The Elf Girl (31 page)

“Hello, Zora,” Finn greeted.

Zora didn’t answer. I kept quiet as well. They couldn’t see me – only Zora could – but I knew they could probably hear me if I said anything.

“Hello, Zora,” the water fairy greeted as well.

“And hello, Ramsey,” Finn added.

“Yes, welcome, Ramsey,” the water fairy said. “I am Wynter, if you hadn’t noticed already.” Her voice was both beautiful and haunting.

Ah, so this was Wynter, the famous guard fairy. She didn’t look tough, but the power in her voice and the coldness in her eyes told me otherwise.

“Ramsey’s…not…here…,” Zora whispered, her voice breathy and scarcely audible.

“Don’t try fooling us, Zora. We know she is here. We put a spell on the Mood Diamond. Well, actually, one of our Woodland fairy friends did. When she connected with you, we knew right away,” Finn explained.

“Good thinking,” I admitted.

I probably should have thought of that earlier. But I wasn’t too keen on fairy spells to begin with, so I probably would never have guessed.
Another reason why I shouldn’t have come
, I found myself thinking.

Both fairies looked around, their heads moving violently as they unsuccessfully attempted to find me.

“Don’t try looking for me,” I said, moving a ways to throw them off my trail. “You know I’m here, but you won’t see me,” I reminded them.

“We know,” Wynter snapped.

“Calm down, Wynter,” Finn instructed, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Wynter stiffened. “Sorry,” she muttered.

“Why did you want me here?” I asked.

“You must know,” Finn said.

“Like I said to your friend, Lura, I’m new here, so you’re going to have to explain things to me in a little more detail,” I told them.

“You are here so we can learn your secret. Zora is going to tell us. I thought you would want to know it as well...before you died, at least,” Finn explained.

I shivered, very glad that neither of the fairies could see my fear. I collected myself and said mockingly, “How considerate of you.”

“We thought so,” Wynter responded coolly.

“Aren’t you feisty,” I muttered.

Before either of the fairies could question my words, Zora had regained her voice.

“No…I won’t tell. I promise, Ramsey…,” Zora said.

“Yes, you will, Zora. If you want Ramsey to live, you will tell us,” Finn told her. Wait, now wasn’t that just a little contradictory? Hadn’t he just said I would die after I learned my secret? I hoped Zora wouldn’t buy into his games.

“What are you going to do?” I challenged.

“I am going to burn her, Ramsey.” Finn said this without emotion, as though he tortured others on a daily basis and I should accept that fact graciously. It made me sick, and gave me the urge to slap him right across the face. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much experience in the slapping department, and I doubted I could even inflict any damage upon him. I was, after all, just a ghost here. “I will burn her, and it will burn you because of the connection. I will kill her and you as well, unless she tells me your secret,” Finn explained slowly.

“Why does my secret matter so much to you?” I asked.

“It may be the key to winning the war,” Finn informed me.

“How could you possibly know that?” I asked.

“We have spoken to many witnesses,” Wynter said.

“You mean our father, you heartless monster!” Zora cried.

“Yes,” Finn said, shaking his head. “The poor lad, it took quite long for him to die, to burn. You will die the same way, unless you tell me your sister’s secret,” Finn said.

I was horrified.

“No! You will not kill her!” I screamed.

“It’s up to her,” Wynter said.

“Wynter is right. Zora will tell us if she wants to live…and if she wants you to live,” Finn stated.

“Zora, I’m sorry. I knew this was wrong,” I apologized

I was panicking. I needed to find a way out of this, but I didn’t know how.

“I won’t tell…,” Zora repeated.

“You have to, Zora. Please. It’s our only chance.” Although I sincerely doubted that either of us would make it out of here alive. Still, I had a small glimmer of hope, and it was all I could count on at the moment.

“They…will kill…us…anyway. Get out of here while you still…can,” she gasped.

I could tell that it was hard for her to speak through all of her pain.

