Chapter Thirteen
Lyssa
“I
don’t know how to use the Everspell, and why did Zoey put it in me?” Lyssa asked rhetorically as her father put
another log on the fire. “This wasn’t
how things were supposed to go.” She
looked at her dad who appeared calm and without worry. At one time she would had given anything for
him to be that way, but now she felt a sense of urgency and he was warming his
hands by the fire.
“I
forgot how cold the nights in the Black Forest got,” he said, ignoring Lyssa’s
distress.
“I
don’t care how cold it gets! Didn’t you
hear me? What’s expected of me? The
Drakes call me their queen and I’m supposed to give power to a prince of a lost
city.” Her dad turned towards her. “Dad,” she said softly and on the verge of
tears. “How am I supposed to do that
when I couldn’t even decide on a major for college?”
He
laughed, but Lyssa was serious, and as if her dad’s laughter was magic, she
found herself joining him.
“Lyssa,”
he said. “You are a part of this world,
and that can never change. As hard as we
tried to push it away, it came to us.
Sometimes there are things we can’t control that are guiding us and we
can’t ignore them.” He looked back into
the fire. “Your mother liked the Black
Forest, and we came here several times.
Though it wasn’t deemed a recreational spot for the Faes, and really,
very few liked the forest with its gnarled trees that looked like they had been
tortured since they were just seedlings, and the rushing streams that were too
violent to fish or swim in. Most thought
it was an eerie, evil place not to spend too long in.” He looked over at Lyssa with a shrug of his
shoulders. “But your mother liked it
because it was unique and pristine. It
had a dangerous beauty of its own that she wasn’t scared of—even at
night.” He raised his eyebrows.
“But
you were?” She asked.
He
smiled with a small chuckle. “At first,
yes, but your mother showed me another side to it that was there and very few
could see. It was beautiful in its own
way and I would’ve never seen it if she didn’t show me.” He leaned back as the flames danced around
the charred logs emitting its soothing warmth that curled around Lyssa. “I guess what I’m trying to tell you is that
even though we never planned on going to some enchanted, scary place, there is
beauty and purpose there if you chose to look for it.”
“But
being a Queen is being a leader, and I’m not a leader.”
Her
dad continued staring into the fire.
“Lyssa, since your mother died I’ve been fighting this spell she put on
me so I wouldn’t mourn her.” The fire
crackled and popped as if it was trying to speak also. “She was always that way,” he said, “always
trying to make someone not hurt, but her spell came at a price I couldn’t
see.” He looked over at Lyssa with
saddened eyes.
“It’s
alright.” She reassured him. “I was sad and sometimes angry at you, but it
wasn’t your fault. And besides, the
spell is gone and we still have each other.”
“True.” He smiled.
“And now you and I are here.” He
glanced up at the darkened sky laced over with barren twigs from the trees that
surrounded them. “This is your world,
Lyssa.” His words seemed to weave
through her like a ribbon. “This is your
world that you belong in, and they don’t take destiny and fate here
lightly. You are special, just like Sean
used to tell me every so often when you were growing up. Somehow, I think he knew you’d be here doing
something great.”
“That’s
the problem,” Lyssa said switching her gaze from her dad to the fire. “I don’t know how to do something great. I don’t know how to save this world, use the
Everspell, and be a Queen.”
“No
one does, but you have the Drakes to protect you now, and we must trust
them.” His voice had a tinge of
uncertainty.
Lyssa
turned towards her dad. “You don’t trust
them, do you?”
He
glanced over at her from under his eyebrows.
“Not totally, but Zoey does, she came to me in a dream and said to trust
you and them.”
Lyssa
felt a lump form in her throat. “You
talked to Zoey?”
He
nodded. “Yes, and I trust her enough to
walk to the ends of any world if she asked me.
If Zoey trusts the Drakes, then I will listen to her.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Besides, we don’t know the dangers that
surround us, they’ve done nothing so far to harm us, and,” he tilted his head
to the side. “Elsa is a pretty good
cook.”
“Yes,
she is, but dad,” she looked into his eyes.
“I’ve been with them and I know we are safe with them. Whatever they did to mom’s village, Elsa and
Dane aren’t the Drakes that destroyed her village.”
