Journey into the Realm: The Stolen Child (Journey into the Realm Series) (26 page)

Glissarie set her hand over mine, which was soft and nearly weightless. She appeared dainty and fragile, but after this conversation I would never believe that. Her spirit was too strong, too full for me to take her as a simple Woodland fairy.

“I believe Vortigern underestimates you,” she said.

I smiled. “Thank you for saying that.”

A shadow appeared before me. Nathan. “Eder has suggested we sleep. He and Rafik will keep watch.”

I nodded. “Okay.” I turned to Glissarie. “Thanks again…for everything.”

Her eyes glinted in the enveloping darkness. “Remember our secret.”

“I will,” I assured her, taking Nathan’s hand as he led me back to the fire.

I was expecting Nathan to ask about the secret, but he didn’t. I was grateful. I didn’t want to have to lie to him. Lying down next to him on a bed of leaves and grass, I realized this was the first time we had spent the night in close proximity since leaving the Elf Realm, if I didn’t count the oak tree in the Flower Fairy Realm.
What a strange place to reconcile
, I thought to myself.
In the Realm Stellan was murdered.

I shivered, which made Nathan draw me closer to him. With his arm around me and the comforting sound of his breathing, I felt almost safe. Determined to have dreams rather than nightmares, I closed my eyes and listened to the crackling of the fire, remembering Aimee’s bonfire party back in Birchwood. Nathan and I had danced together beside the flames. I had felt so alive with him then. I wanted to feel that way again.

I replayed the scene over and over until I finally drifted into sleep.

***

I opened my eyes to daylight. I no longer felt Nathan’s arm draped around me. I assumed he had moved during the night until I realized he had left our sleeping place altogether. In fact, I didn’t see anyone as I rose from my makeshift bed. The fire had long since gone out, reduced to a pile of black ash and charred wood. I spun around, scanning the trees for any sign of my traveling partners. Finally, I caught a hint of movement past the trees. Afraid that I had overslept, I hurried over to see if my friends were waiting to begin the day’s trek.

Instead of finding my friends, I found Stellan.

Lying on the ground. Dead. A dagger in his heart. His once pale skin was sickly and gray. Blood soaked his clothes, the fabric wet and dark. I dropped to my knees, tears dampening my cheeks.

I took his hands. They were so cold I almost dropped them. A sob escaped my lips. “I’m so sorry,” I whimpered.

“I’m sorry, too,” a familiar voice said.

I turned to see Ellie sitting on the boulder behind me. Her shaking hands were drenched in blood. “I never wanted to be like this,” she said.

My lips trembled. My tears were endless. My body shook with pain.

“How could you?” I asked her.

In an instant, Eder had taken Ellie’s place on the rock. He too had blood-soaked hands. His face was clouded with sorrow. “It was the only way to keep you,” he murmured darkly.

Startled and confused by his words, I turned back to Stellan. Only Stellan was no longer the body lying on the ground.

It was Nathan.

I touched his cold hands and screamed. I looked into his lifeless emerald eyes, devoid of silver slashes, and screamed. I looked at the bloodied knife in his heart and screamed again.

“Your screams will never bring him back. He is gone. Now there is no one to keep you from me. You are mine forever.”

But the voice was too delicate to belong to Eder.

I turned one last time and came face to face with my mother.

***

My terrified gasp finally woke me. Immersed in panic, I felt around in the dark for Nathan. When I found him, I pulled him close, not caring if my jerky movements disturbed his sleep. His eyes blinked open. The silver slashes gleamed in the darkness. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

I buried my face in his neck and allowed myself to cry. I couldn’t speak. I was too petrified by the nightmare. Eventually, he realized this and stopped asking questions. He fell silent and held me tight. I pulled back slightly just to press my lips against his. His mouth was soft and warm, soothing my fears and quieting my frantic sobs. As my terror receded, I moved to lay my head on his chest. His strong arms wrapped around me, keeping me from falling apart.

I wasn’t able to fall asleep, but eventually my tears stopped and I found comfort in the sound of Nathan’s steadily beating heart.

“You look like you haven’t slept at all,” Tavis commented that morning. “I thought Eder and Rafik decided to keep watch.”

“They did,” I muttered. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Nathan gave my hand a light squeeze, which almost brought tears to my eyes. He was the sole reason I hadn’t completely lost it after my nightmare. I had no idea how I would have survived the rest of the night without him.

