Fairy Lies (8 page)

Jak rose to his feet as a third wolf goblin padded up to him. The goblin’s nose twitched as he sniffed Jak, then raised his head to sniff the air. “He’s alone.”

The silver-haired goblin, who seemed to be the leader of the pack, reached out and prodded Jak with a claw-tipped finger. “Run, cat boy! Maybe you’ll even get away!”

“For a little while!” called the golden-eyed goblin as he took a step closer.

Even as Jak took off running, the pack leader shouted, “Give him a minute. It’s more fun if they have a head start!”

Jak ran. Wolf goblins weren’t known for treating their victims kindly, and the younger ones were rumored to be the worst. Jak was faster than most humans, and had learned long ago when to stand and fight and when to run. He might even have a chance at outrunning the wolf goblins if there weren’t so many of them. He’d seen only three, but he caught glimpses of others running through the trees on either side of him. Each time he tried to change direction, another one would jump out, forcing him back the way they obviously wanted him to go. When that happened, Jak tried to run faster, hoping to get ahead and pass them, but he never seemed to run fast enough. He thought about climbing a tree, but then he’d be trapped, and he didn’t have time to waste. He had to move quickly if
he wanted to reach Tamisin before Titania started a war. Getting her daughter back might be the only thing that would keep the fairy queen from attacking.

A change in the air alerted Jak that the edge of the forest was near. He could feel a breeze now, carrying the scent of sun-warmed grass and wildflowers. The air was warmer, too, and the trees weren’t quite as old or as tall. And then he found himself out in the open with the trees behind him and a sea of grass beginning only yards away.

The wolf goblins rushed to cut him off, but Jak plunged into the Sograssy Sea before they could close their circle. The goblins whined, milling around in confusion, surprised that he would dare to enter the tall grass. Jak had reached grass almost as high as his head when the leader of the wolf goblins gave a short bark and the pack dashed into the sea after him.

When Jak glanced back and saw that the goblins were still chasing him, his heart skipped a beat. Because of the lamias who lived in the Sograssy Sea, few other creatures dared to enter it, but Tamisin and Jak had befriended one of the lamias and no longer feared the seemingly endless sea of grass. Most goblins would give up rather than chase anything past the shore, but these goblins continued to thrash through the grass behind him.

Jak was tired of running, but the wolf goblins kept after him. Although his long, loping stride normally could carry him far, he couldn’t go on indefinitely. Soon he would need to stop, and to do that he was going to need
help. “Lamia Lou!” he shouted as he forced his way through a thicker stand of grass. “Lamia Lou!” he shouted again as the sounds of the wolf goblins grew louder behind him.

Jak wondered where his friends were. The grass in front of him began to wave wildly, but instead of the face he hoped to see, a wolf goblin popped into sight. Jak staggered to a halt as another goblin appeared a few yards to his left.

I need to make noise
, he thought as the wolf goblins formed a circle around him. He needed to be loud and he needed to sound bad, so Jak decided to sing. Most cat goblins have terrible singing voices, and Jak was no exception. The first song that popped into his head was a cat-goblin lullaby, the only song he remembered his mother singing to him when he was a kit. It was meant to be sung softly, but Jak opened his mouth wide and screamed it as loudly as he could.

Sleep tight, little one
Curled up toes to nose
Slow-winged birds and plumpish mice
Fill your tummy—oh so nice.
Pleasant dreams will soothe your sleep
I’ll be here so you can keep
Sleeping tight, little one
.

The wolf goblins howled with laughter. “Are you trying to put us to sleep, cat boy?” shouted the leader.

The grass behind him began to rustle. Expecting a wolf goblin to tackle him at any moment, he was halfway
through the song again when something large and leathery swiped at his legs and knocked his feet out from under him. He could hear the frightened yipping of the wolf goblins and the thud of their bodies hitting the ground even as he lay on his back, staring up at what he could see of the sky. The next thing he knew, a beautiful female face was glaring down at him. Her hair was russet brown, her eyes were emerald green, and her nose and mouth were perfectly formed. Sparkling jewels dangled from the gold chains that encircled her slender neck, and she smelled like musk and sandalwood. Silky fabric covered her from collarbone to waist. The only things that Jak didn’t like were the two fangs revealed when she curled her pink upper lip. She was a lamia; though she looked like a lovely young human woman from the waist up, she had the body of a snake from the waist down.

