Emerald City Dreamer

by Luna Lindsey

  “Who’s that?” Ezra asked, his mouth full, pointing to Sandy.

  “I’m a friend,” Sandy said.

  “She’s here to help,” Jina said in a soothing voice. “Remember earlier when we talked about how you’re different?”

  “Yeah…” it said meekly. “You wouldn’t tell me why, though.”

  Jina shook her head. “I didn’t want to scare you. You’ve been possessed by a spirit. Like a demon, but we prefer to call them fae.”

  “Yeah… A demon…” Ezra stared at his hands. “I knew it. Are you going to kill me like it says in the Bible?”

  “Oh, poor kid, no, no. We’re not going to kill you,” she said with a soft voice, as if she were talking to a frightened toddler instead of a monster. “You’re not the monster. It’s the fae spirit inside of you. The craziness comes from that, the same way those horns do.”

  “They do?” It seemed to relax a little, and Jina kept her tone soft.

  “Yes. And we can get rid of that spirit so you can live a normal life. What do you think about that?”

  “I want a normal life. I do.” It lifted its head and Sandy could see the burn marks on its face from the floor of the cage. Any movement visibly hurt it, and it began to look fearful once again. She wondered if the burns would heal as soon as they pushed the nykk out.

  “I know you’re in pain right now,” Jina said. “All this iron is here to keep that thing inside you from breaking out and hurting all of us. Understand?”

  Ezra nodded slowly. “I think so.” He looked back and forth between Jina and Sandy with more trusting eyes. Sandy smiled, feeling particularly merciful and benevolent. If she could save this boy from the thing which owned him, she would. If not…

  “I understand,” he said, a little more certain.

  “Sandy knows a lot about these things, and we’ve prepared a way to chase off the fae spirit so you can be normal again. Do you want that?”

  “Yes…”

  “Then come peacefully with us. And if it doesn’t work, the worst thing that will happen is you get a good laugh watching us go through a lot of silly motions for no reason.” She handed Ezra a Kleenex through the bars and it blew its nose.

  “That’s the spirit,” Sandy said. “Hollis, pull it out.”

  The heavy cell door screeched open. Hollis dragged the boy out of his cell and then yanked him upward. “Come on.” The man had no sympathy, not even feigned. He slapped iron handcuffs onto Ezra’s wrists.

  “Damn it, Hollis,” Jina said. “Would it kill you to take it easy?”

  He just grunted while Ezra stumbled and limped up the stairs.

  When they returned to the parlor, electric light had been replaced by candlelight. Ezra looked a little frightened when it saw the circle.

  “Don’t worry,” Jina soothed. “It’s just magic to keep all of us safe, you included. We need to put you in the center.”

  “Will it hurt?”

  “Well, it is iron, so yes, it may, a little. No more than the handcuffs you’re already wearing.”

  Sandy nodded to Hollis. “Watch the chalk.” He led Ezra to the center, replacing the iron cuffs for the chained manacles there. Soon Ezra stood in the circle and the three women took positions at equidistant points around the edge. Hollis stood by the door in case brute force was needed. But it shouldn’t be. Everything was going as planned. Sandy was finally going to accomplish something.

  Sandy officiated. Jina had written the words, while the rest of the spell was a compilation from a half dozen books on demonology. Gretel would be their eyes, essential for finding the soul within Ezra that needed to be banished.

  Sandy carried a glass bowl of distilled water. She stepped up to Jina, who dipped her hands in. As she washed, Sandy intoned the chant, her voice echoing through the large room:

  Clean as new-bloomed lily,

  Pure as the driven snow,

  With this water purify,

  As above, so below.

  Then she carried the bowl to Gretel, who did the same. Gretel held the bowl while Sandy symbolically purified herself and Gretel repeated the chant. Sandy set the bowl on a small table and took up two small dishes, one full of sea salt, the other containing a mixture of crushed herbs: Sage, thyme, garlic, pepper, and dried apples.

  She began a new chant. Holding both dishes in one hand, she placed the herbs in Jina’s mouth, and then with a simple motion of her thumb, rubbed salt on Jina’s forehead, nose, ears, belly, and groin.

