Call to Arms (War of the Fae: Book 2) (36 page)

I heard a moaning, and I slowed down to a stop.
 
What the fuck was that?
 
I could hear a man groaning now and it was getting louder.
 
Holyshitholyshitholyshit
...

“Oh, damn, my head is killing me.
 
And my back ... what’s wrong with my back?
 
Oh no, my wing!
 
My wing is gone!
 
Oh boy, I forgot how much that hurts.
 
Oooh,
that stings!”

“Tim?” I asked tentatively.

“Jayne?”

“Tim, is that you I hear bitching about your back?”

“How can you hear me?
 
I can’t even see you.
 
Where am I?”

I pulled out the edge of my tunic, revealing a stunned Tim rubbing his head and squinting up at me.
 

I smiled, seeing that my friend was still alive.
 
“Hi!” I said cheerfully.
 
Then I remembered that he had brought me into the Dark Forest.
 
“Oh, and when we get back, I’m going to think about pulling your other wing off – and this time without the wooden spoon anesthesia.”

“You can hear me!” he yelled, trying to jump for joy but falling on his ass because the bottom of the tunic sling was too wobbly.

“Oh, man that hurts.
 
My wing stub is on fire!
 
Did she just pull it off or did she use the powder?”

I looked at him like he was crazy.
 
“She used the powder.
 
Did you realize you were
bringin
me into the Dark Forest?”

He had the decency to look guilty.
 
“Yeah, well, that’s where she lives.”

“Well, a little warning might have been nice.
 
I could have brought reinforcements or something.”

“She doesn’t like the Light Fae.
 
And if you travel in groups, you’re easier to spot.
 
We were better off alone.
 
Did you get the potion for your friend?”

“Yes, no thanks to you.
 
Well, actually, yes, thanks to you.
 
But we’ll talk about it when we get back.
 
I need you to help me find the way.”

“Get me outta here and I’ll see what I can do.”

Thirty minutes later we were standing in front of the door to the compound.
 
I was never so glad to see a gargoyle in my life.

Before I pushed the door open, I waved my hand in front of the symbol, just for the hell of it.
 
There was no corresponding clicking.
 
That was probably a good thing – in retrospect, locking the door while I was on the outside of it in Dark Fae territory wasn’t the smartest idea I’d ever had.
 
I really needed to get better at that ‘looking before I leap’ stuff.

I ran down the hall to the infirmary, busting through the door as soon as I saw it appear.
 
There was a group of medical looking people standing nearby in some sort of little meeting.

“Hello, medical people.
 
I’m, uh, sorry to interrupt, but this is a life or death situation.”
 
I held out the blue jar.
 
“This is from the witch, Maggie.
 
It’s for my friend Chase ...
”
 
I
gestured to his bed at the end of the hall,
 
“ ... the daemon down there.
 
She said it’d cure him.
 
And we have to hurry or he won’t be curable.”

One of the fae men came over and took the bottle from me.
 
“You said this is from Maggie?”

“Yes.”

“Maggie of the Dark Forest?”

“Yes.”

He looked at me sternly.
 
“And you fetched this from her there?”

“Yes!
 
Enough with the questions already!
 
Just take care of him, would you please?”

“Of course.”
 
He handed the bottle off to a fae woman who moved with two others down the aisle towards Chase.
 
“But we are also required to report the origin of this cure to the council.”

“Whatever.
 
Do what you have to do, tattletale.
 
Just hook my daemon friend up.
 
My buddy Tim and I went through a lot of shit to get it.”

I looked down in my tunic sling where Tim had gone back to rest.
 
“Come on Tim.
 
Let’s go back to our room.”

He just grunted.
 
I could tell he was in pain.

I turned back after a second.
 
“Hey ... do you guys have painkillers for pixies?”

The old man looked at me, frowning.
 
“Did you say ‘for pixies’?”

“Yes.
 
My pixie friend, who is totally harmless so don’t freak out, uh, lost his wing today and he’s in pain.
 
Do you have anything that can help him?”

The doctor looked at me suspiciously.
 
“I am duty-bound to help any fae in need.
 
But I would be less than honest if I didn’t tell you that helping a pixie is a dangerous thing for me to do.
 
For
my
health.”

“Well, I promise he won’t hurt you or send you to crazytown.
 
Just help him.
 
He sacrificed his wing for my friend over there.”
 
I gestured to Chase with a tilt of my head.

“The witch demanded a wing for the cure ...
 
and he gave it?”

“Yes.
 
Willingly.
 
I said no and he said yes.
 
So what’s it
gonna
be?
 
Are you gonna help him or run like a scared little bitch?”

The doctor flinched at my choice of words, but he held out his hand.
 
“Give him to me.
 
I will see what I can do.”

I reached in and picked Tim up.
 

He moaned and griped at me, “Just let me be.
 
I’m fine.
 
Ooch, ow!
 
Watch it.
 
The stub is sensitive!”

I carefully placed him in the doctor’s hand.
 

The doctor lifted Tim up to look at him closely in front of his face.
 
He smiled.
 
“Fascinating.
 
So perfect in every detail ... ”

Tim looked at him bitterly.
 
“Please tell him to move his face away.
 
