by Maggie Joan
After I’d been stood for several minutes, and not so much as a leaf had stirred, I figured I’d try calling him by name.
“Calico,” I whispered. “Calico, I’m so sorry I couldn’t release Tristan. My dad has some kind of spell on his glass dome and I can’t lift the lid.”
Nothing.
“Calico, I’m telling the truth. I was going to release him, just as you told me to, but my dad caught me, and we had a huge row over it. I’m on your side. Please believe me.”
Still nothing.
I sighed and paced the soft ground around the tree, mulling over other things to say to draw him out. Then a lightbulb flicked on in my head.
“I need to get Tristan,” I said out loud, turning to run to the house.
“Don’t do that,” said a familiar voice.
I whirled around to see Calico hovering at my eye level, a couple of feet away, several other similarly dressed fairies behind him, complete with spears and shields.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” I said, holding my hands up in a surrender sign.
“I can hardly take you at your word,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at me. “You humiliated me. Mocked me in front of my people. I told them I had found an honest human, one with the true heart of a believer. That she would return our horse to us unharmed.” He pointed his spear at me. “You lied to me.”
Panic swarmed inside me. “My dad—”
“I heard your excuse.”
“It’s not an excuse. How am I supposed to release him if I can’t remove the glass?”
He pulled his small pink lips into a thin line and stood his spear back upright. “You could have at least come out here and told me of this instead of leaving me staring at the skies at twilight waiting to see our horse.”
“I’m sorry, you’re right, I should have at least told you what was going on. That is my bad.”
“You can go,” he said, his voice stern and full of authority.
I opened my mouth to respond but promptly closed it when his fairy friends disappeared back into the foliage around the tree, the jam and bread vanishing slice by slice too.
Calico continued staring at me, his piercing sapphire eyes becoming somewhat unnerving. After several seconds, he said, “The spell you speak of, that your father invoked, do you know what it is?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “All I know is Tristan became really sad and said something about a lockdown spell. I can go and get him and then you can release him?”
Calico shook his head. “Firstly, I do not trust you enough to leave the safety of these woods, especially in the daylight. Secondly, the spell your father has cast over Tristan can only be revoked by the person who cast it, except for a Queen and they never leave the fairy realm. Not even for something like this.”
“Can’t I bring you Tristan and you take him to a Queen?”
Calico shook his head. “If the spell was cast in the human plane, it must be removed in the human plane.”
My breath caught in my throat. “You are kidding, right? He’s never going to release him until he gets what he wants.”
“And what is it that he wants?”
I sighed. “He wants you to reveal yourselves to the world to prove my gran isn’t a liar. She’s dying and, in her delirium, this part of her life is all she can talk about. She needs peace before she passes. That’s all my dad is trying to achieve.”
A stern poker face stared back at me. “Whilst I understand your father’s logic, I am not sympathetic to your situation. Because of your grandmother, my people were hunted to near extinction. I lost friends and family because of this, as did every one of us. We are not prepared to face the same fate again.”
“Isn’t there some sort of compromise we can come to? If my father is the only one who can release Tristan, then you need to meet us halfway.”
“I cannot make this decision. This matter needs taking to the Queen’s Court.”
A spike of adrenaline shot through my veins. “Really? When do we leave, now?”
“We? There is no ‘we’. Humans cannot enter the fairy realm.”
I folded my arms over my chest and said, “Is that so? Because I’m pretty certain my gran has had an adventure or two over there.”
He sighed and mulled things over for a few seconds. “Humans do not survive well in our world. It is treacherous and testing, many things will try to harm you or even consume you. Should you survive, you possibly will not return here the same.”
I took in his words and thought about things for about ten seconds. It didn’t need much more than that. “That’s fine. We need to get this issue resolved.”
Raising an eyebrow, he said, “I don’t think you quite understand what I’ve said.”
“I do. I understand it perfectly. If this is the only way to get an answer, then so be it.”
“Or you could just wait for me to return from the Queens Court with an answer for you.”
“Calico, I appreciate your concern, but I am a big girl who can look after herself. I’m trying to help you, but you seem to not want it?”
“My concern is for your safety.”
A ping of joy thumped my heart against my ribcage. “See, you do care about us humans after all.”
He snorted. “I just don’t want your death on my hands nor to clear up the mess afterwards.”
My joy quickly evaporated, dread filling its place. “I will be fine.”
“Ok,” he said, opening an arm out in a gesture towards the tree. “Let’s go then.”
I resisted the urge to squeal in excitement. This was actually happening; I was going into a magical world where fantasy creatures lived. I wished Macie was here, she would have passed out with the sheer thought of what was about to happen.
“Stand where you put down the food for us,” he said, pointing at the clump of little blue flowers. “This may tingle slightly.”
Just as I was about to ask what, a bright yellow ball of light formed on his palm, crackling with energy like a mini lightning storm. He threw it at me, hitting me square in the middle of my forehead. Pins and needles coursed all over my body, from the tips of my fingers to the ends of my toes. Even my nose tickled. To my amazement, the world around me grew larger and larger until I realised that nothing was in fact growing, it was me, shrinking.
