I looked at her suspiciously, not moving. I was still considering making a break for it.
“Come. Don’t be shy. Your friend paid dearly for these things. You don’t want him to wake up and find out that you left them behind, do you?”
She was right, the horrible bitch. I stood cautiously. “What do I have to do with them?”
“The brew? Bring it to the witches who are caring for your friend. They will know what to do with it. Tell them Maggie sent it.”
I walked over and took it from her while keeping my eyes on her the entire time. No way was I going to totally trust a hag that turned my feet into roots and whacked my friend in the head with a spoon. I hoped like hell the witches in the compound could test this brew before they dosed Chase with it.
She held up the leaf. “Eat this. Swallow all of it.”
“Why? What is it? What will it do?”
“It is a laurel leaf dipped in an oil extract of mullein and ... some other things. After its digestion, you will be able to hear the voice of your pixie friend and the voices of other smaller fae as well.” She leaned in closer to me and dropped her voice. “Be sure this is something you really want to do, before you commit. Once the leaf is eaten, there is no turning back.” Then she laughed her ass off over some private joke I probably didn’t want to know the punch line of.
I took the leaf from her and looked down at my friend. He was lying there, still passed out from his wooden spoon concussion. I only thought about it for one second before I popped the leaf into my mouth and started chewing. He had made this sacrifice for me; I wanted to be able to hear whatever it was he wanted to say to me, from now until the day he flew out of my life.
“Fuck balls, this shit tastes horrible!” I stuck my tongue out, broken pieces of bitter, burning leaf stuck to it.
“Eat it all, and swallow it too, or its effects will be ... unpredictable.”
I chewed, trying hard not to gag. I’d never tasted anything so bad in my entire life. It was like licking a car battery and the bottom of a dirty broom at the same time. Yeah, it was that bad.
I swallowed with effort, pieces of the leaf still floating around my mouth, sticking to the sides and back of my throat. I think I would have sacrificed Tim’s other wing for a soda right then if someone had offered.
I moved towards the door, still chewing and making horrible faces that reflected the taste sensations going on in my mouth. I held the bottom of my tunic up gingerly, trying to make sure my pixie sling didn’t move too much.
“Well, thank you for ... ack! ... everything. I’m going to try to remember to be grateful to you, even though right now I hate your bloody guts.”
The witch smiled. “I just adore your honesty. Come back and visit me again! Bring another of the wee folk. I can always find a use for their wings or toes or horns or eyeballs ... ”
I stared at her in horror. “You’re nuts, you know that?”
She shrugged. “I’ve heard worse.”
I walked out the door, but remembered I’d forgotten something. I turned to ask her the question. “Hey, you said you felt me on the ley lines.”
“Yes. I did.”
“Can I do that? Feel other fae on the lines?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Do you think ... ” my mouth was moving too fast for my head to catch up. I almost asked her if we could spend some time training together. Was I nuts? “Never mind. Goodbye.”
“What? What were you going to say? The truth, girl! Tell me!”
“I was going to ask if you thought we could train a little together, but then I decided that was a bad idea because you’re a fucking nut case. And that’s the truth.”
The witch smiled, totally unoffended by my insult. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
I laughed nervously. “Actually, I don’t. I followed the pixie here. I have no idea where I am.”
“You are in the Dark Forest.”
“The ... Dark Forest?”
“Yes.”
“And who exactly lives in the Dark Forest?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
“Why the Dark Fae of course.”
“Holy shit!” I jumped from the doorway and started jogging away from her, back in the direction I had come. I shouted over my shoulder, breathless with nervousness and fear, “I have to go now. See you later!” Like in a hundred years, I muttered under my breath.
I talked to my unconscious friend while I ran, picturing the door at our compound as hard as I could. “I cannot believe you brought me into the Dark Forest. Are you nuts? What if they catch me out here? What if I get lost?”
I heard a moaning, and I slowed down to a stop. What the fuck was that? I could hear a man groaning now and it was getting louder. Holyshitholyshitholyshit ...
“Oh, damn, my head is killing me. And my back ... what’s wrong with my back? Oh no, my wing! My wing is gone! Oh boy, I forgot how much that hurts. Oooh, that stings!”
“Tim?” I asked tentatively.
“Jayne?”
“Tim, is that you I hear bitching about your back?”
“How can you hear me? I can’t even see you. Where am I?”
I pulled out the edge of my tunic, revealing a stunned Tim rubbing his head and squinting up at me.
I smiled, seeing that my friend was still alive. “Hi!” I said cheerfully. Then I remembered that he had brought me into the Dark Forest. “Oh, and when we get back, I’m going to think about pulling your other wing off – and this time without the wooden spoon anesthesia.”
“You can hear me!” he yelled, trying to jump for joy but falling on his ass because the bottom of the tunic sling was too wobbly.
“Oh, man that hurts. My wing stub is on fire! Did she just pull it off or did she use the powder?”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “She used the powder. Did you realize you were bringin me into the Dark Forest?”
He had the decency to look guilty. “Yeah, well, that’s where she lives.”
“Well, a little warning might have been nice. I could have brought reinforcements or something.”
