Meanmna: Book One of the Daearen Realms (15 page)

Thursday December 18, 2014

I
set my internal alarm for
4:30 and woke up on time the next morning. It made me feel like my normal self. I left Elwin asleep when I went to take
a quick shower and brush my teeth. When I returned to our room, I found Elwin lying with his hands behind his head and his ankles crossed. He grinned when he saw me.

“
Good morning,” I said as I walked across the room to grab my brush off the desk.

“
Good morning. You’re up early,” Elwin said, watching me brush my hair.

I set the brush down and grabbed the rolled up map. “
I want to look at the map and get my bearings before we leave.” I unrolled the map. “Do Mike and Ray share a room?”

“No. Why?”

“If there’s a way to sneak out of here even earlier than six, I think we should. I just don’t want Ray to know. He gives me a bad feeling.” I straightened the map on the table and began scanning it from left to right. I ran my finger slowly from top to bottom, taking special note of major topographical landmarks like rivers, mountains, and Lake Hasani. The lake actually looked to be about the size of the Indian Ocean. I looked for the town of Caldea, where we were supposed to get out of the lake and back onto land. Elwin interrupted my studies by putting his arms around me. I sighed and leaned back. It really was amazing how safe I felt in his arms. I allowed myself to enjoy the feeling for a moment, then I squeezed Elwin’s arms and unwrapped them from my waist. “Go shower. I want to leave in half an hour if possible.” I gave him a little shove toward the bathroom.

“
Yes, Princess,” Elwin said with a laugh. He grabbed his bag from the door and walked back to the desk. “Do you want me to point anything out to you?”

“
No, I’ll memorize it better if I discover it myself. I am going to prove myself a worthy ruler to the fey of Daearen. Go. I can’t study if I’m distracted.” I pointed to the bathroom.

Elwin looked proud of me.
One look from him could make me feel such joy
.
I was going to make this happen. Not only would I prove myself a worthy ruler, I would prove that I am powerful enough to make my own decisions. I nodded to myself and my newfound resolve. Elwin gave me a brief, but knee-weakening, kiss before striding into the bathroom. I think he was humming. I went back to trying to locate Caldea.

At
5:20 a.m.,
Elwin and I left our room armed with our battle gear and ready to go. He had his spirit blade in hand and I held my wand. I still had to be careful not to accidentally stab myself, or anyone else for that matter.

Mike, decked out in gear similar to ours, was waiting for us in the hall. His utility cammo pants had even more colors than ours. He was wearing a black wife beater, and had a machete on his right hip and a spirit blade in his left hand. Mike looked at my wand, then his spirit blade, and gave me a strange look. “What’s with the wand?” he said.

“It’s one of my weapons,” I said. “You’ll see.”

I wondered if I could
talk telepathically to more than one fey at a time. I reached out to both Elwin and Mike,
I’m better at magic than combat. I’ll be less of a liability if I use my wand.
I raised my wand.

Both Elwin and Mike nod
ded at the same time, then turned to look at each other, mouths gaping and eyes wide. Then they turned to me with the same shocked expression. They both started talking in my head at the same time.

How did you do that?

Holy crap! That was amazing.

Let
’s get out of here now. We can talk one at a time, out loud, when we get out of town
. I walked down the stairs and through the shop to the street. Tessa was waiting outside with three seahorses. She smiled and did the heart-fist-bow thing so quickly I would have missed it if I had blinked. I walked up and gave her a hug.

You honor me with your strength, Princess Sarette
,
she said mentally.

Well
, that got around fast.
I thought to myself as I walked to my seahorse.

I got on the seahorse and took
off behind Elwin. I looked back in time to see Mike give Tessa a kiss.
Good. All is forgiven.
The seahorses were very fast and we made it back to the canyon in no time. We dismounted, thanked our ride, and walked into the cramped space in the same order as we rode: Elwin in the lead, me in the middle, and Mike bringing up the rear.

Mike
broke the silence. “So how did you talk to us at the same time? No one can do that.”