I looked above me to see the once little blue flowers now looming over me like a giant umbrella. I gasped and twirled around on the spot, absolute delight overwhelming me in an instant.
“Wow,” I said. “This is so cool.”
Calico rolled his eyes at me. “If you are going to act like this for the entire journey, please warn me now so I can be prepared.”
I couldn’t help but giggle. “I don’t know what’s waiting on the other side so I can’t predict how I’m going to act.”
Muttering something in his own language under his breath, Calico marched forwards underneath the gigantic plants, hard lines creasing his face into an unimpressed stare. I ran after him, almost tripping over my own feet in my rush to keep up with him. He walked at an incredible speed for such a tiny being.
As he navigated the way through the mass of thick stems surrounding us, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could wrap my arms around them. At my normal size, these stems were barely noticeable, thin and weak, but now they seemed like something else entirely.
The dark trunk of the tree loomed ahead, and I couldn’t help it—I had to do it. Flinging myself at the nearest stem, I wrapped my arms around it and found myself pleasantly surprised when I could touch my hands together with room to spare.
“What are you doing?”
I turned my head to see Calico stood to my right, his arms folded over his chest, and one eyebrow raised. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to reach around it, but I can.”
“Whilst I’m exceptionally pleased for you, I fail to see how this impacts your life in any way.”
I unhugged the stem and vaguely wondered where his spear and shield were. “What do you
mean?”
“How is knowing that going to affect your life going forwards?”
Slightly confused and my moment of fun well and truly over, I replied, “Well it’s not, it’s just a bit of fun.”
“Fun.”
“Yes, you know, when you do things just for the sake of it, things that make you laugh and feel good.”
“Can’t say I’m too familiar with that. We do nothing but work to better our world and our lives.”
I frowned and mirrored his stance. “You don’t ever relax, have some drinks, food, laughter?” I’d always pictured their lives as happy, free, full of vitality, all lightness and good times.
“Only on special occasions.”
“That must be boring. How can you live without laughter every day?”
“Because we’re focused on building for our future. It’s tiring and by the time we get back to our dwellings, we just want to replenish ourselves and sleep.”
I struggled to comprehend the world he spoke of. It was depressing just hearing about it. “Don’t you ever have a day off?”
He pursed his lips and said, “Time works differently in our world. We don’t have a Gregorian calendar ruling our lives and a twenty-four-hour machine counting down our seconds for various tasks.”
“So how do you get things done?”
“We keep going until they’re completed. Once a task is finished, we will rest, replenish, and then start the next mission.”
“Don’t you have day and night?”
“No. We have an ever-glowing source of light and no sense of time. Our world is built on community support and sharing principles.”
“Do you have a currency?”
He snorted in disdain. “We most certainly do not. Everyone receives a fair share of everything.”
I didn’t know what else to say other than, “Oh.”
“We need to move. Do you think you can refrain yourself from hugging any further plants?”
“I can’t promise anything,” I said, grinning at him.
He cocked his head to one side and narrowed his eyes at me. “I’ve decided you smile too much.”
I smirked. “And I’ve decided you don’t smile enough.”
Chapter 8
We finally made it to the tree without further debate. As we stood at its base, I began to race through options of how we would enter the fairy realm—a magical portal, a small door in the base of the tree, maybe flying up high and dropping at a rate of knots into nothingness, or maybe even Harry Potter style and running into something to swap worlds.
Calico, in front of me, bent down and waved his hand over the ground. He whispered three words, in fairy of course, and then stood back up. For two or three seconds, nothing happened. Then the soil started moving around. Within ten seconds, a small black hole appeared in front of us.
I gasped and stepped back. “We have to go down that?”
“Yes.”
Memories of Alice in Wonderland flooded my mind. Oh well, I thought to myself. Down the rabbit hole we go.
“Oh,” Calico said. “I forgot to ask, can you ride a horse?”
Excitement exploded inside me instantly. “Yes, I most certainly can.”
Unexpectedly, he reached out and took my hand in his. “Do not let go.”
I nodded, my breath caught in my throat. His skin was warm and soft and smelled of home baked bread. So wrapped up in wistful ideals of him as a human, I wasn’t ready for when he stepped into the hole.
Darkness swamped my vision, I could see nothing, not even my nose. Nothingness surrounded me, I could feel nothing beneath me or around me, it was as if I was freefalling through a starless sky. The fall took my breath to the extent I couldn’t even scream. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, sending my mind into overdrive about what was waiting for me on the other side.
Calico squeezed my hand, reminding me I wasn’t here on my own. Just as I wondered when this would end, bright sunshine exploded all around us, blinding me. I closed my eyes and gripped Calico’s hand.
Something felt odd but it took me a few seconds to realise what; I was stood upright, on something hard. Was it ground? I slowly opened my eyes and then screamed when I realised we were in fact stood on a sandy coloured path. What the…?
