The Elf Girl (32 page)

“I see. Your power has a lot of limitations,” I commented.

“All abilities do. You just have to work with what you are given,” Stellan told me.

I nodded, taking his answer into perspective.

“I bet you are wondering what happened to Addison and I after we left you,” he guessed.

I had totally forgotten about his strange disappearance. Now I wanted to know. I nodded for him to continue, eager to have his story take my mind off the pain.

“After we left, we were ambushed. I don’t know how they found us so quickly, or how they knew we would be there, but they did. We were at the edge of the forest, right before the grassland. Element fairies were already there, waiting for us. It struck us as strange because we had no idea how so many of them could have crossed into the Elf Realm. Our Realm is usually quite protected, and most of the war has been fought in the Element Fairy Realm. Anyway, we would have died if Danica and Gavin hadn’t come along, because we were completely outnumbered and defenseless. Danica receives her power from the stars. At night, she absorbs energy from them and during the day she uses the energy. She can basically use the energy as a kind of ‘light beam.’ It burns worse than fire. And I know that you know what fire burns like.”

I winced. Fire hurt a lot. I couldn’t imagine what Danica’s would be like.

“Anyway, she killed the Element fairies, all seven of them. We are eternally grateful to her,” Stellan finished.

“I just hope no more come. I used up all of my energy, and now I am recharging. I wouldn’t be able to take another seven so quickly. Killing fairies is not easy. They are tough little creatures,” Danica informed me.

“Thank you for saving them, and then coming for me,” I said quietly.

“You’re welcome, but you should really be thanking Addison. She was the one who sent me the message. She was lucky Gavin and I were in the area on a patrol. As I said before, we are a part of the Queen’s guard. She handpicked twenty elves she thought were good enough to protect her and be her closest confidants. We go on patrols, attend to her, run errands, or anything else that requires our help. We are like special servants, with powerful abilities and high ranks.”

“You must feel special, being picked by the Queen,” I commented.

“I do,” Danica said, sighing. “Now, no more talking, Ramsey, just listen.”

I nodded.

“Danica and Gavin helped us, and then I came back to you,” Stellan said, continuing with his story. “Gavin flew, and I took trips taking Addison and Danica. We found you lying against the tree with your eyes closed and the Mood Diamond glowing around your neck. We knew right away that you had connected with Zora, though we didn’t know how. Addison still has your first diamond. We watched as the burns and cuts appeared on your body. It was horrible.” Stellan shook his head, as if trying to chase away the memories. “You were gone for a little over an hour.”

“The air fairy gave me the Mood Diamond,” I told him, disliking the look on his face as he described how hard it was to see me getting hurt. “And it wasn’t an hour to me,” I added.

“Traveling to and from the connection took more time than you realized,” Stellan told me. “Queen Taryn is waiting to speak with you about it. This recent activity changes things. She is going to put more faith in us because of you. Even though what you did was reckless, we are thankful. The Queen trusts that you can find Zora because of your strong connection. Also, you have seen where she is being held more than once. She is confident you will come through.”

“Five nights,” I choked out.

“What?”

I cleared my throat. “We have five nights until they kill her. She did some weird thing where she swore that she would tell my secret in five nights.”

“She swore an oath. If an elf swears on something, they can’t break the promise. We are an honest kind. Right now, that is a bad thing.”

“Yeah, thanks for telling me,” I groaned.

Stellan sighed. “When you are healed, we will decide what to do,” he assured me. “Try not to worry so much now. Focus on staying awake…and…”

“Alive?” I guessed.

Stellan shook his head. “I was going to tell you not to worry about anything else…but do that too,” he said.

I nodded, and a slight smile stretched across my face.

“Will you go on trial?” I asked then, my smile disappearing.

“So far, it is only a maybe. The Queen has decided that what we did was right, but she must be completely sure before she can clear our names. If you can save Zora, we will be free. If not, she will have a lot of thinking and deciding to do. I’m hoping she won’t have to.”

“Me too,” I told him.

He squeezed my hand gently.

