I was saved from answering by the call of a large man with a shaved head who was standing on a step before us, flanked by two other strangers. Hennington House loomed above, lit from below by spotlights that stretched up its rough-hewn flanks. It kind of reminded me of the house from Downton Abbey except with a darker and more foreboding feel about it. I could imagine hundreds of servants moving through its corridors in ye olde days.
“I’m Gabriel,” the man was saying. He was wearing an FFR fleece jacket and had his huge arms crossed over his chest. He looked military and had the muscles to prove it. “I’m in charge of you for this month. It’s my job to make sure you learn all the skills you need to survive in there. I’ll be handling your physical and weapons training. I strongly suggest you pay attention because magic alone won’t be enough. On my left is Evaline, who’s a Magician of the Third Order. She’ll be here to teach you whatever magic you don’t yet know. Both human and fae will spend time with her, though the humans among you will get more allotted time for obvious reasons.”
The lean blonde woman gave a graceful wave.
“On my right is Niall, who’s Cambridge University’s foremost expert in fae and the faerie realm. He will be teaching you mortals about what you can expect in there. He was one of the first humans allowed into Faerwild when it opened, and he’s written three books on the subject. He’s also a World Champion chess player, and is going to teach you to think circles around each other so those riddles and logic games don’t kick your ass.”
I perked up at that. World Champion chess player? I loved chess. My dad and I had played every Sunday in the winter when the weather was too crappy to do anything. Maybe I could score a game with Niall.
Gabe opened his mouth to speak again when he was interrupted by an immaculately dressed tall woman, made even taller with the five-inch heels she wore.
“Hello everyone,” she purred, stepping right in front of Gabe and not waiting for an introduction.
Gabe moved to one side, his face set in a grimace. “This is Patricia. The humans amongst you might recognize her. She’s a TV host.”
“Not just any TV host, Gabriel,” Patricia admonished, then turned back to us with a wide grin. She reminded me of a cat just about to pounce. “I’m a two-time Emmy winner and the host of the FFR.” She let out a giggle that made my stomach turn. “I’ll be the one sharing your successes and your defeats with the world. Consider me your biggest cheerleader and your worst enemy. Without me, no one on the outside will know what’s happening.”
As she spoke, a cameraman sidled out from behind her and panned around the contestants. I managed an embarrassed grin as it shone on me for a brief second. I was going to have to work on my TV presence, along with everything else.
“I’ve got a list of room assignments and your schedule for the month.” Gabe jumped in, almost knocking Patricia out of the way. It was clear there was no love lost between those two. “You’ve all made it through the auditions, but what you don’t know is that the audition isn’t over. We’ll be keeping an eye on you this coming month, and if we think you can’t cut it, you won’t be going into Faerwild. At the end of the month, you’ll team up. How well you do in the next thirty days will determine who gets to pick first. Human’s choice. There will be one faerie and one human per team. There will be three trials with three legs of each trial. Between each trial, you'll be awarded a day or two's respite back here before going on to the next trial. The first trial is the Sorcery Trial. That means your magic will be tested right from the start, so you don't want to be skipping your time with Evaline.”
My mouth went dry at the thought of being my magic (or lack thereof) being tested.
I looked around at the humans who would be my competition, at the fae who could be my partners. My eyes slid over to Orin, whose arms were crossed tightly over his broad chest, his face unreadable. I shivered. I needed to get to know these competitors, so I could be at the top of the heap when this month ended. So I could take my pick. My eyes met Tristam’s, and he grinned. I looked away, my heart leaping in my chest.
“How come the humans get to pick?” One of the fae females asked. I craned my neck to make out the girl who’d been speaking. She had a shock of curly red hair and faint purple tattoos on her face. What kind of faerie was she?
Gabe replied. “You faeries have an automatic edge in this competition. It’ll take place on your home turf. The Faerie King and the show producers agreed that letting the humans pick would help even the playing field to some small degree.”
The answer seemed to satisfy the girl.
