Journey into the Realm: The Stolen Child (Journey into the Realm Series) (29 page)

***

Let’s just say traveling with the dwarves was
entertaining
. They cracked a lot of jokes – half of them I didn’t understand because I wasn’t a dwarf – ate whatever they could find that was edible along the way, and they sang…a lot.

The dwarves had absolutely no singing talents whatsoever.

They sounded like a chorus of barking seals, and when I suggested keeping it down so no Element fairies or other creatures would hear, they simply turned their heads away from me and continued. When I voiced my concern to Eder, he shrugged and said, “They are supposed to be professionals, so I guess we’ll just have to trust them.”

His response had given me another reason to dislike him.

Since I could do nothing about the singing, I decided to address a different problem: me.

Moving through the crowd of caroling dwarves, I found Nathan and slipped my hand into his. “Hey,” I greeted.

“Hi,” he replied. “Traveling sure is…loud now, huh?”

I nodded. “It’s driving me crazy. Want to walk behind the noise for a little while? I need to talk to you about something.”

Nathan agreed and followed me to the back of the group. Ziv noticed us and immediately started hopping around my legs. I thought about reprimanding him but decided I didn’t have the heart for it. I was too exhausted to scold.

“Nathan, I need to talk to you about what happened during the attack,” I said. Without waiting for his response, I launched into my story, telling him about Daur’s warning, my release of power in the Woodland Fairy Realm, and ending with what had occurred after I used my Golden fairy magic to save Glissarie.

Nathan frowned. “So the first time you accessed your magic, you felt empty. And the second time, you remembered every horrible thing that has ever happened to you. What do you think the third time will bring?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think I want there to
be
a third time. What if I completely lose it? To make matters worse, my nightmares have gotten out of control. I’m even seeing them when I’m awake.”

“I wish there was a way for me to help,” Nathan stressed. “But I don’t know any spells to take away nightmares.”

I blinked. “That’s it! Nathan, I have to talk to Glissarie. Watch Ziv for me.”

Nathan didn’t know a spell to stop my nightmares, but maybe Glissarie’s ancient spell book did.

***

“No. Absolutely not,” Glissarie said incessantly. “No.”

“You can show me how to recite the spell correctly,” I said. “I’ll be careful, I swear.”

“You are too young to understand what you are asking,” the Princess insisted. “You know little of the book’s potential. Its purpose is not to clean up one’s messes. The ancient spell book creates monumental change, which is why it should only be in the hands of one who rules.”

“Your mother is a ruler and look what she did with it,” I countered. “I think I’m more responsible than she is.”

“No. You are not,” Glissarie snapped. “At least Queen Ella performed the spell to keep her Realm safe. You want this only for personal gain. Nothing good comes from an ancient spell used for personal gain.”

My shoulders slumped. “It’s not for personal gain,” I said. “If I don’t get rid of these nightmares, I’ll never be strong enough to help the Golden fairies or end the war.”

“You only think that,” the Princess said, irritably moving a few hanging vines out of her way. I could tell she was bothered by this dense jungle after experiencing the stark landscape of her home Realm for so long. “You do not know if this is the only solution to your problem. Have you tried to understand your nightmares? Maybe they will leave you once you learn their significance.”

I shook my head. “That’s what Rafik suggested, but I don’t think I have that kind of time. You saw what happened to me after I accessed my Golden fairy magic. I can’t go through that again.”

Glissarie’s eyes narrowed. “You see, that is the part of Golden fairies I do not understand. You are fine using simple attack spells, but when you grow angry, you unleash something quite frightening.”

“Everyone has a weakness, Glissarie,” I said. “As part Golden fairy, mine is intense emotion. Now that I’ve broken the dam to my greatest magic, I don’t think it will ever close completely. I have to find a way to deal with this, and I can’t if the nightmares continue.”

Glissarie closed her eyes briefly. “I am sorry. I cannot help you. The book is not meant for that kind of magic.”

I scowled. “Then what good is it?”

The Princess sighed. “I do not know if it is any good. The only reason I carry it is because it is what Joseph requested of me. In my numerous decades of life, I have never seen this book improve a life. Some hidden consequence always occurs.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t give it to Joseph,” I muttered, crossing my arms against my chest in anger.

“That is a battle I fight against myself each and every day, Ramsey,” the Princess admitted in a small voice, much unlike her. “I am truly terrified of what this book might do, but I do not believe I can say no to him.”

“Why not?” I asked. What hold did this rebellion leader have over a princess?

“It is a very complicated subject to understand, but I will try –”

“Our camp is under attack!” Tiergan shouted, immediately putting an end to our conversation.

“Kill every Element fairy you see, but keep watch for the General!” Swithin added.