“No more talking now. Obviously she cannot listen to orders,” Danica demanded. “She will have to stay awake on her own.”

Stellan and I both nodded. It was easier to stay awake now. The pain was still bad, but talking to Stellan had cleared my mind of some of my confusion. That helped. There was also hope that Stellan and Addison would not go to prison. That helped as well.

They carried me for another hour. I could tell all three were exhausted. I tried to keep my mind preoccupied with something other than Zora and my guilt, but it was very difficult. No thoughts were strong enough to keep me focused. Then I realized only one thought could.

The Stranger
, I thought to myself. Would I ever see him again? Would I ever know his name? Would I ever act like a normal elfen in front of him or just a clumsy human-adjusted elfen? More importantly, what was the Stranger’s significance to me?

I thought about it and decided I didn’t know. It wasn’t something I could explain. The Stranger was just there. But why did he have the power to hold all of my attention?
How
did he have that power?

Again, I didn’t know, but the only thing I was sure of was that he
was
important for some reason unknown to me: simply significant.

I was jarred from my thoughts by a prodding in my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Stellan staring at me.

“What?” I asked. I was somewhat annoyed. I had finally found something to think about and he ruined it.

“You were sleeping,” he said.

“No,” I told him, “I was just thinking. I was thinking a thought that you just interrupted.”

“Sorry,” he said, frowning and brushing the hair out of my face.

I sighed and closed my eyes again. I couldn’t seem to return my thoughts to the Stranger, so I chose to keep my eyes shut tightly and wait.

***

“She’s getting worse,” I heard Danica say.

I had been slowly drifting off ever since Stellan disrupted my thoughts about the Stranger. Now I became fully awake once more.

“What do you mean?” Stellan asked.

I didn’t say anything. I knew I wasn’t allowed to talk.

“She’s drifting,” Danica pointed out. “And who knows what kind of pain she could be in right now….”

“Why don’t we ask her ourselves?” Stellan proposed.

Danica rolled her eyes and looked down at me.

“Ramsey, you are still not allowed to talk, but do me a favor and blink once if you are feeling a lot of pain, twice if you are feeling better than before.”

I found that I had to blink once. While I was drifting, I hadn’t noticed the pain, but now it was back, and in full force.

“See?” Danica said to Stellan.

“Is there anything else?” Stellan asked me, ignoring Danica’s comment.

“Wet. I feel wet,” I told them quite out of the blue.

I hadn’t noticed the feeling until now. I hadn’t noticed a lot of things until now. Danica put her hand on my stomach, and then on each of my sides.

“Oh no,” she said.

“What?” Stellan and I asked at the same time.

“She’s bleeding…a lot,” Danica said, peering intently at my abdomen. She cursed. “I can’t believe no one noticed….”

The news was big enough to stop Addison in the middle of communicating with the Queen. Her eyes flew open and she peered down at me, concern clouding her green eyes.

“Will she be okay until we reach Tarlore?” Addison asked. She had barely spoken since I had awakened from the connection.

“I don’t know,” Danica replied, shaking her head. “It’s hard to tell. There is a lot of blood, and a deep cut wound on her stomach that I hadn’t noticed earlier. She’s becoming paler by the minute.”

I wondered just exactly how pale I was. From what I remembered, I was pale enough already. How could I get any worse?

“What can we do?” Stellan asked. His voice was cracking with every word.

I felt tears sting my eyes. We were all scared for my life.

“I…,” Danica trailed off. “Wait, I’ve got it.”

“What?” Addison demanded.

“The tree nymphs,” Danica whispered.

“What about them? They aren’t on our side,” Stellan reminded her.

“Not all of them. But some are,” Danica explained.

“How do you know?” Addison asked.

“A few live in the forest you traveled through, right before Tarlore. Just a few, but they are allied with the elves,” Danica said.

“Why?” Addison repeated.

