Sapphire of the Fairies, Book 1 of Sword of Heavens Page 28
Tedi turned bright red and Arik and Fredrik slapped him on the back. Tanya looked curiously at the heir to the Alcea Crown, but Niki actually moved to sit between Fredrik and Tedi and examined the necklace.
The next few days were a welcome relief to Garth. The questions about Alexander Tork had ceased and Prince Oscar became the topic of conversation. The most dramatic change in the Children was in Niki. She would not leave Tedi alone. Instead of magic lessons with Kalina, Niki started challenging Tedi at knives and the Lanoirian Star. She even tried to battle him with a staff, but that lasted as long as one swing in which Tedi disarmed her and she complained of a broken wrist.
The Sword of Heavens was vibrating so vigorously now that Kalina could not control it. Tedi took over the job of using the Sword of Heavens to point towards their destination. The terrain of the headwaters of the Black River changed from mountains to rolling hills and eventually flattened out to forested woods just outside the village of Dani. The group had a discussion about entering Dani for provisions and after Kalina pointed out that this area had very few visitors and they would surely be talked about, they decided to bypass the town.
Just west of Dani, the pine forest gave way to an ancient wood of old oak trees. At this point the Sword of Heavens was vibrating so wildly that only Garth and Arik had the physical strength to handle it. Garth gave the job to Arik so he would not be encumbered if trouble arose. The woods were dark and whatever light the day brought was quickly fading, so Garth announced that they would camp for the night and start fresh in the morning.
The camp was full of excitement as everyone realized they would probably meet the fairies in the morning. During the talk period after dinner, everyone had questions about the fairies and what they were like. Unfortunately, nobody had any answers. No one had ever seen a fairy, not even Garth and Kalina. Garth cautioned about being overly excited.
“You must remember,” Garth stated clearly, “that the Universe inhabited by the fairies was also inhabited by ogres. If we are near to finding the fairies, we may also be in the vicinity of ogres and they are ferocious fighters. An ogre is typically stupid, but they are large, strong, and will eat people. If we have to fight ogres, the bow is your best weapon. Their strength will make sword fighting dangerous because their blows, even if they are blocked, can knock your sword from your hand. Knives will be useless unless you score a direct hit in a vital area like the throat or eyes.”
Everyone’s attention was riveted on Garth. No one expected to find the land of the fairies to be a dangerous place, but the thought of fighting ogres had sobered their jubilation.
“You will have to aim at the same vital areas with your arrows,” Garth continued, “but you may do so from a greater distance. As far as I know, the ogres have no magicians, but do not depend on that. If we get into an attack, defense shields will be the first priority of those with magical capabilities. If you can maintain a shield and attack at the same time, do so. There is no such thing as a surrender in a battle with ogres. We either kill them all or they eat us."
The mood had turned rather gloomy as the Children went to the practice area, but the practice itself was tough. All four of the warrior Rangers practiced their archery skills, each trying to outdo the others. Arik with his longbow was clearly the winner, with Tanya second. Each of the Rangers practiced as if the skills they honed today would be used in battle tomorrow. Garth called an early halt to the practice and stated his intention that everybody get as much sleep as possible. They would search tomorrow until they located the fairies, even if they had to proceed after the darkness came.
Garth let everyone sleep until first light and then canceled morning exercises. The Rangers had breakfast and took to the trail. The oak forest got thicker and the coming of light did little to improve visibility. The group rode through the morning with two stops for Arik to check on the direction shown by the Sword of Heavens.
Shortly after their stop for the midday meal, they started seeing live, healthy apple trees. Tanya started to gather apples for dinner until Garth told her to keep her hands free. The light also started to penetrate the forest better as the oak trees thinned. Excitement started to percolate again as there were several false sightings of fairies. Garth did not share in the excitement. Instead he started to grow tense with a premonition of danger and his eyes started scanning the forest.
Tedi was in the lead when his horse just stopped. Garth rode to the front of the procession and asked Tedi why he was stopping.
