The Four Tales

by Rebecca Reddell

  “How do you know--”

  The Elf King entered with a flourish of his robes.

  “Well done, my boy! They are bringing the witch queen and my daughter now. The Seekers are pleased with your powers. They said it was easy to slip beneath your own spells and confuse the silly Collective. We must celebrate!”

  “What’s next then?” The boy returned to a chair.

  Maezy followed. Her heart felt as if it was hurting. Her cheek began to throb. Hand to her face, Maezy felt a bit light-headed and sick.

  “You need to maintain your defense against the witch. Then, when they arrive, I will kill her,” the king instructed.

  “Nooooo!” Maezy screamed.

  Neither the boy nor her father flinched. Her father because he couldn’t hear her, she knew. The boy’s calm was unexplainable. “Kill the most powerful witch of all time?”

  “Not powerful enough to stand against you, my boy.”

  “King Ingvar, do you really think that’s the best course of action?” Brandalfr cajoled.

  “Don’t attempt to tell me what I should do, boy. You forget, I have my own powers. The powers of the Seekers and my clan. Your mother and sister can’t be found without my say. If you go against me, you will never see them again.” He spoke as if he were discussing the weather and not threatening lives.

  Maezy put a hand to her forehead and then covered her mouth in an attempt not to vomit. The bile rose in her throat, she swallowed it back down, even as her stomach lurched again.

  Now she knew why he was working for her father.

  “What will you do with your daughter?” Brandalfr quizzed.

  “That’s my concern.”

  “What if she refuses to help you?”

  “She won’t,” the king waved off the notion.

  “If you kill her mother, she might.” Brandalfr allowed the statement to hang in the air.

  King Ingvar paused in the doorway and looked over his shoulder. “I will consider your thought. However, she will help if she knows what’s good for her. That’s another reason you’re here. To persuade her. Any way you need to do so.”

  Maezy felt another lurch in her stomach, hands pressing against her lips, she tried not to spew all over the lovely wooden floor.

  “I understand.”

  “Oh, and Brandalfr?”

  “Yes, King Ingvar?”

  “Do not try to cross me. I won’t be happy.”

  “I won’t.” He was convincing enough to cause Maezy concern.

  Would he betray her?

  “Then what is the Presence still doing here,” King Ingvar asked and scanned the room.

  With a flick of his wrist, Maezy felt herself covered in something. Almost as though a blanket had been thrown over her, but she could still see and hear everything.

  “What Presence?” Brandalfr asked with a head tilt.

  Closing his eyes, the Elf King stood still.

  Maezy held her breath. Would he feel her presence?

  “Wonderful.” King Ingvar’s face withered into smiles so beautiful, Maezy caught her breath. Her father was so pretty it hurt her eyes.

  Swallowing, Maezy sucked in breath after breath to calm the fear and compulsion in her heart. She refused to move toward her father, even though every particle in her body screamed to be closer to him. Scared, Maezy closed her eyes.

  “Well done, Brandalfr. You are one step closer to seeing your family again. Now get to work.”

  Maezy opened her eyes and trained them on the young man. Brandalfr nodded as the door closed. “What do we do?” she asked as soon as her father left.

  “We find my mother and sister.”

  “What? Why do we need to find them? My mother and I are on our way here now. We need a plan to stop him from killing my mother!” Maezy pounded her fist against the palm of her hand.

  “This is the plan. You find my family. I save yours.”

  6

  “What?” Maezy stared at him hoping for clarification. Or a plan.

  “You heard me.” He stood straight, looking down his nose at her.

  “Yes, but I don’t understand. How will finding them help us? Ohhhhhhh.” Maezy felt the impact of his words the second she asked the question. “I find them, and my father has no leverage. No leverage means you can help us escape.”

  “Exactly.” His smile was wide and exposed white teeth, the bottom row slightly crooked.

  Maezy stared and smiled back, “Got it. So I’ll just figure out where he has them stashed in the castle and--”

  “No,” he shook his head.

