Flash Fiction # 737 -- Doom/9

 

My little friends landed on Gold, two dozen or more clinging to his mane.  My eyes adjusted to the dark, with only ghosts of light sparkling here and there.  I dragged what felt like an unwilling spell through my pounding head and cast a circle of light into the air.

That startled everyone more than the darkness had. It also half-blinded me, but at last I saw something helpful.  We were in a castle with a high ceiling, wood beams, and unlit torches.

I lit as many as I could while my circle of light sputtered and died.  The torches were not as bright, but they were welcome.

I fell off Gold.

Adon picked me up and set me on a bench.  I grabbed hold of the nearby table and tried not to fall over again.  The other fae were settling the humans, and I felt like Adon, Gold, and I were supposed to fix this mess.  Adon even looked at me as if he expected an answer to this mess.

"I have no clue," I mumbled. "I don't even know where we are."

Gold scratched something into the wooden table.  Adon leaned forward to read it.

"Between," he said.

That was a relief, actually. Between was a known location, a fixed point in the Fae realms.  Best of all, it was a nexus to many other locations.  We were not stuck here.

However, there was still a problem.  Of course.

"Where are the Keepers?" I asked, glancing around, hoping to see them at another table enjoying the unexpected guests. I stopped quickly.  The room moved now and Adon grabbed my shoulder before I slid to the floor.  

I looked back at my cousin. "This is annoying."

"Move slowly," Adon said.  "Turn and watch the hearth."

I did what he said, mostly because protesting would make it worse.  Besides, maybe he and Gold knew something about this place, since they traveled more than I did.  So I turned, grateful that he still held on.  I stared.

For a moment, a stranger stood before the hearth. He noted my attention and nodded my way -- right before he rippled and disappeared.  That couldn't be good.

"He was a Keeper, wasn't he?" I asked.  "Where did he go?"

"He is still there.  We aren't."

"We didn't do anything -- oh.  We came in out of phase.  We need to fix that before we are stuck."


"Glad to see your brain working again,' he said.  Gold made an encouraging sound of agreement.  'You are the only Fae I know who has had experience with being out of phase."

"I was very young." 

"People constantly tell me you have an excellent memory."

"We didn't do well, you know."

 "But you were not in charge."

This time I scoffed.  Adon was probably the only person, human or Fae, who could make me feel even slightly amused about the event that had changed my life.

"I was eleven years old, Adon.  If I had been in charge, it would have been a far greater disaster than it had been."

 "I don't think so," Adon said.  He sounded so serious that I squirmed like a puppy under his hand.  "You saved twenty --"

"Out of 100," I reminded him.  Then I lifted my hand and quieted him.  "They are phase guides."

"The little demons?" he said, startled.  "What were they doing when they attacked us?  We weren't --"

"We were already out of phase," I said.  It was all coming clearer now.  "They attacked us because they mistook us for another group."

"All two-legs look alike."

I stared at the hearth again and saw the Keeper look my way and nod. I couldn't decide if he agreed with what we said, or if he was just noting our presence.  Keepers are fae with special abilities, and I hoped they were working on my group's problems.  I couldn't just leave it to them, though.  We were already running out of time.  The phase guides were gathering around us, making frantic sounds.

If I didn't do something, we would be lost.

 

Flash Fiction #736 -- Doom/8

 

My first thought was that Adon had lost his way.  My second thought was that something horrible had happened.  This was Nerian.  I knew the shapes of the buildings, the glitter of the magic that clung to everything, and even the soft whisper of bells in the air.  This was home.

What had happened?

We all came down in the street at the edge of the portal.  The humans didn't have to be told to stay still and quiet. I suspected it wouldn't take much to push them into panic, though.

And I wouldn't be far behind them.  This was wrong.  Something bad had happened.

We had to undo it.  Why did I think that?  As far as I could tell, everything living that had existed here was now gone.  Erased.

We had to undo it.  Why did I think that?  As far as I could tell, everything living that had existed here was now gone.  Erased.  This place might as well never have existed. Nothing had been here –

Those were not my thoughts. I realized something was gnawing away at my brain, trying to make me think that this was reality. I shoved that thought aside and looked around. The humans were uneasy which I can hardly blame them for dipping the circumstances. The Fae all looked shocked and lost.

Lost.

"There's something wrong here," I said, actually shouting above the voice in my head.  That was a stupid thing to say under the circumstances. "Block all spells!"

I wasn't sure if any of them heard me and I didn't try to repeat the order. Instead I started weaving the shield that started by cutting me off from the world and then spread outward to the others, including the humans. Adon and Gold were the first to show signs of coming out of the spells. That gave me a chance to test out another theory.

It was soon obvious this was the work of High Fae, and I didn't have any trouble guessing who had set it up.  Martlyn was likely the only fae here who had ever worked much with Sylsan.  Although she had been cooperative in this mess, I would not expect her to take our side if we came up against him.

