Robin walked over and joined the others, dropping his bow off his shoulder and into his hand, simultaneously loading the arrow as he went.
I stepped far back from and slightly behind the line of elves. I didn’t like the idea of The Green being involved and arrows going all wonky on us. Last thing I wanted to do was personally test Spike’s theory that all fae healed fast and were hard to kill. So many of the other rules didn’t apply to me – I’d hate to find out that this was one of them.
“Ready?” asked Robin in a raised but controlled voice, glancing over at me for a brief moment before turning his attention back to the targets sitting off in the distance. A line of tunic-covered arms lifted bows horizontally and pulled bowstrings back, elbows jutting out behind them in a fierce showing of controlled strength.
I didn’t hesitate – I drew extra folds of vibrating green energy into me and then wrapped them around the elves I sensed standing nearby, feeling each of their contributions to our pulsing link of power. I could especially feel Falco’s signature since it tingled a bit with his enthusiasm for the connection. Next, I pulled one elf out of the fold, the one who had given Falco such a hard time. My inner bitch smiled deviously, looking forward to the turning of tables this was sure to cause. I tried to school my outer features so no one would know who my victim was.
“... Aim!”
The line of elves raised their bows in unison until they pointed halfway to the sky. The soon to be deadly discharge of their weapons filled me with awe and more than a little bit of fear. Man, I was so glad I wasn’t going to be on the receiving end of that firing squad.
“... Release!”
I watched as thirty or so wood shafts tipped with arrows and finished with feathers sailed out from the line and through the air, all but one headed out towards the farthest targets.
Chapter 33
In less than a second it was all over. The elves lowered their bow arms, once again in unison, to hang at their sides. Robin separated himself from the group, slipping his bow over his shoulder as he walked towards me.
“What happened?” I asked. I could see that the arrows had hit the far targets, but my eyesight wasn’t good enough to see details.
“I’m not exactly sure.” He reached me and gestured towards the targets. “Come. Please.”
He looked back and signaled the rest of the elves with a jerk of his head so they would follow us to the targets.
The first thing I noticed was a single arrow, stuck into the ground about fifty feet in front of the farthest targets. The group of elves walked up to it one at a time, and after studying the feather pattern on the end, looked over at the elf I had singled out who was trailing behind the others. His face got redder and redder by the second as the realization of his shame took hold.
Falco reached the arrow and smiled, pointing. “Hey, look, Dav, it’s yours! You missed!” The smile on his face wasn’t malicious, but it earned him a punch in the arm nevertheless. “Ow,” he said, rubbing his shoulder and moving away to locate his own arrow with a barely concealed grin on his face.
Each of the elves was walking up to a target and pulling an arrow out, some of them having to use knives from their belts to dig out the buried tips. Falco searched all of the targets and the areas behind them before turning to Robin, who was busy examining the tip of his arrow before placing it back in his quiver.
“I can’t find mine. It’s not here.”
Robin frowned, surveying the targets here and then closer to our starting point.
Sure enough – even I could see that there were no more arrows. Everyone’s but Falco’s had been accounted for.
“Where did you aim?” asked Robin.
Falco started to look a little nervous. “For the ... targets?”
“Are you telling me? Or asking me?” asked Robin, a bit severely.
I was starting to have the same misgivings I think Robin had. Falco had stepped in shit again. Poor kid couldn’t seem to help himself.
“This guy makes Scrum look like a genius,” said Tim, giggling.
I hated to say it, but I kind of agreed with him. They had the same personality – eager, happy, likeable – well, with Scrum it took me a little longer for the likeable part, but still, likeable was on the list. But when it came to doing his job, Scrum was pretty damn good, I had to admit. Even though he looked like a harmless beer keg with legs, he could lock up a dangerous incubus like nobody’s business.
“No, I’m not asking; I’m telling. But ... uhhh ... ” he cleared his throat, “ ... I might have been thinking about another target ... at the same time?” He shrugged and ducked his head, embarrassed. I noticed his friend looked a little less ashamed and a bit more chipper. I guess misery loves company in green elf society just like it does with humans.
“What target, Falco?” said Robin, sighing with the sound of infinite patience.
“Um ... the Ancient One? ... Possibly?” The last word came out more like a whisper.
All the other elves looked at him in shock – some with even a bit of fear mixed in.
“You? ... Took aim? ... At the Ancient One?”
Tears sprang to his eyes. All he could do was nod.
Even Falco’s friend seemed stupified. I was no body language expert, but if I were reading this whole scene right, someone was knee-deep in shit without any waders. I’d heard Finn say that once, and at this moment, I could fully appreciate how in certain situations those redneck sayings just totally work better than anything else.
Finn was nodding his head, mindlessly. I knew he was thinking the exact same thing as me, and it wasn’t any supernatural power making me able to do that either. I could tell it from the look on his face.
Robin got all serious. “We need to call in a witch and go investigate. We must ... make this right.”
One of the elves spoke up, “Robin, he may have been aiming at that, but that doesn’t mean he hit it. It’s too far away! No one could see it from here, not even a bird.”