“I think I need some time by myself before we start traveling. You know, to wake up a little. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I said.

“Don’t go too far,” Eder warned.

“I won’t,” I said, unable to look at him after the unspeakable crime he had committed in my nightmare.
It was the only way to keep you….
I clasped my hands to keep them from trembling. I understood that it had only been a nightmare and not reality. Still, just thinking of Eder made my stomach turn.

As I walked away, I could feel the eyes of everyone trained on me. I knew they were concerned, but I could say nothing to reassure them. I was so far from all right that I wouldn’t be able to convince anyone otherwise. They would never believe my obvious lies.

Once I was deep enough in the jungle to feel alone, I sat down on a fallen log surrounded by numerous leafy green ferns. Burying my face in my hands, I prayed anxiously for the images of blood and death to stay far away.

At this rate, I knew I couldn’t hold myself together long enough to reach the rebellion. Like a disease, this Realm was eating away at me. Soon I would see nothing but my nightmares. My vision would be blanketed by ash and fire, reducing me to rubble. I had to think of some sort of solution to this ailment, some way to make the nightmares end. I wouldn’t find success in this state.

I heard a rustling in the trees. Worried that it was my friends checking up on me – or worse, Element fairy soldiers – I stood up from the log and readied my hands just in case.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a blurry green shape hurtled toward me and missed hitting my head by a couple of inches. Two larger brown shapes followed, their close proximity knocking me off balance and sending me falling backward over the log and into the jungle growth. I cursed loudly as I hit the ground.

An irritating wailing sound in the distance prompted me to stand. Determined to identify the source of the disturbance, I followed the noise into the trees. Pushing back hanging vines and branches, I traveled slowly in the direction of the annoying sound, which grew louder as I grew closer.

Finally, I reached what I believed to be the source of the cacophony. Two massive birds that perfectly matched Eder’s description of griffins perched on a fallen log. One was golden brown, the other so dark brown it was almost black. Both had deep amber eyes. They were massive yet elegant, kinglike. Just like lions.

The griffins were using their sharp beaks to prod at the last creature on the fallen log, the one who was making all the noise. Too different to be a griffin, I wondered what it could be as I took in its appearance.

At first glance, it sort of resembled a male dragon, but I quickly noticed too many dissimilarities for me to be sure. He was light green, like a shiny Granny Smith apple, and had slanted eyes like tiny black seeds. He was slender rather than heavily built, as most dragons were, and he had a long skinny tail that seemed even longer than his body. The creature was rather gangly and had only two legs, with long toes and talons. Dragons had four. And instead of forelegs, the green creature had two massive batlike wings with a single claw attached to each, acting almost as arms. Darker green spikes traveled from his neck to the end of his tail. Instead of the large horns atop a dragon’s head, this creature had two spikes, thinner than his others, situated on his skull. His bottom teeth curled slightly over his upper lip.

He was the most peculiar dragon I had ever seen, and he wasn’t something I would ever call beautiful, or even pretty. However, his uniqueness attracted me. He was magnificent in his own way. This creature didn’t look strong or majestic but was still impressive. I found myself relating to him a little.

Ignoring my presence, the griffins continued to peck at the small green creature, their beaks digging into his flesh, causing him to wail in terror and pain. He thrashed back and forth under the force of the two griffins, wings flapping and tail hitting the log with incredible force, leaving rough indents in the wood.

“Stop it!” I shouted at the griffins, unable to remain silent as the poor thing was tortured.

The griffins’ heads snapped up to peer in my direction. I began to slowly back away from their intimidating stares, afraid of what they might do to me for interrupting them.

I looked at the green creature. He was watching me pleadingly, his black eyes sad and his head bowed. He was panting heavily, a result of the pain and heavy thrashing. Courage surged through me.

I couldn’t just run away and leave the poor thing behind. He needed help, and I was the only one who could give it. I wouldn’t let these griffins bully the creature to death.

After I thought of an attack spell that would only scare the griffins away, not kill them, I moved my hand as though I were throwing a disc and yelled, “Take.” What little wind existed in this stagnant Realm caught the griffins and carried them deeper into the jungle. They screeched and flapped their wings but were unable to resist the strength of my spell.

