Eternal Promise (Between Worlds Book 3) (9 page)

Chapter Ten

L
ost in thought, I trailed behind Kallan and Drake while they led the way through the meadow. They were talking about sports, comparing theirs to the human ones. Nothing I cared to discuss. The hot sun shone down from the pink sky. I took a swig of water from the canteen type thing Azura had given me. There didn’t seem to be an end to the meadow. I couldn’t see anything but tall grass and blooming flowers.

A white fog came out of nowhere and quickly surrounded us. I looked up and found myself in what almost seemed to be the eye of a storm. Where had this come from? My breath quickened and I looked for a place to run to, but there was no exit. I couldn’t see beyond the fog that trapped me.

I felt Kallan behind me. Just his presence calmed my body. “How do we get out of here?” I asked loudly.

“Being a faery means listening to your body. Becoming one with nature. Feeling life all around you. Let the world talk to you. Close your eyes and hear the air, let it speak to you.”

“From a human standpoint, you sound crazy!”

He tightened his grip. “Try it.”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I remembered how it felt to bring life back to that dead field. Instead of fighting the air swirling around me, I embraced it. The change was dramatic. It felt like the air was flowing through me. I steadied my feet, letting them feel like they were rooted into the ground. My head tipped back a little. I could hear Kallan’s voice even though it was just a whisper. “Feel the air. Let it move through you. Become it.”

I concentrated on the wind and after a few seconds I could no longer feel my body. It was like my body was the wind.

“Now stop it.” Kallan’s voice was still clear.

In my mind, I yelled, “STOP!” and then instantly I felt my body again. My eyes popped open and I looked around. The fog was completely gone. The sun shone down again like nothing had happened.

I glanced over at Kallan and a smile broke across his face. “You’re awesome,” he said.

“No. That was awesome. I’m never going to get used to all this.”

Drake pointed ahead. “The entrance to piskie forest is over that bridge.”

Piskies. Funny little playful faery-like creatures. This part of the adventure should be easy. The trees soon towered over us and the cutest giggling came from every direction. I loved the laugh of the piskies, it was pure happiness.

“The faster we get through this part, the better,” Drake commented.

I rolled my eyes. This part wasn’t dangerous, it was fun. I’d rather drag my feet through here, than be in Targore or some other part of the realm that would freak me out.

The bridge, as Drake called it, was a tree that had fallen over a chasm. Below was a fast-moving river. I could hear the roar of a waterfall. I wondered if the party had been at the other end of it. I looked over the edge. The fall wasn’t too far down, but I’d never be able to swim fast enough to get myself out of the water. I couldn’t fall. Adrenaline pumped ferociously through my body.

Drake went first, sliding one foot and then the next along the tree. He did it with such ease that it looked simple.

“Go ahead, Rylie,” Kallan said from behind. “Remember you’re a faery. This is normal, natural. Don’t freak out.”

I nodded and climbed up on the tree. Carefully, slowly, I stepped sideways again and again. I kept my focus on the other side, knowing if I looked down or back at Kallan, I’d lose it. My knees wobbled and I felt a slight wind push against my back, keeping me from falling backwards. Quickly I sidestepped toward Drake, who stretched out his hand to me. I grabbed it and my feet were on the ground again. I fanned my face with my hand and took deep breaths to calm my pounding heart.

Kallan and Drake took the lead again. “We just go straight through the forest. Don’t stop, don’t look, just go. Should only take us a few minutes to get to the other side.”

A giggling came from right behind me. I spun around and found a tiny blonde piskie with translucent wings fluttering in front of my face. I smiled at her. She flew in a circle and headed toward the woods. “Wait!” I called out and ran after her. Where did she go? Suddenly she peeked out from behind a tree and waved. I laughed and skipped toward her, feeling happy and free. She flew in circles around me and then darted in between trees. I chased her for a while, until I was out of breath. I leaned up against a big birch tree. She hovered in front of my face for a while and then reached out to touch my birthmark. It tingled when her tiny fingers met the star.

In a little squeak of a voice, she said, “Aurorian.”

I nodded. “Yes.”

She didn’t say anything else. She just smiled and flew around some nearby flowers. She motioned for me to follow and we danced in the meadow.

“Rylie?” Kallan snapped his fingers in front of my face.

“What are you doing?” I pushed his hands away.

“Are you okay?” His eyes were wild with fear.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Um…you wandered off. We couldn’t find you.”

I rolled my eyes. “So I was gone for a few minutes. Chill out.”

“Not a few minutes, Rylie, a few hours.”

“Hours?”

“Yes. You’ve been gone for four hours.”

“No…”

Drake nodded, confirming. Not like they could lie anyway.

I glanced over at the piskie. “What did you do?”

She shrugged and smiled at me.

“That’s not very nice, you know…although I did have fun.”

“We need to go,” Kallan insisted.

“Right. Thanks for the laughs.” I couldn’t be mad at the cute little piskie. As mischievous as they were, it was fun and I felt happier. I didn’t mind that.

“You could have been gone for days,” Kallan chided.

“But I wasn’t and you found me. You rescued me from the big bad piskie.”

“Don’t make light of it. They’re dangerous.” He looked so serious and stern.

I felt a pang of guilt. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

He pulled me into the comfort of his arms and I slowly breathed in his earthy scent. “I worry about you. You don’t know what’s out here.”

“I know. I wish there was a crash course on the faery realm I could take.”

