Tony stepped forward. “Do you write? Do you have a written language?”
Ishmail scowled. “Of course we do. We are not savages.”
Tony held up his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I didn’t want to make assumptions though, since your realm could be completely out of time from ours.”
“A different history, you mean?” Ish asked.
“Yes. A parallel time, maybe. I don’t know, I’m just guessing.”
“What’s your alphabet look like?” I asked, more curious now that I’d just been introduced to a word both Tony and I had never heard before. It was difficult to stump Tony, so when it happened, I paid attention.
Ish leaned down and grabbed a stick. Writing shapes in the ashes by my feet, he said, “wealth, game, giant…” He looked up. “Do you want to see more?”
“No, that’s fine,” Tony said, staring down at it. I had a feeling I was going to have to force him out of this realm. The idea that he could study something totally foreign in a somewhat safe and familiar environment was probably giving his brain a giant boner.
“So, you speak what we call English but have an alphabet that’s really different. How is that possible?” Not that I really cared, but since the dragon was gone maybe for a long time, it wasn’t that we had anything else to do but shoot the shit.
“Our written language is rarely used for expression of anything but ideas. We prefer the spoken word to express our history. It is handed down from generation to generation through word of mouth. Stories are more interesting when told by a person rather than written in symbols.”
Tony was tapping his finger on his lips. “If you had Latin, you might change your mind about that.”
“Latin? What is Latin?”
Tony finally looked up. “Latin is the language at the basis of all modern languages from our realm. The English that we speak comes from Latin.”
I jerked a thumb at Tony. “He got straight As in Latin all through high school. Trust me, the dude is practically a thousand years old in his head.”
Ish stared at him. “Is this true? Are you one thousand years old?”
Tony shook his head. “No. But if you want, I could teach you the Latin alphabet and show you how they used it to record speech in a way that made telling stories very clear and interesting. They would write like I’m speaking right now.”
Ish’s eyes opened wide. “I would like to see this. And to learn your way of speaking. It is similar to mine, but different.”
“Just hang out with this group for a while and it’ll start to rub off,” Jared said. “Trust me.”
I pointed at our fake camp counselor. “He’s a couple hundred years old, and he talks like he’s twenty, so there you go.”
Ish looked like he thought he was being punked. “You are not that old.”
“I am that old. Fae live longer than humans.”
“Why? How can that be? The oldest in my village has lived thirty-four cycles, but it is rare to live such a long life.”
“Thirty-four?” Becky asked, her eyes getting watery. “I’d hate for that to be considered old age.” She took Finn’s hand. “I want to live until I’m at least a thousand.”
“One thousand cycles?!” Ish was blowing a gasket. “That is not possible. You would be walking dead.”
“They have zombies here too?” Scrum asked.
“What is a zombie?” Ish was back to being confused.
I saw Scrum about to launch into an explanation that was sure to scare the shit out of Ishmail and very possibly dissuade him from wanting to help us out, so I held up my hands to stop that train on the tracks. “So! Enough about the walking dead, let’s talk about dinner.”
Everyone nodded, and Scrum rubbed his stomach.
Ish looked around. “There is game on this land. We are free to hunt it.”
Everyone exchanged glances before Finn spoke. “I’m kinda useless in the hunting department without my bow and arrows.”
Ish grinned. “Do not worry. I have traps.”
“Are they here?” I asked, looking around on the ground, for some reason thinking I was going to see one with a giant nametag on it. Hello. I am an animal trap. Clearly, the lack of food was making me stupid. More stupid than normal.
His face fell. “No.”
I shrugged. “Normally, I use the Earth element to help me out, but I’m kind of opposed to using it to hurt innocent beings. Sorry about that.”
“I do not understand.”
“Never mind. It’s not important. How about vegetables? Do you have any of those around here?”
Ish nodded. “We have vegetables and roots that are common fare in this area.”
I rubbed my hands together. “Well, all right then. Show us where to dig.” I could have eaten a raw potato at that point, I was so hungry. Something about being flamed by a dragon brought out my appetite like nothing else.
“Follow me,” he said. “We passed a grove of edible plants on the way here.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
WE SAT AROUND A FIRE, a blackened pottery bowl Ish found somewhere in the middle of it, filled with weeds soaked in water.
“Yum,” said Scrum. “This reminds me of being home with my grandma.” He was happily munching away on his share of the green things.
“This reminds me of when Theresa and I lived in California.” Felicia wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic as Scrum was, but she wasn’t complaining, either. “Wheatgrass juice and all that.”
Jared nodded, silently stuffing folded up clumps of the California salad into his mouth, staring at the fire as he ate.
Personally, I didn’t think it was all that great a meal, but it wasn’t completely completely terrible.
“Fireweed, pennycress, and dandelions,” Finn said, making a funny face after biting into a glob of it. “Good for the soul food, I guess.”
I held up a limp, slightly boiled version of what he just ate. “How do you know what this is?”
“Took a botany class at the local community college.” He shrugged.
“But I thought you were in high school when you left for Miami,” Becky said, her pile of edible weeds mostly untouched.
