Blood of Retribution (8 page)

“That hurt!” he bellows.

“Oh, please.  It was a little shock.  I felt it too and I think we’ll both survive it without scarring.”  It was the equivalent of a static zap and it only lasted a second.

“Will you put me down now?” Taz asks, still dangling in the air; his short little legs flailing.

“Sure.”  I reach out to him and push him down.  He floats right back up as soon as I draw my hand back.  I try again.  Same thing.  As soon as I let go, he floats back up.  “Um, let me try magic.”

Pulling magic from beneath, I send it out to Taz.  When it hits him, he sails about twenty feet away from me until he hits a tree.  Face first.  Ouch.  That had to hurt.  I try again.  This time, I use my magic to pull him towards me.  Unfortunately, it’s like his body has become weightless, and he comes zooming at me so fast, I have to duck.  He hits another tree.  It’s kind of like I’m playing pinball and he’s the ball.  An angry, screeching ball that will soon have a flat face if I keep this up. 

Okay, I have to be a bit gentler with my magic.  As carefully as I can, I reach out to him again.  This time when my magic hits him, he only floats a couple of feet away.  He doesn’t float downwards at all, though.  I guess magic isn’t the answer here.

Walking over to him, I put my hand on his back away from his snarling mouth and gnashing teeth and push down.  I can get him almost to the ground but not all the way.  I push with two hands and use all my strength.  Nope, his legs that are flailing around so much they could be used as an outboard motor on a boat are still dangling six inches from the ground.  Too bad Eliana’s not here, with her strength she could probably do it.

“What is going on?  Put me down!” Taz screams in that irritatingly high pitch he gets when he’s upset.

I scowl at him.  “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

“I think you are trying to kill me slowly and painfully.  First you fill me with dark magic and now you are going to float me away, doomed to starvation since I cannot scavenge for food from up here!”

“Quit being so dramatic.  Just give me a minute to figure this out.”  Where had the spell gone wrong?  Usually when spells pop into my head, they do the right thing.  Not today obviously.

“Oy, I don’t feel well,” Taz says.

He doesn’t look well.  If I could see his skin under all that black fur I bet it would be green.  He’s foaming at the mouth and his eyes are kind of cross-eyed.  He starts a hacking cough like a cat with a hair ball and I back up a couple feet, not wanting him to throw up on me.  “Are you going to be sick?” I ask.

He doesn’t even bother to look at me.  His cough intensifies to a crescendo and then a horrid smelling black smoke comes out of his mouth.  A lot of it.  I take a couple more steps back, not wanting to get the smell or the smoke on me.  I’m assuming that’s the smoke is the darkness I gave him.

After a final hack, Taz falls to the ground with a thud.  He’s so exhausted from his coughing fit, he doesn’t even complain about the three foot drop to the ground.  He just lays there panting.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

His eyes roll in my direction.  “You…” he rasps, “are a horrible Witch.”

I’m not sure how to take that.  Does he mean that I’m a Witch with the w replaced with a b, or does he mean my Witch magic sucks?  Eh, I don’t really care.  I’d probably think I was horrible too if I was in his place.  I watch his chest heave for a minute and a curious feeling washes over me.  A need to comfort him seeps into me even though I still think he’s a pain in the ass.  I bend down and pick him up.

“I am not a pansy,” he mutters.  “I do not need to be carried.”  Despite his words, he burrows himself into my arms and closes his eyes.  Yeah, he’s a little tough guy alright.

“Come on, Taz,” I say softly, “let’s go home.”  Before we go, I watch the black smoke float downward and disappear into the earth, rendered harmless once again.  With a blink, I teleport us back to the house.

Chapter 10

I pop into our bedroom and I’m startled to find Kallen on the bed.  “Hey,” I say, laying Taz on one of the chairs on the other side of the room.  He curls up into a ball and his eyes close.  He’s asleep immediately.  “How’s Alita?”

“Fine, no thanks to you,” comes a snarky voice from the bed.

I turn around to find my husband propped up on the pillows with his hands behind his head, malevolent mask on his face.  Uh oh.  “Um, are you okay?”

Kallen’s eyes narrow.  “Just fine.”

“You don’t seem fine,” I say, moving closer to the bed.

“Don’t,” he says coldly.

I stop moving.  “Don’t what?”

“Don’t come near me.  I do not want you to contaminate me with whatever it is you have inside of you this time.”

Okay, that hurt my feelings.  But this isn’t Kallen.  Well, it is, but it must be Kallen hyped up on darkness.  I hope.  I start to edge closer again.  If I can get close enough to touch him, I can fix this.

Kallen sits up and with a nasty expression on his face that rivals those he gave me when we first met, he growls, “I said, do not come near me.”  He gets off the bed with a sense of purpose that scares me.  He really doesn’t want me near him.  “My life has been nothing but worry and pain since I met you.  I am done with it.”