“Mark my words,” Gabe said. “The auditions you just completed are going to feel like a walk in the park compared to this month. But if you push yourself, you’ll be ready to face whatever comes when you go over the Hedge. What you learn this month could be the difference. Not just between winning and losing but also between living and dying.”
7
Inside, the hall was just as magnificent as the outside, and if it weren’t for my utter fatigue, I might have taken the chance to take a look around. As it was, when I was shown to my bedroom on the third floor, I fell onto the four-post bed, kicked off my shoes, and slept like a baby.
The wake-up bell for training rang at six a.m. Apparently, the producers wanted to make sure that if the faerie monsters didn’t get us, sleep deprivation would. I dragged myself out of my fluffy bed and pulled on a set of FFR clothes that had been left out in my room. Black leggings, white tank top, and a zip-up athletic jacket in the blue and silver of the FFR logo. Apparently, they wanted us all to look the part. But the clothes fit and were comfy, so I didn’t complain. My job for the next month was to learn as much as I could and stay out of the way of the other competitors—except when I was kicking their asses on whatever course or test Gabe had concocted for us, of course.
I jogged down the creaky stairs of the house in the direction I hoped would lead me to breakfast. I didn’t remember much of the house from last night, I’d been totally exhausted. Looking at it now, it struck me as big, and old, and English, although I’d been schooled not to call anything in Wales “English” by one of the humans on the plane. Wood-paneled walls were hung with faded tapestries while the soaring ceilings were inlaid with gold gilt. The rooms were crowded with ornate furniture that looked too delicate to be used for actual sitting. It wasn’t my style, that’s for sure, but I couldn’t deny the austere decor was beautiful.
I followed the sounds of clinking silverware into a large dining room filled with round tables. The people in the room seemed to take a breath as I darkened the doorway; the other competitors’ penetrating gazes swiveled to land on me. I swallowed, ducking my head and heading towards the front where an array of food was set out. Maybe I wasn’t so hungry after all. I grabbed a bagel and slathered on some cream cheese before pouring myself a coffee and slipping back out the door.
Training started at seven a.m. Sharp. Despite Gabe’s drill sergeant demeanor, I liked him. He seemed to genuinely want to help us. He kind of reminded me of my dad—who had been just as happy showing me how to fillet a trout as do my homework. My heart twisted in my chest. A few of those twelve missed calls yesterday had been from home. When I had a down moment, I needed to call my parents and let them know what was going on.
We lined up to get our instructions for the day, and it was my first chance to scope the competition. The humans, I needed to evaluate—to see how I could beat them. The fae, I needed to evaluate to determine who I wanted to be my partner. And how I could beat them. Because only one would end up on my team.
We were a motley bunch. Four human girls—me, Genevieve, a buxom brunette who kept casting barely-veiled glances at Tristam, and a little goth girl with dark eyeliner and bubble-gum pink hair. Two guys—a ripped African-American guy with buzzed hair who looked like a Navy SEAL, and a bearded guy covered in tattoos, who looked like he’d come straight from serving craft cocktails at a hipster bar in Portland. I liked my odds against the lot o
f them, though the military guy probably had me beat in strength.
And then there were the fae. They were a strange-looking crew. Tristam, who was the closest to “normal” of the lot of them, the red-haired faerie who had spoken last night whose tattoos I was sure had changed, and asshole partner-abandoning Orin, who looked slightly less threatening out of his all black leather attire, but not much.
The other three exuded strangeness and danger in turns. A willowy, tall male with long white hair and pale skin, another devastatingly handsome faerie with black hair and a look that said he knew what hot shit he was, and a small delicate girl with purple hair streaked with sparkles. And unlike the goth girl’s pink locks, I had a sneaking suspicion this faerie’s look was natural. I really needed to hit the books in faerie class to figure out what the hell I was up against.
