Test of Fae

by S L Mason

  Janice’s eyebrows scrunch down, and his jaw sets as he speaks in a clipped tone. “We can leave now.”

  The round flattened space off to the side of the barn looks familiar. It’s where we landed when I first came to the Hallowed Hills. It’s a giant smooth stone, surrounded by mushrooms. Janice instructs us, “Gather all the humans and put them in the ring.” My eyes lock with Nick, and I nod my head.

  “Nick, we’re all going, but we’re not all staying,” I reassure him.

  He steps over the mushrooms onto the flat of the round, dragging with him a few of the younger boys. Jake and Tom take up position on the other side. All the kids crowd onto the ring. I take Olive’s hand and lead her into the center. Janice takes up a position not far from me.

  “Take us home, Sarah.” Jake’s words ring in my ears.

  I raise my voice to sing, but the sound won’t come out. I’d sung the US National Anthem before. It had worked, but now as the words reach my lips, they die as if they can’t exit my mouth. I cough, clear my throat, and pull air deep into my lungs to try again.

  “It won’t work this time. You can’t use that song to go back.” Janice whispers.

  My green eyes meet Janice’s violet ones. “Why not?” I feel the lump forming in my throat. I know the answer, but I don’t want to believe it.

  “You’re singing a song to go home. It’s not your home anymore. You know that, don’t you?” he whispers.

  I shake my head and bite my lip. I feel the fire burning in my eyes. “It’s not true! you’re a fucking fairy! You’re all goddamn liars. I don’t believe you.” I’m still holding Olive’s hand, and I look down at her plump round face. I want to go home too. The anguish in Janice’s eyes tells me it’ll never happen.

  “I’ll take them home. We’ll talk later.” He whispers the words low enough that only I can hear.

  “No, you won’t. I’ll take my people home, and you can’t stop me.” I have to find something to sing that will take me there, but the words never come. I can’t create the magic wake necessary to blast us from this world up to the surface. I can’t sing of home.

  It can’t be home because it isn’t anymore. If music is all about intent, it doesn’t matter what you sing, nor do you have to sing loud. You can hum or whistle. Nothing forms, and the tears tear down my face. I clench and unclench my hands.

  “Go ahead, Janice. I can’t do it.” My voice barely whispers. I don’t look up to see his face.

  He raises his voice and sings a song of places I’ve never been. My shoulders sag as his voice rises. The words are about visiting. He won’t live there. It’s an adventure, a holiday, a short trip to the seaside, a drive through a forest. Words about a short-term visit but not a long-term stay.

  Our ring lifts into the sky, and as he reaches the crescendo, we pop into the human world. I watch the wake waves wash away from us, reverberating out from our circle. We slowly lower back onto the ground.

  We arrive outside the industrial district, close to the warehouse where Zoe and the rest of the kids are hidden.

  “Jake, you and Tom take the kids.” Every word tumbles out. I want this over quickly. Nick hands Jake a scrap of paper with the address and instructions on how to get into the hidden shelter. I put Olive’s hand into Jake’s so she’ll follow. Then I sing them all awake.

  Most slump to the ground. Some shake their heads. Olive stares up at me, frightened. “Where’s Zoe?” Olive inquires.

  I squeeze my eyes shut and kneel down in front of her. She rears back. “This is Jake, he’s your friend. He’s going to take you to your sister,” I whisper the last part. I’ll never see Zoe again.

  Her eyes dart from Nick to me. “Nick, can’t you take me to Zoe?” He shakes his head.

  “No, kid. Go with Jake. He’ll take you there. He and Tom are good guys. They’ll take you right to Zoe. Then you can have some granola bars and a bottle of water.” He kisses her forehead. She pushes her lower lip out. She doesn’t recognize me. It’s probably better this way. If humans don’t know who I am, then neither do Fae.

  “So, we’re gonna take all these kids back to the little girl’s mommy or her sister or whatever. And then what?” Tom retorts.

