CHAPTER XV
THE FAIRY QUEEN, AND STRANGER THINGS
Meanwhile, the rest of us set out to retrieve the fourth
Stone. After Agnon regained conciousness and we'd all had a
night's rest, Marse and Jolan set to work with the Scry, and
found the next Stone to be in Ver, the island home of the
fairies. There were less convenient places for the Stone to be,
but not many. The fairies tended to be very protective of their
privacy, and there were stories of the sorts of creatures that
lived with them on the island, none of them pleasant. Be that as
it may, we saw no other course of action but to set out for Ver.
We gathered on the roof again, and Jolan worked his magic,
shrinking us and sending us hurtling through the sky, carried by
the winds.
I had never met a fairy, and I mentioned as much, asking
what I might expect from them. The others looked amused.
"Try imagining insanity with wings, and you have some idea."
Jolan answered. "Elven history, which is usually accurate since
many of the participants yet live, states that they and the
fairies came from the same plane of existence, which most elves
refer to as The Light, along with many of the other spirit-like
creatures that walk the land. Physically, fairies tend to be
slightly less than a foot tall, on average, and they usually have
wings. That's just a generalization, however, because they
aren't truly bound to one form or size. The creatures that came
from The Light became bound to this plane in different ways and
to different degrees. Elves were bound very closely, fairies
much less so. Fairies frequently seem to disregard the natural
laws of this reality. Thus, they can fly on those ridiculous
gossamer wings of theirs, which shouldn't be able to support
them. That reminds me," He looked to be sure that everyone was
listening, "When we get to Ver, don't wander off by yourself.
The island has been affected by it's residents, so that it
behaves strangely. In some ways it's much like my tower, with
places moving without logical relation to each other. Many
people call it the Island of Dreams, because your thoughts can
sometimes become reality there. I remember a group of head-
strong young magi once who believed that they could make their
wishes reality, by manipulating the fundamental magic of the
island. One survived. The rest fell prey to pockets of chaos,
eaten alive by their nightmares or driven mad or simply ceasing
to exist as the island became inhospitable to life. Even the one
who survived was much changed.
"Talking to a fairy is an extremely complicated process.
Singly, away from the island, they are rational, reasonable,
comprehensible people. In any sort of large gathering, however,
they seem to be lucid for moments and delusional the rest of the
time. You'll honestly have to hear it for yourself to understand
it." Jolan, I noticed, had a habit of overexplaining things. A
simple 'you'll see' would have helped just as much.
This trip I was a little bit more relaxed, having traveled
by sphere before, and Diana and I were gazing down at the sea
rushing beneath us, a seemingly unchanging field of blue,
occasionally broken by an island or gracefully leaping fish. I
wanted to ask about the fish, which must be huge to be seen from
such a height, but I didn't want to spark another lecture from
Jolan. After a few more minutes, the forest island came into
view, along with several small figures, hurtling toward us in a
V-like formation. As they took on massive proportions, they were
revealed to be fairies, though to our size-diminished eyes they
seemed gigantic. I could hear them calling to each other with
strange phrases as they approached:
"Red leader this is gold one. Approaching on vector tango
alpha charlie ten. Set fazers to stun."
"Copy that gold one. Everyone stick with their wingman."
"Cut back to one-quarter impulse Mr. Scot!"
"Aye cap'n!"
"Wendi, I can fly! Second star to the right, and straight
on 'til morning."
They flew into a circle around us, still chattering back and
forth in what seemed to be utter nonsense. The one who'd been at
the head of the formation brought his head close to us, and I
thought for a minute that he was planning to swallow us.
Instead, he laughed.
"So, young Jedi, you have returned! Has the Force been with
you?" He reached out his hand and touched the sphere. This
apparently disrupted Jolan's spell, because the golden-blue globe
surrounding us popped, and we returned to our natural size, which
scattered the circle of fairies around us and sent us plunging
downward toward the sea. There were several screams and I don't
mind saying one was mine. Diana and I had been standing near
each other, and we clutched each other tightly as we fell. I
heard the fairy exclaim as we fell, "Humph! Guess not!"
We were half-way to the ocean below when my latent powers
took effect again. I was surrounded with a deep blue glow and
found my downward velocity decreasing gradually, until we hit the
water with little more than a splash, whereupon I took a crash-
course in swimming. Fortunately, the power that had slowed our
fall also helped to keep me afloat, though I wanted to use it as
little as possible. I had no desire to be incapacitated a second
time. Diana, on the other hand, was an excellent swimmer, and
she tread water while I struggled along. After dragging
ourselves onto shore, we slumped down, exhausted from the long
swim, to find Jolan and the rest waiting for us.
"What happened?" I asked, between heaving breaths.
"They shattered my protection sphere, and the size-
alteration that was linked to it. Kiaphas became a full dragon
and grabbed Felin in one claw and Agnon in the other, Palas and I
managed to cast Flight spells on ourselves, and Marse..." He
looked over at the Cleric, seeming slightly disgusted. Marse
ignored him.
"My goddess came to my aid. What can I say?" Felin was
quick to fill in details.
"A flock of seagulls came out of nowhere and carried him
down to the ocean, where a giant turtle was waiting to take him
to shore." Marse shrugged modestly.
"Showing off is what it is," Jolan snapped, "You could just
as easily have flown or teleported."
"It wasn't my idea, Mage. If you have a problem with how my
prayers are answered, you can take it up with Shani. I doubt if
she'll appreciate the criticism."
"By the way, Firemane," Jolan said, quickly changing the
subject, "I saw what you did to save yourself. You might want to
consider learning to control your abilities. They could be a
valuable asset."
