Flash Fiction #608 -- Do not waken/3

 

"Run!" Rose yelled.

I barely heard the word over the strange rumbling roar that came from the ground.  Everything trembled.  I'd never been in an earthquake before, and I did not like it.  Then I wondered why we were running.  We didn't want to be around those trees that kept swaying --

"Dragon!" Rose yelled as she reached me.

I ran.

My leg was not up to this sort of workout, though.  I was slowing down within a yard and desperately trying not to fall. Four people -- the Commission -- charged past me in pure panic. I almost stumbled.

And that angered me. I grabbed hold of the next member of the Commission who went past me. He looked like he was about 30 and dressed in a long white toga that probably melted some high standing in the temple or something. I didn't care. I began shaking him, and he made incoherent noises.

"How in the name of all the gods can you have a dragon on a world without magic?" I demanded.

That question didn't reach the person I was holding, but it had Rose and Silvers's attention. When Rose landed on the man's shoulder, he almost fainted, and the ground shook even more.

"We're going to stay here until you give me some answers," I told the man. He focused back on me and took a couple of deep breaths.

"The Dragon was from the far past, back when we still had magic everywhere," he had a singsong voice that made me think I was right about him being a priest. "The Dragon was the last, and he went to sleep saying he'd return when magic came back. And the three of you came straight over him with your magic --"

"A couple of points to consider," Silver said as he took hold of the man this time. The ground wasn't shaking so much at the moment. I had the odd feeling that something was listening to us. "First, we didn't go over the Dragon; you did. I don't know where you got your magic, but it is much louder than what we use. You do not know what you're doing, do you?"

"And second," Rose added, as though she knew precisely what Silver would say. "If instead of chasing after us and getting us straight to this place, you could have told us there's a dragon in this area. We wouldn't have come running straight to it."

The priest gave several quick nods, but I suspected he heard nothing we'd said. Then, the ground convulsed, sending boulders and dirt everywhere. The three of us went straight to our knees while Rose leaped into the air.

When everything settled, I could see a shape not far away—a big shape still shaking some of the dirt off of him.

"Dragon," the priest said, waving toward the creature. Then he fainted and fell face down in the mud. I turned him over. I still had more questions.

Silver was the first of us to get back to his feet. I did the same, though I wasn't sure I would stay there for long. The priest's eyes fluttered open for a moment and then closed again. I looked around for the others, but they must have returned to the forest and disappeared.

"What do we have?" Silver asked as Rose circled back to us again.

"Something I've never seen before," she said. "It's a green Dragon, but I thought those were gone eons ago. I don't remember the stories about them."

"We may have to contact Prince Stejan for help. This might be more than a wolf and a pixie can handle."

"Perhaps you should ask me my intentions first," the Dragon said. He had moved until he was barely a yard away. None of us had heard him make a sound to get there. "You know what I was doing in the dirt?" he asked.

"I assume you fell into a trap," Silver said.

"I was there because I made an ancient promise not to return until the magic grows again.  It has been a long time … but you three are not from this world, and this one's magic isn't his own.  I think I made a mistake waking up now."

He sounded despondent.  I looked at Rose.  There had to be an answer for him.

"There was magic, but it disappeared?" Rose asked.

The Dragon looked at where she hovered and looked surprised and pleased.  "I have seen nothing like you!  And so much magic in so small a body.  What a wonder you are!"

"I am a Pixie," she explained, landing on Silver's shoulder. "There are many of us in my realm."

"I shall dream of you for many eons," he said.  I saw he was digging a hole with one paw.

"No, wait.  There has to be a better answer!"

"I promised," he said.  "Dragons never break a promise."

I looked around as though I had missed an obvious answer.  "All you need is for magic to return, right?"

"All," he repeated with a shake of his gigantic head.  "As if you could call magic up at a wave of your hand."

"But I can," I said and did so, Although it wasn't easy.

I remembered a story, though. More than a story, it was a fae myth—something so old that even we couldn't tell if it was true or not. But I could make it true in this realm.

I made a tree.

Not a normal tree, of course.  This one sprang from the ground with silver bark and golden leaves and towered over even the Dragon in a few heartbeats.  It was the embodiment of magic.

I wasn't done.

Flash Fiction #607 -- Do Not Waken/2

 

The Pixie darted everywhere with a nervous energy that made me worry there was more going on again.  I was using my power to keep my leg from giving out.  Besides, I already knew what was out there.  I left it to my companions to find us a path away from them.

