1.5 True of Blood: Kallen's Tale (6 page)

Chapter
5

The night was not as restful as I hoped it would be.  Sitting on a limb and sleeping can be a dangerous thing if you have never done it before.  I almost fell off several times, each time jarring m
yself
awake and running my adrenaline into high gear.  It took forever to fall back to sleep each time. 

Morning has come
now,
and t
he occupants of the house are awake.  Lights have turned on in several windows, and the spirits have looked out at me a couple of times.  They can look all they want; I just hope they stay inside to do it.

Soon, a
tingling in the back of my
head
warns me that
Maurelle
and
Olwyn
are near.  Great, at least I can take my annoyance
and lack of sleep
out on them.  I guess I should warn those inside, though.  It is extremely unlikely that either Fairy will get the better of me, but just in case, I begin cawing loudly. 
Maurelle
will probably know that it is me, but it is still preferable to screaming at the house.  That done, I return to my Fairy form so that I am less vulnerable.  And considering I do not appreciate
Maurelle’s
assessment of my physical form when I am sky clad, I create clothing for myself.
  Out of the corner of
my eye, I see the Witch spirit coming through the wall of the house.  I do not believe the other Fairies have noticed her yet; their attention is too focused on me.

Maurelle
and
Olwyn
approach in their animal forms. 
Maurelle
is able to shift into several different types of canine, but
Olwyn
is always a mountain lion.  Jumping down from the tree, I grab the bag Tabitha packed, waiting for them to shift.  They certainly won’t maintain their animal forms
while attempting to kidnap the girl.

“Kallen, how lovely of you to join us this morning,”
Maurelle
says
,
in that sickeningly sweet voice she uses when she is trying to tempt me.  Suddenly, my body temperature is about ten degrees colder. 
Must be the shudder that has just run down my spine.

“
Maurelle
,
Olwyn
, it
is
as unpleasant to see you this morning
,
as it has been each time in the past.” 
Maurelle’s
hazy green eyes tighten around the edges as she tries to maintain her dignity.  She is failing miserably.

Olwyn
, on the other hand,
is feeling
aggressive
this morning.
  “If you throw another dart at me, Sheehogue,” he says this as if it’s a dirty word, “I will kill you where you stand.”

I can’t help a small chuckle.  He is such
an idiot
. 
“Just because you are the Pooka King’s runner does not mean that you are more powerful than I am.”
  When I say runner, I mean lackey. 
Lackey who is sent out to do
Dagda’s
dirty work, and not getting a bit of respect while doing it.
 
From the King, or anyone else.

Maurelle
finds
her voice again. 
“I am sure King Dagda will be surprised to hear his favorite
nia
has turned
Brathadóir
.  We will be sure to inform him when we bring him your body.” 

I am
a
traitor?  I am here to prevent their line from losing itself to darkness, but they have no comprehension of that. 
I am completely disgusted, and I know it shows on my face and in my voice. 
“King Dagda may have you on a leash like the dog you are
,
but he has always known my position on reopening our world to this one.  I will not let it happen.”

Olwyn
grins.  “I will take great pleasure in proving you wrong.”

I
can barely
see the Witch spirit
now,
because I ha
ve
shifted my position
to keep her out of view.  I know she has something up her sleeve. 
I hope it is something good. 
She is whispering, and I am trying to hear what
she is saying
,
but I cannot
as I am forced to listen to these two yammer on.

A look of surprise passes over
Maurelle’s
face
as she shifts her body slightly
.  I believe she has just realized w
e are not alone.  She turns to get a better look
at
the
spirit, and as she does, the Witch
raises her arms and something explodes from the ground
.  Having been aware that something was about to happen, I lunge backwards, hoping to miss any of the iron
that is
now
rain
ing
down on
Maurelle
and
Olwyn
.  As it hits them,
many
of them puncturing their skin
, large bloody welts appear
all over the
ir bodies.  Clothes would have been a good idea
on their part
. 

Despite my best efforts, a
single
piece of iron finds its way inside of me.  The pain is like none I have
ever
felt before.  But, I still have to do something about
Maurelle
and
Olwyn
.  Taking the last couple
of
Fairy darts from my bag, I find a surprise at the bottom.  Tabitha put two homing
talismans
in here.  I just may miss
her
most
of all
. 

The pain of the shrapnel is getting worse, causing me to fall to my
knees
.  So,
w
it
h as much strength
as
I can muster at the moment, I f
ling
the Fairy darts and the homing talism
a
n
s
at
Maurelle
and
Olwyn
.  In an
explosion of black smoke
, both work their magic and the two Fairies are sent back to wherever they entered this realm.
  Now it is time to focus on removing the iron from my side and healing myself. 