  I cross my arms. “You protect them. Children are the future. If humanity’s gonna survive this apocalypse of fairies, you’ll have to protect them. Don’t worry. Zoe will show you what to do. She’ll show you what we’ve been doing so you can keep doing it. Tell Zoe I kept my promise.”

  Jake looks from me to Nick.

  “And you’re taking him back with you?” Jake demands.

  Nick steps in front of me. I’m getting tired of the macho man crap.

  “Yeah, I’m going back with her. You go take care of the kiddies while we go get my sister and her lover boyfriend.” Nick waves his hand dismissively.

  “Yeah, take the little boy with you. I’m sure he’ll be great at defending you, Sarah. Leave with the child and the fairy. Tom and I will take care of the kiddies on our side.”

  I see the muscle working in Nick’s jaw.

  He stares into Jake’s eyes, flaring his nostrils.

  “Jake, everybody’s got their part in this deal,” I say. “Please do yours. I have to go back. I made a promise. One way or another, I wouldn’t get to stay with you and the kids anyway. I’m poison. Look at me! I don’t even look human anymore.” I choke on the last few words. The lump in my throat is difficult to get by. Nick takes up sentinel by my side. His presence comforts me.

  I whistle a few bars from Bridge over the River Kwai, putting a twist of Home on the Range in it. The air around the group shivers and wakes with the taste of flowers. I made it contagious. Any human they come into contact with would have the same magical appearance of flowers. Fae ignore plants.

  Janice places his hand on my shoulder, and I shrug him off.

  I step back over the mushrooms onto the fairy ring. “Nick, are you coming? Or are you going to stay and have it out with Jake?”

  Nick turns his head slightly and throws a glance at me over his shoulder. He turns around and steps into the fairy ring. Janice never says a word.

  They say you can never go home again. Those words always make me sad. The idea there’d be no place you could call home for real ever again, that it’s just some kind of daydream—a fairy tale. A place of childhood, love, security, and safety. Here I am on the surface of planet Earth, but it’s no longer my home. I can never go back to it. It wouldn’t be allowed. The morning rays of the sun crest the hills in the distance. I know I have to go. If I stay this time, the sun will burn me like all Fae.

  “Janice, I’ve got this.” The mushrooms sing around me, and I hear the song clearly now. Fae calls to me. I lift my voice, and as the sound comes out, I know the truth of it. Fae is my home.

  The tears roll down my face, and my voice shakes. I raise it and sing the song of home. Our circle rises into the air. My body sways with the music. I reach my crescendo, and a loud crack cuts the air. The day-glo light of Fae surrounds me everywhere.

  CHAPTER 24

  Home is a place that only exists in your childhood memories. That long-ago dreamworld where everything is safe and rimed in a rosy hue. There are hugs and cookies there, trips to the playground, the movie theater, video games, and explorations with your favorite pet. The sweet voice of Mom reading a book or singing you a lullaby while heavy eyes carry you off into dreams. It’s a dream world children create, most of it never real to begin with.

  The older you get, the further that dream fades, the more the reality of your world encroaches, pushing back that rosy glow. Until suddenly everywhere you look are fleeting moments of peace. You find a dull darkness lingers over everything. Corners hold sinister intentions, and books are only for knowledge and power. That’s how adults see life, adult humans.

  I will never see the world as an adult human. That’s not how Fae see the world. I’m barely an adult now, and I ask myself, is it the magic doing this to me or is it something I did to myse
lf? Or is it something that’s always going to happen because it’s who I am? I don’t know. I don’t have those answers. But in the back of my mind when I dream of home it has a rosy glow and a chocolate chip cookie.

  Janice said I would have to compete. I’m already a contender. The numbers have been significantly whittled down. Of course, he doesn’t say how many contenders there are to begin with. I don’t suppose it matters. It’s fait accompli to say the fate of the world rests on my shoulders. Like some bad dystopian novel.