Our days were split into four blocks. Physical conditioning with Gabe, weapons training, magic, and study hall. Only the first three were mandatory, the last one was a free period where we could work on what we felt we needed or see Niall to brush up on our Faerie anthropology. I had a feeling I’d be seeing a lot of him. To say my knowledge of Faerwild was inadequate was an understatement, to say the least. I’d learned all I could about it since Cass disappeared, but there was a woeful lack of information about the place. I’d never seen Niall’s books. I made a note to find them as soon as I could. Perhaps he had some spare copies.
I thought I’d rather enjoy the training, if not for the other competitors staring at me. And the magic portion, which I wanted nothing to do with. Oh, and the cameras that were everywhere. On second thought, this month was going to suck.
Our first order of business was a jog around the green lawns of the house grounds to get warmed up. I cruised up to the starting line, stretching my legs. I could use a run after being captive in an airplane for half a day.
Tristam sidled up to the line next to me, that Cheshire Cat smile on his face.
I offered a weak smile in return, wishing my knees didn’t feel so much like jello when he was around. It wasn’t fair, how disarming these faeries were. I needed to keep my eyes on the prize. And remember Cass. Cass. Cass. It would be my mantra this month. She’d be my motivator.
The lawns of the house were flat with flowerbeds decorating the edges before a large red-bricked wall shielded us from the outside world. Beyond that, a dark landscape of low mountains peeked over the top, shadowed by foreboding clouds that threatened to drench us at any point. It was not the mountains I concentrated on now as we all lined up. Even though this was only a warm-up, a nice quick jog around the gardens, I still wanted to prove myself. This was the one part of the training where I knew I could kick ass. I readied myself as the others lined up next to me.
“Go!” Gabe yelled, and the competitors dashed off the starting line.
And it was then that I got my first glimpse of what deep shit I was in.
The purple-haired faerie straight up turned into a white horse—with wings—and galloped out front of all of us. If seeing that didn’t give a person pause, I don’t know what would. The sexy model-looking faerie sprouted wings from the back of his tank top and flapped into the air while the tall, pale male disappeared ahead so fast I could hardly believe it was real. And then there were the magic users. Orin, Goth-Girl, and Tattoo Guy all did some sort of spell that worked better than a magic mushroom in Mario Kart. In an instant, they were gone. The rest of us mere mortals seemed content to run like normal people, but Navy SEAL and the brunette girl were both off and running like they were competing for Olympic Gold in the 400 meter. I tried to exchange a “can-you-believe-this” look of camaraderie with Genevieve, but she was having none of it, running on ahead like a gazelle. I sighed and dug in, doubling my pace.
Day One. And we were already playing for keeps.
It pretty much got worse from there. The first two blocks of training with Gabe were brutal but manageable. The competitors still seemed determined to impress the judges and cameras with how all-around awesome they were, but it’s hard to keep that level of intensity up for twenty-four hours a day. I held my own in weapons training, hand-to-hand combat, archery, and shooting. I killed it in horseback riding, thanks to being raised on a ranch. Magic, not so much.
The first day Evaline took me aside, her smooth, ageless forehead scrunched in worry. “You didn’t do any magic in the auditions. What magic do you know?”
I gave her an apologetic grin and hoped it wasn’t a deal breaker. “None?”
She hissed through her teeth and nodded her head. “I feared as much. It is no joke over the Hedge. Everything is magic, from the leaves on the trees to the very water you drink. And everything is trying to kill you. There’s no way you’ll survive in there if you don’t know basic protective enchantments. The first trial isn't called the Sorcery Trial for nothing.”
My smile faltered. I was worried about winning. But I hadn’t thought about the possibility that someone might die in there. “The producers wouldn’t let that…” I trailed off. They’d let me carry an unconscious, bleeding girl around an obstacle course because it made for good television. John had explained to me on the way to the jet that they could have sent a medical team in, but they thought letting me try to save her would improve the ratings. Then I thought of the five-page liability waiver he’d made me sign before getting on the airplane. Maybe I should have read that a bit more closely.