"To be honest, Jolan, I don't want to. The way things are
now, I can only use them if my life is in serious jeopardy. If I
could use it all the time, I might get sloppy, dependent on the
magic. I'd rather make my way with these." I held up my paws,
claws extended. He shrugged.
"Suit yourself." He looked around. "Well, we're here, at
any rate. We should probably wait for the escort to find us."
"That was an escort? I thought they were trying to get rid
of us!" Felin exclaimed.
"That was probably an accident. They often don't understand
how fragile human magics can be compared to theirs. Besides,
without guides, I doubt if we'd make it very far into the
forests."
"They seem to know you, Jolan. Have you been here before?"
He shrugged.
"Suffice it to say that I am not unfamiliar with the island
or it's inhabitants."
"What did he mean when he called you 'Jedi'? Isn't that
some kind of half-man, half-goat creature?"
"No, you're thinking of the Jadi, satyrs who haunt the
Deepwoods of Eol. I'm not sure what a 'Jedi' is, except that
they keep calling me that. It has something to do with what they
call 'The Force'. I'm not sure if it means anything, really.
Most of what they say doesn't."
The salty sea water soaking me had finally dried when the
escort found us, leaving my fur stiff with salt. The one who'd
broken Jolan's spell came forward, and Jolan tried to speak to
him.
"We'd like to see Her Majesty, if that is possible."
"Oh, LOOK!" The fairy exclaimed, "It's DOROTHY!" He knelt
down to Felin. "Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?"
"I'm not a witch at all, you demented sprite! If you want a
magic user, talk to the scarecrow back there."
"The SCARECROW?" He gushed, looking at Palas. He turned to
me. "Then YOU must be the cowardly lion! Where's the Tin Man?"
I took offense at being called cowardly, but Jolan intervened.
"He doesn't mean anything by it, I'm sure, Firemane. Just
let it go, and let's see if we can't get this done with and
leave." I reluctantly nodded, and gave up on twisting the fairy
into a new shape. Jolan tried again to talk to him. "Look, how
can we get to the Queen?"
"Why, you follow the Yellow Brick Road, of course!" He
pointed, and there was a path leading into the forest, paved with
golden bricks, though there had been no path before. Jolan
sighed.
"Okay, we'll follow this Yellow Brick Road." He shook his
head. "This place is just as bad as I remembered it." We set
off down the road, gaining a following of fairies behind us as we
went. They gibbered for a few moments about the Road, and then
burst into a song, which had very few lyrics, repeated almost
endlessly. We walked for over an hour, and the road still
stretched on ahead of us, with no change in sight, and the
singing continued. Finally it got to be too much.
"Blast it, Jolan, we aren't getting anywhere, and if they
don't stop prattling about this blasted yellow path I'm going to
start swatting them!"
"You think the rest of us are enjoying this?" Agnon asked.
"I'd like to start shoving these stupid yellow bricks down their
throats, but there are a few more of them than there are of us.
Just grin and bear it, 'cowardly lion'!" I promised him that he
would regret that, and he just laughed. I was going to pursue
the matter further, quite possibly by batting him to the ground
with my paws, but the others came to my defense.
"He's right, Agnon." Diana said, "I've lived for a long
time in a forest, and there should be some sort of noticable
variation in the foliage. But this group of trees is identical
to the last group we passed. Either we're going around in
circles, which isn't possible, the road is straight, or they're
playing a trick on us."
"Quite right," Jolan agreed, "It's entirely possible that
the island is shifting this part of itself so that we can't
advance. I suggest we try going the other way."
"What good will that do?" Agnon demanded, "This road leads
all the way back to the shore! Do we really have to waste
another hour backtracking? For Furina's sake, the end of this
road could be just out of sight!"
"Don't invoke Her name, Agnon, even if she is your
profesional patron, or the name of any other diety while you are
here," Marse warned, "These people don't like intrusions,
mundane, magical, or divine." I could see Agnon growing
frustrated.
"It's just the way the island is. Reality is pliable here."
Jolan explained, "What was behind us an hour ago is not
necessarily what's behind us now. And Diana and Firemane are
correct, it appears we aren't capable of moving forward."
"Fine then, we'll do it your way!" Agnon snapped. He
seemed to be in a foul mood, though with the monotony of the road
and the incessant singing, it was no wonder. He lightened up a
bit, though, after we turned around. Less than ten steps later,
the thrice-blasted road ended, and the fairies stopped singing.
The road ended in a large clearing, with an imposing
building standing in the middle of it. I would try to describe
it, but that would be difficult. It changed twice while I was
watching. It began very exotic looking, a rectangular base
surrounded by four slender towers, topped with a dome that looked
like an upside-down turnip and having a row of arches allowing
admittance. Then the towers shimmered and became gigantic trees,
with reddish bark, and the building became a tiered structure of
clay, like a series of mud huts built in layers and painted
fanciful colors. As we approached they changed again, the trees
becoming towers, thick and made of stone, and the adobe-structure
became a castle, complete with moat and drawbridge. I wondered
what happened to the people inside when the change occured, but I
realized I'd soon have a chance to find out firsthand, whether I
liked it or not.
The fairy following we'd acquired stayed with the road, and
when I looked back both they and it were gone. Only one of the
fairies escorting us was still with us, the one who'd spoken and
disrupted Jolan's magic. There was a guard at the drawbridge,
who moved to block our way. Without thinking about to whom I was
speaking, I asked our escort who the guard was.
"That's Double-o-Seven. He's on Her Majesty's secret
service. I'd be careful, he has a liscence to kill." He stepped
up to the guard. "Open says-a-me!" he exclaimed in a booming
voice, and the guard moved out of the way. The guard watched as
we entered, and I noticed that he followed Palas quite closely
with his eyes, especially after she'd passed.