“I was.” He ate another bite and then talked while he chewed. “But I took college courses too.”
Tony perked up. “Were you in a special program?”
Finn shrugged. “You could say that.” He was looking off into the distance, obviously not interested in elaborating.
I put my hand on Tony’s arm as his opened his mouth again. I knew that look on his face; he was about to get to the bottom of Finn taking college botany courses because it was tickling that part of his mind that told him things weren’t adding up. Of course we all thought Finn was a little soft in the grey matter department, but once I thought about it, I realized it was because he talked like a redneck. It wasn’t because he’d done anything brainless in all the time we’d known him.
When Tony looked at me for an explanation, I just shook my head. Tony looked back at Finn and then at me again, finally putting two and two together. He nodded and lifted some weeds to his mouth. “Well, whatever they are, I’m grateful for the meal.” He only winced a little as he chewed.
“Yes, thanks,” Spike said, holding out a few weeds at him in some sort of toast. “Good stuff.” He smiled as he ate it, even though I knew he was hating every bite. He would have much rather sucked someone’s energy, but I had to give it to him; he hadn’t mentioned it once. Neither had Felicia.
“It is my pleasure,” Ish said, tossing his empty leaf-plate into the fire. “I know it is not very filling, but it will give you the energy you need to continue your quest.”
“Are we sleeping here tonight?” Felicia asked.
Everyone looked around at one another, but no one had any answers. Personally, I’d been hoping we’d already be gone from this realm by bedtime, but it didn’t look good for that at this point. Night had fallen, and the only reason we could see any
thing at all was due to the fire in front of us. The stars hadn’t come out yet or were covered in clouds.
Ish poked the fire, making it flame up higher. “It will be colder here than down below in the valley. But there are animals there you might not want as bedfellows.”
“Snakes?” Becky asked, moving closer to Finn on the log they shared.
“Yes. And scorpions. They seek warmth just as we do, and they are not shy about sharing a bedroll with a human.”
I raised a finger. “I vote we stay up here.”
“Seconded,” Tim said. He was lying on his back next to me, a flat-topped boulder his bed. He wasn’t suffering at all in this realm; his stomach was full of berries he’d found nearby. He assured me they were safe to eat, but I kept a close eye on him anyway. All I needed was a hallucinating pixie on my hands.
“I’m fine with staying up here,” Jared said. “We can gather close together for warmth, but before we call it a night, I’d like to decide on our plan moving forward, if everyone here is in agreement.” He threw his plate into the fire and stood. “I’ll be right back.”
Everyone but Tony, Tim, and I filtered away, looking for a spot to do their business before going to sleep. I had more pressing matters on my mind. “So, what do you think, Tones? Are we going to get out of here?”
He shrugged. “I’d like to think so. But so far, I haven’t seen any promising signs of that.”
“Why are we even here? I mean, what’s the point?”
“I suppose the point is to keep you from your goal. To keep all of us from that goal of going to the Underworld and hanging out with Biad.”
“But why? What difference does it make?” I had my own theories, but I wanted to know what his were without tainting his ideas with mine.
“I’ve been thinking about it all day, and the only thing I can come up with is that someone or someones want to keep you from acting as companion to Biad. Which means they want an unhappy dragon at the Underworld portal. So that tells me they’re either inside the Underworld and want to come out, or they’re outside the Underworld and they want to go in, or they’re outside and they want someone who is inside to come out.”
I felt a little charge in my gut at the last option. “I’m going with Option C. Or was it Option D?”
He smiled. “Which one?”
“The one where there’s someone in the Underworld, and someone in the Here and Now who wants to get that person out.”
“Tell me why you think that.”
“Because. The stuff that’s been happening to us is coming from the Here and Now. It has to be. Biad is in place and the portal is closed, so no one from the Underworld can get out and manipulate things the way someone has been.”
“Possibly.”
“What do you mean, possibly?”
He shrugged. “It is theoretically possible for someone in the Underworld to be present in the Here and Now, even with the portals sealed shut.”
“How? And what’s the point of having the dragons at the portals if that’s true?”
“Black magic. Demons can be summoned.”
“Okay, fine. But that still means there’s someone on the outside in our realm pulling strings.”
“Yes. It would appear that way.”
“Okay, so who is it?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“My money’s on Leck. And Maléna too.”
Tony thought about it for a while and then sighed. “I suppose they’re as likely as anyone else.”
“No, they’re more likely. They hate me. They hate that we put the dragons in place.”
“That’s true. But they were … dealt with. After what happened.”
“Dealt with? What does that even mean?”
“They were punished. Put in a position to not do any more harm than they already had.”
Of course my curiosity was piqued; how could it not have been? “What exactly was their punishment?”
Tony stood. “I have to use the bathroom. Be right back.”
I grabbed his hand and forced him to stay. “No way, dude. You’re telling me now.”
He shook his head. “I can’t.” Pulling himself free, he walked away.