Great, now Xandra is running over to me
.  Her presence on top of the Pooka, feels like a nightmare inside of a nightmare
.  Her mother yells at her to stay away, which I appreciate, but she does not listen.  Somehow, I know she is going to make the situation worse.  Maybe her soul is riddled
with bad Karma from previous lives
or something
.

“Kallen, are you alright?” she asks.

“I am well enough.”
  I try to keep my voice even, hoping she will believe me.  No such luck.

She
snort
s, which adds yet another negative trait of hers to the list
. 
“Liar.”
  Maybe if I
ignore her, she will go away, so I do not reply to her rude comment.

Turning back towards
the spirit, she
say
s
, “We have to help him.”

The Witch
shakes her head adamantly.  “This could be a ruse, Xandra.  They may have planned this so that we let our guard down.  We can’t do that.”
  Yes, because we Fairies always choose to poison and weaken ourselves in attempts to win battles. 
It has become a tried and true method over the years.  Who are these people
and how do they function with this level of stupidity
?

T
he girl does not give up.  She gives her mother
a sour look
and says,
“So, we’re just supposed to leave him out here to suffer?  I don’t think he’s faking his injuries
,
and he did make the other Fairies disappear.” 
She is making me sound
as if I am an injured puppy she has found by the road. 
Looking back at
me
,
she
ask
s
, “Where did you send them, anyway?”

Apparently, ignoring her is not working.  Maybe if I answer her questions, she will
then
be satisfied and go away. 
At this point, I am willing to try anything to make that happen
, because I need to find something to heal this wound
.  O
r I die.
 
“They have been sent back to the passage to the Fae land.  If the passage was open, they would have been thrust through it.  The best I could do was having them start from the beginning.  Their injuries will stall their return.” 
The pain is seething through my
veins
now.

I have had my hand tight against my side, covering my wound, but now I can feel
the
thick, sticky blood flowing through my fingers.  If I do not try to find medicinal herbs and plants soon, the poison will spread to my primary organs and I will die.

Unfortunately,
Xandra notices the blood. 
She
amps up her argument, and pleading, as she and her mother go back and forth a bit more.  Meanwhile, neither is paying attention to the fact that

Xandra gives her mother a final, “
Please
.
”
Also, p
leading with her big green eyes
,
the color of
polished emeralds,
to the best of
her
ability.
  I have to
admit,
I would have a hard time saying no to those beautiful eyes.
 
Which annoys
the hell out of
me.

The spirit
looks torn as she looks back and forth between
me and Xandra
.  Finally, she lets out a long sigh
and begins saying a spell
to lower the Fairy trap temporarily
.  Witch
magic is so odious, the way they need to call upon the forces of the world instead of drawing on the magic that flows within them. 
But, I guess it gets the job done, because I can feel the Fairy trap opening a way for me.  She waves her hand at me as if she wants me to follow her and Xandra into the house.  Sure, if only I had the strength to rise from my knees.
  Do they not understand what iron does to Fairies?
  The time I have wasted here, talking to them
and listening to them argue
, has allowed the iron to seep too far into my system.  I can feel myself weakening as each second passes.

Xandra is ap
proaching, and around her neck still,
is the Fairy repellant.  Now what is she going to do to me?  I lean away as she nears.
 
Putting her hands on her hips, she asks,
“Do you want help or not?  My dad’s a doctor, he could tell me what to do.”

Oh, please, let the Cowan spirit who probably knows even less about Fairies
than
she does, come to my aid.  I am sure all will turn out for the best
, now
.  I cannot help but scoff
,
“When is the last time he treated a Fairy?”

For a moment, she seems stumped.  Then, she says,
“I’m sure between him and my mom they can figure something out.”

Doubtful.
  But the poison is spreading
,
and I am
definitely
too weak now to search for the plants I would need to make a healing salve. 
In all honesty, I never would have found them in time in this strange forest buried in snow
, anyway
. 
Tabitha had not even thought of this scenario when she packed my bag of goodies. 
Since
I am in
such
serious trouble, I really have nothing to lose at this point. 
A sharp stab of pain in my abdomen makes my decision for me.  A give a slight nod and attempt to arise. 

Xandra’s hand reaches out for me.  Good lord, does she want me dead?  I yell, “No!” just as he
r
mother says,
“Xandra, don’t touch him!”
  The smart genes must run on her Mother’s side.  As recessive genes that skip generations.