He
nodded his head. “I know, but I am
cautious.” He grinned at her.
Lyssa
felt a sliver of relief at her dad’s Zoey-induced trust for the Drakes she had
faith in, but still felt overwhelmed.
She curled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “If only the Everspell came with an owners’
manual. Then all I’d have to do is read
the instruction, and we’d be done.”
Her
dad laughed as he patted her on the back.
For a moment, is she closed her eyes, Lyssa felt she was at home again
sitting in the kitchen talking to her dad.
But no matter how much she longed for that, she felt a slight tug inside
of her that felt this world, the Fae world, was her home now.
“Dad,”
she said. “I think we are in the right
place at the right time. I can’t explain
it, but even thought I want to go home, the longer I’m here the more I want to
stay.”
Her
dad smiled down at her. “That’s what
your mom used to say about the Black Forest.” He paused as if collecting his
thoughts. “You are part Fae, and that
will always pull you here no matter what or how you try to stop it. It will always be with you and you with
it. The Everspell was a gift from Zoey,
and she had enough faith in you to handle it and from what I know and saw what
you’re capable of,” he said looking into her eyes. “I know you have the strength in you to help
save you and your mother’s world.”
You and your
mother’s world.
Those
words hung in Lyssa’s head like the colorful hanging baskets of flowers that
filled her dad’s greenhouse. She felt a
new edge to her she didn’t know was there, and her dad’s words helped uncover
it. Lyssa was strong, she knew that now,
but was she strong enough to save the Fae world?
“We
must move,” Dane said, startling Lyssa and her dad. He stood motionless as if had materialized
from out of the shadows. “Landmerrows
have been spotted and are headed this way.”
Lyssa
stood up as Dane hovered at the edge of the fire’s glow. She looked at him as he gazed back at her
like a cold statue. She wondered how
long he was standing there and if he had been listening to their
conversation. He continued to hold her
gaze and she wanted to say something, but didn’t.
“You
didn’t call them here or let them follow you so you could have me kill them and
risk everyone’s life to see if the Everspell worked?” She asked sarcastically instead of asking
Dane if he was eavesdropping or not.
His
eyes were locked on her in a curious way as Lyssa thought she saw a slight
smirk on his face. “No, you’ve already
proved that. There’s no need to risk
that, Lyssa. You’ve shown us what you
can do, and now isn’t the time to show-off what you can do—there’s more
important things going on right now.”
Lyssa
shook her head—that’s not the way it was supposed to go. “No, I didn’t want…”
“Lyssa
you will ride with me, and Thomas,” Dane said, ignoring Lyssa as she tried to
explain herself. “You will travel with
the rest of the Drakes.”
“Where
exactly are we going?” Lyssa’s dad
stepped towards Dane.
Dane
stood with his hands clasped together in front of him as the warm glow of the
fire softly lit his features. Lyssa kept
her eyes focused on him.
“We
are to go to the Spindle City. The
Prince has found his way and will be coming soon.”
“How
do you know this?” Her dad asked.
Dane
drew in a tiresome sigh as if he didn’t want to take the time to elaborate on
what he was telling them and Lyssa knew he didn’t like to be asked too many
questions. But Dane claimed she was to
be their Queen, and that thought suddenly ran through her head. Queens needed to be informed of everything
and not led around like a puppy.
“You
said I’m your Queen?” Lyssa stepped
forward and crossed her arms across her chest as Dane looked at her with a
nod. “Then I want to know what’s going
on, and I am involved if decisions are being made.”
Dane’s
smirk appeared again on his face, this time he didn’t try to hide it.
“No,
that’s not how it works.” He stepped in
front of her like an overbearing shadow.
“You are our Queen, but that doesn’t mean you rule over us. We have a command in place and right now we
must get to safety.”
Elsa
and two other Drakes came from behind Dane.
“We
must move, Thomas.” Her warm face was
nearly shrouded by the over-sized hood from her long cape. All of them, the Drakes nearly blended in
with the darkness that surrounded them.
“Landmerrows are headed this way, and Izzet has gained their loyalty at
least for now. The Spindle City will be
our sanctuary and the safest place for Lyssa and you. Old wards were set in place a long time ago
that protect the city, and I can activate them until the Prince arrives.”