  With herbs as thread, fasten the weave,

  To seal the body’s cavity.

  Naught unbidden may enter or leave,

  No spirits of depravity.

  Touch salt and rune on nose and eye,

  Ears be entrances no more,

  Lips and navel, between the thighs,

  A spell to close up every pore.

  Jina made a face and swallowed the concoction. Sandy went through the same motions for Gretel, and then Gretel took up the chant and performed the sealing rite on Sandy.

  Ezra watched, shaking a little, looking more than a little spooked.

  Then Sandy took up her position at the head of the circle. Incense and scented candles had already filled the room with an overpowering fragrant odor that stung Sandy’s eyes, but she lit a censer and held it in front of her.

  Gretel stood in her position, eyes closed, with a look of intense concentration, as if she were trying to tie a knot in a cherry stem with her tongue. At last, she looked up, and said, “I have found it. I have locked onto the nykk within. Sandy, you may proceed.”

  Sandy nodded once, and then staring at Ezra’s frightened eyes, began a new chant:

  Foul fae form, you came unbidden,

  Unasked, became this body’s foe

  Orvenoldsted, spirit hidden,

  At the mention of its true name, the faerie began to whimper. It fell to its knees and looked as though it were going to vomit. It grabbed at his stomach. Sandy continued unabated.

  Now we bid thee, go!

  Ezra let go of his stomach, and yanked hard against the chains. Hollis took a step forward, but his handiwork and the iron was more than enough.

  Jina wore a fretful expression. She looked like she was about to say something.

  Sandy raised her volume and swayed the censer back and forth, pungent smoke rising towards the ceiling.

  Thou standest accused by human race!

  Cease to resist, you must flee.

  Depart on smoke, go from this place,

  May the body of man be terror to thee.

  Ezra continued to struggle against the chains. When Sandy began the chant again, he whimpered. Sweat poured down his face.

  “Please,” he begged. “I changed my mind.” He made a few weak testing tugs against the chain. “Please, it hurts. I haven’t done anything wrong, not ever. I’m just a kid.”

  Jina opened her mouth and then closed it again. She looked uncertain. Sandy worried she’d lose heart. She needed to stay focused for just a few more seconds…

  “Please, this is killing me. Please stop. It feels like my soul is ripping away.”

  The third time through, she raised her voice even higher, until she was almost yelling. She pronounced each word slowly, giving it power, enforcing her belief and directing her power to Gretel, who had a lock on the fae spirit.

  Ezra turned to Jina, behind him. “You’re the nice one. The iron is the only thing holding me together. Please, don’t let her take my spirit away.”

  Jina took a step forward, and reached out to him…

  Sandy had already reached the final ritardando crescendo, and slowly, loudly, spoke the last words for the third time. “…May the body of man be a terror to thee.”

  Ezra shrieked while Hollis pushed a button on his smartphone. With a clank, the manacles fell from Ezra’s wrists. Gretel’s eyes lifted upward, and Ezra slumped like a doll to the floor.

  Sandy relaxed. It was done.

  “He’s gone,” Gretel said. “Orvenoldsted
no longer inhabits this boy.”

  Jina ran into the circle and put a hand on Ezra’s arm, flipping his limp body over. She slapped at its burnt face.

  “He’s dead!”

  Sandy sighed.

  Her books were unclear about this outcome. Some stated the fae spirit cohabited the body alongside a human soul. Many others stated the nykk was the only inhabitant.

  “No, no, come back.” Jina shook the body.

  She would write about that. One mystery solved. Experiment successful.

  Then her friend started performing CPR.

  “Jina, what–”

  “Shhh,” she hissed, pumping at his chest. Gretel laid a hand on her shoulder. Jina shrugged it off.

  “No, this won’t work,” Jina said. “Uhm…” She looked at the ceiling in frustrated thought. “Glamour’s hold… no mortal strife, uhh, uhh… bring back his soul, return to life!” She chanted it three times and sprinkled some of the leftover herb mixture on the creature’s cooling forehead.

