CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Faedra opened her eyes and stretched. She couldn’t remember sleeping that well for a very long time. She turned her head to see Faen looking at her. He was lying on his side, propping his head up on his arm.
“Good morning, Ms. Faedra,” he greeted her with a warm smile, “I trust you slept well.”
“Morning, Faen. Yes, I did thank you,” she answered, returning his smile with one of her own.
“Well, we better get moving. We have another long day ahead of us today,” he pushed his covers back and gracefully slid off the bed.
Faedra was still lying on top of the covers. She looked down at the piece of comforter she had been cocooned in and peeled it back. She smiled; he had allowed her to fall asleep next to him and made sure she didn’t get cold. The sound of water running from the bathroom caught her attention. She better get a move on and go back to her room to wash her face and get dressed.
“I’m going back to my room to get changed,” she called as she slid off the bed.
Faen poked his head around the bathroom door, he was brushing his teeth. Faedra couldn’t help herself, she laughed. Faen frowned. He couldn’t speak, his mouth was full of toothbrush.
“I’m sorry,” she chuckled. “I just never pictured that fairies brushed their teeth, or needed to do any of the mundane personal grooming that we humans have to, for that matter.”
He smiled around his toothbrush and shrugged his shoulders.
“Meet you out in the corridor in a few minutes?”
He nodded and disappeared back into the bathroom.
When she arrived back in her room, she noticed that the bed had been made and her clothes were neatly laid out on it. They had been cleaned and pressed, and her boots polished and set beside the bed. She quickly changed, then went into the bathroom to do the mundane personal grooming that humans do. Several minutes later, she headed out the door. Faen and Jocelyn were already waiting there for her.
“Hi, Jocelyn. Did you sleep well?” she asked.
“Yes, thank you, Faedra, and you?”
Faedra glanced at Faen who was watching her intently. They exchanged a subtle smile. “Yes, thank you, I did,” she responded.
“Come,” Faen said with a sweeping motion of his arm in the direction of the kitchen. “We must eat first, then begin our journey to the pine forest.”
Luckily Faen seemed to know where he was going because, without a doubt, Faedra would have gotten herself hopelessly lost in the maze of corridors in this seemingly endless castle. After a while, they made it to the kitchen and Faedra was ravenous again. She had noticed her appetite had increased substantially since she acquired her power, but she hadn’t used it for more than a day now and was wondering if it was normal for her to be eating as much as she was. Maybe it was still residual energy conservation from when she had had to use her power to fight off a redcap.
They ate a hearty breakfast and were each given a knapsack full of food, and an oilskin pouch full of water, which they slung across their bodies. They made their way through the castle to the main entrance. Faen rapped hard on the door again and it swung open gracefully. They walked through it and were greeted by a handsome fairy in uniform.
“The king has given you these horses,” he told them, holding out his hand in the direction of where three beautiful horses stood. They were black as midnight with thick silver manes and tails that shimmered in the sunlight. Faedra was speechless, she had never seen such stunning creatures. Their immaculate coats shone with a luster not from her world. One of them snorted and pawed at the ground.
“I’ll take him,” she said as she walked past Faen and Jocelyn. She had no doubt in her mind that she was about to have the ride of her life. Faen raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“What? You think I can’t handle him, don’t you?”
“On the contrary, Ms. Faedra. I have seen you ride. I have no doubt that you are perfectly capable of handling that stallion,” he replied.
“What is it then?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
“It is nothing, Ms. Faedra.” Truth was, he was starting to see the little girl he’d watched growing up, turn into a tenacious young woman with just a hint of vulnerability about her, and he thought that she every bit deserved the title of Custodian. If he didn’t know any better he would imagine that it was pride seeping from his every pore right at that moment.
The uniformed fairy gave Faedra a leg up, and as soon as she was on the horse’s back he reared, then came back to the ground and pawed again. Faedra felt an electric excitement surging through her as she felt the intense energy of the beautiful beast she was sitting on.
