by J. C. Lucas
“Uh, Andie?” Teagan looked at me, his eyes wide, and I saw that Hunter and Killian wore similar expressions.
“What is it? Please don’t tell me there’s a monster standing behind me. I really, really don’t want you to tell me that,” I whispered.
“No, there’s no monster behind you. But, um, we can’t see you. You disappeared. Which can’t be right because we can hear you,” Killian supplied.
I scoffed. “What do you mean I disappeared? I’m standing right here!” I pointed at the ground, but none of them noticed. Looking down, I stumbled a bit when I didn’t see my shoes or my legs.
“Whoa.” This was so weird. Dread came then. What had happened?
Killian walked up to where I was standing, both of his hands straight out in front of him until one of them smacked right into my nose.
“Ouch! Watch it! That really hurt, Killian!” I backed away from him, and he looked embarrassed, his cheeks stained bright red.
“Sorry, Andie! I just figured if I couldn’t see you, you were like a ghost or something, and my hand would go right through you. I swear I didn’t mean to hit you.”
Sighing, I took off my beanie, running my hands through my hair, trying to figure out what had happened and how to fix it.
“Hey, shorty, you’re back,” Hunter stated nonchalantly like this happened every day. I looked at my hands, and sure enough, I could see them again, and my blue beanie in my fist.
“Guys. How is this possible? I think it was my beanie! I put it on, and then the next thing I know, I’m invisible. Then I just took it off, and now you can see me again!”
This was my mother’s beanie, had she somehow spelled it to work in a Fae world? It had never made me invisible before. Incredible! I could imagine all the ways that this would come in handy during our journey.
“Where did that beanie come from?” Teagan asked as he reached for it, his eyes questioning if it was okay to take it. I grudgingly handed it over, his hand gently brushing against mine as I watched him take the beanie with the utmost care. I got the feeling he could tell it meant a lot to me.
“It was my mother’s. I found it when I was young, and it’s the only thing I have of hers. I can’t believe it’s magic.” I breathed, staring at the blue yarn.
Teagan ran his hand over it, and I could tell he was concentrating, seeing something in it that I hadn’t. When he was done, he handed it back over to me. “Your mother definitely spelled this. I can feel a magical imprint on it similar to yours. She must have had a reason. It would only have activated like the spell your nan had put on you when you crossed over to Fae.” He smiled as he turned away, and I could see the thoughtful looks on Hunter and Teagan’s faces as well.
Even though she wasn’t here, she was somehow taking care of me in this small way. My heart warmed as I hugged the beanie to my chest before tucking it away in the pocket again.
“One is always watching out for who they love, even if they are no longer around...” Emric purred as he wound around my legs. I realized he was righter than he knew.
We began our travels again through the forest, knowing that we needed to put as much distance between ourselves and Freya as we could. After Charlie had his fun with them, Freya would be in a foul mood.
As we walked, the bracelet pulsed with green light, reassuring me that we were still on the right path. I relayed what had transpired since I had left them, including the white fox and how I felt like it had been Freya leading me to the cave. Charlie soon rejoined us and confirmed that he had bought us some time, but that Freya and the Fomori weren’t far behind.
After hours of walking, and when the light started to wane, we came upon a rickety shed that had been abandoned. It wasn’t big, and the door had fallen off the hinges, but at least it gave us somewhere to hunker down for the night. We were exhausted and needed to rest for the coming days. The air was cooler now that the surrounding forest had grown less dense, and the wind whistled through the branches. I swear it carried the smell of seawater.
Killian and Teagan settled in against the walls of the small shack, and Emric curled up beside them. Luna stretched out on his back after zipping in from wherever she had been. She pulled his tail up to cover her like a blanket and was soon asleep.
Teagan began a small magical fire on the floor in front of us, and I felt some relief at the warmth, while Killian brought out the last of our meager food supply. He passed small pieces of jerky around to us, and we chewed it slowly, savoring every bite. Hunter took his and walked back out to sit down beside the broken door. He obviously planned to keep watch for us tonight, and I was grateful. I trusted him to protect us while we were vulnerable.
