“Are you going to be all right?”
Maezy nodded, taking more deep breaths, and keeping her eyes closed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything hurts,” she whispered.
“You’re doing too much. I should have known not to push you. Have you ever realm walked this long before?” Maleficent sounded concerned.
Maezy shook her head.
“You might be ready to shut down then. We need to get you to the nearest chair. My house is just ahead. Do you think you can make it if I help you?”
Maezy nodded again and opened her eyes. The green greeting her eyes was like being wrapped up in an emerald. The sun lit it bright and blinding while the brown faded in and out. “I don’t know if I can move.”
“Here, wrap your arm around me,” her mother instructed.
Maezy attempted to put her arm around her mother’s waist. She couldn’t. There was a feeling as though she were being pulled under water. Hampered from every side, drowning as gallons of water siphoned the energy from her body, and smashed her between the waves. Tossed and turned, stomach twisting, Maezy sank to the ground.
“Ma-ae,” her mother’s voice sounded as if it was far away. Gurgled and muffled by the water.
“I think I’m drowning,” she squeezed between her lips, as she pitched forward, and fell into twigs. The crunchy leaves concealed a rock or two as they prodded her side and arm.
The sense of floating took over, and she no longer heard or saw anything except twilight. The pitch black wrapped its arms around her and welcomed her within the fold. No longer able to fight against it, Maezy slid into its embrace. A rumble of sounds crashed outside the protective shell the darkness formed around her.
For a few more moments, Maezy was aware of the dark and the black cocoon. Then, she slid beyond the veil of consciousness.
“Maezy? Maezy?” The voice was irritated. “Maezy? I can’t stay out here waiting for you to come back to your senses. In case you’ve forgotten, my magic is temporarily out of order.”
The irritating voice was her mother’s. So was the poking. The woman had to be jabbing her finger into Maezy’s shoulder. The sharp, insistent sting of her long nail was annoying.
Maezy wanted to say something. Perhaps warn her mother that she would be more than happy to poke her too, but words were lost to her at this second. Hovering between this moment and one further beyond, she couldn’t focus.
“Maezy? I’m going to bleed to death here.”
This tidbit caught her attention, but try as she might, her eyes were still too heavy to open. Her vocal chords were not working either. Her whole body rebelled against any command she attempted to inflict on it.
Open your eyes.
No.
Speak!
No.
Sit up!
No.
Slap your mother’s finger!
No.
Her body wasn’t going to cooperate. Slipping back into the dark, Maezy heard voices. Voices which weren’t her mother’s.
“Where is she?!”
“I don’t know, King Ingvar. She seems to have disappeared. I’m trying to locate her now.” Brandalfr’s voice was obedient.
“Try harder!” Her father sounded enraged. She wanted to chuckle but couldn’t.
“I am. It may take a few minutes. My powers aren’t able to jump over every hurdle. I can’t access all of Maleficent’s realms. She has had them protected and reinforced for years,” Brandalfr explained.
“I suggest you figure it out quickly! There is too much at stake. Your mother and sister may be out of my reach, but this isn’t finished, and you know it.” Her father appeared to be threatening Brandalfr.
Maezy wondered what it was about.
“I know.” Brandalfr’s timbre was low and sad.
Maezy wanted to help him. If only she could tell him what was happening. Perhaps she could get him to help her, but the dark wouldn’t let her go. She just couldn’t reach him.
Brandalfr’s voice faded along with her father’s. Trying to bring the voices back, Maezy knew they would find her soon. Or not. She didn’t know if Brandalfr was lying or telling the truth. Could he access her mother’s realm? What would they do if he could?
She had to pull herself out of this faint.
“Maezy? Are you listening to me? I swear, if you die on me, I am going to be very angry.” Maleficent’s voice broke through the haze.
Wanting to chuckle, Maezy tried to lift her lips but found the endeavor impossible.
“We have to get to the safe house. Maezy, wake up. That’s an order. I can’t do anything, sitting here, bleeding, and powerless. Wake up.” Her shoulder shook, and Maezy wanted to smack the hand, but she couldn’t even open her eyes.
I’m trying, she wanted to say. Words failed her, and the dark welcomed her home.
14
“Maezy, I mean it, wake up! WAKE UP!”
Feeling her body wiggle back and forth, Maezy inhaled a large breath to gain her bearings. For a few minutes, the coal black held on like fingers curled around her, refusing to let go. For a morbid second, Maezy thought she’d succumbed to the ebony haze forever.
Breaking off each tendril of black mist, Maezy thrust the fingers back from her. Breaths came in gulps as her heart picked up pace, and she yanked each eye open. The lids slid back, fell shut, and made her cross-eyed before they were able to lift half-way. Focusing on ruby red lips, Maezy recognized her mother’s signature color.
“You have got to get a new lipstick,” she whispered.
“What? Maezy, are you playing around while I’m sitting here bleeding to death.”
“Corpses are silent.”
There was silence. Maezy could feel the shock as if it had slapped her in the face. Sarcasm felt good, but she knew her mother wasn’t please. Maleficent didn’t appreciate sarcasm when it was directed at her. It was time to get up and get going.