His abrupt departure while I was still hanging onto him caused a slicing pain to move up my arm from the bandaged area. I cradled it against me, hoping for the throbbing to stop, as my brain went a thousand miles an hour. What could have been so bad or weird about the punishment Leck and Maléna got that he wouldn’t tell me? We were best friends and trusted each other implicitly, weren’t we? Didn’t we? I was imagining all kinds of crazy things the council could have ordered as their punishment: the stockades, prison on a pixie colony, drawing and quartering. The possibilities were endless, and probably none of them good enough in my opinion.
Felicia came back alone and I stood. “Hey, could you show me where you made a potty? I need to do the same and I’m afraid to go out there alone.”
She grinned and I could see her teeth in the dark. “You sure you want me to show you?”
My heart skipped a beat, but I pretended like it hadn’t. “Sure. I’m not afraid of you. I know you won’t hurt me.”
She cleared her throat. “Jayne, weeds don’t satisfy my hunger. You know that.”
I glared at her, even though she probably couldn’t see it. “And you know that if you try to put those fangs on me, I’ll comasize you and leave you here to become dragon poop, so come on. Let’s go.” I started walking off, confident she’d follow. Jesus, just what I need right now. A pain in the ass succubus thinking she can mess with my head. I was regretting my agreement to let her even come on the field trip to the Isle of Skye. I really only did it to make Tony happy.
“You think I could get a little somethin’ somethin’ from that Ish guy?” she asked, taking long strides to catch up to me. I’d already given up on her guidance in the dark. Besides, the stars had started to glow so I could see well enough.
I shook my head. “No, I do not think you can get a little somethin’ somethin’ from him. Come on, he’s our only contact here. You can’t go sucking the life out of him now. He’ll never speak to us again.” Hey! What a great idea! How about I try to kill the only guy in the entire realm who’s being nice to us right now! Stupid cube-eyes. Always thinking about themselves.
I could hear the sly smile in her voice. “Au contraire, my dear. He’d be more than happy to help us out if I sucked some of the life out of him. I promise.”
I ground my teeth for a few seconds before I could answer without punching her in the head. “No. Too dangerous.”
“Too sexy, you mean.”
I sighed. It was pointless arguing with her and her giant succubus ego. “Fine. Yeah. You’re too sexy. He’ll blow his wad and be useless to us, so back off. If you need some juice, talk to Tony. I’m sure he’ll provide.” Maybe I should have been more worried about that suggestion, but they seemed to manage just fine in their relationship. He never looked sick or worn out to me.
“A succubus cannot survive on the energy of just one fae, Jayne. Even you should know that.”
“Even me? What’s that supposed to mean?” My temper started heating up even more once she made the conversation personal, and it sure didn’t seem like she was too worried about it. It was more like she wanted to piss me off for some reason.
She continued, her tone mocking. “Even you, the most ignorant fae of them all.”
I stopped suddenly, squaring my body for a fight. “Are you friggin kidding me?”
She stopped too, her hip stuck out in what looked like a suggestive pose to me. It didn’t make sense. I was about to punch her face off and she was trying to look sexy? “No. I’m serious.” She hooked her fingers in her waistband, pulling it down at little. She gestured at me with her chin. “Look at you, standing there with your righteous attitude, and all the while you’re just stumbling around in the dark, clueless. You have no idea who you are, where you’re going, or what you’re going to do
from one minute to the next.”
She was obviously picking a fight, but I couldn’t figure out why. Regardless, it was only because she was my best friend’s girlfriend that I held back from delivering the boob punch of all boob punches that she totally deserved.
“Yeah, so? Is that supposed to be news to me?” I tried to sound tougher than I was feeling. “Everyone knows I fly by the seat of my pants. So what? I’m still standing, aren’t I?”
“For now.” She took a step forward. “But for how much longer will your luck hold out?”
I quietly pulled up some of my Earth element into me, telling it I wanted it to repel anyone who had bad intentions toward my person, including succubi who might think I look a little too tasty in the moonlight.
“Hey, Jayne? You out here?” Tim’s voice was coming from my right, and I turned to answer him. It was in that brief moment of inattention that Felicia thought she saw her window.
“Oh, there you are, you …,” he started to say.
And then a giant green spark lit up the night around me, a shower of sparkly bits flowing over me like a slow-motion fountain.
When I looked back, Felicia was on the ground in front of me, motionless.
“What in the hell…?” I said, the green fireworks fading out to nothing in seconds.
“Whoa nelly, did you see that?” Tim was buzzing around Felicia’s head. “Woo hoo! You just zapped the crud out of that succubus, Elemental!” He flew up and turned to face me, keeping his distance. “I’d come over there for a high-one, but I don’t like flying into bug zappers.”
“You’re not going to get zapped,” I said, holding up my finger. I couldn’t stop staring at her. “Is that what just happened?” My brain was having a hard time piecing everything together, it had gone down so fast.
Trampling sounds came next and then suddenly my friends were there, Jared at the head of the group. “What’s going on?” he demanded to know, his gaze going from me to Felicia. She was still out cold.
I shrugged. “She just … came at me.”
Tony walked over and bent down, leaning so he could feel her breath on his cheek and then her pulse by her neck with his fingers. “She’s still breathing. Pulse seems elevated but not dangerously so.” He looked up at me. “What did you do to her?”