Winged Warriors

  I turned around and walked outside the circle, moving as fast as my short legs would take me. "Just bring me to him, and I'll work on the details from there."

  I don't know what the other witches did because I didn't see them after that, but my crew that included Sam headed back to the compound. I imagined the pentagram symbol in my mind, and the door appeared at the edge of the forest. Once inside, I addressed my friends. "Take me to him. To Brad." They all marched off in the same direction, and I had a very strong feeling we were headed toward the clinic.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  BRAD WAS LYING on the bed looking very gray. He was not alone in the clinic, but he was the only one who looked like a serious case. I sat down next to him in a metal chair and took his hand in mine. When he felt the contact, his eyes opened a little bit. He seemed disoriented and confused.

  "Hey there, dude. Remember me?"

  His hand pulled from mine but reached up toward my head. He was scowling.

  I leaned forward, and he placed his palm on my scalp. I could feel his cold, clammy skin against mine.

  "What happened? Ugly," he said. Apparently, he'd forgotten about my little hair accident.

  I leaned back and laughed, letting his hand drop to the edge of the bed before taking it again. "Thanks. You're looking pretty shitty yourself."

  He smiled just the slightest bit before his eyes closed. "Feel like shit," he whispered.

  "Well, that sucks. Because I came here to ask you to take me into the Gray, but I'm thinking that might not be such a good idea right now." I looked up at my friends, some of whom were sadly nodding. Becky was shaking her head as a tear escaped.

  His breathing was raspy. "Tried. Did my best."

  I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek and then I squished his face between my two hands. "I know you did. I'm so proud of you. You used to be such a dick, but you've turned out to be a pretty cool guy."

  He tried to smile but I was squishing his face too hard. I let it go and patted him on the forehead instead.

  "I'm sorry…," he said. He didn't get anything more out, although I could've guessed what he wanted to say. We wasted a lot of time hating each other and trading barbs. I hated to imagine what we could've accomplished as friends. What a total waste. A lump rose in my throat. He seriously looked awful. I prayed it didn't mean that he was going to die.

  "You better not kick the bucket on me, you jackass," I said, trying to toughen both of us up.

  "Too mean to die," he said.

  I try to laugh again, but I choked on tears instead. I had to turn around and wipe my face off just in case he opened his eyes. I didn't want him to catch me feeling sorry for him. I turned back around and reached over to grab his other hand, holding them both as I stood over him. "I'm going to try to help you if I can."

  "Do your worst," he said, smiling again. "I probably won't even feel it."

  I took a couple deep breaths in and out. Sam's voice came from behind me.

  "Be careful, Jayne. You don't know how to control your elements very well, and we can't have you disappearing again."

  "You think I don't know that?" I shot her a look over my shoulder. "I'm going to be careful."

  "Maybe we should just let the healers work on this one," Finn said.

  I rolled my eyes at them and turned around to face Brad. "What is the point of having all these powers if I can never use them?"

  "We're not sayin' you can't use 'em, we're jus' sayin' maybe you should be a little extra careful," said Finn. "There's a lot riding on stuff these days."

  He was right, but Brad needed help, and it didn't take a medical degree to know that this guy was walking up to death's doorstep and getting ready to knock on that door really hard. The Grim Reaper would surely come to let him in very soon too, if somebody didn't do something. The healers had done everything they could, and now it was my turn to try.

  I closed my eyes so I could concentrate better. I imagined the Ben-dragon talking to me in his soothingly wise voice. And I thought of something else—I thought of Spirit. It was the one element that wasn't really an element that I had no control over. It seemed to enter the picture whenever it was convenient, not necessarily when I wanted it there. But knowing what I did about the elements told me that we were all connected and that Spirit was at the center of it. So I spoke to Spirit like I would to God if I were sitting in a church. I figured they were probably one and the same.

  Spirit, I know you're out there. You know everything and you see everything, so you must be aware that this guy Brad was finally given his chance to realize his true potential and now he's being snatched from this realm and being sent away. Maybe he's already seen everything he needs to see, and maybe his time on earth is complete, but I would like to ask you that if it's not, and if he's going to be someone who helps all the creatures on this earth come together, if he's going to be part of this epic journey, I ask that you allow my elements to heal him now. And if it's wrong for me to ask for this, if the cost will be paid by anyone other than me, just pretend you never heard my voice.

  I waited, but nothing bad happened, so I figured that was my go-signal. I called to the Green first and then Fire. Hot and cool wrapped around both of us. I pictured the elements like living ribbons, alive and running across his body, around his arms and legs, encircling his torso, his neck, and his face, slowly sliding like silk across his skin. Then Wind and Water came, changing the intensity, the direction, and the temperature contained in those ribbons. Every color of the rainbow was there. There were intense feelings of love and of hate wrapped together so tightly that I couldn't tell the difference between them anymore.

  Brad and I had shared so many frustrations in our lives—with our schools, our parents, and our so-called friends. Nothing was as it should have been for us, and we fought against that unfairness with everything we had. We did what we could to make people believe we were trying, but it was never good enough. And yet, even when it seemed like everyone was against us, we rose above it all and we changed. We gave everything we had to this fae community and to the humans that lived beyond it. We wanted to be better, and we were genuine. We were part of something bigger than ourselves, and we just wanted to be given the chance to show what we were capable of. Brad deserved that. He deserved it as much as anybody else did. I wanted it so much for him, I could feel it in my bones.