“They want to protect Elvina, the fairy child who started the war. They don’t want the Element fairies to take her to their Realm. They believe either she belongs in the Woodland Fairy Realm, or she belongs here; and since she’s not going to the Woodland Fairy Realm any time soon, they choose to watch over her in this Realm. They provide us with any news they hear that might be useful to Queen Taryn, and they watch over Elvina whenever she is out of range of the palace,” Danica revealed.

“Can you call them?” Stellan asked.

She nodded. “Yes, but we are far away from the forest. It may take a while.”

“We don’t have much time,” Addison reminded her.

“I know,” Danica replied. She looked down at me gravely, her words sending a chill through my battered body. “But we have to try.”

~13~
Tarlore

“How do you call them?” I asked, knowing I wasn’t supposed to be talking but doing so anyway.

“All guards to the Queen have small flutes they carry with them in case they need to call a nymph or two,” Danica told me. “If I play the three notes right, the nymphs will hear it no matter how far away they are. But it may take a few moments for them to arrive…or more. I don’t know for sure. I have never needed to call them from this far away.”

I nodded. “Okay. Proceed with the calling,” I suggested.

“Right,” Danica said.

From her belt, she produced a brown pouch. Out of that pouch, she withdrew a small flute, just as she had described. It was shiny and smaller than any flute I had ever seen before, even smaller than a piccolo. It looked more like a whistle with holes on top. She put the flute to her lips and blew into the mouthpiece three times, each time covering a different little hole. The sound was beautiful, pure, and surprisingly quiet, but I trusted that Danica knew what she was doing.

“Now what do we do?” Stellan asked.

“We wait,” Danica replied.

He nodded. I noticed they were no longer moving, just standing in place as they held me. I guessed it was so the nymphs could find us sooner.

I felt myself slipping faster. I tried to get a grip on consciousness, but it was extremely difficult. I just wanted to sleep.

“I hate waiting,” I said.

No one replied, but they
did
shush me, so I didn’t say anything else.

Finally, I heard a rustling nearby. Praying it was the nymphs, I turned my head slightly to the left to see what was coming. Sure enough, two figures were walking – no, floating – toward me in a delicate fashion. When they came closer, I could see they were both female, and lovely. Both wore brown dresses, with tree vines and flowers draped over their shoulders and around their necks. Their feet were bare and their hair long and flowing, laced with flower petals and leaves.

Though I could see them clearly, they also looked almost transparent, like vibrant shadows. After all, nymphs were the essence of spirit. From what I knew, they were like dryads, but they did not embody one tree. Instead, they were spiritual protectors of the forest. They protected nature, making it grow, and dedicating themselves to living among the wildlife.

The nymphs finally reached us, and I felt a surge of anxiety rush through me. I could tell Danica was eager for their help as well. Her eyes darted from the nymphs to where I lay bleeding on the stretcher, as if assessing each and every possible move before taking action. Gently, she and Stellan lowered the stretcher to the ground. Then she walked forward to meet the newcomers.

“Welcome. And thank you for coming,” she greeted them.

One nymph, with dark hair and even darker eyes, nodded slowly. “We came as soon as we heard your call,” she said. “What is it you need?”

“Protection,” Danica replied.

“What kind of protection?” the other nymph, one with pale hair and light brown eyes, asked.

“Protection from death,” Danica told them quietly.

Though I had known what she would say, Danica’s words still sent shivers down my spine.

“I see,” said the dark-haired nymph. “Who is it that desires protection?”

Danica pointed down at me. “Her name is Ramsey, and she is badly injured. We have a healer waiting for her at the palace, but we are afraid we won’t make it in time.”

“It’s
her
,” the fair-haired nymph said, almost in a whisper, the corners of her lips pulling up into a sweet smile.

“What are you talking about?” Addison asked.

“The one, the Chosen Daughter,” the other explained. “She is the one who holds the future in her palms.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, wondering if it had something to do with telling the future, because of her mention of “palms.” I also couldn’t help giggling a little at her words. Was it just me, or were mystical creatures really into cheesy movie lines? Had a few movie writers visited a Magical Realm or two in the last fifty or so years?

“Hush,” the fair one said, caressing my cheek with her soft hand. “Save your strength.”