Call to Arms

  He looked up at the silver tray on my dresser, which was now empty. “Yes, I can see that. I do love the purple ones.”

  “It’s my favorite color.”

  The brownie jumped from the corner of the room to the end of my bed, scaring me all over again; but this time I didn’t yell. I just cringed a little.

  “It’s my favorite too!” It stood there expectantly, as if waiting for me to say something.

  “Um, what’s inside the wrapper?”

  “Only the most delicious candy ever to be made! A little round morsel of heaven. The food of the gods. Eating it transports me to another realm, I tell you. Nothing like it.” The brownie leaned in conspiratorially. “Would you like to see?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure.”

  He pulled the purple token from his pocket and slowly unwrapped it. I watched his face as he went through the motions of very carefully untwisting the ends and gently peeling back the edge of the wrapper. He was like a little kid at Christmas.

  Inside the wrapper was a chocolate ball.

  “Do you see? The delicious goodness? The delightful brown goodness?”

  “Dude. It’s a chocolate ball.”

  “No. This is heaven.”

  “Looks like a chocolate ball to me.”

  The brownie hurriedly rewrapped the token and carefully placed it in the breast pocket of his vest. “I do not know anything of this ‘chocolate’. You are a confused fae girl and I will forgive you for not appreciating the magical delishitude of the tokens.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a word.”

  “Yes, and yet you call my delishitudes ‘chocolate’ which we both know isn’t a word, so I already know you are not to be consulted when it comes to proper vocabulary.” He nodded his head once for emphasis.

  I smiled, laughing inside. Some brilliant fae had figured out brownies were mad for chocolate and had wrapped up some stupid chocolate balls in shiny wrappers to use as bait to get them to clean shit. Awesome. I’d bet I could blow this brownie’s mind with a bag of peanut M&Ms. Maybe I’ll have Tony send me some.

  “I am almost done with your room. If you will allow me, I will finish now.”

  “Yeah, sure, knock yourself out. I’m just going to lie here on the bed and stay out of your way.”

  The brownie pulled a cloth out of one of his pockets and began moving around the room, wiping down surfaces and generally stirring up dust. I’m no cleaning expert, but his technique didn’t look very effective. Oh well, so long as I didn’t have to do it.

  “I will now take my leave, unless there is anything you specifically desire me to find for you.” He stood by the door, stubby but delicate fingertips from both hands pressed together down by his waist. He gave me the impression of a tiny English lord, only with a pointy nose and ears. He looked a little like pictures I’d seen of goblins, only without the sharp teeth, claws, and lumpy head. For the most part, his body was proportionate – just very small. Smaller than Becky. Maybe about the size of a smallish dwarf.

  “I could really use some black eyeliner and some black mascara. Oh, and a disposable razor for shaving my legs.”

  “What kind?”

  I frowned. Did he want a brand? Probably not. “For the eyeliner, the kind that you twist and it comes up – waterproof, black. For the mascara, whatever, I don’t care what type. Just black. And the razor? I don’t know. Blue?” I couldn’t think of any brand names on the spot like that.

  “Consider it done. You have the good fortune to have Netter as your brownie. Netter can find anything. Have a nice day.”

  He snapped his fingers once in the general direction of the room’s interior and opened the door, leaving before I could thank him.

  I looked back towards my dresser and saw that all the dust particles that had been floating around in the air were gone. Not a single speck remained. Weird. I guess his technique did work.

  There was a knock at the door. I got up to answer it, opening the door to reveal Dardennes standing there. I backed up a little, instantly worried. I doubted that he made personal calls to the rooms of fae changelings very often. It had to be about Céline.

  “Good morning, Jayne. How are you?”

  “Uh, I’m fine. How’s Céline? Is she okay?”

  “Yes, she is recovering nicely from her ... shock. I will be taking over your training for today. She will be back with you tomorrow. Please follow me.”