I
thought about it for a second and decided to go with my gut
. I’m going to show Mike my magic
, I warned Elwin. I turned around and put my wand in its pocket.

“C
an I show you something, Mike?” I didn’t wait for an answer before I put my right hand up like I was holding a serving tray.
Fire
—a small flame appeared in the middle of my palm. Mike’s eyes got bigger.
Water
—a miniature rain cloud appeared and put the flame out. Mike’s jaw dropped.
Air
—a tiny tornado came down from the cloud, sucking all the manufactured elements and weather events off  my hand. Mike was leaning against the cavern wall for support.

I smile
d a small, devious smile, then flipped my hands like a magician showing that my hands were empty.  I flexed and spread my fingers like a jazz hand, then wiggled them. Below, a rock wiggled and then rose into my hand. I looked at Elwin, expecting him to be angry. Instead, he looked as shocked as Mike did.
I should play this cool. Of course I can do that—I’m Sarette, Princess of the Spirit Fey, for goodness sake. Yeah, right. Just shrug it off like it was no big deal.

Mike ca
me back to reality first and said, “That was amazing! You might be the most powerful fey ever born even with a human half. Let’s go. We need to get you to safety.”

W
e all took off at a jog through the canyon.

There wasn’t much talking as we walked through the tight cavern. When we came to the end, Mike used his magic to roll the boulder out of the way. After we walked into the first crevice that we had passed through the day before, we turned left to exit into an open area I recognized. I was good at remembering directions, distance and spaces. I knew we only had one more bend to go before we reached a one-hundred-foot stretch to the entrance of the reef mountain. When we got within five feet of the bend, Elwin surreptitiously hugged the corner and glanced down the corridor.

Elwin glanced at us and whispered, “S
omeone is blocking the exit.”

Mike squeezed
by us to take a look. His face was grim when he slunk down the wall.

“
There’s no point in hiding. I know you’re there,” Ray shouted from outside the cavern.

“Why are you
here, Ray?” Mike shouted from his seated position. I could see heartbreak written on Mike’s face. He shook his head and stood. “Ray, what are you doing here?”

“
I’m hurt, Mike! I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

“
You didn’t answer my question, Ray. What are you doing here?”

“
Wasn’t I supposed to be here? Weren’t
we
supposed to do this together? Imagine my surprise when I discovered the three of you had already left when I woke up this morning.” Ray’s mocking hurt was starting to piss me off.

A woman screamed.

“Who is that, Ray? What are you doing? Why are you here?” I had a feeling I already knew the answers to my questions.

“Oh
, Princess, only yesterday you were but a footnote in my plan. But then Tessa forgave Mike for being a liar! Unfortunately, Tessa has proven she is not smart enough to be my queen.”

“
Leave me and get the princess out of here!” Tessa screamed. A loud smack echoed down the cavern. Mike broke from our grasp and ran around the corner. Elwin and I were right behind him.

Ray was outside the entrance looking at us. Tessa was unconscious. Ray was holding her up by her long blond
e hair, gripping it near the scalp and wrapping it around his arm. From the look of her battered face she had been used as his punching bag. Ray pointed his wand at us, a black sphere of light gathering at the end. He flicked his wrist and the ball flew toward us, gathering mass as it accelerated. Elwin grabbed me, pushing me and Mike behind the corner. Elwin followed, pushing us even further out of harm’s way. The sphere of black light hit the cavern wall so hard the sonic boom knocked all three of us down.

“
You said that no one can use magic against another fey here.”

Both Elwin and Mike answered, “You can’t.”

“I don’t think Ray got the memo.”

“
I’ll tell you what, Brother. I’ll let you have Tessa if you give me the princess. What do you say? A trade? Sounds like a great deal to me. It’s definitely a good deal for Tessa.”

A noise sounded in the cavern
. Elwin, Mike, and I all raised our heads to look. A fifty-foot eel-looking creature with black scaly skin, red beady eyes, and jaws that could literally bite a man’s head off blocked the path. With every wheezy inhale it took, a puff smoke out came out of its gills. Elwin and Mike released me; Mike picked me up and set me on my feet.