“I won’t leave you,” I told her.

My sister ignored me. “I…will…tell you…the secret…if you let her go,” Zora told the fairies suddenly.

“I don’t believe you,” Finn said.

“I don’t either,” Wynter agreed.

“She’ll do it. Please, believe her,” I begged them.

“I’m probably…your…only…chance at ever finding out,” Zora said weakly. “I’m the only one left that knows and would even think of telling.”

Finn and Wynter exchanged glances. They believed Zora. I did too. But I wondered what she had meant by her last phrase: “I’m the only one left that knows and would even think of telling.” Who else knew – our mother? Or was she dead like our father?

I didn’t have enough time to think about it. I had to focus on getting out of here.

“We know that, but we can’t risk you going back on your word,” Finn said.

“I’ll make an oath. I swear to you…in five nights’ time, after you tend my wounds…I’ll tell you about Ramsey,” Zora said.

I knew the “tending wounds” part was really just Zora’s way of stalling so I would have enough time to find her, if I even managed to do so. I nodded slowly in agreement.

Suddenly, a light radiated around Zora’s body. Fear gripped me as I thought she might be dying, going to the white light. But then the light formed into a large ball of glowing fire and flew from Zora and into Finn’s chest. He shook for a moment and then went still. Finn nodded to Wynter.

“She has sworn. Elves cannot go back on their word. It is one of the strange curses they carry. In five nights, she will tell us,” he confirmed to his guard fairy. Then Finn turned to face me. He was looking directly at me, though I knew he couldn’t actually see me. Somehow, he could feel my presence. “Go home, Ramsey,” he said, “and don’t bother coming back. We will find you next time.”

“I’m sure you will,” I said sternly. I turned to Zora and whispered in her ear as quietly as I could so only she could hear, “I will save you.”

She nodded and then tried to smile. It didn’t look like much of a smile. She was too hurt to even fake happiness or hope. I still had hope, though, and that hope would lead me to her. I believed in that, even if it seemed impossible.

“Goodbye for now, fairy friends,” I said, and then I concentrated on going back.

It took me until now to realize how much pain I was in as well, being too worried about Zora to notice prior to my leaving. Now her wounds cut deep into me. I couldn’t breathe. I focused as hard as I could on going back, afraid I wouldn’t make it and be stuck here, dying from all the pain.

But darkness finally washed over me one last time.

***

I opened my eyes slowly – and painfully – to the sounds of voices all around me. I could tell I was being carried on some kind of stretcher, but I didn’t know to where or by whom.

“How long has she been out?” a voice asked.

“A little over an hour,” I heard Addison reply.

I recognized her voice at once. I prayed Stellan was with her, that he was all right.

“Why can’t we remove the diamond?” I heard a worried Stellan ask.

I sighed with relief. He was okay. But was I?

“It could kill her,” the voice from before said. “If she were still connected, she would be stuck there in spirit form. She wouldn’t be able to survive very long after that.”

“We have to get her out of this. They could be killing her,” Stellan pleaded.

“We have to wait,” another voice told him.

“Her eyes are open!” Addison gasped.

I saw all four faces peering down at me. The burning was subsiding, but I was still in a great deal of pain. I didn’t want to move or respond, even though I wanted badly to tell them what had happened. I was afraid the throbbing would become worse if I tried to speak.

“She has come out of it. Take off the diamond,” an elfen voice instructed.

I felt Stellan taking the diamond off. My skin was on fire from his touch, and not in a good way.

“Give it to Gavin,” the elfen told Stellan. “Gavin, fly back to the palace and give this to Queen Taryn. She needs to have it inspected for spells and magic. Then she will have it destroyed.”

I saw the elf beside her nod and take the necklace from Stellan. He was an elf; how could he fly to the palace? His next move explained everything. He shook a little, and then in a flash a small hawk sat in his place. It was holding the Mood Diamond in its beak. The bird screeched and flew away. The sight was puzzling and odd to me. However, I couldn’t watch much longer before an elfen’s face came into view.

