Fable: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 3 (21 page)

A few seconds later they broke through the
water, and she pulled away from his lips to breathe on her own. Nix
carefully held her and swam toward shore. Mina only had the
strength to roll over on her back and let him pull her to safety.
He had now saved her life three times.

Rocks brushed against her feet and she tried
to stand up, only to fall to her knees in the rocky shallows. Nix
held onto her arm and tried to support her weight. He desperately
pulled her away from the water, and even though they were on the
shore, he didn’t stop. He tried to coerce her to move, but she
couldn’t. Mina collapsed on the ground.

She felt warm arms wrap around her, and then
she was being lifted through the air. Nix had picked her up and
continued to run away from the lake as far as he could. A short
time later, he found a small clearing in which to stop, and he
gently put her down. He was out of breath and collapsed on the
ground, watching the path behind them, looking for a pursuer.

Mina rolled on the ground, her body shaking
from the cold and the near asphyxiation, and stared at Nix’s
muscled green back in utter confusion. She thought he had abandoned
her to die, that he didn’t want anything to do with her or the
Grimm curse. If so, why did he save her…again? But her thoughts
continued to dance as she felt herself slipping into an exhausted
sleep.

Mina awoke with a start and listened
carefully to the sound of footsteps treading quietly past her. She
tried to move her arm, but it was numb from her sleeping on it
awkwardly. Instead, she played opossum and watched through lowered
lashes as the sound came again and a shadow passed by her. Her
heart skipped a beat when her vision was filled with a green
silhouette. She immediately thought the sea witch had found her,
but then she sighed when she realized that it was just Nix. He had
found a stick and climbed one of the odd twisted trees.

His tall, nimble green body slithered up the
tree, proving that he was just as agile on land as he was in water.
Nix swung the stick with ease at the nearest branch, and two pieces
of fruit fell to the ground and rolled along the grass. He dropped
the stick and began his descent.

Mina touched her fingers to her lips as the
memory of his life-saving kiss came flooding back to her. She was
grateful that he couldn’t see her cheeks burning in embarrassment.
Deciding that the immediate threat was over, she slowly sat up and
stretched. Her whole body ached from head to toe, and she couldn’t
help but feel like a ton of bricks had landed on her chest. Nix
came over and handed a small piece of fruit to her. It was only
slightly bruised from the fall.

“
Here, eat this,” he
commanded, before moving to sit across from her. His skin looked
lighter under the morning sun, less green.

“
I don’t think I’m
supposed to eat the food in the Fae world,” she said.

“
That’s true for most food
here. It can be addicting to your kind, but as far as aftereffects
go, this is the mildest fruit there is.”

Mina took the odd-looking purple fruit and
sniffed it carefully before rolling it between her fingers. She was
starving, but even the simplest temptation could endanger her whole
reason for being here.

“
What happened back
there?” she asked, hoping he would know she was referring to the
sea witch. “And why did you save me, when I thought you were
leaving me to die?”

Nix looked at her carefully over his own
piece of fruit before raising the fruit in the air like a toast and
taking his own careful bite. “You had an unfortunate run-in with
one of the oldest and strongest sea witches around…my mother.”

“
Your mother? I thought
that…well, I don’t know what I thought. I just figured that you and
Raina were the only ones left.”

“
We are, I mean…were, the
only
nixies
left.
The rest have all changed. So I try to stay out of their waterways
as much as possible. But you, you trespassed right into her home.
You’re lucky I came when I did, or you’d be dinner. But I’ve got to
hand it to you. You’re either crazy stupid or crazy brave for what
you attempted. You’d almost made it out.”

“
It doesn’t matter. I was
crazy either way, but I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think I
was going to die in that cave. You could have told me you were
going to come back.” Mina paused in thought and then said in a
softer, uncertain voice, “You were going to come back,
right?”

His shoulders dropped, and Nix looked at the
ground. “I needed time to think, to decide what I was going to do
with my life. You killed the one person I loved.”

