Or at least that’s what the tales said, but all within Kingdom knew never to believe such nonsense. Fairy tales rarely held a grain of truth to them, and if they did, it was stretched so thin as to be transparent.
Danika
laughed. “I thought
I
saw-”
A surge of power rolled forcefully through
Danika
, she screamed as every limb locked in place, and she hurtled straight toward the ground. A loud buzz the only thing she heard as the ground rushed up to meet her face.
Danika
had only a moment to throw her arms in front of her, bracing for impact, when a strong pair of hands clamped onto her vest and halted her fall only inches from the ground.
The whites of Miriam’s eyes were large, and her breathing stilted and heavy. “
Danika
, what happened?”
Danika
trembled, slow to regain feeling in her limbs.
“My muscles.
The power,
t’was
overwhelming…” the words died on her tongue as the flash of red brushed by mere yards to her right.
Miriam gasped, dropping
Danika
in her shock.
Danika
landed with a thud, air left her body on impact, and she glared at Miriam who was now visibly shaking.
“We
must needs
leave,
Dani
,” Miriam whimpered, and
Danika
might have asked why, had she not just seen for herself the cause of Miriam’s distress.
A large red wolf, stalked the maiden wearing the red hood. He padded on silent feet, moving like shadow behind her. The girl hummed, but this was not a relaxed song--more a nervous melody that vibrated through the woods haunting and eerie all at the same time.
Miriam landed beside
Danika
and yanked her to her feet. They were barely a foot
tall,
and well hidden behind a thick gooseberry shrub, but Miriam gulped and shivered as she pointed to the large beast. “The mark,
Dani
,” she hissed, “
the
beast wears
her
mark.”
The wolf’s ears twitched, and though he did not look their way,
Danika
knew he’d heard Mir.
Danika
clamped her hand over Miriam’s mouth, urging her friend to silence. Then another wolf loped out from behind the woods and this one was bigger. A full hands length taller, the creature more resembled a hound of hell, than a wolf. Its black shaggy coat covered the muscular form like a bear’s pelt, lush and thick, gleaming like onyx in a flame. Its hackles were raised, and it too bore the mark.
A chain hung around its thick neck, with a small golden medallion embossed with a dragon in battle hung in plain sight. The mark was a sign of loyalty to
Malvena
the Black, the worst of all fairy kind--she’d turned her back on truth and light centuries ago, and though her reasons had at first been understandable (even honorable), they’d morphed and twisted into something dark and macabre.
Seeing the mark, knowing to whom they belonged,
Danika
knew the flash of red she’d seen had been very real.
Malvena
had one goal, find the
Heartsong
. All fairies scorned and mocked the black hearted
fae
, knowing her quest impossible. The
Heartsong
did not exist; she was a myth, a legend, nothing more.
The black wolf growled long and low, and birds shot from out tree branches into the air with a loud squawking cry.
Danika’s
body still crackled with surging pockets of power, making her teeth clamp down hard.
“Come,
Dani
, we must leave,” Miriam tugged at
Danika’s
elbow.
Danika
hadn’t realized she’d begun walking toward the girl until Miriam stopped her.
Danika
hugged her wand to her chest, frantic with an overwhelming need to go. Not to run away, but rather, to go to the girl.
“
Dani
,” Miriam groaned again, the whites of her eyes large in her face.
Danika
turned, ready to growl at Miriam to hush her mouth, but then Miriam started jerking. Her entire body shook, and a low moan vibrated from her chest.
The black wolf’s ears
twitched,
and
Danika
flicked her wand, casting a protective net around them to prevent any more sounds from reaching sensitive ears.
“Miriam,” she cried, grabbing her friend by the shoulders as she slumped to her knees on the ground.
Miriam’s head snapped up and
Danika’s
eyes widened because the eyes staring back at her were a solid white and the voice that came out sounded as deep as a man’s. “
The
Heartsong
must be saved
.”
Goose flesh skittered down
Danika’s
back, Miriam was in full ‘sight’ mode. It could take hours to snap her from these trances and
Danika
couldn’t let that happen. Miriam was vulnerable and exposed when using her third eye.
But if they had any hope of saving the
Heartsong
,
Danika
needed to wake her friend up.
“Mir?”
Danika
shook her gently. “Wake up, dear.”
“
Save the
Heartsong
,” Miriam intoned, heavy inflections undulating against the translucent bubble like waves crashing upon a rocky shore.
“Oh bloody damn, bloody, bloody, bloody damn…”
Danika
muttered, slapping a still mumbling Miriam on first one cheek, then the other. The skin turned crimson and still
Danika
slapped her. “Wake up, you
gnatty
old fool. You want us to save the chit; wake the bloody hell up!”
Miriam’s head lolled around, but the whites of her eyes remained. The wolves were gone, the girl… who knew where, this couldn’t be happening. Heart thundering loud,
Danika
grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at Miriam’s face.
The fairy coughed, but still did not cease her rambles.
Quivering, on the fine edge of desperation,
Danika
did the only thing she could think of. “
Incendio
!” she cried, pointing her wand at Miriam’s feet.