“She doesn’t like the Light Fae. And if you travel in groups, you’re easier to spot. We were better off alone. Did you get the potion for your friend?”
“Yes, no thanks to you. Well, actually, yes, thanks to you. But we’ll talk about it when we get back. I need you to help me find the way.”
“Get me outta here and I’ll see what I can do.”
Thirty minutes later we were standing in front of the door to the compound. I was never so glad to see a gargoyle in my life.
Before I pushed the door open, I waved my hand in front of the symbol, just for the hell of it. There was no corresponding clicking. That was probably a good thing – in retrospect, locking the door while I was on the outside of it in Dark Fae territory wasn’t the smartest idea I’d ever had. I really needed to get better at that ‘looking before I leap’ stuff.
I ran down the hall to the infirmary, busting through the door as soon as I saw it appear. There was a group of medical looking people standing nearby in some sort of little meeting.
“Hello, medical people. I’m, uh, sorry to interrupt, but this is a life or death situation.” I held out the blue jar. “This is from the witch, Maggie. It’s for my friend Chase ... ” I gestured to his bed at the end of the hall, “ ... the daemon down there. She said it’d cure him. And we have to hurry or he won’t be curable.”
One of the fae men came over and took the bottle from me. “You said this is from Maggie?”
“Yes.”
“Maggie of the Dark Forest?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me sternly. “And you fetched this from her there?”
“Yes! Enough with the questions already! Just take care of him, would you please?”
“Of course.” He handed the bottle off to a fae woman who moved with two others down the aisle towards Chase. “But we are also required to report
the origin of this cure to the council.”
“Whatever. Do what you have to do, tattletale. Just hook my daemon friend up. My buddy Tim and I went through a lot of shit to get it.”
I looked down in my tunic sling where Tim had gone back to rest. “Come on Tim. Let’s go back to our room.”
He just grunted. I could tell he was in pain.
I turned back after a second. “Hey ... do you guys have painkillers for pixies?”
The old man looked at me, frowning. “Did you say ‘for pixies’?”
“Yes. My pixie friend, who is totally harmless so don’t freak out, uh, lost his wing today and he’s in pain. Do you have anything that can help him?”
The doctor looked at me suspiciously. “I am duty-bound to help any fae in need. But I would be less than honest if I didn’t tell you that helping a pixie is a dangerous thing for me to do. For my health.”
“Well, I promise he won’t hurt you or send you to crazytown. Just help him. He sacrificed his wing for my friend over there.” I gestured to Chase with a tilt of my head.
“The witch demanded a wing for the cure ... and he gave it?”
“Yes. Willingly. I said no and he said yes. So what’s it gonna be? Are you gonna help him or run like a scared little bitch?”
The doctor flinched at my choice of words, but he held out his hand. “Give him to me. I will see what I can do.”
I reached in and picked Tim up.
He moaned and griped at me, “Just let me be. I’m fine. Ooch, ow! Watch it. The stub is sensitive!”
I carefully placed him in the doctor’s hand.
The doctor lifted Tim up to look at him closely in front of his face. He smiled. “Fascinating. So perfect in every detail ... ”
Tim looked at him bitterly. “Please tell him to move his face away. His breath stinks like orc dung.”
I cleared my throat. “Um, you’re making Tim nervous. Maybe not so close?”
“Oh, yes, of course,” said the doctor, lowering Tim down to a small surgical tray on a nearby table. “Let me see what we have that might help.”
“Crikey, this tray is cold!” yelled Tim.
The doctor searched a nearby cabinet for something and came back a moment later with a small, white packet, handing it to me. “Tell him to take one small piece of this herb and chew on it after eating. It has the same effects as the human painkiller called aspirin I believe, only it will not thin his blood and it will reduce swelling.”
“Thank you,” I said, holding my hand out for Tim to climb on. He sat down on the edge of my palm and I carefully lifted him up and put him back in my tunic.
“Good luck,” said the doctor, watching us go out. “You can come back to visit your friend in a few hours if you’d like.”
I nodded and left the room. I wanted to get Tim to bed and get some food for both of us.
We got to the lunchroom, but no one was there yet. I grabbed two tokens from the basket because I knew I was going to be asking for some extra stuff soon. I left the lunchroom and walked into my room just as Netter was finishing his magic cleanup.
“Hey, Netter. Here are a couple things I picked up for you.”
He frowned at them. “There are two. That isn’t proper.”
“Yes, well, I need you to get me some things. Plus I’m super happy with the makeup you got for me. It was perfect.”
Netter looked down at the floor shyly. “Netter is good at finding things, that is true.”
I moved closer to him and spoke softer. “You see, Netter, I have this ... very small friend. And he’s injured. So I need a couple things to help him. Do you think you could find what I need?”
“I am sure that I can. I can find anything. Anything at all.”
“Okay, so what I’m thinking is, I need some sort of miniature bed, miniature side table, and miniature dresser. Basically everything I have here in this room, only in a very tiny size.”
He looked at me confused. “How tiny?”
“Like pixie-size tiny.”
Netter’s eyes bugged out. “You have a pixie in here?!”
I held up my finger and put it over my mouth. “Ssshhhh. He’s sleeping.”