“Ugh,” Maezy muttered, and then hands were there lifting her up. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” the tone was miffed.
“I’m sorry, Mother. I wasn’t trying to upset you. I didn’t plan on taking a nap in the middle of nowhere. It just happened. It’s never happened before. We may be running out of time.”
“If you’re passing out, that might be the right conclusion. Since you’ve never been asleep this long in the realm, you could be experiencing a revolt. You’re getting tired and wearing out. We need to get you back to your body.”
Maezy nodded. “Unless I imagined it, I heard father and Brandalfr talking while I was in the darkness. He’s going to look for all of your realms. He told father he may not be able to break through, but it might be just a stall tactic. I don’t know.”
Maleficent nodded. Her eyes staring in the distance. Maezy sighed.
“He shouldn’t find me here. It’s older than our home. The powers here are stronger. However, you may need to return and find out how close they are to finding out about this place.”
“Will he be able to find it?” she asked her mother.
“There is always the possibility. I need you to return for another reason, though. These.” Holding up her arms, sleeves falling back, Maleficent exposed the wrist bands cutting off her magic. “I can’t do anything until these are taken off. Brandalfr could keep your father out, stall him, whatever. I don’t hold hope of him doing so.”
Thinking about Agathon’s bonds, Maezy said, “Mother, let me try something.” She recited the phrases over the bonds as she had with Brandalfr’s mother. Nothing happened.
Frowning, she tried again. Still, nothing happened. He had said it might be the wrong spell the first time she’d used it, but the words had worked then. Maybe this was different.
“Leave it, Maezy. You tried.”
“Mother--”
“Listen, Maezy.” Looking at her mother, she nodded. Maleficent commanded attention well. Often, because she knew what she was talking about, and she knew how to act.
> “The boy can stall, I’m sure, but he won’t be able to for long. You will need to return to help him. He held up his end of the deal. You’ve held up yours. Therefore, we need this finished.”
“You can’t get the off yourself? At all?”
“No,” Maleficent shook her head. “They were put on and secured to bind my powers. They can’t be cut off.”
“I’m sorry the spell he taught me didn’t work. They helped free Agathon’s bands.”
Maleficent shook her head. “Not all spells are the same. I’ve taught you that before. Now, there’s a chance he could find me, and I’m defenseless with these on me. I can’t save you or anyone else if I don’t have my powers returned to me.”
“I understand. What do you want me to do?”
“Rest for now. We’ll get to the house and get some sustenance in you. Do you eat in this state?” Maleficent wondered.
“Yes, I had a sandwich earlier in Earth Realm.” At her mother’s wide-eyed look, she shrugged. “I’ll explain later. There’s still a bit of cloudiness. My mind isn’t clear yet. This has never happened to me.”
“You’ve never fainted in your previous ventures?” Maleficent helped her stand.
“Never. I think I’ve been in here too long. It didn’t occur to me I might start rejecting the realm walk.”
“Perhaps your body is starting to fight it off. You won’t wake up even if you go into a sleep state. Your body will stay in a suspended condition until your True Love awakens you.”
“I know. You already mentioned the rules to this sleep. My question is, who did you think I would find in my suspended state to wake me? True love? I am surprised you would enact such a silly spell, mother.”
“Silly? This is a spell no one can break. It is the farthest thing from silly one can get when taking into consideration how your father will do anything to get his way. I ensured he couldn’t snap his fingers and keep you captive. My plan is brilliant.” She exuded confidence.
Maezy shook her head hoping to clear the remains of the fog and also rejected the intelligence of her mother’s words. In retrospect, it was a brilliant plan. Her father wouldn’t be able to break it for quite a long time, if ever. The downside to all of this? She may never wake up at all.
“Did you consider what would happen if I don’t find my True Love? It’s not as though I can wander everywhere in my realm walk and find ‘the one’. Such a thought is ridiculous.”
“Talking this over will solve nothing. We will find your True Love. There’s a way of finding him. I’m not willing to start the search when we need to get you out of there.”
“Well, I can’t get up and walk out. Not in my dead-like sleep. Without my True Love.”
“Maezy, your sarcasm will not help us, so I suggest you concentrate on resting. We’re going to need to get to the house. The sun, or this world’s equivalent, will begin to go down, and you will have to return. You’re going to need Brandalfr’s help to get your body out of Ingvar’s realm. As much as I hate relying on him, I’m afraid we’re going to need his assistance.”
“How’s your arm?” Maezy became cognizant of the arrow still sticking out of her mother’s shoulder. “Shouldn’t you pull the arrow out?”
“Not until I get home and assess the damage. If I pull it out, and it’s hit something important, I might bleed to death.”
“It looks like it’s sticking out of your shoulder, Mother. I don’t think you’ll bleed to death. Or, at least, I don’t suspect it will.”
“I’ll take your medical advice under consideration. Do you think you can move now?”
“Yes, I think everything’s starting to clear up more. Can you help me to the house with your shoulder?” Maezy leaned on her mother’s arm and tried not to hurt her opposite shoulder. She also ventured to keep the arrow from poking her in the eye.
