‘I see…interesting’ I said with a nodd, though like Evander I was confused about the time difference. For some reason, I had expected the two realms to share the same time line.
‘Right then, we had better go and join the others,’ I said, adding ‘why weren’t they here, gearing up when we arrived?’
‘They’ve all been helping out in a training exercise most of the afternoon with the captain of the Ledoran Guard, Jaron, an old friend of my parents’ ’ Evander replied.
‘Oh’ I said, as the four us headed out of the armoury and down a flight of steps to a door leading directly into the courtyard.
Having joined the rest of the group going into the human world, we waited for Zachary and Aiolos to arrive. When they did, there was a tall well-built elf with long silver hair I didn’t recognise with them.
‘Who’s that?’ I whispered to Evander, who standing next to me with Ardan and Finn on his other side.
‘King Gardohil, First King of Elves. He and his wife Iona, Queen of Angels, are my family’s oldest oldest ancestors and reside in and rule over the kingdom of Teralien, beyond the cloud bank. It is invisible, unless you go there with them or their messengers- you may have met them as a baby’ he replied, in the same undertone.
‘Why is he here, and when did he arrive - do you know?’
‘He is able to open portals into the human world - I mean all over - and I think he arrived while we were getting ready in the armoury.’
As he, Zachary and Aiolos stopped in front of those assembled, King Gardohil seemed to sense my eyes on him and turned in my direction, giving me a discreet wink, before turning his attention to Zachary, as he began to speak.
‘Good evening men - and lady’ Zachary began, acknowledging me with a kind and respectful smile. ‘Today is the day we enter the human world. Today…is the day we make two people pay for the terrible treatment of Fallon during the ten years she was in their care. King Gardohil – who you will know and recognise – is here to open a portal into County Wicklow, close to the one Fallon fell through, and will come with us to re-open it once we’ve done what we need to do, which hopefully won’t take too long’ he continued, and turned to King Gardohil who nodded and stepped away from everyone.
Holding his hands up in front of him, thumb-to-thumb, King Gardohil curled his fingers and closed his eyes, furrowing his brow in concentration. Not ten seconds later a small, shimmering round orb appeared; growing between his hands until it was the size of a large mirror.
‘I’ll need to enter the portal last, so I can telepathically keep it open for everyone else. Fallon, Finn, Ardan and Evander you go first, followed by you warriors and archers, and Zachary and Aiolos, and then I’ll step through and close it. Everyone got it? Great, you four, step on through’ he announced, lowering his hands and turning to everyone.
‘Where are we?’ I asked once everyone had come through the portal and King Gardohil had closed it behind him, ‘this isn’t close to where I fell through the portal.’
‘You’re right,’ he replied, ‘I thought it best not to open the portal onto that location, in case the two of them were waiting for you; so, I’ve opened it into the forest a few miles west of the one you unknowingly entered, and take them by surprise.’
I nodded, ‘right, good idea.’
And so, our party of twenty-seven, myself and King Gardohil at the front, headed through the forest in the direction of my foster parents’ house, in an arc so we’d end up walking the road leading past it from behind, so they’d get even more of a surprise when we appeared before their eyes.
No more than an hour and a half later, having left the cover of the forest twenty minutes or so after setting off, we rounded a bend in the road, and the rear of the house I had spent the past ten years living in came into view.
‘There it is, their house’ I murmured to the others as we got closer, taking care not to raise my voice any louder, in case Harriet and Gerald were nearby.
‘Here we go. Everyone be on your guard, and keep an arrow out and ready or your hand on the hilt of your sword; we don’t want to be caught off guard if they try anything’ Gardohil said (he had told me on the walk here to drop the “King”, because of what I had done for Ardan - but also because I was now, in a sense, part of his family) in the same undertone. Holding up his hand for us to wait, took a step forward to see whether Harriet and Gerald were round the back of the house.
A few seconds passed, and then Gardohil turned back to us.
‘Aiolos, Zachary, and Ardan, you take the warriors and go around the right-hand side, and Fallon, Evander, Finn and I will take the archers around the left’ he whispered.
‘Gardohil if I may, would it not be prudent to position a few archers on the roof? It would give us an advantage’ I said, hoping I wasn’t being rude.
Gardohil smiled at me, and plopped his hand gently onto my head.
‘You are a smart girl Fallon, and quite right too,’ he said. Calling four archers to his side he told them ‘take care going up, if the two of them are inside the house we don’t want them spotting you through a window.’
The four of them nodded in understanding, slinging their bows over their shoulders and across their chests.
‘Good. Let’s go - and stay low.’
Everyone nodded, and the three groups went into action.
Having reached the end of the left hand side of the house, my group dropped to our haunches and, at the front, I peaked around the corner of the wall to see whether Harriet and Gerald were on the veranda, Aiolos doing the same on the other side and indeed that’s where they were, their backs facing us and the house.
‘Back up, let me reveal myself, and wait’ I mouthed over at Aiolos. He nodded in assent, moving back out of sight.
‘I’m going to reveal myself to them first, and then I’ll call you and the other group out, okay?’ I said in a harsh whisper, after turning around to the rest of the archer group, who all nodded and stayed put as I rose a little unsteadily from the crouch and straightened up.