The Wolf appeared.  Even though Rose had warned me, I still gave a slight yelp. I heard what sounded like an exasperated sigh.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"We have to get clear of this area," Rose said.  "This way is as safe as I've found.  We already mapped it out."

I didn't argue with the Pixie, especially with the Wolf behind me. Their magic surged around us, and we worried it would draw The Commission straight to us.  I had worried that my magic alone would have done it.  Now --

Now, I didn't have to worry about facing the trouble alone.

Nevertheless, I kept as fast a pace as I could.  At one point, the Wolf darted out in front as we came out of the trees and brush and into a vast open land filled with late summer flowers and tall grasses.  Despite a few scattered bushes, we would never get across that without being spotted.

The Wolf startled a dozen elk when he appeared.  They must have been resting in the sunlight and munching on grass. They naturally began to dart away at the sight of the Wolf charging in among them, but at a quiet whisper from Rose, they stopped and began grazing again.  That would be magic to know, although I hoped never to be in a situation like this again. The Fae -- including me -- don't always take Pixies seriously, and I was already starting to see that would be a mistake.

Since they were doing all the hard work, I had too much time to think. I wanted to ask about the storm that had thrown me into this realm and how Desti and Cara returned to send help for me.

"It's our only chance," Rose said. "Let's get beyond the elk and hide in the grass.  "The magic that we used will have the elk running right before the Commission shows up. I know I don't have to warn you, but just the same, don't use any magic while they are in sight."

I was already jogging through the knee-high grass with Rose keeping pace with me. The Wolf had chosen his hiding spot, close to the elk he must direct once the enemy showed up. I thought I could hear voices far too close, so I threw myself down in the grass and scooted along until I found a bit of a depression. Rose landed right by my head, so I didn't have to worry about what was happening. She would let me know.

Then, I knew the enemy had arrived.  I could feel it, even beyond the feel of magic from my two new companions. It is not clean and helpful magic like the Fae used, and I wondered what the human mages were trading in for their power.

The elk moved in a wide curve away from us, and I could feel subtle magic go with them so that it would look as though we were moving with them. I was so worried about giving them away that I could barely dare to breathe.

They went after the elk, though one sent some magic out to check the area.  Nature's own power covered us, though.  We kept still and let the world protect us.

I hadn't noticed the rain clouds until it began to pour.  At another time, I would have cursed.  However, the rain also helped keep us from sight.

I didn't move until Rose told me to sit up.

Then, I was surprised to see a stranger sitting a few feet away.  I made an odd sound, but he shook his head.

"Wolf," he said by way of introduction.  He shook grass from his hair.  "I am Silver.  We better get out of here. They'll try to track my wolf persona, but I have it buried deep now.  We have a chance to get clear of them."

I did the same with my power, even though it was nothing like what Silver could radiate.  He must have had a lot of practice at this since he worked for The Watch.  What I had heard about them was sketchy, but some reliable people believed they did good work.

I had nothing to complain about since they came here specifically to find me. I was even interested in their work, though I asked no questions.  I hoped for a better time.

By the time we had cut across the grassland and into another small line of trees, the Commission was still following the elk. As I suspected, the trees marked a pond, a small bog, and the end of a narrow brook that had dug a trench into the soft ground. The water was only a few inches deep, and the trench, including the water, was maybe four feet deep. Bushes dotted the meandering line, providing spots of cover. We didn't have to discuss it.

"The birds will give us away if I don't deal with them," Rose said.  "I'll be about five minutes ahead of you."

She took off, and I watched until she disappeared into a bush. The small birds were silent when I saw her fly on, and Silver and I were moving through the ankle-deep water. The brook was a dangerous path of slick stones and moss. I would rather she left the birds and got rid of the bugs, especially the mosquitoes. I almost complained, but given the circumstances, I decided that would be rude.

Then I saw Rose rushing back to us.

And the ground shook.

Flash Fiction #606 -- Do Not Waken/1

 

"You don't have to go," Uncle Tef insisted, even as I packed the last of my belongings in the cloth bag.  "We need you, Coln --"

I barely kept a snarl from my face as I turned to the stout little man who almost reached my chin. I knew my height annoyed him. Very many things annoyed Uncle Tef, probably everything I did.

"The commission is only five miles away," I said as I shouldered the bag.  "Do you really want that trouble?"