"Oh, the things I do for England!" He muttered, half to
himself, I think, and I doubt if anyone but I heard him. I asked
Jolan later who 'England' was, but he wasn't exactly certain,
except that some of the fairies seemed to serve her, as well as
the Queen. Our escort led us through the enterance hall, and
into the throne room. I looked around, but I couldn't see the
Queen. The throne was empty. Our escort didn't seem to notice,
or perhaps he didn't care, because he fell to one knee and
announced that there were petitioners to see Her Majesty. We
waited several minutes, expecting an answer. Felin finally got
tired of waiting.
"Is the Queen here?" she asked.
"Oh, she's here." our escort replied, sounding very rational
for once, "She's either on the throne or in the nursury. Are you
sure you want to see the Queen? The Emperor handles most
everything these days."
"The Emperor?" Jolan asked, "I hadn't heard that there was
one."
"Oh, yes, ever since the Old Republic was abolished and the
Empire established."
"The Old Republic?" Jolan looked confused, "Do you mean the
Council of Rule? That was nearly three centuries ago!"
"Well, he's been away."
"The Emperor, you mean?"
"Yes, he was aboard the Death Star, with Lord Vader. But
now you have returned, Jedi. Did you rescue Solo from Jabba
yet?"
"Did I what?" Jolan's look of perplexity deepened, but then
understanding dawned on him, "Oh, I see." he explained to us what
was happening, "The moment of clarity he had passed. He's back
to talking nonsense again. That's something of a relief. Trying
to sort reality from fantasy around here is enough to drive one
mad." He started exploring the room, and since no one moved to
stop him we went with him. The throne room was excessively
large, and it was a decent walk to reach the throne. There was
no one on the throne, as we'd already seen, so we walked back to
our escort, feeling slightly foolish for having walked all that
way to prove what we already knew. Then again, we'd already seen
that appearances were often decieving in Ver. I asked Jolan if
perhaps the Queen was in the nursury, as our escort suggested.
"I hope not, but I suppose we have to check."
"Why, what's wrong with her being in the nursury? Are her
children that bad?"
"Fairies don't have children, Firemane." Diana explained.
That threw me for a moment.
"Then... how do they... I mean, surely they..."
"Reproduce? They don't, usually. A fairy birth is an
extremely rare occasion, and requires a bizaare set of
circumstances. It has to do with the way they are bound to this
plane, like their disregard for natural laws."
"Then why would they need a nursury?" Jolan continued
Diana's explaination.
"Because fairies go through a cycle of existance. I should
have explained this earlier, but I didn't see that it was
terribly important. Time only affects them as they choose to
allow it to affect them. Generally, they choose to experience
every stage of existance, from youth to decrepancy, but they
never die of age. They merely reverse the process, and grow
younger at the same pace, to begin the cycle again. You see,
they get to live forever, but they forget their past cycles, so
they don't have the same problems of eternal griefs that plauge
the elves. If they ever find themselves struck by a memory they
don't feel they can bear, they have only to reverse their aging,
and forget again. This is why so many of the fairies are young.
Life cannot truly be lived without some sorrow, but you can't
really blame them for trying, I suppose. When he said that she
was in the nursury, he didn't mean she was visiting. Something
happened that apparently she wanted to forget."
"You mean the Queen is a child? Why wouldn't they have
someone else as ruler while she grows up?" I had several other
questions, but mostly trivial curiosities. For example, how do
they handle families if there is no parentage? My question had
been addressed to Jolan, but it was our escort who answered.
"Why bother? She'll be old enough in a few years, and
besides, nobody else wants the job. In truth, she's actually
much better as a ruler this way. Before, she'd cut people's
heads off for silly thing like painting the roses or not losing
at croquet."
"I don't understand, what..." Jolan put his hand on my
shoulder and shook his head.
"My friend, that way lies madness." He muttered, just loud
enough for me to hear, and I must admit I saw his point.
"Well, what now?" Palas asked.
"I don't know. I wish we'd been able to get a better idea
of where on the island the Stone is. I'd assumed the Queen would
know, but I don't think that's likely somehow."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," our escort said, "I think she
knows exactly where it is." We stood there for a moment,
wondering if we should listen to him.
"Well, Jolan," Diana ventured, "Do you think it's worth a
shot? Perhaps she does know where it is." He shrugged.
"If not, then we'll have lost nothing but time, I suppose.
Very well." He turned to our escort. "Can you take us to the
nursury?"
"Certainly." the fairy replied, but he made no move to go
anywhere.
"Well?" Jolan asked, finally losing patience "What about
it?"
"What about what?"
"The nursury!"
"What about it?"
"I asked if you could take us there."
"Yes, of course I can."
"Then why don't you?" The fairy look surprised.
"Because you never asked me to." Jolan closed his eyes and
his lips moved. I was about to stop him from vaporizing the poor
fairy, but Diana restrained me by putting her paw on my arm.
"He's not casting, Firemane, he's counting." she whispered.
"Counting?" I asked, "Why?"
"Counting slowly to ten with your eyes closed is supposed to
help you keep your temper."
"Then I can see why he's counting." Jolan finished his
exercise in tolerance, and politely asked our escort to take us
to the nursury. The fairy promptly led us through a door near
the throne.
"By the way," I gathered the nerve, or foolishness, to ask,
as he took us through a maze of hallways, "What is your name?"
He looked over at me.
"Me? Why, I'm Obiwan Kanobi, Jedi Master and teacher. You
can call me Ben." Well, I knew I'd be sorry for asking when I
asked, so it wasn't really fair to get angry. The rest of the
trip was finished in silence, and at last Ben stopped in front of
an ornate pink door, which seemed slightly battered, and had
several marks on it's base, in bright primary colors. He knocked
and recieved no answer, so he opened the door and motioned for us
to enter.