  Sandy approached slowly. She had no idea Jina would take it this hard. “It’s not coming back. It can’t come back,” she whispered.

  Jina glared up at Sandy. “Wait… Did you…” She let the question hang in the air, searching Sandy’s eyes. “You did. You knew this was going to happen all along.”

  “Of course not. I mean, I knew it was possible.”

  Jina stood, her fists clenched at her side. Hollis was there immediately to grab the legs of the corpse and yank it towards the door. The body smeared the chalk in a grisly trail all the way to the hallway.

  “Possible? Or likely?”

  Sandy did not answer. Any answer would only provoke more outrage.

  “Just look at him!” Jina motioned at the retreating body. “If you thought there was even a chance of this, how could you?”

  “It was a monster, Jina. Remember that.”

  “She’s right, Jina,” Gretel said. She looked a little sad.

  “Shut up, Gretel. This is between me and Sandy, and it’s been a long time coming,” Jina barked. “You all knew this could happen, didn’t you? You kept it from me.”

  Sandy crossed her arms and calmly spoke. “Have you forgotten everything? Have you forgotten what his kind did to us? To Lewis?”

  “Of course I fucking remember, Sandy. And it’s taken years for me to heal. But you…” Rage boiled out of Jina. “They aren’t all monsters. Like you.”

  Sandy ignored the insult. “What do you propose I do? Let them get away with maimings, rape, and murder?”

  “This kid hadn’t done anything,” Jina said, motioning to the smeared chalk. “He was a little crazy, but there were other options.”

  “A mental ward perhaps? Let him plead insanity? Where’s the justice in that?”

  “Nobody finds justice,” Jina said, taking a step forward. “Not you or any other victim. I’m sick of this drunken, half-baked vigilante bullshit, Sandy!”

  Sandy pressed her teeth together. She wasn’t drunk. She hadn’t had anything to drink all week. “The police aren’t going to do anything. You know that, or you would have called the cops on Scarf already. If it weren’t for me–”

  “Police?” Jina interrupted. “Now they’ll be looking for us – for you! And what have you done to stop Scarf? Nothing. You’re too busy kicking the shit out of little kids!”

  Sandy let her voice remain calm and unemotional. Obviously, Jina was the one with the problem. “I will not stand here and take this from you. You are completely unreasonable. Listen to yourself, screaming and raving.”

  “Of course I’m screaming! I didn’t sign up to murder children.” Jina’s voice cracked.

  “You signed up to hunt fae. What do you think that means? ‘Hunt’ means to chase down and kill.”

  “I signed up to protect the defenseless, like me and you and Lewis used to be. Like Ezra was.”

  “What other choice did we have?” Sandy asked.

  “There were other options,” Jina insisted, her voice becoming strangely quiet. She turned a little and stared at the smeared chalk. “Jett would have known what to do.”

  “Your… Your girlfriend? Is she a shrink? A cop? Is she a monster therapist who could have helped him ‘work through his trauma’?” She made mock quotes with her fingers.

  Jina’s stare flicked up like a knife and bore into Sandy’s eyes. “She’s an elf.”

  Gretel’s jaw dropped.

  Sandy grit her teeth, resolute. She tried to unhear what Jina had just said.

  Jina’s gaze returned to the floor. “I should have told you before this, but now that you know, will she be next? Do I need to protect her from you?”

  “No need to worry about that,” Hollis said. He stood in the doorframe, dusting chalk from his hands. “Sandy is too afraid to hurt your girlfriend. Just like she’s been too afraid to kill Pogswoth over the last couple weeks, when she had the chance.”

  Jina looked back and forth between them. “You… what?”

  “I…” The buzz of the hunt was wearing off, and Sandy caught herself craving a bottle. She pushed the desire down. She was stronger than that.

  “I tracked Pogswoth down more than a week ago,” Hollis said. “She’s known where he lives ever since.”

  Sandy tried to blank her expression, but some of the guilt must have seeped through. “We weren’t prepared,” she started to explain.

  Jina just stood there with her accusing glare, and worse, tears were forming in her eyes, until at last, she squeezed her hands into fists. Then she snatched off her Ordo medallion and threw it on the floor. “I want not part of this bullshit. I’m leaving!”