  I heard somebody gasp behind me, but I ignored it. I leaned down until my forehead was touching his. His formerly cold, clammy skin had started to warm. "I know who you are, Brad," I said quietly. "I know who you want to be. You are strong, you are kind, and you are tough. You can pull through. This life is worth living. Do not give up. We need you. Everybody in the entire world needs you, believe it or not."

  He whispered back. "Sometimes I think dying would be easier than living."

  I nodded, causing our sweaty heads to slide against one another. "I know that. I get that. But there is no reward in death without struggle in life. If you try to take the easy way out, you're just going to get sent right back to start all over again. We need you here now. Please don't start over. Please come back to us and keep going. Keep fighting with us." I sensed a long breath escape his body as it hit my face.

  I pulled away for two reasons: first, they obviously did not brush the teeth of the patients who were laying there in the clinic, and second, because I knew I had done everything that I could. When I opened my eyes and released his hands, I noted that his skin didn't look quite as gray, but he seemed to have fallen into a state of unconsciousness.

  A doctor who had been witnessing what was going on rushed over with a stethoscope and placed it against his chest. I heard Becky crying behind me and backed away. Brad's skin look better color-wise, but he didn't look like he was breathing anymore. Had I just laid the kiss of death on him? I sure hoped not.

  After a few tense seconds, the doctor looked up at us. "He's still alive."

  I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and turned around to
go walk away, but I tripped. My legs weren't as strong as I thought they were. Scrum caught me and held me in his arms until I was able to get my feet under me again.

  "You need to go to sleep," he said.

  I shook my head hard to wake myself up out of my stupor. "I need to find the wyvern first. Then sleep."

  Tim came flying over and landed on my shoulder, grabbing hold of my ear. "Good job, Lellemental. That'll do, pig. That'll do."

  I didn't even have the energy to laugh at his Babe reference.

  "I think I know where that little dragon is," he said.

  I stopped and twisted my head to try to look at him. "You do? Where?"

  "What's he saying?" Becky asked.

  "He's telling me he knows where the wyvern is."

  "That would've been nice to know earlier," Sam said sarcastically.

  "Hey, nobody thought to ask me about the wyvern, so I wasn't about to volunteer any information. Nobody respects the pixie."

  "I respect the pixie. Please tell me where the wyvern is." I was practically begging. I needed a nap so bad I could taste it. And if you've never tasted a nap, you're seriously missing out.

  "She's in the garden, of course."

  We started walking toward the door of the clinic. "Which garden?" I asked. There were only about a hundred of them around the fae compound, and that didn't even include the forested areas.

  "My garden of course. What other garden would you choose if you were a wyvern? Obviously the only wyvern in the entire fae community would choose the best garden there is, and that would be the one cultivated by my amazing wife Abby, naturally."

  "Of course it is." I was glad life was finally going my way. The wyvern was located just steps away from my bed and my next nap. Perfect. "Okay, let's go get her."

  "You're acting like that's going to be easy," Sam said, walking next to me as we left the clinic and headed down the hallway.

  "She's hanging out in Tim's garden. How hard could it be?"

  Tim flew out ahead but answered me over his shoulder. "So naïve, so innocent, so clueless…"

  I followed behind, knowing that it was fruitless to try and guess what he meant by that. Apparently, wyverns weren't one of the easiest things in the world to trap, but our garden wasn't that big either, so I didn't see how it could be such a big deal. Besides, I had a pixie, a witch, a green elf, a daemon, and a water sprite with me. How difficult could it be with the team like that at my side?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE ANSWER TO my question 'how difficult could it be?' was provided about five seconds after we entered the garden attached to my living room. Abby flew up to meet us with her hands held out in front of her. "I hope you don't think you're going to go in there and disturb that wyvern."

  I stopped, my friends halting behind me in a row. "That was the plan, yes."

  Tim went to float next to his wife with his hands on his hips mimicking her every gesture. He didn't mean to be funny doing it, but it was making me laugh anyway. She looked at him and elbowed him before continuing. "She's sleeping. Finally. And I do not recommend waking her."

  "I'm not here to cause any trouble. I just need to find out what's going on with her."

  "What's going on with her is she's sleeping, and it took us forever to get her to even close her eyes, so I don't want anybody waking her up right now. She's worse than Willy when she's tired."

  I was pretty sure the wyvern would not appreciate being compared to a pixie toddler, but I kept my opinion to myself. "Where is the little guy, anyway?" I looked into their bedroom on top of the table at the edge of the garden. It was empty of everything but furniture.

  "He's with the wyvern." I waited for Abby to give me more information but that was all she had for me.

  I sighed. "Listen, I know you're her protector now or whatever or maybe you're even her substitute mother, but I need to talk to her."

  Abby started to tell me no—I could tell by the expression on her face she was going to deny me again—but Tim interrupted her. "Sweetie, I think we need to let her do this."