It felt as if I hadn’t slept in weeks, and my suit and the fire were keeping me cozy and warm. Teagan’s shoulder rested beside mine as I slipped in between him and Killian, leaning my head back against the wooden walls and closing my eyes on a sigh. I felt myself drifting off, and a hand brushed the hair from my face as my head slid down onto Teagan’s shoulder. I snuggled closer as the world drifted away.
Everything burned! My body was on fire, and I could see flames as they licked at my limbs, sizzling against my skin. A huge snake lay in the fire in front of me, its serpent tongue flicking out to lash against the side of my cheek like a whip exacerbating the burning of the fire. The pain was more than I could take, and I screamed and screamed.
“Andie! It’s just a dream! Shhh... Wake up, Andie!”
The piercing screams died from my mouth, and I gasped, my eyes flying open. I was cradled in Teagan’s warm arms; no longer was the burning consuming me. Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes as I looked up into his concerned face. His hand smoothed my hair as he rocked me back and forth. Sniffling, I wiped my nose, turning my face into his chest. I was so sick of these visions. I just wanted a good night's sleep, and I wished more than anything that I had my music here with me now.
“I’m sorry for waking everyone up,” I mumbled into the front of his suit. Embarrassed and upset all at the same time. I didn’t want to burn or be in a situation where I could be burned. The memory from it was horrific. Comfort that the past visions hadn’t ended up the same in real life was all that I had to hang onto. Realistically though, I knew that it was the actions of others that helped keep them from becoming real.
“Andie, you’ve slept forever. I was even able to get a nap in after Killian woke up. Don’t worry about us. We’re okay. It’s you we’re concerned about.” Hunter loomed in the doorway, Killian by his side. Concern made his eyebrows lower as he looked at Teagan and me.
His worry warmed me considerably. Our group had grown close during our journey and I knew that they would do anything to help me. Taking a deep breath, I rested my head back on Teagan’s chest and looked at them all. Hunter’s gaze changed from concern to something else as he watched me snuggle in Teagan’s arms.
Was that jealousy?
I continued to watch Hunter until he felt my gaze on him. His eyes slid to mine, and he schooled his features into a blank look before wiping his hand across his face and shaking his head.
Teagan patted my shoulder. “Let’s get you up. We need to get moving as soon as you are ready. Charlie says they’re nearly halfway here already.”
I looked around at everyone else, watching as they began to pack up their things. As much as I’d like to procrastinate, I knew we had to hurry and find the first treasure. With Freya on our heels, if I didn’t get it soon, this entire journey would be all for nothing.
With me dead, Freya would find the treasures eventually and destroy everything and everyone we were trying to protect.
Standing up, I brushed through my tangled hair with my fingers as best I could, stretched, and dusted myself off. Reaching a hand down to Teagan, I looked into his deep gray eyes, then took in the rest of our crew. They were all ready and waiting to do whatever was needed. No matter that we faced many dangers, or that they might be hurt or worse. I was so proud of our band of misfits. All of us di
fferent, but all of us ready to do what was right and what was scary to find this first treasure.
I smiled at them, hoping they saw in my face how much I appreciated each and every one of them. I couldn’t do this alone—I knew that now.
“Let’s do this!”
Chapter Fifteen
The sun peeked over the horizon, and the sky above was clear, a faint breeze ruffled through the leaves as we got started. Breathing in deeply, the crisp morning air filled my lungs, and I felt a strange calm even with the uncertainty of what today or tomorrow would bring.
Charlie soared above, keeping an eye out for anything ahead or behind us, which reassured me as we started today's journey. No longer on any sort of path, we trudged through the trees and tropical flowers. Their fragrance wafted through the air, sweet and heavy. Our whole team seemed to be in a lighter mood today, even the usually surly Hunter.