“Who
exactly is this prince?” Lyssa’s dad
asked as Dane stepped closer towards Lyssa.
She
looked into his eyes knowing he would take her kicking and screaming if he had
to.
“The
visions will not tell me, but he has found his destiny and knows who he
is. He comes from Avalon, but he hails
from the Arrinia Forest, but he wasn’t born there but grew up there among
others his age. His past is complicated,
and he’s just finding that out. A face that
belongs to the Prince of the Spindle City, I can’t see as my visions won’t let
me. He is strong, young, and courageous.” Elsa stepped closer towards Lyssa’s dad. “And he has the alliance of a sky serpent
drawn here by Izzet. Duegar District
burns as we speak and we will too if we don’t get to the Spindle City.”
“He
comes from the Arrinai Forest?” Lyssa asked
as the ground shook under her feet and branches overhead creaked and moaned.
“Landmerrows—no
time to waste,” Elsa said, looking from Dane then at Lyssa. “Take her to the Spindle City.”
No
sooner had Elsa spoke those words, and Dane had latched a belt around Lyssa’s
waist, expelled his wings and jolted through a small opening through the tree
branches and into the thick darkness of the night sky.
The
forest loomed underneath them as Dane held tightly onto Lyssa. She worried about her dad as she didn’t even
have a chance to say goodbye. Tears
threatened behind her eyes, but she forced them away. Of course she’d see her dad again, and she’d use
the Everspell to save this world and they’d be together. All she wanted was a normal life in the
Etherworld, but when you are part from another world, normal is relative. The Fae world was beginning to beckon her and
instead of resisting, Lyssa was listening.
“Not
frightened anymore of flying I see.”
Dane said to her as other Drakes joined them.
“Is
that what you like to do to Fae girls—scare them?”
She
heard him make a noise that sounded like a snicker.
“The
last thing I want to do is scare Fae girls.
Just my race alone is effective enough to do that. A look alone will do the trick.”
“Did
you ever try smiling?” Lyssa watched the
shadowy scenery go by as she listened to Dane’s wings that sounded like a
slowly beating heart.
The
night encased them in a mixture of black marbled with shades of dark blue and
tiny stars that dotted the sky.
Everything looked different up this high compared to the ground and was very
quiet, including Dane. Lyssa thought
maybe he didn’t hear her question and before she could answer, they took a
sudden dive towards the ground that made Lyssa scream.
Before
she knew it, they were on solid ground.
“Why
are we landing here? Is this the Spindle
City?” She looked around and waited for
the other Drakes to land. She heard
their beating wings, and searched the black sky, but couldn’t see them. “Are the rest of the Drakes going to land,
because it sounds like they are passing over us?” Lyssa wondered what was going on and looked
to Dane as he released the strap around her waist.
She
stepped to the ground and turned to watch Dane fold his bat-like wings behind
him. He steadily looked at her with
shadowed eyes and a stillness only the dead could replicate. Dane’s sharp facial features looked even
sharper in the dim light from the moon.
He just gazed at her, and she back at him with heart pounding. Maybe her dad was right about Drakes. That thought flickered through her thoughts.
Danes intimidating silhouette towered in front of her, but she knew he would
never hurt her. He had always welcomed
and helped her in his almost cold, reptile-like way.
“No,
they won’t be joining us.” He finally
said stepping towards her in a fluid movement.
“They have my orders to meet us in the Spindle City.”
“So…why
did we stop?”
Dane
stood beside her and gazed at her from over his shoulder that nearly touched
her. “There is something you must do
before you go into the Spindle City.”
“Do
something? Like what?” She asked and Dane ignored her.
“Follow
me and find out.”
Lyssa
followed him up and down steep ravines laden with loose rocks that rolled under
her feet. Dane glided over the terrain
like he was walking on a paved sidewalk.
She kept up and followed his nearly invisible form through the barren
landscape until they reached an area filled with slender columns.
“This
is the gate to the Spindle City, and it needs to be lit.” Dane stood in front of one of the columns and
gazed back at her.
Lyssa
looked up at them. The columns towered
over them like trees of an ancient forest.