  I stand in Deston’s room, half listening to his instructions. “The next challenge will be determined by a Seelie prince. His name is Bonn. We have three days to prepare. You missed the last challenge, perhaps that is for the best.”

  I’d barely catch Deston’s words. I missed one, and perhaps it’s for the best. You think? What a dick. He doesn’t mention the prince’s name the one in charge of the challenge. What difference does it make to me what a prince’s name is or what court he belongs to? Not that I can figure out the court system here. But it made no sense. Seelie, UnSeelie. That’s like saying dumb and dumber. Maybe they could call the courts Gog and Magog. The names are close enough and just as moronic.

  I wish I’d paid attention when we were reading mythology and folklore in school. Fairies are supposed to be something all girls read about. All little girls love fairies, don’t they? But my mother didn’t. She hated Tinkerbell. No matter how many times I pleaded with her, she never let me get dressed-up or even watch the movies, but she was perfectly okay if I ran around talking about Pegasus and Greek mythology. I shake my head. The hypocrisy of it all makes me laugh.

  “Okay, so what kind of contest do you think Bonn has in mind? Can’t be any worse than a killer maze and save your friend or you both die, bullshit.” I dart my eyes over, only to catch a glimpse of Janice. His face reveals nothing although his demeanor speaks volumes. I watch as his hands clench and unclench.

  “This isn’t a joke.” Janice admonishes me. “The maze was extremely difficult. Few Fae would have made it through. You managed to make it out with thirty-seven people, which puts you in top running. You’re a target, Sarah, and now you need to train. Every challenge after this will be increasingly more difficult.” His eyes flash violet, and the color intensifies when they land on me.

  “Great, so are we training with swords and knives? Now that you’ve discovered humanity has projectile bullets, perhaps we could train with a few guns. That’s something I could really wrap my hand around and my head.” I’m being flip, so what?

  Janice replies, “You’re thinking like a human. Stop thinking like a human. You don’t even look human anymore. I highly doubt you are human anymore. You need to think in Fae terms. Do you think the Fae would have you do anything so pathetically sad as making you sword fight? If we just wanted to watch a sword fight, we would use our own people. At least they’re trained. No one wants to watch a battle between two untrained oafs, bumbling around and stabbing at each other until they accidentally fall down and someone mysteriously dies. If someone’s going to die in Fae from a dual, we expect to see true showmanship. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough time to train you for that. No, in Fae, everything will be something you never expected. A flower which you must change its color and make it dance and sing. Or perhaps an animal you must tame. Or perhaps you need to rebuild an entire structure from scratch. It’s anyone’s guess, but whatever your challenge is, it will be something out of the ordinary. Something a human has never dreamed of. Change your thinking.” His words sting me. Bumbling around in the dark and accidentally dying from a sword blow. Janice makes it sound as if I’m such a klutz like I’d trip and fall on my own weapon and kill myself.

  Maybe he’s right? I cross my arms and cock my hip to one side. I raise my eyebrow and snarl. “I have no finesse or grace, and clearly I’m not imaginative enough. Why do you want me in this contest?” I tap my index finger on my lower lip. “And can you please tell me more than ‘the prize is the world’? What exactly is this charade about?”

  Both Deston and Janice’s faces slam closed like a door as if I’d kicked it shut in their minds. Muscles in Janice’s neck bulge.

  “All your needling, poking, and prodding will not bring you the answers you desire,” Deston snaps. “If you wish to know what the competition is about, you must finish it and you must win. There will only be one winner, all other contenders will die. That is the Fae way, win or die. We do not take up competitions or challenges without being fully aware of what’s involved, in case you missed that part in your first challenge. Anyone who didn’t make it out of the maze with you died. All of them.” Deston’s words land like a blow to my belly.

  My mouth goes dry. That’s a lie. His answer had to be a lie. The rules said very clearly that as long as you freed whoever it was from the tree and had made it to the center of the maze, you’d live and so would your friend. His words make it sound like anyone I left behind, including Arty, is already dead. My head shakes as I step back.