‘Henrietta, Gerald? I’m home’ I said loudly, stepping out from behind the wall, and making myself visible to them.
Both heads snapped round at the sound of my voice and then, Henrietta spoke.
‘Young lady, where have you been for the past three weeks?’ she asked, seeming not to notice my new clothes, her voice laced with suppressed anger- or perhaps it was fury- her arms folded over her chest to look imposing.
‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me that day, I think I had some sort of breakdown and felt like I needed some time in the forest, to get myself back. I never meant to stay in there more than a few days, but I wondered deeper and deeper into the trees, until I found myself irrefutably lost.’
‘Oh? How did you find your way back if you were so lost?’ Gerald responded, almost the second I finished speaking.
‘A travelling theatre group came across me, huddled in the hollow of an oak-tree a little over a week ago, my clothes dirty and my backpack lost, and were kind enough to offer me their help and some clean clothes; hence what I’m wearing now. Come on out, guys’ I said, voice raised, breaking eye contact with neither Henrietta nor Gerald.
Within seconds, the others had come into the open and positioned themselves on either side of the veranda; Evander, and Finn standing to my left and right.
‘You run away for almost a month, and when you finally return you bring uninvited guests with you,’ said Gerald. ‘This is, by far the naughtiest thing you’ve done since we took you in. I’d say that warrants a severe punishment, wouldn’t you, dear?’
‘Oh yes, a very severe punishment’ Harriet replied, a wicked grin playing on her lips, a smile of the same likeness spreading across her husband’s.
The two of the started down the steps of the veranda, myself, and the others- aside from the group who remained unnoticed on the roof- matching their movements and walking in an arc until we had the two of them surrounded.
‘I thi
nk you’ll find it a little difficult to carry out your punishment with this many people standing against you’ I said, all the archers training their arrows at them, the warriors drawing their swords and positioning themselves into a fighting stance.
Instead of answering, Harriet and Gerald grinned maliciously around at all of us and…began to morph before our eyes, black and silver particles spinning around them as their features changed.
In seconds, it was not two humans standing before us, but two creatures. They had the hind legs and bodies (though not the wings) of dragons and the front legs and claws of lions. Long, snake-like necks rose from between their shoulder blades leading up to large Hydra sized heads; bulbous green eyes staring down at us, their razor-sharp teeth and fangs at least a foot in length, and both were an almost black shade of purple.
Beside me Finn and Evander gasped in shock, as did the others, one word reaching my ears from many mouths.
‘Täkkei.’
A Big Ask
I turned to Evander, ‘what’s a Täkkei, and what are two of them doing in the human world?’
‘The Täkkei are creatures native to Kier Inias Uaea Beiht’Kiena able to morph into any form it chooses. We only know about them, because one found its way across our ocean and collapsed on the beach; dying from hunger and exhaustion not long later – but how two of them got through a portal into the human world I have no idea’ he replied, glancing between me and the ugly creatures as he spoke.
We were brought here by our master, when he and his followers came to take the human members of the Elandrean Portal Guard away, said a horrible deep, rattling, spine-chilling voice in front of us.
All eyes turned to the two Täkkei, who were standing completely still and staring at us, their eyes glinting evilly.
‘Hold on a moment - Arekin brought you here?’ I asked.
Oh yes. He stationed us here, to ensure that after he and his followers abducted your parents and the others, that we would keep a sharp eye on you. He also trusted us to prevent you from finding your way into Elandrea, and discovering the truth behind their disappearance.
I grinned at them.
‘I hate to break it to you - monster - but I did find my way in, by falling unknowingly through a portal in a cave not too far from the edge of the forest.’
The two Täkkei growled, and then the smaller of the two, the one that had been “Harriet” spoke.
All the more reason to kill you, little human child. I’m sure our master would reward us handsomely with all the meat we could ever eat, when we bring him your bloodied corpse.
‘Sorry to be the bearers of bad news, but your master is dead’ said Finn.
What?! No, you are lying! their deep hissing, crackling voices thundered.
‘Nope, he’s not. Sorry about that,’ I replied, ‘I couldn’t tell you who killed him though, you would be astounded and mortified that someone like that could take down your master.’
‘Then you shall die in their place!’ the “Gerald” Täkkei screeched, and they attacked.
I signalled to the team on the roof, and a few seconds later a volley of arrows rained down on the two creatures of evil- but the beasts simply opened their maws, jets of bright blue fire turning them to ash within seconds and forcing the archers to flatten themselves against the roof with their arms folded over their heads to protect their lives.
‘Everyone, stand your ground’ Gardohil advised us, as the beasts turned their ugly heads, and fixed their horrid gazes on me.
Without looking at any of the others I balled my hands into fists, filled with confidence and determination.
‘Get back behind the house. All of you!’ I shouted, so that all my companions would hear me.
‘But, Fallon, you –’ Evander started to say.
‘Don’t argue with me, Evander Kovah. Now go!’ I retorted, cutting him off without glancing at him.