My mouth drops open and my heart skips several beats.  “Kallen…”

“Stop, I do not want to hear your excuses.  Nor do I want you.”  With that, he dissolves into his raven form and with a last look of his now beady little eyes, he flies away.

“Nice husband you got there.  You sure know how to pick ‘em,” a tired voice says from the chair behind me.

“Shut up,” I say quietly, still staring at the doorway to the balcony that Kallen used for his escape.  Tears are starting to fall on my cheeks like cheese from a grater.

In a softer voice, Taz says, “Eh, he’ll be back.”  After a pause, he says, “Probably.”

I spin around and glare at him.  “You are not helping.”

His little shoulders shrug.  “Just trying to keep it real.”

“How about if you just keep it silent,” I snap through my hurt and frustration.

“Geez, last time I try to make you feel better,” he grumbles.

“Good.”  I have to get out of here.  I would go after Kallen, but I know I’d never be able to find him.  So where can I go?  I have no idea.  Sadly, I don’t know this realm well enough to know where to go.  Regardless, I have to get out of this house.  “I’m going for a walk,” I tell Taz, expecting him to stay put.

He surprises me by getting off the chair and ambling my way.  “Wait up,” he says.

“You don’t have to come with me,” I say, not wanting him to come.  I’m pretty sure that was in my voice.  But, he keeps walking, my disinterest in his presence is not fazing him at all. 

Taz follows me down the stairs and outside.  I’m so happy I don’t see anyone on my way out.  I’m still on the verge of crying and I definitely don’t want to tell anyone why.  I don’t think I could even get the words out without bawling my eyes out.  I know it was the darkness that made Kallen say such cruel things, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.

Instead of walking along the beach, I follow the road through the woods.  I know that if I take a right at the fork in the road about half a mile up, it’ll lead me to the palace.  Definitely not going there.  For the first time, I’m going left.

After walking for about thirty minutes, I find myself on the outskirts of a village.  It’s magnificent, with horseless carriages (not cars, literally horseless carriages hovering over the ground) meandering through bright colored buildings, both short and tall.  The roads aren’t paved, but I guess they don’t need to be since they’re not really driven upon.  The traffic flows smoothly and the carriages always yield to pedestrians.  The carriages are all different sizes and colors.  The ones belonging to the wealthy are easy to pick out with their ornate decoration and open windows that give glimpses of the luxury within.  There are smaller carriages that look to fit only one or two people and are simple in design. 

Most of the traffic though is pedestrians.  I have entered a sea, no, more like a lake, of black hair and green eyes.  The remarkable thing is even with those similarities, Fairies are still able to easily distinguish themselves by their choice of styles and colors for their clothing and the cut of their hair.  Every body shape is represented from the very small to the very large.  Regardless of their size, most of the Fairies are gorgeous.  I get a pang in my heart as I think of the words my gorgeous Fairy last spoke to me. 

As I walk, I pass by shops selling things like cookware and hardware.  I pass by restaurants with patios full of Fairies enjoying good food and conversation.  I try to ignore the fact that most of the discussions are getting heated.  I pass by offices where Fairies are doing who knows what.  I don’t see any clothing stores, probably because Fairies use magic to dress themselves. 

What really amazes me is how clean everything is.  Though this small village is bustling, there’s no exhaust fumes, graffiti or litter that I would have found in downtown Denver.  The Fairies are cordial to each other, still saying hello as they pass by and they’re respectful of their surroundings, regardless of the darkness trying to consume them. 

At least, most of them are cordial.  I’m picking up some definite hostility coming from several areas on the street.  Some voices are starting to rise and words are being used that are making mothers and fathers cover their children’s ears.  Great, more darkness.  Isla told me that it was affecting the whole realm, but that was just an abstract concept when she said it.  Now, it’s a reality.  A reality that I have to do something about.

I make my way towards two males who are about to come to blows, and keep my head down.  No sense in making things worse by being easily recognized – either as the unloved Princess or the one who released the darkness upon them.  I almost pull it off.  Almost.  A hand that I swear is made out of tissue paper reaches out to me when I am just feet away from the Fairies who are clenching their fists, waiting for the other to throw the first punch.

“This is your fault,” a raspy voice says.  I recognize that voice.  It’s the scribe.  What is he doing here?  I thought he never left the archives of the palace.  The little Fairy’s voice rises remarkably high for someone who sounds like there is a gravel pit in his throat when he says, “You have unleashed this evil upon the realm, seeking vengeance for your shameful birth and hatred of our kind!  The beast at your feet is more proof of your dark soul.  Go back to your own realm before you kill us all!”