  I glanced back at my room as I moved to the doorway. I really would have preferred to stay there instead. I couldn’t trust myself to be polite to Dardennes but I felt bad about Céline, which was putting some reins on my temper. I decided to go without argument. I owed her that much at least.

  He led me out of the compound and out through another forest door which opened up next to a lake. I looked around, suddenly recognizing where we were.

  “This is the Lady of the Lake’s place.”

  “Yes. Her name is Naida.”

  “I have a different name for her.” I was staring menacingly at the water, hoping she’d show herself so I could have a few words with her.

  “Yes, well, I think she would prefer you use her given name, rather than any ... nicknames.”

  “Whatever you say. So, what are we doing here?”

  “We are here to test your affinity to Water.”

  “Ah. And how are we going to do that?”

  “Come with me.”

  I followed him down to the water’s edge.

  “Naida. Please come to say hello.”

  There was a disturbance out in the middle of the lake. I could see something was moving beneath the surface towards us. The Loch Ness Monster came to mind again.

  “Hey Jayne!”

  I grabbed my heart, trying to keep it from exploding.

  “Becky! Where the hell did you come from?!”

  She was standing by my left elbow, a big dopey grin on her face, as usual.

  “The water, of course.” She nodded her head towards the approaching Naida.

  “How come you teleport and she does the Loch Ness Monster routine?”

  Becky shrugged. “She prefers a more dramatic entrance, I guess.”

  Dardennes stood off to the side, a small smile playing on his lips.

  “Well, appearing out of thin air and scaring the shit out of me is pretty dramatic.”

  Becky smiled. “We water sprites have a flair for it, I think.”

  I smacked her, and she grabbed her arm, feigning injury. “Watch it, Jayne, or I’ll sic the big bad Naida monster on you.”

  “Pfft. I have a feeling that’s what’s supposed to happen here anyway. I hope I don’t bite the big one.”

  “They wouldn’t let that happen to you, Jayne.”

  I looked over at Dardennes who was engaged in conversation with Naida, now that she had finally finished her creepy entrance.

  “I’m not so sure about that.”

  Becky looked over at Dardennes and Naida. She whispered, “I don’t know the specifics, Jayne, but you’re going to be tested today. But don’t worry, they won’t let you die. You’re important.”

  “How so?”

  “I’m not sure. But everyone is saying it. Something about stuff you did in the forest.”

  I cringed, wondering if she was talking about the stuff I did during the test or the recent near-killing I did of Céline.

  “Are you talking about Céline?”

  Becky looked confused. “What? No. What about her?”

  I shook my head. “Never mind. I’ll tell you later.” Dardennes stopped talking with Naida and came over. “Looks like I’m up.”

  “Jayne, Naida and I have discussed the situation, and we both feel the first part of this ... experiment ... should be for you to try and make a connection with the water.”

  “Soooo ... you want me to go swimming or something?”

  “No. We want you to just relax. Let Naida take over from here. She is the expert, not me.”

  Dardennes stepped away fro
m the edge of the lake, walking back until he was at the tree line. Once there, he turned back to face the lake, clasping his hands together behind his back.

  Becky looked at Naida and got a worried look on her face. “Um, I’m just gonna head out for now ... ”

  “Where are you going?” I asked, hoping she’d stay.

  “I ... uh ... gotta go.”

  And then she was gone. Disappeared. I really hated when Becky did that teleporting stuff. She was always either scaring the shit out of me or abandoning me in the blink of an eye.

  I turned to look at Naida. The bitch of the lake. I still had a bone to pick with her.

  “You nearly killed my friend.”

  She nodded her head at me.

  “That pissed me off.”

  She just looked at me, saying nothing, no expression on her face.

  “I think you and I need to come to some sort of understanding.” I’m not sure what I meant by this show of false bravado, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

  Next thing I knew, lake lady was standing right in front of me, two inches away from my face. Before I had time to react, she seized me with both arms in a gruesome bear hug. Gruesome because, well, she’d practically killed my friend and now she was trying to kill me too; but also because she smelled like the lake. Muddy. Fishy. Not very pleasant. Exactly how I imagined a murderous sea monster would smell.