Thick waves of amber encased Mir’s bare feet, and a shriek that made
Danika’s
ears ring, sprang from the brunette’s mouth.
“My feet!”
Miriam cried, blinking big lavender eyes up at
Danika
accusingly as she stomped the flames off, “What have ye done?”
Danika
flung her arms around her friend’s neck. “I’ll tell you later, we must find the
Heartsong
, Mir, she’s in grave danger.”
Mentioning the girl almost seemed to make Miriam forget her momentary anger. “Yes,” she said, “we must.”
There was a resolute tone to her voice, no longer fear, but knowledge of something deep and powerful.
“Follow me,” Miriam cried, and streaked in a blur through the air.
Danika
followed, large blades of grass slapped their faces. Her pulse pounded a furious tempo in her ears. They had to make it. They must make it in time. The
Heartsong
must not be killed. Though
Danika
had only ever thought of her as myth, all knew to kill the
Heartsong
was to release the dark magic that beat within her soul. It must never happen.
Up ahead a thatched roof cottage came into view. A silver plume of smoke curled like a beacon through the air, then a scream that rang with pure and primal fear, blasted all around them.
“Inside.
Hurry!”
Miriam cried
,
her wings beat faster as she streaked, a golden bolt of lightning cutting a straight path through the navy blue sky.
Sweat dripped down
Danika’s
back with the effort to keep up, yet still she urged her wings to pump harder.
Faster.
They sailed through the half opened door and the scene within was chaos. On the ground Jana the Green lay dead, her wand dangled limp from lifeless hands. The Green had assumed the form of an elderly woman; her silver white hair was long and tangled, partially covering one eye. Her pudgy face forever frozen in a soundless scream--a big black wolf lay on the floor, savaging her, ripping off her hand, spitting it out, and then ripping off the other and doing the same. Fleshy parts of the Green were everywhere.
The Green--one of the
Powerful Ten
.
Shock rooted
Danika
to the spot, scrambling her brain, her ability to reason or think. The slaughter of the Green--so shocking, so unbelievable,
Danika
could hardly breathe. Of all the
fae
in all the world of Kingdom, none were more powerful than the
Ten
. That the wolves could destroy her with such ease…
Danika’s
gut clenched--insides revolting at the earthy, metallic stench of so much blood.
Backed into a corner of the wall, the
Heartsong
screamed and screamed, quivering within the folds of her red cape. A basket lay by her feet, yellow apples rolling like heads on the packed dirt floor. The red wolf
Danika
had spotted earlier, stood in front of the
Heartsong
, growling with its hackles raised. Ready, it seemed, to pounce and tear the girl limb from limb.
The big black wolf lifted its shaggy head, glowing yellow eyes swiveled toward the girl and he gave a long, low whimper.
The red wolf growled and snapped its fanged jaws.
The black wolf’s nostrils flared, as if scenting. His head bobbed up and down, his tail thumped excitedly on the ground. He whimpered again.
The other wolf growled louder, taking a menacing step towards the girl. His gums pulled back, revealing wickedly long incisors.
The black wolf shot to his feet. A rumble tore from his chest, spilled up his throat, and dropped from his tongue. But
Danika
was dazed to note the black did not eye the girl, rather he eyed the red wolf.
The girl whimpered, refusing to look at anything.
“Oh no,” Miriam said.
“What?”
Danika
asked.
The red wolf vibrated, and then pounced so quickly
Danika
couldn’t follow his blur. He sailed through the air, mouth open and teeth inches from the huddled girl’s neck.
Danika
and Miriam finally found their senses, and pulled their wands out of their sleeves, hot pink power crackled upon its tip, ready to blast the red wolf into oblivion, when the black jumped on red’s back and sunk his teeth into the other wolf’s neck. The sound of a spine cracking blasted through the eerie hush and then the red wolf dropped like sack cloth to the packed dirt floor.
The black wolf breathed heavy, mad glowing eyes stared intently at the girl who still refused to look at him.
Danika
raised her wand.
“No!” Miriam cried, slapping the wand from
Danika’s
hands. The pink bolt of power arced into the air, shooting off the roof, and burning a black hole through the thatch. The scent of burnt grass was everywhere.
“What the bloody hell?”
Danika
yelled in bewilderment, turning wide frantic eyes toward the beast. Miriam had slapped her only source of power from her hands.
Black’s head jerked in their direction, his long pink tongue lolled out of his mouth as his ribcage flexed in and out. The red wolf wasn’t dead; a small whimper escaped his fanged jaws.
“
WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE
?” The voice could belong to no other. It cracked through the room with power, all the fine hairs on the nape of
Danika’s
neck stood on edge, then a blue blast of light poured through the room in a wave.
Everything paused. The wolves stopped breathing, the girl stopped whimpering,
even
the wind stopped breezing through the dank confines. Time itself held its breath.
Galeta
the Blue--Head Mistress of Fairy, Inc. and Ruler of all
Fae
--appeared ghost-like within the blue radiance. “I felt the disturbance of my song, where is she? Where is the Girl!” she demanded, sharp fangs standing out in shockingly bold relief compared to the doll like innocence of her young face.