Calico laughed. “You’re right. Fun is good.”
“What? How? But we were falling…”
I had expected to land on my butt, in a heaped mess, maybe helped to my feet by a handsome fairy. But no. I looked behind me to see a dark door slowly evaporating into nothing.
“If you could see your face right now,” he said, chuckling.
“I’m glad I amuse you.”
Now fully adjusted to this strange world, I took the opportunity to look around me. I did a complete three-sixty-degree turn, totally amazed by what spread out all around me.
To the right of the sandy trail was a dense forest, full of vibrant shades of green, the canopy stretching as far down the path as I could see. To the left was a golden wheat field, gently rolling away into the horizon, highlighting the slight hill we were stood upon. Now the door had vanished, I was surprised to see more of the same forest and wheat field reaching up to a high peak and then disappearing over.
“What were you expecting? A wall?” Calico asked, his tone of voice full of mocking.
“I…well, yes.”
“Do you have walls in your world?”
“No. Actually, that depends if you ask a flat earther.”
“A what?”
I grinned and waved my hand dismissively through the air. “Long story.”
The sky above me shone a brilliant blue, not a single cloud in sight, but also no source of the dazzling daylight that I could yet see. In the distance, straight ahead down the trail, stood a dusky pink castle, various turrets of all different sizes with grey roofs reaching high up into the sky. It reminded me so much of Cinderella’s castle, all I wanted to do was run to it and explore every room.
“Is that where we’re going?” I asked, almost a breathless whisper.
“That is the Queens Court, yes.”
“How long will it take us to get there?” I eyed up the dusty path ahead of us, it didn’t look that far.
“It’s an optical illusion,” he said. “The Queens Court is at the centre of our lands. We are currently at the very edge of the land of Eklaria, our most outer land. We have several other lands to pass through before we reach the Queens Court.”
Before I could ask him any further questions, he let out a shrill whistle. The treeline started moving, the trees shaking slightly. The snap of twigs and the rustle of leaves filtered through the air. Seconds later, two horses emerged from the forest, but they were no normal horses.
Their coats were speckled brown and green, any different shade you could imagine all blended together for the perfect camouflage. The colours even followed through into their manes and tails.
“Oh my,” I said, gasping. “They’re stunning.”
“Horses are our main way of travel,” Calico said. “However, they roam free all the time, except those who carry royalty. The horses who carry royalty are a very rare breed. These are two who serve my family.” He pointed to the horse on the left and said, “That is Kaisa, an extraordinary mare. She will be your escort. This is Izar, my most prized stallion.”
Both horses towered over us, like a seventeen-hand horse loomed over a toddler. Sturdy, short backed, and emanating power, they reminded me of a Connemara pony I’d learned to jump on, Eggbutt. Their whiskey coloured eyes were kind though, full of softness and eagerness to please.
I approached Kaisa, and as I got closer, gasped with shock and awe. Her coat wasn’t a camouflage of the forest, she was the forest. Leaves and twigs were her body, branches were her legs, covered in foliage. It was a sight I couldn’t quite comprehend.
“As I said,” Calico explained. “Royal horses are a very rare breed. They take on the form of their environment by becoming it. An extreme version of your chame
leons. Instead of just changing their colour, they change their entire body mass.”
“So if we went into the wheat field, they’d become the wheat?”
He nodded.
“That’s amazing.” I looked Kaisa over from head to hoof then asked, “Where’s the tack?”
Calico flashed me a big grin. “Not needed. Watch.”
I watched him as he approached his horse, expecting him to use his wings to fly up onto the horse’s back. Instead, Izar bent his front legs, kneeling onto the path. Calico walked to his side. Even with the stallion kneeling, his withers were still too high for Calico to reach. When a small twig emerged from the stallion’s side, I nearly fainted in shock.
Calico placed his left foot on it, like it was a weird stirrup and then hopped up onto Izar’s back. The horse rose gracefully to his full height. But that’s not what had me transfixed. What left me speechless was the twig stirrup now curled its way up Calico’s thigh, locking him tightly to his horse’s back.
“I’m guessing by your open mouth that this is rather unexpected?” Calico said, mocking me once more.
“I…wha…wow…”
“Come on,” he said, gesturing towards Kaisa. He quickly scanned the area around us. “We don’t have much time.”
The way he seemed tense and alert gave me my first inkling that danger may be afoot. When Izar snorted, I ran to Kaisa’s side. She knelt just like Izar, and out came the peculiar foot peg/stirrup. I sprang up onto her back, surprised at how wide she was. Glancing down, I was surprised to find the twig had already woven itself around my leg, and one around my right leg too. I’d expected it to hurt but it felt like nothing more than when a hair gets wrapped around your fingers.
The horses moved forwards down the sandy path, their footsteps almost silent. Kaisa had a big swinging stride, one that moved with such grace, it would surely rock a baby to sleep. Calico rode along to my left, the wheat field closest to him, whilst the forest flanked my right.
“Can I ask a question?” I asked.