Several of the other elves began nodding. The look on Falco’s face brightened a little, but then he looked at Robin and it fell again.
Robin wasn’t buying it. “He was hooked into The Green. He had Jayne’s link. I am afraid that when we have her with us ... well ... let us just go and see. We will manage the consequences as we must.”
I had the urge to ask him who the Ancient One was, but I almost didn’t want to know. I was going to find out soon enough, so I held my tongue, focusing instead on not tripping over tree roots. I just hoped no one was dead because of me.
We walked through the forest for what seemed to be way too long for an arrow to travel – even one riding The Green power waves. The sun was beginning to go down, the air getting cooler and making my sweaty skin feel better with its gentle touch. This walking all over the place and watching my every step to keep from falling was a lot of exercise. On the one hand, I totally hated it like I hated all forms of exercise. On the other, I was thinking about how rock hard my legs and abs were going to be, and that made me happy. No pain, no gain, I guess. Now I just had to think of a silver lining for all the hair pulling I was getting from Tim as he tried to hang on. It made it a lot more difficult when he occasionally yelled out, “Giddyup donkey! Mush! Yah!”
“Keep it up, turdmonkey, and you’re gonna be riding on my shoe.”
Robin looked at me sideways, but said nothing. I didn’t bother explaining myself since that would have taken precious breath and I needed all of it for the huffing and puffing that was keeping me conscious.
I began to recognize my surroundings. We were coming to the place where the gargoyle door opened up, and I was instantly on my guard. The last time I’d seen Maggie she’d delivered me up on a silver platter to the Dark Fae. I stopped walking and grabbed Robin by the sleeve, making him stop next to me. I searched his eyes for signs that he was delivering me to our enemy, but I saw nothing there but curiosity.
“Why are we stopping?” he asked. “Are you tired? Do you
need to rest?”
“No. I’m just making sure you aren’t going rogue on me.”
“Rogue?”
“Yeah. Making sure you aren’t handing me over to the enemy.”
“Why would I do such a thing?”
“I don’t know. Why would you order a bunch of elves to shoot me? Maybe you’re under a spell.”
Understanding dawned in his eyes. “Oh, I see your meaning. No, I have not ... gone rogue. I am bringing you to the Ancient One ... to see if Falco’s arrow has reached its target.”
“And where exactly is this Ancient One?”
“Just there.” He pointed into the woods on the other side of the meadow.
“That’s where Maggie the witch lives.”
“Precisely.”
“Uh, she and I don’t have the best history, actually. Maybe I should just sit this one out.”
“Don’t worry. We have someone coming to ensure your safety. And you have us.” He gestured to the other elves.
“Yeah, I appreciate that, but what I’m more worried about is me managing my temper. Because I’m pretty sure if I see her ugly ass face again, I’m gonna zap her into next year with The Green.”
He looked at me, shocked, but it didn’t sway me in the least.
“She deserves it, Robin. She handed me over to fae who tortured me. For no reason.” I thought about her past bargains with me and the volume increased in what was quickly turning into a rant, “Or because someone traded her a pixie wing or a friggin’ mushroom for my ambush, I don’t know.”
Robin held up his hand to stop me. “Yes. I understand your feelings. If you wish to stay behind and go back to the compound, we will not fault you for that.”
I saw all their eyes looking at me. I felt justified in my anger, but at the same time, I didn’t want their opinion of me to diminish. They seemed to think I was someone special – and if I ran away or acted like a brat, they might change their minds. I should have gotten the hell out of there and let them. High expectations were a trap – they caused you to reach too high ... and that just made the fall down that much farther and a lot more painful. But I decided to keep going with them anyway. I didn’t want that cranky old bitch to think she’d scared me away.
“Fine. I’ll go. But she’d better not start any shit with me.”
Robin nodded. “I will endeavor to keep her from doing anything to displease you.”
The other elves were nodding at my decision. I tried not to feel too warm and mushy inside over their obvious approval.
We were soon joined by a witch carrying a staff. I’d seen this guy out in the crowd at our latest assembly. He seemed to be one of the more subdued of the group. I didn’t recall him being one of the yellers or stick wavers. Robin walked with him and I assume explained the situation to him, the witch nodding off and on as he took in the information.
“Do you think there’s going to be a showdown?” asked Tim. I couldn’t tell if he was excited or worried.
“I hope not. I’m not sure that I’d be able to control myself.”
“So don’t bother trying. Just let her have it.”
“I’m not sure that would work. You were knocked out so you don’t remember, but she was able to bend my green power shield before.”
“Oh, that’s right. She was able to defeat the bubble shun.”
I felt a little offended at that comment. “Well, I’m not sure I’d say ‘defeat’ – but yeah, she was able to bend the bubble shun.”
“She’s powerful, Jayne. Don’t underestimate her.”
“One of these days you’re going to tell me all your secrets and all her secrets, Tim.”
“I know. I’ll tell you all of hers when we get back. I think you should know now.”
He conveniently ignored my demand to know his personal secrets, but I’d get them out of him eventually. “Cool. It’s a date. We just need to survive this part so we can get to that part.”