His breath stinks like orc dung.”

I cleared my throat.
 
“Um, you’re making Tim nervous.
 
Maybe not so close?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” said the doctor, lowering Tim down to a small surgical tray on a nearby table.
 
“Let me see what we have that might help.”

“
Crikey
, this tray is
cold
!” yelled Tim.

The doctor searched a nearby cabinet for something and came back a moment later with a small, white packet, handing it to me.
 
“Tell him to take one small piece of this herb and chew on it after eating.
 
It has the same effects as the human painkiller called aspirin I believe, only it will not thin his blood and it will reduce swelling.”

“Thank you,” I said, holding my hand out for Tim to climb on.
 
He sat down on the edge of my palm and I carefully lifted him up and put him back in my tunic.

“Good luck,” said the doctor, watching us go out.
 
“You can come back to visit your friend in a few hours if you’d like.”
 

I nodded and left the room.
 
I wanted to get Tim to bed and get some food for both of us.

We got to the lunchroom, but no one was there yet.
 
I grabbed two tokens from the basket because I knew I was going to be asking for some extra stuff soon.
 
I left the lunchroom and walked into my room just as Netter was finishing his magic cleanup.
 

“Hey, Netter.
 
Here are a couple things I picked up for you.”

He frowned at them.
 
“There are two.
 
That isn’t proper.”

“Yes, well, I need you to get me some things.
 
Plus I’m
super
happy with the makeup you got for me.
 
It was perfect.”

Netter looked down at the floor shyly.
 
“Netter is good at finding things, that is true.”

I moved closer to him and spoke softer.
 
“You see, Netter, I have this ... very small friend.
 
And he’s injured.
 
So I need a couple things to help him.
 
Do you think you could find what I need?”

“I am sure that I can.
 
I can find anything.
 
Anything at all.”

“Okay, so what I’m thinking is, I need some sort of miniature bed, miniature side table, and miniature dresser.
 
Basically everything I have here in this room, only in a very tiny size.”

He looked at me confused.
 
“How tiny?”

“Like pixie-size tiny.”

Netter’s eyes bugged out.
 
“You have a
pixie
in here
?!
”

I held up my finger and put it over my mouth.
 
“Ssshhhh.
 
He’s sleeping.”

Netter leaned in towards me and whispered, “Did you know that pixies can be very dangerous?”

“Not this one.
 
He’s my friend.
 
So can you get the stuff or not?”

Netter stood up proudly.
 
“I will find these items.
 
It is a good thing, though, that you brought two tokens of appreciation.
 
This is a hard task.”

“Thanks Netter.
 
I knew you could do it.”

“I’ll be back before nightfall with the articles you have requested.”

And then he disappeared, before I could think to say goodbye.

I looked at my clock and saw that it was only ten o’clock.
 
More than enough time to take a nap and rest my weary feet.
 
I took Tim out of my shirt and placed him in my top drawer under a fresh tunic.
 
He was sound asleep, and I hoped he’d stay asleep a while longer so I could rest too.

I lay back on my bed, lacing my hands behind my head, ready to drift off into a peaceful slumber.
 
Just as I was nodding off, I heard a weird noise.
 
It sounded like someone far away sawing wood.
 
What the hell?
 
Then the sound went away.
 
I closed my eyes again, ready to fall asleep, and then the noise started up again.
 
Who the fuck is sawing wood while I’m trying to sleep?

I got up straining my ear to listen for the source of the noise.
 
It sounded like it was coming from across my room.
 
I heard it again and quickly tiptoed over, following the sound.
 
It was louder near the dresser.
 
As I looked at my dresser, I heard it again.
 
I got closer and realized it was coming from the top drawer.
 
I slowly opened the drawer and lifted the tunic.
 

Tim was lying there
,
sound asleep
.
 
Snoring.
 
It sounded like he was sawing logs.

The immensity of my predicament suddenly hit me.
 
My hearing was so acute
now,
I could actually hear a pixie snoring.
 
What the fuck have I done?

My real training began after lunch that day.
 
Word got around that I had ventured into Dark Fae territory without a daemon and without the adequate skills to protect myself, and it sent the whole compound into a panic, even though it was generally agreed that I had done the right thing, now that we knew that Maggie’s potion had worked and was able to pull Chase back from the brink of death.
 
My training and the training of the other changelings were made a top priority.
 
No more leisurely days and lazy meals for us.
 
Now that they had success with the changeling program and were going to be ramping up the recruiting, they had put the effort into formalizing the training program.
 
Once again, it was Jared’s duty to get all of this done, and he was no slacker.
 

I thought I’d learned a lot before, but it was nothing compared to what the next several weeks brought – not just for me,
but
for all of my friends.
 
Once I had learned about the existence of ley lines from old crazy Maggie, and did a little bit of searching on the Internet, I was able to incorporate that information into my training with the green elves, the silver elves –mostly Céline and Dardennes even – the werewolves who are, believe it or not, excellent trackers and group hunters, and the dwarves, who are the most amazing axe wielders.
 
And
their strength training
?
 
Blessed Mother Earth, Moon, and Sun, they are the toughest task masters.
 
But thanks to them and all the others, I am one badass elemental now, on the inside and on the outside.