I looked at Evaline. I knew all I needed to know. Magic was dangerous. Magic had stolen Cass from me. But that wouldn’t be enough to save me over the Hedge. As much as I didn’t want anything to do with magic, if it would keep me alive, let alone give me a fighting chance in the race, I needed to know it. “Teach me,” I said.
So she did. “Human magic utilizes five elements—earth, air, water, fire, and aether, which is derived from the stars. It comes from our human soul connection to the cosmos. Faeries don’t have souls, not in the same way humans do. They are creatures of the earth, and they use a fifth element called quora. It’s much more powerful than aether, and it infuses Faerwild, which is why there’s magic everywhere there, even in the plants and animals. Humans can’t use quora unless we are utilizing a faerie-enchanted artifact.”
“Okay,” I said, my stomach flipping. “So how do I make magic from these elements?” I forced out.
“There are many different magical traditions throughout human history. But for your purposes, you need something simple and dependable. And that means spells.” She handed me a little leather-bound book. It was inlaid in silver etchings of flowers and vines. It felt heavy and warm in my hand. “This is a grimoire. I want you to try the first spell in the book tonight. Then come back, and we’ll discuss it tomorrow.”
I nodded my head, feeling slightly sick at the thought of it. I hated magic with a passion, and here I was agreeing to do it. If there was any way I could have done this without it, I would have tried, but I was up against some seriously magical competitors, and I had to survive.
Despite my revulsion to the magical world, I tried the first spell that night—a spell to light a candle. I gathered my bowl of water, my bit of dirt, my candle, and my breath. Feeling foolish, I said the ridiculous words. I must have pronounced them a dozen different ways. But the wick stayed dark. Nothing happened.
I wanted more than anything to be able to light up the room, but in my heart, I knew it was my deep distrust of magic that was holding me back. A desire to win was being driven down by years of avoidance and hatred. It wasn’t the magic as such that was my problem; it was my attitude toward it. It was a problem I’d have to work on more than any other part of my training, because without magic, I might as well take the first flight back to LA.
Giving up and throwing the book to one side, I headed out of my room to find Niall. He’d pinned a sign-up sheet to a notice board in the dining room at breakfast, but by dinnertime, there were still no takers. I guess as it was not mandatory, people had decided not to see him, but I needed his knowledge. I
was positive Cass was in Faerwild, and if I was ever to find her, I needed to know all that I could.
I found him, his face buried in a book, by a fireplace in a small study. Despite the number of cozy chairs, he was the only one there. When I entered, he looked up and smiled.
“I was beginning to think that my presence here was pointless.” He placed his book on a nearby table and beckoned me over. He poured a measure of whiskey into a glass which he held out for me to take. “I don’t really condone drinking during competitions, but a wee nip won’t harm you.” I was surprised until I realized with a little thrill that I was over the legal drinking age in Wales. Nice.
I immediately felt at ease in his company. Taking his offering, I settled into the chair opposite.
“So, what can I help you with? The kind of traps you may find? The obstacles you’ll have to overcome? I’ve not been told exactly what will be in there, but I can give you a broad view of what to expect.” His voice was slightly slurred as though the whiskey he was drinking wasn’t his first.
“Actually,” I began, taking a sip of the amber fluid. “I’d like to learn about Faerwild. What’s it like over there?”
“The faerie realm is like no place on earth, but you are asking the wrong question. The Faerwild I know is not the place you’ll see. You and the other contestants will be within a giant playing field, so to speak. This portion of Faerwild has been adapted for the race, and is designed to take you to your limit and test you in ways you couldn’t possibly imagine.”
I nodded. “I want to know about the cities, the towns, all of it.”
“Knowing about the cities won’t help you, at least not to begin with. You won’t even see one until the end of the Sorcery Trial. That much I’m allowed to divulge.” He pointed to his nose and nodded his head. “There’s not much I’m allowed to tell you, but you can know that.”
The Sorcery Trial Page 5