The nursury was a study in disorder. Pillows and toys were
strewn about carelessly, and there were few pieces of furniture
standing in their proper positions. One of these was a crib
against the far wall, in which a child was sleeping, presumably
the Queen. Other than the mess, the room was almost unbearably
cute. Two of the walls were a creamy eggshell blue, and the
other two were a pale pink, and the floor and cieling were a
sunshine yellow, with stencils of childish shapes throughout. I
supposed that it must be appealing to the child, but I didn't see
how. Perhaps my own forgotten childhood was filled with things
like these, but somehow I doubted it.
We were about to leave, deciding that waking the child would
be extremely impolite, when Agnon saw something that brought us
all crowding around the sleeping Queen. Lying in the crib with
Her Majesty, sewn onto a stuffed toy tiger, apparently to replace
a missing eye, was the very Stone we were seeking. Agnon was
going to snatch it, but Felin kicked his shin.
"What did..." Palas threw her hand across his mouth,
silencing him, and they dragged him outside. Wondering what they
were up to, we followed them. Once in the hall they had a heated
argument with Agnon in very low tones.
"What did..." he began again, but the shushed him, and told
him to keep his voice down.
"What did you kick me for?" he finally managed, this time
quietly.
"You can't just go in there and steal from a baby!" Felin
exclaimed, seeming amazed that he would consider it.
"Why not? If I can commandeer half the draconian
population, battle wills with a Norn, and stab the most powerful
mage in the Nine Realms in the back, why shouldn't I be able to
do something as easy as reaching down and picking up an
undefended brown rock?"
"It's not right!" Palas insisted, "It's just not right!"
"Well, what do you want me to do, ask her for her
permission? If you'd let me go ahead and take it, she probably
wouldn't even notice."
"Oh, she'd notice, all right. Trust me, I'm speaking from
experience."
"From experience? You mean as a woman?" Palas smiled
slightly, having revealed a bit more than she'd meant to.
"Yeah, something like that. Look, taking something from a
sleeping baby isn't something I'm going to be party to, and it's
not something I'll stand around and allow, either."
"Um, Palas," I put forth cautiously, trying not to draw her
anger with her attention, "It's not that I don't agree with you,
I do, really, but we do need that Stone, and Agnon's right, I
don't think we can exactly ask the Queen at the moment. Neither
can we wait a few years for her to get older."
"I know that Firemane, but," she stood there for a moment,
looking for the right words. She never found them, but she
didn't have to. Diana took her aside and they had a private
conversation for a while. Agnon was about to slip back inside,
having been forgotten, as usual, but I noticed him, just barely
in time, and stopped him, something I would come to regret later.
He looked askance of me and I shook my head. Nobody was going to
do anything until everything was resolved. He shrugged and
settled back, but he grumbled to himself.
"What's the point of having a thief if you don't let me
steal?" He asked no one in particular, and nobody answered him.
Diana and Palas returned, and proposed a solution.
"What if we trade something for it? That would be more
acceptable, if it was something the Queen valued equally." It
sounded fair to me, and to everyone else. We talked to Ben, who
agreed that there would be no objections if the Queen was happy,
and that he would wake her, since she would probably be waking
soon anyway. Jolan went rooting through his sack, trying to find
something appropriate. He finally came up with a small quartz
crystal, which he enchanted to shift through all the colors of a
rainbow. It was a good idea, all we had to do was replace the
Stone with the much more colorful crystal, and everyone would
come out the better. If only it had worked that way. Kiaphas,
Diana, and I thought it would be best to wait outside, since we
didn't want to frighten the child, and Agnon stayed with us,
presumably from disgust with the entire proceedings.
Ben woke the Queen, who immediately grabbed her most prized
possession, the tiger doll. Jolan brought out the crystal and
the child's gaze was held raptly for all of five seconds. After
that, she suddenly lost interest in the crystal, but saw
something else that grabbed her eye. Me. Apparently I hadn't
been standing far enough back from the door, because she saw me,
dropped the tiger doll, and pointed at me.
"Mine!" she demanded. Jolan thought she meant the crystal,
because he reached out to give it to her. She pushed his hand
away and pulled herself up to the railing of her crib. She
pointed at me again, and again came the demand. "Mine!"
"Well, that's done!" Ben pronounced, picking up the tiger
doll and handing it to Jolan.
"But she doesn't seem to want the crystal." Jolan said.
"No, but it's obvious that there is something she wants more
than the toy, and you've already agreed to a trade."
"What?!?" I yelled, startling those around me and sending
the Queen into a giggling fit. "This wasn't part of the deal,
Wizard!" I thundered at Jolan.
"Calm down, Firemane, I'm sure we can straighten this out."
"You'd better! I'm not something to be traded!" I knew
none of them understood, except for Diana and maybe Palas and
Felin, but I'd been treated like a possession before and I hadn't
liked the experience. "And you!" I swung to face Ben, "You're
suddenly making a lot more sense. Why?"
"This is a relatively isolated part of the palace. The only
fairy nearby is the Queen, and she's far too young to affect me."
I wasn't sure if I liked him making sense or not. At least when
he'd been crazy I could ignore him.
"Look, your Queen will just have to find something else she
wants. I'm not up for grabs."
"Well, you're what she wants, and that was the deal, but if
you like, you could take it up with the Emperor."
"Great," I said, glad to have a way out, "Maybe we should
all go see the Emperor. Where is he?"
"I'm afraid not. Everyone else can go, by you'll have to
stay here. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to look out for the
Queen's welfare." I couldn't argue very well with that. He had
his duty, though if need be I'd fight him tooth and nail,
literally. For the moment, however, he just wanted me and the
Stone to remain in the room until a decision was reached. I
agreed to that, though reluctantly.