Should we try to go somewhere else? I didn't think so. Adon was saying nothing, but I could tell that the magical links were very weak from here, and we'd be lucky to get anywhere, including the City of Sunrise, even though it wasn't far away.

"Let's go!" I shouted, startling everyone. "There is no time for discussion!"

The humans looked startled.  The fae didn't argue.

I feared that Adon didn't have enough power left to get us to another place. I pushed away from Gold and hurried to his side. He was already trying to find a link to the City of Sunrise and looked as though he was going to faint before he found the link. I stood behind him and put both my hands on his shoulders and willed what power I could into his magic. Mesan and Martlyn helped us and it was only with their aid that the portal began to expand before us.

I couldn't clearly see the place beyond the opening.

"Looks like more dust and emptiness," Adon whispered.  He trembled. "They can't all be gone!"

"Someone wants us to think so --"

My little black-winged allies darted straight into the portal.  I don't know why I yelled in protest and followed them.  I wasn't surprised to find this wasn't a normal portal.  It was a long tunnel infused with sparkling lights like small stars trapped in amber.

We followed the small black creatures, but I wasn't certain why.  Maybe it was just that they were heading somewhere -- right until they stopped.

Everything went black.  Humans cried out in fear.  Gold made a strange kitten sound.  This was not good.

Flash Fiction #735 -- Doom/7

 

 

Martlyn is the youngest of the Elder Fae.  She takes her position far too seriously, I think.  Adon looked shocked, and Marsen began mumbling an inspiring combination of curses and pleas.

Martlyn was not known for cooperation with others.  She particularly didn't like dealing with humans.  This had the look of a disaster about to explode and engulf us all, including some of the little guys who were still around. There was also the pounding sound coming louder from the hills behind us.

We could just sit here until the end, or one of us could face the problem straight on.

"Lady Martlyn," I said and gave a slight bow.  Any more and I would have fallen over.  "My assignment was to lead the humans to the City of Sunrise and let them think it was the ruins of Nerian.  Is that changed?"

"That was before we learned that Master Sylsan has been hiding magic objects in the Sunrise ruins for centuries."

"Ah.  Yes.  That does change things," I said.  "And explains why some missing items never seemed to bother him."

She looked at me with a little surprise.  Had no one else noticed? But it surprised me to realize he had taken things out of even elder fae hands.

"Nerian," I said, bringing them back to the trouble at hand.  "We are too few to sort this problem out."

"And we have no say in it?" Bob asked, stepping forward for the humans.  I had hoped they would stay silent at least until we reached Nerian.

"Right now you have two choices," Adon said.  He looked uneasy.  "You can stay here, or you can come with us."

"I suspect we are going to be attacked by rock trolls," I added with a wave of my arm toward the louder noise.  "They don't like humans or fae.  I suggest we leave quickly."

The ground had started to tremble.

"I think we should go with you," Bob replied.  No one argued.  "At least it should be interesting."

Those are the kinds of words that fae take as omens.  Interesting was not always fun, and I had the feeling our future would hold a lot of 'not fun' stuff.

Adon hadn't wasted time.  He was already building a portal and wasn't waiting for the rest of us to help.  That gave me time to watch the humans.  I am not saying they are treacherous, but you don't want to trust them until you are certain of their intentions. Right now, they mostly looked like they were in fight-or-flight 

Flash Fiction #734 -- Doom/6

 

A slight breeze became a sudden gust filled with sand and dust, and the scent of something unwelcome.  The creatures that had moved in on them chattered, their clicking growing louder and then stopping.  The silence didn't make it better.

They seemed to come out of nowhere, a line of black that topped all the boulders in the area.  I couldn't name them, but they looked like hand-sized monkeys with vampire fangs and long, spiked tails.  Their eyes glittered red and green.

They didn't look happy to see us.

"Mesar, Karo -- you two ride on Golden Mane," Adon ordered.  "Don't argue, either of you.  Give me your blades.  I want nothing unfortunate to happen between the two of you."

I thought I should argue, but Mesar didn't, so I went along with the order. Adon got the humans ready to move and put Golden Mane and the two of us at the end of the line.

"Keep watch," Adon said softly.  "We still don't know who attacked you two."

"What are these things?" I asked with a nod toward the boulders.

"I have no idea.  Despite all their yelling and snarling, they don't appear to be very brave.  Be ready for them when we move."

"You took our blades," Mesar pointed out.

"You have Gold."

He walked away and arranged the humans in sets of three for protection.  It was a basic fae formation.  I supposed Mesar, Gold, and I made another set.

"Gold on the right," I said.  "Do you want left or center?"

"Center.  I have never worked with Gold."

Gold gave a huff of agreement, and I found no reason to argue.  Adon looked back and nodded as well.  I put my hand where my knife should have been and almost demanded he give it back.

There was no time.  We moved, and the creatures grew louder.  Now was the time to pay attention to the trouble at hand.  The creatures swept off the boulders and flew toward us.  I hadn't seen the wings until now.

