Parallel (3 page)

“There lies our path. Do lead the way, friend,” he said, looking at Ava. Enchanted, she didn’t protest, but instead walked straight into the fairy tunnel. The inside looked like the night sky. While dark, fireflies danced among the leaves, making the tunnel glitter and glow. Ava did her best to keep her gaze forward lest anything jump out at them unexpectedly, but short of a few fireflies buzzing in her face, nothing happened. A glowing light at the end of the tunnel appeared, and when Ava reached the end of it, she truly lost her breath.

The fairy pool shimmered with golden light. It was covered in emerald lily pads with amethyst flowers. Bright green moss grew all around the pond, and it sank like a sponge under each step. As though in a trance, Ava walked to the pool’s edge and sat on the welcoming poolside.

“What have you done?”
a voice whispered into her ear. Ava glanced around, but saw no one.

“What do you mean?” she whispered back into nothingness. She glanced over to see Hunter and Avalon taking a seat across the pond from her, smiling together. Ew. Avalon could do better.

“A man in fairy territory…the Queen is not going to be happy about this…”
the voice warned. And still Ava saw nothing. Who was talking to her? Hunter took Avalon’s hand, and she blushed again. What was going on? They met like an hour ago!

A series of bamboo spikes shot up all around them, thorny vines weaving a tight fence to lock them inside. Ava shot up, locking eyes briefly with Hunter, who had his bow nocked with a stone tipped arrow as he wildly looked for something to shoot. The leaves above them began to shake and tremble in an invisible storm until the entire forest ceiling took the shape of a gorgeous woman’s face. Her appearance might have been more beautiful if it weren’t scowling. Then she yelled.

“Who
dares
to bring a man into my fortress? Who would dare bring this creature into the realm of the sacred feminine?”

Ava scowled at Hunter, wondering absently if she would ever look at him with any other expression. Probably not.

“Hey Hunter. Were you aware that you’re not actually allowed to be here, by any chance?” Hunter actually had the good judgment to look sheepish. Not that it helped them now.

“I mean, I thought if I had female escorts, the fairies might make an exception for me. Couldn’t hurt to try, right?”

“It could! It could hurt to try, you idiot!”

“Enough!” boomed the Fairy Queen’s voice. It really wasn’t hard to guess that this was the queen. Everything about her tone demanded deference. She thundered on, and Avalon winced, cowering behind Hunter.

“Clearly the ladies were tricked by the manipulative and conniving man, as all women are by their male counterparts! We will not punish you for your poor judgment, fair ladies, though you can rest assured you will never be welcomed here again for your foolishness. We do not kill those who do us wrong, Man, but punishment is warranted. I believe the usual will do—a life sentence as one of our fireflies.”

Slowly it dawned on Ava that the fireflies who had been frantically flying into her face were either trying to warn her or beg for help. She swallowed. Avalon grasped Hunter’s hand; his face was alabaster white.

“Your Majesty, please!” Ava cried. Unnervingly, the face turned directly on her. Its expression was not a pleasant one.

“You. Child of another world. You do not belong here any more than he does. Do not try to save him or yourself. The only innocent here is the girl, and I hardly want to reward her for helping two such as yourselves. Your presence is only stoking my rage—I cannot bear it any longer! You must all die! You simply must!”

“We will not! You shall not best us today, nor any day that follows, creature!” Hunter screamed and let loose a series of arrows at the trees, all of which passed harmlessly through. Through the brush Ava saw several pairs of glowing eyes appearing all around them. Wild cats, bears, sharp toothed carnivores she couldn’t even name, all began to creep into the clearing, eyes intent on their prey. The bamboo prison barrier began to lower, the vines unwinding and sinking back into the mossy ground.

Ava braced herself for death.

Chapter Three

“PSSST.”

Ava swatted at her ears. She heard an annoyed snort.

“I’m not there, dummy. Look, grab your friends and run back through the tunnel. I’ll try to hold them off. Run back to the hunter’s trap, and I’ll meet you there.”

Great, Ava thought. Now the invisible voices in her head were telling her what to do. Without an alternative though she decided it would be best for her to listen. She looked at Avalon who stared fearfully back. If they really were the same person, she would understand Ava’s gestures. She nodded to the tunnel and then held up her fingers, counting down from three. Two. One.