“
But she was a monster.
You said so yourself.”

“
Yes, and I know no one
has ever come back once turned. But after running into you, I knew
that I would be pulled into whatever quest you’re currently
embarking on. I, too, know of the book and the deal made with the
Grimms. I also know of how the stories end for most of the nixies.
Not good. So I had to decide if I was going to purposely turn, or
join you on your quest and die sooner rather than
later.”

Mina’s fingers dug into the purple fruit,
and she stared at him in disbelief. “So you left because you
couldn’t decide if you were going to kill me and join the monsters
or help me. Talk about peer pressure,” she replied sarcastically.
“So much for going out all noble.”

Nix stood up and began to pace back and
forth. “No, you see, that’s what I thought at first. I thought
living near Raina, even though she was a monster, would be enough
for me, but now that she’s dead, I thought I should be the one to
take revenge for her death, but I can’t. I told you before that we
are gentle creatures until we turn. So I decided that if I can’t
live with Raina, I don’t want to live without her.”

He stopped pacing and sat on the ground, eye
to eye with Mina. His hands crumpled into tight fists. Mina could
tell this was a difficult conversation for him.

His bright green eyes looked deeply into
hers, pleading with her to understand. “I turned seventeen last
month, and, like Raina did, I’ve lost my ability to hear the
creatures of the water. And I can no longer control the currents. I
can feel myself getting older, becoming weaker. It won’t be long
now…I’m dying, Mina. ”

Mina stared at the passionate Nix with utter
shock. She could tell from the way he spoke that he was
serious.

He swallowed cautiously and didn’t stutter
one word when he valiantly said, “I would rather die now helping
you in whatever quest you’re on than to live as a monster without
her.

She repeated his own words back to him.
“You’re either crazy stupid, or crazy brave.”

“
Either way, I’m just
crazy.” He chuckled softly.

“
Well, crazy always likes
company. So, do you think you’re up for a dangerous quest that will
probably get us both killed?”

Nix got up, only to kneel before Mina. His
green hair still mysteriously swayed, but now that they were
farther away from the water, it moved less. His piercing green eyes
were filled with determination as he grasped her hand and muttered,
“I don’t fear death—death should fear me.”

Chapter 22

Mina couldn’t believe her luck. After she
told Nix her story and about her quest to save her brother Charlie,
he was actually even more gung-ho to help her. Probably because it
was a life-saving mission. What was even more unbelievable was that
Nix knew how to get to the Fates’ palace. It seemed too easy, too
simple. So she knew better than to take it for granted. But first
they had to make it to the palace, which, according to Nix was at
least two days’ journey on foot.

“
I really wish we had a
faster mode of transportation,” Mina said, after she tripped over
another tree root and fell face down in a pile of leaves. That was
the third time she’d tripped in the last two hours.

“
What’s a mode of
transportation?” Nix asked, and helped her back up.

“
Um, an automobile, a
car…you know,
vroom
vroom
.” She made a driving and sitting
motion. Goodness, she sounded stupid.

Nix just looked at her in confusion, and
then his face brightened. “Oh, I get it. This way.” He motioned for
her to follow him, and he walked back toward the river they had
very carefully been skirting. They’d been careful to follow it so
they wouldn’t lose their way, but he always carefully kept a wary
distance. He paused at the river and hesitated.

“
What’s the matter?” she
asked.

“
I don’t know if they’ll
answer me. I haven’t been able to talk with them. They may not even
come, so don’t get your hopes up.” He walked along the riverbed
amongst the tall grass until he found a blue speckled reed. Using a
sharp rock, he quickly carved out three holes and another toward
the top.

Mina watched in fascination, and once his
whistle was done, Nix waded out to the middle of the river and
began to play a silent song. His hair began to come to life again
and flow widely with the rushing water. His mouth blew, his fingers
moved, but Mina didn’t hear a single note from the flute. On and on
he played his silent flute, but nothing happened. After two more
songs, he walked out of the river and sat on the bank solemnly.