  “No? What do you mean no?”

  “They aren’t here. I would have sensed their presence if they were. He has secreted them away somewhere else. The only clue he gave me to their location was when he said they were safe in another place.”

  “Another place? That isn’t exactly helpful.” Maezy tapped her leg and tried to think of where her father would have stashed them.

  “True. But you’re a realm walker. How did you find your way here?”

  “I just focused on finding my father,” she explained.

  “Did you know what he looked like? What realm he lived in?”

  “Well, no,” she considered.

  “You see?” His brows raised in expectation.

  “No, I don’t see.”

  Tilting a brow up and staring at her, Maezy made the connection. His stupid boy eyes were really becoming a distraction. She couldn’t think with them looking at her all the time.

  “Never mind. I understand. They could be anywhere. Even in Earth’s realm. It may take me some time to locate them. I never have figured out how my gift works.”

  “If you found us, you can find my mother and sister.”

  “What do I say when I get there?” Maezy asked.

  “Tell them I sent you. They’ll believe you if you take this with you.” He reached into his pocket and handed her a blue-purple pebble.

  “A pebble?”

  “My sister gave it to me a few years ago. Before we were brought here. Or before I was brought here, and they were taken elsewhere.”

  “Why didn’t you fight them off? If you’re more powerful than my mother that shouldn’t have been a problem.” Suspicious, Maezy watched him carefully to see if he told her the truth.

  “I had left the house already. When I sensed something was wrong and turned around, King Ingvar had taken my mother and sister already. He knows the secret paths. So does my mother. She’s the elf.”

  “Couldn’t she have fought them off then? At least until you returned?”

  “She tried,” his head dipped, “but he’s more powerful than her. Mother did as much as she could. In the end, I wasn’t fast enough, and she wasn’t strong enough.”

  Looking at him, Maezy bit her lip and nodded. “I see. What happened?”

  “I don’t know the paths of the elves. My father was a warlock, and we lived with his people. I would explain more, but all you need to know is King Ingvar gave me a proposition I couldn’t refuse.”

  “I understand. What are their names?”

  “Arna is my sister. Agathon is my mother’s name. Now, can you try and find them?”

  “I can. I won’t be able to bring them back with me though. What will we do after I find them?” Satisfied with his answer, she questioned him further.

  “We’ll make plans after you find them. Just free them, if you can. Come back and let me know where they are. I may be able to help with the rest.”

  “I will,” she stated.

  “My mother and sister are all I have. Please make sure you find them.”

  “My mother is all I have. Make sure you keep her alive,” Maezy countered.

  “Deal.”

  Maezy stuck out her hand. Brandalfr took it in his own, clasping it in a firm shake. For the first time ever, Maezy felt something inside her spark. Warmth flooded her whole body, and as she let his hand go, she felt as though a part of her slipped away with it.

 
; “Deal.”

  7

  Maezy took a deep breath and exhaled on a shiver. Preparing herself, she closed her eyes. Retreating into the darkness, she focused on Brandalfr’s mother and sister. Repeating their names over and over in her mind, she reached out into the void.

  Taking a step forward in the black nothing, she put all of her thought and energy into hearing them, seeing them. Within a few minutes, the dark lightened around her. Little by little, she began to make out a room. The cold registered first. Followed by the slick sparkle of rocks, Maezy made out the cell Agathon and Arna were huddled inside.

  A thick, wooden door with black bars across a small window, letting in light, stood to the left. Otherwise, the room was dark. Freezing.

  Glancing around the room, Maezy tightened her hand around the pebble. Brandalfr's mother and sister were sitting on the floor, wrapped in each other’s arms. Maezy began to hear the low murmurs. Their voices soft, so low she couldn’t make out the words.

  With a deep breath, Maezy willed her being to reveal itself. Tingles ran through her body, the signal that her wish was being executed. Her body’s molecules reasserted themselves into the atmosphere.

  “Agathon?” She whispered.

  The intake of breath was slight but noticeable.