I couldn’t imagine defeating anyone so soon after accessing my Golden fairy magic. I felt completely drained. Since I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere by using spells, I removed my bow and notched an arrow. I would have to rely on physical skills for this battle.

“Stay close to me,” Nathan muttered, moving to stand at my side. “I’ll cast the spells; you finish them off with arrows, all right?”

I nodded, glad to be forming a partnership with him for this fight. I knew his talents as a Spell Master would compensate for my fatigue. We jogged forward, following the dwarves to their invaded camp. This was just what I had feared. The dwarves were too close to Etain to avoid a breach. Whoever this General was, he had made a grave mistake by choosing to station his company here.

Far fewer Element fairies attacked now than in our last battle, which I found odd considering these dwarves were much closer to the city. Still, the fight seemed easily matched. It appeared as though every dwarf was paired with an Element fairy to fight, with just a few Element fairies left over. I knew that with the nineteen dwarves in our group, we would easily win this fight. But I wasn’t going to be confident just yet. I knew things could turn worse just as easily as they could improve.

Nathan picked up a rock and muttered, “Grow.” As he threw the stone, it transformed into a boulder and smashed into a group of three water fairies. I pulled back and loosed an arrow toward the fairy who seemed the least impaired by Nathan’s spell. The arrow embedded itself in her neck, dark blood spraying from the wound. I closed my eyes and coached myself through my dizziness. Now wasn’t the time to be squeamish. The sweet smell of fae blood hung in the air. I held my breath.

For the first time, I witnessed the dwarves in combat. When they had first rescued us from the Element fairies, I had missed the action because I was unconscious. Now I was amazed by their strength. The dwarves’ muscles bulged every time they swung their pickaxes. Their burly figures moved with a speed I would have never expected. Sweat glistened on each beard, evidence of the extreme amount of energy they were expending with each attack. The dwarves were the best fighters I had ever seen, true soldiers.

The chaos of battle offered no opportunity to check on the rest of my group. I could only hope they were faring as well as Nathan and I. He was right – we were stronger together. We made an excellent team, taking down fairy after fairy with our combined abilities. I quickly ran out of arrows and had to resort to pulling them from the fairies I had already hit, which was probably the most disturbing experience of my life. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be many fairies left. The battle would surely end soon.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of fire and was suddenly intrigued. I couldn’t understand why. Numerous fire fae took part in the fight, most of them dead or too injured to retaliate by now. But this particular fairy pulled my focus away from every other enemy. It didn’t take me much longer to figure out why.

Ellie
.

Instinct propelled me toward her. I bypassed fighting dwarves and leaped over fallen fairy bodies. I saw a few dwarves among the deceased and felt a wave of sadness crash over me. It hurt to see such incredible creatures defeated. Still, I kept moving. I had to reach her.

I didn’t know what I would do when I finally caught up to her. I didn’t have a thought or a plan. I wouldn’t know until I faced her, until I looked into her eyes.

I sprinted after her through the jungle, straying from a battle yet again. My muscles burned and it became increasingly harder to breathe, but I wouldn’t give up. She had always been faster than me, but I was determined to catch her.

“Ellie!” I screamed, willing her to stop, the words catching in my throat. “Ellie!”

The fire fairy froze, her back facing me. Slowly, she turned, holding up her hands in an apparent surrender. “Ramsey,” Ellie greeted, a slight, crooked grin across her exotic face. “Long time no see. Were my dwarves the proper escorts?”

I swallowed. “Excuse me?
Your
dwarves?”

“Ah, I see you’ve met the General,” Tiergan said, drenched in sweat and marked with blood as he appeared at my side.

“The General?” I gasped, dumbfounded.

“Haven’t you heard?” Ellie asked mockingly. “I’m one of the good ones now.”

Naturally, I reacted the way one might expect to react to news like this.

I punched her right in the face.

Punching someone hurt…a lot.

I probably should have taken the time to consider that before I hit her. I had never punched anyone until now. But the fairy who had betrayed me and killed Stellan was standing right in front of me, calling herself the General, and I hadn’t been able to control myself.

My hand was throbbing, but at least my punch sent her right to the ground. When she recovered and stood to face me, she had fireballs resting in her palms.

“Back down, Ellie,” I heard Eder say from behind. “You should know the rules by now.”

Ellie threw him a nasty glare but got rid of the fireballs. Clutching my hand, I stared at her with a cold fury, hardly believing my eyes.

What was I supposed to say to her: “Hey, Ellie, no hard feelings?” I wasn’t about to do anything of the sort, even though she had allowed me to escape back in the Flower Fairy Realm. She was still a murderer and I didn’t trust her.