"You could hide."

"They have a seer with them.  I do not intend to get caught.  Good luck with the farm."

I am happy to say that Tef was not actually my relative. Neither was his son Jeff, which was even better. The kid glared at me just as he had when I first arrived. I had been too weak and injured to do more than notice when my friends left me off here.

I'd expected them to come back. I was more than a simple lost fae. Something might have happened across The Veil. In fact, there seemed to be trouble everywhere, which was why I left my temple to take this journey.

A few days ago, I'd taken an arrow in my leg and still had trouble doing more than hobble along despite the amount of magic I'd used to try to heal the spot. Eventually, I just had to let nature take its course. I had helped Tef with the farm and harvest—more than Jeff did. The boy was spoiled and indolent.

Tef and I did not discuss him, but I knew he could see my dislike for the boy.  Jeff was not a child.  In a couple years, he would come of age.

I was glad that I wouldn't be around.

And that was the last I thought about the people who had taken me in, even knowing I was fae and the Commission was out in force hunting down anyone with magic.

I wasn't ungrateful.  They'd done something dangerous. I had repaid that debt by using little bits of magic to make the farm produce better and take care of some of the dull day-to-day work neither father nor son wanted to do. However, I soon realized they wanted far more than that help. They wanted magic to make them rich and famous, and I had to sidestep their persistence at every turn. I kept hoping my friends would return, but the longer it took them, the more I feared they'd fallen to the Commission.

Jef followed me as I left the farm, sneaking from bush to bush, thinking I wouldn't notice. I began to walk a little faster and then took the first trail heading north. As I expected, he didn't come that far with me. I hate to say that I mistrusted them, but after half a mile on the northern trail, I cut across the country and headed east instead. I was back toward the area where my friends and I'd been blown from the Fae lands into this blighted human realm that didn't even seem to have pixies.

I had never found a realm without pixies. They're a lot like cats—they just show up, and no one knows how they got there. Now that I was away from Tef's house, I hoped to see some of the little pests.

I wanted to use magic to see if I could find anyone, but The Commission would pick that up, as every Fae trapped here knew. The Commission was manned by human mages, and they mistrusted anyone else with magic. Their war against the Fae—who would have liked help getting home—had been tireless from the start three years ago.

I knew they would track me if I used magic.
"Tell me you're one of the lost."

The unexpected voice came from my right, but there was no one there—at least, I thought so until I saw a little movement on one of the branches of a bush. A small face looked out at me, frowning slightly.

Pixie!

"Are you lost, too?" I asked, almost too surprised to say anything coherent.

"Not exactly. My partner and I came from The Watch to help the lost here find their way home. Do you know about The Watch? It hasn't spread to all the magical realms, but we are trying to get the word out to everyone."

"I have heard of it," I said, hoping this wasn't just some kind of odd hallucination from being ill for so long. I hadn't talked very often with pixies, and this one certainly seemed a lot brighter than any of those past pixies. She looked at me as though she knew I was judging her, and I suppose, given her work, that was common.

"If you see a wolf running this way, don't panic.  That would be my partner, Silver.  He doesn't change to wolf often, but that group following you were very close, and he thought he might scare them off."

Somewhere closer than I liked, I could hear shouts of surprise and fear.  A wolf howled.

"I am dreaming this, right?"

She gave an unexpected laugh and fluttered to my shoulder.  "I hope we can find a portal close by.  Physically, this isn't a bad world, but I dislike the humans here. You are lucky your friends remembered where they left you in such detail, and the report got to us.  I am surprised the human took you in, though.

"I am sure Tef and his son were hoping for more than help on the farm, but I did get lucky to be there at all."

"I am Rose," she said, taking off from his shoulder. She looked worried. "I hope Silver isn't in trouble."

The wolf howled again, followed by shouts of anger.

Flash Fiction #605 -- The New Frog (Drabble)

 

A new frog turned up in the pond on a July morning. He simply plopped into the water and began bouncing around, startling everything nearby.

"Sit down in the mud!" several frogs shouted.  "Be still or you'll get us all killed!"

"I can't be a frog!" he shouted.

"Looks like a frog."

"Sounds like a frog."

"Jumps like a frog."

"You might as well accept it, son. You are now a frog. Ask the others about your chances of once again becoming a rich and handsome prince."

He looked around, his frog eyes bulging. "Well, damn," he said.  "And ribbit."