by Martha Carr
A paved road ran around the square and there were shops set back on every side, even flanking the large steps up to the surface.
"Coming by you, on your left." Leira stepped to her right to get out of the way as a large Kilomea came down the last steps carrying a stack of wooden boxes taller than Leira with peaches stamped on the side. He bustled off down the street, disappearing into the crowd that filled the streets.
"I take back what I said about wide-open spaces."
"This is the center of the town down here. There will be fewer people the further out we get. Come on, we need to go exchange your money. There's supposed to be a place on the opposite side of the square."
Leira walked along beside Correk looking in all the shop windows. The music store had guitars hanging in the window, playing themselves. The small art gallery showed paintings of Oriceran alongside Texas landscapes. The elves in one painting walked across the gilt frame and into the wooden frame of another to admire the hill country. A grocer was putting out a sandwich board by crates of fruit and vegetables with the deals of the day.
Most of the things for sale Leira recognized but there was a dark green oblong fruit the size of a peach she had never seen before. "What's that?" she asked the grocer.
He smiled, sweeping his hand across the top of the display. "Hairy limeolas. Very sweet this time of year. Actually, down here, year round! Two pintas," he said, holding up two fingers. "You need an exchange?"
"We do," said Correk, taking Leira by the elbow and bustling her inside, passing the grocer. "This is our first destination. It's a money exchange. Come on."
Leira kept looking to both sides, taking in all the strange produce, wanting to reach out and touch things. Another time. Singleness of purpose.
"We can come back sometime," Correk said, watching her pull her hand back from a box of bananas that were in the shape of a spiral. "We should come back here. You would learn more about the other part of who you are." He stepped up to the counter.
"I'll trade you twenty dollars for five pintas." Correk bargained with the grocer, glancing over at the sign with the day's exchange rate.
"Three," said the grocer, holding up three fingers that ended in claws.
A new creature, thought Leira. Looks almost human. I have so many questions.
"Five or I go down the street to your competitor. It's a fair exchange."
The grocer stared at Correk and glanced at Leira. She narrowed her eyes and stared back.
"Fine," he said, blinking. "Not bad," he said, smiling. "Today, you got me. Maybe next time, favor will be on my side."
Leira waited till Correk gave her a nod and she pulled out the cash laying it on the counter. The grocer laid down diamond-shaped pieces of metal with different symbols stamped in them. They were the same color as the crystal in the town square. He quickly scooped up her money.
Correk counted the pintas and put it in a leather pouch, drawing the strings. "Here, keep track of this. We'll need to bribe the Willen to even talk to us."
"Oh, Willens," snarled the grocer, wrinkling his nose. "Steal you blind!" He waved at them in dismissal but quickly went back to smiling. The Kilomea was in the back of the store putting down the crates of peaches and heading back out to the square. "Elves," he muttered as he passed them, looking Correk up and down. He nodded at Leira. Correk arched a brow and watched him pass but didn't say anything.
"No love lost?"
"He's a Bracken Kilomea. They come from the swamps, originally. They don't really like anyone but he seemed to admire you. Come on, time to go find a Willen."
They got back out to the square, dodging a gnome pushing a stroller with a baby gnome tucked inside, and a troll peering out that blew Leira a kiss.
"Trolls! There's more of them on Earth."
"Of course there are. They are choosy about who they agree to attach to but it happens all the time. For life."
"Yes, I got that part before, thank you."
They walked another block before Correk took Leira by the hand and pulled her down a side street where the light was dimmer, shaded by elm trees. Homes lined the street, pushed up against each other and painted in different pastel colors. Many of them were lavender.
"Trees underground. This is all very trippy. Do humans ever come down here?"
"They're not very welcome. A certain kind of anonymity is required for these places to survive and humans are too chatty and too easily spooked. Word would get out. You realize this isn't some kind of tourist attraction," he said, as they hurried along. Leira realized the paved streets were giving away to cobblestones and the houses were growing shabbier.
Correk was watching the house numbers, still holding onto her hand as they came to a worn-down wooden cottage with the white paint peeling off and the numbers one four one. Narrow, cement stairs twisting left and then right led up to the red front door with a large window on the top half of it.
"This is it. Our Willen lives here."
"With all the stealing they do, you'd think they'd have better digs."
"This is by choice. They like to go by unnoticed and live in areas where others are reluctant to visit. That and their idea of hygiene is disturbing."
"A lot of the humans I dealt with on the force would love it here." Leira headed up the stairs, easily navigating the twisting angles, running to the door, her fist raised, ready to knock. She looked at Correk who gave her a nod as she gave two sharp knocks.
The door opened a crack, a long, gray furry snout appearing, sniffing around the edge. Two beady eyes followed as the Willen worked his way cautiously around the door. He looked Correk and Leira up and down, his long claws still holding the door ajar.
"Elves, fine." He opened the door wide. "Do come in. Can't be too careful these days. So many making the crossing. Some bad elements."
Leira pressed down on Correk's arm, stopping him from asking what the Willen meant by bad element. They were there for a different reason.