  Soon, Maezy was looking into a face resembling Brandalfr's own. Long, pale, with glittering honey eyes. Darker than her son’s, but lit from the light outside her cell. The daughter, hearing her mother’s exclamation, turned from her mother’s shoulder.

  “Who are you?” she whispered.

  “Maezy. I have been sent by your brother to help you. Can you tell me where you are?”

  “How do we know my brother sent you?” Arna asked, standing first, and facing Maezy.

  Her stance told Maezy she was ready to fight. Her brown eyes told Maezy she was scared.

  “Arna, let her explain.”

  Agathon was tall, lithe, like her son. Just as many of the elves, Agathon held her height erect and stared straight into Maezy’s eyes.

  “How do you know my son?”

  “We just met. He helped attack my home.”

  “No,” Agathon gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.

  “Liar!” Arna reached out to slap her.

  Maezy felt her body jerk back as she allowed herself fade from view.

  “Where’d she go?” Arna screeched.

  “What’s going on in there!” An elf appeared between the bars. His eyes shadowed as he looked in the room.

  “Nightmare,” Agathon glared.

  “Keep it down!” He disappeared again, but now Maezy was aware of his presence, which was helpful.

  Waiting a few seconds, she tried to see if the guard would peek back inside. When he didn’t, she kept her eyes on the daughter before manipulating the atmosphere. Allowing herself to reappear, she waited for the gasps to end before trying again.

  “Your son sent this.” Maezy held out the pebble within her palm.

  Arna took it and glanced at her. Eyes directed to the pebble, Arna glanced at her mother before looking back at Maezy. Agathon glanced at the pebble and relaxed.

  “Where’d you get this? I gave this to Brandalfr years ago. He always carries it. He wouldn’t just give it away!” Arna snarled.

  Maezy glanced back at the door. She hoped the guard wouldn’t reappear and would have to keep an eye out if Arna insisted on arguing. This wasn’t going as she’d expected.

  I don’t have time for this!

  “I will explain. Your son is being used by my father to kidnap me and my mother. I’m a realm walker. I found him, and we struck a deal. I help free you, and he makes sure my father doesn’t kill my mother. Now, do you know where we are?”

  Blinking at her, both women seemed incapable of speaking for a moment.

  “Your father is trying to kidnap you? And kill your mother?” The repulsion in Arna’s voice was evident. Her curled upper lip and wide eyes fixed on Maezy without wavering.

  For the first time, her confession of being a realm walker wasn’t even questioned. Frowning, Maezy wondered if that wasn’t the strangest part of her story. However, dealing with elves, witches, and warlocks, she supposed realm walking was a reasonable gift to have.

  Huh.

  “Is this true?” Agathon questioned, her calm expression very different from her daughter’s.

  “Yes. It’s a long story we don’t have time for.” Maezy wanted to smack some urgency into them.

  “Who is your mother?” Agathon asked.

  “Maleficent.” Maezy noticed the fearful look come upon Arna’s face and the slight drop of Agathon’s jaw.

  Most people had a similar reaction whenever her mother’s name was mentioned. Humans loved to make up stories about her to scare their children, or that’s what she’d heard since she’d not yet visited. Their technology tempted her to do so one day, though.

  Sighing, Maezy shook away the thoughts and refocused. “Do you know where you are?”

  “King Ingvar’s summer vacation home. The dungeon, of course.” Agathon revealed.

  “Ahh, within an alternative maze. I’m going to see what I can do about getting you out of here. Unfortunately, I can’t take you to your son. I will leave the room for a while. I need to assess the outside before I can secure your release. Do you know how to use a sword?”

  “Of course. I’m an elf. I’d use my powers, weak as they are against the King, but he placed these bands on my wrists, and they have disabled my powers.”

  “Hmmm.” Maezy took a closer look. The dark made it impossible to see how to take them off. “I assume he used a spell to keep them there?”

  “Your assumption is correct.”

  “We may need to break out the old-fashioned way.”

  “Is there any other way?”