Ray laughed like an insane evil clown, “
Do you like my new pet? I don’t know why eascaans have such a bad rap. She’s actually really handy to have around and has done such great job convincing other fey to join with me. She eats whoever doesn’t want to side with me. It’s a win-win—I get followers or she gets breakfast.”

My eyes were locked on the
giant sea creature as it slowly glided through the water.

Mike pul
led his sword. “Elwin, you have to get Sarette out of here!”

Elwin looked around the corner and then looked up, “I think the only way out of here is up.
You have to fly us.”

“
We can’t leave Tessa and Mike.” I panicked.

“Yes, you are leaving, Sarette
! You are more important than all of us. I will keep the eascann busy so it doesn’t go after you. Now go!” Mike charged the eascann.

I grab
bed Elwin’s hand and said, “Light as air.” Elwin and I rose to the top of the cavern where we could see what was happening below.
I can’t leave Mike down there.
I dropped off Elwin on the top of the reef and jumped back down before he could stop me.

I looked at Elwin and he yelled,
“Sarette, no!” I put my finger over my lips to shush him simply because I had no idea what else to do.

I landed, gave Elwin a
“thumbs up” sign, and then peeked around the corner. Tessa was lying in a heap behind Ray, who was pacing back and forth, not really paying attention to our whereabouts. He probably assumed we were dead, or would be soon.

Think! T
hink, Sarette! What would Katniss Everdeen do? She would kill the eascann and look like a bad ass doing it.
The fight on my other side was not going well. Mike couldn’t get close enough to strike because the eel kept shooting streams of fire at him. Mike had avoided disaster so far by jumping, ducking, and weaving. He was getting tired and the last blast almost got him.

I
pulled my sword. “Up!” I raised ten feet in the crevice. “Over!” I moved to the left until I was above the eascann’s monstrous head. I held my sword with two hands and pointed it down, “Down!” I dropped, burying my sword all the way through the eascann’s head and drove it into the ground below. The creature let out a high-pitched whine as it died. I braced my feet and tried to yank my sword free. It was stuck, so I tried again; this time it came loose with a hard tug and I fell ass over tea kettle and into Mike’s arms.

“I owe you my life, Princess Sarette of the Spirit Fey. I pledge my life to you.” Mike set me down and did the
heart-fist-bow.

“
Let’s get Tessa so you can pledge your life to
her
, okay?” I said, and peaked around the corner. When I saw that Ray was still pacing and distracted, I came up with an instant plan. I telepathically spoke to Mike and Elwin simultaneously
. Elwin, move to where Ray is. When I distract Ray, climb down behind him. Mike, you get Tessa out of here.
Mike and Elwin nodded in agreement and Elwin took off along the top of the reef mountain.

Sarette
, I’m in position,
Elwin spoke silently. I took a deep breath and started screaming at the top of my lungs as I ran down the tiny space. Ray looked at me with an evil grin. Elwin dropped behind Ray and was in position to strike when my concerned glance at Elwin betrayed us. Ray pulled his sword from its sheath, turned swiftly, and started attacking Elwin. I ran out of the crevice, leaving the clanking of battle behind. I ran past Elwin and Ray to Tessa. I was trying to get her to wake up when Mike emerged from the crevice and ran to us.

“Oh
, baby, I’m so sorry. Please be okay.” Mike sat down and pulled her into his lap.

Tessa groaned and opened her eyes a little. She reached up and wiped the tears off Mike’s face. “I’m okay. You need to get Sarette out of here.”

“No! Mike, get Tessa out of here. I’ll be fine,” I insisted.

A
seahorse swam to us. Mike got up with Tessa in his arms and climbed onto the animal. “Godspeed and Goddess save the queen,” they said in unison, and took off into the crevice toward home.