Fairies within hearing distance stop in their tracks.  Piercing green eyes are boring into me from all directions.  A feeble, “I didn’t mean to,” falls from my lips.  Clearing my throat, I say with more confidence.  “I’m here to fix the problem, not make it worse.” 

“There would not be a problem if you had not created one,” a voice in the gathering crowd growls.  I look around at the faces that are twisting into sneers and anger, but I can’t tell who said it.  I guess it doesn’t matter.  It’s true and everyone here knows that.

“She has a Tasmanian devil!” a child’s voice says.  I turn to see a small boy pointing at Taz.

Taz bares his teeth and the entire crowd takes a step back.  Apparently, Taz is scarier than I am.  Maybe I can get him to teach me how to look tougher.  Providing someone in the crowd doesn’t kill him with an umbrella or something.  I see a few people checking their bags to see what could be used to fend him off.  One woman takes out a hairbrush.  Yeah, that’ll do it.  Though, he really could use a good brushing.  His fur is kind of matted and snarled now after his hair-standing-on-end show in the forest and then crawling into the brush.  I’ll have to get a special brush for him because he is certainly not going to use mine.

As I’m pondering the hair care of Tasmanian devils, I suddenly realize that isn’t really the priority right now.  The Fairies have become more hostile by the minute, and many are now clutching random objects.  Some are poised to strike at me instead of Taz.  I don’t think he’s going to be the one getting a knock on the head with a hairbrush.  It’s going to be me.

Preparing to defend myself, I pull magic which just pisses people off more.  Geez, I think it’s a pretty reasonable thing to do in this situation.  What did they expect?  Did they think I would stand here meekly and let them rip me apart?

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of black.  Turning my head, I watch a raven land on the door of the closest building.  It’s a flower shop with beautiful bouquets sitting out, ready to be purchased.  Above the flowers sits my husband, just watching.  He’s not coming to my aid or defending my honor.  My heart sinks as I look at him, knowing that he won’t come and stand by my side.  He’s going to sit there and let me alienate the Fairies of this realm even more by using my magic against them to defend myself.  Darkness overpowering them or not, I’m pretty sure that’s something they’ll remember even after I’ve rid the realm of the evil.

I can’t help the tears that flood into my eyes as I watch Kallen, just sitting there.  His little bird head is cocked to the side and his wings are firmly at his side.  I feel a stabbing pain in my chest over my heart.

It takes me a second to realize that pain is being caused by a finger digging into my chest by a Fairy that wants my attention.  I look up with tears streaming down my face to see a Fairy who has to be at least six feet eight inches tall.  From what I can tell from way down here, I’m convinced he wants to murder me.  “Get out of this realm or I will organize a Witch hunt.  Either way, you will be gone.”

Huh, I never thought about that.  A Witch hunt.  Looking around at the angry mob, I think they may just burn me at the stake.  What is this, the sixteen hundreds?  Distracted by my own thoughts, there’s a heartbeat where I’m not paying attention to the large Fairy in front of me and he takes advantage of that.  He pushes me to the ground like he’s a schoolyard bully.  I land hard on my butt on the dirt road.

Now I’m mad.  I don’t care what I’ve done, I am not going to tolerate this.  I pull magic, ready to attack, when the man is pulled backwards, spun around, and punched squarely in the face.  By Kallen.

“You will never again lay a hand on my wife,” he growls, looming over the man and half hoping that the guy will fight back so he can hit him again.  There’s a lot of aggression in Kallen at the moment and he wants to use it.

An interesting thought hits me as I pick myself up off the ground.  The big Fairy touched me.  That should have taken the darkness out of him and poured it into me.  Unless he wasn’t being affected by the darkness.  Oh man, this guy just pushed me down because he’s an ass, not because he’s bespelled!  Now, I’m really mad.

Moving closer to him and Kallen, I lay my hand on Kallen’s arm.  I feel a wash of darkness pour through me as it leaves him.  His body doesn’t relax though.  I suspect he knows the man wasn’t affected by the darkness as well as I do.  Using his magic instead of his fist this time, he pushes the guy back to the ground when he tries to get up.  He holds him there as the man struggles.

A parting of the crowd brings another tall Fairy, but a woman this time.  Geez, why didn’t I get any of the tall genes?  Her hair is pulled back into a tight bun and she has a severe look about her, one that says, ‘go ahead, mess with me so I can rip you to shreds inch by inch and then eat you for lunch’.  She looks like she was suckled on steel instead of breast milk.  Something about her manner and her black pants and button down shirt give me the impression she’s some sort of law enforcement.  She has a hard look on her face, but it’s not directed at me.  Her eyes and her anger have targeted the Fairy on the ground.  “Am I to understand you struck the Princess?” she demands, kneeling down so she can look directly into his eyes.