“Come on you two, what are you waiting for? We have a Lord of the Woods to find.”
Faen and Jocelyn glanced at each other with a look that said ‘oh, dear, what have we unleashed’? They mounted their horses. All three galloped off through the courtyard, out of the city, and headed in the direction of the pine forest.
They rode for hours across the dying landscape. Although Faedra was saddened by the devastation around her, she had never felt this alive before. The horse beneath her was a powerhouse of muscle and speed, and they flew like the wind. Her legs didn’t turn to jelly this time. Instead, she embraced the power she was feeling from the magnificent beast she was riding. To the point she could feel her whole body was tingling with electric energy.
After a few hours of riding, Faedra could see a browning forest loom up ahead. They all slowed down to a trot and, gradually, a walk. They came to a stop at the edge of the forest and gave the trees a long hard look.
“Oh, Brother, even the evergreens are dying,” Jocelyn’s voice rang with sadness as they all looked down at the thick carpet of brown pine needles that had fallen from the dying trees.
“We will find the book, Jocelyn. We will reverse this,” Faen promised her, his voice sounding almost as sad as his little sister’s. “Come, we must find Kernunnos.”
He moved his horse forward. Faedra and Jocelyn fell into line behind him as they all entered the forest.
Faedra found the forest eerie, and, after a while, she realized why. There were no sounds of life here. No birds were singing in the trees, no wildlife scuttling about on the ground, or squirrels chasing each other along the limbs, jumping from one tree to the next. There was nothing, just an unearthly silence, except for the soft hoof falls the horses were making as they ventured deeper and deeper into the forest.
They followed Faen for about another hour until they came across an opening between the trees in the heart of the forest. They stood on the edge of the clearing for a moment. It was almost a perfect circle, and right in the center stood an ancient, gnarly pine tree, much taller and wider than any pine tree Faedra had ever seen.
They dismounted and left the horses. Faedra wondered if they should tie them up but Faen assured her they would not go anywhere. He told her the horses were ‘assigned’ to them and would not leave until they were permitted to. She wished Gypsy were so obedient, thinking back to that day in the woods when her horse left her there without so much as backwards glance.
Faedra and Jocelyn followed behind Faen as they cautiously made their way towards the huge pine taking center stage in the clearing. He stopped about ten feet away from it, closed his eyes, and held his hands out, palms facing upwards, and started chanting.
“Open glade in dark wood,
fertile tree in clearing stood.
Lord of the Woods, your help we need,
respect and honor, ours to heed.
Appear to us, this we plea,
Kernunnos hear, we summon thee.”
Faedra held her breath. Nothing happened. “Was something supposed to happen?” she leaned over and whispered to Jocelyn.
Jocelyn shrugged her shoulders. “I do not know. I have never seen an invocation before,” she admitted.
“Quiet,” Faen turned his head and snapped at them.
“This will only work in absolute silence.” Faedra mouthed a sorry to him and closed her lips tight.
Faen repeated the invocation again, a little louder this time and with a lot more passion. Still nothing, but Faedra kept her mouth shut this time and just looked all around her, having absolutely no idea what to expect.
Again Faen repeated the invocation, with yet more emphasis and passion. This time it worked, and Faedra realized at that point that she had watched The Wizard of Oz far too many times. She’d been expecting the tree to grow limbs that looked like arms, and a big gnarly face to appear in the bark of the trunk and start shouting at them, but that couldn’t have been further from what actually did happen.
It suddenly grew darker, not a pitch black dark, but a setting sun through the trees kind of dark, causing an ethereal glow to cloak the clearing. A mist appeared from the trees surrounding the clearing. It smelled strongly of a musky essential oil that she recognized as being patchouli, and crept low to the ground in tendril-like wisps until it had filled the entire space. Faedra scanned the perimeter of the clearing but could see nothing but the mist encircling them. Her attention turned back to the ancient tree in the center when she heard a creaking sound that seemed to be coming from within. An opening appeared in the bark, narrow at first, but then expanding into an archway, from which an incredibly self-assured looking man walked, with a stunning white stag at his side.
