Altered Souls (14 page)

He left
the ceremony as his dirty work was
completed
for him. Everyone was clearing out pretty quickly, leaving a
querulous
energy behind. As if some of these people wanted more.

“Let’s get out of here,” I whispered to Logan. “Everyone’s leaving, I think now’s our chance.”

Logan nodded and quietly grabbed the paddle as he dipped it gently into the water, wiggling it softly enough to get the canoe moving. I looked one more time in the direction of my aunt and mother, only to be horrified as my eyes locked with my aunt’s and she gave a quick nod.

“We’ve got to hurry,” I pleaded. “I think my aunt saw us.”

Our canoe floated behind the thicket of brush, enabling Logan to sit up and paddle quicker to our entry point.

“There’s no way,” he finally replied in a hushed voice.

“I really think she did,” I protested.

“Let’s hope not.”

Several sets of flickering silver eyes met us along the bank.  I glanced at Logan who wore a dubious expression as he steadied the canoe. I was frozen in the canoe with absolutely no intention of leaving the safety of the lake, which had quickly become my new favorite place.

My solution quickly became challenged as the silver flecks began moving toward the canoe. Did these things not need land?

“What’s going on?” I muttered, afraid to look away.

“Remember those creatures you said you didn’t believe in back at the cottage?”

Wracking my brain for what he was possibly referring to, I watched as these brilliant little creatures completely circled our canoe. I didn’t know how I could be afraid of something so tiny, but they carried such a life force.

“Faeries,” I whispered in disbelief. “I had no idea.”

“Tried to tell ya,” Logan whispered.

“Are they on our side or not?”

“No idea,” Logan replied, as he steadied the boat. “Time to tap into those other life forces, babe.”

The arrowhead pendant I’d worn since I found it in our attic began to warm against my skin. My fingers grasped tightly around the metal as I let the energy run through me. The dark
ness
of the night held nothing but whispers coming at me from every direction.

“Do you hear that?” I asked Logan.

“Nothing at all,” he replied.

I reached for Logan’s hand as the fairies lit the entire area with a luminescence that would’ve blinded most and forced Logan to close his eyes, leaving only me to see the tiny creatures all around us, hovering.

The fairies were no bigger than my palm. They were lanky in form but with a delicateness that was otherworldy and inviting. Their wide eyes held a brilliant curiosity as they took me in as much as I took them in. Their tiny mouths were not moving even though I heard their whispers. I needed to understand their cries — their language. I wanted to reach out but was afraid I would frighten them. One of the more capricious of the fairies, slowly extended its miniature hand toward me, and in turn I felt compelled to return the gesture.

Upon lengthening my arm, the fairy swarm stopped their whispers. Blackness replaced the silver of their eyes as they opened their mouths to display jagged, ivory teeth. My father was no longer our most immediate threat.

Bowing my head in an apology, I awaited their decision. If my mom’s stories had any validity, we were at their mercy.

Chapter 15

The pencil thin lips of the hovering beings were pressed together as the fairies communicated with each other without ever saying a word. Their eyes slowly drifted back to the bright silver that greeted us earlier.

Logan sat down next to me on the canoe bench and held my hand. We were completely at their mercy. These tiny creatures held a power that most humans couldn’t dream of — if the stories I grew up with were true.

I reached up to my pendant, which began getting warm once more, in hopes that I would hear their words.

The whispers were now more distinguishable and far more spirited in tone. An excitement buzzed around the group that I
hadn’t
pick
ed
up on before. Although none of the fairies were asking me anything directly, they were asking one another questions about me.

“Is she really the one?”

“Does she have the pendant?”

“Does she know about us?”

“Where do we take her?”

“Can the male with her be trusted?”

I squeezed Logan’s hand as apprehension began spreading through me.
Oh, no.  I think they have me confused with someone else and once they realize it, what will they do with us?
My hand left the pendant and their voices were silenced. I looked at Logan who only nodded at me. Placing my hand back on the pendant I waited, for what I wasn’t sure.

After listening to the fairies get their line of questioning sorted, the fairy I
’d
attempted my failed gesture of peace with, began speaking.

“Do you know your place in the world?” The male fairy asked, flying to only a few feet from me, taking me by surprise.

Anxiety filled my body. It felt like our lives depended on these answers, and I had nothing more to give than the truth and the truth wasn’t much.

“It seems to be coming to me in pieces. I want to stop my father from whatever havoc he’s trying to cause in whatever world he’s trying to cause it in. I want my mother back, but other than that I don’t know,” I replied, looking into the glimmering eyes of the questioner. “That’s why I was here at the lake. I wanted to see my mother.”