  She glared at her husband. "Oh, really? And are you going to be the one to deal with the angry dragon when she gets woken up?"

  "Sure, if that's what you want me to do, babe." He gave her a big smile.

  She rolled her eyes and hissed out a breath. "Fine. Only you, though, Jayne. The rest of you can wait outside the garden."

  I looked at my friends. "You guys stay here. I'm the only one getting a pass to go in."

  "I'm not comfortable with that," Scrum said.

  "I don't think I am either," Finn added.

  "Those are Abby's conditions, and she's the boss of the garden." I checked to make sure my weapons were still on my legs—my dragon tooth on my right and my go-go gadget demon boner sword on my left. I pulled a little of the Green into me and lifted my chin, trying to fake the courage I wasn't feeling. "Here goes nothing."

  I walked past the table and a row of rosebushes, making my way toward the back. The garden was deceivingly large. It looked small from the entryway, but the more you walked, the larger it seemed to become. I passed several beds of multicolored blooms, the scents of various flowers mingling under my nose. I decided as I enjoyed this brief respite from confusion and strife that when I was done fighting evil and fixing everything that was wrong with the world, I was going to come back to that garden and just lay in the dirt. I might even take a dirt nap, but not the kind that was permanent.

  The sounds of light snoring mixed with heavy snoring came to my ears. What? Dragons have two sets of lungs? I walked around a wall of shrubs and found a patch of grass. The wyvern was curled up in a semi circle sound asleep, and inside that semi circle was Mike the ogre lying on his back with his mouth hanging open and drool running down his cheek. He was asleep too, which explained the second set of snores. His were the less dainty ones.

  I took a moment to appreciate how cute the two of them were. That was all the time I had before the wyvern's right eyeball opened and she was suddenly on her feet, her wings spread and her clawed feet stretching out toward me. She opened her mouth and hurled something from down inside her throat at me. I had no time to prepare before I was covered in what I prayed was water and not wyvern slime.

  The sounds of footsteps running down the garden path came next. "Don't come in!" I yelled, pausing to blow dragon goo off my lips. "Stay back!" My eyes had closed automatically when the goo started coming at me, but I was worried about standing there blind in front of a pissed off wyvern, so I opened one lid. I found the dragon only inches away, its mouth wide open as it sniffed at my face. "Yeah, that's your gloop on me, Long. Thanks for that." I opened my other eye and raised my voice so my friends would hear me. "Everything's cool. Just a little cleanup on aisle four." I reached out and patted Long on the nose. "Good one, former roomie. You totally slimed me." I needed to remember not to sneak up on a sleeping wyvern ever again.

  She huffed loudly out of her nostrils and sprayed me with a little extra slime before turning around, nudging the ogre with her clawed foot.

  Mike let out a couple extra large snorts before his eyes came open and he sat up slowly.

  I took a moment to wipe the goo off my face with the sleeve of my shirt. So much for that shower. I was definitely going to need another one.

  Mike's voice rumbled from his chest. "What happened?"

  "I got dragon yakked."

  He slowly got to his feet. "It's not yak. It's just a defense mechanism. It's mostly water, don't worry." He stood to his full height, towering over me and bigger than the dragon by about a foot.

  I looked up at him and then at her. "Either way, I could've lived without it, so try to keep your slime to yourself next time, Long. I need to talk to you guys."

  The wyvern's voice came to me in my mind. You have come. We must go now and release The Others.

  "What others?"

  Those who live in the shadows, who come to aid you in your quest.

  "My quest? That makes it so
und pretty official. I'm not sure I'm on a quest, exactly."

  You must defeat the Forsaken, or all will be lost.

  "So I've heard. Do you have any idea where the Forsaken are supposed to show up? Like, where their front door is or whatever?"

  All who live in the shadows know.

  I raised my eyebrows at that. I hadn't been expecting such a positive response. "Cool. Where is it?"

  You will know once you have released The Others.

  I sighed. She was going to hold the information hostage. Awesome. "I thought we were friends, Long. I thought we bonded in that hospital."

  We are friends.

  I was pretty sure that was all I was going to get from her when she started exercising her wings, opening and closing them and making their leathery surfaces slap together.

  "I'm coming too," Mike said.

  I thought about it for a few seconds and decided it might not be a bad idea. "I hear you've got the serious Hulk-smash thing going on."

  He shrugged.

  "Do you think if I told you to smash a particular creature you could comasize him? Or do you have to get all mad at them first?"

  "I don't know. I never do it on purpose."

  "I know you haven't been here very long, but have you had a chance to go into the Gray and try it in there?" I was imagining those lumpy troll hands on my shoulders and thinking it might be nice to have Mike at my back when I went to get Tony and Spike.

  "No. I have been with the wyvern."

  I looked at Long again. "I hear you've been causing trouble. Everybody was really happy when you finally decided to take a nap."

  I was not napping. I was communing.

  "Communing?"

  With The Others.

  "Of course you were. So…where are these Others?" I looked around the garden, half imagining they'd be hiding behind the rhododendrons. "If we're going to release them, I guess I need to know where they are."

  Their location is not important. You must recognize their presence and call them forth.