They left to talk to the Emperor, and I was left alone with
the Queen, who was fascinated by my mane. She reached out her
hand and had such a mournful look on her face that I couldn't
resist. I moved closer and she felt my mane, and softly petted
me. I found that slightly degrading, but I learned something new
about myself. I can't get angry at children. Even when she
pulled my mane, apparently not understanding that it hurts, I
just let it go. Under the circumstances, it wasn't a trait I
particularly liked in myself.
They came back a good while later, not looking terribly
pleased. Diana was nominated to explain what had happened.
"We went to see the Emperor, and he says that the same deal
applies to you as to the Stone. If we can find something she
wants more than you, you're free to go." I started to protest,
but she cut me off. "I know you don't like it. I don't either,
but Firemane, you didn't see this guy. He doesn't look like a
fairy. He looks like Death himself, with black robes and a hood,
and his skin is dead white. He looks like he couldn't possibly
live another week, but he threw Agnon across the room when he got
too close. I don't think there's much we could do to stop him if
he wanted to keep us here."
"So I just stay here? For how long?"
"Fortunately, her Caretaker from her last childhood is still
living the same cycle. Apparently she's some sort of royalty
herself, but she lived out her full life before growing younger.
She remembers the Queen's favorite thing from her past life.
Once we get that, you can go." I was going to argue, but the
Queen finally saw Diana. She reached out and uttered the now
familiar and dreaded phrase, "Mine!" I quickly moved between
them, and caught her attention with my tail, which she promptly
pulled. I might have to stay there, but I'd be blasted if I'd
let the same thing happen to Diana. So I stayed, after a tearful
goodbye from Diana, while the others went off to find the Queen's
favorite thing. Diana offered to stay with me, but I wouldn't do
that to her. Bad enough that I was trapped there. They did get
the Stone, though that was little comfort to me at the time.
Thus began my stay in what I soon came to believe to be a
poorly disguised version of the Seventh Hell. Not that the child
was ever deliberately cruel. She just had a way of making
trouble. Besides that, I soon realized what I was being made
into; a pet. Being called a deamon or being put into a cage is
annoying and frustrating and very unpleasant, but there is at
least some measure of implied respect or fear. As a 'pet', I
didn't even get that. What made it even worse was that it wasn't
just the Queen. The Queen often had guests of one sort or
another, visitors who'd known her from her past life or some of
the palace servents, and they all picked up the same habit of
referring to me as though I was some sort of blasted house cat.
The fact that I was separated from Diana for the first time since
we'd met didn't make anything easier. I was lonely, and there
was just no help for that, though I was surrounded by people.
The Queen's day was fairly routine. She'd wake up sometime
before the sun, scream for a while, and go back to sleep.
Sometime early in the morning she woke, and cried until someone
came for her, which was usually pretty quick. She was the Queen,
after all. She was cleaned and fed and dressed and whatevered,
and then she was set down to play until lunch. (Hers, not mine.
Meals became a special problem for me.) Playing generally meant
bothering me while I tried to sleep, climbing over me (I slept on
the floor), pulling my fur, my tail, and my ears, and other such
annoyances. After I finally decided that further sleep would be
impossible, I'd try to think of something to do that I hadn't
done the day before, but being trapped in a young child's room is
not conductive to mature entertainment. So generally I'd keep
myself occupied keeping the child out of trouble, which I soon
discovered was a nigh-impossible task. About noon, I believe, (I
didn't have access to a timepiece or the sun) the Queen was
subjected to the same process as in the morning, except that for
lunch she would sometimes try to share her food with me, whether
I wanted it or not. I don't care to recall the number of times I
had to lick the crushed fruits and mashed vegetables from my fur.
After being fed, she was put in her crib for a nap, and of course
she wouldn't sleep unless I was nearby. The afternoon and
evening basically followed the same pattern of food, playing, and
sleep.
Meanwhile, my friends were out looking for the Queen's
favorite thing, a morphos. A morphos is a rare creature that
protects itself by changing shapes, usually becoming something
large and fierce looking, though it's really just a harmless
plant-eater. They knew that one most likely lived on the
island--somewhere--since the Queen had released her favorite
pet when she'd outgrown it, and a morphos has an increadible
life span. The problem was finding it. After all, it's rare to
find a morphos in its natural form, since they consider anything
that eats meat a predator, humans, elves, dwarves, and vixens
included. Jolan and Palas tried to locate it with magic, Marse
by prayer, and Diana by tracking, but with little success.
Another problem they faced was the fact that Ver was home to
several creatures who are without definate shape, many of whom
were not so benign as a morphos. After all, the island itself
changed shape on a regular basis. They had Ben along as a guide,
but even so, the search was not without it's dangers. I myself
soon became acquanted with some of them.
As I mentioned parenthetically before, food became a
problem. They fed me in a manner altogether too reminiscent of
my stay with Shaloc, leftovers and scraps in a bowl on the
ground. I quite plainly refused to eat it. I finally got to
speak to the Queen's Caretaker, the Princess. I know it sounds
strange that the Princess was the Queen's Caretaker instead of
the other way around, but apparently that's how things worked on
Ver. When the Queen became an adult again, it would be her turn
to care for the Princess. She was concerned that I wasn't
eating, since it wouldn't do to have the Queen's favorite 'pet'
starving to death. I could tell that she thought speaking to me
was beneath her dignity. I considered creating a little mayhem
for a brief moment, but I knew that it would do me not good. I
told the Princess what I wanted in the way of food.
"Look," I said, "If there's any local wildlife you aren't
particularly protective of, I could simply hunt for my food."
The Princess agreed, and said that I could hunt at night, after
the Queen was asleep. I agreed, eager both to have fresh meat
and to leave the palace for a while.