"We're here to strike a deal," she said, pressing ahead. Leira was used to bargaining with cons. Just because this one has a tail and whiskers doesn't make it any different.
She handed Correk the pouch and he took out three coins, holding them in his palm. "For your consideration."
The Willen sniffed the air and walked over to Correk swiftly removing the coins and sliding them into the folds in his skin. Leira did her best not to stare at any of it. There was too much riding on getting his cooperation.
"I'm listening," said the Willen.
"We need information." Correk was slowly reeling out the information, drawing in the Willen.
"My favorite kind of deal."
"You have to go to Oriceran to get it."
The Willen sat back on its haunches, still upright. "This will cost you."
"We understand and are ready to bargain."
"I'll want something special. What do you want from Oriceran."
"We came to you for this because even above ground they say you can do anything." Correk needed to appeal to the Willen's ego before he said the next words. "We need you to steal the secrets of the world in between from the Gnomes who guard the library."
The Willen was unable to hide his surprise and he started sputtering. "Impossible. Ridiculous. Joke."
"Name your prize," Leira said evenly. She held her breath, saying nothing, waiting for the Willen's response.
The Willen rocked forward, rubbing his paws together. There's something he wants and can't get, thought Leira. She braced herself for the request.
"Bring my family here from New Jersey."
Leira looked at Correk and back at the Willen wondering if she heard right. Her brows drew together, puzzled. There has to be a catch. "How many Willen are we talking about?"
"Five," said the Willen, tapping his nails together, his whiskers twitching. "My wife, my boy, my mother and two uncles. Dad had unfortunate timing with the D train in New York City and is no longer with us."
"We bring your family here to you
and you steal this information?" Leira gave the Willen her best icy stare. Better he doesn't realize how much she wanted this.
"Not as easy as you think. Four full grown Willens and even a medium-sized Willen are hard to hide, expensive to move. All under the noses of those Silver Griffins."
"Fine, we'll do it." We'll figure it out.
"First, you go to Oriceran for the information. We will start to arrange transportation."
"How do I know you won't double cross me?"
"That's more your bailiwick. If we don't have your family here when it's time for the exchange, then you don't tell us anything. But...," Correk's tone grew menacing. "We want everything. Every hidden book and scroll and mention of the world in between. Leave anything out and we ship Momma back to Jersey."
"Really need to pull you away from the TV," muttered Leira. "What is that? Real housewives?" Correk looked at her and shrugged. She shook her head.
"Deal," said the Willen, spitting into his paw and extending it for a shake. "It's the only way I do business."
Leira spit into her palm before Correk had a chance, shoving her hand on top of the wet fur, feeling the Willen's nails graze across her skin. "Deal," she said. "You have only two days."
"Then you have the same," said the Willen smiling, showing razor sharp, pointed teeth. "Better get a move on. My Uncle Flipper is old and doesn't move so fast. He'll be a hard one to get here in your time frame."
"You worry about getting past the lock on that vault. We'll worry about the Jersey Willens," said Correk.
The Willen wrote down an address and the directions to a kemana in Southern New Jersey and showed them to the door, jingling from the coins in the folds of his skin as he let them out, shutting the door behind them without even a goodbye.
Leira stood on the rickety porch, looking back at the front windows as a bright light shined out from behind the curtains.
"He's already opened a portal. He must be desperate to get his family back." Correk hurried down the steps. "Come on, you set a tight schedule."
"That black mist seems pretty determined. I don't want to fight it again before I'm ready and I don't want to miss what may be my only chance to rescue my grandmother. I took a chance."
There was a flash in the windows and the sounds of a sizzle, pop and a crack. The Willen was already on the other side.
Correk and Leira hurried back through the streets, stopping to buy a hairy limeola before they headed up the stairs.
"You have to eat that down here. Can't transport Oriceran produce above ground. Against the rules," said Correk. "Go on, bite into the rind. You'll see."
Leira bit into the limeola and was surprised to find it tasted like a sweet lime with a hint of orange. The hairy rind dissolved in her mouth and tasted like sugar. She took two more bites before throwing it into a trash can by the stairs. A Willen appeared out of nowhere, digging through the trash to retrieve the rest of the limeola, popping it into his mouth as Leira ran up the stairs toward the surface.
The ground opened up automatically as they approached the top and Leira was greeted with a rush of hot Texas air. The morning sun made her eyes hurt and it took a moment to adjust. The Earth rumbled under her feet as the rocks drew back together and everything around them grew still again.
"Like a trip to Oz," she said.
Correk was about to say something but Leira beat him to it. "Oh yeah, I totally see that one. Little people, wizard, path of gold. It's like human beings will buy whatever you're selling."
"So far," said Correk, as they hurried back in the direction of the car. There was a lot to do if they were going to move the Jersey Willens in time.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"The Jersey Willens live in Atlantic City? Is it under a casino?" Leira ran her hand through her hair, frustrated. She was getting pulled in different directions.
"The address says Margate. The entrance to the kemana is under a hotel shaped like an elephant named Lucy." They were sitting in the guest house, explaining everything to Eireka.
"Are you making this up?"
"No, I've told you before..."