Jak gulped as yellow drops of venom formed on the tip of each fang. The lamia was already leaning toward him when he cried, “Wait! I’m a friend of Lamia Lou’s! Don’t you remember me? She introduced us when you helped Princess Tamisin!”

The lamia tilted her head and examined him. Suddenly recognition lit her eyes. Making a sucking sound, she drew the venom back into her fangs before covering them with her lip. “I remember you! Hey, Lamia Lee,” she called, “thith one’th a friend of Lamia Lou’th! Come over and thay hi!”

“I’ll be right there!” another lamia called. Jak could hear her say something to the wolf goblins, then the sound
of thrashing as they tore through the grass, heading out of the Sograssy Sea.

It was obvious that the two lamias were sisters; the second was as beautiful as the first and wore just as many gold necklaces. “I’m Lamia Thlamia,” lisped the one who had knocked Jak to the ground.

“And I’m Lamia Lee,” said the other one, holding on to Jak’s hand until he was on his feet. “You were with the printheth, weren’t you?”

“That’s right,” said Jak.

“What are you doing here?” asked Lamia Shlamia.

“I was looking for Princess Tamisin when those wolf goblins found me,” he said, nodding toward the fleeing goblins. “Thanks for coming by just now. I’m sorry I made so much noise, but it was the only thing I could think of that would get your attention. Is Lamia Lou around? I really need to talk to her.”

It had occurred to Jak that he might be able to get to Tamisin more quickly if he had help. Should any more goblins show up, they wouldn’t think of bothering someone with a lamia at his side.

“I think Lamia Lou ith thtill at home,” said Lamia Shlamia.

“We can take you there,” Lamia Lee added. “Lamiath don’t have many friendth, and the oneth we do have are thpecial. Too bad you didn’t tell me about thothe goblin boyth before I let them go. I thought they were friendth of yourth.”

Jak shook his head. “I’d never met them before.”

“You thould have theen how thcared they looked!” chortled Lamia Lee. “They actually thought I wath going to bite them!”

“Imagine that!” Jak said, glancing sideways at Lamia Shlamia, who blushed and ducked her head.

The lamias’ home was in the center of the Sograssy Sea, hidden beneath the grass. Jak didn’t see the opening at first; there wasn’t even a hill, let alone a door. The ground was as flat and level as the rest of the sea, with nothing unusual to distinguish it from the waving grass around it, and he wondered how they could tell that they were home. When he asked them, they both shrugged.

“It smells like home,” said Lamia Lee.

“Really?” said Jak. Although he’d always thought he had a fairly decent sense of smell, this part of the sea smelled like any other to him. Then again, he wasn’t wriggling on his belly, nose-deep in the grass.

“We go in over here,” Lamia Shlamia said, bending down to dig her fingers into the dirt. When she stood, she was holding the lip of a trapdoor and Jak could see a faint light illuminating the underside of the wood. “After you,” she said.

“Actually, I think I’ll let you go first,” said Jak. He wasn’t sure what to expect and thought it might be better if he could watch how the lamias went in.

Lamia Lee went first, ducking her head and slithering in on her belly. When her sister followed her the same
way, Jak realized that he hadn’t learned a thing by watching them. Still not sure what to expect, he knelt beside the opening and peered in. He could see the ground below, but the light was so dim that he couldn’t tell how far away it was or what might lie beyond it.

“Come on!” said Lamia Shlamia, reaching through the opening and grabbing the collar of his shirt. With one powerful jerk, she yanked him off his knees and into the hole. He was kicking out, trying to find something he could stand on, when the lamia set him gently on the ground.

