4. Battle of the Bloodline

Need to catch up?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4:

Cupping my hand, I scooped water up to my mouth to quench the thirst which was trapped in my throat. It felt as if I swallowed a spoonful of peanut butter in one gulp. The cool liquid ran down my cheeks and my nose dropping one after another back into the pond. The ripples collided but continued to spread until the rings disappeared into smooth glass.

“We can’t be here long,” Zane stated trying to hide the fact that he was trying to catch his breath. “I doubt they would have given up for the night, however, the legends that haunt these woods might slow them down a little,”

“Legends?”

Zane nodded. I opened my mouth to ask another question, but the sudden snap of a twig attracted Zane’s attention instantly. A dagger he had kept on his belt was now pointing around in the air. Both of us scanned the tree line around us. The darkness was the only existing thing out there from what my eye could see.

“Stay here,” Zane demanded.

“But...” I pouted as he started toward the tree line.

“Stay,”

I muttered. “Fine,”

Zane disappeared into the dark woods leaving me by myself at the bank of the pond. For what seemed like forever the eerie quietness of the world seemed to grow on me. I began to grow worried.

“Zane?” I called. Standing up from sitting along the edge of the pond, I grabbed a long stick from the ground and held it out like a sword. The leaves under my feet shifted and cracked as I advanced closer to the trees. “Zane, are you alright?” Reaching the tree line it seemed as if I had walked into a dark room with the light behind me from the moon just rising above the top of the forest. The darkness gave me the eerie feeling that I was being watched; just at that moment something rustled the trees not too far away. Spinning round to find the source of the noise I saw from the corner of my eye I thought I saw a spark of a flame; but it was gone instantly. There it was again, and again. I saw not one, not two, but dozens of little flying balls of light. Trails of sparkles followed them wherever they flew. Each with their own distinct color, the multiple balls of light flew around throwing little balls of light at the men. After direct contact, each member of the gang fell to the ground knocked out cold. I was in too much shock I hadn’t realized Zane had grabbed my arm and was pulling me further in the woods. I looked behind my as we were running, and three balls of light were following at a close range. I warned Zane that they were following us, but he didn’t respond. The trees seems to grow closer and closer together. They grew so close together that I had to actually pay attention to where I was stepping or I’d run right into a trunk. Zane looked like he was barely touching the ground at all. Zipping in and out between each tree pushing off of them with his hands to give him more speed; made it seem like he’d done this before.

“Zane,” I called out. I leaned myself up against the closest tree. I was so exhausted, and confused, and wanted answers more than I ever wanted to know.

One of the balls of light that had been following us twinkled around my body before hovering in front of my face. The blue sparkle trail twinkled in the low light before completely disappearing. At that moment, I realized that it wasn’t just a ball of fire, but a little person. A fairy? Her little smile was cute, and the sparkle in her eyes gave me assurance that she was good. Zane rushed to my side surprisingly quick. I was startled by his touch, but he eased me back to my feet and assisted me through the woods.

“Thanks, Blue,” Zane gestured, gratefully.

“You’re welcome,” she replied, and she bowed from her flying position. Her voice was soft, yet lower than I thought a fairy would sound like. From all the stories I had read I either would have thought a fairy’s voice would high, or like Tinkerbell who’s voice is nothing but a little bell. “We must get to the temporary safe haven before the Black Knights find out the Gypsies were delayed. The Queen might have their heads,”

“She’ll have all our heads if she catches us,” Zane sighed. “There’s too much at stake and Paeyton needs to have her best chance,”

“Best chance?” I burst out, confused. “Best chance at what?”

Zane opened his mouth, but the Blue Fairy interrupted before a word could be said.

“Can this wait until we reach the safe haven? The Black Knights aren’t that far behind us,”

Anger tingles through my veins like a spark on a fuse waiting to find the explosive. Logan wouldn’t tell me anything before an arrow struck her to the ground, Zane can’t seem to phrase a way to say it, and the blue fairy was being quite repulsive about it. Why the heck am I so important?

We followed the trail of blue dust through the forest about another half mile. The moon could be seen directly overhead. White and full. Off in the distance a wolf howled at its beauty. Every snap of a twig and rustle of the leaves beneath our feet caused a sudden uneasy feeling in my stomach. I couldn't help but scan the surroundings every few seconds because I was waiting for something to happen. The patches of marigolds to start singing. A miscellaneous arrow. A hungry wolf. A drunk pirate looking for a wench... who knows. Honestly I've seen so much today that I never thought was possible, so to say there could be a drunk pirate in these woods probably wouldn't be too far off.

“Here we are,” the blue fairy said.

“Finally,” Zane pants.

I was puzzled. I saw nothing, just more trees; miles and miles of trees and leaves and dirt. The only color, besides the green and brown from the leaves and dirt, was a lonely marigold standing tall swanging in the cool breeze. There was nothing else. Just as my mouth opened to retort so, the ground tumbled beneath my feet. Tree roots stretched out of earth and crawled out of the way taking their trunk with them. What once use to be a swarm of trees now sat bare and open, but not for long. Blue and her fairy friends danced around the open space. Through the tree branches and out another they twirled and intersected one another trails of pixie dust. For that brief moment I seemed forget everything and a rush of calmness warmed my body. I watched closely as they twirled between the leaves and branches of the surrounding trees like ice skating in the air. The gracefulness of them all was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen as if it was from a fairytale. The scene from Cinderella where the fairy Godmother transformed her rags into a ball gown; that was an understatement here. All at once a huge cloud of fairy dust falling like snow, twinkling and sparkling every which way. The twinkles began to reveal the light lazily drifting smoke rising from a brick chimney, then the subtle smell of roasted herbs over the fire filled my nose. A pointed roof with loose clay shingles began forming and soon the golden swirls of the fairy dust transformed the remainder of a small cottage. Everything about it seems small, and quaint, comfortable even, except for one thing. The big clad iron door smack in the middle of the structure. The dark color of the door contrasted with the simplicity of the rest of the exterior of the building. As I stare in awe, a soft tapping sound takes my attention off the door as I followed the sound to Blue. Her little hands were clapping rapidly, I thought she was about to hyperventilate from the amount of energy she put into her excitement.

“Let’s go inside, we’ll be safe here for the night,” Blue calmly said she she perched herself on Zane’s shoulder.

“Wouldn’t the Knight have heard the trees move and the ground rumble?” I asked.

“No, dear,” she said as she gracefully jumped from Zane’s shoulder to mine. “This perish has been designed to be hidden and revealed with no disturbance surrounding life except by those who the fairies allow."

She paused as she let me process what she told me before letting out a little sigh. It was high and full of awe.

“I never thought I would live to see the day she would come here,” she finally said. Her tone was that of happiness and contentment, but then she quickly leaped off the shoulder and flew into the perish through the keyhole. A second later the door screeches open as the warm air from the fireplace blanketed my cold cheeks. From outside the cabin seemed small, but inside held a great many surprises.