“I didn’t stop,” Tedi said. “My horse just stopped. Tedi lowered himself from the saddle and checked on his mount.
“He’s sleeping!” Tedi exclaimed. “I can’t believe it, he is just sleeping.”
Garth also dismounted to verify Tedi’s statement. Arik came walking forward from the end of the column.
“All of the mounts are sleeping except yours and Kalina’s,” Arik stated. “What is going on? We didn’t push them hard yesterday. They have never acted like this before.”
Garth shook his head and started looking around at the forest when he heard the shouts behind him. He quickly pivoted and saw Fredrik and Kalina rushing to where Niki had fallen to the ground. His senses reeling, Garth searched for some sign of his enemy. He watched as Fredrik collapsed to the ground and heard either Tedi or Arik falling behind him with a shout.
“It’s magical!” Kalina shouted as she hurriedly tried to erect a shield over the entire party.
Tanya dropped to her knees as Garth heard another thump behind him and turned to find both of the Lorgo boys stretched out on the ground. He pulled his sword from its sheath as he turned back to see Kalina collapse. His arms grew heavy under the weight of the sword and it dropped to the ground as the trees above his head swirled in flashes of green and gray. He struggled to grab onto something to hold him upright as his eyeballs rolled up into his head and his body collapsed beneath him.
Chapter 23
Fairies
Nothing moved on the forest trail where the Rangers lay crumpled in heaps on the ground. Down from the sky floated a small, blue fairy no taller than a man’s index finger. The fairy’s wings fluttered as she landed on the back of Tedi’s horse and surveyed the sleeping party.
“Why did you attack them, Pixy?” the blue fairy asked. “They would have passed through without ever knowing we were here.”
A green, and slightly larger, fairy swooped down and soared along the trail over the unmoving forms, finally landing next to the blue fairy with a dazzling flourish of outstretched wings.
“Bah, Nixy,” he grumbled. “Humans are always trouble. It is better that we have stopped them before they went any farther.”
“I think you just enjoy being mischievous,” Nixy pestered. “What if they are friends or an envoy from another land?”
“The fairies have no human friends,” rebutted Pixy. “It will be best for all if we dispose of them now. We can levitate them into the acid pits of the ogres.”
“Do you speak for Queen Mita now?” Nixy persisted. “Besides, we can never levitate them that far by ourselves. We will need a great deal of help, especially with that big one. You had trouble getting him to lie down.”
“It would have been easier if you had decided to help earlier,” growled Pixy. “That female with the long, black hair was trying to use some magic to shield herself. She distracted me. If I hadn’t been distracted, the big one would have gone down easy enough.”
“I’m sure,” Nixy drawled sarcastically. “Still, I think we need to get them into the Stay Bushes as soon as possible. If one of them has the power to break your sleep spell, they could be dangerous to us. I will get others to help with the levitation.”
“I’ll go,” Pixy offered. “You keep a watch for any signs of wakening and don’t let any of them get away.”
Without waiting for a reply, Pixy forcefully spread his wings and soared down towards the trail below before fluttering off through the apple trees. Nixy stood watching the strange par
ty of humans for what seemed to be a long time before Pixy returned with scores of other fairies to help transport the invaders to the Stay Bushes.
“You are taking them to the Stay Bushes and not the acid pits, aren’t you?” Nixy inquired.
“Yes, yes,” Pixy sighed. “I think they ought to be disposed of, though. One human in the Stay Bushes is all right, but all of these can be dangerous. Midge found out somehow and demanded that they be taken to the Stay Bushes and that I report immediately to Queen Mita. You will have to supervise the moving. Make sure they are kept asleep even after you have delivered them.”
Pixy left the mass of fairies assigned to deal with the invaders and flew into the orchard. Soaring between apple trees which held the homes of his fellow fairies, Pixy angled towards the very center of the orchard where the great Father Tree stood, the tree that the Mage had used to restore the orchard after the blight caused by Alutar and his ogres. Father Tree had a hole through its bark, level with a human’s head and sporting a wide protrusion outside of it. It was on this lip that Queen Mita held court and Pixy set down on it with the precision of an acrobat.