That night, I left the Queen's room for the first time in
days. They gave me Ben as an escort, to make certain that I didn't
try to run off and to keep me from entering the more dangerous parts
of the island. I barely even noticed him, I was so happy to have
the open woods around me, to breath fresh air again. My stomach
growled and reminded me vehemently of why I was out, and I set
off for the hunt. I spotted a deer after almost an hour and a
half, and I silently stalked my way towards it. When I was a few
feet away it sensed me and it's head whipped around. It saw me
and tensed to jump away, but I was faster.
I jumped and caught it across it's back, my arms girding
it's belly, my legs dangling off to the side. It reared like a
horse and took off, bounding through the woods with me clinging
to it. I began to lose my grip and I started sliding off the
animal's back. I dug in with my claws and brought my legs up to
stradle the deer, and squeezed with my legs like a vise, both to
hold myself on and to try to stop the deer. This caused the
animal to buck and kick, trying to throw me from it's back. I
released my claw-hold on the sides and leaned forward, wraping my
arms around the deer's head, my right arm passing under it's chin
and holding it's left antler, my left arm coming across to grasp
the right antler. I gave a quick jerk and there was a loud
satisfying snap as the animal's neck broke, and the deer
collapsed into a pile, sending me tumbling head over heels as we
came to an abrupt halt. I was bruised and scratched, but
otherwise unharmed, and I jumped to my feet and ran back to my
fallen prey. I ripped it's throat out to make certain that it
was dead and its suffering was ended, then fell to eating with a
passion. There is nothing quite as satisfying as freshly killed
venison, especially if you've been fasting for days before hand.
I realized that the hunt had been my first since Diana and I had
arrived at Jolan's tower, and that gave the meat all the more
flavor.
When I'd practically gorged myself on my kill, my escort
finally caught up with me, and we returned to the palace,
carrying the carcass between us. It was an amusing sight, since
the fairy was flying the entire way, holding his end at the same
level as mine. Ordinarily, I would have had Diana with me, and
there wouldn't have been much left, but I didn't want the meat to
go to waste, so I gave the carcass to the fairy cooks to dress
and store for later. By the time we reached the palace the
drowsiness from my feasting hit me, and it was all I could do
just to get back to the Queen's room. Once inside, I curled up
on the floor and slept, contentedly full.
**********************
I followed the lioness back to her pride. The male, of
course, was not happy to see me. I roared my challenge and he
answered in similer fashion, and we began circling each other. I
snarled and he rushed at me, raising up to batt at me with his
forepaws. I shook his attack off and countered with my own,
coming up to catch his throat in my jaws. He knew that he was
defeated, and rolled over in submission. The fight was amazingly
brief. As the defeated male left, the lionesses crowded around
me, but I noticed one in particular, the one who'd shared the
kill with me. She walked by me, her tail up, and I smelled her
readiness. I stalked eagerly after her, until the grasslands
were split with a shrill cry.
***********************
I woke later than usual, with the Queen lying on my back,
yelling, her small, chubby hands tangling my mane. Later that
day, I overheard something that disturbed my better-than-average
mood. The Queen's birthday was coming up in a few weeks. That
fairies have birthdays is a strange thing, since the vast
majority of them weren't born, but pulled into this plane of
existance. Be that as it may, they picked up the habit from
humans, and they chose a certain day to mark their years. This
birthday would mark the Queen's second year of maturity.
However, from what I'd overheard, the Queen has three years of
maturity. This meant that the Queen wasn't going to grow out of
anything for a long while, especially favorite amusements like
me. If my friends didn't get the morphos, I could look forward
to eight or nine--or perhaps more--years of being treated like a
pet. That was not a thought that inspired happiness.
It was a few days later when I went hunting again, the
deer's meat finally exhausted. I found an elk drinking from a
pond. I stalked close to it, just as I had with the deer, but
the elk didn't notice me. I pounced and went for the throat,
planning to make this a clean kill. Instead, I found myself
facing something large, humanoid, and reptilian. The saurian
creature lunged at me, and I dodged, realizing that I'd been
tricked by one of the shape-shifting predators of the island. I
took it as yet another piece of the foul luck that had plauged me
since coming to Ver... or indeed, since meeting Jolan. The
saurian and I grappled and fought, and I eventually wrestled him
to the ground and killed him, when I accidentally ripped open a
strangely placed vein in his chest with a sweep of my claws.
My escort has just fluttered there, watching the fight. I
turned and confronted him, furious.
"Why the Hells didn't you help me? I could have been
killed!" The fairy gave me a condescending look.
"I did help you. Why do you think he didn't change shape?"
"And why didn't you warn me that it wasn't an elk?" I
demanded.
"You didn't ask. What we have here," he said, drawling out
the word 'here' so it sounded like 'he-ah', "Is a failure to
communicate." I moved closer, menacingly. The fairy's face
underwent a metamorphosis, becoming tight and squint-eyed.
"Go ahead," he said, his voice deeper and huskier, "Make my
day." It was perversely amusing for some reason, and I let the
matter pass so I could continue my hunt. I didn't catch anything
else that night, but I caught two rabbits the next night, which
sated my hunger for a while.
The next few weeks passed in much the same manner, with my
only real diversion being my nocturnal hunts. Then, as luck or
the gods would have it, I had the mixed fortune to encounter the
object of my friend's search, the very night before the Queen's
birthday. The morphos was in it's natural shape, a greyish-
skinned humaniod with a nearly featureless face, and as I
approached it became a large, hulking shaggy beast with tusks and
fangs. I called my escort, who, after babbling incomprehensibly
for a while about a 'Largefoot', or something like that, created
a barrier of magic around the creature. He floated the morphos
back to the palace, and summoned my friends. There was much
rejoicing the next day, and not, I might add, merely as a result
of the Queen's birthday celebration.