‘Come on son, Fallon knows what she’s doing’ said Gardohil.
A few moments later I saw them and the archers head back towards the house out of the corner of my eye the other two groups doing the same.
Soon, it was just me and the Täkkei left out in the open, in a stand-off.
You are brave to take us on alone, said the smaller beast. But you must know how it will all end.
‘I’ll take the risk’ I replied, taking on a fighting stance.
So be it! the other Täkkei roared. Then, they charged.
I was ready though and, leaping high into the air in a diagonal, reached out my hands and pushed off the head of the Täkkei nearest me into a front flip onto its back. I then did a somersault from there onto the grassy ground behind it.
‘You’re going to have to try to harder than that’ I told them, spinning round to face them again.
They growled in frustration and moved their large bodies around.
You will not evade us a second time, weak human spawn.
‘Come at me, then!’ I shouted, grinning and jutting out my shin in defiance; standing firm as they charged again.
A split second later, they stopped less than four metres in front of me. I did not flinch or try to run, as the Täkkei opened their massive maws for a second time.
As the bright blue flames licked the air, reaching towards me soft blue-green particles began to pour from my hands, without me consciously doing anything. They flowed up in front of me; forming a transparent but solid shield, and when the fire reached me it was absorbed by the shield, which remained even after the flames had been absorbed.
The Täkkei tilted their heads to the side, appearing to be perplexed by what had just happened.
The shield’s apparent centre now began to glow brightly and a moment later, the beasts’ fire - now blue-green - was thrown back at them.
They were flung back by the force of the blast and landed several metres away; legs spread out at odd angles, with hideous burns covering their bodies, which lay unmoving on the blackened grass.
The beasts were finally dead.
‘You can come out now’ I called out, and a few moments later the others joined me in front of the house.
‘Whoa!’ Ardan exclaimed upon seeing the Täkkeis’ corpses, staring at me along with the others.
‘How did you do that?’ asked Finn in amazement.
‘I... I don’t know exactly. They breathed fire at me but - as the flames reached out to me, these blue-green particles flew up from my hands and formed a shield in front of me. It seeemed to absorb the fire, and then threw it back at them, without me consciously doing or saying anything before the particles appeared.’
‘Hmm…it seems to me like a protective-deflective shield that flows from your hands. It will appear when dangers such as fire, natural or other-wise, are near at hand,’ said Gardohil ‘that is quite a gift to have, I wonder what else it would protect you from or absorb and deflect?’
‘Only Apollo knows’ Zachary answered with a chuckle.
‘Now that the Täkkei are dead, I’d say it’s time to head home’ Evander said, everyone voicing or nodding their agreement.
‘What do we do about the bodies? We can’t leave them here, Your Highness’ said a younger archer by the name of Jholan, as Gardohil prepared to re-open the portal.
‘If my mother were here, she’d be able to use her gift of fire to cremate them,’ Evander replied, ‘but as she is not, we shall have to come up with a different solution.’
‘We can still cremate them, wait here a moment’ I said, and ran into the house to grab the large bottle of gasoline that had always been kept under the stairs, and five matchboxes.
‘One of us will need to throw the gasoline over the bodies – all of it probably, given the size of them, and then when that’s done the matches will need to be lit and thrown onto the corpses to set them ablaze. It looks like it’s been raining too, so there’s no risk of the fire spreading,’ I told them, having placed the six items on the floor.
‘I’m fine covering them with the gasoline, it’s n
ot too heavy, but it has just about enough to cover both beasts, and the matches are a simple thing.’
There nods from everyone, and five warriors came forward to pick up a box of matches each, so that they would be ready once I’d emptied the gasoline carton.
‘All right then, let’s get to work’ I said with a nod, and we went into action.
Fifteen minutes later the gasoline had been emptied over the bodies, all but one box of matches had set them ablaze, and Gardhoil had re-opened the portal.
‘We’ll go back in the same order we came here so Fallon, lead on’ he said, and then we all stepped through the portal and back into the court yard of Orfedil’s palace.
***
A few days after the defeat of the Täkkeis and our return to Elandrea, as everyone - including Finn and Ardan, though Gardohil had returned to Teralien the day after we went into the world - left the dining room after breakfast, I called out to Oraelia as she reached the double-doors.
‘Oraelia could I have a word?’
‘Of course, my dear, what is it?’ she replied, kindly.
Okay Fallon, you can do this I thought to myself, and then looked Oraelia in the eye.
‘Well, it’s…although I’ve had interactions with them, and have a close relationship with Finn having known him since I was a baby, and learnt various things about them here and there, I don’t know all that much about the elves; their history and culture, sports, medicine…everything really.
‘I want to learn all of it, but I feel like the only way I’d be able to do that is by studying under an elfin tutor. Learn at the heart of elvish society…in the kingdom of Feldar, a-and I was wondering whether, because you’re the official liaison between Ledoran, Orfedil and Feldar, and are close friends with Princess Eila, you might pass on a letter from me the next time you visit, but if you don’t think it’s worth the effort, I’ll not bring it up again’ I said, feeling my cheeks warm in slight embarrassment, worried she might laugh at me for my request.
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