  I struggled to get away. “What. The fuck. Is your problem?”

  She was pulling me backwards. Well, backwards for her – forward for me. She was going to try and drown me. And I was totally not thrilled with this kind of test.

  “Get. Off!” I tried to shove her away, but she was too close for me to get any leverage. My hands were trapped at my sides. I was desperately searching for a solution to my total body lockdown problem when I remembered the famous head butt move from the movies. Head butts always surprised the bad guys. Might as well ...

  I head butted her. Hard. I saw stars and was instantly rewarded with a headache. She just looked at me, totally unfazed. Note to self: never use head butts on sirens.

  We were at the edge of the water now. I could feel it at my ankles, filling up my moccasins. The water was cold. This must be what Becky went through.

  I remembered The Green and how it had helped my friends before. I sent out a call to The Green. Save me! By now the water was up to my knees.

  I saw Naida’s eyes widen, looking off over my shoulder. I turned my head as far as I could and saw the vines nearly upon us. Yes!

  Naida quickly jerked me backwards and under the water. I felt a rushing, as if I was being pulled through the water by a speedboat, farther and farther away from the edge of the lake. She still had me in a total body lock. All I could do was struggle meekly and eventually surrender. I had quickly run out of breath. I blinked my eyes underwater, watching as the last bubbles from my lungs danced up above my head, in a rush to get to the surface – the place where I wished I could be right now.

  The sounds I was used to hearing above the ground were gone. The murmur of the wind through the trees and the sounds of things moving across a ground littered with crunchy, dead leaves disappeared. This muted underworld was a perfect setting for a sea monster like her. The water was murky. All I could see was her dispassionate face and her hair, swirling around, flowing with the microcurrents that surrounded us.

  She slowly loosened her grip, letting me go. I had reached a place where I was no longer able to do what I needed to do to escape. My legs wouldn’t kick. My arms wouldn’t push through the water to get me above the surface. The burning in my lungs had already begun to fade. Strangely, however, I wasn’t panicking like I probably should have been. I felt like the best thing to do to survive was to surrender, which made absolutely no sense. Lack of oxygen was making my neurons misfire.

  My brain had barely enough signal left, flickering. But somewhere, deep down inside that last flicker, I was able to send out a mental cry for help. Someone, something, somewhere ... please ... save me.

  A warmth began to build in my stomach. It moved up and down, to my heart and my legs. To my head and my feet. Soon my entire body seemed to glow from the heat of it – this welcome fire that didn’t burn.

  The murkiness of the water dissipated. Suddenly I could see things – everything. And everyone. I was not alone in this lake with Naida. There were others, many others. Females, males, small ones, big ones. Water sprites. And fish. And creatures I couldn’t identify. And the lake wasn’t just a lake. It was huge, like an underwater city but without the buildings. I could see forever in this place. My eyesight was sharp and there were no obstructions.

  I moved my arms a little. Just a small flutter, followed by a tentative kick with my legs. I was able to move. I wasn’t in total body lockdown anymore. I moved my arms in small circles, wondering what I should do next. I turned my body in a three-revolution somersault, forgetting for a moment that I had to breathe out through my nose to keep the water from filling my sinuses. But then, I realized it didn’t matter. Holy shit! I can breathe underwater!

  It wasn’t breathing, what I was doing, not really. I had just ceased to need to breathe while I was here. Somehow my body was pulling oxygen from the water, without it going through my lungs first. This was some kind of medical miracle or something. This was better than any dream I’d ever had with underwater breathing in it.

  Naida appeared in front of me again. She didn’t look nearly as hideous under the water as she did above it. She was actually kind of pretty in a way, down here in her world. She raised her hand up slowly, placing it on my upper arm. She held her other arm out, gesturing towards the area behind me.