After Diana and I finally broke off our embrace and came
somewhere near to expressing how much we'd missed each other,
Felin tactfully asked us if we could leave sometime within the
next week. As we left, I couldn't help looking back at the
Queen. It amazed me that I still wasn't angry at her. Had
anyone else done to me any of the things she did, they would have
died a slow and painful death, but with her I just shrugged it
off. Strangely, I found myself wondering if Diana and I would
ever have children together.
However, these thoughts were disrupted when we found our way
out blocked by a couple of fairy guards. I demanded an
explanation, and after sorting through the inexplicable phrases
and meaningless words, we finally determined that the morphos was
being considered as a birthday present, and that I was still
being held as a pet. There was much argument about it, or at
least, I think the fairies were arguing with us. They certainly
didn't sound like they were agreeing, but it's hard to tell.
I grew tired of listening to thier chatter.
"Out of my way! I'm leaving, if I have to rip you apart to
do it!" Ben stood in my way, an expresion of confidence on his
face.
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than
you can possibly imagine." He said, with such conviction that I
was taken somewhat aback.
"Fine then. Let ME talk to the Emperor this time. I'm
certain I can convince him to see reason." Ben nodded, and
we followed him to the Emperor.
They took us through several twisting passages and down many
flights of stairs. I'd been under the impression that the
Queen's room was on the first floor, but surely there couldn't
have been as many floors underground as we passed. They finally
let us into a large room with many strange metal platforms. In
fact, the entire room seemed to be made of metal, except for a
large octagonal window that revealed a crystal clear night sky,
studded with stars. This was very disorienting, because it
seemed that the night sky was beside us instead of above us, and
because I could have sworn we were below-ground. Even more
noteworthy than that, however, was the Emperor himself. He
didn't look like a fairy. He was a black-robed, bent old man,
with a wrinkled face, sunken eyes, and skin that looked like
floured dough. He turned to Jolan.
"So, young Jedi, you have come to me. Like your father, you
will serve me." Jolan shook his head.
"You never met my father, and I'm not going to serve you. I
told you that last time I was here!"
"Your anger will make you my slave, boy. Look!" He pointed
to a large window, where several shapes were floating in the
darkness. "Your rebel friends will die because of you."
"Stop that!" I roared, "We didn't come here to listen to
your insane prattle!" He looked at me, and his entire demeanor
changed.
"A wookie! I see I'll have to teach you some manners!" He
flung his hand in my direction, and I snarled. At least, that's
what I thought I was doing. What came out instead was something
of a meowling noise. I growled, and I got a purr instead.
"Okay, fairy, you'll pay for that!" I promised, but I heard
badly stifled giggles and laughter behind me. Agnon didn't even
bother pretending it wasn't funny. He guffawed loudly. My voice
was high and squeaking, and my threat seemed laughable because of
it. Diana came to stand beside me.
"Firemane, be careful of him. He threw Agnon across the
room and shot lightning from his hands the last time we were
here." she whispered.
"Well what do you expect me to do?" I squeeked, "I've been
treated like an animal--worse, like some stupid house pet--and
now this humiliation. You tell me how I'm supposed to deal with
this." She didn't have an answer. Meanwhile, Palas and Felin
had stepped forward to yell at the Emperor for me.
"You put him back like he was!" Felin demanded.
"You have no right to treat him like this!" Palas angrily
shouted.
"Oh?" The emperor replied. He held up his hand and a ball
of flame appeared in it. "I'll get you, my pretty," He yelled,
his voice become high and shrill, chronish, "And your little dog
Toto too!" He looked at Palas. "How about a little fire,
Scarecrow?" He threw the fireball at Palas, who was barely able
to deflect it in time.
"That's it!" I yelled, and ran forward. Diana was going to
try and stop me, but Jolan put a restraining hand on her arm.
"I don't think Firemane is the one you should worry about,
Diana," he whispered, smiling, "unless I've misjudged things,
this should be fun to watch."
I ran at the fairy, my shrill shriek becoming once again a
deep throaty roar as the Emperor's spell broke under the force of
my latent powers. He threw bolt after bolt of lightning at me,
striking time and time again. At first, the blasts were painful,
but after a second the pain faded to a dull tingle, and then a
strange feeling of power washed over me. My fur stood on end,
and Diana told me later that I was once again surrounded by a
blue halo of energy. As the fairy threw his lightning, the halo
seemed to feed off of it, growing larger and brighter with each
bolt. I slowed as I approached him, going from a run to a sort
of half-lope to a calm walk. When I finally stood before him, I
could feel the energy flowing through my body, almost painful in
it's intensity.
"You will let us go!" I said, my voice deep, rumbling, and
loud enough to set the room vibrating with resonance.
"Yes, of course!" the Emperor said, not meeting my eyes.
"You will never hold anyone against his will again!" I told
him, and he quickly agreed. I tore his robe off, and he seemed
to melt, quickly reforming. When he was done, he was revealed to
be the Princess! My hands began trembling, and I knew that I'd
have to do something with all the power I'd accumulated. I put
my hand on the Princess's shoulder, and gave her back all the
power she'd thrown at me, in the same form she'd given it to me.
She screamed as the lightning coursed through her, arcs racing
down her body and across the floor. When I was done, she slumped
unconscious to the ground. I turned back to my friends. "Now we
can leave."
I was still suffused with energy, though no longer painfully
so. I asked Jolan if he could teleport us back to his tower, and
he said that he could, but it would require a tremendous amount
of energy. I had guessed as much, and told him so. He looked at
the blue field of energy still surrounding me and understood. He
cast his spell, and the glow around me seemed to expand to
envelop the entire group. When the blue light faded, I felt more
or less normal again, and we were back on the roof of Jolan's
tower.