Faedra swallowed hard. She didn’t know what she was expecting the Lord of the Woods to look like, but the man walking towards them was definitely not it. He glided with ethereal grace to stand in front of Faen, who kneeled before him. He was tall with dark brown, shoulder-length hair and neatly trimmed beard flecked with gray. He had dark olive skin and deep forest green eyes. He looked wise beyond his years, and Faedra didn’t even want to hazard a guess as to how old he actually was.
He wore robes that flowed around him with a fluidity that reminded Faedra of when she used to watch the rock pools at the beach. Every time a wave would come and recede away again, it would leave the water in the rock pool swirling around until the next time. His robes were colored with the various hues of woodland, including russet, deep forest green, and autumn gold.
“Rise, Guardian,” he commanded, and Faen did as he asked. “You summoned me?”
“I did, My Lord,” Faen responded, and bowed his head with respect. “Someone has stolen the Book of Anohs and we need to find it before whomever it is destroys our realm and the World of Men, and possibly many other realms, too.”
“And how do you think that I may help, Guardian?” Kernunnos asked.
“I believe that because the book controls nature, and you are in essence, Lord over an immense part of nature, I was hoping you may be able to sense where the book is located.”
“Hmm,” Kernunnos rubbed his chin and walked over to Faedra, who gulped again. “And you, my child are not from this realm,” he caught sight of the amulet. “Ah, a Custodian. Well, now I understand why you stand before me.”
Faedra swallowed hard. The King of Azran didn’t hold a torch to the presence that Kernunnos exuded. He finished scrutinizing Faedra and walked back to stand before Faen. Then he closed his eyes and held his arms outstretched. He stood there in silence for a few moments, and when he opened his eyes again they were completely white, no eyeball, nothing, just white. Faedra took a step back as she sucked in a breath and covered her mouth with her hand.
“I see giant white horses several hundred feet tall, a hill that is perfectly round, near a spire so high it touches the sky. A circle of stone surrounded by A’s is where the book can be found.” He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again they had returned to their normal color.
“But what does that mean?” Faen asked, confused by the cryptic clue.
“I can only tell you what I see, Guardian. My powers do not give me a road map.”
“Do you know in which realm we may start to look?”
“I do not. I am sorry I cannot give you clearer directions.”
“Thank you, My Lord. You have, at least, given us something to work with,” Faen bowed his head.
“Good luck, Guardian,” Kernunnos said as he turned toward the tree. Then he paused, turned back to look at Faedra, and inclined his head.
“Custodian,” he acknowledged, before continuing to walk back into the tree.
As soon as the archway in the tree sealed up behind Kernunnos and his stag, the mist cleared and the sunlight once again rained down upon them.
Faen scratched his head. “I was hoping for more precise direction than that,” he said. “There are no horses that large in any realm.”
“Horses, horses,” Faedra mumbled to herself, pacing back and forth as she meandered closer and closer to the edge of the clearing. She was holding her chin in her hand, her brow furrowed. “Surrounded by A’s? Why does that sound so familiar?” she continued her pacing for a few more moments, mumbling under her breath, trying to connect the pieces of information to something buried deep in her memory.
“Oh, my God!” Faedra blurted. The others turned to look at her stunned expression. “I think I know where it is.”
“Where, Ms. Faedra?” Faen asked urgently as he and Jocelyn walked over to where she was pacing.
“I’ll take you there. It’s in my world,” she said with excitement.
“No, it is too dangerous. Tell me where it is, and I will go,” Faen insisted.
“Like heck you will. I’m going with you.”
“No, you are not,” Faen raised his voice. He didn’t do that very often.
“Yes, I am.” Faedra shot him a warning glare.
“No, Ms. Faedra, you are not.”
“Yes… I… Am!”
Jocelyn sighed and sat herself down on a nearby boulder. She could see this was going to take a while. She watched the argument unfold before her, moving her head from Faen to Faedra as if watching a game of tennis.