  Jina turned, and Sandy reached out a hand, as if she could stop her. “You’re supposed to be my friend,” Sandy said.

  “And you were supposed to be mine.” Tears flowed freely from Jina’s eyes, landing like raindrops in the chalk, until she disappeared up the stairs.

  Sandy listened to the sound of Jina’s feet in the room above, a closet door opening, then drawers slamming. Minutes later, she watched her friend storm out the front door. Sandy could have stopped her. She could have stopped her a dozen times. But she didn’t.

  Sandy stared at the medallion laying there in a curl of chain and felt the comforting burn of Lonach flowing down her throat. How did the bottle get into her hand?

  Hollis still stood in the doorway.

  “Why did you… Why did you tell her?” Sandy asked.

  “She’s weak,” Hollis replied. “Someone needed to toughen her up. When she comes back, she’ll be contrite, grateful to be here.”

  Yes. She would be back. After a few nights on a couch someplace, she’d be right back, and they’d go after Pogswoth then. Or Haun. Or Jett.

  They could take on the whole faerie kingdom at this point.

  Sandy took another swig in celebration.

  If only she could celebrate with her best friend.

  CHAPTER 40

  *

  EIGHT HOURS AGO, SHE STOOD on the edge of a sword and fell off one side.

  She chose not to tell Sandy about Jett, and it ended in the death of an innocent. If she had come clean, things might have gone a lot better.

  Or a lot worse.

  Jina kicked a pebble down the block, hard, and shifted the backpack in her hand.

  Maybe she should have grabbed Sandy by the ears and shaken her, made her go to an AA meeting.

  Maybe she should have tried harder to convince Sandy to go after Scarf.

  Maybe, somehow, she should have convinced Sandy to give Ezra to Jett.

  A ridiculous idea. It never would have happened.

  Jina paused at the trunk of her car and fished for the keys in her pocket. Shit, she’d left them back at the house.

  When she turned, she nearly bumped into Pogswoth.

  “Boo,” he said.

  Instinctively, Jina threw her backpack at his face and ran, back towards the house she swore she would leave.

  She reached for her amulet an
d found it gone. It was on the floor, where she’d thrown it. Her sword was locked in the car, and she’d forgotten her knife when she rushed out of the house.

  He appeared between her and the mansion in a blur, trapping her between the neighbor’s hedge and a row of cars. She could not avoid seeing his true form. He must be showing it to her. Now Pogswoth had long ears, red eyes, impossibly beautiful hair, and boils and warts on his huge head.

  He held up her backpack on a single finger. “Looking for this?”

  Jina held her ground and tried to look confident, crossing her arms in front of her. He didn’t have to know she was unprotected.

  “You can’t touch me,” she said.

  He chuckled. “Look at that glamour prance freely about your shoulders. Seems like you’ve lost something else, too. Maybe… a bit of iron.”

  Shit. Without the amulet, he could cast anything he wanted on her. He could whisk her away and no one would ever see her again.

  He took a step forward and she a step back.

  She’d have to make her own magic. She rattled off the rooting spell, but her emotions were too frayed, her mind too scattered, her fear too great. This wasn’t how she imagined facing him – ambushed and weaponless. She struggled to believe her spell, but he was laughing at her, distracting her, overcoming her confidence.

  Please Sandy, run outside and apologize, she thought. Her eyes stung.

  The door remained shut, and Scarf kept walking forward, slowly closing the gap between them, like a wall between safety and freedom.

  “Sunday, Monday, Tuesday…” he sang, swinging her backpack.

  The thought of the Hindu concept of karma forced its way into her mind – the idea that she deserved this end for allowing Ezra to come to harm. She blanked her mind, pushing that concept as far away as possible. She didn’t need the glamour being influenced by anything that would lower her chances of escape.

  She rubbed the piercing side of her nose and concentrated on what she knew about him. He was a korrigan. Korrigans like to steal babies, kidnap lovers, and sing about the days of the week.

  “Monday… Tuesday…”

  And if you said the next day of the week, they’d either thank you, or curse you.