“Your Highness,” bowed Pixy to the blue fairy. “We have captured a large band of humans bent on invading our homeland. Nixy, at this very moment, is escorting the interlopers to the Stay Bushes. There is one among them that uses outlander magic and I think we should send them off to acid pits at our earliest opportunity.”
“I did not know that your head was large enough to accommodate an ogre brain, Pixy,” Queen Mita rebuked. “Would you send every human who comes close to our home directly off to the acid pits? Would you have handled the Mage in a like manner when he showed up to restore this orchard?”
Flushing with embarrassment, Pixy responded, “Of course not, Your Highness, but these invaders are warriors and come heavily armed.”
“What do the humans look like?” quizzed the Queen.
“They are all dressed in black and carry great swords and large bows,” Pixy answered.
“And what were they saying when you observed them?” prompted the Queen.
“He does not know,” answered a green fairy upon landing on the platform. “According to Nixy, he issued the Sleep Spell before any of them had uttered a word.”
“Thank you, my son,” Queen Mita greeted Midge.
“Of course they were saying nothing,” protested Pixy. “They were trying to sneak up on us.”
“We have a further complication, Queen Mita,” Midge interjected. “We have transported six humans, but there are seven horses and they were all being ridden.”
Nixy arrived at that moment and settled down next to Pixy. “The blond female is the one that is missing, Prince Midge,” she said as she bowed to the Queen.
“How could you lose her?” Pixy blurted out. The Sleep Spell you put on her must not have been strong enough.”
“I did not put a Sleep Spell on her,” frowned Nixy. “I thought you had already done so.”
“I was,” Pixy responded sheepishly, “until I got distracted by the witch. I thought you realized that and finished her.”
“Enough!” demanded the Queen. “Midge, we are losing light already. Send out patrols to locate this missing human and retrieve her. Have them be careful. Pixy says that they are dressed in black and use outlander magic. We may be facing a band of Black Devils. I would prefer that she be subdued and placed in the Stay Bushes, but kill her if you must.”
Prince Midge threw himself off the balcony in a dive and soared towards a large group of green fairies clad in shiny mail and tiny helmets. The Queen turned to Nixy and fixed her with a look of despair.
“Nixy this is not the first time that you have lost a delivery,” rebuked the Queen. “You shall be in charge of watching over the captives to ensure that they do not wake. Pixy, you shall have the dubious honor of determining who they are and why they are here. I will not accept any mishandling of the prisoners, but you will remain within the Stay Bushes until you have accomplished your task.”
With a wave of her tiny hand, Queen Mita dismissed the other two fairies.
* * * *
Tanya lay under the windswept pile of oak leaves from last fall’s dropping and watched with fascination as the fairies levitated the other Rangers away. She wasn’t sure why she had not fallen prey to their magic, but it was apparent that her friends were being taken captive and not harmed. She started to fall asleep like the others, but suddenly the feeling had just departed. At first she had thought to lash out at the fairies and free her comrades, but, thankfully, she remembered the reason for their journey. It was the Sapphire of the Fairies that they were after and they had found the fairies, no matter their current predicament, so Tanya slid off the trail and quietly crawled away.
Tanya cringed involuntarily as another slimy thing crawled across her leg. The half-year-old leaves still held the moisture of winter and decomposition and she shuddered at the thought of what type of creatures inhabited them.
When the last of the fairies left she thought about following them, but quickly decided to wait for the coming darkness. She spent the time trying to remember Uncle Boris’ tales about the fairies. She shoved her face further out of the smelly pile of leaves and was rewarded with the sweet, fresh smell of the apple orchard nearby.
Uncle Boris had told thousands of tales, but not many stories that involved fairies. All of the tales he did tell seemed to indicate that the fairies were a good and well-intentioned people. She could only remember one specific narrative and it dealt with Prince Midge, the son of Queen Mita, and the Great Mage traveling to imprison the Great Demon, Alutar. In the story the Mage created a homeland for the desolate fairies and centered it around a giant apple tree. She was wondering if this was that same orchard when a dozen mail-clad fairies marched by scanning the forest.