“
I couldn’t hear
anything,” Mina said.

“
That’s because you’re
human. You can’t hear the beautiful music I played for them. It
would have paid for our passage, but I don’t know. I couldn’t hear
the music, either. I had to play from memory.” He flopped onto his
back and stared at the sky.

“
They’ve never before
taken so long to come. I’m sorry. I failed you,” Nix
groaned.

“
Who, Nix? Who were you
trying to call?”

“
The kelpies. But I should
have known it wouldn’t work.” He ran his hands through his hair in
frustration and let out a really long sigh. “I haven’t been able to
hear them in a while.”

Mina knew he was thinking about the
consequences of staying a nixie, and everything he had lost.

“
It’s fine, really. I
don’t mind the walking.”

“
No, it’s not fine. I
think we’re being followed, and I can’t stray too far from water
without weakening further. We need the kelpies if we want to outrun
her.”

“
Who…you mean the sea
witch is still after us?” Mina asked, balking.

“
Yes, it’s because I
helped you escape. She’s tracking us. I keep crossing the streams,
following along different paths, but she knows and I know that I
can’t stray far from a water source.”

“
Why is she so set on
getting us?”

“
It’s because I
interfered. This isn’t just any sea witch following us…it’s my
mother, and she won’t stop until she’s found us.” Frustrated, he
lunged up from his sitting position and hurled the reed flute into
the middle of the river. It made a plunking sound, then
disappeared. Nix had turned and begun to walk up the riverbank
toward Mina when a loud rushing sound caught their attention. He
turned back to the river; a wide smile formed across his
face.

“
They came,” he said in
awe, as if he hadn’t really believed they would come.

Mina turned to watch the middle of the river
become a vortex of swirling, rushing water. The waves collided
against each other, and the noise was loud, like a crashing
waterfall. An otherworldly sound erupted from the middle of the
river, and a glorious translucent head came from the center of the
vortex. It was a horse made of water. Then another one stepped from
the middle of the river, and then another. Six beautiful
translucent beasts stood before them, shimmering and reflecting
back Mina’s and Nix’s own images.

The horses walked toward them but stopped at
the water’s edge. The lead horse separated from his brethren, and
as soon as he touched his hoof to the rocky shore, he transformed
like a snake shedding his skin. The lead horse’s coat turned white,
while the others stayed in their translucent Fae form, safe in the
water’s embrace.

Nix ran to the horse and pressed his face to
its muzzle. The white horse pressed against him in mutual delight.
A second or two later, Nix pulled away with a frown on his face.
“Oh, how I wish I could hear your sweet voice again.”

“
Will they take us?” Mina
asked. She was somewhat hopeful and scared of riding the beast at
the same time.

“
I can only ask.” Nix
leaned forward and began to speak with the kelpie, but all Mina
heard was a soft clicking and popping nose, similar to how a
dolphin would speak.

She watched closely for the kelpie’s
reaction. The lead horse walked back to the others, and they
started to step back into the middle of the river.

“
What’s going on? Are they
leaving?” she asked fearfully.

“
I don’t know,” Nix said
slowly.

The white horse was still in a physical
form, and there seemed to be a bit of a discussion going on between
them. One of the horses neighed and rose up on his hind legs, his
front hooves kicking the air in displeasure. Others danced about
sideways, while some shook their manes.

“
Oh, geez, Nix, you didn’t
tell them I was a Grimm, did you? Probably not the surest way to
gain their trust or help,” Mina said sarcastically.

His face turned a weird shade of brown. “Uh,
I might have mentioned it.”

Mina rolled her eyes and continued to watch
one of the most beautiful scenes she had ever seen. One horse, then
two, turned and disappeared into the river’s waves. Then a third
left, followed by a fourth. They were leaving. Only one kelpie
remained with the white one. It was a smaller horse by a few hands
and it still looked young, but it followed the white horse bravely
to where they stood. When the little horse reached the embankment
and stepped out, his watery coat turned a dark red.