Most of them stood straight with their ornate tops still intact and
untouched by elements. A few leaned
slightly and looked like broken bones stuck in the ground with their tops gone
crumbled to the ground as if someone had tried to destroy random columns. They were evenly spaced and reminded Lyssa of
a chess board with its different pieces strategically placed. She saw their outline in the moon-lit sky
filled with stars and ghost-like clouds that continually boiled and curled into
different shapes as they passed by like ships on a still sea. She didn’t know how many columns there were,
but looked to be many that faded into the darkness.
“Do
you remember how to light a landtower, Lyssa Cleverthorn?” He turned away from her and placed his hand
on the side of the column he stood by.
It began to glow with a dim, gold light.
Lyssa
remembered the caves her and Dane had stopped at when he was taking her to the
Arrinia Forest and back to Zoey. The
cave was filled with what Dane had called landtowers and skytowers that she
knew as stalactites and stalagmites.
They were just fascinating cave structures that were a buildup of
minerals over many years inside caves, or at least that’s what she thought.
She
recalled it clearly. Dane had showed her
how to light them up by placing her hands on them. He had helped her by covering her hand with
his. Dane was strong, no doubt, but she
had felt his power and strength run through her. She had never felt so alive and strong
herself, almost like it was a drug that she craved. Lyssa had a taste of the lands energy along
with Dane’s, and she didn’t want it to stop.
“Yeah,
I remember.” Lyssa timidly replied with
a smile from Dane.
“I
can’t do it alone, and neither can you—at least not yet.”
“But
I don’t know how to do it. You were the
one who lit the landtower in the caves.
I didn’t do anything.” Her eyes
met Dane’s as he held his outstretched hand towards her.
She
looked at him then at all the towers before she slipped her hand in his. Dane gently grasped onto her hand and placed
it against the cool, smooth stone of the pillar. The ground under her feet had springs of
thick grass growing in clumps that was littered with the crumbled sections of
ancient columns from the size that could easily fit in your palm, to large
sections that you could sit on. Lyssa felt
nothing at first, then like a wave that rushed towards shore, power, strength
and the very essence of life that had slept silently for years, surged towards
her.
Lyssa
wasn’t sure she could handle it, and wanted to pull away, but Dane pressed her
hand securely against the smooth stone.
She looked at Dane with his eyes closed and his body as still as the
columns that stood like a petrified forest of ancient times. He looked relaxed and almost like he was
enjoying it. Lyssa looked up at the
slender pillar that she could just about wrap her arms entirely around. It glowed, and suddenly, so did several
broken pieces strewn around her.
Gold
light, soft and dim like moon rays, emitted from the column and the pieces that
belonged to it scattered over the ground.
Slowly one by one, the sections on the ground lifted and floated in
midair traveling upward. Just like a
puzzle being put back together, the column, slowly reconstructed itself until
it was whole again. Lyssa watched amazed
at the glowing structure with a top that reminded her of a palm tree with its
large, jagged leaves.
Dane
removed his hand as Lyssa stilled pressed her hand to the glowing pillar. She couldn’t take her eyes from it.
“You
did well, and can do the rest by yourself,” Dane said, standing close to her in
a soft voice.
She looked at him. “Do the rest by myself.” She repeated in disbelief. “I can’t do that. I’m not strong enough.”
Dane
smiled. “You are and did this one by
yourself.”
She
looked up at it still glowing like a beacon.
“The
Prince of Nerabeth, the Spindle City, is coming and we must light his doorstep
for him.” He whispered in her ear as
Lyssa closed her eyes. “We are losing
the night’s darkness, and there are nineteen more to do, my Queen.”
Lyssa
took her hand from the pillar. “Nineteen? How do you know that’s how many we have to
do?”
Dane
took her hand and guided her to the next column. She looked up at it and then at Dane.
“Nineteen
have been counted and that’s how many you must bring back to their glory.”
Lyssa
felt her stomach drop as she looked up at the column. Dane covered her hand with his and leaned
closer towards her. The tower began to
glow slightly illuminating his face. His
steely eyes focused on hers. She felt
the rush of power run through her feet planted firmly on the ground that
traveled up her legs and to her arms then into the cold stone that shone with
increasing brightness.
She
pulled her hand away not feeling weak, but strong.
Dane
smiled at her. “Now only eighteen.”