Netter leaned in towards me and whispered, “Did you know that pixies can be very dangerous?”
“Not this one. He’s my friend. So can you get the stuff or not?”
Netter stood up proudly. “I will find these items. It is a good thing, though, that you brought two tokens of appreciation. This is a hard task.”
“Thanks Netter. I knew you could do it.”
“I’ll be back before nightfall with the articles you have requested.”
And then he disappeared, before I could think to say goodbye.
I looked at my clock and saw that it was only ten o’clock. More than enough time to take a nap and rest my weary feet. I took Tim out of my shirt and placed him in my top drawer under a fresh tunic. He was sound asleep, and I hoped he’d stay asleep a while longer so I could rest too.
I lay back on my bed, lacing my hands behind my head, ready to drift off into a peaceful slumber. Just as I was nodding off, I heard a weird noise. It sounded like someone far away sawing wood. What the hell? Then the sound went away. I closed my eyes again, ready to fall asleep, and then the noise started up again. Who the fuck is sawing wood while I’m trying to sleep?
I got up straining my ear to listen for the source of the noise. It sounded like it was coming from across my room. I heard it again and quickly tiptoed over, following the sound. It was louder near the dresser. As I looked at my dresser, I heard it again. I got closer and realized it was coming from the top drawer. I slowly opened the drawer and lifted the tunic.
Tim was lying there, sound asleep. Snoring. It sounded like he was sawing logs.
The immensity of my predicament suddenly hit me. My hearing was so acute now, I could actually hear a pixie snoring. What the fuck have I done?
Chapter 22
My real training began after lunch that day. Word got around that I had ventured into Dark Fae territory without a daemon and without the adequate skills to protect myself, and it sent the whole compound into a panic, even though it was generally agreed that I had done the right thing, now that we knew that Maggie’s potion had worked and was able to pull Chase back from the brink of death. My training and the training of the other changelings were made a top priority. No more leisurely days and lazy meals for us. Now that they had success with the changeling program and were going to be ramping up the recruiting, they had put the effort into formalizing the training program. Once again, it was Jared’s duty to get all of this done, and he was no slacker.
I thought I’d learned a lot before, but it was nothing compared to what the next several weeks brought – not just for me, but for all of my friends. Once I had learned about the existence of ley lines from old crazy Maggie, and did a little bit of searching on the Internet, I was able to incorporate that information into my training with the green elves, the silver elves –mostly Céline and Dardennes even – the werewolves who are, believe it or not, excellent trackers and group hunters, and the dwarves, who are the most amazing axe wielders. And their strength training? Blessed Mother Earth, Moon, and Sun, they are the toughest task masters. But thanks to them and all the others, I am one badass elemental now, on the inside and on the outside.
I’d never been in great physical shape like this before, and I’d never felt this confident. Another bonus was that I’d learned some new swear words to add to my repertoire, but I found they were lacking a little oomph. I only used them on the old fae – they seemed to be the only ones shocked by them anyway. One well-placed Blessed Mother Earth, Moon and Sun and everyone’s panties would be in a bunch. Some of them even scolded me, which was hilariously fun to instigate.
It was with this newfound confidence that I swaggered into the dining room for breakfast, Tim on my shoulder showing off his newgrown wing that was as green and opalescent as the other old one. He kept jumping off
and doing pirouettes in the air just because he could. I was smiling at his antics, not even noticing the fae around me. I came up to the table that held my friends and finally noticed that there was something going on. Everyone looked really serious.
I looked at their sober faces, my smile quickly fading from my face. None of them had plates yet and they were all staring at me, as if waiting for me to say something.
“What?” It was creepy, having them all focus on me like that.
“Where have you been?” asked Becky.
“Out ... ” I didn’t want to admit that I had actually been in the Dark Forest again. I had taken to going out to visit Maggie every once in a while. It’s just that one day, when I was out training with Tim, he’d noticed some mushroomy green thing growing on the roots of one of the trees we were near, and he told me how much she prized them. I asked him on several occasions how it was that he knew all this stuff about her and her preferences and brews, but all he’d ever tell me is that he had spent some time with her. It was a sore subject for him, and I’m not sure how much of it was due to her clipping his wing for Chase’s brew and how much of it was due to something else. He was clear about one thing though – apparently she had some kind of weird hang-up about green ingredients. She thought everything she brewed had to have something green in it or it wouldn’t work. That’s why Tim’s wings were especially valuable to her since they were not only green but also pixie wings, which have powerful magical properties to them.
So, anyway, now whenever I found something green that Tim thought Maggie could use in her brews, I’d bring it to her. I figured one day I might need her again for one of my friends, and it wouldn’t hurt to have her on our side. Plus she was an encyclopedia of information about ley lines and the energy that flows through The Green. It was she who had taught me how to use the ley lines to my advantage. It was so much easier to channel what I needed and how I needed it using these conduits. And they were all over the world. Her house went right over one, which made it much easier for her to do her spells. Today she had taught me how to locate them, so even if I wasn’t standing over one, I could still sense where they were. It’s not that I needed them, but they did make what I do easier and more effortless.