Teagan led us, making sure to push away any branches in our way, and Emric pounced behind me. I looked back to see him playing with some sort of seed pod that was the shape of a ball. His mouth curved in a hilarious grin. Hunter walked behind him, stutter-stepping a few times to keep from running into the silly Phooka. He rolled his eyes, but they danced with mirth as he grinned back at me.
Turning back to the rest of the group, Killian was skipping behind Teagan while Luna flew circles around his head. She was singing a strange, melodic song as she twirled her hands above her head, wings daintily fluttering behind her.
Part of me knew something strange was happening, but I laughed it off, chalking it up to a good morning and that everyone was happy.
Emric joined in with Luna, adding a funny accent to the song. Was that Irish?
I giggled behind my hand and felt a little extra bounce to my step as we continued. Purple flowers become abundant in the next few minutes of our walk, obscuring all of the green plants we had seen before. They weren’t large, but the stalks had to be at least five feet tall, with bell-shaped flowers growing up the entire length of each stem. The purple petals drooped down like bells.
That’s it! Bluebells!
Their scent became heady as we looked around in fascination. Emric and Luna’s song picked up intensity, and our feet began tapping and moving a little faster.
Killian laughed, running from his spot ahead of me, his arm outstretched, hitting all the flowers as he ran by, scattering pollen into the air above us. It floated in slow motion through the air, the yellow puffs triggering a memory in my mind. I felt the wide grin on my face falling.
Something wasn’t right here.
Looking back, I saw Hunter running next to Killian, both swatting at the flowers and sending more plumes into the air, a maniacal look glittered in both of their eyes.
Coldness gripped me as I stared at them. Emric and Teagan rolled around in the dust, laughing and playing. Luna had wandered off, but I could still hear her singing from somewhere nearby.
I had to do something! Either the pollen was doing this, or someone had set a trap to keep us from our mission. Tiptoeing over to Hunter, I shook him as hard as I could. He just swept me up in his arms and started dancing around. What the heck? I began to feel a tug of mirth in my chest again but tamped it down. I had to use all my will power and grit my teeth to resist the strong pull of it.
Ugh. This would be so much fun if we didn’t have a group of people on their way to kill us!
I hated doing this, but I slapped Hunter across the face as hard as I could. Red bloomed on his cheek, and he faltered. I could see his eyes clearing, the realization of what was going on swept across his face, but his body didn’t stop dancing.
Think! Think! I had to do something different!
The pollen now coated us, and everything around us was a bright fuzzy yellow. The only thing I could think to do was to try my Fae magic and hope it worked. It wouldn’t be good if it backfired. I hadn’t tried using it very much; I was still very much a newbie. Oh well! Here goes nothing! I thought of the words to use in my rhyme and crossed my fingers and toes.
Pollen flying, and pollen bright,
Keep the pollen from taking flight.
Happy, dancing, out of control,
Return my friends to their normal souls.
Stop this madness, right away!
Put it back from which it came!
I focused all my energy on the words I was saying, pushing it out through my palms. Power rippled through the air, hitting each of my friends with a jolt, causing them all to fall to the ground. I caught myself when I slipped out of Hunter’s arms as he went down. I reached to cradle his head to protect it from hitting the ground.
To the left, Luna slipped out of one of the bluebells like a wet noodle, landing on the ground with a soft thump. I winced, hoping that she wasn’t hurt.
No one moved at all, and I panicked. Their eyes were closed, and I couldn’t tell if they were breathing. Bending down to Hunter, I put my hand in front of his nose to feel if there was any air coming out. His eyes snapped open as I did, and the yellow glow of his wolf eyes glinted back at me.
I leaned back fast with my hands in the air. “Whoa!”
He blinked a few times, and his eyes returned to their normal shade of warm coffee brown; however, they were clouded with confusion. In the background, I could hear the rest of our group groaning and getting up around us.
“Andie? What happened?” Hunter asked as he sat up.