“We know, dear,” A female fairy moved forward. She had a maternal quality about her — something I craved. “My name is Bakula. Pardon our manners. We aren’t used to having to explain ourselves. His name is Dace.”

“Nice to meet you both,” I bowed once more, but my voice gave me away. I was terrified. “This is Logan. His mother’s been captured too.”

Dace ignored my niceties and fluttered about, directing the other fairies to create a way for us to leave the water.

The fear lifted slightly at his gesture, but when I attempted to stand up in the canoe all of them rushed toward me. Glancing quickly at Logan he was smirking.
Why was he so at ease?
And before I knew what was happening, the fairies lifted me up and carried me to the bank.

“We didn’t want you to get wet. We’ve got a long night ahead of us and don’t have time to waste with human problems,” Dace said pointedly.

I looked over at Logan who was being treated to the same transportation mode. His smile was pleasant and without any of the fear that certainly traced my lips.

The fairies grabbed the canoe out of the water and quickly flew to our car where they strapped it on top and created a foliage camouflage that was undetectable no matter how hard I stared.

“Come, Triss,” Dace replied in a husky voice that didn’t match his diminutive size.

I reached my hand out to Logan, and we followed the army of fairies deep into the woods with their brilliance lighting the way. Maybe the conversation my mom wanted to have with me was about this, and if it wasn’t, I’d say it should’ve been because I was completely lost.

Seeing the woods through the fairies’ perspective was brilliant. Their glow managed to bounce off the foliage, soil, and trees creating a lustrous appearance everywhere I glanced.

“It’s quite spectacular,” Logan whispered, his eyes sparkling, too, from the fairies’ presence. “Guess you should have believed me about the fairies.”

I rolled my eyes and hid my smile as we followed them deeper into the forest, unsure of where we were headed, but with every step toward the unknown, my fear diminished. Could this be the answer we were looking for?

“Look at the vines,” I said in awe, pointing up high. “I never knew there were vines on some of these trees.”

An earthy smell began to replace the woodsy smell as the trees became farther apart and we reached a clearing of sorts.

“Mushrooms,” I whispered in awe, watching fairies spring to life from the field in front of us. Hundreds of them — maybe more — offered their dazzling welcome.

“These are our ho
mes in the summer,” Bakula said.

The field was covered in a sparkling blanket, and the harder I pressed my fingers against the pendant, the more I heard their pleas.

“Come, dear. We have a lot to cover.” Bakula took off in the direction that Dace had gone.

Looking down at my feet, which suddenly felt like gigantic bulldozers threatening the homes of all the fairies, I carefully stayed on the edge of the field. Logan was behind me doing the same with each footstep, as we watched Dace and Bakula head to where the forests began once more.

“What do you think of all of this?” I whispered to Logan.

“I think they’ll do a much better job explaining your purpose in this world than I ever could,” he replied mysteriously. “I tried to tell you back when we were on Alki Beach. Remember?” he laughed. “Don’t forget
that
or us insignificant people on your climb up.”

“What are you talking about?” I giggled.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

Dace and Bakula were waiting patiently, well one was patient – the other not so much. Dace had his arms crossed and looked aggravated, so we both stepped up our pace. For such a teeny creature, he could really throw his weight around. H
e
was nothing to be messed with.

The other fairies had disbanded from our group, probably going to their homes in the field. There was a comfort in that, knowing these beings had families.

“Sorry,” I apologized, meeting their stare. “You’re much quicker than we are.”

“That we are,” Bakula hummed in a beautiful voice. “This way.”

We followed Dace and Bakula back into the woods, but this time we were immediately met with a miniature village. I stopped dead in my tracks for fear that I would step on something that was of importance to them.

“Over there,” Dace said, pointing to the side of the village where two human-sized
handcrafted
log seats were waiting for us.

If I didn’t know better, it almost looked like they were placed at the head of the village.

Careful to step on only flat surfaces, Logan and I made our way to
these
beautiful masterpieces.

Before sitting, my hand traced the vines and petals that were carved deep into the wood, layered with lighter carvings of animals and birds.

“Triss,” Logan whispered, pointing.

I followed his finger to see my name etched into the wooden surface, and my throat went dry. It was hard for me to swallow. I looked at the other chair, but there was no name engraved.

“Please sit.” Bakula motioned.