“Ramsey, my name is Danica. I’m a close friend of the Queen’s and part of her special guard. We are taking you to the palace so our chief healer can help you. You have several injuries, if you hadn’t realized,” she told me.

“What?” I gasped. “You’re serious?”

I had real injuries?
How?
I was only supposed to feel the pain, not actually have wounds, after a connection. I didn’t come back with wounds after the first meeting with Zora.

“The fairies put a spell on the Mood Diamond,” she explained.

“I knew that already. It was so they could know when I arrived,” I said.

“They put on more than one spell,” Danica revealed. “One was to alert them of your arrival, and the other was to have you share all of Zora’s physical and emotional injuries. They don’t want you to find Zora, so this slows you down. You have severe burns on your neck, face, and arms, and cuts on your hands. You are also extremely dehydrated. Luckily, the spell wasn’t strong enough to give you the full extent of Zora’s pain. You have a mild case, and our healer is excellent with his ability.”

“Yeah, it isn’t as bad as in the connection,” I added.

“But it
is
still dangerous. We need to have you healed very soon. I said our healer was exceptional, but only if we can get you to him quickly,” she explained.

“Okay,” I said, trying hard not to panic or cry. Nervously, I prayed that we would make it to the healer in time.

“Try not to talk,” Danica suggested. “Save your strength so the healing can be successful.”

I nodded just enough for Danica to understand. It hurt too much to do anything else. The three of them carried me in silence. Danica asked Addison and Stellan not to say anything to me in case I would try to respond. Yet I could see clearly what they wanted to say to me by the expressions on their faces. They were scared for me, angry with me, and in pain because of me. I was hurting them again, and it was more painful than any of my wounds put together. I was feeling guilty for what I had done, and what I had caused.

I felt tears fall from my eyes and run down my cheeks. I wanted to wipe them away, but the injuries on my arms felt like hot, burning flames.

Stellan used a free hand to wipe the tears off my cheeks for me. His hand lingered on my face. I smiled. He didn’t smile back. I knew he wouldn’t. He was too upset. Instead, he kept looking ahead. I could tell he wanted to talk to me, but Danica had made it clear that he couldn’t.

The injuries hurt badly. However, this pain was different from before. Last time I hadn’t felt Zora’s injuries in the same way. They were more like ghost pains. This time it was for real.

I winced each time the stretcher moved too much. I swear I received one million apologies from Addison and Stellan. It was all they would say to me. I kept my mouth shut and stayed as still I as I possibly could. I knew listening to Danica was crucial, and I trusted her judgment.

I drifted off quite often. The pain made me delirious and too dizzy to keep my eyes open. Soon after I would drift, though, someone would wake me up. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to sleep after sustaining serious injuries, but how could I help it? The pain was both tiring and nauseating. Sleep was my only comfort.

“You need to talk to her,” Danica decided later. “She needs to stay awake. It’s too risky for her to be sleeping at a time like this.”

She sounded a little upset, but I could tell that it was just out of worry for me. I was very grateful for the care she was giving me.

“I’ll talk to her, Addison; just focus on communicating with Queen Taryn,” Stellan told his sister.

“Okay,” Addison replied. She nodded and briefly closed her eyes.

“You’re trying to reach the Queen?” I managed to ask.

“Addison is sending the Queen messages on how you are doing and how far away we are. Before you ask, we are a few hours away. Remember how I told you Tarlore lies in a valley? Well, before the valley is a long stretch of grassland, and before the grassland is the forest we were in when the air fairy attacked. Right now we are walking across the grassland. That is the only way to get to the valley. And yes, we are tired. But you are worth it.”

I smiled and this time he returned it. I instantly felt a little better.

“But why aren’t we teleporting?” I asked.

“It’s too risky to move you so quickly. You become dizzy when you teleport
normally
. In the state you are in now, there’s no telling what aftereffects you may experience.”