Ava bolted for the tunnel entrance, Avalon and Hunter close behind her. They heard a screech as the Queen urged the beasts give chase. The tunnel behind them closed and began collapsing at their heels. Ava’s shins splintered in pain as she sprinted as fast as she could, Avalon and Hunter at her back. The fireflies had disappeared, leaving them in pitch-black as they raced toward the light at the other end. They burst through, and Ava spared one last glance at the glittering fruit as they ran past.

Once they reached Hunter’s trap, they collapsed on the ground, and wiped stinging sweat from their eyes. The collapsed tunnel seemed to have stopped all their pursuers, but Ava looked around just to be sure. Red spots danced across her vision, and she sat up slowly to avoid passing out. Hunter was sitting up, too, helping Avalon to a sip of his canteen. Her eyes glittered with gratitude. Ava gritted her teeth.

“Okay, we’re here! You can show yourself now!”

The forest was eerily silent. Hunter looked at Ava like she was crazy, and then his expression changed as his gaze drifted past her shoulder. He stood, his hand on his bow. Turning, Ava grinned.

A snowy white unicorn stood under a stream of sunlight dancing with rainbows. Its charcoal black eyes unreadable as it stared at the group of young people. It slowly clip-clopped past Ava and stood in front of Hunter, whose hand was still resting protectively on his bow. Lifting its head, horn up in the air, it shoved its lower snout into Hunter’s chest, knocking him on his butt.

“
You idiot! You could have all been killed because of your selfishness. If my higher moral principles weren’t so strong, I would have walked away. I could just live out my eternal life in peace. But you had to stir up the fairies, didn’t you?”

Ava glanced at the other two to see if they could hear the unicorn’s voice in their heads too. Having never had a collectively telepathic conversation before, she wasn’t really sure how to act, so she just stared at the unicorn’s twisted, sharp horn. This could be a problem. Also, the unicorn’s voice was gravely and male, which was not at all what she would have expected. Avalon spoke up.

“Sir, we have come seeking your help and here you are! Please…the only reason we were at the fairy pool was to find you!”

The unicorn huffed.

“
Why would a unicorn be by a fairy pool? Unicorns are violently against the tyranny of the Matriarchy. We’re all about equal rights.”

“But I thought you only liked young maidens. Usually those, um, that are pure of body,” Avalon whispered, going red. The unicorn pawed the ground in agitation.

“What? That is the most sexist thing I have ever heard. Where are people getting their information these days, the town fool? Girl, you can do whatever you’d like with your body—equal rights for life! Unicorns stay away from people because all they ever do is ask for favors. I don’t have time to be granting favors for every person I come across!”

“Then what are you up to right now, that’s keeping you so busy?” Ava asked. If a unicorn could hem and haw, this one did just that.

“Look, I’ve got grass to eat, and stuff. It’s none of your business! The point is, I saw the fairies about to commit a wrong and I righted it. Task completed. Have a nice day.”

The unicorn began to trot off, and Hunter made to tackle it. Ava threw up an arm to hold him back. She had an idea.

“Unicorn!”

“My name is George!”
George huffed and kept walking.

“Um, okay. George. You say that people are always after you for favors. But what about you? Is there anything that you need we can help you with?”

George stopped and turned around, staring intently at Ava. He sniffed the air, his nose leaning in the general direction of her bag. To Ava’s surprise, his mouth began to water. Unicorn drool—gross.

“What…what do you have in that bag there? It smells delicious!”

Ava opened her pack and pulled out the ruby apple. George whinnied in delight.

“A ruby apple from the fairy garden! We’re never able to get in there, because fairies are jerks. They’re so delicious! I would have that from you, lady, please! Please, please, please!”

George nosed the apple with wild hunger in his eyes, but Ava pulled it away. George stamped the ground, and Ava tried not to look at the enormous twisty knife on his head.

“You can have this apple, friend, no problem. But first you have to bring us to a witch. I need something that can get me back home, and if Hunter’s telling the truth, he needs something to save his mother’s life.”