Satisfied that the little green creature was safe, I smiled and felt a surge of pride for my spell-casting skills. I had defeated the first and only foes I had encountered since entering the Element Fairy Realm. Even though they were only birds, I was off to a good start.

I switched my attention to the dragonlike being still sitting on the log. I wondered if he was friendly. I wondered if he understood that I had rescued him. Too curious to simply leave, I crept forward and extended my hand outward.

Once I was within range, the creature stretched out his muzzle and clamped his jaws over my fingers.

I screamed from the pain, my head flooding with dizziness from the shock. I jerked my hand backward, but the little devil wouldn’t let go and only held on tighter. Tears rushed down my face. I could feel his teeth steadily breaking the bones of my fingers. The agony was like nothing I had ever felt.

With my free hand, I pried open his jaws, sending waves of pain cascading through my body. Once free, I clutched my mangled hand to my chest. I was a bloody mess. Cursing repeatedly, I tried not to faint.

The creature’s black eyes darted back and forth from my face to my fractured hand. His tail thrashed wildly, taking more chunks out of the log. Puffs of smoke rose from his nostrils. The sight reminded of Kalani when she was upset, so I had to smile.

I was bleeding and in an incredible amount of pain, but I still didn’t want to leave the creature alone. He intrigued me. I wanted to know more about him.

“Okay, listen here, little green thing,” I told him, keeping a safe distance away in case he tried to attack again. “I don’t know if you understand me, but I’m going to say this anyway. You lay one more tooth or claw on me, and you will regret it.”

I didn’t know whether he understood me or not, or if it was the harsh sound of my voice, but the creature stopped thrashing and decided to sit calmly on the log, his head held high. He made a low growling noise, which startled me but wasn’t enough to make me back down. I couldn’t show fear to this creature. I had to stand up for myself. But this time, instead of attempting physical contact, I crouched down so that we were at eye level. “Are you okay?” I asked in Dragon Tongue.

I thought maybe he would understand me better if I spoke in a dragon’s natural language, something a friend, Aaron, had taught me back in Birchwood City. Dragons could understand any language, including Common, which was the same as natural English. However, since this obviously wasn’t a regular dragon, maybe he couldn’t process other languages with as much ease as his own.

He cocked his head to the side, and then let out a shrill roar, causing me to clamp my hands over my ears. My right hand, still bleeding, stung as I slapped it against the side of my head to muffle the noise.
Bad idea
, I realized.

I was surprised to see the sudden concern in the creature’s eyes as I winced in pain. I couldn’t know for sure, but something told me he was sorry.

I looked down at my hand, slightly bent and bleeding. I tried curling my fingers, but this caused too much pain. I looked up at the creature. Waves of pain were coursing through my throbbing hand, but I found my voice.

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine,” I told him soothingly.

He actually gave a slight nod and then hopped off the log. Stumbling toward me, he huffed once, smoke rising in the air. I froze as he stopped directly in front of me, only a few inches away. Mere seconds passed, then the creature placed his muzzle against my cheek. It was rough, and I could feel the sharp scales pricking my skin and drawing blood, but it also felt
warm
. When he was satisfied that he had comforted me, he jumped in the air and fluttered to land atop my shoulders, his sharp claws digging into my back.

“Get off!” I cried, too hurt and impatient to ask nicely. Sighing, the creature complied and hopped down off my back. I shook my head. “What am I going to do with you?” His only reply was another puff of smoke.

I sensed that I wasn’t going to rid myself of this strange dragon’s company very easily. I didn’t want to hurt him or scare him off like I had the griffins, and I had to admit his quirks were growing on me, but I also wasn’t sure he would make the best traveling partner. This creature was obviously dangerous. My broken fingers were proof of that. Who knew when he would decide to chomp on me again?

Unable to handle the situation myself, I decided to take my chances and let him follow me. Perhaps Eder would know what he was and how to properly interact with him. Although I dreaded the thought of speaking to the earth fairy, I knew it was in my best interest to seek his advice. He knew this Realm and its inhabitants. Surely he would know what to do.

As if he could read my mind, the creature made an unexpected chirping sound and nodded his tiny head like he was agreeing with my plan. Feeling increasingly fascinated, I cradled my injured hand to my chest and headed back to camp, the creature hopping merrily beside me.