We were interrupted by our arrival at the edge of the forest. Everyone got quiet and gathered into a group.
“We are going to see the Ancient One now. Please stay close and remain in sight of the witch. We are going into Dark Fae territory, as you all know – and the council has been clear about our need to be on alert and to be cautious.” Robin looked around at everyone until he was sure they had all agreed to his conditions. “Let’s go.”
We followed the witch in, walking two by two, until we arrived at Maggie’s house. We stopped about thirty feet from the front of it. The mighty tree rose up out of the forest floor, its branches spreading out over our heads to reach deep into the forest. It wasn’t a redwood or sequoia, but it was as big as that kind of tree – maybe bigger. The base of the trunk was as big around as a giant truck, or even a house. In fact, the base of the tree was a house. Maggie’s house. Its front door fit into an arch that was carved right into the wood. And that door had an arrow sticking out of the middle of it.
We all stared for a few moments, our eyes and brains digesting what we were seeing. Robin motioned for Falco to step forward, and he did so, shaking. I could feel his nervous signature sending vibrations through The Green. I had pulled the power into me without even thinking about it. My survival instincts were on high alert. The ley line that ran under this giant tree made it that much easier for me to use my powers without effort.
Robin and Falco approached the door, walking quietly. The Light Fae witch stood off to the side, scanning the area left and right, as if he was watching for Dark Fae to jump out of the trees at any second.
I saw as Falco looked at the arrow and then turned to Robin, nodding. Robin gestured with his head and Falco reached up, grasping his arrow by the shaft and pulling it out of the wood. A branch overhead moved and caused a groaning to echo out through the forest. Every elf in the place involuntarily ducked slightly, looking up at the giant tree that was obviously not happy.
I tapped into its energy without even thinking twice. The feelings and images I got back sent me reeling.
Power. Majesty. History. All of it wrapped up in this being – this living thing that was connected to the forest, the elves, me. Everything. Flashes of things – awakenings, death and violence, storms, the cries of babies and of angry men. All of it was mixed up in the waves of energy that battered away at my brain.
Why? Why were these images coming to me like this? I reached out to this old tree, this Ancient One who the elves spoke of with such reverence. What did it want from me and what could I possibly do for it?
The hum of our connection increased in both tenor and volume. It tried to consume me and carry me away, but I resisted. I didn’t want to be pulled under. I wanted to stand here as equals and communicate. I sensed through my resistance that the tree had never encountered this type of rebellion before. The humming built up even more, and I had to resist the urge to put my hands over my hears. I know it wouldn’t have helped anyway because the sound wasn’t coming to my senses through my ears; plus, I didn’t want to show any signs of weakness. I reached out to the ley line under my feet and tapped in. Two could play this game.
I pulled The Green into me, more than I’d ever pulled before, and felt the welcoming coolness and love it always brought. My heart soared with an experience that I was never able to feel in my regular human life. No friendship, no mother’s hug, no soft purring kitten had ever inspired this kind of connection with the world before. But now was no time to wallow in the wonderfulness. I had to show this tree who it was messing with.
I sent my message to the Ancient One, my message being the power of ... what? I didn’t know what it was. I felt a hand gently take mine and I cracked open an eye to see Falco standing there, looking at me in a panic – worry written all over his face. It made me smile. I had friends here in the Green Forest. Fae who cared about me. An idea formed in my mind then – perhaps I knew what my message could be. The power of love, maybe? But how could it be possible that love was more powerful than any of the things it had showed me, or any of
the things I had so far experienced that had scared me or hurt me? I didn’t know the answer to those questions, but I was pretty sure that this pureness that rushed through me and around me from The Green was love – the power that connected everything to everything.
With the first awareness of my message, I knew the tree wanted to resist. Its branches shuddered and stiffened. I opened my eyes fully and witnessed this reaction take place while my ears heard the ominous cracks that rang out and bounced off the neighboring trees. The ground undulated beneath our feet as the tree’s roots fought the incoming power threads amplified by the ley line energy conduit.
The elves standing nearby all had looks of panic on their faces, including Robin who is usually pretty hard to intimidate. I released Falco’s hand and held up my own in a message of reassurance, telling my friends to wait and see what would happen. I felt confident that my plan was going to work and that they were in no danger.
The Ancient One pushed against me with its will – insisting that it keep this veil of darkness over itself and everything around it. We were in the Dark Forest and I could tell from the tree’s reticence that there had been no light here for a very long time. I knew, better than any of these elves who had been lucky enough to be born to the Light Fae of the Green Forest, how someone can just learn to live with unhappy circumstances and stop noticing how much it sucked. This tree was a lot like me in that way – it had adapted itself to its circumstances and just accepted them ... allowed them to become a part of it. But I’d found another way to look at my life, and so could the Ancient One – assuming someone bothered to show it an alternative and that it would have the strength to resist the pull towards complacency and darkness.
I pushed back, sure now that the veil must be lifted and the light be let in. Heat and strain and anger and might – all of it bombarded my soul through the connection we shared. And still I held firm to The Green that surrounded and protected me. Still I held firm to the idea that it was time for the Darkness to cleave to the Light.