One of the ugly little things latched onto my hand using claws and teeth.  I yelled something impolite and grabbed it by a wing.  The wing pulled out of the shoulder, and the little guy screamed in shock and fainted.

I grabbed him before he fell and got trampled.  I saved him because I thought he might have answers for us.  You believe that, right?  I even pushed the wing back into place and gave it a quick healing spell.  Why not?  

Adon looked my way with a shake of his head.

Mesar leaned forward so I could hear him over the screams of the beasts and the humans.  The humans were behind shields, but that didn't stop them from panicking.

"Why did you do that?" Mesar demanded.

"Why not?"  I put the little guy in my pocket.  "There is not much that is going to change what is happening here."

"We have one chance," Adon said as he dropped back to us.  The cloud of creatures had circled back toward the boulders. "We have to form a portal and take everyone to Nerian."

"Take them to the fae city," Mesar said.  "The humans."

"And quickly.  There is more trouble coming, and I don't think we can handle it."

I realized he was right.  Something very large -- several of them -- were heading our way.

"But humans," Mesar said with a wave of his arm.  "We can't just --"

"They already know about the fae.  What more will happen if we take them there?"

"The elders will be unhappy."

I laughed at that line.  "When have the elders not been unhappy?" I asked.
Mesar frowned, and I realized he might be one of those still attached to the elders, despite their lack of help over the last few centuries. I schooled myself to be more polite.

The pounding got louder.  They didn't have much time.

"Give us another option," I said.  "And quickly."

"The city of Sunrise."

It was a reasonable compromise.  Adon even nodded and turned in that general direction.  

One human stepped forward.  Mary.  No. Martlyn, and she was a bigger problem than I had anticipated. My head pounded, and it wasn't from the blow she had given me.

Flash Fiction #733 -- Doom/5

 

We had no trouble finding the humans.  They were arguing.  Loudly.

Golden Mane didn't even bother to circle.  He dropped straight into the mass of fifteen humans who were yelling and shoving each other.

Then they were screaming.

"Shut up if you want to survive!  I am not in the mood to put up with this noise!"

I slid off Gold, who was giving the humans a glare that could have led to trouble at another time.  Golden Mane was a battle warrior, even if he preferred spending time with Adon.  I suppose they found trouble enough wandering around the borderlands.  It was like that when I traveled with them.

I looked back at the humans. They were not as happy to see me as they should have been. There were problems out here I was only starting to sense, and I wished I could talk to Adon and Gold in private.  I knew if I tried, the humans would not take it well.  Insane was the word that came to mind.

I feared we would soon have unpleasant company.  Most likely, it would be magical because few non-magical creatures of any intelligence stuck around. 

Adon slid down beside me.  He gave a slight nod to the right, so I knew he was aware of the new problem.  I didn't have time to deal with the humans, but I had no choice.

"Sit down," I ordered.  "Go to those boulders and sit down, or I swear I will have Golden Mane pick you up and put you there."

Gold stood up, ready to move.  The humans hurried to where I pointed, but by then I didn't have enough energy left to lecture them.  Adon understood and took over, explaining first that we were fae, getting that out of the way before anything else.  Some of the humans sneered, but Gold made a sound of displeasure.  No one argued.  I considered that a miracle.

While Adon patiently dealt with the humans, I leaned back and did a quick scan of the group.  It wasn't hard to find the one I wanted.  He tried to hide his magic as he took a couple of steps backward, paused again, one more step -- trying to reach some cover and a chance to escape.

My first thought was to jump up, race over to him, and beat the hell out of him. I gave up that idea when I realized my legs wouldn't hold me.

"Adon," I said softly and nodded in Mesar's direction.  

My cousin moved like the wind, leaving a spray of sand in his wake. Being fae, I was used to it.  The humans mostly shouted and screamed, but they did not run, even when Adon dragged Mesar back and threw him at Gold's feet.

The lion obligingly put a paw on Mesar's chest. Everyone went silent.

"Why did you try to kill Karo?" Adon demanded.

"I didn't," he protested. 

I snarled in return, but there was a problem.  He sounded sincere.  It is very hard for a fae to lie, especially without using magic. Adon even cast a surprised look in my direction.  Gold lifted his paw.

Mesar sat up, but he moved slowly.  "I went to look for Karo. There had been an odd touch of magic in the air ever since we stopped at the cache.  At first, I thought it was just a part of the site. We were loading up, so I put out a feeler for Karo.  I got back chaos. Before I could find him, someone hit me on the back of the head.   A couple of others found me and thought I had fallen."

"Karo was hit as well," Adon said as he examined Mesar.  "That is what drew me here. Who sent you to this group, and what did they want?"

"I was sent by . . . Someone who mistrusted Karo --"

"Well, that narrows it down," I replied.

Adon frowned at me, but Mesar almost grinned before he continued.  The humans were remarkably quiet.  If they'd had any magic to communicate, I would have been worried. What about those others?  They had gone silent and still.  I trusted them far less than I trusted the humans.

I had the distinct feeling that we were running out of time, and I couldn't even guess at our goal.