“You are making me angry,” Faedra growled several minutes into their back and forth battle. With a glare that could kill, she opened up her palms to reveal two glowing orbs of blue.
Faen looked down at her hands and scoffed. “You would never use those on me,” he said, with a look that oozed arrogance.
Who was she kidding? Of course, she wouldn’t, and she threw them at a nearby tree where they exploded on impact, shattering the bark, and sending fragments of wood showering over Jocelyn.
“Sorry, Jocelyn,” she called as she noticed her friend sweeping bits of bark off her dress and picking it out of her hair. Then she turned on Jocelyn’s brother again. “I do not need to be wasting my energy on you, either,” she scowled at him.
“You’ll upset Kernunnos,” he goaded as he looked over at the splintered tree.
She glared at him again and balled her hands into fists, resting them on her hips, squaring her shoulders as she did. She lifted her chin in defiance, and they stood in silence for a while, a frosty stand-off that neither was willing to concede to.
Eventually, Jocelyn broke the angry silence.
“Um, you two, the fate of all realms rests with you, and all that,” she said with concern. They turned together and glared at her. She put her hands up “Okay, okay, just thought I would mention it.”
They went back to glaring uncompromisingly at each other, and a few more moments passed.
“Sometimes, Ms. Faedra, you can be impossibly stubborn,” Faen spoke first.
Faedra raised an eyebrow at him. “And sometimes, MR. Faen, you can be impossibly arrogant,” she snapped back at him.
They continued staring at each other. Then Faedra noticed a subtle shift in the way Faen was looking at her. The frustrated expression he was wearing melted away and was replaced by one of consideration. He leaned in and cupped her face. Before her brain even had time to react, he had planted his lips very self-assuredly on hers, which sent a tingle of electricity throughout her face, down h
er neck and along her spine. Her eyes widened with surprise, and she found she couldn’t move. She was frozen to the spot, but her senses were heightened to the point that they were almost crackling with their intensity.
Then she surprised herself. She accepted his kiss and kissed him back. Her hands that had been balled into fists just seconds ago were now tangling themselves through his silken hair. After a moment he pulled away, but still held her face in his hands, and a wry smile curved the corner of his mouth.
“Very well, Faedra,” he made sure to exaggerate her name as he inclined his head, “you may come with us,” he whispered. His face was still so close to hers she could feel his warm breath on her face as he spoke.
In that instant their paradigm shifted. She was no longer his charge, he no longer her Guardian, although, she could sense he would always be her protector. They were now partners with one goal; to retrieve the Book of Anohs and return Vivianna, the king’s daughter, safely back to Azran and her father.
“Yay,” Jocelyn cried, clapping her hands excitedly, pulling Faen and Faedra from their reverie. They both turned to look at her.
Faen looked at his sister with a puzzled expression, pulling his eyebrows together.
“Well, it is about time, Brother,” she stated.
He looked back at Faedra who was still reeling from their kiss. They looked at each other and chuckled. Jocelyn stepped down off the boulder, walked over to them and put an arm around each of them.
“Well, now that we finally have that out of the way, I assume we need to make our way back to the portal,” she said with a smirk.
Faen looked up at the sky; the sun was sinking and it wouldn’t be long before darkness enveloped the land again.
“We will make camp here for tonight. It will be dark soon, and not all of Azran is safe to travel at night,” he explained. “We will leave at first light.”
“Come on, Faedra,” Jocelyn said as she took hold of Faedra’s arm, “let us go and find some firewood.” They headed into the trees.
“Do not go out of sight of the clearing,” Faen called out to them in a protective, big brotherly way.
“We won’t,” Jocelyn called back.
They didn’t need to go but a few feet in, as there were plenty of small branches and kindling lying all around them. They bent down and scooped up sticks, holding them in their arms as they did so.
“I guess you were right about the ‘wings’ thing,” Faedra mentioned after they had been searching for a few minutes.