"Light Elves care about telling the truth." Leira finished the sentence for him.
"I've been to that kemana. It's very nice. You can hear the ocean through the walls and the crystal is the prettiest gray blue." Eireka was sitting cross legged on the couch. The troll was laying back on her leg.
Leira stared at her mother for a moment. "I can never catch up on all this information."
"Does it really matter, dear? You'll learn what you need to know."
"What we need to know is where Katie Toler is going to be next and how she's tracking the necklace. It'd be our chance to get there first. But..."
"We may be able to do both." Correk was pacing the room, wearing his new jeans and cowboy boots.
"Don't say portal. You said you can't go back in time with those."
"Don't be ridiculous. No portals. If we can get ahead of the Silver Griffins agent we can get the necklace and take it with us to move the Willens. It's risky but it's doable."
"I say we try."
"There's a third option. You let me help." Eireka fixed a steady, determined gaze on her daughter. "First of all, I understand magic better than you do. Second, moving the Jersey Willens isn't about magic anyway. It's logistics. I'm a born planner. They need to get from point A to point B in a short amount of time without anyone seeing them move. This is really quite easy."
"Explain." Leira sat forward on the edge of her chair.
"We either disguise the move as something rare and expensive or something dangerous and volatile. And we get the government to help us with the cover up."
"General Anderson..." Leira finally took in a deep breath of air.
"There you go. I knew you'd get it. He'd do it for you, Leira and keeping things from the public is second nature to the government. If we can borrow a transport plane, we throw the Willens in the back and fly to Texas. I can handle that. If anyone gives me grief I make them sing like a canary. It's really pretty and soothing but scares the shit out of humans." Eireka laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. The troll imitated her, rolling over and letting out a fart.
Leira waved a magazine to clear the air. "This is what happens when you feed a troll whatever he wants."
"They do them for fun," said Correk, trying to glance at the ceiling without being noticed.
Eireka took the magazine from Leira and grabbed both her hands. "I trusted you to be able to take care of yourself. Now you're going to need to trust me to do the same. I can do this. Go after that necklace. It needs to go home where it's safe and to give the queen some comfort. It carries in it some of the energy from her son. She should have at least that to remember him by."
"What do you think Cowboy Correk? Stop pacing."
"He looks like a native Texan. Get a twang on him and no one would question his roots," said Eireka admiring him.
"Mom." Leira rolled her eyes at her mother, getting another laugh from Eireka.
"Hopefully, I can teach you to loosen up, just a little."
Correk finally stopped, his hands on his hips. "I don't know. Willens are always looking for an angle and five of them..."
"Five of them who all want to get to the Lavender kemana. We have the same purpose. They'll try and steal what they can on the trip and probably scare a few of the Feds but that will only make the trip more interesting. Call the general. Make the arrangements and then go, get the necklace.
***
Leira and Correk tracked Katie Toler to an old abandoned Esso station in Shreveport, Louisiana but they got there too late. There was no sign of Katie or the necklace.
"No obvious signs," said Correk. "Wait, don't rush off. You wouldn't leave a murder scene without gathering what you could from the evidence."
Leira turned around and did what was becoming second nature. She centered herself, pulling up the energy from the Earth and let it flow through her, forgetting about the dirt
y tile walls all around her. It happened more easily now, pulsing through her faster. She spread out her arms and let the energy flow out from her, seeking out the magic trails left behind. There they are. As individual as fingerprints.
The different glittering trails swirled around the room, each one giving off different energy. Leira sought out Katie's trail first and knew it when she found it. Icy blue and sharp. She shut her eyes, absorbing the energy and felt the remnants of the different spells.
"I don't know what this means." She opened her eyes, still holding the magic steady.
"You're getting stronger, Cousin. You can hold the energy steady and interact with me. Well done. What are you sensing?"
"Incantations but I don't know them. I don't know what the words mean."
"You don't need to. It's not the spells that matter, it's their intention. You're Light Elf. We use spells as a convenience but we don't need them. Feel what's there. That's where your power is. Let your energy mix with the remnants of the Atlantean. It'll tell you what Katie was doing and what she was after."
Leira shut her eyes again, letting the trail of her energy swirl and mix with the remnants. "She fought her way out of here. Pretty nasty fight. Wait! She wasn't alone. I mean she had an ally. A witch. I recognize the kind of trail they leave."
"Very good, Cousin. Was either of them hurt? You'll feel pain and a kind of emptiness in the trails."
"Wounded but not seriously. There's anger, too. A lot of it. They still don't have the necklace." Leira opened her eyes, dropping her arms as the symbols faded. "She had to retreat. This was a waste of time."
"Not entirely. Try again. Read the other side but be careful of the darkness. Sometimes they are clever and leave boobytraps in the remnants for someone just like you. You'll have to really focus and steer your way around them."
"Like a video game." Leira took in a deep breath and shut her eyes, pulling the magic through herself again, seeking out the darker trails. They were easy to spot, popping and crackling with tangled knots in the flow. "Nothing goes in a straight line."
"One of the consequences of playing with dark magic. It tangles up your energy. Stay long enough and the knots become permanent. Keep going."