“I am telling the truth!” Hunter protested. Avalon grabbed his arm and shook her head. Mollified, he settled for a dirty look at Ava. Nothing unusual there. George seemed to consider this bargain carefully. Finally, he lowered his head.

“I agree to your terms. I will take you to the nearest witch I know, Espera. She is very good at what she does and should be able to help you. But then I get my apple! Deal?”

“Deal,” Ava said, patting George on his flank. He accepted her caress grudgingly. When he didn’t move, Ava asked, “So, where do we go?”

“Nowhere, for now. I don’t like to travel at night. Make camp, and I will take you to Espera in the morning. I’m going to eat grass.”

George stalked off into the woods and disappeared. Ava heard him noisily chomping the ground some distance away. She looked at Avalon.

“You okay?” she asked. Avalon seemed so fragile, which was sad. Ava wanted her to be a little more…well, resilient. Avalon nodded.

“This is much more of an adventure than I bargained for. I’ve never left home in my whole life!”

Ava stared.

“But…you were so quick to help me, to take me out to seek the witch. I just assumed this was something you might have been used to.”

Avalon shrugged.

“Nope. I’ve lived quietly with my uncle, doing the proper reading and helping around the house and such, but I’ve never been one for adventure. But you’re so capable, Ava. I wonder that we’re so different, when we’re supposed to be the same.”

“Nature versus nurture, I guess,” Ava mumbled. It still seemed strange.

“Well I for one couldn’t be happier with the difference. Now, please make yourself comfortable, Lady Avalon, while I make us a fire and look for some food to eat,” Hunter said as he rose and began collecting dry wood and tinder for a campfire. He paused when he got to Ava.

“Ahem, um, thank you for negotiating with the unicorn. And for leading the way out, back there. Maybe you’re not so bad after all,” he said, glancing up shyly at her. Ava rewarded him with a small smirk, and grasped his outstretched, spit-free hand.

“That young woman over there is some variation of me, Hunter. If you hurt her, I will turn you into a firefly and squash you.”

Hunter stared back at her, solemn.

“Understood,” he said, before heading off into woods turned indigo and pink by the setting sun. Ava joined Avalon on the soft grass and hugged her knees. There was nothing worse than free time—all she could do now was think, and that was never a good thing. She glanced sideways at Avalon.

“So…who knew unicorns were such jerks, am I right?”

Avalon chuckled. She gazed out in the direction Hunter had gone, but said nothing.

“So what is it between you two, anyway? You’ve been looking at him like he’s the best thing since sliced bread all day.”

“What’s so great about sliced bread?” Avalon asked, then shook her head. “Ah, never mind. We don’t have much time to go over the differences of our worlds. The truth is, I’ve never traveled, Ava. I’ve never wanted to. I like being at home. But there has always been a part of me that wondered, what if? What if I just went out into the world, and saw what it was about? I mean, we just met a unicorn who completely changed our perception of what he is. What else don’t we know? As for Hunter, well…” Even in the growing dusk, her blush was visible. “He’s the first man I’ve ever met outside of my village. I’ve never known anyone like him.”

Ava remembered when she had first laid eyes on Mason.

She was the new kid, as all military brats are, over and over again. She sat in the back of the class, per usual, and tried to look invisible. She’d gotten used to moving around, not getting too close to people. But this time was different. Her dad had decided to retire early so she could stay at one high school all four years. He’d made enough money to do so, and then some—he was an excellent investor. Mason plopped down next to her, and he immediately took off his hat and slid it onto her carefully prepared first-day-of-school hair. She jumped.

“What are you doing?!” she hissed. Mason smiled, his blonde hair cut short, removing any risk of hat hair.

“Well, that’s my hat, so now that it’s on you, you’re no longer the new kid,” he’d said, melting her heart. She’d laughed.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” she’d said. Mason grinned.

“Life rarely does.”

Ava turned to Avalon and gave her a hug.

“Thank you for helping me. For being brave and stepping outside of your comfort zone. The world can be a strange place. I don’t know where I would be right now if you hadn’t taken me in.” To her surprise, Ava’s eyes burned with tears. She was finally processing all that had happened, and a tidal wave of repressed fear, anger, and stress washed over her, leaving her exhausted. Avalon held her tight and wiped a tear away with gentle fingers when she pulled back.