  “You don’t know my mother,” Maezy muttered.

  “What?” Agathon frowned, but Maezy just shook her head.

  “Nothing. I’ll be back in a bit.”

  Focusing on her father’s castle, the room she’d last been inside and Brandalfr, Maezy faded out of the cell with pinpricks tickling her whole body. A few seconds later, she was once again in the room with the warlock.

  “You’re back!” He reached out as if to touch her but dropped his hand instead. “Did you find them?”

  “Yes, in the king’s summer home.” She spoke the name of the castle getaway, its letters tripping over her tongue.

  “Can you help them escape?” His wide eyes and eager tone had her nodding.

  “I think so. Is my mother here yet?”

  “Not yet. They should be arriving soon. I can feel the radiation of her powers. They are stronger now.”

  Pausing, Maezy realized she could also feel them. Inhaling, she looked toward the door. “I can feel her too.”

  “We have to be quick. Can you get them out? Safe?”

  “I will do everything in my power to make them safe. So, make sure you keep your word. Please keep my father from killing my mother.”

  “I will do all I can,” he promised.

  His eyes didn’t look away. Maezy found herself leaning forward, as if being pulled in by something more than the electric air around them. Realizing what she was doing, she jerked back and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I can’t guarantee how far I can get them. I will try though. Everything I can do will be done.”

  “I trust you.” His solemn tone left her with a jolt of fear.

  Did he know something she didn’t?

  “You don’t know me.” Maezy didn’t want misplaced trust. Her main objective was saving her mother.

  “I know enough.” His timbre resonated with understanding.

  Shrugging, Maezy took a step back. “I’ll check in after I get them out and on a new path. Think of a shielding spell for them. We’ll need it as soon as I get them to a safe location.”

  “I have one.”

  “One more thing,” she said, “your mother has bands on her wrists.
I don’t know how to get them off.”

  “Great,” Brandalfr muttered. “Let me think.”

  He began to pace back and forth. Maezy watched him as he shoved his hands through his hair and held onto the strands, murmuring to himself. He stopped in front of the desk and shook his head.

  “The only thing I can think of is to repeat these words over the bands,” he told her.

  Reciting a phrase in a foreign language, Maezy recognized it as a spell her mother might have spoken. She repeated the words three times before he was satisfied with her pronunciation.

  “There’s no guarantee it will work, but you can give it a try. I’m uncertain exactly what verses he spoke over it. However, I’ll help her as soon as I get out of here. Once you succeed in freeing her. That’s the important aspect right now.”

  Maezy nodded and prepared herself to return to the cell. The pinpricks began. But the shiver accompanying them came from the intense gaze trained on her until Brandalfr and the room disappeared, and the blackness returned.

  8

  This time, Maezy focused on landing somewhere near the outside of the cell. When she entered the hallway beyond the dungeon’s door, the light lit up before and behind her with shaded candles upon the walls. She couldn’t see the door, but instead, she’d landed on some stairs.

  Sighing, Maezy squelched her annoyance. A light switch would be so much easier to flip off than all of these candles. Not for the first time, she wished she lived on Earth. From what she heard, they had so many technological advances, she’d only had to clap her hands to have light.

  After this experience, she might still decide to move there. At least humans didn’t live as if advances in technology had never been made. The elves had possessed the art forever but refused to update. Her mother was no better.

  Old-school takes on a whole new meaning when dealing with ancient beings.

  Huffing, Maezy turned her attention back to the task at hand. She could come and go with no worries if they came upon a rogue guard, but Agathon and Arna wouldn’t have the same fortune. First, she needed to see if there was more than the one guard outside the cell and take care of them.

  Sliding out her sword, the reassuring clang of the metal exiting the belt made her feel calm, steady. Walking along the stone wall, she hovered on the right and made her descent. Ears listening, she picked up on the whistling wind. The slap of air meeting rock, the flicker of flames, and the tilt of a chair scraping on the floor met her ears. Then she heard someone clearing their throat.