I went back into the cavern to check on Elwin’s battle with Ray. I watched as
the two expert swordsmen circled each other, the clang of their swords echoing off the reef. Ray said something that I couldn’t make out. Elwin was thrown backward fifteen feet up the reef by some unseen force, losing his sword as he slammed into the coral. He fell in a heap but tried to find his footing and get up. With his back to Ray, Elwin stumbled into the wall and one of his hands went into the reef. He tried frantically to get it loose, but was stuck.

Ray laughed and put his wand in his pants pocket. He
raised his sword with both hands as he walked toward Elwin.

“No!”
I screamed and ran toward Ray. I pointed at him and then mimicked a baseball pitch. Ray was thrown into the air and crashed thirty feet up the reef. He began to slide down the wall, seemingly lifeless. Halfway down, his pants caught on a small outcrop and he hung there like a marionette. I ran to Elwin and pulled on his stuck arm. No luck. I waved my hand over the reef and it spread apart, giving Elwin the room he needed to get free.

Princess
, we are coming!
I heard in my head. Two seahorses were swimming toward us. Elwin and I jumped on their backs and took off along the lake floor. There was no time to talk as we focused on putting as much distance as possible between us and Ray. We had gone several miles when Mica approached from the left and joined us. We nodded to each other and kept moving. We zigged and zagged with no rhythm or rhyme until Mica took the lead position. She made a hard right and we followed her into an area that was desolate and lifeless. A burned out ghost town of a village came into focus on the horizon. I had a strange sense of déjà vu as we reached the outskirts of town. We followed the edge of a building, dismounted the seahorses, and sent them on their way. Mica led us around the building and moved a sheet of plywood, exposing a hidden door. Elwin walked in first and we followed him down a set of stairs into what looked like a root cellar.

“I heard from Mike.
” Mica was ringing her hands as she looked around our space. “Tessa is safe and will be fine—really bad bruises and a couple of stitches,” she said. “Ray must have survived, because Paul took some fey to retrieve his body, but it was gone. The backup plan definitely isn’t as nice as the original. Sorry. You won’t be here very long. Mick should be here soon with your ride. I don’t know what to say about Ray . . . I didn’t see this coming. I’m going to go look for Mick.” Mica walked up the stairs without a second look.

“S
he’s been in love with Ray for as long as I’ve known her, and I’ve known her all my life,” Elwin said.

I took off my back
pack and walked over to him as he took off his own. He wrapped me up into his arms and said, “When you dove down . . . I have never been more scared in my entire life. You can’t put your life in danger like that. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.” Elwin lifted me up and kissed me, hard. I felt weightless. Not just because I was a foot off the ground, but because I felt completely free, completely whole, and completely loved in that moment. I breathed him in and held him tight.

“
Cough! Cough!!” I heard and reluctantly pulled away from Elwin. Mick was at the foot of the stairs with a rather amused expression.

Elw
in continued to hold me up like a rag doll. “Are we ready?” he asked Mick.

“
Yes, your chariot waits. I would say to take five, but we really don’t have time,” Mick said with a grin. “I’ll give you one minute, though. Make it count!”

Mick wasn’t even finished talking before I snaked my fingers in Elwin’s hair and pulled his mouth to mine. I didn’t need soft. I didn’t need gentle. I just needed to feel alive. I turned every ounce of fear I had in my body into a passionate kiss. I rubbed my chest against his
, trying to get closer to him. I was so wrapped up in what was happening, I hadn’t noticed we had moved and the next thing I knew my back was against the wall. I used the wall as leverage and lifted my legs to wrap around his waist. Elwin made his sexy growling noise, but it turned into a regretful moan and he pulled back from the kiss.

“I think our time is up,” Elwin said breathlessly.

“I think we deserve another minute, don’t you?” I whispered into his ear and nibbled his lobe.

Elwin moved his head just a little and kissed a trail down my neck to his favorite spot above my collarbone. “Maybe one more minute,” Elwin lightly blew along the route his mouth had just taken. It sent a shiver down my spine and through my entire body. I
moaned and kissed him one more time before he let me down.

“Let’s go.”

Elwin and I went upstairs.