“If I made it through labor, I think I can make it the few more feet to the house with an arrow sticking out of me and a daughter leaning on me.”
“Glad you’re up to the challenge.”
“This is a perfect time to mention how much I miss my powers,” Maleficent complained.
“Agreed. I miss them too.”
“Sarcasm is not your best look, Maezy,” her mother jested.
“Neither is damsel in distress, Mother, but we both have to grin and bear things we don’t like.”
“I’m. NOT. A. Damsel. In. Distress.”
“Well, if the shoe fits…”
“Walk, Maezy. Shut up, and walk.”
Staggering for the first few steps, Maezy and her mother got into the rhythm of working together. After a few steps, fifty to be exact, both started to sweat and tire.
“Break?”
“Agreed,” Maezy sank to the ground. The darkness clouded the edges of her sight. “This is going to take forever. Maybe you should go on alone. I can see the house.”
“I’m not leaving you here. How cruel do you think I am?” Seeing Maezy’s face, she shook her head. “Stop contemplating your answer.”
Maezy shrugged and took another breath. “You can make it without me. I’ll just rest a few minutes, and then head back to father’s. It might be best. I don’t know how much closer Brandalfr has gotten to figuring out where you are.”
“It should take him a considerable amount of time. You don’t have any idea where we are right now.”
“No, I don’t. You can tell me when I return.”
They sat a few minutes in silence, listening to the other one breathe, and trying to summon the strength to stand.
“Father isn’t going to let up. You know that.”
“Yes, I know Ingvar quite well. Are you ready?”
“I think you need to leave me here and continue on yourself. I’ll head back to Brandalfr. I don’t think I have the energy to walk to the house and then transport myself there.”
“Maezy, I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’ll be fine. You need to get there and assess your wound, and I have to get back anyway. No sense in wasting time. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Do you have enough strength to go back?”
“Yes. Go on. I’ll be fine.”
“I hate leaving you here by yourself. What if you pass out again? Are you sure you’ll even make it to back there, Maezy?”
“I think so. As I said, this hasn’t ever happened, so I don’t know what to expect. What if I go into a sleep state and can’t realm walk?”
“I don’t know. I suppose you do need to get back and finish this. Have Bradalfr get you to a safe place. If you can, let me know you got out and where you both are. I’ll come get you as soon as I get cleaned up here.”
“Are you all alone here? Will there be someone to help you?” Maezy worried.
“Yes, there will be other members of our Collective. They’ll help. Hopefully, they will get these bands off, and I can come get you. I’ll need their strength and assistance. If they can’t, I’ll await your return.”
“Don’t worry, mother. I can wield a sword with the best of them, and you know I won’t go down without a fight.”
“I know,” her mother said, with a smirk. “Hopefully you’ll have an answer from the boy. Right now, you’re right, I need to get home.”
“You can go, Mother. I thought maybe this was a hideout, and no one else was here. If you’ll have help, then leave me. I’ll get going.”
Maleficent looked over the hill and beyond to where her home stood alone on a second hill, a bit higher up in the distance. Taking a deep breath, her hand massaging the flesh around the arrow, she shook her head.
“I’ll stay until I see you off. I want to know you leave here safe. Do you have enough power?”
Swallowing, Maezy looked into her mother’s face and nodded. She noticed the fine lines around Maleficent’s mouth and eyes. Biting her lip, hard, she took a deep breath.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright, Mother?”
“I will. Stop worrying about me, Maezy. Now go
. You need to get there and get out. You’ll make your way back here when it’s safe?”
Clearing her throat, eyes blinking, Maezy nodded.
“Go then,” Maleficent told her. She took time to stoop and kiss Maezy’s cheek before straightening and taking a step back.
Feeling pinpricks, her eyes filled. Her mother’s unexpected gesture made her realize she might never wake up. “May we meet again,” Maezy whispered, as she closed her eyes and focused on the library and Brandalfr.
Her mother’s voice whispered, “May the counsels guide you.”
Then, darkness.
15
“Where have you been?” Brandalfr's voice was in a fog. His body outlined in black, and the room crowded with shadows.
Maezy forced herself to focus and pull out of the sleepy state her body was trying to drag her back into. The haze began to clear a little more. The edges of her vision were still filled with it, however, as she took in the library.
“Mother was shot as we escaped. I couldn’t leave her right away.” Maezy struggled with the words. They were slurred now, forming lisps of letters.
“Maezy, what’s wrong?” The concern in his eyes made the honey more chocolate. She centered her attention on holding his gaze.
She had to tell him the truth. They needed to get out of there. “Brandalfr, I’m being pulled into the sleep state. My realm walk has gone on longer than any previous one, and I’m shutting down. I don’t know how much more help I’ll be.”
“What? You’re slurring. Did you say you’re being pulled into the sleep?”
Maezy nodded, her head going up but not down.
“Maezy, can you hear me? Maezy, you’re fading out! What do I do? What can I do?”
She knew what he was asking. It wasn’t just about helping her stay out of the sleep but about how to break the spell. She had to get the words out, but her body felt cold. It was so cold and numb. In fact, she couldn’t feel her arms and legs any longer.
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