Feeling speechless where Lily was concerned, I turned my attention to Kimberlite, and said, “Kimberlite, I mean Liam,” and I mumbled under my breath then, “This is weird.” Then I continued louder, “how do I get to Mephisto? Are we in Gehenna yet? Tell me what I need to know.”

  Liam answered, “Princess, I am coming with you. I can get you to Mephisto and yes, we are in Gehenna. They do not know who I am, only as a rock, so that will throw them off too. Rose and Shinar should just stay here. Together, you and I Emilee, can put up a field around this cave to block anyone from knowing that it is even here. They will be safe until we come back to get them.”

  “But what if we don’t succeed? Will they be stuck here?” I asked with uneasiness, in my voice.

  Lily said in her own (whatever), attitude, “If you don’t succeed, it won’t matter, now will it?” And she turned into a cat and proceeded to clean herself. She looked up at me once with annoyance, and then continued.

  Brett touched my arm and said calmly and with confidence, “Emilee you will, I mean we will succeed and we will come back for them. Kimberlite, or Liam, is right.”

  Brett then looked towards Liam and he wasn’t Liam anymore, but Kimberlite. Brett shook his head and said with a bit of humor, “Ok, just stay as Kimberlite. That is who you are to me, no matter what you look like.”

  Kimberlite chuckled as only Kimberlite could, and it felt familiar and safe. I did need him back. I had missed him and hated the thoughts that I had about him being a spy.

  Chapter 22

  It may be their time,

  Apart you must be,

  But love never dies!

  Kimberlite went over to the wall and opened a doorway leading into a tunnel. “Follow me and stay quiet.”

  When we were all in the tunnel, Kimberlite and I putting our shields together, created a protective cover that no eyes or creature could penetrate around the cave that Shinar and Rose where in, I hoped. Then Kimberlite closed the doorway.

  We followed quietly, Lily still in her cat form, dilly dallying behind, as if not concerned in the least. I could tell that Brett and Albee were still a bit weak from their ordeals and I worried that maybe they should have stayed back there too.

  Brett being in front of me, stopped walking, turned and said in a confident voice and with determination on his face, “Emilee, I am fine and there is no way I am letting you go without me.”

  Kimberlite chuckled from up front and said under his breathe, “Lovebirds, always seem to think that the other can’t survive without them.” And he shook his head, looking back at us with a large grin.

  I ignored him and patted Brett’s cheek, saying, “Just stay out of trouble, will you please, and do something about Miss Lily, will you.” As I walked by him, letting Brett deal with Lily straggling behind.

  Lily came darting past me then, and before I could say anything, she disappeared past Kimberlite, as he bellowed for her to stop. Of course, a cat never does what they are told, so she disappeared from sight and Kimberlite looked back at me with frustration.

  We walked for only a few minutes when Kimberlite stopped abruptly, and before he could say anything, creatures started to come out of the walls, bug-like creatures, like the ones I saw in my dream, like Mephisto, only smaller. They were about 5 feet tall with pinchers for hands that oozed a greenish goo, and their heads were narrow with beaks and they squawked, like a bird in distress, as they came at us.

  Kimberlite yelled to us, not to let their pinchers pierce our skin, for the ooze was poison and would kill us slowly, and no one would be able to heal us.

  Since I had put my shield around the room that Shinar and Rose were in, I couldn’t protect any of us and I had to fight like everyone else. Kimberlite had no problem knocking down and smashing these creatures, and as he did, they burst into the grey wisps and scurried
away, disappearing back into the walls, but I worried about Brett, not having a weapon and Albee, being just a tree.

  Silly me, for worrying. I heard Albee yell to Brett and looked over to see him throw Brett a large branch and Albee had one too, sharp as a dagger at the end and about three feet long.

  As we struck these creatures, they burst into grey wisps, but they just kept coming. Kimberlite yelled for us to follow him and we moved forward, slowly, still fighting off these creatures. They were slow at striking and didn’t seem very smart, and soon we left them behind.

  We came to a bend in the tunnel, and as we entered the bend, there was a great doorway in front of us. The door frame was gold and the door itself was riddled with diamonds. The air was filled with grey wisps but they stayed put, not coming at us.

  Suddenly, from behind several of these grey spirits, came a purple one and the dark grey one. The other grey wisps scattered then and disappeared in the walls and floor. I reassured everyone that these two spirits were good; they were Tilly and the tree fey from Pineville. They just hovered over the door.

  Kimberlite told me to come up with him, and together we would open the door into Mephisto’s great room, and finish this. I wasn’t sure how, but I did as he suggested and he took one of my hands.

  We placed our free hands on the door, and I could feel Kimberlite’s powers mix with mine. He was powerful, but there was a gentleness about him and a hunger within, similar to mine. He hungered for the blood of another. I was curious then, what were we, exactly?

  “Later.” Kimberlite said, not in Kimberlite’s voice, but Liam’s. I had a hard time remembering that there really was never a Kimberlite, he was just fabricated. Liam was the true fey.

  The great door shuddered as we pushed with all our might, and then suddenly, it gave way and splintered into hundreds of pieces, flying inside the room, sparing us from injury.

  As we entered, there stood Stephan with the sword held out in front of him, surrounded by more of those bug-like creatures.