  I turned and saw the wavy outline of a figure, standing on solid ground at the side of the lake.

  I looked back at Naida and she nodded at me, I think telling me I had to return to Dardennes and the forest now. But I didn’t want to go back yet. I wanted to discover this place some more, now that it no longer felt threatening. I made a move to go in a direction away from shore, but several sprites arrived quickly, moving to block my progress. They didn’t look dangerous, just firm. Apparently not drowning did not automatically qualify me for free reign of the water sprite kingdom.

  I looked at Naida and tried to say thank you, but my mouth filled with water. I guess not all laws of physics ceased to operate in this realm. I nodded my head and put my hand over my heart, the best imitation of an underwater thank you I could come up with. She bowed her head to me in recognition. Amazingly enough, I no longer wanted to punch her in the face. She had shown me some of her special magic today, letting me see her world – even after I gave her a massive head butt. I knew this was an opportunity few people, or fae, would ever have.

  I turned and moved through the water towards the figure standing on the shore. It had been joined by another, smaller figure. Becky. My head was now above the surface and I could see her standing there with her great big smile and Dardennes looking slightly concerned.

  I was soaked. I slogged through and out of the muck of the lake, stopping in front of Dardennes. There were so many things I could say to him at that moment, but I went with the first one on the tip of my tongue.

  “What the fuck, Dardennes. Are you trying to kill me or what?”

  With a totally straight face he said, “Well if I am, I am doing a very poor job of it.”

  Becky looked uncomfortably between him and me, not sure if either of us was kidding. Eventually her curiosity won out over her concern.

  “So? What happened? Was it awesome? Did you see everyone? Was Naida happy? ... and why are you so wet?”

  I looked at her like she had totally lost her marbles. “Why am I wet? Are you totally insane? I practically just drowned in this friggin’ lake! I know you saw it, you sneaky, disappearing little punk.”

  “Yeah, but look ... ” She ran and jumped into the lake and then came walking out, somehow still totally dry. “I don’t get wet. How come you did?”

>   “Well, I think it should be fairly obvious ... I ain’t no fucking water sprite.”

  Dardennes barked out a laugh before he could compose himself. “Yes,” he agreed, “as you have so aptly put it, you are not a water sprite. But it is entirely clear that you do have an affinity to Water. This is good news. Come along so we can get you cleaned up. Perhaps one day you will master the trick of dry swimming.”

  I shot him a dirty look, but followed. I couldn’t wait to take a hot shower and put on some clean clothes. When I was in the lake, the water looked crystal clear, but looking down at my once white tunic now, I realized that the water must be enchanted or something to make it appear that way. I was covered in all manner of ... muck. Fish and sprite poop probably. Ew.

  “I’ll see you later, Jayne!” yelled Becky, heading back to the water.

  I waved over my head without looking back. I was having a hard time thinking about anything but getting clean and dry again. I was trying to breathe through my mouth so I wouldn’t smell the awfulness that was wafting up from my clothes.

  My walk back to the room was thankfully quiet. Dardennes left me at my door with instructions to get cleaned up and wait for someone to escort me to lunch.

  I took a long, hot shower and went to my room to rest. I don’t know exactly when I fell asleep or how long I might have slept, but it seemed like only minutes went by before I felt myself being lightly touched on the shoulder and my bed sinking down a little as someone sat down next to me. I opened my sleepy eyes to see Spike sitting there. He leaned towards me, a small sexy smile on his face, his eyes glowing a deep but bright red.

  Chapter 7

  “Spike?” I said sleepily.

  His lips closed over mine. They were warm, insistent.

  I was too tired to think clearly about what was happening, so for a second I started to go with it. Man, did he feel good. And the kiss? Holy shit. I could feel my engines starting to rev up in a serious way.

  But then reality started to creep into my foggy brain. What was Spike doing here in my room? Why was he kissing me?