“What are you doing here?” Eder followed up with, coming to stand protectively by my side. “I thought Joseph was keeping you stationed within the rebellion now.”

Ellie’s lip was cracked and bleeding. She spit blood on the ground and then shook her head. “He thought I would do well here,” she replied.

“What are you two talking about?” I asked.

“We should discuss this back at camp,” Eder suggested. “Let’s go.”

“I’m not going anywhere with her,” I protested.

“Well, you’ll have to get used to me because Joseph has put me in charge of leading you to the rebellion,” Ellie retorted.

“I think that’s Eder’s job,” I snapped.

She smiled. I hated her. “Not anymore.”

“Please, Ramsey, just come back to camp with me,” Eder begged.

“It ain’t safe to be away from the others,” Tiergan added.

“It’s not safe to be with a murderer,” I retorted.

“Fine, I’ll go first. You three can take your sweet time,” Ellie muttered angrily, spreading her wings despite the thickness of the jungle. In a matter of seconds she had flown out of sight.

“How did she do that without hitting any trees?” I asked, too amazed to add any bitterness to my tone.

“Element fairies are used to the jungle,” Eder answered. “We can anticipate obstacles and move accordingly. Now, please, follow me back to camp.”

I nodded. “Fine.”

The three of us started walking. Brimming with anger, I felt the urge to slam my fists into the nearest palm tree. Then I remembered how it had felt to punch Ellie and thought better of it.

“I sent word to Joseph not to let this happen. I thought I made it clear,” Eder snapped unexpectedly.

Tiergan scoffed and shook his pickaxe in frustration. “Ya don’t get to make the decisions, mister. Joseph does. I heard yer job was to bring the girl to the rebellion, not to dictate what Joseph does and does not decide.”

“But he promised me. Don’t those mean anything anymore? Promises?” Eder asked.

“I don’t make the rules, earth fairy. Lady Rosina started this. She gave Joseph the power to make the decisions in her absence, and if he believes the General was the most fit for this job, then he is right. And if ya don’t agree, ya can take it up with him when we reach the rebellion, but leave us dwarves out of it!” With that, the angry little dwarf stormed off, leaving Eder staring openmouthed as he went ahead.

“So you knew Ellie was the General?” I said quietly.

He looked at me, blinked, and then shook his head. “No, Ramsey. I knew she was with the rebellion, but I didn’t know she would meet us along the way.”

I bit my lip, bowing my head. I was appalled by his behavior. He had kept something from me yet again. “Eder, do you know why I reacted to your true nature the way I did?” I asked.

“Because you were hurt,” he said easily. “I didn’t reveal myself when I should have. I didn’t trust you.”

“That’s not the whole reason,” I told him. “Ellie did the same thing you did, Eder. She posed as an elfen and gained my trust before she betrayed me and killed someone I loved. When I saw those wings on your back, that’s all I could think about.”

His face fell. “Oh, Goddess, Ramsey. I’m sorry. I had no idea. Ellie told only Joseph the extent of her crimes. I was informed that she had been a part of your past and not in a good way, so I asked Joseph to keep her away from you until you adjusted to the rebellion.”

I wiped tears from my eyes. “Then why didn’t he listen?”

“Joseph and I…sometimes we disagree over the way things should be handled. But in the end, he is the leader of the rebellion, not I. Whatever reason he had for sending Ellie, he obviously believed it warranted ignoring my request.”

“I don’t understand,” I groaned. “She attacked us in the Flower Fairy Realm. That was only a few days ago. She couldn’t have changed sides so quickly after that.”

“She let you go, right?” he asked. “In the Flower Fairy Realm, she let you escape.”

“Yes,” I confirmed. “But she still stood by while Tavis was nearly killed.”

“She was pretending to still be in the service of the King. She had to play along…to an extent,” Eder revealed. “The only thing she couldn’t do was allow your capture, so that’s why she left you.”

“I can’t believe this,” I whispered, the present ache in my throat almost preventing me from speaking. “When did this happen? When did she seek out the rebellion?”

“I know you don’t want to listen to her, but Ellie should explain her actions and motivations. I won’t be able to give you a clear enough story,” Eder admitted.

I shrugged. “Whatever. Doesn’t look like I have much of a choice now.”

“For what it’s worth…,” Eder trailed off, sighing. “I’m sorry, Ramsey. For everything. I’ve always remembered to be your protector, but I’ve forgotten to be your friend.”

“I think that’s what I need you to be,” I murmured, tears leaking from my eyes. “Please.”

He took my hand. His fingers were warm and comforting entwined with mine. “All right,” he said.

Despite everything, I needed him. I didn’t agree with his methods and I didn’t always trust him, but I needed him.

“All right,” I echoed.