Jocelyn smiled warmly. “I know my brother better than he would like to think I do,” she said.
“He still hides them, though,” Faedra sighed.
“Give him time, Faedra. He has never felt about anyone the way he feels about you, and he didn’t even realize that until a few minutes ago.”
Faedra looked through the trees into the clearing where Faen was collecting rocks to make a small fire pit. “Neither did I,” she whispered under her breath.
“It will be worth the wait, Faedra. His wings are the most spectacular that I have ever seen. If you think mine are beautiful, they do not even come close to my brother’s.”
Faedra smiled weakly at her friend. “I think we have enough, don’t we?” she said, holding out her arms that were now full of sticks and small branches.
Jocelyn looked at Faedra’s bundle and then at her own. “I think so.”
They headed back to the clearing and dropped the wood next to where Faen was placing rocks in a neat circle. He was being extra careful to make sure that the fire could not spread. Everything surrounding them was so tinder dry, the whole lot could catch fire very easily.
The sun sank beyond the horizon, and darkness replaced it. They grabbed the rolled-up bedding that had been attached to the back of each saddle - the king had thought of everything – and unrolled their ‘beds’ around the campfire that Faen had started with a click of his fingers. They sat down beside the warming flames that licked up into the night. Occasionally sparks would ascend up into the sky when a knot in a piece of wood crackled and popped.
Faedra sat peacefully while Faen and Jocelyn spoke in hushed voices to each other. She was trying to see if she could control her energy without the emotion of anger. So far, that had been the only time she had been able to use it, when she was angry.
The first time she had used it, she was feeling anger and frustration at not being able to materialize anything, then wham, there it was. The next time, her fear had changed to anger behind the hotel when she imagined her dad finding her dead on the cold floor. Her power had surged through her uncontrollably that time. Then a little while ago she had been getting angry with Faen but was not angry enough that she hadn’t been able to control it.
She tuned Jocelyn and Faen out. She didn’t know what they were talking about, sibling stuff she assumed. She was going to get a grip on her power if it was the last thing she did. She closed her eyes and imagined the sensations that flowed through her body when the energy manifested itself, and she tried to recreate that feeling. She wanted to be able to rely on using her power if she needed to; when they met whomever was in possession of the book. She wanted the ability to use it in a skillful way, and not just as a knee jerk reaction.
It took a few times, but after some serious concentration, there it was. She could feel a warm sensation in her hands. Faedra opened her eyes to see two balls of blue light bobbing gracefully just above her skin. The reflection in her eyes from the sparkling energy made them look like they were twinkling in the darkness. She smiled and closed her palms, pushing the sensation back. She opened her palms again and the light was gone.
She tried this several more times, each time feeling more and more in control of the energy coursing through her body. She was elated and stared in awe for a few moments at the balls of energy bobbing above her hands. It was mesmerizing, almost hypnotic. A warm feeling surrounded her hands and they closed, but she hadn’t closed them herself. She looked up to see Faen kneeling in front of her, his hands wrapped around hers, and she gave him a quizzical look.
“I have been watching you control your power for a while now. You are learning quickly, but you do not have much food and will burn yourself out.”
She could hear the concern in his voice and gave him a warm smile. His face glowed in the soft light from the fire.
“You’re right,” she said. Until he had stopped her, she hadn’t noticed how hungry she was getting. She leaned over to get her knapsack; retrieving half of its contents, she began eating. She knew how weak she would feel if she didn’t eat quickly.
Faedra looked over to Jocelyn, who was now sleeping soundly beside the fire. How long had she been doing this, and how long had Faen been sitting watching her?
“It’s a beautiful night,” Faedra said as she looked up to admire the enormous full moon that was pouring its silvery light all over them.
“It is,” Faen agreed. He looked over at Jocelyn sleeping. “We must rest if we are to make an early start in the morning.” He pulled his bedding over, laid it down next to Faedra’s, and sat down on it. “I will be right here if you need me.”
Faedra returned his smile with one of her own and settled down to sleep.