We both took our seats and I scanned the village that seemed set for nobility. There buildings were carved with as much care as the chair that I was sitting in. Little chimneys carried smoke out of the homes, and steps led to bridges that were secured to the pines surrounding us. It was quite elaborate.

Dace and Bakula moved smaller versions of our chairs in front of us, readying for a discussion that offered possibilities I never imagined. I raised my hand to the pendant and took a deep breath in.

“The night on the beach,” Dace began, and my blood froze. “Was a horrible night for fairies around the globe. We had been waiting patiently for you to turn eighteen.”

My hands began getting clammy, and I glanced at Logan for support. What all did this species know about me and why?

“Not only did you lose your mother, we thought we might have lost our only chance for continued survival,” Dace sighed.

“But all hope is not lost,” Bakula had a glimmer in her eyes. “You’re the chosen one and here you are.”

Logan reached his hand over and placed it on my knee, gently squeezing it with anticipation. No one spoke, but I needed words because that was the most unclear statement I had ever heard.

When I realized they had no intention of continuing I leaned forward and smiled, placing my hand out, not even sure why.

Bakula took this to mean something and hopped on my hand.

“Chosen for what?” I whispered, afraid the forests would hear my ignorance.

“To save us. To save the forests of the world, the animals of the world and your brothers and sisters for they are the most lost of all.”

“Humans? What do they need saving from?”

Dace laughed and so did Logan, which kind of perturbed me since I wasn’t privy to the joke.

“From themselves,” Bakula responded, smiling.

“That’s kind of a big responsibility for one person,” I said, completely bewildered.

“Well, the movement
is supported by
many participants. We were waiting for the right leader, and that is you, Triss,” Bakula said.

“How do you know it’s me and not someone else who should be helping?”

“Your lineage primed you to be the most understanding witch to have come to our world ever—”

“I don’t
feel
very understanding. I’m certainly not understanding when it comes to my father’s actions,” I interrupted Dace.

“That brings us to another problem,” Dace began again, not even bothering to answer my complaint. “Your father has been destroying our communities for a certain ingredient found in those mushrooms you saw. It’s nothing new. The family has followed us from place to place continually disrupting the purpose of these mushrooms. We cultivated them because they provide us protection. Unfortunately, your father and his family before him, realized the hallucinogenic properties. They can manipulate human desires, thoughts, and abilities. Frankly they’ve found the perfect brainwashing brew.”

“So it’s not just black magic?” I asked. “It requires
this
substance found in your mushrooms.”

“Oh yes, dear. No human, witch or otherwise, could ever have
that
type of power over another human, at least to that extreme. It takes help.”

I felt Logan’s gaze on me and turned to face him. His deep, blue eyes were filled with compassion. The burden that was being thrust upon me was nothing I thought I could handle.

“With these chemicals, it can become very easy to persuade someone to choose a path they might not normally go down,” Dace followed up.

“What do you think I can do to help?” I asked. “I had planned to go into the compound, but that was purely to get our mothers back and find out what my father’s plans are.”

“We can tell you a little bit of what your father’s plans are,” Dace replied quietly. “But it would still be quite beneficial to have you go into the compound.”

“If you already know what her father’s plan is, why should we put her in harm
’
s way? Isn’t there a way to get our mothers back without her going in there?” Logan interrupted.

“You love her,” Dace said softly.

“More than anything,” Logan nodded.

“She can cause a weakness in her father that no one else could provide,” Bakula replied.

“He hasn’t seen me for eighteen years. I doubt he holds a soft spot for me,” I argued. The mere mention of my father got my blood pumping.

“It may seem that way, but we can give you tools to accomplish it,” Dace continued.

“Like?” Logan asked on my behalf.

Dace turned to me, and Bakula hopped off of my hand to sit back down in her chair.

“We offer you our gift of foresight,” Dace replied.

“You can see the future?” I asked.

“Of sorts.” Bakula looked over at Logan and then back at me. “We can see every option available and based on certain actions, we can see where it all might lead.”

I thought quickly to the chair Logan was sitting in and the absence of his name engraved on it. Yet, I’m sure they knew he was coming.

Bakula nodded at me. She knew what I was thinking.

“We always have a choice,” I whispered.

“Always,” Dace agreed. “Your father had a choice eighteen years ago. Logan had a choice as well.”

The warmth spread through my body as the realization of what Dace’s words meant. I caught Logan looking at me, gauging my reaction. Dace and Bakula’s lesson was an intimate expression of our own fears and paranoia leading to a possible conclusion, and we had the power to change it.