  “I left Arty in the garden, and I know he’s still alive. I know you wouldn’t kill him. I followed the rules and freed him.” My jaw clenches shut.

  Janice crosses his arms and turns his back on me, focusing instead on the licking green flames in the fireplace

  “Everyone in the maze died, I believe that to be true,” Deston says. “If your friend is still alive, someone is hiding him for their own purposes. There’s only one way to find the answer. You must win.” Deston reply is curt. He nods his head at Janice and then extends his arm to the archway, signaling my dismissal.

  “Shall we train, Sarah?” Janice is always so calm, always in control. He behaves one way in front of Deston and another when we are alone.

  Me, I feel like I’m gonna burst at any moment. In my mind, I jump on Deston, stabbing him through his green eyes and taking a knife to work each orb out of his head in turn before he can stop me.

  My eyes trail over the walls. I watch as thorns grow and sharpen. Deston’s domain would defend him, violently if necessary. I don’t believe him. I think he’d lie about anything to get what he wants. He’s probably holding Arty somewhere in this castle as a hostage, waiting to be used as leverage.

  I’m happy to leave the study and the oppressive wakes of the walls. They push me to leave; it isn’t my place. The moment Janice and I enter the elevator compartment, the wake waves ease, welcoming me, and peace descends again. “Why don’t you ever say anything in there?” I demand.

  “It’s not necessary. Deston already has his plan of action. He’s already decided what he wants to do. Our job is to play along. All we need to do is continue long enough in the competition for you to win.” Janice’s arms cross. It’s the only sign of irritation I’ve ever seen from him.

  “No matter who has to die?” My belly clenches. I don’t want to kill humans.

  “You know, that’s true. They are going to die whether you participate or not. You already know the outcome of this can determine the fate of all. It determines the fate of humanity and Fae together.” Janice drones on with the same drivel.

  “Your ambiguous answers are so encouraging. Hold me back.” I throw my snarky comment at him.

  “We’ve discussed this, and I don’t wish to go over it again. I have shared as much information as I can. You gave your word that you’d participate. Now we will go into the courtyard and train.” His arms drop to his side.

  I retort under my breath, “You and Deston said you would tell me what ‘it’ is all about. I’m still waiting.”

  Janice sighs. “Know this, Sarah. As soon as I’m able, I will tell you all. Until then, trust me.” The low whisper of his voice slides over me like silk, clinging to my flesh. My skin rises with a slippery feel. The ring of truth colors his statement.

  My head itches and aches in different spots. The blades on my shoulders ache every time I raise my arms, rubbing against something. Sharp pains shoot down my spine.

  I follow Janice for my next ass kicking. J
oy.

  CHAPTER 25

  The next three days consist of bumps, bruises, and pain. For every blow I land, Janice lands five. His face wrinkles in determination, constantly telling me to get back up and try harder. “You are faster and better than this.” He remarks.

  I don’t know why he thinks I’m faster or better. I like to compete. I like to win, but it’s not like I’d spent my entire life training for a fight to the death.

  What Deston said sounded like a Battle Royale. However many go in, and only one comes out. I must be the one.

  “Can’t you just put some kind of enchantment on me or my clothes or a weapon? Let me use that and it magically makes me better?” I take a swig of water and swish it around my mouth. I spit the blood out while rolling my arm in its socket to stretch out the pain.

  “You will have enchanted armor and weapons, but that’s not going to be enough. If you want to win, you have to actually be good; you have to try. You must become something more than yourself. Whoever you thought you were when we took you off the surface, you must let that idea of self. Go!” Janice orders.

  I glare up at him through my eyebrows. He’d just hit me with the side of his hand, not only knocking me down, but he plants my face firmly in the dirt. Tomorrow is the next challenge, and I still have no idea what it’s going to be. Janice makes it sound like all I need to do is defend myself. Everything we’d gone over is hand-to-hand combat, and you don’t master that in a day or two or three.