She froze as the fairies passed and pulled her head farther into the leaves when they were out of sight in case they doubled back. An hour passed and the small fairy army had not returned. Darkness had fallen over the forest and Tanya yearned to be free of the decomposing pile of leaves and the tiny creatures that lived in it. Slowly she pulled herself out of the pile of leaves and looked around. The forest was dark and eerily quiet. Slowly she crept in the direction her fellow travelers had been taken. Within a few dozen paces the oak trees thinned and the apple orchard began.
Tanya deeply inhaled the sweet scent of the orchard and squinted her eyes to make out the little figures moving among the trees. Subconsciously, she stuffed her long blond hair under her leather cap and sat behind a bush to observe the fairies. She watched for several hours and saw several armed parties returning, but no sign of the Rangers. She did observe the return of the patrol that had passed her pile of leaves, but they came into the orchard from another direction.
The amount of activity in the orchard started to diminish as fairies flew into holes in the apple trees and did not return. Remembering the lessons that Garth had given the Rangers on penetration of hostile encampments, Tanya started a methodical circuit of the orchard. Remaining in the darkest shadows of the oak forest, Tanya worked her way around the circumference of the orchard. When she had almost completed the circle, she stopped at the sight of Garth Shado.
She had seen Garth first because of his height, but the others were there, as well. Each Ranger was tied to a vertical pole in the center of a dense, circular bush. There were more bushes than Rangers and it appeared that whatever security the bushes provided, the fairies could accommodate a few more intruders. The bushes had large, sharp thorns, but Tanya failed to see how a few cuts and bruises would ensure that a prisoner did not escape. Given enough time, she was sure that Garth would be able to escape the rope that bound him and then he would be able to push his way through the bushes to free the others. Tanya saw one small blue fairy sitting on top of one of the bushes looking bored. Every once in a while, she could spot a green fairy flying from one prisoner to another.
Tanya ducked her head down as a p
air of fairies came walking by between her and the bushes that held the Rangers. Only the fact that both of the fairies were looking the other way saved Tanya from detection. Holding her breath, she heard the voices of the two fairies.
“I did not know that Nixy’s head would hold the brain of an ogre,” the first fairy chuckled. “She sits on the Stay Bush without a thought to the consequences. One prick of those thorns would kill an ogre and she sits among them.”
“She will be there all night,” the second fairy laughed. “Queen Mita was very annoyed that she allowed one of the humans to escape. They have had patrols out looking for her for hours, but . . .”
The voices trailed off and Tanya could hear no more, but she had heard enough. Whether the fairies meant to kill the Rangers or not, no longer mattered. Tanya knew that the Rangers would attempt to escape and they were not aware of the poison in the thorns. One by one, the Rangers would die and she was not going to stand by and let that happen.
Tanya slid back into the oak forest and searched for the largest oak tree. When she finally found it, she started climbing. She continued climbing until the thin branches threatened to break under her weight. Clinging to the trunk, she gingerly settled herself down to a tenuous sitting position on a thin branch where it met the trunk. She gazed down at the orchard and had a clear view of the layout of the village. The Stay Bushes were very visible and she could now see the green fairy flitting from one prisoner to another. The fairy seemed to be searching the many pockets and pouches of the prisoners. The rest of the orchard was less visible. Tanya could detect the placement of the trees and could easily see the trunk of the largest one in the center, as it had a clearing around it, but the branches and leaves of the apple trees obstructed her view of a good deal of the orchard floor.
She clung to the trunk for a while watching the Stay Bushes. Every once in a while her vision was drawn to returning patrols. Each returning patrol sent one fairy to the large center tree and on a platform partway up the trunk the fairy bowed to a blue fairy that came out of the hole behind the platform. Tanya surmised that she was observing Queen Mita receiving the reports of the returning patrols and an idea formed in her mind.