Both Kallan and Drake laughed. Drake more snorted than laughed. I’d have to tease him about that, but now wasn’t the time. I filed it away for later. Kallan pressed his lips to mine for a brief second, causing my wings to flutter. They always gave away my deep desire to be with him.

Kallan grabbed my elbow like there was no way he was letting me get lost again and led me out of the forest. When he still didn’t let go, I nudged him and said, “Why don’t you hold my hand instead? Makes it seem less like I’m a prisoner and more like your girlfriend.”

“You’re more than my girlfriend,” Kallan said as he dropped my arm and took my hand.

“What am I?” I asked.

“You know what you are.”

“I still like to hear it.”

“You’re the love of my life,” he said. “My soul mate or as we say, mian mo chroí.”

“What does that mean?”

“My heart’s desire.”

I smiled. “I like that.”

Drake sighed. “You know, you may like to hear it, Rylie, but me…not so much.”

“Missing Sierra?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“You’ll see her soon.”

“Not soon enough. Any ideas yet?”

“No.” I felt bad. I hadn’t been able to figure out how to keep them together. I was hoping it would just dawn on me.

“We’re counting on you.”

I could feel the enormity of his words. “I know.”

“We need to cross the stream,” Drake said.

“Does this land belong to anyone?” I asked.

“No. It’s neutral.”

We came upon the meandering stream and sat next to it. Kallan handed me something to eat and I gobbled it down. When I was finished, I lay back and closed my eyes. The sun felt good on my face and I thought about Kallan’s phrase, mian mo chroí.

From underneath me, I felt a rumble and my eyes popped open. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Kallan asked.

“You didn’t feel something shake?”

“No.” Kallan glanced at Drake, who shook his head.

That feeling that I had felt at the waterfalls washed over me again. A sadness, a hurt—something was off. I didn’t know what it meant or where it was coming from and that bothered me.

As soon as we crossed over the stream, four goblins appeared with sharpened sticks pointed at us. “Why are you here?” one of the ugly creatures asked.

I looked from the one to the others. Three of them were brown and the last one was green. They were all thin and scrawny with pointed ears.

Drake answered, “We’re just passing through.”

“You’re not welcome here.”

“You don’t own this land,” Kallan said firmly.

The goblins hissed, showing their pointy teeth, and looked at each of us. “You shouldn’t be here. Go back the way you came.”

Kallan put his hand on his dagger. “Back off, goblin, before I slit your throat.”

The goblin’s eyes narrowed. “Soon, you’ll be the ones begging for mercy.”

“What do you mean?” Drake asked.

The four goblins cackled—an awful sound that made my head hurt and my wings flutter.

In a flash, Kallan’s dagger was in his hand and he lunged at the green goblin. The goblin made no attempt to fight. Instead, they ran away into the dark woods to our left.

“What the hell was that all about? Goblins aren’t common in this part of the lands,” Drake bellowed.

“Sounds like they know something we don’t,” Kallan replied.

“I don’t like it.” Drake scanned the area.

“Can we go?” I asked. “This place gives me the creeps.”

Kallan took my hand and we headed across the field.

Chapter Eleven

I
gripped Kallan’s arm when I saw something move in the distance a couple of hours later. Kallan laughed and said, “Don’t worry. These hills belong to the dwarves.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Dwarves were friendly.

“Oleander! Wonderful to see you.” A two-foot-tall dwarf waddled over to us.

“Hi, Dain.”

“You remembered!”

“You are the only dwarf I’ve ever met.”

His eyes twinkled and he chuckled. “Well, come meet some more.”

We followed Dain over a hill and into a meadow full of small stone houses. A hundred pairs of wide eyes were on us as we approached. Looking down at the dwarves, I felt like a giant. It was different than how I felt with piskies, even though they were smaller than dwarves. And every one of them had beards. Females and males alike.

“Everyone! This is Oleander, our Aurorian!”

And then everyone bowed.

Um…what? “Why are they bowing?” I asked in a whisper.

Kallan responded, “The whole Aurorian thing.”

The blood rushed to my cheeks. “Well, this is embarrassing.”

“Embrace it,” Kallan said.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Just say…uh…thank you?” He sounded unsure.

“Thank you, friends,” I said hesitantly.

The dwarves stood up and set their gaze on me. Dain motioned for us to take a seat on the ground. “What can I do for you?”

Remembering that he had mentioned being a miner and finding crystals, I told him, “We need to find a blue lace agate stone. Can you help us?”

He nodded thoughtfully. “They’re pretty rare in this area, but I think I know where to find one.”

“Which cave?” Kallan asked.

Looking over at Kallan, he said, “Crag.”

Kallan let out a groan.

“What?”

“It’s just never easy,” he said, shaking his head.

“I’ll go with you.” Dain looked up at the sky, his mouth twisting, and he said, “Although the walk isn’t too far, it will be dark soon. Why don’t you join us for dinner and we’ll go first thing in the morning?”

Kallan looked between Drake and me. “Fine by me.”

“Sure,” I said.

“I’m starving!” Drake exclaimed.

“Wonderful! This way.”

“What’s wrong?” Kallan asked me as we followed Dain.

“The women have beards. It’s weird.”

“It’s only weird to you because you didn’t grow up thinking it was normal.”

“You have a point.”

Dain stopped in front of one of the stone houses. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared inside. A moment later, he reemerged with a female dwarf. “This is my wife, Munnia.”

Munnia curtsied. “We’re honored you’re here.”

“We don’t wish to impose,” I told her.