We decided to have a feast to celebrate our success.
Rather, Jolan decided, and the rest of us agreed. Over our
sumptuous dinner, we discussed the events of the past several
weeks.
"I don't understand," Kiaphas was saying, "What happened
back there? Why didn't the lightning burn Firemane to cinders?
If the lightning was harmless, why did it hurt you, Jolan?"
"The lightning the Emperor--or Princess, I'm not sure which
I should call that particular fairy anymore--was throwing was far
from harmless. However, Firemane has a somewhat unique nature.
You see, most people have an elemental affinity, a certain form
of elemental power to which they are particularly in tune. It
used to be believed that your affinity was determined by the
stars you were born under and that your affinity determined your
personality. Of course, that's silly. After all, there are only
six elements, and many more than six basic personalities in the
world, and the idea that the stars determine your fate was thrown
out long ago. However, your affinity does have some effects,
particularly in regard to magic. My personal element is Fire,
which is why I have the Solarium upstairs. By attuning myself
with my element, for example, by basking in the sun's warmth, I
can replenish my power quickly. Firemane's element, despite his
name, isn't Fire, but Air. Because of his latent magical ability
and his manner of replenishing it, he was able to instinctively
attune himself to the lightning attacks, absorbing the basic
magic composing them. I suspected his affinity and that the
fairy would use lightning again, since that seems to be his...
her favorite trick."
"How did you guess my affinity?" I asked, "I didn't even
know it myself."
"Do you remember when your powers first manifested
themselves?"
"When I destroyed the cage, yes."
"During a thunderstorm, right?"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean anything by itself." I said, but
I remembered the feelings I'd had at the time, the sense of
power, the impression that I could feel the storm's strength.
"True," He admitted, "But there are other indications, minor
things, which led me to believe that your personal element is
Air. Besides, that's all academic. You've proved today that I
was right." I conceeded that, and the talk moved on. "My
question is, why did you want to get rid of the extra power you
had? As I recall, a depletion of power has caused you trouble in
the past."
"Yes, but having too much was almost a bad as having too
little. It was like having too much to drink, it gave me an
unpleasant feeling. We've already seen what too much power can
do to a person. How long before it got to me, as it did to
Merri?"
"I see your point." Jolan admitted.
"You are wise beyond the few years you remember." Marse
added, his voice sounding strange. "Wiser than you were before
you arrived here. That will serve you well in days to come."
"What do you mean?" I asked, "You know something of my
past?"
"I.. I'm not sure." Marse's brow furrowed, and he looked
slightly confused.
"How can you not be sure?" He looked a bit hesitant, but
explained.
"When I died I was shown everything. The width and breadth
of existance, all that has happened since the dawn of time and
all that will happen until its twilight. It's difficult to
remember and keep track of everything, now that I live again.
Things come to me sometimes, and I often don't understand them
later. Sometimes after things happen I realize that I expected
them, or that I caused them. As time passes, I seem to recall
less and less of the grand view of things, and more moment-to-
moment details. I wish I could tell you, but I don't remember it
anymore." I sighed. I'd just have to wait until the quest was
finished, and hear my past from Jolan. I decided to change the
subject.
"I don't understand why the Princess was pretending to be
the Emperor." I said, hoping someone could explain.
"I have no idea," Jolan said, "The last time I met the
Princess she was positively ancient, and somewhat senile.
Perhaps it has something to do with why the Queen chose to become
younger. She was, after all, still young and beautiful when I
last saw her, many years left before the turning point of old
age. To be honest, I don't much care. We have the Stone of
Earth, and if we're lucky none of us will ever have cause to go
back to that island of insanity again."
"Speaking of Stones," Palas said, "When do we have to leave
to get the fifth one?" Jolan sat there for a moment, and Palas
had to ask a second time before he replied.
"Ahem, yes, sorry. I think it would be best if we rested
here for a while, took a break." Jolan answered, "This last
adventure has been hard on everyone, especially Firemane, and I
think it only fair that we give everyone time to get over the
ordeal." He looked from me to Diana, and I could tell what he was
thinking. In truth, that was on my mind. Diana and I hadn't had
any time together for weeks, and I was looking forward to some
time alone with her. I decided that Jolan wasn't so bad after
all, and I even managed to forgive him for decieving us before.
The meal was winding to a close when we had an unexpected
visitor.
There was a loud pop and a rush of air, and the goddess
Shani materialized a few feet above our table. She dropped like
a rock and fell onto the table, crushing the roasted duck and
splattering the soup. Marse leapt to his feet, and rushed to
attend his patron. We helped him get her off the table, and
leaned her up against the wall. She had a nasty looking gash in
her chest, which Marse tried without success to heal. I could
tell from the look on Marse's face that he was shocked by this,
and even more so by the fact that his goddess could be wounded at
all.
"My lady, what happened?" He finally managed to ask.
"She has gone mad," Shani whispered hoarsely, "I must stop
her!" She struggled to get up, then slumped back to the ground
as she blacked out. We stood there for a moment, until Jolan
took charge again.
"Come on, someone grab her feet. Kiaphas, her shoulders, if
you don't mind." Everyone looked at him in silence. He looked
back, impatience written on his brow. "Well, she's obviously
wounded, and if you think lying on the floor is conductive to
health, then we could leave her here. However, I think she'd be
more comfortable upstairs, in a bed, where Marse and I can try to
help her. Now come on, she's not going to get there by herself."
Kiaphas and Marse nodded, and together they picked up the
unconcious goddess. They nearly dropped her again as the entire
tower shook, and the loud crack of a lightning blast resounded
throughout the hall. In the stunned silence that followed, we
heard the wind outside, howling like a blessed hell-hound.
When we got her upstairs, the Queen of Storms was waiting
for us.
(
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