“Honestly? I have no idea. We were walking, and then suddenly, we all, myself included, started acting weird. We were singing and dancing, totally out of control. I tried to snap you out of it, and well, it didn’t work out so well. Sorry about your cheek, by the way.” I sucked in a breath at the perfect outline of my hand that still showed an angry red.
“I, um, wasn’t sure how hard I needed to hit you to snap you out of it. It seemed like it helped at first, but then whatever it was took over again. You kinda picked me up and danced around with me. I couldn’t get away, so the only other thing I could think of to do was a spell. Thankfully it worked!”
Emric pawed the pollen near him and blew out a deep breath, scattering the rest of the yellow fuzz away from him.
“It was sprites. Wood sprites, to be exact. They enjoy playing tricks when one enters their territory. Bluebells aren’t poisonous, but the sprites have spelled the pollen, and I’m quite sure they have probably enjoyed a grand ole show, they did!” He harrumphed before yelling into the mass of flowers, “You hear me, you wee buggers? If I had more time, I’d come in there and eat you all!”
I raised my eyebrows at Teagan, only to have him shrug his shoulders and nod grimly at me. I knew Emric could be dangerous, but I didn’t want to imagine him eating small creatures that might be harmless other than their pranks. I wouldn’t want to be on the other end of his anger.
We tried to dust the sticky pollen from our clothes and hair, but it was next to impossible. It clung to every inch of us like super glue. We would just have to try and find a stream or some other body of water to wash off in soon.
Charlie chose that moment to soar above us in his black raven form, screeching repeatedly as he descended before landing lightly on my shoulder. Emric jumped up from his spot on the ground, and his body immediately changed to panther form. It happened so fast that it made my head spin.
“Freya and her army are almost on us,” he ground out.
Everyone jumped into motion. Grabbing our packs, we darted out of the flowers, running faster than ever. Our lives depended on it. Luna and Charlie flew ahead since we now knew what was behind us. I was frightened, but I was determined to either lose Freya and the Fomori or outrun them.
As we ran, there were rustling noises in the flowers that surrounded us. Startled, I saw hundreds of small stick-like figures hopping from flower to flower beside us as we ran. Twigs stuck up from the top of their heads, their version of hair, I guess. Little human-like faces stared back at us, and they all chanted in unison, their eyes glowing purple.
“Tea
gan, do something!” I yelled up to him. “I don’t know what they’re saying but it sounds like a spell. I don’t have the patience to break another one right now!”
I panted with the exertion as I leapt over a large rock, and Emric lashed out at some of the sprites closest to him, scattering them back into the flowers. Teagan called back to me from the front of the group. “Okay, but I’m going to need some of your power to help me, Andie. You need to focus on pushing it to me when you hear me begin saying the spell.
“Got it!” I yelled back.
Looking behind me, I saw Hunter reach out to grab a particularly annoying sprite that was keeping pace with him, sticking its little wooden tongue out at him and laughing. Every time Hunter reached for it, the creature would dance backward, somehow thwarting his attempts and making him more aggravated.
I felt the air begin to shift around us and knew that Teagan was starting the spell. I could see a faint white light surrounding him, and he shouted the spell. That was strange... I’d never seen any color around him before.
I concentrated on pulling magic to me and pushing it out toward the glowing aura that outlined Teagan. As I did, the white light grew bigger and brighter. When he finished the spell, he threw the bubble of power outward, and sparkles exploded over the sprites running beside us. I braced myself. Would they explode or something equally startling? Instead, to my amazement, all the wood sprites began to float into the air, frozen and unable to move. Thousands rose out of the bluebells, and the sparkles from the spell surrounded them. It was surreal.
“No time to gawk, shorty. We have to get going.” Hunter nudged me, and I realized I had stopped running. That was such a cool spell! I’d have to remind Teagan to teach it to me later. I only hoped that they weren’t hurt or in pain. They looked peaceful, though.