Jak stumbled and nearly fell. He was in a wide tunnel that would have been big enough to drive a car through in the human world. It had rounded sides that reflected light at odd angles. When he put his hand up to steady himself, he felt something rough and realized that the walls were encrusted with old scales, rubbed off passing lamias. The only source of light seemed to come from crystal jars filled with a glowing, swirling gas. When he started to walk, Jak discovered that the floor was also rounded and made smooth by the passage of heavy snake bodies over hundreds of years.

Although he would have liked to have taken his time to look around, the lamias were already slithering down the tunnel. Jak followed them for nearly ten minutes before he saw another, even brighter light up ahead, and heard some familiar voices.

“You brought
whom
with you?” Lamia Lou asked.

The clop of hooves was loud on the stone floor, and Jak was delighted to see Herbert waiting at the end of the
tunnel. The white unicorn twitched his ears and made a funny puttering sound. “What are you doing here?” Herbert asked. “I thought you went to the human world with Tamisin.”

“I did,” Jak said. He waited as Lamia Lou spoke to her sisters. When they were finished, the two lamias who had brought him turned and waved, then left by another tunnel. A fourth lamia remained behind, cradling two blanket-wrapped bundles in her arms.

“Is Tamisin here, too?” Herbert asked, peering up the tunnel.

“No,” Jak told him. “Although she is in the land of the fey. One of Oberon’s fairies kidnapped her. I’m on my way to Oberon’s forest to get her back.”

“Why were wolf goblinth chathing you?” Lamia Lou said to Jak as she slithered up to drape an arm across Herbert. The unicorn leaned against her, wuffling softly. “What’th going on, Jak?”

Jak shrugged. “Apparently the wolf goblins no longer feel they have to honor the pact they had with the cat-goblin clan.”

“I’m not thurprithed,” said Lamia Lou. “Thingth are getting a little crazy around here. I’ve heard that the wolf goblinth and at leatht two other clanth are up to their old trickth again, terrorizing villageth and waylaying travelerth. Before you go anywhere, we thould find out whatth going on. Why don’t you thtay with Lamia Lynn while Herbert and I do a little invethtigating? We know thomeone who keepth track of all that kind of thtuff.”

“I have to get going,” Jak said. “Tamisin needs me and I—”

Lamia Lou patted his back, saying, “Don’t worry, we won’t be gone long.”

“I don’t think I—” Jak began, but the unicorn and the lamia were already heading for another tunnel.

“Would you like thomething to drink?” Lamia Lynn asked as she laid one of her bundles in a long woven basket. “I have thome delithiouth fruit juithe that I thqueezed mythelf.”

“That would be nice,” said Jak.

“Here, you can hold Lamia Norelle while I get your drink. I’ll be right back.”

“What? I don’t know how to . . . Oh!” Jak exclaimed as she handed him the other bundle she was carrying, positioning it in his arms. He looked at the tiny head cradled against his chest and suddenly didn’t know what to say. A little human face gazed up at him with vivid blue eyes, her face framed in soft brown curls.

Lamia Lynn chuckled as she left the room, Jak watching her with both surprise and dismay. When he glanced back down, the baby’s eyes were fixed on his face. Suddenly her tiny mouth puckered and her bright eyes clouded over as if she was about to cry. When the first sob shook her little body, Jak jiggled her and began to walk, saying, “Now, now, your mother will be right back.”

The baby grew silent for a moment, but only because she was drawing a deeper breath. And then the wailing began and Jak really didn’t know what to do. He walked the
length of the room, jiggling her gently. When the wailing got louder, he walked faster and began crooning nonsense words, hoping to distract her.

“Burp her,” said the baby’s mother as she set a glass of something pale green on the closest table.

“I don’t know how,” Jak said, and handed the baby over. He watched as the lamia turned the baby to her shoulder and began to pat her back with forceful little thumps. The baby wiggled and the blanket that had been wrapped around her came loose, falling to the floor and freeing a long snake tail that had been wrapped up inside. Soon a loud burp emerged from the little girl, and both mother and child looked satisfied.